Camping!

We went camping for my dad's birthday this year. It was the first camping trip of the "summer" and the first time we went with two kids! We had a great time. Nighttime is still a bit of a challenge. Nora was afraid to be in the tent alone, so she stayed up with us. The first night, we went to bed pretty early and she did ok. The second night, she was really tired and just kept moving around. When she finally sat down, on Danielle's chair, she literally fell asleep within minutes sitting up. I'm hoping my dad got a good photo of it that I can post later. I think Andy and I may need to think about investing in a different tent. We like ours, and it may work for another year or two, but as Nora and Beth grow, we may need a bit bigger footprint!

It was a great weekend for camping. Warm and sunny, but cool at night. We could not have asked for a better camping weekend! We brought both kids into the Canoe. Beth was a bit nervous in it unless I was holding her up so she could easily see over the boat. Nora had a good time and ended up going for a short ride with just daddy. As usual, we made breakfast burritos (a camping favorite - although I'm not sure why we don't make them any other time!), ate S'mores and enjoyed being outside!

One of Beth's favorite things while we were camping was climbing from one chair to another. She even caught herself a few times when losing her balance!



Andy went out on the canoe alone and paddled while standing in the middle!


Enjoying time on the beach!




Nora decided that our "toy bin" was a good seat at the campsite!






Some fun while getting ready for the camping trip. We set up our tent to try and figure out how we'd get all four of us in. We also brought the kids tend and tunnel outside. They had a blast crawling through it! Nora also loved the big tent and was very excited to get to have a chance to look around inside!

Preschool!

Nora started preschool on Monday. The first day was a bit tough for everyone. The dropoff didn't go well, and Nora was pretty unhappy. I spoke with the teacher, and after speaking with the school director, we were able to arrange a way to work towards a more peaceful dropoff for Nora on Wednesday. I was amazed at how much better it went. Nora seemed to be much better. I think Nora needed to see me enter the classroom in order for her to know that it was a safe space. Walked in once, said goodbye, and now (a week later) I open the door and she runs in! Back to my independent little girl who waves at mommy while she runs off with her friends.

Of course, on Thursday, I found out that there is a space open at the Pine Hill Waldorf nursery program. This program was my first choice, but due to the lengthy drive and the $$ we had decided not to commit. Especially since Nora wasn't potty trained and seemed so young last March when we needed to make the decision. Now, she seems so much bigger and she is potty trained. It's still a bit more $ than we'd like to spend, but I think in the long run Nora will blossom at Pine Hill. It's such a wonderful program - they play outside nearly every day, even on the colder days, which is perfect for my little naturalist! We have tried asking Nora and get a blend of answers. First, it was Bluebell, then no school, then bluebell. Now, it's Chapel school or no school and I'm sure tomorrow will be bluebell or chapel school as her answers. The next few weeks should be interesting!

Beths 1 year well baby visit

We had Beth's 1 year well baby visit yesterday afternoon. It was a hectic day, to say the least, but the dr visit provided a nice break. The visits have been at Nini Bambini and that makes it fun! Beth is a very active little peanut. During the exam, she was sitting on the big chair and started climbing, flooping and rolling around, all while giggling. Made things interesting!

She's currently 18lbs 8 oz, 27.75 inches long, both in about the 10th percentile. No worries though, she eats lots and is very active! She'll be rear-facing in the car for a bit longer though!

Flowers and smugmug

We have started putting our photos onto smugmug. It's a great location for us to save and share photos and work as backup storage in case something happens. We still need to go back and load in photos from before Beth was born, but I have a lot of more recent photos loaded up now. For those family members who like to print/save photos - it's easy to save high resolution photos straight from Smugmug too.

We've been able to pick flowers each week when we pick up our CSA. Nora loves picking out the flowers and she claims that a few of them "make her calm." Sometimes if Nora needs to calm down, she goes and gets a flower. I posted a few photos on smugmug of the flowers we've been picking (look in the Nature folder).

Davis Farmland!

Nora, Beth and I went to the Davis Farmland. It was a beautiful day outside and we had a great time. We stayed far longer than I planned too! The best part - Nora seems to be losing at least some of her fear of animals! She fed the animals and even touched a baby goat! Granted it was all through the safety of the fence, but it's an improvement!

Early on, she would only feed the smaller goats from a safe distance with her feed cup.

It didn't take her too long to gain enough confidence to get closer to the cute little goats. She would shy away anytime a bigger goat got close to her, even from across the fence.


Beth needed a snack, so Nora got to play in their little water area by the picnic tables while Beth nursed. For those who haven't been to Davis, they do have a wonderful nursing room for days that are too cold or too hot (and for those who prefer and/or need privacy). As you can see, Nora still doesn't quite have the hang of fishing down...she was in the water "fishing' in the dirt...

She really enjoyed pumping the water though!


Nora explaining how the cow "nursers" work.

And now showing me how to get milk out of the "nursers"

Beth enjoyed cruising around the water play table in the water area.


Now she's cruising around the car in the splash zone.

And of course, tasting the water!


Nora and Beth enjoying the fire hydrant spraying them in the more toddler friendly splash zone.

Look at the baby cow, she's sleeping!


Nora feeling safe, actually pets a cute baby goat!

A photo of the baby goats Nora touched!


Towards the end of the day, she even fed the goats with her flat open hand! And, she didn't freak when the bigger goats came watch!

Goats going "smash" according to Nora...

I'm not tired mommy!

Nora proclaimed she was not tired less than 10 minutes before I snapped this photo:

Knit gnome hat!

I finished one of my work in progresses! It's a gnome hat for Nora. I'm going to make a smaller one for Beth (need to modify patter though!).

Nora decided to try it on Beth. It was a bit big, but she looked cute!

Here's Beth, still wearing the hat trying to get a hug from nora.

Touch a Truck

A few weeks ago, we went to the Touch a Truck at the Nashua High School South parking lot. They had fire trucks, police cruisers, a zamboni, lots of construction trucks, a school bus, a Nashua transit trolley, an ambulance and many others all ready for kids to explore (and hit the horns!). When we first got there Nora requested to be carried by daddy. We walked a loop around all the trucks, pointing them all out to her. Then, we let Nora and Beth play in the grass for a little while, which they both enjoyed. On our second loop, Nora actually went on the school bus, in the ambulance and in the Nashua trolley. Of course, now, two weeks later, she's asking to go to the touch-a-truck so she can sit in the tractors and diggers. It's amazing how long it can take her to warm up to and process some things!


Nora on the school bus. The pouty expressing cracks me up- and kind of clues me in on what to expect in a few years!


Beth looking cute on the soccer field.


"tickle tickle tickle"

Beth's Birthday Party!

I decided to make a separate post for this. Beth's birthday party was a ton of fun. My sister hosted at her house, so we had a big family pool party and bbq. Danielle did a wonderful job decorating for the party and we had food contributions from many people. I was very happy that everyone seemed to like the maple-teriyaki marinade I made for the chicken. Danielle also made the birthday cake, which came out amazing - she did regular and mini cupcakes and made the #1 with them. They were super tasty too! Beth loved her birthday cupcake, but I think she made a bigger, more fun mess eating the watermelon! As always, we are very grateful to celebrate a big milestone with our wonderful family and wish more people could have visited!

On the morning of Beth's birthday party, Nora and I made Beth a birthday crown. It came out really cute and seems to be a perfect craft for an almost 3 year old!

Here is a boatload of photos from Beth's special day.

Showing off her birthday crown!

Close up of the cake.

The cake/gift table


The food! Super yummy. chicken, burgers, fruit salad, edamame and corn sala, pasta salad, garden salad...


A close up of the wall above the food. A photo from each month of Beth's first year! Awesome!


The BBQ expert.



Beth enjoyed the watermelon.






Nora enjoyed the watermelon too!


Family enjoying food and conversation.


After lunch, the pool lots of fun!




Then it was time for cake! Singing happy birthday to Beth.

She was a bit vocal about her impatience to get that wonderful looking treat!

Finally! She gets her hands on her cupcake.

And she enjoyed it!

Licking frosting from her fingers.



Shortly after gorging on cake, she totally passed out in the stroller. She only slept for about an hour, but it was a very nice rest!


Opening gifts. She did a pretty good job of staying focused and ripping paper!