Merry Christmas...a welcome gift!

This morning, bright and early, our second child, SAP was born.  S, aka Mama from now on, woke me up at 2ish in the morning.  Winter break from school had begun when we both left work that afternoon.  Apparently, again, she didn't want to waste any of her maternity leave bonus time from having a vacation involved.  Despite declaring she would not have a baby on Christmas or Christmas eve, her is our little S (officially S, from this point forward), and our little, but growing, family.  Merry Christmas!

Thank you, natural disasters

In the past week, K has had both her first earthquake, but also her first hurricane (Irene).  I'm claiming it, even if it got downgraded just before hitting CT.  Sydney still took things seriously, and didn't want to go out to do her business, at all.

This is across town.

We didn't have power for 30 hours.  Many people are having it much worse.  After the storm was over, we had to go to Pop and Grandma's to shower, and get something hot.  On our way home, the state highway had power all along it, but when we turned off it, a quarter mile from our house, it was pitch black.

This is one street away from our house.

Swim lessons

All summer long, K has had swim lessons (you know, since the pool bubble ruptured last winter, it's been a long time).  She's been progressing really well.  Now, she kicks around the shallow end of the pool using the noodle while Mama or any other swim teacher watches.  When Daddy's been around, she chases him.

After the second day of lessons, K wanted goggles so she could "go under water."  This consisted of going up to her nose, but never actually getting under.  She used to love jumping into the pool.  Then, last week, some boy cried about jumping in, and since then, K hasn't really wanted to.

In fact, she thinks she's sneaky.  She takes off her goggles and tells the swim teacher she can't go under water.  Today, she did one jump, but kept her head above water.  She then tried to escape before the second jump at the end of her lesson.  We sent her back.

The instructor grabbed K, made her jump, and then dunked her good.  It was awesome.  Mama and Daddy told K how great it was.  We hope she's up for jumping in again.  We'll also remember the new camera.

*Photos added July 26, 2011

The Big Race

Today, K ran her first ever race.  So, after some limbering up, and some yoga, pre-race, K went for a run.  It was supposed to only be 50 yards.  But, when we go there, the powers-that-be decided to only have a quarter-mile, and a mile race (there was a half-mile discussed, but never run).  K did great.  Both Daddy and Nana also had races of their own.  Everyone did their best, and everyone got medals.  Most importantly, K had a blast!

SnoPocalypse!!!

The SnoPocalypse hit on Wednesday. It took 3 hours to truly dig out after the second storm of 2011. Two in less than a week occurred, and this one dumped more than 2 feet on us. Because of that, Daddy had an extra day off. So, Thursday, K and Dad went out for some exploration and adventure. In the best sledding tradition of Daddy's youth, K did her first OUT OF BOUNDS sledding...

Mama had to work.  Poor her.

Almost 3...time to post...

K had her first "solo" swim lesson. She had to pretend to be 3. A few more weeks, and she'll be legit. This video was the first taken with the new camera. The camera work is so-so. The music, however, makes this video EPIC.