Fun on The Waterway

I met a fellow mommy at Piper's ballet class who has a little girl about Piper's age.  We immediately hit it off and have been hanging out on an almost daily basis.  A few weekends ago, she texted me about a family event down on The Waterway.  The Waterway is part of our "Town Center".  It's a riverwalk fashioned after San Antonio's famous riverwalk.  They have restaurants, a concert pavillion, a green space for lounging about, and fountains both to admire and to play in.  You can also hop on a trolley or take a water taxi to several other destinations within our "Town Center".  It's a pretty neat little area and we've gone there a couple of times as a family just to walk around.  Every weekend in the summer, though, they have what they call "Nights on The Waterway".  They have a local band and some type of performance artist or an outdoor movie.  It's not too crowded, super fun, and did I mention it's totally FREE! 

"Summer, Summer, Summertime...

Let's just sit back and unwind"

 I love summer.  There's a nostalgic quality that summer has- the vinyl smell of a freshly bought pool, eating juicy watermelon, running through the sprinklers, wafts of coconut tanning lotion in the air, grilling out, and enjoying over 12 hours of daylight. Summer's the best!

One thing that I absolutely love about our new neighborhood is the overabundance of summer activities and 13 wonderful pools.  I wasn't sure if I would be a "pool-side mommy", but the 100 degree temps changed my mind pretty quickly and it's Texas-you practically live in the pool year round.  The pool in our "village" is a mini waterpark. It has slides, a playscape, and a lazy river. It's fantastic. We bought our pool pass and it's already paid for itself twice over. 

Both Piper and Brynnie are signed up for swim lessons this summer and they are total water babies, just like their mama. Piper loves to swim around and pretend to be "Nemo".  She'll start reenacting scenes from the movie with other pool goers (and no, they don't know they are in her movie).  It's really funny to watch her start yelling at random pool goers "Swim away, swim away" or "Don't touch the butt (boat)".  Brynnie will splash around, crawl through the water, and mostly escape me.  She keeps me on my toes at the pool. 

 We have a goal to visit all 13 pools this summer.  While we've only visited 3 since getting our passes (it rained all last week or we would've been at the pool everyday), I think we could easily achieve our goal in no time.  Man, I love summer!

11 MONTHS!

Just a year ago at this time, I was working on her baby quilt and anxiously waiting her arrival.  In 1 month, she'll be one.  I'm still wrapping my head around that:  How is it that I have 1 month left in babyhood? 

What is Brynnie up to now:

*Brynnie is a cruiser.  A cell phone placed just out of her reach prompted this milestone- remote controls, cameras, anything Piper has, food, the dog all elicit the same response.  She can stand briefly without assistance too.

*I don't get to read or play as much with Brynn as I did with Piper, but that hasn't stopped Brynn from developing a love affair with books and figuring out how things work. 

*She's a bit like her sister:  independent when it comes to playing and exploring

*LOVES her blanket.  She has a few:  2 white ones knitted by her Oma and a pink, blue, white chevron stripped one that was knitted for me when I was a baby. She loves having the blanket snuggled right up against her face. 

*Plays Peek-A-Boo.  So cute!  She'll put the blanket over her head and when you ask "where's Brynnie?" all you hear is giggling from the blanket.  It's quite possibly the cutest thing ever. 

*Is the messiest eater on the planet!  She has to eat naked.  More food ends up on her face and in her hair than in her belly.  She's sneaky too!  Boo will unabashedly park herself under the highchair at mealtimes because she knows Brynn will throw her some food...on purpose.

*Speaking of food, Brynn LOVES hotdogs and fruit.  HATES veggies.  I put a piece of broccoli in her mouth and she spit it out- wouldn't touch it. 

*Doesn't sign as much as I would like.  She is very vocal and will occasionally sign "milk".  She tries to say "more" and has "mama"  down like a champ.  Other than that, her vocabulary isn't as big as Pip's was at this age, but she knows how to use her voice. 

*Dropped her morning and afternoon nap and now only does 1 long nap from 12/1-5pm.  Her nighttime sleep is from 8-8:30/9am.  So we're getting anywhere between 16-18 hours of sleep. 

*I call her the Brute.  Brynnie is tough as nails and super strong and she knows it. 

 

Do I have something on my face?

If it's really quiet in Brynn's room, it means she's reading a book

Brynnie and Piper love playing together.  Piper has taken a keen interest in "teaching" Brynnie

Touch a Truck

A few weeks after we moved to the burbs, we went to the local park for the annual Touch a Truck event.  Piper loves trucks.  So we thought it would be fantastic for her to get to see real-life trucks up close.   They had firetrucks, ambulances, police cars, monster trucks, tractors, and army trucks.  I had fun.  Bob wanted to be a little boy again.  Piper was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds.  The only trucks she was willing to visit were the firetruck and the garbage truck and even then she only got within arms reach of it before asking if she could leave.  I've learned that with Pip you have to curb your enthusiasm.  Oh well, next year we promised her that we would get there earlier before any of the kids got there.  She seemed pretty happy about that.

We stood in line FOR-E-VER to go inside the firetruck.  When it finally got to be our turn, she didn't want to go in

My Little Ballerina

What we learned in our first ballet class

I need to begin this post by making 3 very distinct points about me as a parent and as a person:

1.  I will read a syllabus, directions, special instructions for any class or event I attend at least 100 times before I attend said event or class.  I will show up early to the first class.

2.  I am not an "eager beaver" mommy.  I get excited about stuff my kids get to do (which is why I read the instructions/syllabus over and over again) and wish I could do it too.  But I don't get all "Toddlers and Tiaras" mommy on my kids

3.  I do not get embarrassed.  I rarely feel unprepared.

For a year Piper has been asking about ballet.  Unfortunately, everytime I looked up a ballet class, they were always full.  Once we moved to the burbs, I immediately signed her up for a summer ballet class through the Rec center.  Since it's the first dance class she's ever attended, we decided to put her in the younger group 2-3 1/2 year olds.  She's on the older end, but I think it'll help her gain confidence and discipline.

Prior to attending class, I read the special instructions (5 times the morning of the class and at least a 100 times before that) about what to bring to the first class.  It didn't say anything about tutus, leotards, tights, or ballet shoes.  BUT lo and behold, when we pulled up all I saw were pink tutus everywhere and then there was Piper.  I dressed Pip in a sensible outfit that I thought would be suitable for dancing.  She wore leggings and a tank top with a little hoodie over it.

As we walked up to the building, we both walked real slow and I contemplated throwing her back into the car and driving to the mall to get her a brand new dance outfit.  I was embarrassed.  How could I have screwed this up?  My kid is going to be the only kid wearing street clothes to ballet class.  I mean there was a DAD there and he even had his kid in a tutu!

After shaking off the embarrassment (because I do NOT get embarrassed), the ballet class wasn't all that bad.  Piper was the only kid in a hip-hop dance outfit, but she didn't care and neither did I.  She listened and followed directions.  She tried her hardest to do "first position" and just enjoyed dancing.   

Can you spot Pip in the sea of tutus?

Ballet Train

Ballet meets every Wednesday for 6 weeks, you can bet at the next class she will have a leotard and tights (no shoes though, ballet slippers are expensive and I would have to buy 2 pairs just to fit her feet, plus the teacher said it wasn't necessary for the summer class) 

Oh and I will make sure to have my camera next time.  Yes, I even forgot my camera (what is my problem?).  Thankfully, I met another mom who was happy to take a few pics of the class and send them to me.

10 Months!

There aren't a lot of BIG changes or milestones that happen between 10 and 12 months.  Everyday sort of reads like this:  wake up, eat, destroy the house, eat, nap, destroy house again, eat, sleep for 12 hours and repeat.   So I thought I'd do something a little different to commemorate Brynnie turning 10 months old: 

The 10 Faces of Brynnie

"Oh mom, do you really have to take a picture now?" face

 "I promise, pinky swear I did not do anything naughty" face

 "Yeah, I did it.  Whatchu gonna do?" face

 "I love you mommy" face

"Being a baby is soooo hard" face

 "Played too hard, gonna sleep all day" face

"Oh my gosh, this is the BEST ever!" face

"Peek a Boo" face

"Catch me if you can" face

"Ohhhh, can I see that?"  face

Pip's Stage Debut

As if moving wasn't enough to keep us busy, Pip's school had their big fundraiser/Spring performance the next day.  Everyone was incredibly tired, but I knew that it was important for her to be there (and I was pretty excited to see Pip on stage).  Her school's curriculum is derived from the Bible so the performance centered around Bible stories.  Piper's class dressed up as characters from well-known parables.  If you can't tell, she's the wounded traveler from the story of the Good Samaritan.  I wasn't aware of what her costume was going to look like, but I was told by her teacher that it was really cute and she wanted me to be surprised.  When she walked out, she looked like a little wounded bird.  It was pretty cute and like every parent in attendance, I had my camera ready for some fantastic shots and here's what I got:

Listening attentively to the preschool director giving instructions

Looking for her parents among the flashes

Looks like she spotted us!

Big yawn

Bandage and sling off

Aww, this one is the winner!  Look at my kid- isn't she great?

Actually participating and singing along with everyone else!

And the show is over...couldn't have come any sooner.  Pip was nearly undressed from her costume and that little girl in pink next to her flashed her underwear about a 100 times.  Great times at the preschool Spring performance.  I can't wait to see how Pip does in the ballet class I signed her up for. Those should make for some fun pictures!

Pretty as a Princess

Our friends, the Monsons, invited us to go to the Disney on Ice:  Princesses show. Piper wanted to dress up like Cinderella (in her blue dress).  I wanted to dress up too, but stifled my urge to whip up a Belle costume.  It was a good choice because there weren't any adults dressed up as princesses. I know Piper has very limited knowledge on who Cinderella is, but she picked her because blue is her favorite color.  I love her logic.  After I got her all dressed up, she asked me where her crown was (doh!) and then she kept saying, "you're as pretty as a princess!"

The show was really spectacular and magical.  They did abbreviated versions of "The Princess and the Frog", "Tangled (Rapunzel), and Cinderella.  I'm not going to lie...I teared up a bit watching the princess finale.  They had every princess from every Disney cartoon come out and skate at the very end and seeing all the little girls get super excited about their favorite princess made me really happy.  

After the show, Pip couldn't stop talking about the princesses and how she wanted to see the show again.  Luckily for us, Disney on Ice makes regular appearances here in Houston.  I think we can spare a chunk of change to go see them again.  

9 Months!

Who knew Baby B would have such a PERSONALITY?  She is so much fun to hang out with and play with.  I love this age!  

What is Brynnie up to now?

*If you couldn't tell from the picture, B is officially crawling!  B moves like lightning and there's no stopping her.  She's started to pull herself up and stand with assistance so it's just a matter of time before she starts cruising and then walking.

*Speaking of being more mobile, B is also very, very curious and sometimes that curiosity gets her in trouble.  B discovered Boo's water dish (just like her big sister did), Pippy's potty, every electrical outlet, and that power cords are meant for teething.  We also know how to push/close doors and drawers.  We have to stay one step ahead of her or else we'll have a fried Brynnie.

*Baby B has teeth!  2 cute little bottom teeth that she cut at the same time.  What a nightmare for us and for her.  Poor thing was a complete mess.

*Now that Brynn has teeth, you better watch your food closely or she's liable to swipe it.  She loves to eat.  Her favorite baby foods are:  beef  or chicken based, any fruit (bananas, berries, watermelon, avocado, pears), and pasta.  She's also been known to steal a waffle or chicken nugget from Pip and a few fries from my plate.  B's been practicing self-feeding and developing her pincer grip too.  B is also completely weaned from nursing and drinks from a bottle.

*Brynn communicates!  She can say "mama" and it generally refers to me.  She also signs "more" and "milk".    She has the sweetest voice and most of the time she's laughing or giggling.  I'm working on "all done" and "diaper change"  with her.  Pippy gets in on the signing as well and will sign "milk" and "more" to her.  I think she understands when I say "I love you" because she gets this huge grin on her face, but I get the same response when I tell her "no" along with a definitive head shake.  

*Pippy and Brynn love playing together.  Brynn has to be everywhere Pip is or wherever she thinks the action is going to be.  If Brynn is left in a room by herself, she goes looking for everyone.  Earlier this week, I put Brynn down for a nap in her swing and forgot to snap her in.  I could hear B crying and it sounded like she was closer and closer to the door.  Sure enough, she had gotten out of the swing (which is in the master bedroom's bathroom), opened the bathroom door, and crawled to the bedroom door to be let out.   I never laughed so hard in my life.  Sometimes when I'm in the kitchen, I see her little head peeking around the corner looking for me.  She loves to be by people!

*Brynn's sleeping habits are pretty predictable.  She naps in her swing, in the bathroom with the exhaust fan on for about 2 hours, 2x a day!  Her nighttime sleep is from 8am-8pm.  Once she's in her own room, I'll probably have her nap in her crib. 

*At our 9 month check-up, the doctor commented that Brynn is one happy baby!  I have to agree. 

STATS:

Height: 28.5in 

Weight: 16.5lbs 

Eye color: Hazel- lean more towards the mossy green

Hair color: medium brown- her hair has lightened up quite a bit.  Everyone always comments that she has the most perfect pixie cut.  

This House is OURS!

We closed on our house today!  I can't say that it went with out some drama.  For starters, we had a bit of a communication problem between the "powers that be" and it potentially threatened our closing date.  Then our closing lasted about 2 1/2 hours instead of the 1 hour because we had to sign our documents twice due to a clerical error on the first set we signed and then we had a nail biting wait for the wire transfer to go through.  After we signed away our life in blood, we were able to take home these beauties:

To hold these keys for the first time felt sort of like holding my newborn babes:  afraid to drop them and in awe that dreams really do come true.  

Signing away- Bobby had to do most of the signing, but I did  put my John Hancock on a few documents

Welcome Home!  

After almost 10 years of apartment living, I am most looking forward to:

1.  having a yard of my very own

2.  not having to share my parking spot 

3.  not being able to hear my neighbors above, below, and to the side of me

4.  having enough bedrooms and storage

5.  and knowing that this home is permanent- we aren't going anywhere!