Toddling along

Taking a rest in the dog crate

Noah is walking more and more, gaining confidence and taking 5-10 steps at a time.  We are shocked at how fast he's progressing, especially since our experience with Evie's first steps was so different (when she was 10 months old, without crawling first).  Suddenly he looks like such a toddler to me and is losing a bit of his baby chub.  With all of this growing up, Noah has been sleeping through the night most nights, waking to nurse around 6am, then sleeping in until 9 or 10 most days.  He is down to one nap since he's snoozing so late in the mornings!  

This is all that remains of a full sized zucchini muffin.  I'd say he approves!

Friday we took a little field trip to Shelburne Farms, one of Vermont's most picturesque locations with a great farmyard and tons of fun for the kids.  The weather was perfect, we were meeting friends there...and my kids were AWFUL.  Noah was going through a screaming/screeching phase and Evie was just grumpy.  She was clinging to me as I tried to maneuver the stroller around, constantly asking for snacks and to go to the bathroom, and generally ignoring all the awesome activities surrounding us.  She did enjoy the hiking trails and picking raspberries from the garden, at least.  I packed us a lunch, and when we sat down to eat, Noah alternated between screaming and climbing onto the eating surface of the picnic table.  He threw every bite of food I offered him on the ground.  I threw in the towel after that, and we caught the next wagon ride back to the car, drenched in sweat and frustration.  As we were driving home, Evie said, "Mommy!  That was so great.  Can we go back again tomorrow?"  I think Mommy is going to need a few more days to recover from that experience!

Evie has had us laughing with a few of her comments lately:

• "Mommy, why did you have to put up a bear cave?"  (bear cave = barricade)
• Matt has been joking about being "Bat Dad", like Bat Man, but Evie was very concerned that he thought he was a "Bad Dad"
• The Very Hungry "Callerpitter" - it's a good book!

Matt and I celebrated our 9th anniversary last week, and we enjoyed an awesome dinner at Hen of the Wood in Burlington.  I had told him that I didn't care how we celebrated, as long as I didn't have to plan it.  Matt took care of all the details, including lining up his mom to watch the kids. It was such a treat to have time to take a breath, eat our entire meal, and appreciate the family that we've built in these past 9 years.  

Family anniversary celebration at Grandpa Tom's, complete with water balloons!

And, I have to celebrate a Jazzercise accomplishment.  My friend Rebecca and I signed up for a summer attendance game - 70 classes in 2 months, and we did it!  I don't have many of these measurable accomplishments in my life right now, so it felt good to be able to complete the challenge and get in a little better shape at the same time.