Saturday, September 12, 2009

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.

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Saturday, September 05, 2009

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!

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