Busy Summer!

We have fit a lot into this summer, already.

Sabine did soccer through both the rec center and the YMCA in May:



And then we've also been to the park:



The farm:


(Sabine planting some sunflower seeds she brought Farmer Bren and Farmer John as a gift, they let her plant them right by the entrance sign.)




(With Ms. Carol, her very first teacher there, over three years ago!)





The zoo:







Touch-A-Truck:



Which included fire hose demonstrations:



and helicopters:



A local art walk, where Sabine got to watch our friend Melissa throw pottery at a demonstration:



The Friday night Street Faire, with friends and Grandmom and Grandpa:






(Aspen was entranced with the jumping "ride." She kept trying to sneak in!)





The Farmer's Market:



Sabine had her first true camp experience through the YMCA, and got to ride a school bus for the first time, which she thought was awfully cool:



A cooking party:





A visit to Aunt Dani and Nana's soon-to-be new house:



And, as always, lots of play time at the old house. Fortunately, the youngest cousins are going through their shoe phase together.





And, of course, lots of play dates with friends.










And sometimes little sister is even included.



Sabine and her friend were gathering ladybugs, and Aspen was very curious.

And, of course, silly sister time!

16 Months

This sweet face turned sixteen months old yesterday:



Aspen has had a growth spurt, she fits well into 12-month size clothes now. She has 7 teeth, and at least three more on their way, including one molar. These sometimes wake her up at night, and cause some grumpiness, but mostly she fights through to stay asleep and cheery when she can.

Aspen's language is really starting to take off. She has mastered, "no," and usually has a very stern scowl to convey her seriousness. "All done" "oh-oh" "hi" and "again" are becoming more enunciated, and she's adding more animal sounds, including horses say "nah" sheep say "baba" and trains go "ooh ooh." She's also making a strong effort to pronounce w's, thanks to watermelons coming in to season. Sometimes, it just takes the right motivation!



Aspen still likes helping around the house, and wants to be a part of whatever is going on.



She does not like putting on shoes, although she's perfectly happy to walk around in them once they are on, and the car seat continues to be a source of frustration. It's better when sister is there to distract her, but she still gets cranky when she sees it's time to go in the car.



The girls are as close as ever, they play together more and more, and Aspen always prefers to have Sabine sit with her at dinner, or read a book together.

And in the biggest of developmental milestone news:



Aspen pee-peed on the potty last Thursday! It was a fluke, but she's been interested in sitting on the potty, recently, so we've been letting her from time to time, and Thursday night she happened to go! It's certainly not time to potty train yet, but this is an exciting view of what's to come in what may be the near future.

Sabine has also been going through a big growth spurt. She's taller than she was last week, and her brain is on overdrive, which leads to some sensitive moments throughout the day, and some nightmares at night. But she's trying hard to work with it, to not yell at night, she knows we can hear her through the monitor (we've temporarily re-installed it) and not wake up Aspen. Her reading skills are progressing, she likes to write grocery lists, signs, cards, and magazines. Her most recent work:


"Sabine's best magazine ever I mean really in the world just sayin' "(In case you had any trouble translating that.)




All in all, we are doing well, if having some interrupted sleep. It's nice to be in a healthy phase, and we are enjoying being outside when it's not raining. Yay for summer!

Michigan

We had a great trip to Michigan over Memorial Day weekend.

We left early Friday morning, and the big kids set the pace for the airport. It was all very exciting!

The girls did really well on the plane, Aspen even took a little nap, then we headed straight to Aunt Vicki and Uncle Pat's for dinner. We missed getting pictures that night, we were all a little tired from traveling and just very excited to see family.

We got to celebrate Great-Grandma Pat's 90th birthday on Saturday, and she got to spend a bunch of time with all four great-grandkids!

(It was all a little overwhelming for Aspen, at first)

There was a cake and everything, much to everyone's delight.



Both Sabine and Aspen ate really well. Aspen impressed everyone after she downed about six of Aunt Vicki's sausage on toast appetizers!

We stayed in a hotel for the first time on this visit, and it actually worked out really nicely. There was more space with the additional kids, and more quiet space for naps and various bedtimes. The kids spent time in both rooms, checked out each other's toys, water bottles, and suitcases.





W'd spend the morning through nap and lunch time at the hotel, often stopping at Applebee's for lunch





(and again on Sunday)





Saturday morning Sabine and daddy got to tour around a little and see the house daddy lived in when he was very young.



Then we would head to Aunt Vicki and Uncle Pat's for the afternoon and dinner.







Great-Grandma Pat got a full education on baby signs.


"Ball"


"Flower"


"Bunny"


"Car"

And on Sunday night we brought the party back to our hotel so that Uncle Pat could get to bed. Sabine and daddy tried out the swimming pool, it was apparently a little chilly, but Sabine impressed everyone with her swimming skills.



On Monday morning Aunt Vicki and Uncle Pat came back to the hotel say goodbye and see us off to the airport.




(photographic evidence that mommy was on the trip, too!)





Thanks, family! It was wonderful to see you all!