New Sprayground!

Rumor had it that a new sprayground was built only minutes from our house, so we HAD to check it out this morning! For those who don't remember from last summer, a handful of area parks have implemented these spraygrounds which basically provide kid-safe sprinkler zones. They come quite in handy when you don't have a yard in which to place your own pool/sprinkler. Katie and her buddy Sam (partially obstructed, in the blue crocs to the right of the photo) definitely gave the new park four enthusiastic thumbs up! They ran through the hoops, ducked under the fountains, and splashed in the puddles. And, of course, Katie found the swings right next door. Traci and Julie (the moms) were a tad less enthusiastic because there were no shady spots in the brand-new park. (It'll be a few years before the trees grow in nicely.) Traci almost felt like she was going to pass out before getting herself a little wet in the sprinklers. Don't know how this would go over on a 90-degree day...

Operation Big Girl Bed

Mike and Traci recently realized that they have a million and a half things to do before Baby Cashew arrives. Who knew that another little one would ALREADY bring so much work? One of the first things we thought we should cross off our list is to get Katie acclimated to her brand-new big girl bed. We decided to introduce it to her through naps first, with bedtime sleep coming after some daytime success. Today was Katie's first big day....and we had a GREAT SLEEP! (Hooray!) Yes, she wondered why she couldn't just sleep in her crib that is still in its same place. Yes, it took her an extra 45 minutes or so to stop playing long enough to lay down and sleep. But she eventually snoozed for 2 hours. We'll take it! Now, we'll see if the positive trend can continue, in spite of her figuring out how to get on and off the bed by herself.

Elusive Dancer

We know...this isn't much of a video at all, but Katie was very elusive today... Katie and Traci met up with their friends Cristina, Allison (2.5 years old) and Jacqueline (5 months) to catch an EXTREMELY popular live children's act in the DC area. Rocknoceros, which is not only popular enough to sell tons of children's merchandise, but also to have their own public access TV station here, just happened to be performing at the park pavilion 5 minutes up the street. So, we said, what the heck? What better way to spend a Saturday morning? I had hoped to actually capture Katie and Allison (not pictured) dancing, but they just weren't in the mood today. The girls were more interested in running away and/or eating snacks. These few seconds were all I could catch...and Katie was dancing with some mystery man! What would her other boyfriends think?

I SEE YOU!

Who knows what goes through the mind of a preschooler when he or she is playing... Katie and her bud Patrick (3 years old) always make up the craziest games when they play together. Today they were sweeping the floor with some golf clubs, playing follow-the-leader all over two floors of a townhouse, and playing peek-a-boo from under some crazy hats (see above). (They kept shouting "I SEE YOU" at the top of their lungs.) One thing's for sure - these kids know how to make each other laugh!

I-a Need-a Baby Kicks!

We had one of those "wish-we-had-the-camera-rolling" moments today with Katie... Katie and Mommy were eating a nice ice cream snack this afternoon when Baby Cashew started to kick pretty hard. Mommy asked Katie if she wanted to feel the baby's kicks in her belly, and Katie very gently placed her hand on Mommy. Much to her surprise, she pretty quickly received a JOLT from Mommy's belly and couldn't stop giggling. She was just beaming with joy. Now she asks for a repeat performance all the time, saying "I-a Need-a Baby Kicks!" Let's hope this pleasant sibling relationship continues in the future!

No More Waves!

Last mention of the Outer Banks adventure, we promise! We just felt like you should actually see Katie in action at "the ocean." Ahem....make that her own personal ocean... As we alluded to in the photo album, Katie was not the biggest fan of the unpredictability and power of the Atlantic Ocean and its waves. So, we found a great compromise for our little expert puddle-jumper. We dug out a hole, filled it with water, and let Katie (and her cousins) have at it. After awhile, the high tide swallowed her personal ocean, but she had fun with it for as long as she could.

The Race is On!

Katie absolutely could not get enough of her older cousins, Julian (almost 6 years old) and Nicholas (4.5), while at the beach. They were all glued together at the hip, and we really think they helped her come a LONG way in her fear of older kids. As you can see from yesterday's pictures and this video, they ate together, swung together, swam together, and conquered the playground slides together. The poor girl keeps asking for them and doesn't understand that they live hours away. She hopes to see them again soon!

Back from the Beach!

Katie here. Let me tell you all about my trip to the beach last week! I had a blast hanging at the Outer Banks with my Papa, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. And mommy and daddy, of course. And even some dolphins, turtles, and crabs. Our five bedroom beachhouse was fantastic and the homemade cooking all week was yummy. I didn't particularly like the ocean waves, but the pools, playgrounds, jacuzzi bathtub, spiderwebs, and especially my cousins kept me endlessly entertained.

Check out the photo album to the right for a more complete account of my week at mommy's old stomping grounds in Corolla, NC.

Outer Banks

Off to the Outer Banks (Corolla, NC) for some beach time! See you suckers next week...

Pregnant Me, Take Two - Second Trimester

Well, we just passed the 26-week (or 6-month) mark, so I guess we are on to the dreaded last trimester of pregnancy. (Which...sigh....coincides with the three hellish dog-months of Virginia's swamp summer.) But, before we look ahead, let's take a second to look back over the last 13 weeks.

As anybody who has ever gone through a pregnancy knows, the second trimester is the happy-happy-glow-glow time period. If you've ever seen Hollywood portray the smiling, cute-as-a-button pregnant woman, she was definitely in her second trimester. She had gotten past the puking of the first and had not gotten to the "Just get this watermelon out of me" point of the third. My second tri, for the most part, followed that pattern. I finally had enough energy to keep up with the crazy kiddo during the day, and I didn't need to fall asleep at 8:01PM anymore. The past 13 weeks seem to have gone by in such a flash compared to the first 13 weeks, which really isn't fair if you think about it.

Of course, the trimester has had its high points and low points. We'll start with the low... Nobody ever told me that just 2.5 years of age would make such a difference in the level of aches and pains that I would suffer during pregnancy. I don't remember complaining much about pregnancy inconveniences with Katie back when I was so young (31) and pregnant. But, this time around, I have literally had days where I could barely walk due to severe sciatic nerve/hip pain. Mike usually knows when something is up whenever I'm stooped over like an old lady. (God bless him - he is such a good foot and back rubber!) I don't know how women are doing this in their 40s and 50s! I now also very much understand how the concept of gastric bypass surgery works for obese people. Now that my stomach has been constricted to the size of a pea by "little" Cashew, there are evenings when I cannot even eat Katie-size portions. I guess that is what has been keeping my weight gain down to manageable levels.

But, enough about the lows, let's move on to the fun stuff! Probably one of the highlights of anybody's second trimester has to be the 20-week anatomical ultrasound. I already posted a bit about this before, but, to reiterate, it is so fantastic to walk out of all that testing and measurement with two thumbs up from your ultrasound tech and ob-gyn. Once again, we did not find out the gender, but we definitely have our guesses around here. I am fairly sure that I know the gender (from gut instinct and old wives' tales), but I don't want to reveal anything in case I am wrong. Either way, we are so excited and love looking at our little sonogram pictures. We've even narrowed down the names, but we'll keep that to ourselves as well.

Finally, everybody always asks how Katie has been reacting to this whole pregnancy nonsense. This has been one of the high points of the second trimester as well. As soon as I "popped" in the belly sense, we started hinting around to Katie that there is a baby in my belly. I think, in her own 2-year-old way, she understands the overall concept of brother/sister since most of her buddies have little siblings. But she definitely does NOT understand the baby-in-the-belly concept! Even though she likes to kiss my belly and say "Baby," she doesn't understand how it's going to squeeze out of the now-popped belly button. She also loves to point at me and call me "Big Belly." She then points to herself and says "Little Belly." Then, she claims that SHE has a baby in her belly that will come out through the belly button. She has affectionately named her baby "Conan," after the red-headed talk show host always in the news. So, either she's really confused, or Mike better start taking names and loading his weapons a lot earlier than we ever anticipated!

So, on we are to the final stretch. The next three months will consist of a lot of room/gear preparation, probably more aches and pains, and great anticipation for all hell breaking loose in September. We can't wait to say, "Table for Four, Please!!!"

Girls Having Fun!

Katie and Traci send a HUUUUGE thank-you out to our good friends Angela, Lyla (2.5 years), and Anamarie (10 months) for inviting some work-widows over for dinner and play tonight. We, along with Cristina, Allison (2.5 years) and Jacqueline (5 months), were without our Daddy companions for the evening, so Angela made us a super-yummy enchilada meal to help us get through the night. That's what good friends are for! Of course, the kids had fun getting every toy in sight out for play, while the mommies munched away. The funniest moment of the night? When each of the three 2-year-olds tried to "out-do" each other on the potty. At one point we had three little ones running around with the house with no pants or undies on. We were giving the neighbors quite a show. Guess that peer pressure may just be the key to potty training...



Now, for the amusement of some of you, here is a pretty good (and gruesome) belly shot of Traci right now. Geesh, Mama still has three more months of growth to go!! I'll write more about the pregnancy this week as we have just finally entered the third trimester. YIKES!

Dance Party

Katie had one of the best mornings of her short life today! She met a TON of her buddies (including Connor, Patrick, Allison, Lyla, Sam, Rory, among others) at a local mall to see a children's musician perform. Between running through the nearly empty mall hallways at full speed, riding the escalators, dancing to the music with everybody, and eating ice cream cones with everyone afterwards, I don't think a smile ever left her face. Check out her dance moves with her boy Connor! She dances better than both Dad and Mom combined!

Celebration in Chicago

Grandma M's three kids surprised her with a 70th birthday celebration in Chicago this past weekend (i.e., only 1.5 months late). She seemed absolutely thrilled to have the whole family together for a weekend full of baseball, beanbag toss, airshows, campfires (and other fires), frisbee, parks, movies...not to mention the great food! We've attached a photo album to the right which reflects some of the weekend.

Katie was great on her first flights with her own seat and was in her element with all the attention thrown her way during the weekend. I think the only thing that slowed her down was when we pulled out the match-box cars. She is still talking about her Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins as we speak...

Speechless

Oh, the wonders of a truly great toy store... It's not too often anymore that you will find our little chatterbox speechless, but some of the more fantastical toys at this particularly cool shop did the trick. Katie loves this neighborhood store because they have just about every variety of toy out for the kids to try: there are art easels full of chalk and crayons, doll strollers with babies, train sets with the latest Thomas stuff, electric pianos ready for a masterpiece, and even a full grocery store/kitchen set to make whatever you could imagine. Our goal today was to find a few birthday gifts for Katie's friends. Of course, we were very successful in that regard, AND we actually left without anything for the little princess. Score one for Mom!

She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain...

Every day that we go out into our neighborhood, we try to find something a little different to do. But, Katie certainly has her favorite spots. One of them is what she calls "the Mountain." As you can see in the video, it's literally just a tiny concrete stage/hill, built as part of an amphitheatre behind the local community center. But, months ago, when Katie first scaled it, it was certainly a MOUNTAIN to her! Now, she runs, jumps, and tumbles on it with ease. She's even been known to throw a stroller or two over the edge...

Wine in your Sippy, Miss?

Yesterday afternoon, Katie and Mike made the long trek out to Virginia's wine country to hang out with some of Mike's co-workers and their kids at the Three Fox Vineyard. (Traci stayed home, feeling a little under the weather.) No, the adults and kids weren't getting drunk off of the wine...instead they had a huge play-and-picnic on the vineyard's grounds. Katie's three favorite activities for the afternoon: crawling through the play tunnel (see yesterday's picture), swinging lazily on a hammock, and wading waist-high into the nearby river!! (As a matter of fact, the first thing that Mike said when he got home was, "Well, we went through two outfits today." Traci was just glad said-change was due to a river, not a messy Katie-accident!) It looked like Daddy and Daughter had a terrific outing, just for the two of them!