Finger Foods

There are lots and lots of awesome things about having a thumb sucker- self soothing, never have to look for lost binkies, easy to fall asleep.  But there is one drawback- finger foods!  Catherine is getting pretty good at picking little pieces of food up, but when she tries to get it into her mouth, she puts her thumb in instead.  Oops!  Sometimes a stray piece of food will make it in there, and she'll surprise herself (and us!).  I'm sure she'll get the hang of it eventually, but it's pretty hilarious to watch that thumb popping in there instead of food.

Morning Sillies

Lately, Catherine has been the first one awake in the mornings.  I quietly pad down to her room when I hear her begin to talk and coo to herself, change her diaper, and nurse her.  She's so snuggly in the morning, and it's our special time when I can hug her, and give her lots of kisses, and just hold her before the craziness of the day begins.  I cherish those few moments in the morning.  Pretty soon, I'll hear footsteps in the hall.  Peter or Lizzy will wake up and see if the other is awake as well.  They'll talk for a few minutes, then they make their way to Catherine's room.  They quietly peer around her door, then come in, ready for their snuggles and good morning kisses too.  There is something precious about the beginning of the day, when everyone is fresh from sleep, ready to begin a wonderful day together.

Hot Summer Nights

Every Wednesday night, our town has a summer concert in the park.  Families pack a picnic, meet on the lawn, listen to some fun music and dance.  I always want to go, and often we do, but there's no doubt it can be at a dicey time of day, and sometimes it feels like a lot of effort after a long day.  Once I'm there, I'm always so glad we've come.  Lizzy, of course, is in her element.  She loves to dance with her friends, and is often a magnet for little girls, who will come up to her out of nowhere and begin holding her hands and dancing.  Lizzy welcomes them right in, and doesn't miss a beat.  The real fan of these concerts though, is Peter.  Yes, Peter, who can at times be very reserved, often let's his hair down and is ready to boogy down when he hears the beat.  It's priceless.  I love watching him dancing away, with a huge smile on his face, laughing and having so much fun.  Through all the chaos, there are definitely moments of summertime bliss: sipping wine with friends on a breezy warm evening, watching the children playing and laughing, feeling the freedom of dancing like nobody's watching. 

Tiny Golfers

While Lizzy was away at camp, we did one of our favorite activities (well, one of daddy's favorite activities, but if truth be told, we're all catching the fever).  We hit the driving range!  Believe it or not, there were three of us on the mats: Catherine (not great at golf yet, but definitely great at looking adorable and cheering us on), Peter swinging away and getting some "big hits," and me.  Yes..... I said me.  Pat's gotten me a little hybrid club of my own, and I must confess, I don't totally hate it........I actually kind of really like it, and I've even gotten some pretty good hits out of it.  Maybe we will turn into a golfing family after all.

Water Balloons!

I found a bag of water balloons stashed in a messy kitchen drawer.  Like a kid, they called to me, and I remembered all the fun times I had as a little kid at the park playing with water balloons, or as a camp councilor having tons of balloons thrown at me by campers and scurrying out of the way.  We decided we must have a spontaneous water balloon party- we just must!  Thank goodness for Lizzy and Peter!  We made a little assembly line and filled up a ton of balloons in no time flat (with only a few explosions that soaked my pants, but that's the fun, right?!).  Daddy ran to the store and bought hot dogs and treats, and all our friends came over.  The kids had so much fun, and it was such a perfect way to spend a summer afternoon.

Bikers

It's a bike-riding summer, that's for sure.  Now that Lizzy is really confident on her new big-girl bike, and Peter has turned into a speedy, capable, rider, the kids love going for bike rides.  There's only one problem: they are super fast, and I am super slow, pushing Catherine in her stroller.  Thank goodness for daddy!  He's brushed the dust off his bike, and has proven to be quite the amazing bike rider himself.  Now one of Lizzy and Peter's favorite things is to head to the park with daddy and wildly ride all around the winding bike trails.  They even love to ride as fast as they can over the speed bumps in the parking lot- those dare devils!  Catherine and I try our best to keep up, but we mostly end up admiring everyone from afar.  They wave to us, as they gleefully speed by with huge smiles splashed across their faces.  They're wonderful to watch!

Getting Close

For a while now, Catherine has been this close to crawling.  She'll bend down on her hands, reach really far out, and rock back and forth.  She's showing all the signs, and I'm sure it's going to be any day now, but right now, it's not quite happening.  Crawling, like any other skill really, isn't something that just happens- boom, poof, she's off!  It's something that slowly evolves, after countless tiny steps, a million little pieces building upon one another to establish understanding and mastery.  It's happening, right in front of our very own eyes, but it's such a slow process, it's hard to see.  But I think it's important to step back and admire what's happening, champion those little pieces fitting together, and be awe-struck at how amazing it is that babies somehow, someway, figure it all out.  They know what to do, they just do.  It's pretty awesome, when you think about it.  So instead of worrying, and waiting, and wondering, "when will she?", I'm going to think, "Wow!  She's doing it!  She knows!  She's putting it all together!"  Because she is- amazing!