Delaware and Maryland

So, we did it! Our first airplane trip as a family of four. It actually went quite well, and we had a wonderful time. We crammed a lot in to nine days.







The girls did well on the plane, although Aspen struggled with sleep a little. But she hung in there, and got a quick nap in my arms.

One of our first stops was to Bing's Bakery in Newark. We saw the episode of Buddy's Bakery Rescue on TLC earlier this summer, so Sabine was eager to check out the famous bakery! It did not disappoint. In equally exciting news, we also got a call from the pediatrician: the results of Aspen's blood test came back and she is no longer sensitive to dairy or soy! (Or anything else!) So that meant mommy could partake of the bakery goodness, too, and that was heavenly.



We also visited Great-Grandmom (and Great-Granddad's) grave, while we were in Newark. While the idea is still a little nebulous to the younger set, it meant a lot to mommy.



The girls also took their first bath together at Aunt Betsy's house on Tuesday night.



They seem to have had a good time!



We went down to the beach on Wednesday. Not a bad view from our deck!



We spent a fair amount of time out there, when the sun wasn't too intense.



The house itself was a little "vintage," not much had been updated since the 60s-70s, but it was cute and functional. The girls shared a bedroom for the first time! (Aspen's pack-n-play went between the beds.)



Aspen officially graduated out of a swaddle. We were going to keep her in it through the trip, because she just slept so well when she was swaddled, but Aspen had other plans. She became very adept at breaking her arms out, no matter what we did, so we gave up and she started sleeping in her sleep sack. She was up more in the night, but is getting more used to it, and seems to be a tummy-sleeper, now that she has a choice.

On Thursday, we got to go visit Uncle Dave, who lives nearby. He seemed very happy to meet Aspen and see Sabine again.



My cousins Tom and Suzanne joined us, and we all had a great time together. We went out to dinner one night and watched the boats and ate crab. (Well, some of us did. Some of us had mac & cheese.)





Aspen even got some good crawling practice in. She's not quite there, but we think she's close.



On Saturday mom and dad went to a wedding of one of our good friends, while the girls stayed behind with Tom and Suzanne.



Sabine learned how to play Go Fish on a regular deck of cards.



Aspen chewed blissfully on anything she could get her hands on.



Saturday night we squeezed in a quick, late trip to the Ocean City boardwalk. It was a lot of fun, and we spent 99% of what little time we had in the kids' rides area, but it was worth it! Sabine had a blast.









On Sunday we said goodbye to our cousins, and had a quick breakfast with the newlyweds and some friends, before heading back up to Delaware.



We stopped by our good friends' house, and Sabine and Aspen spent the afternoon playing and swimming with P and C in their new pool. (Well, Sabine swam. Aspen intermittently watched and napped in C's bed.)





Goggles and floaties were a big hit.





Sabine is very keen to try archery, now.

Thank you, guys, for making us feel so welcome!



Then we raced up to Newark to have dinner with another good friend, S, and her family. The girls got along really well; we meant to get more pictures but the time flew by and before we knew it they had to go since S was starting Kindergarten in the morning.



That left us with only a Broncos game to watch. Aspen had to go to bed, she seemed happy with that, but we let Sabine stay up a little late to watch Peyton Manning, since she got a nap in the car on the way up from the beach. (These days, if Sabine gets a nap, even a 10 minute one, it means it'll take her close to an hour or more later to go to sleep at night.)



On Monday we had a low-key day. We did some laundry, re-packed, and made it over to Milburn Orchards to run off a little energy, eat some of their famous apple cider donuts, and get a pumpkin for Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch's house. (Since mom and dad were party-poopers and declined to bring one home on the plane.)















Later that afternoon, we got a flat tire in our car, so we took it as a sign that vacation was winding down.

We made one last stop at Bing's on Tuesday morning, and a quick dash by "The Pretzel Store" (as mommy called it when she was a kid--some things never change!)



And then headed home. We made it back late Tuesday night, and Wednesday daddy was back to work and Sabine was back to preschool.

It was a wonderful, if exhausting, trip. We are happy to be home, and our kitties are very happy we are home!

Check-Up and Catch-Up

Aspen went in for her 6 month well-baby visit last Friday, August 22.



It went well, she's on track, according to the pediatrician. Here are the official stats:

Heigh: 25/8" (43 percentile)
Weight 14 lbs 8.5 oz (16 percentile)
Head circumference: 43.25 cm (77 percentile)

And for anyone who's interested, HERE is the post with Sabine's stats from HER 6 month appointment. (The girls are quite similarly proportioned!)

Aspen doesn't seem to get a fever with vaccines, thank goodness, but they do seem to give her terrible gas. So we went ahead and had her tested for various food allergies. I am a little suspicious she might at least be sensitive to eggs. (As well as dairy and soy, which we already know.) The blood draw for that was not fun, but hopefully it will give us some good information.

We also celebrated Grandmom's birthday together that day. Sabine helped make the frosting again this year, it was pink!





Then, last week, daddy was away on business and preschool was closed for a break before the regular year begins again, so Grandmom and Grandpa invited Sabine up for two nights for a change of scenery. Thank you, Grandmom and Grandpa! Sabine had a blast, while Aspen and I stayed home and kept her on a nice nap and eating routine. The prevacid is really kicking in, Aspen seems a lot more comfortable these days.

Here are a few pictures Grandpa sent me.

Sabine, helping squeeze orange juice:



Riding the zip line all by herself at the playground:



And most excitingly, for her, the introduction to my old American Girl doll. Sabine has recently discovered the American Girl Doll catalogs that come in the mail, and she adores them. We have said she needs to wait until she's six, which can feel like an eternity when you are only four years old!











All in all, it was a great week for everyone. Next adventure: air travel with the whole family and a beach vacation!

Six Months Old

Somehow, being halfway through Aspen's first year seems very official. And surreal!





(We wanted to get some pictures with the blanket our friend Leila made for Aspen.)



Sabine continues to be a doting big sister, and a huge help to mommy!





Sabine is still able to get the best laughs from Aspen, and they "talk" to each other in the car now. Often in squeals.

Aspen has become proficient in rolling over, both from front to back and back to front. She's also able to sit unassisted now.



We still try to be nearby because she does sometimes still tip over, but she's getting more stable daily. She also sleeps through the night regularly; her last feeding is around 8:00 or 8:30, then she's off to bed and sleeps until around 6:00 AM. Usually she wakes up with gas in the early morning, but we can often massage her tummy and she'll go back to sleep, or, worst come to worst, I can still carry her down to the swing and she'll sleep there for the last hour or two. She's got a little more hair coming in, and she takes about four naps a day. Three of the naps are usually pretty short, but at least one is often an hour and a half to two hours long.

Aspen still has an incredibly sweet and calm disposition, and loves being around people. (And cats!)

In Sabine news, I got to take her paddle boating on a nearby lake yesterday with some of our friends, and we had a great time!





It was sunny and hot, but we decided it was good practice for our upcoming beach trip. Sabine is currently going to preschool "camp" on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and has swim class on Mondays and Fridays. When we get back from our trip, the regular school year will have started, and we will be on a whole new schedule. She'll be going to preschool on Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays this year, and she's also headed back to farm on Thursdays. We're hoping to keep our Friday swim class, but dropping Monday for now, and probably adding kid yoga on Tuesday nights. Whew!

No rest for the weary. Next up, we're trying to get Aspen out into the world a little more before our trip. We've kept her pretty sheltered at home, but at some point, you have to start exploring the bigger world out there!

Visitors

We've had a fun summer with several play dates



Although mostly we stay at home to cater to Aspen's nap needs, but as it turns out, lots of people have been able to come see us, so we are staying pretty social.

First, Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch came to see us, which was pretty wonderful, since we will miss them when we go back east in the fall.



We all watched a TLC episode of Buddy's Bakery Rescue, which featured Bing's Bakery, just down the street from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Butch's house. Sabine was mesmerized--guess what our first order of business shall be in Delaware.



Thank you for coming all this way!



The next visit was our good friend from college Melissa, and her daughter.




The girls had a good time getting to know each other while the grown-ups caught up, and we even had another college friend + daughter come up for one afternoon. The next generation of CC-ers?





Then another good college friend (and also high school friend, for daddy!) stopped by with her family, including their new baby K, who is about two months younger than Aspen, but almost as big!





Their daughter A, and Sabine got along really well, but were too busy playing to have their picture taken.

And last, but certainly not least, my good friend Deb from high school stopped by on her way up to the mountains from Boston! It was really neat to see her again, and we hope to meet her twins (!) before another five years go by.




Whew. All in all, lots of fun!



And for a quick update on the girls: Sabine is evolving into quite the fashionista. The more patterns the better, and ONLY dresses these days. Aspen has just moved up to Prevacid for her reflux, as it seems to be getting worse. She's still a wonderful sleeper, so we would like to do anything we can to keep her comfortable! She is still a sweet baby, very calm and happy, even when spitting up. She is sitting by herself now, although someone still needs to be close by if she accidentally leans too far. Fortunately, big sister is a good catcher. Aspen also "talks" a lot, and she and Sabine love to squeal at each other; it's fun to see, if a little loud!