Whew!! Where did summer go?!

Well, it's September. Wait...what?? September? Already? I thought summer just started! Guess we must have been busy!

May saw the end of my Spring semester of school. We were gearing up for the Memorial Day holiday....which is normally the first "official" day of Summer! Except we were all bundled up because it was really dang cold outside! What a difference a year can make!

June wasn't an extremely busy month, but we had fun. We went to see Thomas the Train on Father's Day weekend. It was HOT outside! WELCOME SUMMER! We missed you! We also made at least one trip to our local zoo. June also saw me switch to night shift at work. It was really hard, but I didn't really have a choice. I think it took everyone a good month to make the transition. But it seems like we're in a better routine now.

In July we took our first ever Family Vacation! We visited Wisconsin Dells for 3 days and had a blast doing it. We did lots of things! We visited the water park a couple times, where Clara would have spent an entire day on the water slides. Sam had fun, but I don't think he had nearly as much fun as Clara! We also visited a zoo, and they both loved it! We saw all kinds of animals that neither of the zoos near our house had! We also ate out, stayed in a hotel room as a family (an adventure of a totally new and terrifying kind!), and even rode through a canyon in a horse-drawn wagon! It was so much fun, there's no way we can't do that again. :)

In August, we didn't really have any big adventures. We tried to enjoy the summer by going on bike rides, playing outside at the playground, and spending some quality time together as a family. The weather has really been stellar this summer and I hope that as we make the dreaded transition into fall and *cringe* winter, we can find new and exciting things to do to pass the dark and cold months! Maybe we'll take some trips to the Children's Museum (which we haven't been to yet). And we'll stay busy with dance classes and swimming lessons. And HOPEFULLY our basement playroom/office will be up and running before the end of September so that we'll have a nice and functional space to spend time in!

Clara in August

August 2013

What were we up to this month?

Well, nothing out of the ordinary. We made another trip to the NEW Zoo this month. Both kids got to feed the giraffes. We got to see more of the animals this time, as the weather was nicer and we apparently got there around feeding time! She was even brave enough this time, to feed the goats! 

Of course, we also had to stop to play on the playground equipment. She just loves going to playgrounds to play. She loves to climb up on them and then slide down the slides. And I'm pretty sure she'd do it all day if we let her!

One afternoon, we loaded up our new bike trailer with the kids and a picnic lunch and headed out to Neshotah Park to play. And play they did! I have NEVER seen these 2 kids as filthy as they were that day! But everyone had so much fun. I'd like to get out at least once more before it gets too cold.

Clara also had her very first dentist appointment! She came along with me to my cleaning. She sat in the corner on a stool while I got my teeth cleaned and checked. Then when it was her turn, they did an awesome job of showing and telling her exactly what all the tools were and what they were going to do. I even let her wear my sunglasses so the light wasn't so bright. I didn't think they'd do an actual cleaning that day, but she did so well that they went ahead and did it! She did so amazingly well. I was a very proud mama, for sure!

Here are some pictures from this month:

Next month (September) she'll be starting swimming lessons again, and she has her very first dance class with her Auntie Jessi as a teacher! She's doing really well and is so excited to go! But more on that in next month's issue. :)

Sam's 17 month survey

Monthly Survey

1.       How old? 17 months

2.       Doctor’s appointments?: October 7, 2013 for his 18-month check-up

3.       Stats:

a.       Weight: 25lbs

b.      Height: about 32 inches (it's hard to measure him when he's so wiggly!)

c.       Clothes size: 18-24m

d.      Diaper size: Still in 4's.

e.      Hair color: Still blonde.

f.        Anything else?

4.       Milestones:

a.       Teething: He has all but his 2-year molars

b.      Talking: He still doesn't say much, but he's a very 'vocal' guy! He's always making sounds.

                                                               i.      New words: He can now do a sheep (sort of) sound and does "wheee" appropriately. That makes 9-ish words/sounds.

c.       Anything else? He can now do somersaults! Well, kind of. :) He mostly tips over sideways, but he gets the idea.

5.       Things he likes:

a.       Toys: Anything with wheels. He has learned how to "zoom" the trucks and has fun doing that.

b.      Books: Isn't really into books. He'll look at them on his own if he wants to.

c.       Songs: He loves all music! Doesn't really have a favorite right now.

d.      TV Shows/Movies: He likes "Tangled" probably because Clara wants to watch it twice a day. Otherwise he likes the LeapFrog movies and SuperWhy.

e.      Other Activities: He loves being outside, climbing on anything he can get onto, and generally scaring the crap out of his parents by tumbling off of everything head-first.

6.       Things he dislikes: Nothing in particular, but we're getting into temper tantrum territory and he can throw one with the best of them!

7.       Sleeping: He's a great sleeper at night. We put him down after his bath and he puts himself to sleep-without the paci, too! He usually goes down around 8 and sleeps until 6:30-7. He takes one 2-hour nap every afternoon.

8.       Eating:

a.       Favorite Foods: Raisins are a big hit recently. He also likes apples.

b.      Not so Favorites: Anything we try to feed him for lunch. lol

9.       Nicknames:

10.   Things we’re looking forward to next month: In September we might start thinking about Halloween costumes and apple picking. But we have no big events planned. We do have swimming on Tuesdays that we look forward to, though.

Pictures!!