Sippy Cup

We gave Baby Sister her first taste of water yesterday and it was her maiden voyage with the sippy cup as well. The Girl did not take a liking to the sippy cup, in fact she flat out refused them and clung to her bottles well past the age of 2. So I figured I might have better luck with Baby Sister if I introduced the sippy cup earlier than I did with the Girl. As you can see, Baby Sister definitely figured it out and she was quite intent on being able to focus on the lid while drinking.

Oh what a day!!

Today was a fun-filled, sunshiney day spent with friends. We did a little bit of just about everything that is perfect on a late spring day:

...smiling at the park,

...flying a kite,

...throwing weeds in our face (the Girl got mad that I told her she couldn't throw weeds at her friends so she decided to throw them at herself instead)

...eating soft-serve ice cream cones,

...letting Baby Sister play in the sand (her first time!)

...striking a pose on the beach,

...eating sand,

...collecting shells,

...riding on a ginormous boat,

...eating huge, delicious sugar snap peas at the farmer's market,

and after all of that, these three friends still hadn't had quite enough of each other so it was off for a dip in Miss A's new pool.

t.r.o.u.b.l.e.

...that's what I'm in. I've had it easy for far too long - 254 days to be exact. Much like the Girl before her, Baby Sister has abided her sweet time in the arena of mobility. I've always just been able to lay her down on a blanket and be secure in the knowledge that if I left her alone for a few minutes I would return and find her more or less in exactly the same spot. That has all changed as of today. It was a typical Tuesday afternoon, Baby Sister was laying on a blanket in the hallway outside of the Girl's ballet class and I was right next to her chit-chatting with the other Moms when I noticed that she'd begun rolling and didn't stop until she'd reached another Mom that was sitting on the floor at the opposite end of the blanket. And not that Baby Sister hasn't rolled before, she has many times but usually only in pursuit of a toy that was near enough so that all she had to do was roll onto her tummy and then she'd quickly roll back to her back as she isn't too fond of tummy-time. But never more than a few consecutive rolls. This afternoon she was back and forth the entire time that the Girl was in ballet. Then when we got home, as soon as I put her down on the floor she was back at it. Man are we in trouble!! With the Girl, we never really had to worry about her putting anything into her mouth, unless it was her binky. Baby Sister is an entirely different story, anything that she can get her hands on automatically goes straight into her mouth. So I spent part of the afternoon rushing around the house in a frenzied state clearing the floor of numerous small toys (miniscule doll shoes, jewelry, crayons) and lecturing the Girl on the importance of picking up after herself. I even found an industrial-type staple on the carpet in a corner - oh the horror!!!!

...ahem.

Surely cherry Chapstick was never meant to be applied with such abandon. Maybe it's time for a lesson in moderation...

Garage Sale-ing!

What do you do at a garage sale?! Why, dress in your best attire and have a tea party of course!!

Miss A's Mom was having a garage sale and we went over to keep Miss A and her Mom company during above-mentioned sale.

Here is Baby Sister trying out one of the items for sale and getting ready to make a call on her cell. Notice the blanket under her feet, just like her sister before her, she does not like to have her feet touch the grass. She was holding those tootsies up off of the ground until I put this blanket down.

And here she is so helpfully peeling the price tag off of the merchandise. Guess she didn't want it being sold.

Lemurs, Kangaroos, Cabies, Oh My!!

This afternoon we went to a Kangaroo Farm of all places. It's amazing the attractions you find (practically in your own backyard) if you travel just a bit off the beaten path!! Besides over half a dozen kangaroos, there were also many other creatures to feed, pet and chase after. Including:


Lemurs and baby goats...

tortoises...

a caby.

Cabies are the 3rd largest rodent on earth. Pretty darn cute for a rodent, wouldn't you say?

Then there were these little guys running all over.

So cute and fluffy, I couldn't get enough of them.








And then there was this:

Little O was the only one of the kids brave enough to do it.

This was as close as Miss A and the Girl got.

Also a couple of peacocks that the kids had great fun chasing, um I mean, following. Not included in any of these photos were also donkeys, a mini horse, turkeys (of all sorts, shapes and sizes), chickens, roosters and pheasants. Great fun was had by all and the afternoon was rounded out with time spent playing on the swings hanging from the enormous tree at the entrance to the farm.

Oh the more we get together...

...together, together, oh the more we get together the happier we'll be!! (And the more tired, I might add. Ha, ha!!) These Girls have

seen each other 5 days out of the past week and each time they have to say goodbye there is a good deal of protesting and much crying by one or both of them as if it'll be weeks, maybe even years before they see each other again. It is a friendship comprised of playing nicely and fighting like sisters. Of getting into trouble (writing on the walls of Miss A's room) and tenderly comforting one another when one of

them gets hurt. It is a friendship of laughter and of sharing twirly dresses and beloved sparkly shoes.

All Aboard!

On Saturday we went on a 2 1/2 hour scenic train ride through the forested foothills of a majestic mountain aboard a vintage steam-powered locomotive. The tickets were my Mother's Day gift from J and the Girls. It was a real treat for all of us but especially the Girl as she has been wanting to ride a real train since watching The Polar Express a gazillion times at Christmas. There were three types of train cars to choose

from - completely enclosed with glass windows, enclosed but with glassless windows or an open-air car. We chose the latter as it was a warm, beautiful sunshiney day. The views were breathtaking, the sound of the train chugging along and the piercing whistle especially were delightful, the smell of the fresh mountain air intermingled with the pungent scent of burning coal and the cool wet

drops of moisture from the steam provided an amazing multi-sensory experience that we will not soon forget. The train had to

stop a handful of times for deer crossing the tracks and once for a Momma goose and her goslings. Baby Sister didn't seem too impressed and was more interested in playing with a piece of paper before falling fast asleep. As for the Girl, by the end of the ride she was acting like a seasoned train passenger, dancing in her seat, be-bopping her head to the rhythm of the chugging and not even flinching when the

whistle would blow...so nonchalant. It was a splendid excursion and a wonderful gift.