Local Cup

I finally found a pick-up soccer league close to home, and went for my second night tonight. It's fantastic to stretch my legs out on a real grass field again (I played indoor last winter). I'm hoping my cardiovascular system will get with the program before the summer's done.

Cutest li'l popsicle eater evah

My friend Eileen watched this video and told me, "Speaking as a swallowing specialist, she has great lingual elevation and bilabial range of motion in the oral phase of swallowing!" I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it's probably something to the effect of "she's so talented at licking."

Beating the heat

You know you're a third when your mom doesn't even bother filling up the bathtub for you.

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And just for fun, here she is sporting the "giraffe" hairdo (named for the likeness to the nubs on giraffes' heads):

Winner winner chicken dinner

We're so proud of our experienced little hopper.

The Maine (and a little of The New Hampshire)

Portland Head Light
Rocky Shore by Portland Head Light
Odiorne State Park
I just told Squiggles my best joke ever
Dinner in Hampton, NH
Ivy in all her grumpy glory. This one's big so you can check out her cheeky little face in the middle photo.
A few more lovely lights and beautiful people (including my most excellent parents) in Maine.
Hampton Beach, NH

I have a *special* shot of Calvin at the Portland Head. Tee hee. Let me know if you want to see it and I'll email it to you (not one for the general public).

Swallowed by the whales

It's good thing Max only had a dog

The night Calvin wore his wolf suit


and made mischief of one kind

and another,


his mother called him, "Wild Thing!" And took pictures and made a blog post about it. Poor Ivy.

How Cat Ladies Get Their Start

Chances are pretty good that if you've interacted with Bryn in the last year, there has been a significant amount of meowing involved. The kid is a girl obsessed.

She successfully snuck one of her smaller models to school today and informed me that "Marie" enjoyed helping her "paint" the classroom.

Laura sent me this link, courtesy of one of her friends from school who thought the girl in the video reminded her of Bryn. I'd have to agree, especially considering when I recieved the link, Bryn was reading pretty much the same book in her bedroom.

Lovie

Some kids become attached to a blanket (i.e. Calvin). Some to stuffed animals (i.e. Bryn). Ivy has formed an attachment to a book. It's been going on for about two weeks now, with no sign of abatement.

She moves from room to room with her beloved book, plopping herself down to thumb through the pages every so often. Even as I type, she's sitting in the front room leafing through the contents.

If you try to take it from her, she will scream like you're ripping her ear off. And of course, her taste in literature is quite sophisticated.

Flower Self-Empowerment

Words cannot describe how much I love this flower that Bryn made. I'm so grateful that she has a healthy self esteem.

These are a couple of signs that Bryn put up on her door. Peter and I laughed our heads off when we discovered them after the kids were asleep.

She's constantly trying to find an excuse to be less clothed. Last night she blamed the heat, stripped down to her skivvies, and fell asleep at an odd angle. I took a picture, but it's not blog appropriate. I'll use it as blackmail when the time comes. Love this girl!