Laine's Halfy Birthday!

I intended to post this yesterday, but our computer got the best of me. It turns off automatically after 20 minutes of no activity. Unfortunately, YouTube uploading a video without me doing anything to it doesn't count as "activity," so it took me a lot longer than expected. I have figured out how to temporarily disable that option, so I finally got this finished.

I can't believe my baby girl is already 6 months old! She is such a tremendous joy. She is a sweet, happy little soul. I am so thankful for the light she brings into our lives. I will take her to the doctor next week, so I should have new "stats" on her then.

I got a little overzealous with the camera yesterday. I think you will get a laugh out of some of these photos, though, so I am posting all of them.

Laine had pureed carrots today - her very first bite of real food!

After she decided not to eat, I let her play with the spoon a bit to see if that would get her more comfortable with the idea.

After a nap, we tried again:

By the end of two tries, I would estimate that Laine actually swallowed about 1/16 of a teaspoon of carrots.

This is the dress Laine wore home from the hospital. I seem to remember that it fit her reasonably well and wasn't too big on her:

I don't know why these are sideways. They are saved correctly on my computer. Blogger won't allow me to rotate them, so you'll have to turn your head. :-)

Laine with "size comparison" Cabbage Patch Kid. :-) 

Re-commence head-tilting:

As expected, I ended up with a bit of help towards the end of the process:

Craziness

Just for fun:

Isaac's First Day of School

Isaac started pre-school today! I have been concerned that I wasn't engaging and challenging Isaac enough at home, so I was looking into some other activities for him. I have been a member of St. Matt's Episcopal Church since I moved to Austin 11 years ago. There is a day school associated with the church and I've heard great things about it for years. Click here if you would like to know more about the school. (Mom, you should be able to see the hyperlink if you want to visit the school's web site). His teacher is Mrs. Pape, but she doesn't  have a bio up on the page.

I took Isaac in on Tuesday to check it out. We arrived while his class was out on the playground. We were shown the classroom and then went out to join the rest of his class. Isaac got to play with some big new dump trucks and front-end loaders; filling them with lots of gravel. The kids then held onto rings attached to a rope to lead them back into the classroom. Isaac sat with the other children to have a snack before we had to leave. Isaac actually cried when I took him out to the car because there were so many new toys he hadn't had a chance to use. I stopped by the office and picked up the paperwork to fill out.

Isaac will be at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. It sounds like most of the day is spent playing with the gazillion toys in the classroom. There are lots of new trucks for him to play with! There are outfits for dress-up, which a couple of the girls were using this morning. There is a little house he hid in on Tuesday. They also play outside for at least 30 minutes every day, unless it is raining. They will go to the library for story time each week and they have music time, as well. They have a class curriculum on seasons, so they also do a little "work" each day, but that only seems to be for about 30 minutes, which is GOOD.

This morning, he was excited to wear his new backpack because we'd been watching Dora the Explorer and she has one, as well. He recognized the school when we arrived and tried to drag me straight to his classroom so he could play. We checked in through the office and then Isaac finally got to go play. He was so engrossed in playing with the trucks with the other boys that I didn't even get to say goodbye to him!

Showing off his new backpack:

About to leave for school! He was having fun with Laine's sunglasses...

When I picked him up, Mrs. Pape said that he'd had a really good day. Apparently at some point he went to the door. She thought he said, "Ready to go, Mom." I suspect what he actually said was "Laine-Bug, Mom." He probably thought we were in the hallway. :-) She said he didn't cry, but he was looking for me. She warned that the second day is often worse. I will let you know whether that happens.


After school! Let's go, Mom!!!

Videos

September 2012

This month has started with a bang. Saturday, we went to a splash pad to celebrate our friend Christopher's 2nd birthday. We have been to another splash pad in the area, so I wasn't expecting much. This one was terrific!

First, Laine got all Hollywood on us as we got ready to go:

After Isaac had thoroughly inspected the large sand pit, he was ready to find out more about the water. It took him a few minutes to get comfortable, but once he did, there was no slowing him down...

He and Dad finally found the water slide, where Isaac happily played for over an hour. Initially, Dad needed to go down the slide with him.

Then he got a little braver.

Today was a momentous occasion. It was Laine's first Virginia Tech Game Day! She was dressed to the nines in anticipation.

We started the day by fueling up with breakfast tacos. We were proudly representing the Hokie Nation at Rudy's!

Laine practiced her rolls in excitement.

Twice today, Laine rolled over from her tummy to back and then continued to roll onto her back again. Dave and Judy, the fun part is that she always rolls in the same direction and it's the OPPOSITE of the one Isaac rolled in! I will eventually capture it on video, but it might take me a few days...

Isaac hammed it up with me! This was after he tackled me while I was trying to film Laine and her rolling. LOL

We got ridiculous family photos of all of us in our Virginia Tech gear. Even Jackson wore his collar.

Dinner time! We had ribs and (Isaac had a lot of) beans to get started on a full stomach.

Laine got a little rest...

Finally, the game came on.

The rest of the game, I was not fit to photograph. What a nail biter! Fortunately, the Hokies pulled it out in the end and we won by a field goal in overtime. It was the first overtime ever at Lane Stadium. All in all, a great holiday weekend!

Walburg

I meant to post this general goofiness last weekend. Enjoy!