Leia Train Attack

Leia got super excited about trains yesterday. She'll be crawling after them in no time!

Last day of Swimming

We are cheating a little. These photos are from last week, not the last day of swimming. Scott however did swim with Kate again today, though they got to be in the shallow pool this time. Kate has come a long way with her water confidence and ability to blow bubbles this summer. She has also rediscovered floating on her back and how to do big splashy kicks (two things she did well as a baby). It was great to have a scheduled swim time so that we were motivated to get in the water regularly. Now we have to work on keeping up Kate's new skills on our own.

Getting started...
Blowing bubbles.
Doing reach and pulls, and racing Hadley to the rubber ducky. Note there is another duck off to the right that looks lonely.
Working on splashy kicks.
Climbing through the tunnel.
"swimming" while Scott holds only Kate's bathing suit. She loved it and really paddled hard with her arms and legs!
That's all folks.
Our next regularly scheduled adventure: Gymnastics! (it starts next week, stay tuned for pics)

Bremerton Fountains

Last week was adventure week. One of the places we visited were the fountains in Bremerton. Riding the ferry was a fun start of the trip. The fountains were a short walk once we landed. It was chilly but Kate braved it. Then the sculptures were discovered. After a quick lunch we hopped back on the ferry and headed home. It was a much more relaxing adventure than anticipated, definitely on the do-it-again list.

Leia on the ferry (beloved chewing spoon along as well...)

These two goofballs were hamming it up.

The fountains. There are five in all, each with a shallow wading pool.
Kate started at one end and walked through all five fountains and back again.

Getting in touch with art...


These two turkeys came too. They have great entertainment value!


Riding the ferry home. Kate enjoyed her perch.

There goes the grocery bill!

We officially have another solid food eater in the house.

It started with bananas and quickly moved to avocado. She definitely prefers the avocado but is mostly just excited to be eating. Leia has been watching us all intently while we eat for some time now. She has practiced chewing motions and even has a rubber spoon to play with. Now she is a part of the foodie group.

Kate thinks feeding Leia is a great activity. Other than a few accidental gaggings she is a great help.
Here is the after face:
That's one happy foodie!

6 Months of Leia

Smile Leia!! Kate is trying to show Leia how to smile for the camera.

How's this?

Leia turned 6 months on Tuesday. She is ready to start solid foods and is almost ready to let me sleep through the night without feedings. She can sit unassisted and can roll front-to-back and back-to-front. She is working on standing holding onto couches and chairs without parental support. She is still a wonderfully content happy kid. She has her crabby moments but as soon as Kate walks in the room she is happy as a clam!

Airplane!!

During nap time today a package showed up on the doorstep. It was Kate's new Playmobil Airplane! Awesome. When Kate woke up I told her there was a surprise from GiGi downstairs and she went running to find it.

For me?

"Let me help put it together."

Loading the passengers.

Reorganizing the passengers.

I had a great time putting it together and now Kate is reaping the benefits of an awesome toy. So many hours of fun to look forward too. Thanks Gigi!!

Swimming Lessons

Kate is learning to be a fish. It is slow progress but we're working on it. Right now her only interest is in the activities she can do independently. This includes climbing along the wall, climbing out, and climbing back in. Oh and if we are singing she is happy.
Perfecting scaling the wall.
That's Kate's buddy Hadley in the background with her mom Barbie. Kate has a lot to learn from Hadley about being adventurous in the pool.
We sing a song about pouring water on many different body parts. Kate has to be in charge of the bucket of course.

We went to an open swim today and Kate has definitely come a long way in her comfort in the water and willingness to try her new skills from swim lessons. It was nice to see she is absorbing the instruction even if she won't display it during lessons.

Monday

The day started with a little monkeying around...

Then Willow joined in the fun. Attached at the hip, seriously.


Time for more climbing and a little water exploration.

Off to conquer the whale. She didn't get very far before I reined her in and made her stay on the tail.

Checking another interesting water feature.

"I know I'm at the top of the slide mom, but I can get just a little bit higher..."
Leia was along for the ride in the Bjorn watching all this action. It's going to be serious monkey business next summer.

Having a ball

I'm not sure who appreciates the other more, Kate or Leia. Leia seems to think Kate was put her purely for her entertainment. Kate thinks Leia is her captive audience and interactive doll. The two love to be together and always have quite the reunion after naps and in the morning. I'm pretty sure Kate would love it if they shared a room. The concept at least, maybe not the actuality. I was nervous that there would be animosity on Kate's part when we brought Leia home but it has been nothing but open arms and hugs since we walked through the door. Unconditional love is an amazing thing to see in action.

Leia seems aware that she has a lot to learn and Kate is an eager teacher.

Getting a little closer to do some more indepth research on this spherical object.

Kate working on her fine motor skills dumping the little ball between sphere halves. Back and forth, back and forth.