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!

End of the School Year

There've slowly been signs the school year was drawing to an end. The empty lot next to preschool, where the kids often play for an extra 15 minutes after school (they've called it "Snow" for a year and a half now, despite the changing seasons. It started in winter.) has gotten greener and the dandelions have come and gone.





Sabine got her first homework assignment, she got a pail to bring home so that she could fill it with a picture and tell a story about it. She used the picture of her playing Spot It with her older cousins in Winter Park, back in February.



The preschool's annual silent auction was a big success. Sabine got her face painted, got a fabulous flower balloon, and volunteered to participate in the magic show this year, instead of sitting in the very back, like last year!





The magician turned three pieces of rope into one!

The weekend before last, one of Sabine's classmates hosted a BBQ for the whole class. About half were able to make it, with their families, and the kids had a fabulous time running around in the giant backyard, while the parents and teachers got to catch up a little, socially. Unfortunately, my phone was out of batteries, so I didn't get any pictures, thanks to O's mom for sending us this one!



And then, the inevitable. Last Wednesday was the last official day of school. Sabine wrote a card for each of her teachers, Kate



and Gail



And they apparently had a wonderful last day together. We'll be seeing Gail more this summer for preschool camp, but Kate is off. Fortunately, she says she's available for babysitting occasionally, so we're hoping we haven't seen the last of her!

Several of the moms decided to celebrate the last day together, and instead of playing Snow, we walked down to Lucky Pie for a (chaotic) pizza lunch together,







and then next-door to Sweet Cow for dessert.



Even the little siblings had a good time running and bouncing and sampling ice cream. (Aspen just about lost her mind with the ice cream--we've been holding out on her.)




It has been clearer and clearer recently how much Sabine has grown. She is definitely taller and stronger and more coordinated. She's also started drawing animals and a little more detail on her pictures of people. But she has also become a lot more independent, she recently announced that she didn't need a monitor in her room anymore, and sure enough, she has just come downstairs in the mornings, or even when she has a nightmare, instead of calling for us. We think she is slightly motivated from an invitation from her best friend to go camping with them sometime this summer, to prove she's up to an overnight away from home, but it's really something she wouldn't have been able to do even a couple of months ago. She is super helpful with Aspen and her cousins, and she is a leader at school. Sabine is reading more, and writing a lot. It's been amazing to watch her sound out words for signs, lists, and text messages. Literacy-ho!

15 Months

It's been a bit of a rough month or two, health-wise, hence not as much posting. Bad colds and coughs turned into an ear infection for Aspen. After a 10-day round of antibiotics, mommy got a nasty stomach virus and passed it on to both girls. Which then was followed by a high fever for several days for Aspen, then a rash...it's like a comedy of diseases around here. Without much comedy.

ANYWAY.

We are desperately trying to get better in time for our trip to Michigan on Friday.

And somewhere in there Aspen turned 14 months old



and then 15 months old!



She was sick at her "well baby" 15 month visit to the doctor, so she hasn't gotten her vaccines yet, but she seems to be well on track for all her developmental milestones. Here are her 15 month stats:

30.25" high, 42nd percentile
17 lbs 2.5 oz, 4th percentile
18.25" head circ, 70th percentile

I think she was a little underweight from being sick for so long and not having much of an appetite, but mostly she's on track against her own averages. Aspen's regressed to two naps a day, but again I'm pretty sure that's related to illness. She's a little more flexible in the timing of both naps, at least.

Aspen still doesn't say much besides "mama" and "dada" but she has a large signing vocabulary. She occasionally says "uh oh!" when something falls, and we are starting to hear more consonants in her babble. She's very attached to both her goat love-y, and her pacifier, again, I think related to being under the weather. She still prefers meat and carbs for food, I think her favorite dinner right now is lasagna. She also often eats blueberries or strawberries with breakfast, and loves to share my smoothie.

Aspen loves helping sweep, write, and likes to sit at the little table and color with crayons. (Also, she enjoys taking the crayons out of the box and putting them back in the box.) She still loves books. She always loves to have someone read to her, and she will still sit and look through books by herself all the time. She is moving into 12 month-sized clothes and is getting better at climbing and walking fast. She is determined to go up and down the stairs like a big girl, but we don't feel she's quite big enough to do that safely yet, so the stairs have turned into a bit of a battle these days.

She is a lot more helpful these days, she likes to push the dishwasher closed for me, unload cat food, and help daddy and Sabine floss their teeth.



In case anyone forgot, Sabine was much the same way at the same age.



Aspen and Sabine are still as close as ever, through sickness and health. Those are most of the pictures I have these days, we have been hibernating in the house a lot.







We did manage to go out for breakfast, once, in between illnesses, and that was a fun, mid-week treat.



And if the rain would just let up, we would happily transition into summer ware!