Summer and Words

First, we've been having a lot of fun outside the past few weeks. In the water, on the playground, out walking, in the backyard, etc. We've had some rain, but most of it has been sporadic and Father's Day was one of the most beautiful June days I've ever experienced. Hot in the sun, cool in the shade and minimal humidity. I'm not sure why we didn't get a little backyard pool before now...

Todd on Grandma and Grandpa's swingset.
Heather in a drink float in Grandma and Grandpa's pool.
Heather and Todd "helping" me with the yard sale.
Todd is just a few days away from 14 months and it is clear that his receptive language is improving, and we are hearing a couple of new words a week. Did I ever even tell you all which word was his first?

Kitty was the first one, a few weeks before his birthday, I think. Basically any animal is a kitty - doggies, squirrels and recently a goat that we saw on TV.

Other words:
Uh-oh
Book
Ball
Duck
Mama, which is now mommy
Dada, although since saying mommy, that seems to be his term for both of us
Hi
Bye
Beep
"Ma" for more, which he can also sign

And R thinks he said "cheese" when he was taking his picture last night. Most of these have been figured out because he does a LOT of pointing when he wants something, and that helps to clue us in. :-)

Camping in Pictures, days 3 & 4

On our second full day Heather was ready for another hike after breakfast.

We decided to try the long hike up to the water tower, and the way up went very well.
But once we were up on the water tower, Heather wasn't all that impressed by the view and was getting restless.

So we had a little snack in the grass while Tom and Rachel finished their water tower experience.


It did start to rain a little as we were leaving, but luckily it stopped so we could get all the way back to camp. Being well rested meant that she didn't need to fuss in order to fall asleep for a nap.

Unfortunately, the real rain didn't start until after Heather woke up from her nap, so our beach plans had to be scrapped in favor of books and toys in the tent. Once it stopped we decided to drive to a nearby diner for dinner and ice cream.

On our last morning, Heather was ready for more excitement with her friend Robby.
She even held still long enough for pigtails and didn't immediately pull them out. (A new milestone)
For our last morning, we checked out a different beach. We had it to ourselves for much of the time we were there.





This beach had a playground, too. At this one, the seesaw was the biggest hit.


Before we left, it was time for a little snack.


It took long enough to have breakfast, get ready for the beach and enjoy the beach, that it was naptime on our way back to camp. R and I used the opportunity to start packing up camp and make a fire for lunch. Once she was up, we had lunch and finished packing. And we pulled out of camp within minutes of the checkout time.

We stopped at the ILs on the way home, too. Aunt Tara's dog Jake joined us in the pool.



More time on the towel, too.


She fell asleep in the car on the ride home and had a little trouble staying asleep, but we all got to bed eventually.

I'd say it was a very successful camping trip and fun was had by all!

Camping in Pictures, days 1 & 2

Last weekend we took Heather for her second camping trip. We went to the same place that we've been going for 8 years. It is possible that we will branch out at some point, but with a toddler it is nice to go someplace familiar.

Also, the grandparents are conveniently located on our way, so we were able to stop for two visits over the course of the weekend.

As soon as we get there, Heather points to the swing in the gazebo.

After a lite lunch, Heather took a dip in the pool with her daddy. The water was warmer than our last visit.

When she was done, Heather was very anxious to get her towel laid out "just so" and enjoy a little time in the sunshine.

What's a visit at Grandma's without a frozen treat at the end?

We got to camp within an hour of Heather's bedtime, so I was feeling a bit rushed to get water, firewood and food in her belly before a meltdown. But the new environment was enough to keep her entertained. Although she did get a little mad that she couldn't be the one to carry the water jug back to the campsite. :-)

We started day 2 with some fruit and some books at the campsite.

And we decided that we should take advantage of the cooler morning air for our first hike. We started with a shorter hike around the peninsula since it took us a little while to get our act together and we didn't really know how Heather would respond. Everytime we got near the lake, she would start doing her version of "quack, quack", but sadly there weren't any ducks to be seen there like there are at the lake near our house.

After a little while in the backpack, she felt the need to explore on her own two feet.


She seemed to be getting tired, but a nap wasn't successful. So we had some lunch and headed to the beach.

Digging in the sand is serious work.



So it is nice to take a dip in the water to cool off after all that effort. Lakes are especially nice because they are shallow enough to walk in, even when you're less than 3 feet tall. :-)

There is a little playground near the beach, too. It doesn't have an infant swing, but Heather can swing slowly on the big ones with daddy's supervision.

It was definitely naptime when we returned to the campsite after all of that. Our friends Tom and Rachel arrived while Heather was sleeping and I was doing some work.

Once Heather was enough we decided we had enough time for another hike before dinner. This time I took a turn with the backpack.

This time she lasted longer in the backpack. But given the short nap the day before and the short nap this afternoon, Heather just didn't have a full hike in her and she was too overtired to fall asleep in the backpack.

So I used the second nap of the day to start a dinner fire and get a shower. Heather's favorite part of campfire food was the baked sweet potato. Silly girl didn't even want to try a perfectly roasted marshmallow!

Plus a photo

We really haven't taken many photos in September, but R did take this cell phone picture at the pool. He and Heather had a great time. :-)

Squash, Formula and a lower mattress

There is no way to catch you all up on everything, but I think this will be a rambling post to do what I can.

First off, I'm in pretty good shape with the house tour stuff. It took every available minute last weekend to get everything ready that needed to go to the printer...but I made it. At 9pm on labor day night, I delivered a CD to my co-chair with the program, poster, ticket and postcard designs on it. Big, humongous CHECK. There are still a few other things on my to do list, but I think I can get most of them done before our next meeting on Tuesday.

The other highlights of last weekend is that Saturday night was R's high school reunion. For my benefit, I was thankful that there were two couples there that I had met before. Dave (who was in our wedding) and his wife, and Michelle (R's prom date) and her husband were in attendance, and as well as talking with them that night, we also saw them on Sunday so they could meet Heather and we could see their ever growing children again. (Dave and Reiko's youngest was still in the womb at our wedding!)

We actually stayed longer than we had originally planned, partially to see these friends, but mostly so that Heathe could have more time in the pool. The reunion started at 4pm and we left later than planned from Pittsburgh, so Saturday's dip was just too short. We had a great time on Sunday - Heather really enjoyed the water. We will have to go back more next summer. :-)

On to things about Heather. On the physical activity front, she's a dynamo. We heard from her teachers this week that she had sat up on her own. It seemed that she had pulled up on a toy. Well, maybe she did then, but today she sat up with no toys around! She figured out how to get from all fours to a sitting position. I saw her do it in the crib. Even before I saw it, we decided to lower her mattress in the crib...figuring that it would only be a matter of time until it was necessary. While I was at it, I installed her new crib mirror (thanks grandma and grandpa!) and finally made an adjustment to her mobile so it could be used on her crib.

On the food front, things have been moving slowly so far. In a month, she's had rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potato and squash. Given that we can try something new every three days, that's pretty slow. :-) Honestly, a big part of it is how busy I've been. I've traveled for work two weeks in a row and we only had sweet potato and squash in the freezer. Truly, since solids are just for practice at this point, it is pretty easy to put them off when there is a lot of other stuff going on. And we have to try new foods with Heather before they'll give them to her at daycare. But today I made peas, bananas and more squash (she really seemed to like it yesterday and today) and we bought apples, green beans, pears, carrots and avocados. I hope to make at least a couple of those tomorrow in between vacuuming and laundry.

On the milk front, the milk stash officially ran out while I was on my trip this past week. And just like the solids, it was necessary for Heather to have formula at home before they would give it to her there. So on Thursday morning, she had her first full bottle of formula. Since my last trip was longe than my next trip, I don't expect that we'll run out again until I go on one of the longer trips again.

It bothers me less than I thought it would and pumping during business trips truly stinks. Although I successfully squeezed the gallon or so of milk that I pumped into my checked suitcase. :-) I'm tempted to try to wean from the pumping and just BF when I'm with Heather, but I'm to scared that I'll have to stop all together, so I'm not willing to try it for a few more months at least.

Not much knitting to report on. The secret knitting continues (and I need to get on that) and I started a stole from Victorian Lace Knitting on my last trip. So far I like the pattern in the yarn I'm working with (Helen's Laces). Although I might not work on it again until my next business trip since the secret knitting is bulkier.

I'm tired and I've written quite a bit, so that will have to be my catching up for now. More soon.