A few weeks ago, Brenna, Austin and I had a picnic lunch at a local park which has a fishing pond. As we sat in the shade eating our lunch, Brenna said, "I wanna do fishing". I mentioned this to Brent, and last week he bought her a princess fishing rod. They practiced casting in the backyard reviewing the steps: check behind you, press the button, bring the rod back, and release the button as you move the rod forward. She mastered the first 3 steps, but the last one is plaguing her a bit.
On Sunday, they headed out to the pond with big dreams of the "big catch". Brenna stayed interested in fishing for about 30 minutes which is exactly what Brent predicted. By the time Austin and I arrived on the scene, she was SO OVER fishing and wanted to move on to the playground. Thus the lack of enthusiasm in the pictures.
Brent really enjoyed the thrill of the chase, but didn't catch anything. Something about the hook being too large. Maybe next time they'll both have some luck.
This weekend boasted Fort Herriman Days, so there was much "fun" to be had. The morning began with a parade. We loaded up the Highlander with chairs, a stroller, drinks, snacks and the kids and made the grueling 3 block trip to the parade route. We found a good spot and waited not-so-patiently for the parade to make it our way. Brenna is still not fond of sirens, but tolerated them well with her hands over her ears. Austin took it all in from his stroller, but didn't care for the fire truck siren or the marching band (sorry Scott). Those were the two noisiest things, so I can't say I blame him. Brenna collected a respectable amount of candy which she even shared with me.
Next we were off to gymnastics. She still loves going each week, and her skills are continuing to progress. She can do a pull-over on the bars if she has something from which to push off. Sometimes they hold up a wedge for the girls to walk their feet up and sometimes it's just a big block to push off. They've started doing sit ups and push ups as part of their warm up. It's hilarious to watch. After gymnastics we went home for lunch and a rest. Austin and I rested while Brenna read books in her room.
For the evening's activities, we went to the Fort Herriman Days Carnival with some classmates of Brenna's and their parents. It was fun to see Alex, Aiden and Brenna ride the rides and pal around together. They rode the boat ride, the carney's equivalent of the tea cup ride, and bounced in a couple of bounce houses. They got their faces painted and got tatoos. Brenna wanted her face painted like a princess. I wasn't sure what the artist was going to come up with, but as you can see below it worked out very well. Her tatoo is of a butterfly. It's not a cheap-o temporary tatoo; it's actually painted on. She got it on her leg like her Daddy.
We ate a picnic dinner of fried chicken, cole slaw, potato salad, cucumber salad, chips and dip and patriotic rice crispie treats. The weather was perfect - sunny with a cool breeze, so we weren't baking in the sun on the midway. Once we had exhausted our ride funds, we came back to our house where the kids played on the swing set and the adults enjoyed conversation on the patio. Austin was a champ through the whole evening and loved being outside chilling in his bouncy seat.
Riding the boats with Ayden and Alex; princess face painting
"Driving" the Sheriff's "golf cart"; covering her ears during the siren demo
Taking the Sheriff's motorcycle for a "spin"; tossed in a pic of Austin here for good measure.
Brenna has rediscovered some alphabet flash cards and has taken to quizzing me on them. Hey, shouldn't it be the other way around? After all, I already know that king starts with "k". To make it even more challenging for me, she quizzes me in the car so that I can't see the flash cards. I've cleverly turned the tables on her without even realizing it. She not only has to recognize the letter on the card, so she can tell me how the word starts, she also has to give me clues, so I can guess the word/picture on the card. She's getting pretty good at providing clues and I'm getting pretty good at memorizing what each card is! Here's an example of how it goes:
Brenna: "Ok, I start with "F" and I help keep the doggies safe and I'm made of wood."
Mommy: "Is it a fence?"
Brenna: "Yes! How did you know that?"
Mommy: "You gave me very good clues."
Brenna: "Yeah. You're always telling me that the fence keeps the doggies from getting out of the yard and getting lost."
To say the least, I was very impressed. Sometimes it doesn't go so well. She'll tell me it starts with "M" when it really starts with "W", or she'll tell me all the colors in the picture, but not provide any real clues. We'll keep working on it!
...and found healthy! Austin went for his 4-month well check this week. He's 25.4" long, weighs 15.13 lbs and his head is 16.4" in diameter. He's in the 75th percentile for both weight and height and in the 30th percentile for head size. The doctor told me the lower percentile for head size is no cause for concern. When I told Brent this later that evening, he said "Yeah, I've got a small head". Now as a wife, there is NOTHING I could say to that comment that would be right. Things like "yes, but we love you anyway" or "sure it is but you make up for it in other areas" just wouldn't go over well. I opted to change the subject and said, "Uh-huh, what would you like for dinner?" Call me a coward if you must.
Next on the agenda for Austin is solid foods. I am both excited and terrified at the prospect of adding yet another routine to a day that doesn't already have enough hours. We're going to start giving him rice cereal at dinner time. I think he will enjoy being a participant during the evening meal and not just hanging out in the bouncy seat on the floor where he is a target for dogs swooping in and giving him a lick!
Yesterday Austin turned 4 months. It would be fine if time could stand still for a little bit, so I could enjoy his baby-dom a little longer. I'd also like to be as thin as I was in college, but alas you can't always get what you want.
On Monday, Austin got his first of what I hope is not many ear infections. The only reason we knew he had one was a slight fever, was acting a little fussy at daycare and the doctor said he had one. He had a cough and the sneezes for about a week before, but it was intermittent. So he's on antibiotics for 10 days, and it will be a miracle if I remember to give him every dose. It's strange to give a baby medicine when he's not acting sick.
I wasn't feeling well on Tuesday, so we both stayed home. Here's a picture of what it takes to keep him occupied while I work from home.
Austin got to spend some time in the exer-saucer on Tuesday. He liked sitting up and trying to find all the different toys. He's doing a lot of drooling which leads to adorable bubble making and gurgling. If you look closely, you'll see a perfect bubble on his lips.
Brenna still loves to try to make him smile and is mostly successful. She delights so much in it that I regularly hear "Mommy, come take a picture. He's smiling!" Who can deny her?
Well, it's off to work I go. More pictures and fun to come.
Sunday evening I was preparing Jambalaya, and Brenna asked me if she could help. I was cutting up shrimp, and she asked me if she could cut up those "mushrooms". First things first, I had to tell her those weren't mushrooms; they were shrimp. If she's gonna be a sous chef, she's got to learn the difference between shrimp and mushrooms. Call me a task master if you must. Anyway, after taking a deep breath and finding my calm, I handed over the knife and inched my way over to the phone, so it would be on hand to call 911 should a finger tip go missing. All my angst was for naught. She diligently cut the shrimp in half with no loss of limb or shrimp tails for that matter. Next we went on to cutting bratwurst in half and then quarters. That's about as small as I would let her cut. She was losing focus and cutting too close to her fingers for my comfort! Here are a couple of photos of her in action.
Please, no comments on her hair (except can you believe it's long enough for a stubby pony tail?). As George Costanza would say, "I was in the pool". Yep, that's definitely pool hair.
Last week, I put Austin in his crib on his tummy and before I could turn away to start putting away some of his clothes, he rolled over onto his back. Of course, I think he is a genius and super advanced. What baby does this at 3 months? I mentioned this to his teacher, Brittney, the next day and she said that something similar happened to her. She had him on his back on a play mat, turned to get a bottle ready for him, and when she turned around he was on his stomach. Now, I have not personally witnessed the back to tummy rollover, so this major milestone has not "officially" happened in my book. He certainly is working on it though. This weekend he spent a great deal of time and effort rolling from side to side, but no flipping one way or the other occurred. Here's a video his antics.
