Third Trip through Purgatory

We have found, through our previous experiences, that it is NOT the first cold/flu season of a young babe's life that kicks his or her behind.  It's the next one:  the one without the benefits of nursing, the one where the kid becomes mobile, the one where her hands go everywhere they shouldn't.  If history repeats itself, this coming fall-winter-spring will feel like one long infirmary stay.  Well, here we are in the second week of September, and we have already had multiple fevers, countless snotty noses, and two different bouts of stomach bug divided between our three kiddos.  Neve is taking the brunt of the germ attack right now.  She is absolutely down for the count with some atrocious stomach/upper respiratory two-for-one combo.  (You know it's going to be a bad day when you have to start the morning with a bath just to get her nasty smells off of her.)  We're just praying that it doesn't get passed on to anybody else because we have a super-busy couple of weeks ahead of us.

But, so that you don't get a sad, sad impression from this posting, here was Neve at a somewhat happier point of the day.  (Granted, these moments were far and few between.)  Just wake us up when this entire cold/flu season is over.  Whoever said that parenting is blissful obviously did not have a sick, hacking, puking kid at the time!!!

Last Gasps

One of the perks of living where we do is that we our summers usually last well into September.  Another is that our suburban/urban area truly believes in preserving plenty of green space for fun outdoors.  Even though we have lived here for seven years, we are constantly finding new hidden park gems everywhere around us.  We walked back deep into a wooded riverbed park in Arlington today and discovered a perfect playground, a canine water park, and some wonderful kid-friendly waterfalls all within minutes of each other.  Here's Katie doing her best monkey impression at the playground.

Since we are now post-Labor Day, all of the area pools are closed for the summer.  But, that doesn't stop our temperatures from reaching the high 80s-90s at times.  The river was the perfect place to hang out and cool down today.  Plenty of other kids were out picnicking and river-splashing as well, so the kids had a blast with the crowds.  Alas, back to real world tomorrow for Katie.  Michael starts school on Thursday!!!

Witch's Fingers

We haven't shown you a picture of Nevie lately, so why not a cute one of her playing with her food?  Here she is making her "witch's fingers" with a Bugle chip.  (It's a silly game the bigger kids like to play:  cover all of their fingers with a Bugle and then cackle like a witch.)  Neve is getting really good at mimicking all of us, so it's fun to see what we can get her to do.  It's nice to know that she will probably not ever go through speech therapy like Michael as she is picking up vocabulary left and right.  And, she's getting stronger by the day with her physical skills.  We can't wait until she's off and running....soon!

Firttthhhht Tooth!

Guess who finally lost her first tooth today?  After wiggling her front tooth for what seemed like months, Katie finally found the courage to just yank the thing out.  And, following normal Katie-mode, she immediately felt verklempt rather than joyous.  As soon as she saw the blood, she said she was dizzy and had to lay down.  Then, to her utter horror, she noticed that she was not "talking right."  You know, the normal, cute lisp that comes with a tooth lost.  She unceremoniously announced that she would not go back to school until she could properly say her "S"s again and that she was so embarrassed.  It was hard not to snort and chuckle.  We think she pepped up a little when we reminded her that the Tooth Fairy would be coming, but then Michael said he was scared of the Tooth Fairy and would not go to bed tonight.  Sigh...the dramas of our household.  As of right now, we can hear Katie practicing "S" words to herself in the bath tub...  Happy Firttthhhht Tooth Day, Guythhhhh!

Uno

Geesh, she doesn't look like such a little girl anymore, does she?  Unbelievably, our first baby started first grade today!  Unlike last year, there was no fear, no trepidation.  She knew the drill.  As a matter of fact, I have a feeling that she is going to ask us to stop walking her to the bus stop soon.  Although she never spills much about her school day, I was able to gather a little info:  a.) she wishes she didn't have to take Spanish, b.) she met a new friend at lunch named Grace, c.) Grace shares her love of the American Girl doll Saige, d.) her teacher is nice, and e.) she loved seeing some of her old pals at recess and lunch.  She happily climbed into bed tonight, so the day must have been a success.  Now, on to getting Michael ready for his big day next week!!!

Playing Through

Neve was feeling a little under the weather today, so Mike took the big kids into the city for lunch, a matinee showing of "Planes," and some mini golf.  The kids did very well taking in one of their first full-length features, despite past sensitivities to theater sound systems.  Even Michael made it through the whole movie (minus one potty break), when properly plied with licorice.  And Dad was ecstatic with their patience when standing in line for 75 minutes to try the National Building Museum's current "Mini Golf" exhibit.  Still not sure if it was worth the long wait, but the kids did seem to be entertained by each hole's custom design by leading Washington-area architects and contractors.

In honor of tomorrow's first day of school for Katie, here she is putting out on #7's "Homeroom."

Stay tuned tomorrow for a status report on our growing "1st Grader."

Happy End of Summer!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  Since thunderstorms are in our forecast for tomorrow, we decided to get one last day in at the pool.  A big thanks goes out to our friends Maureen, Brian, Connor (6-years-old) and Maddy (3) for inviting us over to their pool for a swim and some pizza.  Their pool was awesome, with its own sprayground area, a zero-entry baby pool (which Neve loved!), and a cool diving board.  Of course, the big kids had fun with the diving board.  Here's Katie's attempt at a dive....not quite, but almost there.  We'll certainly miss all the fun we had swimming this year, but Traci is definitely ready for a break from the effort it always took with three kids there.  On to next year!