Daily Archives: July 14, 2011

Muscle development

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collage

I am super proud of Lex today. He’s had a serious burst in muscle development lately. Development and interest. I’m sure one is driving the other.

Within the past few weeks he’s learned how to do cartwheels (not sure who taught him), how to go across the monkey bars, hand over hand, how to hang upside down on the bar with no hands, and just today he started riding his bike without training wheels! I’m sure there is more in there, but those are the big things that come to mind right now. It’s so amazing to watch.

At the beach yesterday he was playing on the playground and kept yelling for me to watch him. When I finally did (sorry Lex, I was busy) he zipped right across the monkey bars. There were eight of them I think. Hand over hand and across he went. I’ve seen him kind of do the short ones on our playset, but I’ve never seen the long ones! He did it over and over yesterday. Today he was on the swingset and I saw him hanging upside down, no hands, just hanging out.

hanging out

Just hanging out

A couple weeks ago he started doing cartwheels in the living room. They aren’t perfect, but he has the general hang of them. We were practicing at the 4th of July party and I think his cartwheel is better than mine.

No, there is no video of me doing cartwheels ;)

This afternoon we were riding bikes and then sat on the porch to take a break. I told him that Grandpa Tom is coming over in the morning and that he taught four kids how to ride without training wheels! (Right? My memory isn’t great so forgive me if that’s wrong.) I suggested maybe Grandpa Tom could help him learn too. Lex thought for a moment and then decided that today would be a better day. Sweet! We went out to the street, I held the back of his bike for a few strides, then his shirt, then he was off on his own. Full of confidence and smiles! We practiced a few times with me holding him briefly, but then he decided he no longer needed my help. With just a few minutes today and a small handful of other brief attempts, Lex is now officially training wheels free!

Sorry for the bouncy video, I was running along beside him.
He practiced his starts, stops, and turns for awhile this afternoon before we had to call it quits. I’m hoping he’ll show off his new skills tomorrow :) He is so proud of himself and I am too! My little baby is riding with the big boys now!

My neighbor down the street said “You realize tomorrow it will be the car keys, right?” Slow down!

This makes me so happy I decided to link up to this week’s Happiness Is… blog hop :)

Photobucket

A beautiful sunshiney day

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Today was a beautiful day.

It started with an unusual sort of morning where Alan was exercising (normal, not unusual), I did not (a little unusual), and the kids played upstairs by themselves for a long time (definitely unusual for the mornings!)  I got breakfast cleaned up, packed for our day, and even sat down and did a little work on the computer!  I kept looking at the clock thinking we must be late, but nope, plenty of time.

When it was finally time to go we headed to a Weight Watchers meeting and we met my Mom and Grandma.  With them, me, and the kids we had 4 generations at WW!  Those of us weighing-in had good numbers on the scale and that alone equals a good day in my mind! :)

After Weight Watchers I took my mom (and kids, of course) to our local farm for our CSA pickup.  The weather was beautiful and the sun was shining so we hung out there for awhile and I snapped a ton of photos! (not unusual!)

baby birds

A few weeks ago we saw the eggs and this week the baby birds were cheeping away.

 

eve

Playing with photo editing. They had PYO flowers today and the kids had fun with that.

 

flower

Eve decided she did not want this one and "put it back."

 

lex on swing

Please ignore his funny face and enjoy the lighting.

 

big swings

I LOVE this view!

 

flower arranging

When we got home the kids arranged their flowers in little vases and a bowl of water.

 

beautiful

Beautiful! It would have been a good night to have company over for dinner. :)

After lunch we all had quiet time.  The kids did a great job today of staying in their rooms for the entire time.  They even played together upstairs for an extra half hour before coming down for snack.  Meanwhile I got some WW soup made, food prep done, the kitchen cleaned up, and even a little down time for myself.

In the afternoon I was hoping to bake cookies but the kids insisted on playing outside instead.  Bugger kids ;)  They played on the swing set (I took pictures) and then we all rode bikes for awhile.  Yep, me too!  They insisted.  It was fun.  The big news of the afternoon is that Lex decided today was the day to ride without training wheels!  I was telling him that maybe Grandpa Tom could help him practice tomorrow and he said, “Let’s just do it today!”  Um, OK!!  It took him all of about three minutes to figure it out!  Seriously.  He’s awesome :)  When I came in to pack up he decided to stay out and keep practicing.  He still needs practice on his starts and stops, but he amazed me this afternoon!

upside down

Upside down Lex

 

chillin Eve

This girl needs a nap! Or a hammock :)

 

Eve

"Here Mom, hold the baby just like this while I go on my rocketship to Pluto."

 

bunny

Baby ended up in the "back pack" instead :)

Alan had no car at work so we went to pick him up and decided to have dinner out.  It was yummy, everyone was well behaved, and I managed to stay within points for the day.  Like I said, a good day!

eve

Eve thought these flowers were as big as her head, then had to go compare. Once there she decided they would make nice pillows.

 

I added videos to a few older posts. I don’t always get them uploaded as quickly as the photos. Check out Back to the beach and Red, white, and blue scones.

Back to the beach

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We went back to the beach a few days ago for another fun-filled day in the water. This time we took Mema along and some other friends.

a beautiful day

A beautiful day at the beach. Do you see Mema out on the platform? Sadly I missed the dive off, but my friend said it was perfect! :)

 

 

lunch

After a busy morning of swimming we took a break for lunch.

 

lex

Our afternoon ended when Lex decided he had swallowed too much pond water and his belly hurt. He sat in the little chair and moaned and groaned until I wrapped him up and took him home.