This Sat. we had a visit from Brian’s sister and her husband and Oliver – Lance’s first cousin from the Cahill side.
Nathan, Rachel and Oliver – They were here to celebrate their first anniversary so we kept Oliver while they went out for bowling and dinner. It was my trial run on life with two kids 🙂
Trying out our new double jogging stroller on the way to the park.
I wanted to get some cute pictures of the cousins…
….but Oliver didn’t want to lay in Lance’s lap and Lance didn’t care much for Oliver either.
Lance much preferred honing his slide climbing skills – just to show Oliver who was boss.
Cousins
Memorial Day weekend
I think it’s high time for another peek into our life happenings.
For Memorial Day weekend we drove down to visit my family – what a treat!
Brian thought it would be fun to take my parents out on a double date. We stopped for pizza then hit the bowling alleys.
If you’ve never tried to bowl around a bowling ball sized stomach then just try and imagine how that might affect your game.
In the first match, Dad took a quick lead with Brian right on his tail. The guys dominated the round with Brian clipping Dad’s lead on the last frame!
However, as the second game took shape I managed to refine my new style and surprised myself with victory!
(Mom wishes to note that she bowled much better in the first game).
Sunday we went swimming – it was a little chilly so Lance didn’t want much to do with the water. The rest of us swam for a while then played Skip-Bo.
Stacie’s dance outfit was similar to my maternity swimsuit and made out of the same material so she wore it swimming.
Sunday morning found us all dressed up nice so we decided to take a few pictures:
Lance Dance. The little family….
The big family
Test photo post
This is a test post
Last Weekend
Wow, been a bit since I updated and a lot has happened. Because of the time it takes to upload videos to YouTube, I’ll make this a picture post and put up one with just videos maybe tomorrow.
On Saturday we took a field trip.
A local school raises butterflies every year as a class project. When they hatch out the school hosts a little butterfly festival. Inside a tent they had a bunch of painted lady butterflies that we could hold. The owners nervously watched while Lance held one.
There were also some costumes to play with
The ladybug was Lance’s favorite – he strutted all around the gym!
Sunday started out well with some yummy muffins made with the berries we picked.
After church we took a picnic lunch to the lake by Brian’s work and got to watch some Dragon Boat racing and a few martial arts demonstrations.
Sunday evening my preschool choir had their last performance and did a fantastic job! After that there was a baby shower for me and another Amy in our church – both of us due within days of each other.
Brian and I opening a gift – not sure why I have such a funny look on my face, maybe the baby kicked 🙂
This is the other Amy and her husband Ryan. They have four kids that love Lance and are totally excited about their new brother.
And on Monday we went to the park with our friends and fed the ducks – see the baby ducks?
That’s it for now, I have to go pack for our trip this weekend!!
They can be taught
I love training – it was always amazing to me when my dog would be running full speed in one direction only to skid to a halt at a word from me. I felt an odd sense of triumph and humility when an 800 pound piece of horseflesh would walk quietly by my side without a rope, halter or anything compelling it to remain with me except for weeks of conditioning.
How much more amazing to watch a little child who comprehended so little such a short time ago grasp complex ideas and cheerfully go along with my directions. Sometimes he would grasp my tentative efforts to impart an abstract concept so quickly I wasn’t even sure I had actually done any training but was indeed faced with a child genius. Here’s some proof.
I started blanket training and within a few days he knew the edge of the blanket was his boundary – how he came to know this is quite beyond me because I barely knew what I was doing in the first place! We put him on there while we picked dewberries last Sat. and he never left, even when the mist turned to a slight drizzle and we were out of sight behind some bushes.
Meanwhile I’ve transferred the concept to his nap time and place his mattress all over the house so he learns to stay and go to sleep anywhere. Funny story – one nap time I put him down and moved to another room. A few minutes later I came back and he was sitting just off the edge of his mat. I told him he’d better hop back on and with a little grin he obeyed.
He’s also learned to say “please” in sign language – seems he loves dewberries. He will also grudgingly sign “drink” to get his bottle or cup at mealtimes.
And finally, we’ve been practicing picking up his toys. Yesterday he had a bunch of things out in the kitchen and I was finished with my work in there so started like I always do, saying, “it’s time to pick up.” Immediately he grabbed an item and scooted towards the drawer where it belonged and put it away. Boy was I one happy mama!
