Goin' Campin'...Campin out under the stars...

This week, before we left to go camping on Thursday afternoon, Mira laughed a funny cackle laugh and Joshua enjoyed storytime with Memaw and Stephanie. But, Thursday afternoon we left to go camping. Joshua was super excited since I bought his sleeping bag a week and a half ago and has been having us read "Curious George Goes Camping" every day 5 times a day.

Thursday we headed out to a local state park and set up camp then ate dinner and walked where we could on foot. Driving into the park we saw a deer. We are using my Grandparent's tent and thankfully it was easy to set up. Josh wasted no type starting his search for worms in the dirt with my trowel that we brought from home. We took the swing for Mira which was a very good choice and she spent a lot of time in that. Joshua loved being in the tent and went right to sleep without a problem. Jack made one escape around dinner time and we later changed his hookup but he did come back after running around where we will never know.

Friday, we enjoyed bacon and eggs from the camp stove before heading out to the camp store, playground and our first hike. We started with a two mile hike we had also done before Joshua was born that took us out to a lighthouse and back. It was rated easy and there were lots of other people and pets on the walk with us. Joshua made it over half way before he slowed down so much we had to throw him in the backpack carrier. He was excited to see other dogs, water, butterflies, flowers, and sand. We wore Joshua and Jack out on that hike. So back at camp we ate lunch and headed down for a nap. After a difficult nap (for Joshua) we made a camp fire and dinner. Joshua loved the fire, it was hard to keep him away from it! and enjoyed roasting marshmallows. Bedtime was again easy.

Saturday, we got going on our hike sooner and chose a difficult hike that took us to a beach and back. Soon into our walk, Jason spotted a snake slithering into the root system of a fallen tree. Then just a little bit ahead we saw a garter snake laying across our path. That guy didn't want to move but Jason nudged him with a stick and he finally slithered away. Then a little bit farther up we saw a large black snake sliding away over a log. I was just about ready to turn back at that point but we went on. We saw a marsh, beaver dam, blue herons, lizard, butterflies, a ground hog and ants (a highlight for Josh). This time he made it halfway before we stopped for a snack and put him in the backpack. After the hike we again had lunch and mandatory nap/quiet time, we explored a playground made from used tires at another beach site and had ice cream cones we picked up from the camp store. Saturday's dinner was spaghetti over the campfire and off to bed for Joshua.

It rained Saturday night while we tired to sleep. Joshua slept through the rain but Mira did not like it and Jason and I worried about it coming in the tent all night. We had a little puddle that we sopped up with dirty clothes and were pretty much ok the rest of the night. We just packed up this morning and headed home instead of staying to play on the playground or attempt another short hike because of the mud.

We are all contentedly tired and Joshua is in bed for the night. He had a good nap after a long weekend of sunshine and exercise. It was awesome to be together and trying something new. I can't wait for our next adventure.

Our Walk

The March for Babies yesterday morning was a lot of fun. I carried Mira for the first half and Jason pushed Joshua in the stroller and then we switched. The walk was 4 miles long and we were home by noon. Joshua did get out and walk part of the journey. He was very observant and even found numbers on the road, motorcycles driving toward us and lots of doggies. Mira was awake and alert during the majority of the walk. She even had her photo taken. After the walk, there was food and games. Joshua had his first chance at playing in a big moon bounce. He was a bit skeptical at first and then we couldn't get him out. We ALL took a nap in the afternoon. :-) Gotta love wearing the kids out!





Joshua, in the last several days, has grasped the concept of 'I'. So now we are hearing things like, 'I want that', 'I actually picked it up,' and 'I am done eating'. I think his speech is becoming a lot clearer.

Mira has really found her hands and is trying desperately to suck on her thumb. She will spend a long time at this task while sitting in her swing and all we hear is sloppy, sucking sounds. Her 'coo's are becoming more varied and she is sleeping less and less during the day.

March for Babies

Tomorrow morning we will walk as a family to support the March of Dimes. It is particularly important to us this year with the preterm labor that I experienced with Mira. I am excited that we are walking together and that Aunt Jo is walking with us. I hope that the weather continues to be glorious as it has been this past week. Tonight, we had our neighbors over again for a cookout. The kids in the neighborhood are fantastic with Josh and Mira. Joshua doesn't know he isn't one of the big kids. He wants to do everything they do and they do their best to include him.

Our Team link for the March tomorrow is: http://www.marchforbabies.org/514680 if you would like to help us reach our $500 goal. We are close but not yet there. Thank you to everyone that has contributed so far!

Happy Birthday, Mira - 2 Months Old

Mira had her two month check up today. She weighs 13.6 lbs (90th percentile) and is 23" long (75th percentile). She is right on for milestones. She liked looking at the dr. but wouldn't smile for her. She must have known that 4 shots and one oral vaccine were on their way! Joshua did great at the check up, too, and even said 'hi' to the dr. He has been quite shy up to now with her.

Let's go fly a kite

Mira, Joshua and I went to a kite festival on Saturday. It was lots of fun. We didn't take a kite to fly but instead wondered around watching all the other kites in the sky. Joshua enjoyed following the kites especially the 'whale' (a kite shaped like a shark) and we spent about 1.5 hours walking through the field of kites.

On Friday, Memaw and Grandad came up and we had a cook out with them. Joshua was so excited to see them! On Sunday, we went out to meet Memaw and Nanny for a birthday dinner. Everyone was sick at Memaw's house so we ended up meeting at the resturant. Dinner was yummy and we had Diary Queen afterwards at Memaw's request.

Joshua had three late nights because the weather has been sooo nice we have been staying up late and playing outside with the neighbor kids. We are starting to put him to bed now at 7:30 instead of 7pm. Today we picked up a tent for Josh to have for our upcoming camping trip. He is so excited. He wanted to sleep in it tonight. He is going to have a blast camping.

Tonight we went to sleepytime storytime in our pj's. They hold it once a month at the library. We have really just been having LOTS of fun recently!!

To the Dump

Joshua was so excited today when I told him we were going to the dump. He wanted to ride in a dump truck. I had hoped we'd at least SEE a dump truck but we did not. On the way home, we stopped at a really fun park that has an playground completely surrounded by a fence. It is great because Josh can run around and I don't have to be quite as vigilant about him running off. He had lots of fun playing in the sand, with the other children and on the tall towers. It was great.

The Strasburg Railroad

Yesterday, we drove up to Strasburg for a trip on the steam engine there. The train ride was 9 miles out and back through Pennsylvania Amish country. It was a lot of fun and Joshua was so excited to ride a train. We posted a few photos and are looking forward to going back in June when Thomas the Tank Engine is in town. Here is the website http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/



Today, we enjoyed Yanna's (our friends' daughter) first communion. Mira was passed around and Joshua played with the kids (sans nap) it was a good day.

Mira has found her hands and likes to stare at them watching them open and close. She was very alert and watching everything going on today at the party. I am guessing she will sleep well tonight!!

Hand Specialist

I've been to the hospital where Mira was seen today at least 5 times visiting other's people's children. And even though Mira is a very healthy baby, walking in there with MY child was a sobering experience. We are so fortunate that what Mira is being seen for is relatively simple in the grand scheme of things. Especially when you know the difficulty that some families experience.

Mira's appointment went really well. They were about an hour off schedule to see her but we expected that. She slept through the entire time waiting to see the dr. and then woke up to coo and stare and hold the dr's hands as she was examined. They looked to see that she had full movement of the thumb and that she used both hands equally. They examined her arms, other fingers and asked about her toes. All parts were in good working order. In fact, the extra digit or split thumb that she does have is a relatively minor case. Her dominate thumb is pretty much full sized. When she is over a year old she will have the extra thumb part removed. At that point she will be in a better situation for receiving anesthesia. The only reminder will be a small scar along the side of her thumb. There is still question as to whether or not there is actually a bone in the extra thumb but that will be answered in October when she will be seen again for a checkup. The dr. said that the surgery is fairly simple and quick (30-45 min) but that it is the 'going under' part that is trickier for little ones. Since she is a healthy baby and this thumb does not interfere with her daily life waiting until she is over a year is really the best option.

So, the dr. pretty much confirmed all that we had thought and had been told up to this point. He was very thorough in his exam and explained everything clearly. I think Jason and I were both comfortable with his diagnosis.

Joshua was watched by Mom Mom through all of this and did great. We were gone for about 4 hours. When we got home the weather had cleared up and turned out to be a beautiful day. We spent time out on the swing set before dinner and then joined our neighbors out front for vising and play after dinner.