A Girl's Busy Summer Schedule

We're staying very busy around here, and our social butterfly is doing her thing. We attended our first birthday party of the season, and Sabine is learning to properly appreciate the goodie bag (this one included both a construction hat and bulldozer stickers; she was thrilled):

We hosted our first play group at our house, and we had a lot of fun. Sabine was super excited to have multiple friends over at the SAME TIME.

We spent a morning at the Botanic Gardens with B and E. It was the first time we've seen them since our music class ended, and Sabine was very happy to see them both. She could have cared less about the flowers and water features, she was most excited about chasing B around on the paths near the picnic area:



We spent an afternoon in the mountains with Grandmom and Grandpa, playing with their water fountain:

And we've also squeezed in some time at home. One night Sabine tried on her new ballet costume from Nanna Lin, and it fits perfectly. She spent a very happy evening dancing around to "C Is for Cookie," sung by the very popular vocalist, Daddy:

Dance classes start in eight days.

Officially Summer in Colorado

We're slowly getting back into our routine. We splurged and got a large kiddie pool, with hopes that some of our friends will come over and share it this summer. Sabine was very eager to break it in.

(Making the sign for "cold.")

She stayed in the freezing water until she started to shiver, and even then I think she would have continued getting in and out (and in and out and in and out; she's very into repetitive behaviors these days) except mommy was kind of a party pooper with her hypothermia fears, and we had to call it a night. Sabine's been back in the pool several times over the past week, though!

We also had a little shower for Aunt Dani this weekend, for the pending arrival of little cousin E.

Developmentally, Sabine is speaking more and more. She strings together little sentences all the time now, such as "No eat the balloon" (to our cat) or "Mimi go night night" (to a friend who had to leave because it was naptime.) She also has started to refer to herself as "Sammi" instead of "SSSSSS," which I actually find really interesting, because she's clearly picked up on that initial S-sound in her name, rather than the more emphasized second syllable, which is what most kids pick up on. Most little kids we meet start off calling her "Bean." She's also become a proficient user of the word "MINE."

In general, Sabine is just picking up phrases right and left. We're having to be a lot more careful about what we say around her, because everything gets repeated. It's fascinating to watch, though, and we've been having a lot of fun with her.

Sabine also started cutting her canine teeth while we were on the east coast. They don't seem to be quite as painful as her molars, but she has been chewing on her fingers and drooling non-stop for the past three weeks. The first one is about halfway up on the bottom, and the second one is just cutting through the gum. The top two aren't visible yet, but the area seems a little irritated, so I'm guessing they're not far behind. Fortunately this should be it until the two-year molars!

The latest physical milestone is that she is finally getting a little air when she jumps. Until now it's been a lot of bending knees and throwing her arms in the air, but after watching several friends show off their jumping skills (as well as daddy) she's been practicing, and is finally getting both feet to leave the ground. Sometimes.

East Coast Trip

We're back! We had a wonderful time with friends and family, but we are happy to be home to our house, our routine, and especially our daddy. But we did want to share some more pictures from all of our adventures, and to say we miss everyone we saw very much. It went by too quickly, as always.

We spent an afternoon at Longwood Gardens, and while Sabine was underwhelmed with the beautiful gardens and flowers



she perked right up when we got to the kids' area. Much of the appeal was all of the fun water features that she could stick her hands in.

Sabine also met a lot of new friends on this trip.

With Miss S and her daddy, who happens to be an old childhood friend of mommy's.

Being silly with Miss E, whose mommy is also a friend of mine. E was kind enough to show off her new walking skeelz while we were there.

And, of course, P, who was kind enough to let us stay with her and share her toys (and new big girl bed!) for most of our trip.

We visited Great-Grandmom (or "GREAT!" as Sabine calls her) several times







And then would often head to Great Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch's house for dinner and outdoor time.



For the Memorial Day weekend we went to see family in Virginia. It was second cousin C's birthday, so we got to celebrate with her. Fortunately C is very attentive to her young relative.

And even more fortunately, she shared her chocolate cake. Sabine is kind of in love with her.




Burning off cake energy in the yard. Unfortunately the camera focused on the flowers instead of the kiddos, but you get the idea. They had a lot of fun, and Sabine now loves to "RUN FAST!"

Trying to push A in the wheelbarrow.

Sitting in a rocking chair that has survived many generations. Somewhere there is a picture of mommy in this chair when she was about Sabine's age. I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

Checking out Aunt Judy's pictures. She's pretty good with a camera.

It was a really fun trip, but by the end Sabine was definitely worn out. She was just exhausted, and needed more down-time than we were really able to take. We took a break on Tuesday afternoon to just watch some Baby Signing Time (Sabine's favorite video) in our room.

As I said, it was time to come home, and we're happy to be back, but we miss our family and friends so much. Can't wait to see you all again!

Fun in the East Coast Sun

We've stayed busy the last couple of days. Sabine met her first Delaware Blue Hen at the mall:



And she's gotten some good water play in with her friend P, who has very awesome toys, including a kiddie pool and water table.


(Note the matching outfits. Moms are having quite a bit of fun, too!)

We've gotten in some good visits with Great-Grandmom and Great Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch, as well as a quick trip to Longwood Gardens (I'll have to share those pictures when we get back), and we even made it to the beach this morning. Sabine has seen her first coastline, and the Atlantic did not disappoint.





Sabine on the boardwalk at Rehobeth.

As much fun as all these trips have been, both Sabine and I are exhausted, so tomorrow we're taking it easy, and letting some friends come to us before we head to Virginia on Saturday.

First State

Hello from Delaware! We had a long travel day on Saturday, but it really went as well as could be expected. We met Uncle Jay at the airport and got VIP treatment. (Skipping the DIA security line with a toddler in tow is better than winning most lotteries!)



Daddy hung out until the last second, helping Sabine burn as much energy as possible before getting on the plane.



We had a fairly uneventful flight. We carefully scheduled it for over her nap time, but of course the whole experience was much too exciting to sleep. Sabine couldn't calm down until after we landed. She fell asleep after we had touched down in Philadelphia but before we got off the plane.

Sigh

Sabine stayed asleep while I got our luggage and rental car, then woke up for the drive to Delaware. Fortunately it was only about 45 minutes to our friend's house, and once we arrived, there were lots of toys and bubbles to play with before bedtime.







I did get some pictures of the girls together, but unfortunately I can only post pictures from my phone while we're traveling, so the photos on my regular camera will have to wait until we get back to Colorado. We made it out to see Great-Grandmom, Aunt Betsy, and Uncle Butch yesterday, and we're headed back this afternoon.

Now we're just working on getting Sabine adjusted to the time change!

19 Months

I'm not really sure where the time is going, but I know we are enjoying it tremendously. Sabine is talking so much these days, her hair is getting long enough that it's showing up in pictures, and her 12 month-sized clothes are finally getting a little too snug. She also likes to "RUN FAST!" I will try to refrain from too much bathroom talk, but I just have to announce this once that she's using the potty about once a day these days. We're not applying any pressure, but she's expressed the interest, so who am I to turn down a freebie diaper change?

We've gotten really involved in a local play group, and while Sabine's closest friend is probably the sweet little girl in a pink jacket from an earlier post, Sabine is making lots of friends. She's definitely one of the more outgoing and affectionate ones in the group.

(That's Sabine on the left. She's still one of the younger/smaller ones.)

She's gotten us invited over to friends houses, which has been a much more fun alternative to staring at our own four walls. Somehow snacks always taste better at someone else's house. (Especially while sitting in someone else's mom's lap!)

Sabine also had her last day of music class last week. We didn't manage to get a picture with her friends B and E, but they were definitely the highlight of the class--she's been asking about them this week since we didn't get to see them like normal. Sabine did get a certificate, and more importantly, bubbles, as a graduation gift. This was the best picture I could get on my camera phone.

On Saturday Sabine and I leave for the east coast for 10 days. We're going to miss daddy like crazy, but we're very excited to see our family and friends in Delaware and Virginia. Please send us good nap time thoughts for the plane ride!

Happy Mother's Day to You!

In honor of Mother's Day, we're doing another flashback. Sabine may or may not love this dress as much as her mom and grandmom do, but fortunately she still (mostly) lets me dress her in whatever I want. And for Mother's Day, I wanted festive traditional western European. Specifically Swiss.

As apparently, did MY mother, back in November of 1980.

Then we got Sabine dressed in a more modern, more American outfit, and headed out for a nice dinner with Nana Lin and Aunt Dani.

All in all, a lovely day. I just wish these weekends would last a little longer!