We're moving... the blog, that is

We have moved the blog to our own website: http://www.birchbunch.com/blog

All of the old entries and photos are still there, and there is a new update coming soon!

Sarah's first haircut

We've been getting by with the "whale spout", but Sarah has been taking out the rubber band more and more often. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands (of course I saved the little lock of hair that I trimmed from her bangs).

Before:


During:


After:


There are some more new pictures on the June 2009 page too -- just scroll down past all the Disney photos.

Disney Pictures

I didn't get to the pictures until this morning... we were all completely exhausted by the time we got home. All 3 kids fell asleep in the car on the ride home, Jimmy was trying to find a spot to lie down and go back to sleep on the playroom floor while we were getting them into PJs, but Katie caught a second wind and was running around for 10 or 15 minutes before she finally climbed into her bed.

Jimmy is really hooked on trains now. Before we left for the office this morning, he was riding around on his turtle saying "choo choo choo!" He found his Thomas the train engine and was rolling it around on the train tracks printed on the "town" rug in the playroom. I think his birthday may be a good time to start on the Thomas train collection.

The Disney photos are on the new June 2009 album page. It was a bit difficult to get pictures since all three of us (Russ, Kirsitina, and I) each had a kid to hold on to and chase after, but we got a few good ones.

First Disney Trip

We took the kids to Disney World for the first time today and everyone had a great time! There was a bad accident that had the highway closed down on oir way over, so it took us 3 hours instead of 90 minutes, but that was the only snag we hit all day.

We went on It's A Small World, the Pooh ride (formerly Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - this was my first time on it's new incarnation), the steam train, the Tiki Room, and the treehouse. The kids loved all of it, even the parking lot tram and the ferry boat from there to the Magic Kingdom, but their favorite thing by far was the Pooh-themed playground... with fountains of water shooting up out of the ground. All 3 of them squealed and giggled and got SOAKED!! Fortunately it was 90 degrees out & Mommy brought along a change of clothes for everyone.

They had nice naps in their strollers after Jimmy watched the train go past a couple of times ("WOW! WOW!"). At the end of their nap time we took a snack break in the shade just at the right time in Frontierland and ended up with spots right up front for the parade, which had them waving and clapping at all of the characters & dancers.

We had some dinner and a couple of last rides,and then headed for home as we are all pretty worn out after all the ecxitement.

Pictures to come as soon as we get home & get them to bed.

In the Merry Merry Month of May

If I don't write something here pretty soon, we'll have nothing at all for May, so here goes. It's been a whirlwind month since my last post, with a trip to a baseball game, the March for Babies, new toddler beds for all the kiddies, Mother's Day at our new Ikea store in Tampa, Sarah's first birthday, and a Memorial day cookout with some friends.

We're already into summer here, with hot weather and the return of our frequent thunderstorms. The rain has been great for our drought-stricken lawn, but not so good for the kids, who miss playing outside when it's soggy out there. We've had the kiddie pool out a couple of times already, and we have a couple of fun sprinkler toys as well to help keep cool.

The baseball game was the day after our trip to the zoo from my last post, so we had a very full weekend. A whole group from our multiples club went to watch a local minor-league team play, and the kids loved it. It was the same day as the ballpark's benefit for the Humane Society, where people donate an extra couple of bucks to bring their dogs in with them. Jimmy and Katie spent most of the afternoon saying "Doggie! Doggie! Doggie!" They also got to eat not only hot dogs, but also chips and ice cream, which is always a treat. The biggest hit of the day for the twins was the bounce house they had so much fun in there I am sorely tempted to get a little one for the back yard... or at least rent one once in a while!

Our March for Babies day was a great success, our team raised over $1,300 for the March of Dimes and we had a beautiful morning for the three-mile walk. Thanks to everyone who donated & supported us!

Next up was Sarah's birthday... a whole year old already! I baked a cake and we had a little celebration at home. She was much less tentative about digging into her cake than the twins were on their first b-day, and now all three know the word "cake" and what it means (YUM!).

We found some great toddler beds and got Jimmy's & Katie's set up last month, with Sarah's mattress still on the floor until she figured out how to get in and out of the beds. That didn't take long at all, and Tidbit got her bed shortly after her birthday. Bed time is a little crazy as they all run around the room, lift up the blinds and peek out the windows, pile into each other's beds, and whatever else they do in there (we try not to look :-). It is working out very well, they do settle down eventually (usually in their own beds), they all sleep well through the night, and if any of them wake up early in the morning, they play quietly in their room for a while, at least.

For Mother's Day, Russ and the kids took me to the Ikea store that just opened in Tampa. We had a great time! It's getting easier and easier to take the kids out places with us, and they even seem to enjoy the trips more. We picked up a great table and chairs for the playroom, along with some cute pictures, a rug, and a pair of toy bins, a shelving unit for the living room, and some more little goodies. I had a marvelous time, and I got my first present from the kids too -- Kristina (our wonderful nanny) traced their little hands onto paper and turned them into "flowers"!

The cookout was lots of fun. We kept it small this year, but we are hoping to make this an annual tradition and have it be the big "birthday bash" for the three kids & Russ (all of their birthdays are in May & June). It will be bigger & better next year!

Lots of photos in the April and May albums.

First trip to the zoo

We took the kids to the zoo for the first time today, and all had a great time. The twins walked around at first while Sarah rode in the stroller, then Jimmy & Katie wanted to ride so I carried Sarah in the sling. She was so comfy she had an extra little nap before lunchtime while we strolled through the Florida exhibit.

J & K loved seeing the animals, though the ones that were far away or sleeping weren't of much interest. Fortunately this zoo has plenty of up-close exhibits, including the friendly goats at the children's area (we might try going into the petting zoo next visit), a platform where you can feed special crackers to a giraffe (we didn't buy any, but the the giraffe didn't know that so was up close anyway), penguins in a glass enclosure, the underwater windows into the fish & manatee pools, and plenty more.

We stopped for lunch at one of the restaurants there, where Jimmy and Sarah stuffed themselves with chicken nuggets and Katie decided that french fries were the order of the day (she'd had a couple earlier, at snack time). We spent a little more time after lunch in the Asian habitat area, which had some really interesting animals like the Sloth Bear and Bearded Pigs, then headed for home when everyone began looking sleepy. Katie conked out before we even got her strapped into her car seat, and Jimmy wasn't far behind. Sarah was well rested from her extra morning nap, but still dozed a little. We drove around for about an hour to let them sleep and managed to time it just right to be home just a few minutes after they woke up, ready for snacks!

There are several more photos from our day on the April 2009 page.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We took the kids to an Easter egg hunt, their first, over the weekend. Fortunately the age groups were separated so we didn't get trampled. They didn't quite understand the idea of collecting the eggs, so almost as many came back out of their baskets as went in, but they had fun while they were at it. We got to spend quite a while at the playground there too, and Katie caught on to the "big kid" swing with some help from Daddy -- then didn't want to get off. Jimmy enjoyed swinging with Kirby, and Sarah had fun just walking around and swinging with Mommy.

Another highlight of the day was lollipops -- another first for Jimmy and Katie. Katie went to town on hers right away, Jimmy wasn't even sure he wanted to put his in his mouth (funny, he'll put nearly anything else in his mouth!). Once they got a taste of the sweets, their first reaction was to try to brush their teeth with the lollipops. It made sense once I thought about it -- the only thing they have that tastes like candy is their toddler toothpaste. Funny how those little brains work!

The empty plastic eggs seemed to be as big a hit as anything else, so Easter morning they got baskets full of those, plus some other toys. Speaking of toys, I have determined the toy preference hierarchy: 1. dirty diaper, 2. clean diaper that Mommy needs to put on someone, 3. box of diaper wipes (must be CLOSED when Mommy needs to get one out, but when no one's looking must be OPEN and emptied one wipe at a time), 4. any of the other 190385476573 toys in the room.

New April 2009 album page with photos from the egg hunt, our new backyard playhouse, and more. There's also a new video (as of last week) with some cute twin stuff on our YouTube playlist.

Words, words, words

The "verbal explosion" is in full swing for Jimmy and Katie, they are both learning new words daily and putting them together in new and interesting ways. Jimmy still does a lot of talking in his own language, with even longer monologues and more expression. Sarah is starting to make a few sounds that seem intentional, I think I've caught a couple of "mama"s, "buh buh buh" when someone leaves (combined with a little arm wave), and something that may be "more". Katie is really becoming our "little momma" more and more. She knows what the other two aren't allowed to do, and lets them know it with a stern "No! No!"

We're creeping up on potty training time. Jimmy and Katie are already fascinated by the goings-on in the bathroom, and with the contents of their diapers ("Poop?" "No poop in this diaper." "Tee tee?" "Yes, tee-tee"). One day last week Jimmy was looking out the window at the rain pouring down. "What's that?" Russ asked. Without hesitation, Jimmy answered, "Tee tee!" Also, whenever anyone, anywhere passes gas, Katie helpfully announces, "Poop!"

Sarah is becoming quite steady on her feet. She now sets off on her own walking, and often makes it halfway across the room before she loses her balance. It seems like she is making the shift from preferring to crawl to preferring to walk when she can and isn't in too much of a hurry (crawling is, after all, still much faster and easier).

We all went to a local fair over the weekend, and the twins spent most of the time out of the stroller. They had a blast collecting sticks, leaves, and pine cones, but were a little shy when people tried talking to them. It is getting easier to get out of the house with the whole family, especially now that Sarah is eating anything she can fit in her mouth. We have to be careful to give her small enough pieces for her to handle with only four little front teeth, as she will attempt to eat anything and everything (and Jimmy & Katie helpfully try to feed her all sorts of things, edible or not). We are also working with the twins on sitting in their seats at mealtimes for a little while before and after they actually eat, and on using plates and forks, all of which is coming along very well.

Bed time has just become a new adventure, as Katie has defeated the Superyard fence and can now climb into Sarah's crib at will. This makes Sarah very unhappy, and Jimmy too since he can't quite manage the climb himself. For now we have relocated Sarah to a pack & play in our bedroom, tomorrow night we are going to try her mattress right on the floor (with some pillows around it) and then it may be time for everyone to move into toddler beds at once. Thw twins have had one side off of their cribs for a while now, and they're fine that way, except that the mattresses are pretty high off the floor. They don't fall out much, but they do have a hard time climbing back in once they get down, especially Jimmy, so he ends up sleeping on the floor a lot. The toddler beds we're looking at are lower to the ground, which would make the up & down a bit easier on all of them.

There are lots of new photos on the March 2009 page and about six minutes of video that I pieced together from the snippets we captured through the month:

Big Sister, Little Momma

I was nursing Sarah in the (one remaining) comfy chair in the kids' playroom yesterday. Katie climbed up next to us, poked at Sarah's mouth a couple of times and said, very sternly, "No bite Sarah!"

I also managed to capture a few of Sarah's steps on video:


And, while I'm at it, the giggly block-stacking video I mentioned in the previous post:

First Steps, More Words, Eating, Sleeping

Sorry for the disappearing act, we're still here and doing fine. Shortly after my last post, I started going back to the office full time, four days a week (and diving into some new projects that have me working at home on my "days off" too). and the next thing I knew, the entire month of February was gone.

We have been busy at the house as well as at the office. The kids' playroom and bedroom, which were our old living room and bedroom, have new carpet and paint (after some minor, but much-needed repair work on the walls). Since the kitchen is relatively new, compared to the rest of the house anyway, we decided to just give it a fresh coat of paint and leave the rest alone. It's amazing what a new color on the walls does for the place!

We've also had quite a bit of work done outdoors, fill dirt, grading, walkways, and patio. The kids now have an outdoor play area, which is now their favorite place to be. We moved the Kangaroo Climber out there, added a sand/water table (no water until it gets a little warmer, though!), a couple of Cozy Coupe cars, and some balls & toys, and they love it. Jimmy and Katie, with their rapidly expanding verbal skills, now ask for "outside?" several times a day. Fortunately we have the weather for it, even in the middle of winter!

The twins are both picking up new words every day, it seems, and learning how to put them together to tell us things and (more importantly) ask for what they want. When we decipher what Katie is trying to ask us, she grins and says "yessssssss!" Jimmy still tells us a lot of things in his own language, but he is quite serious about it. He often comes up to one of us and runs through what sounds like several very important sentences before walking away. I wish I knew what his words meant!

They both have quite a collection of animal sounds -- when we read Goodnight Moon they chime in with "grrrrrr" (for the bears sitting on chairs) and "meeeeeeeow" (for the kittens). They are finally learning to put names to people too -- Mama, Dada, Jimmy ("Jee-ee"), Katie ("Kay-ee"), Sarah ("Sawa"). Sometimes they fight like crazy over a toy, a seat, or nothing at all, other times their bond is very apparent. One of those times is at night... they started climbing the cribs (into them first, but we realized that this meant they were also able to climb OUT just as easily), so we took the sides off and put a cushion on the floor for the first few weeks. At nap time they both sleep in their beds, but at bed time they start out in bed but more often than not end up on the floor (with all of their blankies, stuffed animals, etc.), curled up together.

Sarah is learning all sorts of things from the twins, sometimes a little too much (like climbing up on the little picnic table). She started standing on her own and taking a step or two a couple of weeks ago, now she's up to five or six steps in a row and standing for nearly a minute at a time. She also finally took to the sippy cup (we never did get her to take a bottle more than once in a while), which is how I was finally able to leave her at home with our (wonderful!!!) nanny and get back to work. She's now holding her own cup, taking two naps a day and going to bed at the same time as the twins, eating everything in sight by the fistful, and has two (bottom) teeth, a third that just came in (on top), and a fourth ready to make an appearance any day now. She is babbling up a storm, starting to wave and say bye-bye ("bah bah bah"), and she loves giving kisses!

I did take some pictures while all that was going on, a few more back in January and a bunch in February. There is also a new video in our YouTube collection of all three laughing at knocking down stacks of blocks.

Busy Start to 2009

We had a great Christmas and, so far, a wonderful new year. The house addition got finished just in time for us to put up our Christmas tree in the new living room. It never did get decorated, but it was enough to just have it there.

The babes don't "get" Christmas just yet, but they certainly seemed to feel the excitement and squealed as they ran in to explore their new toys. We got them a play kitchen, a "Kangaroo Climber" with a little slide, and some other toys (some of the biggest hits were ones I picked up at the multiples club garage sale a couple of months back).

Once we had the furniture in the new living room, we were able to turn the old living room over to the kids as their new playroom, and bring the old dining table back in from the workshop... it's nice to be able to sit down for a meal again!

On New Year's Day we hauled our old mattress into our new bedroom (the new bedroom furniture wouldn't arrive until a week later), but realized that we had some drywall repair and painting to do in our old bedroom before we could put the kids in there so we all slept in the new bedroom together for a few nights (fortunately we have a pack & play for each of them). They are all sharing a room now, which is working out better than we expected. The twins are used to sharing a room, but we were worried that they might keep Sarah awake, or vice-versa. Instead, they all seem to keep each other company, and we have even been able to get Sarah to bed at the same time as Jimmy & Katie. She still wakes up earlier than they do most mornings, but fortunately they sleep right through her crying.

This week we are finishing up the wall repairs and painting in the front part of the old house, which includes the playroom, so it's pretty crazy at home right now. Kristina and I took the kids to the aquarium all day yesterday to stay out of the way, then we had to improvise a play area in the dining room for the next couple of days until the drywall work is done. Over the next week or two we'll have it all painted, get the new carpet installed, and be back to normal in that part of the house anyway. Outdoors, we had grading work done last week, sod put down yesterday, and a new walkway and patio are in the works. A little bit of fence for their outdoor play area, and then we should be able to take a breather for a little while before we move on to the rest of the project list.

I have finally uploaded more photos from December, Christmas, and a few January pics too.

More pictures

Finally got a whole bunch of pictures off the camera, including this gem from the multiples club Christmas party:

Kristina brought presents today since we won't see her again until next week, so we had a little early Christmas fun this morning. Jimmy got a Little People dump truck, Katie got some wonderful books, and Sarah got her first purse... all the new pictures are on the December 2008 page.

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

The house addition is finally finished, passed final inspection last week, and is painted and carpeted. We have the new living room furniture in, some of the computer gear into my new study, got a Christmas tree yesterday, and moved the TV stuff over last night. With the space that (and a little playroom rearranging) opened up, we also brought our old dining table in from the workshop, so we have a place to sit down and eat once again!

Today we're headed to Ikea to get closet organizers for our bedroom, furniture for my study, and whatever else we can fit in the U-Haul trailer we're renting for the day. We still have a lot of odds and ends to finish up (things we'd decided early on that we wanted to do ourselves), but it's great to have the contractor's work done and be able to start using the space.

Our house phone is not working -- we have had intermittent problems ever since the electricians chopped through the phone line while doing some work out back. It's been repaired (a couple of times), but it really needs a whole new piece of cable run underground, something that I doubt will be accomplished in the next few days. We're on cell phones and email until it gets fixed. Fortunately we have a cell phone plan with a gazillion minutes, and in fact this might be the last straw for dropping the home phone entirely, which we've been thinking about for a year now.

Oh yeah, the kids... that's why you're reading this after all, isn't it?

I have a bunch of pictures to pull off of my camera, maybe tonight. I did post a couple of new YouTube videos of Sarah's latest accomplishment, eating (and feeding herself, with some difficulty) Kix and Cheerios. in the few days since she first tried them, she now can't get enough Cheerios. She's also eating (baby food) meat and loves it. She cracks us up with a funny scrunchy-face sniffing thing she does -- Katie did the same thing for a while -- and she laughs when we do it back to her.

Jimmy and Katie are full of surprises almost every day. They have conversations with us and with each other, but not in any language we understand. It's clear they're saying something meaningful to them, though, with the facial expressions and body language that go with it. They are getting better at expressing what they want in ways we can understand -- the other night Katie woke up crying, and once I got her calmed down a little, she said, very clearly, "read read" (her word for anything having to do with books). I looked around, and sure enough the book she'd taken to bed with her was on the floor. Once I retrieved it, all was well. She also combines the "eat" sign with the word "cracker" when she wants a snack.

Jimmy gets us giggling when he dances, which he'll do any time there is music playing or people dancing on TV. He also loves the tickle game, and comes after me and his sisters, wiggling his fingers and saying "tickle tickle". He gives us all hugs and kisses too, and he's surprisingly gentle with Sarah even when she grabs at him or pulls his hair.

When they're not pushing, biting, or otherwise annoying each other, the twins definitely show their bond. I love seeing them "talk" to each other, play together, and give each other things. Jimmy will often find Katie's sippy cup and hand it to her, and Katie feeds Jimmy crackers at snack time. Yesterday she took a handful of goldfish crackers and put the whole pile on the couch, then took one at a time to feed Jimmy or me. Jimmy got in on the act too, and before I knew it I had both of them shoving goldfish into my mouth as fast as they could.

We are about as ready for Christmas as we're going to get, and I'm thrilled to have the Christmas tree in the new living room. The smell alone gets me into the Christmas spirit every time I walk into the room. I still have to wrap gifts and put at least a few lights and decorations on the tree, but overall it's a pretty low-key holiday for us this year with everything else going on.

And finally...

Playground Morning and Girls' Night

This morning we headed out to the larger of the fenced-in playgrounds nearby, and I thought to bring along a pack-n-play for Sarah... best idea I've had in a long time! Sarah played with her toys (and even napped for a little while) in there, and I could spend some time playing with Katie and Jimmy without worrying about Sarah crawling off into some sort of trouble.

We spent a couple of hours there and had a great time. There were a bunch of other kids in and out, which the twins really enjoyed -- especially when they got to play with other kids their own age. It was such a beautiful sunny day I took along my good camera and took lots and lots of pictures, some of which are on the December 2008 album page.

It amazes how easily Jimmy and Katie are able to run, climb, and play on the playground equipment now, and how much fun they have doing it. They don't even mind taking a tumble now and then, they get right back up and keep right on going.

Tonight Russ took Jimmy with him to Home Depot to buy some paint for the addition, and I had some girl time alone with Katie while Sarah was snoozing. What an experience it was having just one of them, even just for an hour! Once Sarah woke up, the three of us played together for a while. While I was preparing Sarah's dinner, I looked over and she and Katie were playing together all by themselves. Katie picked up a couple of rings from the stacking toy, put them on top of the Little People garage (which Sarah had pulled up on), and let Sarah pick them up from there. They just kept doing it over and over, each time Sarah dropped a ring (or Katie took one away). Katie and Jimmy are both doing so well with Sarah now, they seem to realize that they have to be gentle with her, and I think she's becoming more of another kid to them instead of a funny little toy.

Work of Art

We bought some of these crayons a while back, and have been giving the twins a shot at using them every so often. Up until now, they have been more interested in chewing on them (and the paper) than in drawing on the paper. Tonight was no different for Katie (fortunately the crayons have clever plastic housings that only expose a small bit of crayon at a time to be bitten off :-).

This time, though, the light bulb went on for Jimmy. I taped a piece of paper down to their play table, put one of the crayons in his hand and made a little mark on the paper, and he was off and running. He had as much fun banging on the paper as making lines, but he did seem to understand which end of the thing was making the colors on the paper.

I present here his first masterpiece, done all by himself except for a couple of starter marks guided by Mom's hand:

First Haircuts & Picture with Santa

Jimmy and Katie had their first haircuts today, and both did very well. We went to a kids' haircut place where they have fun car-shaped seats and video screens at every station, and the stylists were great with the kids. We did have a little trouble right at the end -- the clippers tickled way too much for Jimmy to sit still through that part, and Katie had just had enough by the time her quick trim was done. They do look much nicer now, and no more bangs hanging down in their eyes. Of course we saved their first little locks of hair and even got certificates commemorating the occasion.

After the haircuts there was no one at all in line to visit Santa, so I figured it was as good a time as any to give that a shot. Katie was just fine with it, Jimmy wanted nothing to do with Santa, and Sarah just cried because I wasn't holding her.

We did have a great time running and climbing at the mall's play area with a bunch of other kids, a nice lunch, and I even got some Christmas shopping done while the twins napped in their stroller after lunch (their first stroller nap in many months, hopefully the return of a good habit :-).

Tonight as we were getting ready for bed we had another first. When I brush Jimmy & Katie's teeth, I take them both into the bathroom, get both toothbrushes ready, then do one kid at a time. Tonight while I was working on Jimmy's teeth, Katie climbed up on the toilet, got her toothbrush off the counter, and brushed her own teeth! I think she might have missed a few (she is up to 12 teeth now, including 4 molars), but she definitely had the right idea!

New pictures in the December 2008 album (December?!!?? How did we get here already??) -- playing in the yard, haircuts, and more.

Sarah at the office (video)

Sarah was hanging out in the conference room with us, then crawled outside and pulled herself up at the window:

Happy Thanksgiving

We just got home from the Thanksgiving buffet at the club and a nice stroll afterwards. We had some good food (alongside the turkey there was shrimp bisque, sweet potato casserole with pecans, and of course pumpkin pie) and family time, the twins loved running around on the dance floor in the dining room, and Sarah even had her own little Thanksgiving dinner of pureed sweet potatoes and oatmeal. The weather is beautiful, though it's hard to believe it's Thanksgiving when we're walking around under the warm sun and palm trees.

There are a few more pictures of our dinner on the November photo page.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, I hope you are spending it with family, friends, or at least something to be thankful for!

The Poop Fairy

Russ thinks a construction worker is sneaking into the nursery at night and leaving things in Jimmy's diaper. Me, I think it's Sarah's crib that the Poop Fairy visits -- it is hard to imagine how something so foul and voluminous could come out of such a sweet precious little girl baby.

Today's challenge is to have everyone awake, dressed, and ready to eat at 2pm when we have reservations at the club for their Thanksgiving buffet. My plan is to skip the morning nap, then having an early (and light) lunch and nap before we head down there. Should work for me, I don't know what I'm going to do for the babies.  Ha ha.

Sarah is pulling up on everything she can, but doesn't know how to get down so just cries when she is tired of standing and waits for one of us to rescue her. Hopefully she will learn the down part as easily as she learned the up part, and soon. I remember Katie going through this stage, I don't think it lasted very long. Jimmy gives us kisses all the time now, very slobbery. He even kisses Sarah and pats her on the head nicely. Katie is picking up a lot of words and a few new signs and using them often. Jimmy only says a couple of words ("tickle tickle", and yesterday I think he said "read"), but he goes on and on in his own language, in a very serious and determined tone of voice, with lots of hand gestures. I have no idea what he is trying to say, but it is fun to watch.

The house addition is very close to finished now. There is some tile work, plumbing, and a few electrical repairs which shold all be done in another week or so, and then we can paint and get the carpet and flooring in. If all goes well, we will be able to have our Christmas tree in the new living room!

I added a few new pictures and some more (out of order) pictures from Holly & Hank's visit to the November 2008 album (don't miss page 2 -- click on the little numbers 1 and 2 at the top or bottom)

Camping & Fireworks

We had our big fireworks camping trip over the weekend up in north Florida. We took the whole crew, both of us, all 3 kids, and Kristina (our nanny). We spent a lot of time inside the camper because it is cooooold up there this time of year, but we had a good time in spite of the weather. A few photos of our camper life are on the November photo page. I didn't take many other pictures this year, as it was quite busy keeping up with the kiddos, even with help. Sarah was perfectly happy to sleep in the top bunk, which we converted to a "crib" using a mesh bed rail. The twins shared the bottom  bunk, which we had to blockade using a board and the bathroom door. They were none too happy about the situation at first, but got used to it pretty quickly. By the last night I realized that continuing the normal bedtime routine (change into PJs, brush teeth, read a story, play music) would help even in a strange place. Duh. the fireworks didn't bother any of the three; they seemed to enjoy watching the ones they saw, and they slept right through even the loud ones later at night.

Jimmy is getting steadier on his feet, starting to sign "more" and "eat", and giving spontaneous, if slobbery, kisses. Katie has become quite demanding, but is also discovering the power of her cute little girl charm. They both love their hide-and-seek game anywhere they can find a little hidey-hole. Jimmy's first molar is finally poking through, and I think Katie has a second one now as well.

Sarah has her first tooth, with the second not far behind. She is crawling, sitting, and pulling up to stand all over the place -- had to rearrange the living room yet again today to keep her out of the TV & stereo. I also put up a more permanent baby gate across the opening into the addition (which is creeping slowly toward completion -- the current  delay is finding a new tile company after the last one fouled up the job three times and then tried to cover up the rest of their mistakes in a way that would have caused us major problems a few years down the road), so we don't have to step over play yard fence every time we want to walk in there. She is still eating well and loves everything we have given her -- so far just a few fruits & vegies, plus cereal, but she finishes a couple of ounces and then begs for more.

We were all happy to be back home in our own beds last night after four days away, but it certainly was a fun trip. Everyone even did very well during the 5-hour drive, with the help of some extra toys, snacks, a nice long lunch stop, and a portable DVD player (which actually saw surprisingly little use).  I look forward to future camping trips, when it's not quite so cold and the kids have outgrown the wild-chimpanzee stage and can enjoy more activities with us.