Massachusetts, here we come! Eventually...

The official verdict is in - Sybase, who bought my company last Fall, has agreed to transfer me to the Concord office! Craig and I are figuring out a date as we speak/type, but it looks to be early Spring until we can pull everything together. There is a lot to be done. House prep, packing, listing the house, buying a new one, closing, moving - you name it. It's exhausting to consider, but we're looking forward to it (well, to *some* of it). Wish I could afford to hire someone to do it for us!

One month until TWO YEARS OLD!

Wow - I don't know how this can be true, but Rory is almost two years old. Her vocabulary has exploded and she speaks some full sentences, and sings several songs all the way through (all the words aren't clear yet, but it's a start!). She is happy, silly, and feisty, and enjoys her life. She runs all over the place, adores the playground, and has a current obsession with Miss Spider on TV. She has to watch this one episode, Frog in the Moon, every day.

Another thing she is doing right now is running away from us at every chance. Fun for her, but not such fun for us. We are now insisting on holding her hand everywhere we go, if she isn't locked into the stroller. We have tried yelling at her, disciplining her, you name it. She thinks it is amusing to see us get so charged up. So we hold her hand anytime we are outside. Kind of tricky with Fiona on your other arm, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

The songs she sings constantly are: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle (the same tune, you'll note), and the theme to SpongeBob SquarePants. She has a truly amazing vocabulary, and says things like:

"Oh no, Mama, what happened?"
"Look Mama, it's a spider"
"Play outside, Mama?"

I think she has linked a 6-word sentence, but I can't remember what it was. She still hates having her teeth brushed, still freaks out when I pour water over her head (so you can imagine how falling in the pool went over), and she still kind of chases the kitties. She enjoys daycare, reading, playing with her garage and castle, and she loves hockey. What more could we ask for?

Swimming!

Rory and her daycare pal, Jordan Smith, hit the pool recently, and fun was had by all. Rory slipped in the kiddie pool and went underwater, which scared the life out of her, but she handled it pretty well and continued playing and enjoying herself. Obviously, the Nemo bucket was a big hit - on her head. Hah!

Yes, she was smeared with sunscreen. From head to toe, trust me. She brought her hippo with her (Appa). He enjoyed the pool, as well, but didn't require any sunscreen. Hippos secrete sunscreen! Now THERE'S a little tidbit I'll bet you didn't know! This blog is nothing if not educational.

Happy Father's Day 2007

On Father's Day, Craig (aka Daddy and Papa) enjoyed himself immensely. He did two rides in the sweaty sunshine of the day, and the girls bought him a book ("33 Uses for a Dad") and two cards. We think there may be even MORE uses for a Dad, and we're working on documenting them. Check back.

Fiona is four months old!

Today is Fiona's four month birthday! She had her doctor's appointment today, and here are her vital stats:

Weight: 18 pounds, 9 ounces (95th percentile)
Length: 25.5 inches (75th percentile)
Head circumference: 41.5 cm (60th percentile)

She had four shots and a polio vaccine. She handled the entire thing very well, and was proclaimed healthy as a ox. She eats 6 ounces of formula five times a day, and the doctor told us we should start giving her solid food whenever we want to. It seems so soon! But we have some here, when we feel brave enough. Hah!

Tennis, anyone?

Running to and fro, with two girls in tow, the days just seem to pass too fast. Days turn into weeks, and suddenly it is two weeks into June! It still isn't terribly hot (thankfully), and that's extra nice because Rory wants to go outside to play the minute we come home from daycare. She has completely mastered the neighborhood tot lot. She climbs up to the top of the slide, swings on both her belly and on her butt (with a parent pushing), and hauls herself up the climbing portion of the playground. Fiona usually reclines in her stroller, or a friendly neighbor holds her (usually Jiwan).

I bought Rory a tennis racket recently, and we spent some time on the neighborhood court. I didn't really try to teach her anything, other than how to sweep the ball around using the head of the racket. It is a super cheap Wilson, so I don't really care if she trashes it. That's the point! I want her to get used to holding it, and focusing on "herding" the ball. And then, when she has that stuff down, I am hoping to get Jiwan's husband to teach her a thing or two. Their 3.5 year old son, Nihal, is really good at tennis already.

Anyway, that's it from here!

Laura turns 39!

For my birthday, I was lucky enough to celebrate with my good friend, Donna Hemmert Baumann, whose baby shower was the same day! We had a day filled with good friends, excellent food, and loads of laughter. Plus, I got to eat dessert twice. How can that be wrong, I ask you? It can't.

Craig bought me a delicious chocolate death cake from Wegman's, which we inhaled after feasting upon Chinese food that night. It was great, and very filling. A nice birthday, and a fun precursor to the big 4-0!!

Rory's first stage show

Rory sort of experienced her first public performance tonight. Her daycare had a "show" (use the word loosely) in the auditorium of a local church. We put Rory in a cute dress, packed up Fiona, and schlepped over for the festivities.

Rory had had a rough afternoon. She fought her nap, crying for over an hour in her crib before finally passing out, and had not eaten a very big dinner. Not really a healthy combo for public showmanship. When we got to the church and she saw the ladies who run her daycare (women she adores, and talks about all the time), she got extremely clingy with me. No big deal, I kept holding her until it was time for the toddlers to go on stage (their class was going first).

When it was time, I handed Rory to Nureen, one of her teachers, and she immediately started crying. Nureen took her onto the stage and sat her with the other kids, and I went offstage and hid off to one side, so Rory wouldn't see me and freak (more). Rory continued crying on stage and Nureen called me back to get her, and Rory and I went into the hall and walked around. I asked her if it had been scary, she said yes, and I told her she didn't have to do anything that scared her. Then we played in the kitchen and ran around the building having fun.

Twenty minutes later, you couldn't KEEP Rory off the stage. Craig was chasing her around at that point (while I fed Fiona) and she kept rushing the stage screaming "twinkle twinkle little star!" at the top of her lungs - the very song her class performed. Once used to the room and all the people, she was raring to go. Craig said she tried to get up on stage more than five times, and he was amazed that I couldn't hear Rory singing. Hah!