freeeeeeeee-mont!

well, the fremont campout was a huge success. it was great to see everyone, and great fun was had by all. we got there sunday afternoon and abby was already there with grandma rogers. bonnie and bruce and the boys were also there, so we hung out for a bit, then headed to the pool. abby was a little shy in the pool at first, but quickly figured out how fun it was. we were in the baby pool for a while, then she and i headed to the big pool with her floaty vest on. before long, she was jumping off the side of the big pool into my arms and having a great time, saying, "i'm a diver! just like in the limpics!" my heart asploded from the cuteness. after a great dinner (tacos, sloppy joes), we headed back to appleton to stay with my parents.

monday morning came, and we headed back to fremont and got there around 10 or so. hung out for the morning, and after lunch hit the pool again. more "limpic diving" for about 2 hours or so. sore arms on my part. she even got to the point where she didn't want anyone to catch her...even with the floaty vest, i don't think we're quite ready for that. she did go under the water each time she jumped, though, which is a big improvement. ian had a great time too, but wasn't such a fan of the swimming.

we got back here tuesday morning, and immediately had to go to ian's 9-month checkup. he weighs 19 pounds 4 ounces (30th percentile), is 27 inches long (15th percentile), and is 45th percentile for head circumference. these are the lowest percentiles abby or ian have ever had for anything. it's weird. i attribute the weight drop to his level of activity, but am not sure about the height and head drop. no shots this time, so overall a pretty good appointment.

yesterday afternoon, we went to middleton to the brand-spankin'-new costco that opened there this week. we thought it was pretty nice, and will start going there instead of sam's club. they seemed to have better deals than sam's, and a nicer building, plus i'd like to stop supporting the wal-mart/sam's conglomerate.

next week has very little going on, which'll be nice after the busy-ness of this week. current countdown to abby's preschool? 19 days. woo!

nine months

ian turned 9 months old yesterday. it kind of snuck up on us...we went to get haircuts yesterday and the stylist asked how old he was, and i said "almost 9 months." stopped, realized what day it was, and then was like "oh, wait, he's 9 months today." impressive mommying there, not knowing how old your kid is.

current skills: crawling, pulling up.

current number of teeth: 3, with a 4th on the way.

current likes: moving moving moving always, a yellow plate from abby's plastic dish collection, blowing raspberries (especially with food in his mouth), cheerios, big sister, kitty, big sister's toys, being in the van, shopping.

current dislikes: the jumperoo (that'll be going back to auntie jenny pretty darn soon), having his diaper changed, having his clothes changed, any baby food that involves meat, when strangers talk to him, pulling up in the crib and not remembering how to get back down.


today we leave for the annual fremont campout. abby is with grandparents and will meet us there with grandma rogers. ian and i will get home from church, have some lunch and maybe a nap, pack, and then get on the road. multitudes of pictures to follow.

gigantic waste o' time

abby had her first dentist appointment this morning. after a close call with oversleeping, we got to the office and got checked in. we had talked about the whole process many many times in the past few months, had read the berenstain bears go to the dentist book many many times, and i was feeling optimistic. we got into the little cubicle, and it was all downhill from there. the hygienist showed her the gloves, mask, and tools, and i started to have a bad feeling. abby had her hands near her mouth, which is what she does when she's feeling scared or shy. so, i got in the chair and abby sat on my lap, and we were tilted back. long story short, she wouldn't open her mouth. not for all the bribes in the world. so, that was that. the hygienist recommended trying again in a few months, maybe when she turns 4. she also gave abby a pair of gloves and a mask to take home and check her dolls' and stuffed animals' teeth, which abby seems to think will be a LOT of fun. so, she'll check our teeth, we'll check hers, and we'll role-play this sucker until she's ready to do it again for real.

sigh.

abby's version of the wordgirl theme song

"word up, it's wordgirl, WORD UP? from the planet hexagon, watch.out.willans....here she COMES!"

planet LEXICON, and willans = villains. the real song is much longer, but she's got the gist.

me bad mommyblogger

lots has happened, but somehow this blog totally slipped off my radar for like 10 days there. i am heartily sorry and will endeavor to do better in the future.

on the 1st, we went to the pbs open house down on campus. we had heard about it from jenny who got a flyer about it in the mail. our entire rationale for going was that (dum dum-dum!) wordgirl would be there. or, you know, someone dressed up as wordgirl. seeing as abby is full-on in love with wordgirl, we were there. we hung out for a while doing other stuff after we got there since wordgirl was apparently on a break (heavy costume, hot day). then i caught a glimpse of her, and we headed over. abby saw her and said, "(gasp) it's wordgirl! she's my friend!" and ran off toward her. unfortunately, i was behind her and couldn't see her face, and that's a picture that i really wanted to get. so, the whole rest of the day it was, "wordgirl's my friend! i met wordgirl at our surprise! she's my friend!" and so on and so forth. then a couple of days ago, she put her blanket on as a cape and got her stuffed monkey out of her room and started proclaiming that she was wordgirl. she was even talking about herself in the third person, and calling herself becky when she took the cape off. she wants to be wordgirl for halloween (obviously), so i've been trying to figure out how to make that costume. shouldn't be too hard. however, ian as captain huggy face may be a bit more difficult.

i started teaching piano lessons this past week. it's been quite a while since i've taught, but it's nice to finally have my own studio where i get to make the rules. i only have 2 students so far, and i'd really like 2 more, but they're difficult to find.

next weekend is the annual fremont campout with brian's family. we look forward to it every year, and have been looking at past years' pictures on the computer to get ready. this year, abby will go down the waterslide with daddy. exciting stuff.

ian is crawling nonstop these days. we still need to purchase at least 1, and probably 2 gates to prevent him from getting places he shouldn't be. we're also rearranging the living room tomorrow so that he no longer has access to various cords. he also has been learning to pull himself up, and was reportedly found in his crib this morning standing up. i'm so not ready for this.

other upcoming events: abby's first dentist appointment, ian's 9-month checkup, the campout, and the start of abby's preschool. all very exciting stuff!