Kids Updates

Here are some random updates about the kids:

• Davis is all done with daycare.  His last day, after 3 years, was on Thursday.  Next week he starts pre-school.  He will go three days a week for 2 1/2 hours each day, with the option to stay longer for lunch afterwards.  He is very excited about pre-school and "getting bigger".  
• I took Davis to a playdate at his pre-school where I met some of the other parents and he met a lot of his classmates.  He will have 15 kids in his class.  He had a great time at the playdate and didn't want to leave despite falling and cutting open his lip and scratching his face.
• Evan has been teething a lot recently.  He is always a very drooly kid, but in the last week he has got in about 3 teeth.  He has at least 5 now and has handled it very well.
• Evan is starting to crawl.  He is no where near as mobile as Alex, but he can commando crawl his way forward and gets up on his hands and knees a lot.  He can also sit up by himself which helps him a lot.
• Alex is very mobile and very fast.  He pulls up on everything and often can be seen just leaning against something or holding on by one hand.  He can also cruise along things he has pulled himself up on (train table, couch, etc).  Not bad for an 8 month old.  He will probably be walking before Davis did (10 months).
• Alex and Evan love Davis.  They are totally entertained by him and love to watch him play and/or interact with them.
• Alex's favorite toy is the one Evan has.
• Evan's favorite toy is the one Alex has.
• Alex's second favorite toy is a plastic sippy cup.
• Evan's second favorite toy is also a plastic sippy cup.
• Evan is about 22 or 23 pounds.  He is about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds bigger than Alex, but they are about the same length.
• Evan seems to need slightly more sleep than Alex.
• All three boys completed their latest round of swimming lessons.  This was our first session with Alex and Evan.  The twins had their lessons at 6:00pm and Davis at 6:30.  Davis would (mostly) sit on the side of the pool while we were in the water with Alex and Evan.  Then, I take the babies home and Kristen stays with Davis (often swimming in the lap lane that is open).  Its a pretty chaotic time to dinner, then get everybody to the pool.   We'll be doing it again as it has been really great for Davis.  He is a lot more comfortable in the water and has started putting his head under.  It really shows when we go to the Kirkwood pool how much the lessons have helped.  He has even tried swimming without any floatations a few times.  Alex and Evan are very different kids in the water.  Alex loves loves loves to splash the water while Evan is usually trying to eat it.  Its a cute and fun contrast.
• Alex and Evan both sleep through the night (7:30 pm to 6:00am) very reliably.  It is wonderful.  Usually Lilly wakes me up at least once, and frequently Davis wakes me up at least once as well.
• Davis is potty trained (im sure I mentioned this before).  He has done  great job.  He is rarely having accidents and sleeps without a diaper.  He is going a good job waking up at night and going to the potty, though he does seem to need help.  I'm a light sleeper and he usually yells for help and I sit him down then put him back in bed.  I believe it has been several weeks since he has had an accident at night (I knocked on wood).

Update: I started writing this post at 2:00 pm.  When I was watching the kids in the afternoon (around 3:30), Evan got up on all fours and crawled.  No more commando crawling for that kid.

Swimming Lessons

Davis and I have been going to swimming lessons at the Kirkwood Y since about the start of the year and we've been taking him swimming since he was about 6 months old.  Today was Davis' first lesson without Mom or Dad in the pool.  He is taking a group swim lesson at the Y for 3-5 year olds and is one of two (of five) kids taking the class for the first time.  He did really great!  He listened and followed instructions really well and seemed to have a great time.  His favorite part seemed to be kicking in the water with the older kids.

I don't have any pictures from the lesson today, but here is one from November 2009 in his first swim class.  Little guy is growing up fast!

We're hoping we can start Alex and Evan in parent-child lessons in a month or so.

Adbentures in our Ban

It was a typical busy weekend at the Naegle household.  Saturday we went to a friends house in the ebening for Dabis to play with his buddy Luca.  They had great fun in a small pool and playing trains and trucks in the same space.  Sunday we went swimming at our neighbors house in the morning then spend most of the hot day inside before heading to Whittle's Train Shop (a hobby gone horribly wrong as they explain it) in the early ebening.  Today, we trecked to the Missouri Botanical Gardens in the morning then again spent most of the day inside, with a few bentures outside to play in the sprinkler.   I also got in a run with Dabis; Kristen made two solo shopping trips and we gabe Alex and Eban their first bites of "solid food".

Here are a few pictures from the weekend and last week.  The v->b switch in this post is brought to you by Dabis.

Alex and Eban watching Dabis swim in the pool

Dabis swimming by himself

Dabis at the train store

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens

Drums at the Botanical Gardens

Lilly is a little crazy sometimes

Alex

Eban

Eban would really like to get this whole toy in his mouth

Sprinkler time in the back yard

Sprinkler time in the back yard

Sprinkler time in the back yard

Sprinkler time in the back yard

Sprinkler time in the back yard

Alex before first contact

Alex before first contact

First bite

Rejected!

Dabis really wanted to gibe Alex his first bite

Dabis gabe him the first bite, then let him habe the spoon

Camping

This weekend, we headed up to White Lake State Park in New Hampshire for our second camping trip of the summer.  This is the same place we went before, and it is a great campground for kids.  There is a very shallow, sandy lake, a great playground and it is a much closer drive than many other areas near the white mountains.   We went up mid-morning on Saturday and came back around noon on Sunday.

A few of the highlights:

• All three of us went swimming in the lake.  Davis had a fantastic time walking out in the water then being held by mom while dad dove in the water near by.  I learned an important lesson (again): don't do something unless you want to do it 20 times.  I ran and dove next to Davis and by the time I came out of the water, he was saying "more" and making the sign.  I had to then repeat this about 20 times, but my reward was fantastic toddler giggles.
• It was a little cooler this time, so Davis got dressed up in his camping flannel.  Pictures are below.
• We spent about an hour and a half at the playground while we cooked over the coals on the grills at the beach.
• We aborted our hike when it started to rain, but the path was easy enough that Davis got to walk part of the way back.  We did have to guide him around the bear scat.
• Putting the little guy to sleep was both a challenge and immensely enjoyable.  When we were in there with him to try and calm him and put him to sleep, it just turned into a very cute and lovable play and cuddle time with Davis.  the tent with the sleeping bags spread out was too much like playtime and apparently, when we lie down on the ground, we get sat on.  Eventually we had to leave him in the tent for him to go to sleep by himself.  
• On the way back, we stopped to pick blue berries.  Davis quickly got the hang of it and had very blue hands and lips by the end.  We paid for an extra half pint to cover his "contribution" to our haul.
• While picking blue berries, I caught and rescued a dragon fly.  It was trapped in the netting covering the berries and I managed to catch it and release it outside the nets.

A few of the pictures:

In the flannel in the campground

Dirt, dirt and more dirt were the story of the trip.

Taking a snack break in the car.  He would sit still here for a few minutes, which was a nice change.

Hiking

Hiking

More hiking.  Checking out the camera.

One of the highlights of the hike was banging on this rock with a stick.

Painting and Dunking

This post is about our weekend adventures. Our third swimming class was Saturday and the skill of the day was going under water! This of course panicked all the parents. "Put my child's head under water..are you CRAZY?" I decided to try it, even though I also was nervous. Of course, I did my best to hide my nerves since kids seem to pick up on any emotions their parents have. Davis went under and came out so fast, he didn't even know what happened. I instantly felt better about it and we tried several more times. One time I dunked him just up to his mouth and he came out of the water spouting like a fountain. It's amazing the reflexes we are born with. It's a good reminder for me to keep in mind how sturdy he really is. Our bathtime is more relaxed now. When he sticks his face in the water, I just let him do it, knowing I'm there if he gets in trouble..which, of course he doesn't since he realizes he doesn't want his face in the water.

On Sunday we tried an activity we've been thinking about for a long time, but have shied away from. We bought some non-toxic paint and some paper and attempted to capture Davis' footprints. We had grand visions of letting him loose on the paper with all sorts of colors, but honestly, it didn't go that well. It didn't help that he woke up from his nap after only 30minutes, as opposed to the 2-3 hours we were expecting. The paint was so difficult to get off that he was scrubbed much more than he approved of. Luckily though, we got at least a couple of footprints to capture his infancy. The picture below is Davis exploring the tins John bought to put the paint in.

Davis can sit up by himself!

This morning Davis and I were in his room, I was folding his diapers and he was crawling around. When I looked up to see what he was doing, he was just sitting there. He had pushed his way up from the floor to seated all by himself!! Also, Davis definitely loves books. This morning I read eight books an average of two times each. Whenever I ended a book, unless I immediately started it over or started a new one, he would start to cry.

Some highlights for the week:

• Davis started antibiotics last night for a persistent cold with a cough and a slight ear infection. Hopefully, he'll feel better soon. Also, a hacking cough is no way to make friends at music class or in swim lessons.
  
• Davis loved our music class even more this week than last. What fun! All those people singing, and babies to look at. We also got to play with a drum this week in addition to shakers.
  
• I just submitted an abstract for a conference in Quebec in March. I didn't finish the draft of the paper I hoped to finish today, but at least I submitted my abstract on time. I hope to finish the draft by the end of the weekend, I am pretty close.
  
• This is the third week in a row that someone has told me they liked the music I played during my cycling class at the gym. It's been someone different each time!
• It's not recent news, but I don't know that I ever announced it, a few weeks ago I officially returned to my pre-pregnancy weight.
• There's a possibility that my yearly salary may have doubled. I'm not counting on it yet, since there has been some confusion with regards to the distribution of the Scholarship I was awarded, but the current scenario is that money will be in addition to my current stipend. What a blessing that would be! It's quite a bit of change for a house down payment, or essentially, it pays for almost two years of daycare!
• I continue to wonder how in the world I will finish everything I need to finish by graduation time in May. Life is crazy, but I know in the end we will manage to make it happen.
  

This weekend will be pretty low-key. Davis and I will go to swimming lessons tomorrow morning and then I'll be heading to a birthday party tomorrow night. Sunday we have brunch plans with Dave and Megan. Dave is going to lend us a black backdrop so that we can attempt some family portraits. This Wednesday is Veterans day and daycare is closed. Davis and I get to spend the day together! Unfortunately and fortunately, we'll kick it off with the H1N1 vaccine, but later we have plans to go to the Science Museum or to the Stone Zoo with some friends!

Swimming Photos

Here are some photos from Davis' first swim class. From where I was sitting, the lighting was extremely challenging so most pictures are a little grainy. Davis and mom had a great time.