The Rest of August

I am so terribly behind in my blogging and can't seem to get caught up so here is the rest of August!

Daniel and Jason did a lot of yard work.

We all did a lot of swimming, enjoying the super warm pool and the remaining summer days.

Daniel played himself out on a daily basis and apparently his toys need to rest too because he often takes some with him, lines them up, and then goes to sleep once all is in order.

Daniel and Abby playing "jump fort" on a rainy day.

 

Splashing in our little kiddie "pools" in the yard.  I fill the tiny tub with warm water for Abby but she has more fun splashing on the mat and Daniel likes the "hot tub".  Oh well, they have fun.

 

 

Abby has started to take cruising steps while holding onto furniture.  Her first such steps where while pushing her Fisher Price baby grand piano!  She looked like a geriatric patient in her jammies walking so unsure on rickety legs!  Abby is still remarkably beautiful, has a killer smile, and has become a flirt.  She has also developed some not so attractive habits like throwing her food and cup when no longer wanted, throwing fits when something doesn't go her way, and no longer being a good eater; she pretty much doesn't want to eat anything. She is as sweet as can be with her grandparents, especially my dad, and loves to watch and pet dogs.  Her first word was Woof Woof!  

 

Picnic at the Lake Cut Short

It is amazing how large a Canada goose is, espically when you are trying to picnic with your small children and the geese keep getting closer and closer.  These geese walked right onto our blanket and started pecking at my picnic basket.  I didn't want to wait until they took pecks at my babies!   Eventually I had to just pack up and run.  We ended up having our lunch at the park.

 

Preschool Day One

Putting stickers on his first completed school pages!

Daniel started Pre School today.  Since he already knows most of the curriculum we will be learning how to sit still, pay attention, follow directions, and hopefully learn some new skills and information along the way.  Already today we drew a bit and practiced cutting out shapes -- both new to Daniel!   He wanted to drive to go to school, we can't afford pre-school, so he just took his Cozy Coupe around the house and parked it by the dining room table. It's a win, win!   

Day of Digging

Abby the spectator.

 We have an old septic tank buried in the yard that Jason wants to do something about; it makes a bit of a bump in the lawn that irritates him when he is mowing.  He and Daniel dug it up to open the top and see what could be done with it.  Daniel was adorable! He copied everything that Jason did and looked so stylish with his matching gloves, glasses, and hat! 

The Wiggles Concert 2012

A happy, excited little boy waiting for the concert to start.

Last summer Daniel discovered the Wiggles.  He knows most of their songs and dances and has a guitar he gets out to play along with them when we watch them on TV.  We all enjoy watching Daniel sing and dance along with them so much that when we discovered they were doing one last world tour before retiring, and that they were coming to Hershey, we jumped on getting some tickets.  Unfortunately they sold out right away and we couldn't get any.  Then they added two more shows so we ended up being able to get some after all!!  It was a bit overkill but my parents and Jason and I all went to the Wiggles concert just to watch Daniel watch them in person.  At first he was really excited but then got scared for one reason or another and said he wanted to go home.  I don't think he understood what was going on and it was late, loud, and dark.  After a few songs and some coaxing he started to enjoy himself a lot. 


Entering the stage in the Big Red Car!



Captain Feathersword is quite the gymnast.

Murray standing next to my dad, just after Daniel got a high five.

I think we all enjoyed the show, the energy, the music, and the audience participation.  The guys come into the audience twice to collect bones for Wags and roses for Dorthy just so the kids can have a chance to meet them.  Daniel even got to give Murray a high five!  We saw him coming our way so my dad, who was sitting on the aisle, held him up. Murray noticed him, said hello and put up his hand for a high five.  Daniel just stared at him, but Murray waited for several seconds until Daniel smiled and gave him a high five.  It was so kind that he took the time and Daniel still talks about it some times. 
Once the tour is over there will be new Wiggles so this was the last chance to see Daniel's favorites live.  It is too bad that he is too young to remember much of it.  I thought it was great!

Books to Share

 Jason and I have tried to instill a love for books and reading in our children.  Daniel is perpetual movement but will stop and look at books for a surprisingly long time.  We read at least two dozen books a day for Daniel and about a dozen for Abby; she isn't as good a being still for the stories and mostly wants to eat the book.  She does have a few favorites though, a big one with a fuzzy animals with hair she can rip out, a cute book about a duck, and one about puppies.  She'll reach for those over and over again and even gives her favorite animals kisses.  Daniel is learning to read a bit so hopefully he'll be able to start reading new stories to himself soon!
 

Sharing Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books with a friend at her grandparents' lake house during a Sunday school class picnic.  They played on the top bunk with the books for a long time.

The kids' book and puzzle cabinet. Abby thought it would be fun to pull out all the puzzles! Daniel wanted to put them all back together and Abby just ate a book.

Saturday Out

 Jason and I decided to take the kids to the Children's Lake today for a stroll and picnic.  Nearly a hundred ducks swarmed to our bread crumbs much to Abby's excitement.  The fuzzy ducklings even ventured over to see us!  We stayed most of the morning and had a picnic at the Appalachian Trail information station then headed home for naps.

After dinner that evening we took advantage of a red-neck fair at the Newville fire station.  The event was complete with country music, pony rides, tractor rides, a "train" made of rain barrels, a gambling barn, lots of food, and a children's game area with games like ring toss and Daniel's favorite, "go fish" where you clip your $.50 ticket to a string, throw it over a wall and pull it back with a $.05 toy in its place. 

 All the local fire stations brought their fire trucks out to join in the fun and Daniel found a truck to climb all over and even got to try on the fireman's stuff.  The very nice fireman loved having Jason to talk to and I snicked to myself that my 9 month old had more teeth than him!

Listening to the fireman tell him what the mask on the chair is for.

Abigail is 9 Months Old!

Our little princess is now 9 months old! I can't believe how quickly these past few months have gone by. Abby has become a very silly, happy-yet-temperamental, sweet little girl. Now that she is more mobile she enjoys getting into as much as possible and her nick name, Grabigail, is even more appropriate. She loves to be the center of attention and is good at getting what she wants. (If she doesn't, we'll all hear about it!)  Her 9 month well visit went well and we were informed that she is in fact perfect in every way! (As if we didn't already know that.)  She is 28.25 inches and 17lb 6oz .  This puts her around 75-80% and 20-25% on the growth charts for height and weight respectively and keeps her on her normal growth curves to be tall and thin like her mommy used to be.