All the Latest

 Look who’s 8 weeks old!!!

weight:  14 lbs.  height:  no idea

   We got back from vacation Tuesday night.  Wednesday and Thursday we got a few things done, such as Daniel’s physical/ 2 year old check-up.  We finally got around to it because he has to have it to start preschool!  He did have to get one shot, which left a big fat bruise, but he handled it very well.  Dan’s stats:  30 lb. 37 inches.  Just a few months ago, he was 33 inches, so this boy has hit a serious growth spurt this summer.  This is also the first time he’s hit the 30 lb mark.   He is now in the 75% for weight and 90% for height. BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  The whole rest of this year he was 30% for height, and I just thought we’d finally produced a short child, but actually he just was growing at a different rate.  Who knows.  Caleb (our biggest kid of all) could end up being the shortest but just an early bloomer.  You just never know with these things!

  We also resumed bicycle lessons this week, and I have to say this was by far the easiest thing I’ve ever taught them to do.  Joshua took two lessons, and now he’s got it.  Caleb needs one more lesson to gain confidence, but he was going about six feet at a time without training wheels or Mommy.  He just lost interest a lot quicker than Joshua, so I didn’t get as much time with him.

   I proudly proclaimed to Alan, “YES!!  YES, YES, YES!  I can’t believe I did it.  I taught Joshua how to ride a bike!!!”  Alan looked at me, shook his head, and said what I should be excited about is that Joshua did it.  Joshua learned how to ride a bike.   Then Joshua told me, again, “Noooo, I already knew how to ride a bike.  Now I learned how to ride with no training wheels!”

   Oh, well, whatever, so glad to finally have this accomplished!

I did not do the old suddenly-let-go trick.  Instead, I walked along side of them while they practiced, holding them steady with one hand.  After doing that a while, I put them on the grass, told them I would give them a push and then let go, did just as I said, and they did great.

 cheering Joshua on

 One morning I got up, and Alan had made this!  I was like, “Whaaa???”  Fruity Pebbles Treats.  They were really yummy, but I had just never seen Alan bake before!  Of course, they were all gobbled up within 24 hours.

 future BFFs

 Roll Tide.

Vacation Day Trip: the Potomac River

On Friday, I pumped out some milk, hired Megan to babysit John David, and we all headed into Washington, D.C. to do some boating on the Potomac River.  It did not disappoint.

  Megan brought her stepsister Cara with her, so I had a 2:1 babysitter ratio.  You could say John David was super duper well cared for!  They said he slept most of the time.  That’s our boy!  Babies grow in their sleep, and this one does a lot of growing.

  Daniel got his hippo out and kept making us swaddle the hippo, which he carried around like a baby.  He was so adorable.

 The boys are beginning to get more comfortable with the boat.  They loved going under bridges.

 Thomas Jefferson Memorial

 How cool is this boat?

and the Lincoln Memorial

  I would say Alan’s two weeks of vacation was a smashing success!!!  I’m so thankful we were able to do all this!  Now this coming week my mom is coming back.  Wahoo!  Mom, I think you will find that I have changed completely since I have gotten the anemia under control!  Can’t wait!