Wet n' Wild

The weekend was two days of water fun for all the babes. Saturday morning was our twins club's annual summer party, held at a local park that has a great kiddie activity pool. The water is less than a foot deep, and there are all sorts of splash and spray toys, even a toddler-size water slide. Jimmy had missed his morning nap, so spent much of the party snoozing in the stroller while Katie hung out with Daddy in the pool. He did have some time to enjoy the water after he woke up, though, and really liked being able to walk around with the water just up to his waist. Even Sarah got to dip her toes in the pool, though she spent most of the party napping as well.

On Sunday we went down to the yacht club and spent some more time in the pool. Jimmy and Katie just can't get enough of the water, and don't mind at all when their heads or faces get wet. We're giving Sarah some little dips in the water too, mostly in the baby carrier. She seems to like that a lot more than she likes her baths right now. We all had lunch by the pool, then another swim and naps & play time on the boat while Russ got some work done to get ready for our next fishing trip.

New pictures on the July 2008 page!

Ha ha ha ha

Katie has started laughing. Not just baby giggles when she's tickled, but a real "Hahahahaha" laugh when she finds something funny. Of course, it makes us laugh when she does it, which she thinks is even funnier.

Jimmy is taking steps on his own more and more often, and is getting better at it. He's sprouting at least three more teeth, two on top and another one on the bottom, which hasn't made him the happiest little guy lately.

They both seem to understand a lot more of what we say to them than they did just a month ago. They have both figured out how to get down from the couch without falling, and have climbed up onto it a couple of times. Their ever-increasing mobility (along with a couple of biting and hair-pulling incidents) means that we've had to start saying "No!" There's no question they understand it... Katie even hangs her head when she gets in trouble, which is so adorable it's all we can do not to giggle.

Sarah just keeps growing and getting more alert and responsive to us. She's very quiet and content most of the day, but the evenings are a bit of a challenge as she wants to nurse very frequently and be held constantly. I am trying to enjoy it while it lasts, soon enough she'll be scrambling all over like the twins and won't want to be held at all.

We are planning to attend a twins club pool party tomorrow at a local recreation center with a shallow kiddie pool that looks more like a toddler playground in 8" deep water. I'm not sure how we'll do with all three babies and just two of us, but we have to learn sometime, right? :-)

There are more pictures in the July 2008 album, and a couple of quick videos...

Jimmy "dancing" to a music video:



Katie in the toy box:

First time in the pool

Big sis Kirby is here visiting for the week, and today we packed everyone into the truck and headed down to the club where we are keeping the boat now. We all ate lunch by the pool and then took the twins for their first swim in a real pool. They both loved it! Jimmy didn't stop grinning the whole time, and Katie had fun splashing with her hands. Fortunately Kristina (our nanny) had her camera with her, because we remembered to pack ours, but left it sitting on the boat when we went up to the pool. When we were done, we all went back to the boat and Katie & Jimmy napped on their bed while Russ and Kirby went back for a more relaxing swim on their own.

Kristina even got a little video of the twins enjoying their swim:

Nautical News

Sarah had her two-month checkup earlier this week, and at 10 lbs. 14 oz., she has now gained just over three pounds from her birth weight. She also got her first vaccinations, which I think was harder for Mommy & Daddy than it was for her.

The big news this week, however, is that we traded in our boat for a larger one, and a "convertible" style that will allow us to take all the babies out with us. Our old boat was an "open" style, which had more outside deck space but did not have nearly as much room inside. We picked the new boat up today and took it to the yacht club that we joined recently. We are looking forward to enjoying the club and the new boat with the whole family, and we hope to get the twins into swimming lessons soon at the pool there.

New pictures in the July 2008 album.

Just a quickie...

We're busier than the proverbial one-armed paperhanger lately. In the past couple of weeks we have had three new people start work at our office, the house addition has finally gotten moving (they're pouring the slab on Monday), and we're looking into trading in our boat for a larger model. Whew! Tracey had surgery on her shoulder last Wednesday, so it's a quiet holiday weekend as she recovers from that.

All the babes are doing great. Katie has discovered that she can run, and Jimmy is becoming more confident in his walking. He's quite a climber, which has led to some bumps and bruises when he falls off of whatever he's gotten himself up on top of. Both of them are getting a little more picky about their food, and they let us know what they like and don't like. Katie yells "NUM NUM" when she sees something she wants, but don't try to feed it to her -- she wants to do that part herself! Jimmy has mastered the sippy cup, and can even hold it up to his mouth all by himself, though he'd prefer to get someone to hold it for him if he can.

Sarah is growing fast, and we can't wait to see what she weighs at her two-month checkup on Tuesday. She has started smiling at us quite often, especially when Russ sings to her. She is getting better and better at holding her head up too, and she's making all sorts of cute baby noises. She's a very calm baby most of the time, but when something upsets her, boy can she let out a howl! She likes her swings, and her play mat with the lights & music.

There are just a few new photos in the June 2008 album, more to come when I get a chance to get them off of the camera.