Cousins

Love these silly kids!

Finally able to get her mullet into piggies. 

Poor May, Bapa just told her that he stole her night night.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

September 3rd...

This was at 8:15pm.  I will miss these late light evenings.  (And...I didn't edit the colors in this picture at all...that is how beautiful it was...sigh).  Until next summer...

Labor Day...and Huskies!

We ended the summer with a weekend up on Whidbey for Labor Day.  We also enjoyed a victory by the Huskies. 

The kids were more into their cracker jacks than the game...this is after they (meaning Andy) dumped his whole box on the ground.  Looking guilty, huh?

SEPTEMBER at the Zoo

Woo Hoo!  I am blogging in the month that we actually are in!  Now if I can actually turn this blog into books, I will be ecstatic!

We haven't been to the zoo nearly as much as I anticipated, but I am hoping we'll take advantage as the weather turns and we're looking for an outing.  We kicked off September by meeting our friends at the zoo.  Katie could care less about the animals, she thinks they all make monkey or dog sounds.  Andy, on the other hand, wants to personally have a conversation with each animal (except the hippo - he's scary).  Oh, and as we were getting out of the car, Andy made it clear that he did NOT want to say hi to the dinos that day.  Point taken. 

The funny thing about the zoo is observing what Andy is excited about.  We were sitting in front of the big brown bear and I was pretty excited to see him.  Andy, on the other hand, was busy chatting it up with the fish in the water.  What?  We're at the bear exhibit?  Another example was when we were watching the Zebras (which are hard to spot sometimes).  Andy - he still is talking about the peacock in the corner that he saw for about 5 seconds.  He kept wanting to go back to see the peacock.  Really?!?  Ahhh, 3 year olds : )

And she's standing!

At the end of August, Katie was 14 1/2 months.  This seems to be a common conversation at this age.

Stranger:  Oh, how old is your baby?  About 6 months?
Me:  Nope, she's just small, she's actually 15 months.
Stranger:  Oh, she IS small.  So she's walking now?
Me:  Nope, she enjoys sitting and hasn't shown much interest in walking yet.
Stranger:  Oh, don't worry, my son/daughter didn't walk until he/she was 15/16/18 months.  "They" say it's good for brain development.

I don't know who "they" are, but I think "they" are the people who make concerned moms feel like there is some rationale for their said kid to be at the later spectrum of "normal." 

I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned.  I also would be lying if I said I was super eager to have Katie walking.  I mean, it's pretty nice to have a 15 month old totally content just sitting and taking in the world.  Who wants to encourage their child to climb stairs?  Not me : )  But, yes, Katie is in therapy and that is exactly what we have been instructed to do.  Place toys higher and higher so she is enticed to climb the stairs.  Sigh.

So, these days, we are celebrating the milestones she does on her own.  For example, she now can pull herself up to a stand on her own and "scoot" along the couch.  Mostly, she enjoys sitting on her bum, sucking her right thumb, and putting toys, cars, balls in and out of boxes/containers with her left hand.  I mean, when you have an older brother to entertain you, why do you need to move anywhere?

Sunset

We are experiencing a "heat wave" at the end of September, so I can't complain much about the weather on the first day of fall today.  I will, however, miss these summer sunsets up on Whidbey.

Auntie Steph

On one of the hottest summer days, before school started, auntie Steph came over to enjoy some time on our patio.  We enjoyed some chilled white wine while the kids enjoyed splashing in the water table.  If only our summer dates could last into September : )

Lil Kickers - Summer Session

Lil Kickers holds their summer sessions outside - with one being at the Little Howe park on Queen Anne.  It was nice to have something right on the hill to enjoy.  I think Andy looked forward to going on the swings at the park AFTER soccer more than he enjoyed the actual class.  He gets so easily distracted by the airplanes, the birds, the rolling hills to run on...pretty much anything other than soccer.  Our coaches weren't the greatest, but I can't blame his lack of interest on them.  It was a good weekly activity to get him running outside - but I think we'll take a break from soccer for now.  We did meet a friend, Sienna, who is in Andy's new preschool class at Little Friends.  Sienna's brother, Hunter, is just a few days apart in age from Katie, so their mom, Christa, and I have become fast friends.  So...soccer was fun for ME : )

Andy's favorites from soccer were yelling BULLSEYE when he scored a goal, hiding in the goal, knocking over the cones and turning them back upright and most importantly, getting stamps...on his belly.  Waterbreaks were pretty high up there too. 

The double Bob was our friend this summer.  We spent a lot of time here.

Andy finally was able to spit his name out when asked.  When asked, What's your name, he usually had his own agenda on what he wanted to respond with.  For example, he would tell them that he had oatmeal for breakfast or that his sister's name was Katie.  Oh Andy, he'll soon learn that people just want to know his name.

Our friend, Sienna, with Katie and Hunter in the background.

Silly Buddies

Lindsay and Hunt come up to visit every August, and it has become a tradition to get our kids together with them and KC and Syd.  The Hanovers live in a gorgeous house on MI and it always is a treat to spend time there, especially on a hot summer night.  The kids were being silly, so I had to snap a few pictures of the "older" kids.

Gamma

Thank you Gamma for all of your support this summer!  I finally got a few pictures of you with the kids : )  They sure do love you!

Fun Day...on the Beach

We continued the Fun Day festivities in front of our house...Camp Campbell style : )