Movie Date

Carly and I had a movie date this morning.  Many of the theaters around down host summer movies.  They typically show a G and PG movie two or three days within a week for $1.  The only movie that I thought Carly may even possibly sit through was Chimpanzee.  Carly doesn't watch a lot of TV and has never sat for 90 minutes (except when she had the flu).  I was advised by moms to stock up on snacks and just let Carly eat her way through the movie if I wanted to stand a chance to see the whole thing.  I wasn't thrilled with the idea of her consuming empty calories for 90 straight minutes, but did accept the idea that Carly would need the "kids" snack pack at the movie since everyone else in the theater would have a drink, popcorn, and candy.  I also couldn't figure out how having David Jr in the theater would go.  He hadn't been thrilled with the loud noises and flashing lights during the dolphin show at the Atlanta Aquarium.  Thankfully, my mom and brother were willing to come up last night to stay with David Jr while Carly and I had our movie date.

Carly and I departed for our date this morning after breakfast.  We bought our tickets and snacks before entering the theater.  Carly was immediately amazed by the size of the screen.  I kept telling her that it was much larger than a TV, but she defiantly was not expecting something quite that large.  We found seats and were settled in just as the movie started (thankfully without previews).  Carly was immediately engrossed in the movie.  She asked if the chimpanzees were going to get her (many, many times), told me every time there was fighting, playing, or a baby chimp drinking milk from his mom.  She also ate some of her popcorn, all of her fruit snacks, and drank her fruit punch during the 90 minute movie.  What amazed me the most was that during the credits there was additional video footage that she sat and watched while everyone else was leaving the theater.

Overall Carly did a fabulous job.  She was talkative during the movie, but she was talking about the movie - which is her way of processes everything she was seeing (many of the kids were doing this).  I know she did not catch the movie's plot, but she enjoyed her time watching this documentary.

3 Months

It is very hard to believe that our little man is 3 months old today.  David Jr is eating and growing well even with a dairy allergy and acid reflux.  He is so happy and bubbly that you only hear fussiness when it is time for his medicine or if he is overtired.  He LOVES his sister, thinks his dad has the most comfortable set of arms, and smiles every time I pick him up from either his crib, car seat, or swing.  He  is blowing bubbles like a champ and talks and sings throughout his day.  One of his favorite times of day is Carly's nap and bedtime he gets into bed with her and listens to stories and songs - which he is now participating in.  He is also continuing to sleep through the night and is even sleeping in until 9am most mornings (if only his sister would do the same for us).

Singing

Carly's nap and bed time routine is quite lengthy (in my opinion - although it is shorter than the recommended 20 minutes that a routine should be at this age) and involves stories and songs.  Since having David we have needed to alter this routine slightly.  He is now either in the room eating during her routine or next to her in the bed.  I think they both prefer it when David Jr is in the bed.  They will turn towards each other, he will touch her, she will kiss/pat/hug him, and they both have HUGE smiles across their faces during this time.  Well today during nap time, David Jr began to sing with Carly and me.  While the sounds coming from him didn't quite mimic the words we were singing, the tone definitely reflected singing and not talking. This of course made Carly quite excited!

It has really been a lot of fun to listen to our little man babble (and now sing).  Carly wasn't quite as vocal at an early age - actually she didn't say much until she started talking, but now she seems to talk non-stop.  I can't wait to see what David Jr is like as a talker - constant and steady like Carly or rather a man of few words.

Wall Decor

Carly moved into her room at the beginning of this year, yet her walls have basically remained bare.  We did hang art work up that was moving over from her nursery, but that was about it.  On Monday, Carly, David Jr, Aunt Julia, and I headed out to the store to purchase some wall decals to correct this bare wall problem.

The decals sat under books for about 48 hours to help flatten everything out and were finally hung today by Aunt Julia.  Carly was quite the cheerleader - she was giving her aunt verbal encouragement "Good work Aunt Boo-Boo" while also jumping around the room.

Here are photos of Carly's upgraded room.

The start of the caterpillar's adventure (and Carly's closet)

The traveling caterpillar

A very fat caterpillar eating through Saturday's meal.

A cocoon and "beautiful butterfly"

A cute detail

First Magazine Subscription

When did my daughter get so OLD?  On average I get WAY TOO MANY e-mails in a day.  Most of them are "daily" deals from various companies I have placed online orders with over the many, many years.  Today's "deal" was 50% off of magazine subscriptions to The National Wildlife Federation's different children's magazines.  I had been saving this idea for a possible present for Carly's birthday; however, when I saw the e-mail I thought "Why wait?"  Trying to be sensible, I e-mailed David with only an hour left in the "sale" and determined not to make such an impulse purchase without the green light from him.  His response came within 3 minutes (I did send it to his work account hoping to up my odds in a timely response) and stated that he thought she would enjoy it too.  So Carly officially has her first magazine subscription on the way in the next 6 to 8 weeks!  What a big girl!!  This is only the beginning I'm sure.  It will start with Wild Animal Baby and eventually end with Seventeen...

TGIF

This week has been one for the books.  Last Friday I came down with a head cold.  It started with a scratchy throat and went down hill from there (rapidly).  By Friday night I was in a complete fog and had no voice.  Carly developed a runny nose Friday evening, but seemed a lot better off than I did.  On Sunday afternoon I was desperate enough to take cough medicine and Dave started to complain about a tickle in his throat.  He woke up Monday morning fulling congested and coughing.  I was able to rally through Monday and Tuesday; however, by Tuesday I was warning him that I wouldn't be able to pull off Wednesday and all of its neighborhood festivities alone.  He woke up Wednesday feeling much better and was up for participating with Carly in the neighborhood parade and then swam with her for about 2 hours during the neighborhood's picnic.  Thinking he was on the mend he even headed off for a short evening bike ride.  Thursday was quite a different day.  Dave felt horrible and was achy.  I woke up covered in hikes, and David Jr had a bright red rash that wasn't hives.  So off to the doctor we went with him.  We came home with some cream and an elimination plan to help figure out what could be causing his rash.  We also had orders to call if he developed a fever or had blood in his diaper - meaning we would need a new plan of action.  So as the doctor was closing at 5:00pm for the day, David Jr relieved himself requiring a new diaper and a phone call to the nurse's call line due to blood in his stool.  So with orders to give him a bath with baking soda added to the water and to call the office first thing in the morning we were settling in for the night.  My hives from the morning began to return and Dave began complaining about his right year (in addition to the elephant sitting on his chest).  By 9pm it was decided that Dave, David Jr, and myself would all be visiting doctors during the next day.

As the phone lines opened today I was pressing send on my cell phone.  David's appointment was made first (thankfully with his doctor, unlike Thursday's appointment which was with another doctor in the practice) and Dave and I followed by making our appointments.  Thankfully, the rash had cleared up a great deal by the time David Jr woke up around 8:30 this morning and my hives were present but not overbearing.  At David's appointment I was told to just stay off of dairy (thank goodness - I was having a hard time coming up with a yummy breakfast item that didn't consist of dairy, eggs, and peanut butter).  At my appointment I was told that this was his 6th or 7th case of hives this week and that I had a sinus infection.  Dave (whom I ran into at the checkout station of the office) was informed he had a sinus infection, an ear infection, an ear that was en route to being infected, and may be wheezing - but the doctor couldn't tell due to Dave having to cough during each deep breath.  (Needless to say Dave wins the illness award of the week.)  So, we left there and I headed off to get all of our prescriptions filled, while Dave went off to get a sympathy chocolate milkshake for himself.

Thankfully my mom graciously volunteered to enter our infected home to help with Carly (and a few chores that I've neglected this week), but I would advise you to only enter our home at your own risk.

Chilling

Carly's Bed

I don't really know how she fits into her bed with all of her books, dolls, and stuffed animals.  But you better believe she has a tight inventory on everything and will call me out if I try to have something "vanish" when she isn't look (or even in the room). 

Happy July 4th

Our family has had a wonderful day celebrating our nation's birthday!  Our morning started off with Dave and I feeling better than we both have since Sunday (when Dave was still the non-sick parent).  Carly and Dave ate breakfast while watching Stage 4 of the Tour de France.  After breakfast and a little bike racing, they brought Carly's tricycle inside to decorate for our neighborhood's 4th of July parade.  Thirty minutes later her tricycle was all decked out.  Later on we headed down to the pool to visit with friends and get Carly in line with the parade.  The highlight of the parade for Carly (and many of the kids) was the large ladder fire truck.  David Jr and I were on the sidewalk watching and photographing the event while Dave and Carly participated.  Carly did a lot of the work, with Dave only helping with the steering.  During a downhill stretch he was actually able to walk beside her.

Our neighborhood's celebration continued after the parade with a cookout.  Once we were all sunscreened up and dressed in our bathing suits we headed back down to the pool.  Carly then turned into a fish.  She took a few breaks in the two hours she was at the pool to eat, but otherwise she was jumping, swimming, and playing in the pool.  The one chance I had to get in the pool with her I backed away about 3 feet and had Carly jump right on top of me.  When I mentioned this to Dave he informed me that he had been standing in the middle of the pool and she was jumping and then swimming to him.  I did get the opportunity to watch her swim underwater using her arms and legs for a few yards on two separate occasions.  All of her time at the beach and pool this summer has helped create our little fish!

ADORABLE

And the little one said...

... ROLL OVER!  Alright, so David Jr. may not have said anything other than a few coos here and there; however, he did roll over tonight.  He was put down on his belly for some tummy time, Dave walked over to let Jake outside, and when Dave returned seconds later he found David Jr on his back.

Later in the evening I noticed David Jr. working on it again.  He was pushing up with both of his arms and getting his chest completely off of the ground, then he turns his head to one side making him unbalanced enough to "maybe" flip onto his back.  He didn't repeat this while we were watching, but he will soon.

Imaginary Play

Carly has been doing A LOT of imaginary play recently.  Her imagination today has placed her at the grocery store checking out and bagging Jell-O (multiply times) and cooking, pouring drinks for, and feeding me, David Jr, and herself.  At the moment she is upstairs during her "quiet time"pretending she is a doctor typing on the computer.  She has an old keyboard that lives in her room and all of the doctors' offices we have visited over the past year have installed computers, so she has seen doctors referring to or referencing the computer during our visits and typing in information throughout the visit. Apparently, that is what her keyboard is for today as well.