Sam has been so excited about the pool this summer. Last year, he was mostly happy to hang out in the baby pool, and would venture into the big pool very cautiously. But this year he has turned into a little fish. He has a puddle jumper and he loves to jump into the pool and paddle around.
We’ve also been taking him to a private swimming lesson on Friday afternoons which he loves. This Friday was our last lesson so we told Sam he needed to work extra hard. Apparently that was all the motivation he needed because Sam swam on his own this Friday!! I was so proud (and a little surprised)! Can’t wait to take him to our pool so he can show off his new skills.
One of the best things about having my mom and mother in law in town for nearly the entire month of July (in addition to their wonderful company, of course), was the fact that Ben and I could go out for date night every weekend and not have to pay for a babysitter! We had so much fun going out, and not stressing about getting back in a rush. It really made me realize how important date nights are, and we are going to try to keep up the one night out per weekend routine, even if it will cost us a little more without family in town. (Side note: I remember getting about $6/hour to babysit as a teen! What happened to those days?)
We went to TWO movies in July, which I am pretty sure is more than we had seen all year–The Way, Way Back and The Heat, both of which I would recommend. We went to one of my favorite restaurants in DC, Birch and Barley. And we discovered Cava Grill, which is simple but delicious!
Over memorial day weekend (yes, I am very behind on posting!), we decided to go for a train ride at Burke Lake Park with my mom, who was here for a visit. When we were in Texas the last time, we went on the Zilker Park train and it was such a hit, I decided to find a similar train in our area. I had never been to Burke Lake Park before but it was SO COOL! It was a beautiful park with lots of pretty green areas. We brought a picnic lunch to eat after our train ride and then went to the ice cream parlor for dessert. If you live in the area, I highly recommend it!
In June we all flew out to California to say goodbye to my Grandpa Gene who passed away this spring. From the age of about seven through my senior year of high school, I spent a month with my grandparents every summer at their cabin in Lake Almanor, and being back there brought back so many memories. It was really sad to close the door on that part of my childhood, and of course it was really sad to say goodbye to my grandpa.
Of course, it was nice to see my family, and it was nice to share a place that has been so special to me with my kids. We also went through a lot of old mementos and photos, which was pretty neat.
A few photos from our trip:
Sam and Campbell entertaining themselves in the airport
Experienced travelers
Driving to the cabin
Beautiful Lake Almanor
Panoramic view of the lake
Sam’s favorite activity. He climbed up and down that ladder over and over!
Their cabin is surrounded by huge, beautiful trees like this.
My grandpa as a young boy. Adorable!!
My grandpa during WWII
Postcard from my grandpa. There was a really cute note on the back in which he used “golly” and “swell” non-ironically.
My Grandma Katie
My grandma was featured in a section of the UC Berkley yearbook called “Glamour.” Such a beauty!
My grandparents on their wedding day
My mom and Jerry were on part of our day-long return trip. Campbell took a nice little nap with her Nana.
Phew!! July has been a busy month! (and I just noticed my last post was mid-June, so I guess June was kind of busy too!). As most of you know, for the past few years I have been taking classes at UVA to get my Reading Specialist degree. Our last requirement for the program was to complete the Summer Reading Clinic, which is all day, every day for the month of July and involved tutoring students, observing students being tutored, and normal class stuff. So that’s what I have been doing all month. But now I am done with Clinic and I am done with graduate school!!!
My UVA Reading Specialist Colleagues
A question I get asked a lot is, “What are you going to do with this degree?” And the answer is, “I’m not sure!” When I started the program, I wasn’t even pregnant with Sam yet (I took a little break after he was born). For now, I think I would really like to do some private tutoring for children who are struggling with reading in school. And eventually (probably once my kids are in school full time), I will go back to teaching. I would love to go back as a first grade teacher, or maybe as a reading resource teacher. I guess I will see what is available then!
Two friends from the program and I celebrating the last day!
(the one on the left, Leanne, moved to my neighborhood right before clinic
so we were able to carpool everyday, which was so fun!)
For childcare this month, I was sooo lucky to have a mother and mother in law who were happy to come for an extended visit so they could watch the kids while Ben was at work and I was at school. And Sam and Campbell loved having their grandmas here all month (and their grandpas for a bit too!) to play with them!! So thank you to Mom and Judi!!
Grandpa Char, Sam, Campbell, Grandma Judi
Sam, Nana, Campbell
Now that my schedule is a little lighter, I promise to post more often. So stay tuned 🙂
Sam and Campbell just had their last day of preschool!! It has been a GREAT year and I just LOVE their school.
Campbell’s last day was Thursday. She has been in the Parent’s Day Out program all year. She goes every Thursday from 9:15-1:15. Amazingly, she has not cried at drop off even once all year. In fact, as we turn the corner heading into her classroom, she usually starts bouncing up and down and shouting, “hi! hi!” I just hope she likes school as much next year!
Sam and Campbell, 6/6/13
Campbell with Ms. Amy and Ms. Elizabeth (She really adored her teachers, I swear, but she was pissed
when I made her take this picture right before we left–I definitely should have taken this pic when we first got there!)
Sam’s last day was Tuesday. He has been going on Tuesdays and Thursdays all year. On Tuesdays he gets out a little early, so we get to have lunch together that day. Sam’s teachers had to call me on the first day of school because he was having a hard time. But after about the first week or so, he started loving school, and hasn’t cried since. He was usually very excited to see his teachers and friends. He especially loved show-and-tell days!!
Sam, 6/11/13
Sam and Campbell, 6/11/13
Sam and Ms. Bernadette
Sam and Ms. Kathy
And here are Sam and Campbell on their very first day of school. Can’t believe how much they’ve grown!
Fifteen months really snuck up on me! On the 7th I had the thought that I needed to set up Campbell’s 15 month check up because she’d turn 15 months soon. Then I looked at the calendar and realized she had turned 15 months old the day before. Ooops!! Time flies when you’re having fun, right?
So here is what our little Campbell is up to these days:
Weight: 22lbs, 2 oz (50th %); Height: 32.25″ (90th%). Still long and lean!
Walking! I already posted a video, but Campbell is just getting faster and faster. She seems a lot more independent now that she can get around on her own. A whole new world has opened up for her. But she still loves holding mommy’s hand, which is nice.
Campbell’s is not a picky eater but she still doesn’t eat much. But at least she’ll eat a variety. Today at lunch she dipped her chip in spicy salsa and ate it! The owner of District Taco was standing at our table when she did that and he was very impressed!! Campbell loves to use a fork and spoon, though she makes a mess, of course.
Campbell has also started climbing on to things. She is very determined and likes to fling her whole body around until she gets up. She has mastered climbing onto Sam’s toddler bed. She also likes to stand up in the highchairs at restaurants, so we have to buckle her in.
Poor Campbell is getting her molars. She has her four front top and bottom teeth (8 total) plus her bottom left molar and is getting the top left molar. I managed to get a look the other day and her gum was swollen and red with a little bit of tooth sticking out. Looks painful but she has been managing pretty well.
Campbell is sleeping pretty well these days. She sleeps 11-12 hours at night (8-7:30 most days) and is still doing two naps. We are at the point where we can have her skip her morning nap and she will do just fine, but we usually have her take it anyway. I imagine she will start giving it up for good in the next couple months.
Campbell is generally a happy little lady but she is starting to develop a temper. I think this has been spurred on by her newfound skill of walking. She gets really mad when I pick her up sometimes and swats at my face. Ow!! She also likes to swat at Sam when he gets in her way or takes a toy from her. It has become a little more challenging getting those two to behave nicely with each other. But I try to tell her “gentle, gentle” when she hits, and about half the time she complies. I have also taught Sam to say “gentle” when she hits.
Campbell has learned a few new words since last month. One new one is “helicopter” with she says as “hala” while she waves in the air excitedly. She also says “meeeeeee” when you ask her what a cat says, and “weeooweeoo” when you ask about an ambulance or police car (or if she hears one). Oh, and she points to herself and says “data,” which I think might mean “Campbell.” We’ll hear her singing a wordless version of the “ABC” song to herself, too, which she learned from Sam.
We sure are having fun with our little Campbell!! She is such a sweet little girl!!
Yay!! Campbell is really walking! She has been walking for a few weeks, but just in short bursts, so I had a hard time getting a video of it, but the other day I finally remembered to have Ben video tape Campbell walking to me. She has been really into walking to us and giving us big hugs. So adorable!
Then this weekend we left the kids with my mom and Jerry for the weekend, and when we got back, Campbell had turned into a REAL walker! She is still slow, but she isn’t really crawling anymore. She prefers to walk now! Much easier to get on video now that she can go long distances. Here she is in her little squeaker shoes, which she LOVES!!
I was just going through the blog, cleaning things up a little, and I found this unfinished post in the drafts folder! Ooops!! Better, late than never, I hope.
We had a lot of fun celebrating Obama’s second inauguration! In 2009, Ben and I put on about 15 layers and rode the bus down an eerily empty highway (it was closed except for buses) to the inauguration. We were packed in like sardines and ended up having to walk home (about 10 miles). It was really cool to be a part of history, but this year, I decided to stay home with the kids. Ben did have to go downtown for work, but fortunately he could watch the event from the warmth of his office building.
We did, however, decide to partake in some of the fun inaugural festivities. We had VIP tickets to the California Dems Ball. I didn’t have a chance to go shopping for a dress, so I ordered my dress on Amazon. Ha! Luckily, the dress fit perfectly! (Don’t you love the contrast between the fancy dress and the wild mess of toys in the background?)
The highlight of the party was getting to chat with my favorite California Dem, Nancy Pelosi!
I really wanted to go to one of the official balls this year (those are the ones the president and first lady attend). However, tickets were very scarce this year and we couldn’t find any. But then at the last minute, Ben’s new boss and his wife gave us their tickets!!
My Amazon dress got a second wear (shhh, don’t tell!), but I wore a different wrap, so it was basically a brand new outfit, right?
We decided to drive downtown because who wants to take the metro when it’s freezing outside? (Not me. I never want to take the metro.) Ben had to drop me off and then go park about a mile away. I walked for blocks trying to find the end of the line. It was crazy!!
But I’m glad we didn’t give up because it actually ended up moving pretty quickly. I would say we waited 30 minutes in total. When we were almost to the front of the line, we ran into a girl that Ben had worked on a campaign with years ago. She was leaving the ball and handed us her “special guest” passes. We didn’t know what they were, but it turned out that they got us into a special section with free drinks!
The highlight of the night was for sure when Stevie Wonder played! That was amazing!! The food selection was pretty amusing. I love the fancy signs.
We got to see the Obamas dance, but I wouldn’t say we had a great view…
I did see this famous guy as we were leaving, though.
Ben and I had a fun night and it was definitely one of those things that it will be fun to tell our children and grandchildren about. Here’s to another 4 years, Mr. President!
