Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Myrtle Beach 2010: Pictures


More pictures from our beach adventures with the triplets.

Everyone really enjoyed playing in the sand this year.

Juli found a seashell.

One of the few pictures of Juli looking at the camera. She usually looks away when she sees it.

We got the girls to hold hands and walk down to Grandma and Grandpa.

KJ joined in shortly after he saw them.

All smiles

My Dad took a great family picture for us.

Elisha walking down the beach with her Papa.

KJ leaving some bread out for the birds.

Elisha wanted to feed the birds, too.

KJ and his Grandma.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Myrtle Beach 2010: Pictures


Our second day in Myrtle Beach we took the kids out to the pool. The condo we stayed in had a nice, one foot deep wading pool for the kids. Perfect for our little ones.

KJ jumped right in.

Juli had to test the waters a bit.

We took a slightly more aggressive approach with Elisha.

KJ took note of our aggressive approach with Elisha and applied it to Juli

Juli then got him back by baptizing him.

Now that that's out of the way, we can just have fun now.

Not our dolls.

Very happy Juli with a topless mermaid. Not ours.

Elisha is now comfortable enough to sit in the water. Or she had to pee. Not sure which (we did have swim diapers on them).

All smiles. Probably gas. I'm glad he was standing up.

She's not doing what you might think here. Not sure what she was doing, but it wasn't that.

Elisha even made a friend.

Not our dolphin.

Not our torpedo. We need to get our kids some pool toys.

Elisha really liked the lazy river ride.

I mean she Really liked the lazy river ride

Monday, June 28, 2010

Myrtle Beach 2010: Pictures

Now that I've had enough time to edit all 1500 pictures from the vacation, I can finally start to post them.

The first day we just took a leisurely walk along the beach to get the kids used to the sand and water. This year was a much different experience compared to last year, when they did not like the sand on their feet at all. This year they went right out into it, no problem. Elisha was a little tentative at first, but she's been like that with everything lately. She needs to take in the whole situation and make sure it's okay before she can relax and enjoy it.

First steps in the ocean this year.

Throwing sand is fun.

Elisha's not so sure, but coming around.

Juli found a shell. "What's this, Grandma?"

"Look, Dada, sand!"

The whole gang (minus me, always behind the camera).

"Waves are fun!"

Elisha's still not so sure.

"Look, I found a seashell!" There's an Elisha smile!!

"Look, Mama, bubbles!"

Saturday, June 26, 2010

First Video With The iPhone 4

Don't worry, I didn't take the kids out to wait in line all day at the apple store for the new iPhone. I left the house around 7:00 in the evening and had the phone by 10:00 that night. Not bad considering some people waited upwards of 5 hours and had a "reservation".

So, here's the first video I took with the phone. Just a few minutes of the kids and the dog playing in the backyard.



One day soon I'll shoot the same video with our flip minoHD and the iPhone 4 and compare the two.

Stay Tuned.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Being Nice And Polite Will Help You Rise Above

My parents, brother and sister have been vacationing in North Myrtle Beach for close to or more than a decade now. Each year, my sister watches as people para-sail above the ocean and has really wanted to try it. No one would go with her, and she didn't want to do it alone.

Since we finally joined them for their vacation this year, she finally had someone to go with her. I've always wanted to para-sail, too, but Gretch would never go with me.

I made our appointment for Thursday at two o'clock in the afternoon. I figured the triplets would be napping by then so we could sneak off and not worry about leaving Gretch or my parents alone with the kids. Around one o'clock Thursday I got a call from the people who run the para-sail and they told me they were running behind. They would gladly let us reschedule for another day or we could just wait it out on the beach outside of their office. We opted to wait it out.

When we got to the office, there was an older couple there and the man was yelling at the lady behind the desk. He was irate about the delay and was demanding to be allowed to go para-sailing immediately. He was really grumpy and mean, and his wife, tho she didn't say much, wasn't much nicer. I felt bad for the lady behind the desk, because there was obviously nothing she could do about the delay.

My sister and I quietly waited until one of the ladies behind the desk finished up with some other people who were there before us, and when it was our turn we took our papers and filled out the releases and other paperwork. They reminded us about the delay, and we told them not to worry about it. We would wait until they could take us. My sister had been waiting ten years, what was another hour, right? Besides, we were on vacation, on a beach, and the sun was out. It was a beautiful day. Why not wait?

Well, the ladies running the place took notice of how laid back and polite we were about the whole thing, and snuck us onto the next boat out, before the grumpy people that were there before us, and probably had an appointment before ours. We only waited about 15 minutes before getting on the boat, and it was probably another 30 before we were up in the air. It was such a peaceful ride. Well worth the cost. It was something I'll always remember. I've never done anything like that before.

And the best part, as we were up there, a storm started to develop to our south, so the guys on the boat pulled the parachute down after we got back on the boat. They were done for the day. So Mr. and Mrs. Grumpy never got to have their adventure!





Thursday, June 24, 2010

Potty Training Update

I decided to start potty training this morning. I put a cheap plastic shower curtain on the floor to protect the carpet from any accidents and set the three potties that we have in front of the TV. After breakfast we turned on a movie and I gave the kids their sippy cups and cranked the A/C.

Today was really just a test, to see who was ready and who was not. If they're all ready, great, they can all do this together. If not, well, we'll try one at a time. It turns out that Juli is ready. She was the only one that got her pee in the potty. Elisha is, well, not so ready. She definitely knows when she has to go, but she did not want to go on the potty. She waited, and waited, and waited, until I gave it and put her diaper back on, and she immediately peed. I mean immediately. KJ is somewhere in between. He peed while he was on the potty, but sprayed me instead of pointing himself down into the potty. I'm going to chalk that one up as a learning experience for both of us.

Hopefully we'll make a little more progress tomorrow. We might try some underwear on Juli and KJ. I may also see if Elisha wants to wear them. I'll let you know how it goes.


Why Don't Dads Change Diapers?

I promised myself a long while ago that this blog would be a "happy place", someplace to chronicle the adventures the kids and I have as we grow up together. I did not want it to be a place where I gripe and complain about problems I encounter being a stay-at-home dad. But - you knew there was a "but" coming - I just can't let this one slide.

As you know if you've been reading the blog at all recently we just got back from a week long trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It's about a 11 hour drive from our house to where we stayed. Driving 1400 miles round trip with three toddlers still in diapers is no easy feat. There are lots of stops for diaper changes, especially for Juli, who regularly downs as much water as she can to test the absorbency tolerance of whatever brand of diapers we are currently buying. Side note, Costco's Kirkland Signature brand Diapers can hold a LOT of liquid.

So, back to the topic at hand. We stopped at a number of rest stops, McDonald's, and wherever else we thought might be a good place to change the kids when they needed it. Almost every time we stopped I would take one of the kids into the restroom only to find that there was no changing station and I would have to do a standing diaper change. Not the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when you have little girls who like to dance.  When there was a changing station in the mens room, often it was located in the handicap stall. Which, as we all know, is the most popular stall in the bathroom. Elisha and I waited about ten minutes for one gentleman to finish up before giving up and doing the standing change right there in the middle of the bathroom with about four other guys waiting for their turn at the urinal.

If you're business sells happy meals or kids meals and has a huge slide out front for kids to play in, you need to have a changing station in both restrooms or provide a family room.

So yeah, if there's no changing station, of course the guy is going to take the kid back out to mom and say "here, you change him/her" because there's probably a convenient place for changing in the women's restroom.

If I'm going to complain about the bad, I should point out the good. North Carolina, you have the nicest, cleanest rest stops I've ever seen. And there is a changing station in the mens room. West Virginia, not so clean, but you do provide the changing station for dads, good job there. I would comment on Ohio's rest stops if any of them along our route were open, but they weren't so we had to wait it out. Hopefully there are changing stations included in their remodel plans.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

KJ and the Pizza

While on Vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, my parents wanted to go out for some Italian food one night. Once the triplets woke up from their nap, we got them ready and started to head out the door to the restaurant that they had picked out. As we were walking out the door we told the kids that we were going out for pizza and pasta. They were very excited, especially KJ. We plugged the name of the restaurant into the GPS and it gave us directions. It was less than two miles away from our condo. We headed out and got to the place the GPS told us to go, but it was not the correct restaurant. It was not even an Italian restaurant. So we decided to go to a local cafeteria style place that was next door. No big deal right? W.R.O.N.G.

Once we got inside, we were informed by a certain three foot little boy that we had promised him pizza. There was no pizza at this place. He wanted his pizza, and he threw a royal fit! We tried everything. I tried giving him garlic bread, one of his favorites. Nothing. We tried giving him a normal dinner roll (can you tell the kid likes bread?). Nothing. I offered him my key lime pie. Nothing. The kid would not accept anything except pizza. And there was no pizza. What there was was an abundance of whining and crying and whining. Did I mention the whining. There was lots of whining.

Eventually hunger overcame stubbornness and he did end up eating something. I don't remember exactly what because my brain erases the details of these traumatic events soon after they occur. It's some sort of built in mechanism that, as far as I can tell, keeps me from leaving my children on the doorstep of the nearest church and running for the hills.

So, lesson learned. We do not tell KJ that we are going for pizza unless we are one thousand percent positive that we can provide him with pizza.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Luggage, Roof Rack, Cargo Bag, and Bungee Net Fiasco

A few months before our trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I ordered a cargo bag and bungee net from an online retailer so that we can secure our luggage to the roof rack of the van without having to worry about it being exposed to the elements as we cross five states. The bag and the net came in a timely manner and everything looked okay.

As the trip drew near, I brought out the bag and the net and sized them up with the roof rack of the van. Everything looked just fine. The straps that would be used to secure the bag to the rack looked like they'd be long enough and strong enough to hold the luggage in place. The net looked like it would cover the bag and work as a backup in case one of the straps failed for some reason. All-in-all, everything looked like it would work as it should.

The night before we left, I began to secure the bag to the luggage rack. I needed to move one of the bars of the rack a few inches so that it would be closer to the bag and I wouldn't need to have the strap stretched out as far as it could go. It looked simple enough, there was a thumbscrew on either side that looked like it should turn, loosen, and allow me to move the bar. Famous. Last. Words. I couldn't budge either of the screws. So I went and got a pair of pliers and loosened the screw, or so I thought. I turned it the six turns that the manual said to (yeah, I know, revoke my man-card, I read the damn manual). I was able to move the bar. So I went to the other side and did the same. I was able to move the bar on that side. Mission accomplished, right? Wrong.

As I began to tighten the screws I felt a slight but distinct clicking. I turned and turned and turned the screws but nothing tightened. And the clicking got worse. After about 15 minutes of turning the thumbscrews and scratching my head, I took a flat head screwdriver and popped off one of the plastic thumbscrews to reveal this:

 

I don't even know what the hell to call this thing. It's like a post on an oven that you put the knobs on. And it has some of the smallest little ridges that are supposed to catch the matching ridges in the plastic thumbscrew. Only problem is that IT'S PLASTIC!!!!! The metal ridges stripped those plastic ridges right out. There was no chance of this thing ever working correctly! Major design fail on Chrysler's part if you ask me. Major fail.

 

So, I got my vice grips and tightened the metal post thingie down and the bar was secured in place. Step one complete.


Now, secure the bag to the rack. There are three different types of straps used to secure the cargo bag to the roof rack. Two large ones that clip to the bag, loop around the bar, and clip together. Essentially a "two clips on one strap" system. The clips are the type you typically see in shopping carts to secure your children, or on children's life jackets, where one part fits into the other, and to separate them you have to squeeze two parts of the inner piece and it slides out of the outer piece. There are also two large straps with one clip system, so you have to feed the strap around the bar, then thread it through the clip and clip it to the bag. And the last type is a small strap that works like the first type of large straps, where there is a two clip system. It sounds complicated, but it's not. Or it shouldn't be.

Oh, but it is. There isn't enough room in the one clip straps to feed the strap through. I ended up using the flat head screwdriver I used to pry the thumbscrew off of the post to "push" the strap through. It was so tight that I risked stabbing myself with the screwdriver if I slipped. And that would have required an emergency room visit. Once I got that set up I began to fasten the side straps, the smaller ones. As I started to pull the straps to tighten them down, one of the clips just pulled right out and came undone. It was as if there was nothing holding it in place. I re-fastened it to its counterpart on the bag and began to tighten the strap again and the same thing happened. I thoroughly inspected it thinking I must have done something wrong like put it in the wrong way. Nope, it was in the correct way. It just wasn't "clicking" into place, and therefore not secure. I tried it in all four positions on the bag with the same results. Good thing I bought that bungee net.

Then I got to the front of the bag. The straps with the two clip system. Those seemed to hold in place pretty well. Then I began to tighten the straps, which just loosened again when I let go. The instructions were not very explicit as to how to feed the straps through the clips. Apparently the way I believed it should be done was backwards. Once I turned the clip around, it held the straps in position much better.

So, since one of the straps was not holding, I decided to use the net. I got it in place, secured all of the hooks on one side to the roof rack, and began to pull the net over to the other side and secure the hooks on that side. I got to the second to last one, and the metal ring holding one part of the bungee net to another let go and went flying millimeters from my head. Nice. So now I had to loop that end around, through and back to the luggage rack to secure that end down. Luckily it was not the same end that the malfunctioning strap was on.

So, now with the luggage secured to the rack, we began our journey. I kept praying and checking my rear view mirrors the entire way to North Carolina thinking I would see our cargo bag and luggage cartwheeling across I-77. It stayed attached to the rack the whole way. We got to our hotel, unpacked and got a good night's rest. The next morning while I was loading up again, another one of the small straps failed in the same manner as the first. Fantastic.

Despite the additional failure, the luggage made it all the way to Myrtle Beach. While we were unhooking the net to unload, one of the hooks just popped off of the net. Just popped right off. Upon further inspection, it was fairly easy to reattach, as it was just hooked onto the net much the way a Christmas tree ornament hook attaches to an ornament. It's just a tighter hook.

Thankfully, we were able to pack everything up and make it all the way home from Myrtle Beach without having any further failures or malfunctions. And the luggage never seemed to be in danger of coming off of the roof. I was glad I spent the extra money on the bungee net. Rest assured next year I will have multiple backup plans in place.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Triplets on Vacation: Part Three

Wow, the rest of the week is sort of a blur! There was lots of Pool time and beach time with the kids. Gretch and I got to get out by ourselves again and have dinner and play some mini-golf. On Friday we took the kids out to the beach after dark for a walk. They had a blast! KJ took off by himself and I had to chase him down. We were lucky that he didn't fall into one of the holes that people had dug in the sand throughout the day. Some of them can be a couple of feet deep.

Saturday we packed up and headed home. We got on the road by 8:00 am and were home before midnight. It was quite an adventure. We probably could have made it home before ten if we hadn't had to stop so many times to change diapers and eat. But, this way we got to see a lot of rest stops along the way, and getting home before midnight is much better than getting home after two in the morning like last year.

I learned quite a few things on this vacation. Here are a few (in no particular order):
  • Too much caffeine will, in fact, make you feel like you're vibrating. 
  • Three 5-hour energy drinks, a medium iced coffee, a medium coke, a large coke, and a 24oz. Mountain Dew over a 15 hour span provide way more caffeine than my body can handle. 
  • It's always good to have a backup plan to secure your luggage to the roof rack of your minivan. 
  • It's always good to have a backup plan for your backup plan to secure your luggage to the roof rack of your minivan.
  • Most businesses don't think that dads change diapers.
  • The state of North Carolina thinks that dads change diapers.
  • North Carolina has the cleanest rest stops I've ever seen. Ever.
  • No matter how many toys you bring for your children to play with in the pool, they will want the toys all of the other children brought to the pool.
  • Even though your children will not play with the toys you bought for them to play with in the pool, bring them anyways, because the other children will need toys when your children steal theirs.
  • My son is more stubborn than I ever was.
  • We should never promise KJ pizza unless we are one thousand percent positive we can provide him with pizza.
  • A bottle and a half of SPF 50 sunscreen can't keep me from burning.
  • Being nice and polite will get you further in life than being bitchy and mean.
  • Alligators can get confused and wander out into the ocean.
  • A double red flag on the lifeguard chair means get the heck out of the water.
  • Peacocks wander around rural North Carolina
  • Eggs fall out of the sky and land on my driveway just before midnight on nights when I return from vacation.
  • Teenagers in my neighborhood need more summer enrichment programs.
Stay tuned for more detailed accounts of these things and more in the coming weeks. For now, the caffeine has finally worn off and I need to get some sleep.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Triplets on Vacation: Part Two

The second day of our trip to North Myrtle Beach did not go so smoothly. We started out okay, I went for coffee and donuts, and got them, and got them back to the hotel. When I got there Gretch informed me that KJ was saying "itchy diaper" over and over again. Something was definitely bothering him. So I hung out with the girls while Gretch gave him a bath. The bath seemed to relieve some of the discomfort, but not all. The good thing was by the time we got on the road, he was fine. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast, which was not such a big hit, and then hit the road for the four hours to our destination that took more like 6 hours. Not bad time, but the kids were super-cranky. There was so much crying and screaming that I did, in fact, pull the van over!!

After everyone calmed down and got settled, we got back on the road. A few hours later we were at the condo and unloading our luggage. The first evening we went to a local cafeteria for supper. After that we went back to the condo to get the kids ready for bed. I think we were more ready for a good night's sleep than they were!

On Sunday, we took the triplets down to the pool. There is a nice, one foot deep kiddie pool for them to wade around in. Juli, who had a great time in the hotel pool a couple of days before, was just fine, as was KJ. Elisha was a little timid at first, but got more comfortable after a while and was excitedly exclaiming "I'm swimmin!!" to everyone within earshot!

After dnner we took the kids down to the beach for a walk. Again, KJ and Juli were just fine and excited about the sand and water. Elisha was little miss timid. She needed to take everything in before she could be comfortable. Once we got her looking for seashells, she was just fine. KJ was picking up handfuls of sand and watching them drop. Juli liked having the waves wash over her feet. Everyone eventually had a good time. And then KJ proclaimed that he was done. So, we turned around and walked back. On the way back KJ started to notice the holes in the beach that would bubble after the waves receded. He was very interested in the bubbles and made us stop to watch them each time he noticed one!

On Monday Gretch and I were instructed to leave the kids behind with my parents and go enjoy a day by ourselves, so we went to get lunch at the House of Blues, walked around Barefoot Landing for a while, and then made the obligatory stops at Target and Costco. Doesn't everyone stop there while on vacation?

Monday afternoon we took the kids back down to the beach and let them play in the sand and wade in the water. I even took each of them, one at a time, into the water with me so they could really get a feel for the waves and the ocean. KJ's squeals were the loudest, but I think Juli had the most fun. Elisha liked the water, but was done with it after a few waves.

Tuesday we went down to Broadway at the Beach for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Everyone had a good time, my Dad even recognized some of the artists they had playing on the big screens. My allergies started to bother me a bit - okay, a lot - so I took some benadryl and took a nap when we got back to the condo. Later that evening, Gretch and my family took the kids to a little carnival with kiddie rides that was just across the street from our building. The kids had a blast, riding at least five rides and sharing some ice cream. They didn't get back to the condo until around nine o'clock (they're usually in bed by eight) and didn't go to bed until ten. And the best part, they didn't wake up until almost nine o'clock!!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Triplets on Vacation: Part One

Last Friday we hit the road on our second big vacation with the triplets. Like last year, our destination was North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This year, my parents, brother, and sister joined us for the trip. Gretchen and I are just not ready to take a trip of this magnitude with the triplets alone!

We broke the drive down into two days, with a stop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which is about seven hours from home. Seven driving hours, which translates to around eleven hours when you factor in meal breaks and stops for diaper changes. The trips had plenty of toys and snacks and DVDs to keep them busy, so there wasn't much fussing on the first day. We stopped at a McDonald's PlayPlace for lunch, and we were at the hotel by dinner time, so we went to Wendy's. After dinner we took the kids to the hotel pool and tried to tire them out a bit. 


Sleeping in the same room as them was interesting. We had two tents (KJ and Juli) set up on one side of the room, and Elisha's tent at the foot of our bed. For the first ten minutes KJ and Juli kept calling out "mama" and "dada" to see if we would respond. After a while we responded that we were sleeping and they should, too, or something to that effect. They responded by telling each other that we were sleeping, while Elisha was telling them they needed to be quiet because Elisha was sleeping. This probably lasted around 20 minutes, and then they drifted off to sleep, and so did we.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Raising Triplets Can Be Exhausting

I get tired just watching this video.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Breakfast With The Triplets

Every meal with the triplets has the potential to be very, very cute, or really disastrous. This one was very, very cute, and I thought I'd share it.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Potty Training Triplets?

We haven't started potty training yet, but we have all of the supplies. Big kid underwear, training potties, cheap shower curtains to put down on the floor just in case. I just don't want to start yet because we're going on vacation soon and I can see 12 hours in a van turning into 24 hours of stopping and starting because somebody "has to pee" only 20% of the times they say they do. So, when we get back, we'll start the potty training.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

What Are The Triplets Doing Now?

KJ

KJ has been really, really sensitive lately. He is whining about everything, most of which I can't understand because he's whining. He does it in such a way that its an under the breath mumble. Nearly impossible to understand. I keep trying to tell him that I can't understand what he wants until he says it without whining. He's not getting it. So far I've stayed strong and not tried to figure out what it is he wants. I wait and suffer through the whining and crying and just keep telling him to calm down and tell me what he wants. When he finally tells me in a normal voice, I get him what he wants if I can. If he continues whining, I ignore him.

Nine times out of ten, if I tell KJ not to do something, or yell at him for doing something, he gets this smirk on his face. He seems to be mocking me. As if to say, "you're not really going to punish me for that." Any time I see it, he goes straight to timeout. I cannot have my child thinking it's funny when I'm yelling at him, that's just not good, especially since I'm outnumbered.

KJ is really into giving hugs and kisses right now. His hugs are the best. He really wraps his arms around you and squeezes and likes to nestle into you. It's very sweet.

He desperately wants barrettes or a pony tail in his hair when we put them in the girls' hair. I keep telling him that he doesn't have enough hair for it, which is true. Any time Gretch does put something in his hair, it's out in thirty seconds.

He's quite picky about what he wants to eat right now. Much like Elisha, it changes from day to day. KJ is definitely our sleeper. Naps, bedtime, whatever, if he lays down, he's asleep. I don't see that changing any time soon.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

What Are The Triplets Doing Now?

Elisha

Elisha is very sensitive right now. She seems to be trying to get more attention by being the loudest, which is not good if I have a headache. Heck, sometimes it gives me a headache. She loves to cuddle up on the couch with a pillow and blanket, even if she's not tired. I'll find her there at random times during the day while KJ and Juli are off playing. I think she gets tired of all of the fighting and needs to get away from them, so she sneaks off when she can and creates a little comfy zone for herself.

Elisha is quite the singer right now. At any given time she'll belt out Happy Birthday, the theme to Abby's Flying Fairy School, Elmo's World, or some random song that I don't recognize. And she doesn't sing quietly either. She wants the neighborhood to hear her.

She's very possessive of her toys right now. If she has something taken from her, she breaks down and starts screaming immediately. And it doesn't stop until she gets back the toy she lost. Other than the volume, I'm okay with this behavior. I don't want to encourage it, but she's letting us know that either KJ or Juli stole something from her. Now, on the other hand, she also does this when she sees that KJ or Juli have something that she wants. I am not fond of this behavior, and have been known to put her in timeout when I see this happening. The problem I'm having is that I don't always see what has, or has not, happened. So I may be letting something go that I shouldn't, or punishing the wrong child. This is something I have to work on.

It's hard to say what she likes to eat right now. One day she'll eat a hot dog and a half, the next time I make it, she won't touch it. It seems completely random. She is napping well right now, which wasn't the case as recently as two weeks ago. I'm not sure what changed, but I'll take it. More naps means more free time for me.

That's what Elisha is doing now.

Monday, June 7, 2010

What Are The Triplets Doing Now?

What are the triplets doing now? This is a question I should be answering here more often. Funny, I want this blog to be sort of a chronicle of their lives, yet I hardly ever write about what they're doing at any given stage. I want to change that. Starting now.

Juli

Juli is very much into her dolls and tools right now. At any given point in the day you can find her with a couple of dolls and either a toy screwdriver or hammer or saw. She is also doing very well with her manners. She regularly says "please" and "thank you" at the appropriate times. It's very cute, and I like to think quite advanced for her age. She loves to give hugs and kisses right now, to everything. Even the wall sticker of Little Bird we have at the top of the stairs. Of course she also wants us to give everything kisses, too.

Juli is also quite the water baby. Last week when we had them in the pool Juli stayed in the water the longest, all by herself. She had a great time, and no one was bothering her or trying to take toys away from her, she had the pool all to herself and she loved it. She was a little prune when she came out.

Juli loves carrots right now. She'll eat a whole can by herself if I let her, which I don't. She also loves to dance and jump a lot. This proves to be a problem some times because she inherited her mother's balance and coordination (none). So she has quite a few bumps and  bruises. She is not napping so well right now. She's tired, she just doesn't want to sleep during the day. Especially on rainy days when we can't get outside to play. I still put her in the crib, but she just plays around and talks to herself and Elisha or KJ if they're awake.

That's what Juli is doing now.


Friday, June 4, 2010

Local Tweetup

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting some of the friends I've made online at a local tweetup. For those who may not know, a tweetup is when people who generally only know each other through social media like twitter or facebook get together in real life. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about going alone, but once I got there I was really surprised how easy it was to talk to everyone. Of course I took the camera along to snap a few pictures.