Kissy, kissy

The family has been sick. It started with Jason/Joshua and then Mira got it. She has just been a runny mess and crying in spurts. I think that she is getting a little bit better. Today she didn't ooze quite as much but she was still unhappy.

Mira is pulling up consistently at the couch and chair and Jason even saw her let go for a few seconds and stand on her own. She isn't cruising...yet. She is such a mover and shaker that I don't imagine it will be long. She has also added 'kisses' to her repretoire of tricks. She makes a little smacking 'pwch' in your direction. Very cute.

Joshua is doing better and better in school. Today he received a note from his teacher that he played nicely with the other children in his class. He learned the letter 'B' on Tuesday and the shape, 'circle' today. He turned in his first 'homework' assignment a coloring sheet of a bumble bee. It is fun to see him so excited and happy and proud.

growth spurt

Joshua needed new shoes for school so we stopped at the outlets to try and find some. Our first stop was Stride Rite where we measured Joshua's foot. Now keep in mind that the shoes he is currently wearing are 7.5/8... His foot was a size 9.5!! I imagine his toes have been pretty squished. No wonder his shoes were getting harder to put on. So we got a size 10 velcro sneakers and he is all set for school. We'll have to see if any of the other hand me downs will fit him. He is about 40" tall now (I think) I need to remeasure his height, too!

So I guess for his birthday he could use a few pairs of socks :-)

Back to the usual routine

I love the beach. Returning home to our usual routine is always hard. It is so fun to get up and walk on the beach in the morning, come home for breakfast, swim and sit until lunch, eat, nap, play, eat, walk on the beach in the evening. Nothing to do but relax. We returned home on Sunday evening. I left Monday open so that I could do the mountain of laundry and unpacking that always follows our trip.

Saturday and Sunday were perfect beach days. Joshua got comfortable running up to the water and then running up the beach as a wave came in. Jason did carry him out past the breaking waves to float for a little while on Sunday but that was not his favorite. Mira had no problems with the sand so keeping her out of it was the problem. We took the stroller right on to the beach as well as a blanket for her to crawl on. Saturday afternoon my family joined us in swimming and dinner. It was fun to have all the little ones playing in the waves AND to get to float around with the adults. We made tacos and pina coladas to top the evening off.

Joshua had preschool today. He learned the letter A and that there is a difference between upper and lower case letters. He is still reciting Mary had a little lamb and Hickory Dickory Dock from the first couple of classes but he likes to combine them. He is very interested in the hamsters and frogs that they have in the classroom. He likes snack time. He is still very hesitant about participating in circle time but I hope he will warm up to it. Meeting friends and working on his 'shyness' were the two big reasons why I signed him up for preschool.

Mira is all over the place. She is sitting up and pulling up regularly. Because of all her new skills she is starting into a bit of separation anxiety. So, I am not able to plop her in the living room with toys right now. She just crawls right over to the kitchen to find me. Then she fusses at the step until I go get her or she figures out how to crawl up it, which she has done once or twice now. She says 'Ma Ma' with a bit more conviction that she is actually speaking to me and will have a 'conversation' with you if you speaka her language.

At the beach

We've been enjoying our time at the beach in spite it being cooler than usual and overcast. It is supposed to rain soon but this evening is our going out night and we are planning to shop so it won't be a big deal.

Joshua finally got in the water right before we headed back to the beach house today. He had been keeping a good distance up to that point. Jason and I were happy to seehim getting wet and he had a big smile too.

Mira's second front tooth popped through yesterday. There is a photo that makes it look like she has her top teeth, too, but that is not the case. I imagine they aren't too far off. I uploaded a bunch of photos and I'll add more soon. Surf's Up, Dude!!

Surprise!

We are preparing for our annual beach trek. I plopped Mira in the living room, which is baby proofed and ran out to the car to unload one more bag. When I came back in she was STANDING at the big chair, holding on of course. But, what a surprise! Joshua did this at 6 mos and I thought that was early. Mira has been crawling for a month now so I thought she wouldn't need to walk or stand early but I guess I was wrong :-( So, Mira is just under 7 months and following in Joshua's foot steps. Her 2nd tooth is right under the surface, I can see it but it hasn't cut through yet, probably today or tomorrow it will.

Joshua had his 3rd day of school today and learned "Hickory, dickory, dock" and the number 1. He did not have any problems going into the classroom although several of the other children did. He liked that they celebrated one of his classmates birthdays with cupcakes and milk. He said is was 'HIS' birthday. Oh well, only one more month. He recited the poem and showed me his picture of a mouse and a clock on the way home. Right before naptime he told me I was his best friend ever. It was great. In spite of the frustrating defiance that comes with a toddler because he is trying to be so independent, I love his brain and all the things he comes up with these days.

First Day of School, Birthday & Anniversary

Joshua had his first day of preschool last week. The first day the parent's were to stay and the class was reduced to 1.5 hours. Joshua did better than I had expected and was eager to get into the class and play. He did not stand up for circle time but I expected that, too. The second day the parents dropped kids off and stayed in a nearby room. All the kids seemed to do well (no tears!). I imagine that play went well again but I don't know how circle time went because I couldn't see in. They learned "Mary had a little lamb" and made a little lamb. This week class will be 2 hours and then next week will be 2.5. Joshua remembers his teacher's name and says that he is meeting new friends if you ask him about school.

Mira is working on tooth #2 and she and Josh both had a little cold. So, she has not been sleeping well. The last couple of nights have been better. She is really crawling well now and just about to make it over the step between our family room and kitchen.

Our 7th Anniversary was last Tuesday. Mom and Dad came out for that and watched the little ones while Jason and I had a much needed night out! We really have to do that more often. Then Thursday was my birthday. I spent it out with our friends Christine, Yanna & Val (and our babies of course!) and Jason had dinner waiting when I returned. On Saturday, the family came out for playtime and lunch. We tried to go to a children's art festival but it was outdoors and Hannah (the tropical storm) interrupted that. We had a lot of fun anyway watching the kids play in the underwear out in the rain.

First Tooth!

Mira cut her first tooth today! It is her bottom left one in the front. She is really on the move crawling and is also pulling up, almost sitting up, almost crawling up the step into the kitchen. Watch out, here she comes!!

Joshua is cracking us up with the silly things he says like when he repeats (from Incredibles) 'I am Incredaboy!... You are not affiliated with me.' or while reading a magazine, 'Uh Oh' What is wrong Joshua? 'This is not good.' What happened Joshua? 'I ripped a page...' He starts Pre-school for 3 yr olds tomorrow and we are very excited. He is thinking he will get to ride an elevator and eat candy like he did at Vacation Bible School but unfortunately that will not be the case. I think he will enjoy it though.

Happy Labor Day!

Mover and Shaker

Mira is crawling! As of about two days ago Mira started crawling. She really got moving yesterday when I put my computer on the floor to do a video chat. She thought that was great and made a bee line for the computer. Her movement is not fast yet as she moves her hands then moves onto her toes (like a bear crawl) and on to her knees then shifts forward then starts ago. But she can get everywhere on the same level.

She had her 6 month check up last Friday and I have been meaning to post that info. I think she was 16 lb 10 oz and 25 inches long. I usually remember these things but we talked about a lot at that appointment and it has slipped my mind. She is doing great. The dr was impressed with how well she sits and how strong she is. She loves to bounce in her jumperoo and move on the floor. She gets lots of exercise.

Tonight we went to the pool and put Mira under water for the first time. She did ok with the first time under but didn't really care for the second time. She didn't cry but you could tell she didn't like it.

This morning we were so blessed to be able to visit Kim, Ryan, Ellianna and their newest addition, Faith Lily at the hospital. She was born at 9:33 am weighing 7 lb 10 oz. She and Kim are both doing very well. We arrived at 10 am and got in to see them around 11:30. Joshua did great waiting and was interested in the baby. I'll put some photos up soon. We are planning to go back to the hospital tomorrow or Sunday.

Rocky, Rocky

Mira is getting on all fours and rocking! It won't be long before she is all over the place. She already rolls around to get to things she is not supposed to, namely Joshua's toys. She especially likes his duplo blocks. We'll have to get out the quattros for her to play with.

So, Friday Aunt Carie came out and went swimming with us. The kids loved that. So did we! Saturday, Theresa and Richard, cousins on my dad's side, were in town visiting and came out our way. We had a wonderful lunch, ice cream and dinner with them. It is moments like those that I wish we were a hop, skip and a jump from all of our family. Sunday we went to the Farm Fair with Richard (a coworker of Jason's) and his girlfriend Lacey. It was a great time. Josh picked up turtles, petted ducklings, piglets and goats. Once he got started touching the animals he loved it! There was a moon bounce, pig racing, tractor pull and fair food. We stopped for ice cream afterwards and one of our favorite ice cream spots.

Monday, we had an easy day at home and then went to the pool in the afternoon. Joshua was back to hanging on to the side of the pool again. Guess we have to go every day!

Tuesday was errand day and we got Joshie's hair cut. We also took his book lists in for the summer reading program.

Joshua is surprising us with the things that come out of his mouth. Like the other day he told us that he was going to have a baby come out of this belly and that he was going to put milk in his breasts so that he could feed it. He figured all of this out on his own. I love how he puts things together. I guess we need to talk about who can have and feed babies! His lego creations are getting better every day, too. It is hard to remember sometimes that he is only 2 and 9 mos!

Swimming

We went ahead and joined the community pool and have been 3 nights in a row now. Josh, with his swimmies on, goes paddling around the pool. He doesn't seem to mind, anymore, that he can't touch and even let Stacy and Stephanie (our neighbor's daughters) toss him around tonight. I hope to have him jumping in soon. He almost did tonight. He just loves the pool and asks to go everyday.

Mira loves the water, too, but she has been sick this week so I have not been taking her in. When she does get in the water she splashes and kicks. She lets me lay her on her back and doesn't mind when the water gets on her face. When she is 6 mos old we will see how she does going under.

Wall-E

After a very fun and successful time at a puppet show with Memaw, Stephanie and Dylan; I decided that Joshua was reading to watch a movie at the theater. We went to see Wall-E on Saturday and Joshua sat through the whole thing without a problem. Mira also stayed up to watch even though it was her nap time. Afterwards, we had lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then stopped at Lowes so I could buy the new washing machine I have been wanting. It was a good day. We hung out with the neighbors in the evening and then on Sunday after church and nap, we went to swim at our neighbor's house.

We are going to check out the community pool tonight.

Mira is doing great on solid foods and has so far tried sweet potatoes, rice cereal, squash and bananas. She loves to eat! We have also moved the jumper back into the main part of the house because Miss Mira is a jumping bean. The swing will only do now if she is sleepy and ready for a nap. Otherwise she wants to move or play.

Firsts - Happy 5 Months Mira!

Yesterday was a big day for both Joshua and Mira. Mira turned 5 months old yesterday. She is talking so much these days. Lots of umm's, na's, da's and other sounds. She was even trying to push herself to all fours. I know that unlike Joshua, Mira will crawl for a while before she walks. It is just my gut feeling.

After running a TON of errands yesterday (we sold the Accord, FINALLY) Joshua went for his very first dentist appointment. He was talking all about it as we were driving around and even told me that he wanted to be a dentist for Halloween. But, when it came time to be examined, everything changed, as I expected it would and hoped it wouldn't. Joshua does not like meeting new people and especially does not like people touching him so the whole event was very upsetting. Even though they pretty much just counted his teeth and brushed a little flouride on. He is funny though because later in the day if you asked him what he did he would tell you, 'I went to the dentist, today' and if asked how he liked it he said, 'Yeah, I liked it.' I guess he has short term memory loss!

In the evening, during dinner, we tried solid food on Mira. She loved it! She was grabbing the spoon for more! It was great and she ate up the very little amount that I had prepared for her. Her first food was a barley cereal that I made from what we had in the pantry. I picked up rice cereal at the store and sweet potatoes to puree. What a big girl! Guess it should be no surprise, Mira loves to eat!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ellianna

Joshua good friend Ellianna had her 3rd birthday party yesterday. I guess that means that the big three is right around the corner for us, too! Wow, time flies. She had a very nice party in the park near the playground. The weather was hot but since the party was in the morning it was still very nice outside. Mira and I went to Eldersburg later in the day to see my best friend from high school, Reagan. We had a fantastic visit and Mira flirted with everyone in the resturant.


Mira has been rolling onto her belly and onto her back. She pushes herself WAY up on her hands when she is on her belly and her 'talking' is more organized now. She says, 'la la' and I think a 'da da' came out while we were on vacation. She can pretty much sit on her own, she just has the occasional flop back or forth. She has been very interested in our plates and utensils and other eating objects. So, we are going to start her on solids this week. She'll be 5 months on Tuesday.

Joshua has been enjoying the company of all the middle schoolers on our street. We have between 1-4 kids in the house extra on any given moment. It a lot of fun and often feels like camp Joshua.

Cleansing Rain

It is now Thursday. We have been on vacation since Sunday. Sunday was Jason's first autocross and he did great. He finished 3rd out of 5 in his class. From there we headed north to Aunt Jill & Aunt Tara's. Jill was out of town in North Carolina but we had a really nice visit with Tara. On Monday, we had a picnic lunch at a nearby lake and then went to the local high school to fly the cool pump airplane Joshua had received from Aunt Jill & Aunt Tara. Tuesday we were up and out again. We stopped at Wells Beach in Maine and played in a gigantic tidal pool. Joshua loved that. We saw fish, seaweed, a hermit crab and snails. Then it was back in the car to finish our trip out to Bethel, Main and Sunday River Resort. We arrived late Tuesday had dinner and crashed. Wednesday the rest of our gang arrived. We explored the town of Bethel in the morning and then registered for the Mini Meet in the afternoon. We would have gone swimming but we experienced a fantastic thunderstorm on the mountain with hail and everything. This morning we went on a hike up one of the ski slopes and back down. The view was fabulous and the walk was chanllenging but worth every step. I wore Mira in the front pack and Jason and Paul took turns wearing Joshua when he got tired of walking. At the top, we sat on the ski lifts for a break and climbed up a tower for an even better view. The way down was faster but more tricky because it was so steep. Now the kids are down for a nap and I am relaxing. We have had another little storm. They are a daily occurance, this one did not bring hail or even thunder. It was a gentle rain and you could hear the birds chirping in the background. I am enjoying watching the water splat on the porch roof right outside my window. Looks like the sun is peaking its way out now. We will try and go in the pool after nap.

Tomorrow will be the Rallye, BBQ and RC race and Saturday is the Autocross, Funkhana and Banquet. Then we will start making our way back home. Still no moose sightings for us but Mom and Dad saw a bear last night from the resturant at dinnertime.

Prayers, Improv and other stuff

I guess VBS is sinking in for Joshua. Today we were making cookies and Joshua was VERY excited to get to eat one. So when the cookies were FINALLY out of the oven AND cool, he picked one out to eat. He sat down in his chair with the cookie in front of him and said, 'We need to say prayers,' then continued with, 'God is Great. God is good and we thank him for the...' he paused and thought for a moment then finished with, '... COOKIES! Amen.' Then he ate. I just cracked up. In the last week, something has clicked. He is being creative with the things he says and is showing an understanding of the words and their meanings. He is also impersonating as I like to call it lots of objects. He has shown me how a lady bug flies with his hand, how a helicopter flies, with his piece of cheese, how the fire alarm sounds and other noises. He is almost whistling. It is as thought his brain has had a cognitive explosion.

Jason on the other hand seems to be having problems. Yesterday, he was running in the morning with Jack (a first) and going full speed down a steep hill on our community when Jack ran in front of Jason tripping him. Jason hit the ground hard and has road rash and bruises on his arm, hip and leg plus a very bad cut on his finger. He screwed up his iphone in the crash as well. Then tonight while working on his RC car for our trip. He sliced his thumb deeply with the exacto knife. I think I need to put him in a padded room for his protection.

Mira is just being plain cute. She is holding on now when I carry her and likes to talk by moving her mouth and lips as if trying to simulate what we are doing. It is very cute.

Vacation Bible School

We had our first day of vacation bible school today. It is a morning program from 9-12 for a week. I am teaching the 10-12 year olds and have Mira with me while Joshua plays with the other 'too young' kids. It was a lot of fun. Joshua both behaved AND had fun. He and Mira are napping now. I asked him what he learned and he said, 'I had candy.' Well, we'll work on it :-)

Mira is rolling ALL the time! She does it at night and then gets frustrated that she is on her tummy. She is either going to have to learn to sleep on her tummy or learn to roll back over or I am not going to get any sleep!

more rolly polly

After Joshua rolled the first time he rolled again once in a matter of weeks. Mira has rolled over several more times including a time when Jason saw it happen. She is laying on her tummy now as I type having rolled over next to me.

Rolling Over

She did it! She made her way ALL the way over. She has been close to rolling over for a few weeks now and could make it 3/4 of the way or more but just didn't go that final cm. Yesterday though she was frustrated at me with laying her down to tend to Joshua and so in her little screaming frenzy she finally made it all the way. Mira stopped screaming once she made it over since Joshua and I cheered her on. She looked around like, 'How'd I get here?'. It seems that she is either teething or really upset from the shots that she got on Tuesday because she has been in a very bad mood over the last two days. I can see that a tooth is trying to come through and she is shoving her hands in her mouth a lot but it is hard to tell if that is actually what is bothering her.

Today is an errand day, never fun for the little guys but has to be done. We are also planning for our big family vacation. Can't wait to go!

Mira's Four Month Check Up

Mira now weighs 15.2 pounds and is 24.5" long. She is in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. The checkup went fine and she is right on track for developmental milestones. The Dr. asked if we were going to start feeding her solid foods and I said we hadn't yet. I don't feel much motivation to take this step yet. She is doing well on breast milk and we can wait until 6 months or whenever she starts to show an interest in our food.

We ran lots of errands afterwards and Joshua was a good boy in the car, Mira slept. Now we are home and enjoying the cool weather.

Happy Father's Day!

We had a nice relaxing father's day. Joshua had colored a card for Jason and we let him sleep in. After breakfast we were outside playing and saw a little snake on the deck. That was a fun surprise! We had a family nap and then went for a walk along the water. On our walk we saw turtles, geese, ducklings, squirrels and a ground hog. After our walk we check out a new Mexican resturant a couple of towns over.

Last night was Joshua's first night in just underpants (no diaper) and he did it! He was dry! Good Job, Joshua!!