Getting Wet

So Julia is not the only one around here who has been having fun in the pool.  When we were in Maine last weekend our hotel had a pool and we decided it was time for Benjamin’s first swim as well.  He loves bath time so we were pretty sure he would enjoy it and he did.  He wasn’t too sure what to make of it at first but there were no tears only a bit of a confused expression which did turn into some smiles.

Then when we got home, his swimming experience also got upgraded with a float of his own!

He does not like being splashed but he definitely liked being able to keep an eye on and float along with his sister in the pool!

Julia Jumps In

We’ve spent a few afternoons at the pool lately and on each trip Julia gets a little more adventurous in the water.  Last week another kid left a float ring in the pool and Julia decided to try it out.  In no time at all she was paddling around the pool and jumping from the steps into the water.  It was such a success that we got her one of her own and on Sunday we went back to the pool to try it out.  Within 10 minutes or so she was brave enough to try jumping off the side of the pool to me and loved it!  We ended up spending about an hour and a half in the water; only getting out when I insisted because she was turning blue!

Daddy Airlines

Both of our kids (like most others) love playing airplane on Mommy and Daddy’s feet and legs.  Last weekend Andrew took it to a new level – I was impressed!

Friends

One of the highlights of our summer occurred last weekend – our good friends from Wisconsin came to visit.  Our house was full of kids, five in total, and the visit was filled with lots of fun, laughter, and great conversations.  We packed quite a bit into a few days starting on Sunday when we went up to Providence College and walked around me and Yvonne’s old stomping grounds.

Then we moved onto the zoo which was a little busy given that it was Father’s Day and one of the nicest days we had around here for quite awhile.  But the kids got to play on the water wall:

take a picture on the dog (I have no idea why it has a big pink bow):

and see lots of animals including the moon bear who was actually moving around (something we haven’t seen too often).  That evening our friend Delia joined us for dinner but we, of course, forgot to take a picture! 

On Monday, we had a fabulous time at Mystic Aquarium.  Right when we arrived we got to see the trainers feeding the beluga whales which included having them do lots of tricks.  Later in the day we actually “played” with a beluga whale; or more appropriately, she played with us.  We were watching her swim from the underwater viewing window and this whale:

swam up to us and started looking at all of us and talking and playing.  She would swim down and look at us and then swim up the surface and make some noises and then come back down.  She also looked at the kids and would then lunge at the glass and open her mouth wide like she was trying to scare them!  She was even nice enough to pose for a picture:

How amazing is that??? It was so much fun!

We also watched a sea lion show where we learned how to tell the difference between seals and sea lions (seals have short front flippers and sea lions have long front flippers which they use as limbs and on which they support a lot of their weight).  We touched (or tried to touch) sharks and sting rays in the touch tanks.  The verdict was that the sharks felt hard like rocks and the sting rays were slimy!  We saw penguins being fed, tadpoles, turtles, and frogs swimming in the marsh, jelly fish floating, and lots of other marine animals.  Julia had fun taking pictures near various sculptures and here she is mimicking a baby sea lion:

Finally, on the way out of the aquarium we all had a Del’s lemonade.  This was a highlight for the kids because they had been waiting since the previous day to have one as we tried to get some at the Zoo but by the time we made it to the stand they had run out! It was the first Del’s lemonade for most of the crowd (including Benjamin) and it was a hit all around!

Tuesday was the last day of the visit and we spent it at the beach.  I didn’t get too many pictures as it was a little chilly and windy and Benjamin was not too thrilled with it.  But in the afternoon it got a lot nicer and we enjoyed digging in the sand and watching the fishing boats and the ferry go by.

We all had a wonderful few days.  The kids did great together; it was fun to see Julia playing and interacting with other kids so much and we really enjoyed having an extended period of time to catch up with Paul and Yvonne although the time still flew by and it felt over too soon.  And so Wednesday morning was sad as we said goodbye and then re-adjusted to the quietness of our normal household!!! 

Benjamin’s Taste of RI

We’ve been super busy around here lately and are off to Maine for the weekend to meet the newest member of the Crowder clan.  It’s going to take a long post to share all the fun we’ve been having but I wanted to share this short video of a very important day in Benjamin’s life – his first taste of Del’s lemonade!  I’d say he liked it!

Writing

We’ve been talking a lot about letters and the alphabet around here lately.  Julia knows her abcs, can identify a few letters individually when she sees them, and knows how to spell her first name thanks to much repetition at school.  Yesterday she asked me to show her how to write her name.  So first I wrote her name, then I drew an outline of the letters which we traced together, and lastly with lots of verbal coaching she made her own first attempt:

Andrew’s comment was that she’ll be able to write better than him in a few weeks!  Guess we better get to work on learning the rest of the letters!!

A New Perspective

Benjamin is no longer viewing the world from a horizontal position when he is on his own – he has learned how to sit up!  He’s still working out the wobbles but can keep himself upright for a good amount of time. 

Quote of the Day

We were riding in the car yesterday and this conversation occurred:

Me: The friends who are coming to visit this weekend are from Wisconsin.

Julia: Wow!

Me: Can you say Wisconsin?

Julia: silent

Me: “Wisconsin” is a long word but you’re good at long words.

Julia: Meg (our old neighbor) is in Virginia.

Me: Yes, she is.  That’s far away, just like Wisconsin.

Julia: Mom, you don’t know anything!

Me: what?!?

Julia: No, you know everything!

Me: I don’t think I know everything.

Julia: Well, you know a couple of things

Gaspee Days

Last weekend was one of the key events of Gaspee Days (a festival in RI to commemorate the burning of the HMS Gaspee during the revolutionary war.  If you’re interested more information can be found here), the parade.  Julia loves parades and Alex wanted to go as well so I thought it would be a great day.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been to the parade in many years; if I had maybe I would have remembered that it’s a military parade. Military = lots of companies of revolutionary war re-enactors with guns… that they shoot… every 25 feet or so… for the entire first hour of the parade (maybe more).  I’m sure you can imagine that it did not go over so well with the girls!  They made it through the first 12 companies or so and then Julia was in my lap in tears and Alex was on the brink but trying so hard to put on a good face. Thankfully, we were watching the parade from in front of my Aunt Kate’s condo so Grandma Laurie took the girls over to watch the boats in the bay instead. A much better idea.  Benjamin was a trooper and after getting over the first few initials bangs he was hardly phased at all by the noise and sat happily chewing on his Sophie for the duration!

Quote of the Day

Julia sat down next to me this morning while I was feeding Benjamin and said very seriously “Mom, let’s have a conversation about games and toys.”  What?!?! How old are you??

Thankfully, that statement was followed by a long conversation monologue (by her) about tiny game pieces and how we have to be careful to put them away and look out for them on the floor. And can we play the elephant game, and the dice game, and play with trains?  Okay, phew, you are only three.

Avocado!!!

Benjamin had a big day yesterday; he tried his first solid food, avocado!  We were going to wait awhile longer, basically until he had mastered sitting up by himself.  However, over the past couple of weeks he has made it very clear that he was ready for some real food.  He has been watching intently when we eat, at times grabbing for our food or utensils and he has been very very unhappy at mealtimes when we are eating and he is not.  His doctor had given the okay a couple of weeks ago so we decided to give it a go.  And it was a big success. Similar to his big sister he had no problem at all eating from the spoon.  In fact, Andrew couldn’t get the food to his mouth fast enough.  In contrast to Julia though, Benjamin wanted to do it himself and kept trying to take the spoon out of Andrew’s hands.  So he ended up with his own spoon to hold while Andrew managed the spoon with the food.  It ended with Benjamin looking like this:

Bon Appetit, Benjamin!