Pool Time

Summer is here and it is hot! Selby has declared that she wants to swim as much as possible, which makes me happy. THe more confident of a swimmer she is the more I can enjoy my time by water. The first time I took Selby and Savannah to Skyline on my own was quite stressful. Savannah was pretty squirmy, confident that she didn't need me to hang on to her in the pool. I swore I wouldn't return to a body of water with her without a floaty that I could stick her in. I ran to Target the next day to get the perfect flotation device for the slippery little thing, complete with shade. I thought I had figured out the solution to a relaxing afternoon at the pool with both girls, one daughter who could swim on her own and one who just thought she could.

When we next visited Skyline, I happily plunked Savannah in her new floaty and jumped with her and Selby. She was happy as a crab -- for a about 60 seconds. Then she tried to climb out. So now I was back to holding her again. We quickly moved to the baby pool. We tried another floating donated by my mother in law. She was happy in that one for a about 15 minutes. It's going to be a long summer. Tom and I are on the market for a flotation device that has a 5-point harness. But, both girls do look absolutely adorable in their new bathing suits that Grandma bought.

Camping

I'm not sure why we signed up for a camping trip with our 16 month old but Tom said something to the effect of "We'll never have a chance to camp when they're this age again..." I should've said, "That's a good thing!" But in the end, it was a pretty fun, if sleepless trip. Savannah tricked us and fell right asleep in her pack n play, only to wake up a few hours later and then not sleep for the next four. Selby was a champ and had a great time. After dosing Savannah with a little Benedryl the next night, and dosing us with a little scotch and red wine, everyone slept much better. Or at least as best as you could hope for while camping, which is not saying much. Our veteran camper friends thought it was no big deal, but our more "normal" friends, and family, were quite impressed (or thought we were crazy. Probably a little of both). I'm ready to do it again ... next year.

Savannah, Selby and Summer!

Too many fun and funny things to write about re: my two amazing (and very different) daughters. First, Selby finished first grade! I was definitely more emotional about this graduation than I was about kindergarten for some reason. I think that just knowing she's going into 2nd grade sounds so old and it's really hitting me how fast it's all going. She's reading and writing and telling time and adding and subtracting. She's still not riding a bike yet but we hope to remedy that this summer. She told me several times that she's very sad that school is over, but that she's not nervous (at all) for second grade like she was for first.

She's still in that huggy, "i love you" affectionate stage that I love and dread when it will eventually end.

And Savannah is just hysterical. First up, she goes CRAZY when she sees a dog. She just yells and points "DOG!" Same goes for "DUCK!" She basically calls all furry animals, like cats, cows, and sheep dogs and all fowl, ducks. And everything goes "Mooooooooo!" We have tried to correct her, even though it's extremely entertaining for all of us. "Savannah, how does a cat go?" "Moooooooooo!" "Savannah, how does a car go?" "Moooooooo!" Although she now does admit that a duck goes "Ack, ack, ack!"

She is babbling and pronouncing some words, constantly. She knows "more", "ball" and "baby" and the aforementioned duck and dog, in addition to the standard mama, dada and belby (selby). She's getting lots of teeth and a few curls.

We took our first major trip in April to the Sand Dunes and we all survived. Then we hit Crested Butte in May. Both over five hours in the car. It was challenging at times but nothing that would prevent us from going on other excursions. Next up: camping. I'll let you know how that goes. I have medium hopes.