Check-Up Stats

Last night J bathed the Girls and apparently (or as usual) I'm behind on the laundry as Little Sister came downstairs wearing this hand towel. It brought an instant grin to my lips and of course it was just too darn cute not to take a picture of - not that I ever need an excuse to take a picture. Today both Girls had well-child check-ups. The first thing the Girl made me do was ask the nurse if she had to get any shots and Little Sister was less than thrilled to be there. All it took was the crinkle of the paper on the exam counter to send her into a hysterical fit of epic proportion. She was highly uncooperative throughout the entire check-up and thank goodness for that snack-size bag of Raisinets buried at the bottom of my purse. It was the only way to coax her onto the scale and brought with it a few moments of relative calm. Here are their stats:

The Girl:
Height - 42 3/4" (50th percentile)
Weight - 43 pounds (70th percentile)

Little Sister:
Height - 34 1/4" (58th percentile)
Weight - 27 pounds (53rd percentile)
Head Circumference - 19 1/2" (94th percentile)

The Girl did not have to get any shots and was thankful for the nasal flu mist while Little Sister had to get three shots and I had to pin her arms against her sides in a tight bear hug in order for the nurses to administer them.

T.W.O.

On this day, two years ago at 3:40 on a Sunday morning we welcomed this sweet 6 pound 6 ounce little cherub-faced babe into our family.

Two years later that precious little sweetheart is fiercely defiant and staking claim to as much independence as possible. We celebrated (overwhelmed her) early with singing and candles in her pancake, or 'cake-cake' as she calls it.

At two, she is determined to keep up with her Big Sister.

Still only has 10 teeth - 6 on the top, 4 on the bottom.

And has a broad vocabulary with a tendency to attach a 'y' to the end of a lot of words. Bike-y, book-y, yog-y (yogurt), boot-y, bug-y, etc. I love to hear her say the words dirty and turkey. I tried to think of how to spell them phonetically for you the way that she says them but I couldn't. It is just one of those things that you'd have to hear straight from her lips to appreciate the cuteness of it. She also assigns

titles to people based on their appearance and relative age - any woman in her 20's to middle age is a 'Momma.' Males fitting into the same age range are 'Daddies' while the older men and women are 'Papas' and 'Grammas.' Not only does she make these associations but she is apt to enthusiastically proclaim them publicly while pointing at the person of interest. If I only had a dollar for every time she pointed

at a strange man and exclaimed, "Daddy!" It goes over real well with the college-aged guys...

There were presents before dinner...

and the 'boot-ys' were a huge hit. After dinner it was off to Stone Cold Creamery for some birthday ice cream with friends.

Ballet

Today the Girl started ballet. It has been nearly two years since she took her first dance class, creative movement and over a year since she has been in that class. A year of consistent reminding on her part that she'd really like to continue taking dance class. A year of indecision for me as I hemmed and hawed between keeping her in the same place, an actual ballet company or switching to a dance academy that was a little closer to home and a little less expensive.

I couldn't make up my mind and somehow in the process a year has passed. So I was thrilled when I stumbled across a beginning

ballet class offered through the school district. It may not be as formal but it is so much closer to home (commute time 10 minutes vs. 40 and so much more affordable (1/2 the price of the ballet company). As excited as I was, it was nothing compared to the Girl's delight at the prospect of starting up again and that glee was escalated by the fact that Miss A would be joining her in the class. I already adore the

instructor for her patience and the way she endearingly refers to each of her students as 'darling.' As for the Girl, her favorite part of the class was definitely the solo dance that each girl got to do at the end. Anything they wanted to do and for as long as they dared. Loved to see this Girl flit across the floor soaking up the undivided attention.

Once was not enough!

Today J competed in another 1/2 Ironman triathalon (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run). Could you imagine a more beautiful day or think of a more gorgeous setting in which to compete in such an event (excluding a tropical location of course!)? Thankfully the sun was shining but I don't think it did much to compensate for the 60

degree water temperature. Luckily J (in the middle of the photo, waist deep in water with the black goggles on) was given a full body

wetsuit by a generous co-worker who also competes in triathalons.

Of course we brought the whole cheering section along. Once again waking them in the wee hours of the morning before the sun had risen and schlepping them in the double stroller through the state park along with anything and everything that we might need for a day away from the house and the car including, snacks, busy activities, blankets, jackets, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, etc. And this time we came

prepared with signs so that there would be no mistaking who we were cheering for. Next time we'll be adding a cowbell for audio

effects. Here's our guy at the completion of his two lap swim around the lake prior to exiting the water. While J raced to the transition
zone, the Girls and I were off on our own mad dash to the bike mounting area to catch a glimpse of him before he headed off on his ride. Once on the course, we were able to see him pass three more times as the route looped out of the park one way, went back in the opposite direction and then back once again. I love that despite his seriously competitive spirit, J isn't so in the zone that he doesn't make time to

look for, smile and wave to his Girls. At this point he was more than halfway done with the biking portion - his favorite and best sport of the

three events. As for us, what do we do in between sightings? We wait. And wait. And then wait some more. By the side of the road, no less. Just steps from the shoulder in a small patch of mossy grass. Then we welcome friends who've come to show their support for J and provide us a reprieve from the monotony of waiting.

His final turn on the bike as he heads toward the transition area.

The start of his run, dreading the 13 miles that lay ahead of him but still with a smile and a wave for his Girls.

Baby Sister anticipating her Daddy's arrival near the finish line. Holding her signs high, waving them around and chanting, "Go Daddy. Go Daddy. Go Daddy."

Finally it all caught up with her and just minutes before J came running down the trail and into view, Baby Sister fell asleep in my arms.
But she was quickly startled awake by my exclamation of, "Here comes Daddy!" J stopped long enough to grab her out of my arms...

and before she even knew what was happening, she found herself racing to the finish with him.

(A huge shout out of thanks to Miss A's Mom who caught such a precious memory in photo form.)

A post race kiss for his Knucklehead.

I couldn't resist adding this shot, taken after the race while we were waiting for J who was checking out his splits and final time at the results table. Love Baby Sister's body language. She's making it quite clear that she is officially done with all the race business. It's as if you can read her mind, "Can we get outta here yet?"

If She Were on Facebook...

...she'd have no shortage of profile pics! (I love, love, love this one!)

All of which would be self-portraits. Sometimes she sets the timer.
But more often than not, she holds the camera at arm's length.

She does action shots...

thumbs up...
pouty lips...
extreme close-ups...
occasionally shows off some bling and my favorite...

the "whatever Mom" roll of the eyes. If these are a glimpse of her teenage years, Lord help me...I'm gonna need it!!

Rain Boots

The Girl had long ago outgrown her hand-me-down rain boots given to her by a friend and we never replaced them. But this year I figured we'd better invest in a pair for those rainy recess days in kindergarten. With impending (and inevitable) rain in the forecast we went out Wednesday night and got her a rain jacket and boots. These zebra print pair were her second choice. Her first choice - Hello Kitty but they didn't have a pair in her size and she was unwilling to wait so she happily settled for the zebra print. She's the kind of Girl who when she wants something, she wants it now. An instant gratification kinda Girl. Anyhow, if Big Sister was going to be wearing rain boots of course Little Sister had to be as well so we unearthed this little red pair (that used to belong to the Girl) from the garage. This was a pic I snapped of them right before leaving the house to walk down to the bus stop on Thursday morning. Don't you just love Little Sister's bedhead?!

New Baby!

Nope, not ours but I'd claim her in a heartbeat!! She belongs to our dear friends, their first and Miss Punctuality. She was due yesterday and arrived as scheduled, bright and early at 1:04am weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces. We just couldn't wait to meet her so today after Justin got off of work we headed over to the hospital. The Girl was eager to hold her and Little Sister was paying her quite a bit of

attention as well. She kept pointing at the baby and saying, "So cute. So cute." Let's hope (and pray) that she feels the same way about her own Baby Miss in a few months.

Bedtime routine

This is what our new bedtime routine looks like. All three of us piled into the Girl's bed to read a story or two. Used to be that I'd put Little Sister to bed first which consisted of some singing and rocking in her room, before putting her into the crib. Then I'd head down the hall to the Girl's room to read stories and say prayers. But since school has started, on some nights I have been putting the Girl to bed first and Little Sister barges right in, climbs up on the Girl's bed, crawls over me and inserts herself cozily between us.