miles and miles, months and months....

Is it still 2009? Yeah, it has been that kind of couple of months.

Last post was the first week of soccer; soccer ended over a week ago. It rained almost every Saturday morning, several canceled games, but still Sara had a lot of fun... played lots of "goalie" with several teammates and other times ran around the field hold her coach's hand (the coach's other hand was usually holding her daughter's hand). She even got to kick-off one game and enjoyed that.

Abby crawls, pulls-up, tries to climb, wants to be walking (and has since she first started crawling). She is also feeding herself as much as she can (does not like Mom, Dad, or daycare caregivers to do it most of the time). Abby also broke through two teeth in the last week. We have also been fighting ear infections one on top of the other... as fast as they have been coming we may be on target for tubes for her too, but only time will tell.

Both girls have had their flu shots, and probably the flu as well.... We get lots of smiles and lots of outright defiance... from both of them. We (half) joke that Sara is 3 going on 13.... Sara still loves being a big sister and gives Abby lots of hugs and kisses and is excited to see and help her as much as she can... but she is also still adjusting, always wants to try Abby's baby cereal (every time), lots of wanting to be picked up or carried right after Abby, etc. Also, she still isn't much of a fan of Daddy traveling, at least as measured in behavioral terms, but then again he'd rather be with her too. Grandma H. at least came for a visit for one of my recent trips, which was a big help... Dad on two coasts in two weeks is not the norm in this family, but sometimes it has to be done.

Oh... and trick-or-treating was a big hit this year.

All right, I have probably missed a 1000 interesting tidbits here and there, but here a few pics that actually came out when they weren't running around (too fast).













Riding a Pony!!!





Penguin ready to go to Boo at the Zoo



Dancing ladybug at the Zoo

Soccer!

Today was the first day of toddler soccer. Sara was a bit... tentative... but she rallied enough to spend most of the second half actually on the field (the play all on all at this age, coaching is on-field and they serve as refs too). She isn't quite used to all the bumping and running, but she wasn't the only one feeling that way on a team filled with 3-4 year olds. Some of the other parents and grandparents said that most kids get past that within a few weeks. Sara does really like her new jersey, she is #7.



Abby is really moving and grooving too! She has in just a few days after the last post learned to get herself into a sitting position on her own. It is basically a by-product of trying to get back on her knees and just keeps going and until her bottom is on the floor. She has also been experimenting lately with not bothering to bend her knees to try to crawl, which means she is really just trying to move straight into a standing position. Abby is also trying to pull up as much as she can... with a little bit of help she is more successful, but she prefers to be up.... all of this is to say we are going to be dealing with a very mobile baby much sooner and faster than we had planned on.

Labor Day!?!? - I want my summer back!

Okay, that's all true, but not what this post is about, nor is it about the implications for the future of our country that there are people that apparently do not(!) want the President of the United States speaking to school children about the importance of an education....

Rather, it is about what the girls (and their parents) have been up to the past few weeks.

Abby had her 6 mo checkup and was all fine. She weighed and measured in at about the 60-75 percentile... I don't have the sheet on me at the moment, so no stats but, she is almost exactly where Sara was at 4 months size wise. Abby is turning out to be a pretty good eater of solid foods. She has done well with cereals and has just finished her several day stints of trying out the yellow/orange veggies (sweet potatoes are a winner here). Green veggies will probably start tonight with some peas. Abby is doing a great job of sitting, and when she tries standing, she is always on her toes - maybe this means that she will be a great basketball defender or ballet dancer. She is also becoming (is) mobile. Abby has pretty much mastered the "rifleman's crawl" where her whole body stays on the ground. She has been up on her knees now and then, but hasn't given that a go yet. The mobility has really exploded in the last week. Last weekend she was creeping short distances to reach toys, etc.... Those distances and the speed she crosses them have dramatically increased.

What else has happened you ask? Well, Danette had a multi-day work trip within the state three weeks ago, so since I finished another stint on jury duty we were all able to go with her and I had the girls to myself during the day for two days. We had a good time in Dayton. (heck there may be visual proof someday since the Google streetview car drove past us once) We hit the arboretum with its butterfly house and the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery (basically a mashup of a science/natural history/children's museum).. lots of cool stuff, though Sara clearly liked the massive bins of Legos the best... and of course a park. (google maps is really nice it turns out for checking to see that a potential "park" actually has playground equipment). We even got in some hotel pool swimming with Mom in the evening.

The following week, school started and then I left town for 3 days to go to DC for some meetings. Danette had the girls to herself Wednesday, but Thursday afternoon Grandpa D. flew in for a quick visit. Then Friday, they all packed up and flew to St. Louis for Marshall and Kym's wedding where Sara was the flower girl. I met them there later in the day. Sara did a good job walking up the aisle during the wedding, smiling the whole way (pictures of Sara all dressed up are below). The wedding started during and extended past usual nap time, so cooperation.... dropped off a bit. The reception was in the evening so we had time for a nap and rest later. Unfortunately, we did not make see much of the reception as Sara got sick about 10 minutes after we got there... fortunately kids bounce back quickly and she was starting to recover nicely by the time she went to sleep that night.

This week was just sort of a get back in the groove kind of week. The weather has been glorious most of the week and looks to to stay that way for most of the weekend which is nice too. After a few week hiatus because of travel, etc, we made it back to the farmer's market and got some good eats. Then we stopped by a sporting goods store to pick up some shin-guards for Sara. We signed her up for toddler soccer - practice and game back-to-back on Saturdays this fall... we were a little late with the sign-up, but hopefully she'll be placed. Other than that we might head to a county fair and a backyard picnic this weekend.

All right, here are the pictures....



Sara at the arboretum



Sara's self-professed favorite part of the arboretum



Abby at the arboretum



What is a nice afternoon without a park?



father-daughter self-portrait



I went to the park too...



driving the recycling truck at the Boonshoft



Rehearsal



I got my hair done, my fancy dress and shoes on, and Dad wants to take some pictures.... must be time to pick dandelions!





Chillin. I still have my dandelion.



Smiling girls before heading to the church



Showtime!

Abby in July and August

Only pics of Abby this time, all that got uploaded, but at least there are a few of them.

The last month has been well, you know, busy. Grandma and Grandpa H. have been here and left, Rew was back for another visit for work, I completed another jury duty run. A week ago Danette made her first overnight trip away from since Abby was born. It went reasonably well.

Abby is doing well, growing like a weed, smiling and happy most of the time. She is able to sit up on her own for short periods now, and often prefers that as it is easier to chew on whatever toy is within reach, she really likes the assortment of blocks that we have lately. Abby is also doing a good job with cereal too. She wasn't too fond of the rice cereal, but oatmeal is another story. In a telling example of how every kid is different, we just recently realized that when she starts getting fussy while eating cereal, it isn't necessarily that she is full, but just thirsty. Sara never was like that. So Abby has been taking a little milk from a sippy-cup and that has smoothed things a bit. As we are coming up to her 6 month birthday this week we introduced squash at lunch today and she seemed fine with it, so we are moving along there.

Pre-school, rolling, and other good stuff

So, it looks like it has been about three weeks since the last update. What have we been up to? A lot actually, especially the girls. Sara started full-time as a pre-schooler two weeks ago now. She is doing quite well in the new room and adjusting to there being more kids and more structured things to do. I think the class size will go back down a little in the fall when the older kids head of to kindergarten, but this is a good way to get in the groove this summer. Pre-schoolers get to use BigWheels at school and other fun stuff, so it has been a good time so far. The naps have gotten a bit shorter, which works against us at night, but we are managing. The last two weekends Sara has been taking really long naps on the weekend because she is so tired, and that seems to help too.

Abby is moving and grooving, literally. She has been rolling over non-stop for a few weeks now, and a bit before that too. She is not too adept at rolling from her stomach to her back (unless she is swaddled and asleep), but she flips over all the time now. We never know where we are going to find her in her crib now, even if we are in there only minutes a part. Abby is doing well at day care too, takes good long naps there... the sleeping at night though is so hit and miss it is crazy. About one night every two weeks we get a decent, maybe 6 hour stretch, other than that, we are up at least every 2-3 hours. Granted, often that is just to replace a pacifier, but not always. She has also been expressing a preference for stomach sleeping... she loves to roll so much that she would rather sleep on her stomach a fair portion of the time. This isn't a real surprise to us as even as a much smaller baby she would do her best to at least sleep on her side if she could manage it.

We had a good weekend over the 4th. We went on a nice walk through one of the nearby parks one morning and saw all sorts of animals, birds, and plant life. We also got in some playground time, and even a trip to the pool which was a big hit. Heck, we even hit the zoo the weekend before. Yesterday we did our usual morning at the Farmer's market, and followed that up with a quick visit to the Art Fair, cut short by (much needed) thunderstorms. And last night we went back to the Square and listened to a Brazilian music band and had some ice cream. This morning, Abby was up a bit early, so I decided to take her out for a long stroller walk. She hasn't had many of those around the neighborhood as Sara is limited in interest and probably endurance to shorter walks at the moment as she does not ride in a stroller much anymore. A very nice morning, but unfortunately a little too early to pick up coffee and the corner shop on the way back to the house...

Anyway, how about some pictures....

4 months...

Yeah, I'm behind, but things are even more of a whirlwind now it seems. So, for the highlights.

Abby had her 4 month appt on Friday afternoon, she is happy and healthy. 24" tall and 14 lbs 11 oz. 40-70th percentile on everything. Abby also took to rolling over last week, just back to front and only one direction, but great none the less. Even had to get up in the middle of the night to flip her back over at least once. The doc also said we could start trying some solid food. We tried a couple of bowls of fabulous rice cereal... no major complaints, but she isn't beggin for more yet. Still, pretty early so I am sure she'll pick it up fine. She likes her food fine even if she doesn't share the full on passion for it that her big sister has. Abby is good and smiley too and we have been getting lots of squawking. She is as irregular as ever on the sleeping, last week was bad on mom and dad, sometimes up every hour (thinking growth spurt). Got a bit more sleep last night, thankfully. Abby also had a whole host of shots on Friday, not a big fan and a little mellow afterwards, pretty typical it seems.

Sara is doing well too, growing up a storm. This week she will start transitioning to the preschool room. Hard to believe we have a preschooler on our hands. She is still full of why, exuberance, and a good dose of defiance, but it is a lot better than two months ago, a whole lot better. She is having fun being active. We have taken some tricycle rides and just got a T-ball set for her. That has been fun in the backyard.... and of course, working in the gardens. She continues to show her sister a lot of love and is clearly enjoying that Abby is becoming more interactive. A big highlight this last week was when I picked the girls up just a bit early and we got home in time to watch the LRO launch on the computer. Sara has been all about watching the replay and Space Shuttle, and even a Soyuz video ever since. It is nice to know that she can appreciate a nice rocket launch too :)

Last weekend we had the pleasure of a visit from the Swiss Family Dombard. It was our first time to see little Riley, who ain't so little anymore. We had a good time hanging out (literally in Rew's case - see below) and visiting the park.

Other than that, it has been pretty typical summer stuff - farmer's market on Saturdays, maybe a trip to the park, and too much work during the week. We did sneak in a trip to the ball game this last week with a some friends. Alas, the home team did not win, and given the interleague play, that didn't help our beloved Cards either. Tomorrow our next out-of-town visit begins with the arrival of Grandma D. for a week.

Happy father's day everyone!


Smile


Nice Hat


punk rocker, even in the tub


Abby's first solid food


me and my mom


I know my mom loves me


Sara wearing the highly sought after birthday hat at school


That slide.


This is how I fly like an airplane


Rew hanging out


Backyard fun


ooohh, swing!

vacation

So, we took our first vacation as a foursome a week ago and headed up to Minnesota for a week.



On the shore of Lake Superior along the Lakewalk

The initial impetus was for Danette's friend Ellen's wedding the day before Memorial Day. We flew up the day before that and met Grandma and Grandpa D. in the Twin Cities. The girls had a good time seeing their grandparents, and even having them to themselves while we went to the wedding. That was actually a highlight for Sara because she got to make a return trip to the Mall of America and see all the rides in the amusement park. She is still talking about the rides and making pictures of them at school almost two weeks later. We also had the good fortune to be able to see Sara's godmother Laura, and most of the Lukkarila/Krajewski clan for a couple of hours - too short, but great time to catch up regardless. Somehow we made the boneheaded move of forgetting to get a picture of Sara with Laura or anyone else for that matter...

On Memorial Day, rather than our usual local parade, we headed up to Duluth and saw Grandma and Grandpa H. This was Grandpa's first chance to meet Abby too. We stayed until Friday, basically just chilling out, and helping out where we could. The weather was cool and rainy most of the week except for Thursday. While not great for getting out, we did sample a new restaurant for breakfast, Sara got to frost cupcakes with Grandma, and Danette and I even made it out for a movie, Star Trek. Sara and Abby basically just basked in the glow of grandparental love all week. Excited? Yes. Spoiled? A bit..., Exhausted at the end? Oh yeah.

While in Duluth we also got to see my friend Jason from high school and college and his wife Jane (also a friend from college) and their two kids. In was nice to be able to catch up, and it turns out they are moving a bit closer to us, so we will hopefully be able to catch up again soon.

Total exhaustion, and colds, etc ensued by the end of the trip, but we made back mostly uneventfully (minus the present Abby left for me on my lap in the plane...)

Now for some more pictures...


trying out some goggles for the hotel pool


cupcakes with grandma for Sara's birthday


making a castle out of Lake Superior pebbles


Abby yakking grandma's ear off :)


Big smile

Sara's 3!

Happy Birthday Sara!

Yup, she is the big T-H-R-E-E now! Needless to say she is pretty darn excited about it. Sara has had a fun day today. She wanted and helped make biscuits for breakfast, saw that we have two very young baby deer in our backyard, and opened some presents already. She is looking forward to more play time and cake, of course, later after her nap.



She has definitely grown a lot since last year.

Smiles..

Yes, a certain little one is becoming all smiles, which is a lot of fun. Hard to believe that she will be turning 3 months old this week, and her big sister will turn 3 years old a week later!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic with the end of the semester, Danette starting back to work, and Abby starting day care. Just to top it all off, I took my first trip since Abby was born, leaving Mom with the two girls. Fortunately, it went reasonably well... Sara was even a decent helper with Abby in the evenings.

The girls are starting to interact more, which is fun to watch. Sara clearly enjoys having a little sister even as she struggles with the level of attention she is getting relative to before. Fortunately, even that is settling down a little.

Abby seems to really be growing, getting bigger and longer all the time. The smiles are fun, but she is still a pretty serious girl, undoubtedly a function of her belly... but even that is better than a month ago. There are many times when she is clearly fascinated watching Sara and we expect that will definitely continue.

And in other news: Happy Birthday Grandpa H.!

Abby goes to school!

So, Abby hit the 10 weeks mark last Friday, and today she went to school for the first time. She is in the same room that Sara was in as a little baby, which is nice for us. There was more than a bit of trepidation around here about how today would go. Little Abby had decided recently that she was going to refuse (at length, and at the top of her lungs) bottles from her father the last week to ten days. This was quite a switch from her big sister who has always had rather strong fond feelings for food, regardless of source. However, Abby did fine today... she ate enough, though no marathon sessions of feeding. Regardless, she ate and is a good sign, we hope. She was all smiles and had a good time today. Her big sister even walked over with one of her teachers and some of the other kids with younger siblings to check them all out.

Abby has definitely been more smiley and interactive lately. It has been fun for all of us... she is also getting more into watching her big sister, which is fun to watch too. The last couple of weeks she has been pushing the envelope of sleeping, and we even reached a nominal 'all through the night' last night, which was good timing! Abby is not horribly consistent on these things so far, but we are definitely going in the right direction.

Things have been a little hectic around here since the last post. This includes some increasing rebellion from our eldest, and basic grumpiness to boot. Not quite as easy-going and carefree as we are used to, but we are doing our best to cope and redirect in a positive way... though our creativity is often challenged. And of course, it is the end of the semester for me and Danette headed back to work today.

We have had some good weather lately, and tried to get outside. I am looking forward to the trees being done with their acts of procreation so they can leave me alone, but otherwise it has been nice. Heck, we have had several visits to the park, and even our first visit to the outside portion of the Zoo yesterday.

Ah well, here are those pictures you wanted to see....



in the back yard



big red chair


Abby at the zoo



animal watching

Abby at 2 months...

Well, Abby had her 2 month weigh-in... er checkup... today. All is pretty well with her, except maybe a little reflux. She has made great progress in weight, jumping 25-50 percentile points, now at 11 lbs 5 oz and 22.125 inches long. She is doing well in that department, and seems to have been on a growth spurt of late too. She also had a whole rash of shots today, so she is not exactly happy with her parents at the moment. Though it was pretty cool that one of the immunizations was oral this time rather than a shot, which is different from when Sara was this age.

We are starting to see even more smiles and cooing. She has been a big fan of mobiles the last week or two, and shiny objects and mirrors are catching her attention too. She is definitely getting bigger and stronger all the time. Hard to believe that two weeks from now she'll be in day care like her big sister.

This past weekend was pretty good. The weather on Saturday was fabulous. We started out with some father/daughter haircut time at the barber shop for Sara's second haircut which looks quite cute. We also had a whole bunch of other activities like the first trip to the outdoor farmer's market, getting to see Aunt Jo and Joyce, time at the park, and dinner with friends. We even got in some playing as well. One of the highlights of Aunt Jo's visit was a present to Sara of some "Solar Slime" (which she calls the gooey stuff). Basically it is gooey stuff that changes color in the sunlight. She wasn't too sure at first about playing with goo, but now she asks to go outside and play with it a lot, especially when it is cloudy and raining!

Anyway, the girls are doing relatively well... pics below.


The growing girl...


Big Smile


Happy arm full


New Haircut


Girls


Mini-slide

Easter Vacation

Okay, so a lot has been going on, nothing new with that... there are a whole bunch of pictures below....

Things are all right here. Abby teased us for a few nights a couple of weeks ago by sleeping 5-5.5 hours in a couple of nights in a row... emphasis on teased. She is growing and developing. Unfortunately, she is a bit uncomfortable more regularly than we would like... probably typical baby belly stuff, but definitely a bummer for all around. However, we (usually Mom) are seeing more smiles and proto-giggles. It is hard to believe that it is only about 2 more weeks until she starts at day care. Time certainly flies.

Sara is doing her bit too. She was ill a couple of weeks ago, possibly her first ear infection since right after she got her tubes more than two years ago. Went away pretty fast too. Recently found out that one of the tubes is gone too, so that's good. She has also been pushing boundaries more lately... hard to know what the exact cause is, probably a multitude of things internal and external, but it has leaked over to school for the first time. We are working through it and starting to see some progress, but only time will tell.

On the fun side of things, we headed East last weekend to see some friends and hang out. The girls did pretty well on the car trip... Sara was seriously excited the whole way. Sara and Timmy who are only a week apart in age had a grand ole time (as did everyone else). Abby did pretty well too, but at her age she doesn't really care where she is as long as she can eat, sleep, and be held :) We even went to the National Zoo on Saturday and Sara (Abby was sleeping) got to see the panda's for the first time, and some elephants, hippos, and gorillas. Sunday morning Sara and Timmy had an easter egg hunt together, while Abby and Evie watched, before we headed for home. Sara was a bit disappointed, as all we heard on the way home was "but I didn't want to leave Timmy's house."

And just as important as all of that, Today is Danette's birthday!!!!! Happy birthday!



playing in the yard before a trip to the playground



momentary(!) quiet while watching Bob build something.



Running, a common refrain from the weekend.



Easter Egg Hunt.



pre-trip smile!



Maryland smile! (for Mom!)



The youngest ladies, Evie is 3 months older.

Girls...

A little behind, but a recent pic nonetheless.

More later... okay... more sometime. :)

Dazed and... something

All right, well Abby has surpassed that landmark age of 5 weeks now. She is definitely growing, the newborn size clothes that we had to buy when she was born (that we didn't have much of because Sara was bigger) are starting to get snug. She is becoming a bit more interactive and we get occasional grins and odd happy noises. Generally Abby is a pretty good baby, though she is keeping us up and at it a bit more as she has a fussy streak in her - no doubt gas. Otherwise she is well, likes going out, staying in, and is even taking to her "spa" time. She is doing pretty well with taking a bottle from me as well. We haven't been able to try it as often as we probably should, but she hasn't fussed about it one bit any of the times we have tried - which is a good omen I think.

Sara is doing well too. She has been ill the last week, with something. Started as a random fever that came and went and came and went.... that turned into a head cold, and then her first ear infection in two years since she had tubes put in... figures. She even stayed home this last Tuesday to try to catch up on rest. We also skipped swimming lessons today just to make sure she kicks this thing. Though, to be fair to Sara, she did fabulous last week swimming, even starting to swim on her own (with a flotation device and Dad within arm's reach). She motored all over the pool once she figured that feat out.

The weather here has been pretty mild as of late, even got out for a bit in the yard today. Though "they" are calling for snow on Monday.... 'tis Cleveland.

Work has me busy again, though I was distracted trying to follow random threads of info coming out of that March meeting in Houston.

Anyway.... here are those pictures.



19th



23rd



27th






Sara swimming



football



Sandbox