The Littlest of Pals

Finally...Neve gets to play with somebody her own size!!!  Granted, James (our neighbor and godson) was merely being charitable to her by getting down on the floor for play.  He is amazing with his developmental skills:  already running, jumping, going up and down steps, etc. at 17 months.  But, when he noticed that she couldn't follow suit, he plopped down on the floor and joined in for some cup stacking.  Thanks, James, for helping her to blend right in!

The President's Own

The big kids got a special treat today.  The United States Marine Band, nicknamed by Thomas Jefferson as "The President's Own," gave a free kids' concert at a nearby amphitheater.  If you haven't heard of this band before, its primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.  It usually performs at inaugurations, State Dinners, or presidential receptions.  But, for today, they performed for a bunch of eager kids.  Miraculously, my kids turned into perfect, little angels for the entire performance.  Perhaps they learned a thing or two about melody, harmony, or rhythm, but they definitely snapped to attention with the playing of familiar tunes such as Superman, Jaws, and Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

The entire production was really cool for the kids.  The conductor did a fantastic job trying to teach everybody the lingo of the land, and they even invited some kids up to the stage to help out with musical experiments.  (For example, they had some kids draw on large art easels what they were "feeling" as the orchestra played a powerful piece.)  But, the best part for Katie and Michael was the instrument "petting zoo" after the concert, where they got to meet the musicians and touch some of the instruments.  They experimented with things ranging from the bass (above) to the harp (below) to various percussion instruments.  Their favorite?  Both said, "The triangle!"  Perhaps that will change as they grow older.  Anyway, what a great event by one of the greatest orchestras in the world!

Float for Two

Nothing like sharing a root beer float with a beautiful gal.....

Take This Bread!

A huge congratulations goes out to our nephew and godson, Nico (above left), who received his first Holy Communion this past weekend.  We were sorry to miss his older brother Julian's similar celebration two years ago, so we made sure to get to Pennsylvania this time around.  The cousins had a BLAST finally hanging out together.  It's so sad that they don't see each other more often as they get along so well.  We think that Michael especially enjoys playing with things other than princesses and dress-up clothes.  (And, we have to hand it to soccer star Nico....Michael was very well-behaved at his weekly soccer class this week.  Perhaps he has a new idol to aspire to?)

As the godparents, Mike and Traci wish that they could say that they proudly sat in the front row to watch Nico's big moment.  Alas, in reality, we were both in the cry room tending to Neve (Mass fell at her nap time) and Michael (Mass just always falls at his wiggle time).  Sadly, this photo back at the house was our first real moment together.

Speaking of Traci's brother's house...they have a beautiful Roman architecture decorating theme throughout.  Michael had a love-hate relationship going all weekend with this obelisk replica.  He called it the "Oh-ga-lisk" and would run screaming past it.  We weren't sure why he was scared of it, but he also couldn't stop peeking around the corner at it.  We finally had to bribe him with treats to get a picture of him in front of it.

Anyway, a great time was had by all.  Thanks to Uncle David, Aunt Krystina, Julian, and Nico for wonderful hospitality, fun play, and yummy eats!!!

Building Buddies

She may have other limitations, but Neve never ceases to amaze us with how quickly she picks up on new skills simply by watching us.  Take Lego building, for example.  She's obviously been able to demolish and tear apart Lego pieces for awhile, but she's now getting skilled at putting them together (in no particular order, of course.)  She seriously studies what Michael is doing and then tries to replicate it.  It's pretty cute to see a 1-year-old attempt to build decent towers.  Michael even tolerates her in his proximity when she's willing to build, rather than destroy.  We could seriously just dump all of our baby toys since she just wants to be doing what the bigs are doing anyway.  (Oh, if they could just inspire her to walk...)

In other non-baby-related news, Michael is friggin' killing us right now with his extreme 3-year-old fears.  Over the past couple of days, he has developed this manic-crazy fear of flying insects.  We're talking out-and-out, over-the-top, cry-at-the-top-of-his-lungs temper tantrums if he spots anything resembling a bug in the air.  (He has even cried after seeing some dust floating in the sunlight in our house.)  Should definitely make for an interesting summer since we basically live in a bug-infested swamp.  Oh yeah, and did we mention that cyclical forecasts are calling for the biggest crop of cicadas to come through in 17 years?  Good God, we are never going to be able to leave our house until the first frost hits again.  This is only a phase...this is only a phase....this is only a phase.....

Third Time's a Charm?

Well, here you go...Katie's third trip in two years to an emergency room for a bone break!  And here's the story:  A couple of nights ago, we went up to the playground after dinner to enjoy the warm spring weather.  Traci had just gathered everybody up to come home when we ran into one of Katie's buddies just arriving.  Traci decided to give everybody 15 more minutes of play time...oh how she wishes she hadn't!!  Within that 15 minutes, not only did Daddy come up to join us, but some fire trucks pulled into a nearby parking lot to put out an actual fire!!  Needless to say, everybody's attentions were enthralled by watching the fire fighters in action.  Soon enough, however, Katie and her buddy ran off on their own back to the swings.  After awhile, her buddy's dad looked back at them and said, "Oh no, Katie's down!"  When we got over there, we found her crying and holding her wrist.  We didn't even have to think for second...we knew it was broken.  So, long story short, we didn't see it happen.  Somehow she fell off a swing.  And, her awkward fall broke her left wrist.  Thankfully, she should have her cast off in about 3 weeks, but here we go again....

In Other News

Many of you have probably heard our big news by now:  Yes, Katie has broken yet another bone...this time her left wrist.  But, we'll leave that story until later this week when we can capture a picture of her new cast.  In other news, Michael had kind of a disastrous beginning to his (in our heads) illustrious organized sporting career.  You see, we've always accepted Katie's reticence when it comes to sports.  We just shrugged our shoulders and knew that she would find her own thing.  But, we started to pin our sporting hopes on Michael when he talked about how much he loves sporty activities (shooting hoops, dribbling a soccer ball, etc.)  So, when we told him that we had signed him up for Beginner Soccer, he was stoked.  Unfortunately, when the first session began, he immediately lost any interest whatsoever and demanded to go outside to the playground.  Mom forced him to at least watch the entire session, and he did participate in one kicking drill.  But that was it.  He kept complaining about being "dizzy."  That could either be due to a.) his allergy meds kicking in, b.) his low blood sugar from eating half a Pop Tart for breakfast, or c.) utter hogwash just to get out of participating.  At least when we came home from that totally frustrating experience, we had some fun.  Behold Nevie and Michael seeking some water relief from our record heat wave!  (Perhaps Neve's new stomach bug stemmed from something here....hmmmmmmm.)

They Made it the Whole Way!

Mike always has the best ideas for celebrating his birthday.  One year, we spent the day walking around Annapolis.  Another, hiking Shenandoah.  This year, because of the Easter holiday, we had to postpone our annual birthday adventure until this past weekend.  Of course, Mike came up with the best idea:  hiking nearby Sky Meadows State Park, near the VA/MD border.  You see, we didn't want to push anything too crazy on three kids ages 6 and under.  Somebody had suggested to Mike that the hiking trails at this park were a little less challenging and crowded.  So, off we drove, praying that Neve would nap in the car, Michael would actually eat something for lunch, and everybody would hike the trails with their insanity intact.

Well, not only did the kids get into the adventure, but they completed the entire hike without any help from us!  (Neve, of course, had to ride in a carrier...we won't include her in these congratulations yet.)  The hike we selected was challenging enough to even burn our adult calves, so we are sure the kids were struggling a bit.  But, we stopped for lots of snack and water breaks and let the kids have fun looking at nature.  The kids were so in awe with the view that Katie actually believed that we were looking at the entire world.  ("Mom, is that Africa over there?")  After a nice rest on the grounds at the bottom of the mountain, we headed for home, well-refreshed, well-exercised, and well-behaved.  Happy birthday, indeed!

You Call THAT Crazy?

Today was "Crazy Hair Day" at Katie's school.  We had been working on her for weeks to really have fun with it....perhaps try some colored hair spray, funky pig-tails, or even dread-lock-like braids.  But, noooooooo.  Our little conformist (to the nth degree) would only agree to have multiple bows placed on one of her regular hair styles.  (And, ahem, this only because her teacher had used it as a hypothetical suggestion to the kids just days earlier.)  In all honesty, we really should just let her be, as she reaches that age where fitting in trumps all other things in the world.  But, we can't help but be a tiny disappointed when she just won't let go and have a little fun with things.  Oh, and by the way, as we drove in to drop her off for school, we spotted a number of walkers and bus riders coming in with brilliantly painted, truly crazy hairdos.  Guess who started sulking that she didn't do the same?

Referrals Galore

We were finally able to make it in for Neve's 1-year check-up today.  We were kind of dreading the appointment because we knew we would be walking out with some work to do.  And, we were right.  After talking about and demonstrating Neve's gross motor difficulties, the good doc agreed that we should probably get her some physical intervention sooner rather than later.  Sigh...that means going through the same long evaluation/therapy process that we just finished up with Michael (speech).  Neve's symptoms seem to have befuddled our doctor.  First, she observed Neve sitting on my lap and on the floor.  The little kiddo looked absolutely normal, as fluid as can be leaning to get toys, twisting to look at me, even pulling her legs inward to do the bum scootch.  But, the minute Neve had to bear weight on her legs (standing, getting up on all fours, etc.), she went stiff as a board.  It's like watching two completely different kids.  So, with all of that mystery involved, we not only got a referral to the county Early Intervention program, but also a neurologist.  Oh, and don't forget the opthamologist who will have to open up her clogged tear duct.  Sigh.

But, the news was not all bad at this appointment.  The doc was delighted with Neve's fine motor and cognitive skills.  (She's actually well-advanced beyond her siblings on those points.)  And, at shot time, they all found out she has some healthy lungs.  Ahem.  Anyway, here are our new stats:  Height - 31 inches (91st percentile) and Weight - 20 lbs. (51st).  Now, off to research some of those specialists...

April Fool

Having to put up with my birthday on April 1st for 38 years and running, I like to think that I'm pretty hard to pull one over on these days.  Enter 6-yr old girl.  After learning about April Fool's Day at Kindergarten today, Katie was apparently clamoring to pull a prank on her old man this evening.  Thus, she had her Mom wrap up one of Michael's building blocks as a birthday present for me to open up at dinner.  And, I'll be damned if I didn't fall into her trap (with her little note that said "April Fool").

Gullibility aside, I had a nice birthday, complete with BBQ, ice cream, and gifts galore.  Thanks, everybody!  I'll keep my guard up next year...