Walk the line...

The littlest has been making big strides today (no pun intended).  She's walked form the couch to the dog (a few steps). Took five steps from the fridge to me earlier. And, she just tried to walk across the living room to me. It was pretty good.  What's best is, she realizes she's doing something different, and it makes her very happy.  It's not just cute. It's super cute.

Baby steps...

Last night, I thought the highlight of the weekend with S was going to be that she (finally) learned to clap.  She'll do it for you, just show her you want to.  But then, this afternoon, she and big sister K were playing...together.  She's not even 11 months old.  And there she was, chasing K back and forth in the play tunnel/tube thing. Laughing, and having a great time.

Then, just before bed time, Mama was doing the same thing she's been doing for weeks: trying to help S take steps.  Sure enough, tonight was the night. She had been standing (a lot) all weekend.  So, tonight, she took her first 4 steps, and promptly fell on her bum.

Things are moving fast.

I should update this more often.  We take pictures, at least ;-)

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