Daddy's First Triathlon!

What an incredible weekend (again!)  Yesterday I got to go to my first gym class.  Arabelle is also in my class, but she was out of town this weekend.  I had a blast and it really tired me out.  Mom and I stopped and had lunch afterwards, then had to hurry to get to her eye doctor appointment.  Daddy made his yummy pre-race pasta for dinner in prep for his first triathlon today.  Mom even let me take a bath in her tub, which is really more like swimming than taking a bath.  When I was almost done, though, I was pretty tired and started fooling around and not listening too well.  I slipped and narrowly missed the edge of the tub with my chin.  Mom told me to stop it and to be careful, but I didn't listen.  I stood up and was fooling around, slipped again and this time didn't miss my chin :(  I knocked my chin off the side of the tub and slid all the way in (the water was almost drained, thankfully).  Mom was right there and moved really fast and grabbed me out of the tub - my mouth was bleeding, so she wrapped me in a towel and we tried to figure out where the blood was coming from.  Turns out I just bit my tongue and it was bleeding pretty badly, but OUCH that hurt!  Of course mom grabbed a white towel to wrap me in, but oh well - I'm ok and that's all that matters.

Today we had to get up REALLY early.  Daddy's first triathlon was today and it started at 7 and was an hour away.  Mom and dad got up before 4am (told you it was early) and got themselves and the car entirely ready and packed.  Dad's bike was already in Columbia, so at least we didn't have to deal with that.  Mom got me out of bed just as we were ready to leave, she took me to the bathroom, and carried me to the car still in my jammies.  She had clothes packed for me, but figured it would be easier to stay in jammies at least until we got there in hopes that I would fall back asleep on the 45 minute drive.

I was a real champ, but never really fell back asleep in the car (we left home at 4:30).  While daddy got his stuff settled at the transition area, mom and I hung out on our blanket and ate breakfast.  All the race officials kept talking to us and commenting on how early we were out. I was very friendly and was just happy to eat my bagel with peanut butter.  After daddy got everything set up, he came back to us and we walked over to where the swim started and run ended.  Mom and I hung out there until daddy's wave started the swim. We're pretty sure we saw dad, but it's hard to tell - everyone looks the same with the same color swim cap (colors indicated age group) and goggles!  Daddy's beard helped, though, so I'm 99% sure we saw him.

After he passed, we walked back to where the swim ended and the transition area. We were expecting daddy in about a half hour (0.62 mile swim) - that's what he told us, so that's what we were looking for. We sure were surprised when we saw him at just over 20 minutes!  Mom tried to take a photo of him running into transition, but didn't realize that the camera was set to video...  It's a funny video of dad running for about 2 seconds and then the ground and sky until mom figured out what happened.



We walked around the corner in hopes that we would get there before daddy started out on the bike. We got there just in time to see him start out.  I yelled really loudly, but he didn't hear me. It was a 17.5 mile bike and daddy told us it would be 1:15 to 1:30.  Once again, we were surprised when we saw him come back in just over an hour!  Mom told me he was coming, but I was busy playing with her iPod, so I yelled "Go, daddy, go!" but I didn't actually look up to see him.



Mom and I had a nice rest while we were waiting on the bike. We sat next to a mom who had 5 kids under the age of 6, all by herself!  Her husband must do a lot of triathlons, because they seemed to have done this A LOT.  While we were waiting, another dad and his two kids came by waiting to see their mom. The little girl had fallen and scraped her knee, so the dad asked mom if she had anything to help clean it up.  We had baby wipes and bandaids, so gladly gave those to her. About halfway through, a bright yellow helicopter flew over - the mom of all the kids was worried that someone had gotten hurt, so she asked the police. They said everyone was ok and that it was just a MedStar helicopter (one of the race sponsors) and that they were going to park it on the hill so the kids could look at it!  So after we saw daddy finish up on the bike, we walked up the hill, stopped to see the helicopter, then walked back down to catch the end of the run.



The pilot was nice enough to even let me sit in the helicopter!



We saw daddy come by just before the finish of the run and he was still going strong!  I was so proud of him!



We had to wait until the bike course was closed at 11am to leave (the roads were closed, so we couldn't get the car out), so dad went and got a free massage.  That seems to have really helped how sore he is afterwards.

We stopped at Dogfish for lunch on the way home, then mom and I went for a run at the lake while daddy took a nap.  It was VERY hot by that time, though, so mom and I only did 1.5 miles.  The playground was even too hot to play - the slides were super hot!  My bike was in the back of mom's car, though, so she let me ride around the lake - it's 1.25 miles the whole way around and I rode my bike the entire way! I'm getting a LOT more confident on my big girl bike, but still want mom to hold on while going down hills.

Mom and I stopped at the grocery store on the way home, then she finished her run on the treadmill while I watched Dora. It was a busy, busy weekend, but it was so much fun!

Cake for Dinner!

No, mom didn't let me *actually* have cake for dinner...it's a band and we went to see them tonight!  Dad found out that they were playing a free concert at the Strathmore, which mom has been dying to go to.  Dad already had tickets to the Counting Crows at Wolftrap (mom can't stand them, so didn't want to go), so mom asked my friend Rheeya and her mom if they wanted to go with us.  I first met Rheeya at my school in Rockville and I'm so glad we have stayed in touch, even though we're in different schools now.

The concert was supposed to be outdoors, but because of the heat, they moved it indoors to the concert hall.  I had a great time and even got on stage to help sing my favorite song, Flea.  Mom was surprised that I went up on stage so easily, but I didn't want to get down!  I danced and danced and danced.  They even told us that we were allowed to use outside voices - how cool is that?  For the song Tumba, we got to shout "Hey!" a bunch of times.  Rheeya thought that was fun too :)

We ended up leaving at intermission because it was already bedtime and we still had to drive home.  We ended up stopping and getting a scoop of ice cream so mom and Rheeya's mom could actually talk for a few minutes, though.  I had mint chocolate chip (it wasn't green, what's up with that???) and ate every single bite.  The sugar definitely caught up with me because I lost my listening ears somewhere between where we were eating the ice cream and the car.  I ran through the parking garage and mom was NOT happy with my behavior.  By the time we got home, I was still pretty wound up.  I kept telling mom that my brain was telling my body that I was tired, yet I kept telling mom stories over the monitor.  Why is it so hard to go to sleep when you're so tired?  I know I'm going to have trouble waking up when mom comes to get me in the morning, but hopefully the promise of water day at school will help get me moving!

Along those lines, I have three days of my new school under my belt and it's going extremely well so far!  I haven't been sad at all and have made new friends and really love all my teachers. My first day, mom took me a little later than normal so she could be sure I wasn't the first kid there.  She stayed with me for a few minutes so I could get acclimated and I decided I wanted to draw her a picture to take to work.  Mom called at lunchtime to check on me and my teacher said I was eating and telling her all about my soccer class.  My first morning had been really good.  When mom picked me up on Monday night, my class was just about to go outside on the playground - I asked mom to pick me up later on Tuesday than she did on Monday because I wanted to go outside!  Mom took that to be a good sign that I was enjoying my new school!

Mom picked me up on Monday and we headed right to the Soccerplex for my first soccer class of the summer.  Mom and dad signed me up for Monday night classes, so that makes Monday a long day and means that we need to eat a snack in the car between school and soccer.  I met a new friend, Tom, and mom met his parents. They all seem really nice and I hope we get to spend more time with them.

Tuesday was another fun day at school.  It was beach day and I wore a floral print shirt.  My teachers gave me a lei and we went on a whale hunt (we made binoculars and searched for whales in our classroom).  Mom even let me go outside after she got there to pick me up, so I got to show her the new playground.

Today, we had a visitor come to school - a pirate came and did balloon art for us!  Kids under the age of 4 have visitors come to school and kids 4 and over go on field trips.  The pirate was pretty cool and there was even an octopus baloon animal sitting at the sign in/out counter when we left.  Tomorrow is water day, so I get to wear my bathing suit to school. It's supposed to be 100+ degrees tomorrow, so it's a good day to cool off with a sprinkler!

Hope you're all well and we'll send more updates soon!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day everyone!  We had a great day here :)

Started with my last swimming class.  Then lunch at Dogfish...



Then a nap in the car.



Then FISHING from a boat :) I got to test out my new fishing rod.





Then we steamed some crabs and grilled some corn for dinner.  Yum!  I got to eat all the claws and had so much fun cracking them open with my hammer.



More later, but thought I'd at least share our day in photos (pardon the quality - most are from either a cell phone or point and shoot).

Happy Father's Day!

I can read!

OK, well maybe that's a bit of an overstatement, but I did actually read an entire book to mom and dad last night!  I read every single word in the book, even THE END. They couldn't stop saying how proud they were of me :)

The book was called Fun in the Sun and was part of the Bob Books for Advancing Beginners.  They really are great books for new readers and are a good mix between words I can sound out and sight words.  Check out what I read:

Fun in the Sun
The sun was hot.
Pop had a top hat.
Mom had a red wig.
Peg had a big cap.
Pop got the red wig.
Mom got the big cap.
Peg got the top hat.
Mom, Pop, and Peg sat in the sun.
Mom was OK.
Peg was OK.
Pop was hot! (I read that one as Pop was hoti...who knew that that last thing was an exclamation point???)
Pop, Mom, and Peg had fun in the hot sun.
The End.

Mom says she wants me to read to her at bedtime before she reads me my stories.  I think I can do that! 

Yesterday was kind of a bittersweet day.  It was my last day at school and it was hard to say goodbye to my friends and teachers.  Mom got there a little early to pick me up and spend a fun evening with me.  Daddy was at the bike store getting his bike ready for the triathlon next weekend.  Mom had to make a few trips to the car to carry all my stuff out, then Ms. Carmen gave me a gift - she made cards of all of the animals that I know (in English and Spanish).  I'll have to teach mom what they are in Spanish.

We stopped to say Thank You and good bye to Ms. Pam (the director) and mom started crying :(  It's hard to say good bye to people you like!  Ms. Pam was so nice and even gave me a Penguin boo boo buddy that has the name of my school on it - she called it a souvenir.  That was so nice of her and I really love the Penguin.

When we left, mom took me to Chik Fil A as a treat.  Their grilled nuggets are pretty good (and not too bad for me) and I *love* their fruit cup.  But best of all, I love the play area (which mom rarely lets me play in due to time constraints). Yesterday I got to play in there, so that was fun. When we left there, we had to stop at the grocery store to get a few items for the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes that we were planning on making for daddy.  We had to get buttermilk, chocolate and cherries - it was my job to remember those three things and I did a great job!

Mom and I made the cupcakes when we got home - I got to stir the dry ingredients together, then the wet ingredients and then I mixed them all together.  I even held the measuring cups and got to dump a few things in the bowl.  Once mom poured the vanilla in the bowl, it smelled DELICIOUS!  I picked out special cupcake paper cups for daddy - they have soccer balls and footballs on them - I hope he likes them!

Today we're going to make the icing and maybe go for a run, to get my haircut, and to the pool this afternoon.  Weekends are busy times (but fun!)

Hopscotch!

Tomorrow is my last day at my current school :(  I'm really going to miss my friends and teachers and didn't want to leave tonight.  On our way out tonight, I must have played hopscotch at least 5 times.  Hopping on one foot is a hard skill to master!  The crown on my head is actually a frog.  I even wrote on it (legibly, I might add) "I am a FROG."



Tomorrow is water day, though, so I'm going to have a blast!  I hope it's not too chilly in the morning!

Busy Weekend!

What a fun time - I'm really glad it's practically summer and we're able to spend a ton of time outside!  Saturday morning, we met Lily at the playground and "rode bikes."  I say "rode bikes" loosely because really all we wanted to do was swing, run around, climb, slide, jump from the benches, etc.  I think we made one loop on the track and I was pretty grumpy about my bike.  Lily did a great job, but I was really nervous for some reason.  It was strange because I ride (up the hill) at home just fine, so it's not a matter of not knowing how to ride, I just didn't feel like it, I guess.  For some reason, I only wanted mom to hold my bike and when she didn't have a death grip on the handle bars, I freaked out.  We'll have to keep working on that.

Mom and I stopped at Home Depot on the way home and bought a new garbage disposal (ours broke) and some stakes for the veggie plants.  The plants have really taken off, especially the tomatoes.  I'll have to ask mom to take pictures.  The cucumbers aren't looking so great - I think we didn't put stakes in early enough and they're kind of droopy.  It's ok - this year is kind of an experiment anyway to just try our hand at gardening and since I picked out all the plants without much research, who knows what's actually going to grow.  The eggplant is huge and the squash and peppers look pretty good.  The squash I started from seeds in my window garden even grew (mom and dad didn't think it would!)  My beans that I started from seeds inside have also taken off and they even wrapped themselves around the eggplant.  I think we may get a few strawberries and the tomatoes will give us a lot (I better learn to like tomatoes a little better!)  Arabelle loves them, so if we get a lot, we may have to give her a bunch :)  I've been really good about helping mom water the plants and it's been a fun thing to do together.

Saturday afternoon, one of my favorite babysitters came to play with me.  Mom and dad went to see Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat at Wolftrap.  They had backstage VIP passes and got to meet Gavin DeGraw - how cool is that???  I know this is *my* blog, but I wanted to share this picture anyway :)  Even if you don't know his music, you probably have at least seen him on Dancing With the Stars.



Mom said it was one of the best concerts she has ever seen and I had fun at home too!  My babysitter said I behaved the whole night and we had fun playing games and reading books.

Mom and I got up on Sunday morning and went to my swim class.  The air conditioning in mom's car was broken, so it was pretty hot and we had to roll the windows down. I didn't care for the wind blowing my hair all around. I wore one of the bathing suits that Belle let me borrow - can you believe one is a size 5/6 and fits perfectly?  I had a blast in class, even though Mr. Warren, my regular teacher wasn't there.  Miss Taylor was my teacher and I told mom that she yelled at me a few times. I wasn't wearing my listening ears and wandered away from the steps a few times. Mom told me I had to listen better next time. On the way home, mom and I had a funny conversation:

Me:  "Mom, my teacher didn't have a tail."
Mom:  "What are you talking about?  Why would she have a tail?  Are you thinking about your soccer teacher playing Fox and Hound with you?"
Me:  "No, silly mom.  Her name was Miss TAYLOR and she didn't have a tail."
Mom:  Laughing hysterically "Oh, I see."

We stopped on the way home and got the AC in the car fixed.  Just needed a charge, but it felt SO much better afterwards!!!  We had lunch and a quick nap when we got home, then mom and I headed to the outdoor pool while daddy went to the indoor pool to do some laps before his bike ride.  His first triathlon is in 2 weeks - GO DADDY!

Mom and I ran into my friend Sam and his mommy at the pool, so we got to play for a while.  We took turns sliding down the slide in the big pool and then jumping off the wall to our moms.  When it was time for adult swim, we went to the tot pool which is very shallow, so we could run around pretty much by ourselves.  There was a little slide there too, so we kept going down the slide then waiting in line again.  At one point, a bigger kid cut in front of me and Sam (about 3 months younger than me) pushed the bigger kid out of the way.  While it's not cool to push other kids, I really appreciated Sam sticking up for me!  He's such a good friend!

I was worn out by the time we left, but we had to get home in time for dinner.  Dad was still on his bike ride, so mom and I made dinner and ate on the deck.  When daddy got home, we all went to get an ice cream cone!  I got to go in my jammies - how cool is that???  It was perfect weather for ice cream.  The line was REALLY long and daddy had the brilliant idea to go through the drive through, then park and eat it in the parking lot.  It only took a few minutes and I told mommy I wanted an ice cream cone with chocolate ice cream and a cherry on top.  So that's exactly what I got (and it dripped EVERYWHERE).  Mom and dad even shared some of their ice cream with me. Thank goodness for baby wipes.  I was a champ and went to bed pretty well last night.  Needless to say, I did NOT want to get up this morning.  I kept saying I was tired, but ended up listening pretty well and got to school on time.

Today was my last Monday at my current school.  I'm going to really miss my friends and teachers. Tonight I told mom I want to make cards for my teachers and I said I was going to write "I love you" on them. She told me they would love that, so I'm working on those before Friday.

Daddy made oysters tonight for dinner!  They wanted me to try some shellfish (I've had mussels and clams before) before we go to the beach next month (in case I have a reaction, it would be nice to be close to my own doctor).  Daddy broiled some for me and topped them with butter.  I was a total champ - I didn't like the first one and spit it out, but told mom I'd try a second.  I tried it and made an awful, sour face and told her I didn't like it.  She asked if I'd try one more and I agreed.  I chewed a couple of times and I think it started to slide down my throat and I looked like I was going to lose it. But I held it together, finished eating it and told mom I really didn't like it.  She said it was ok and she was just so proud of me for trying them.  Proof positive that I'm a pretty adventurous eater. Mom gave me a hug and heated up some left over pasta and broccoli for me :)

DC United!

I got a special treat this week and got to go to a Tuesday night DC United game!  They played the Philadelphia Union at the Soccerplex!  On the very same field where I had class on Saturday :)  How cool is that???  We even got to go to a restaurant first.  Ken, Marie, Arabelle and Cole were there, so Belle and I got to run around, cheer, play, and eat a few snacks.

Talon even came to meet us!  I ran up to mom and said "Mom, look, it's Talon the Seagull!"  Close, she said.



Today, mom and dad took me to visit my new school for a while in the morning.  They got to have their thumbprints scanned (to get in the doors) and I had SO much fun!  I really didn't have any problems meeting my new teachers or friends and jumped right into things, though I did look to mom and dad a few times.  Once they're not there, I think I'll probably be perfectly at ease.  I got to sing songs, do gym class (more about that later), pick a few centers to do (art, sensory, dramatic play, math, computer, etc.), we made and played with playdoh and we left as my new friends were heading out to the playground.  Mom and dad said we had to leave so I could get to my current school in time to eat lunch.  And mommy had a lunch meeting, so she had to go too.  Daddy took me back to school and I had fun the rest of the day too.

I think I'm really going to like gym class at my new school.  Today they had scooters (little boards on wheels) and I got to "swim" around the gym like a fish.  It was pretty cool.  There were also some foam paddles and balls to hit around and some bean bags and hula hoops.  As we were walking out, we even saw another class in the gym playing with a big parachute.  Needless to say, I think I'm going to be completely tuckered out once I start there!  We do gym at least once a day and also get to go outside several times.  One more week at my current school, then I move on over.  I'm sad to leave my friends, but I think I'll stay in touch with the people I will miss the most.

One more day, then it's the weekend!!!  I'm looking forward to riding my bike with my friend Lily on Saturday and mom said maybe she'd take me for a run afterwards.  Hope everyone is doing well!

Strawberry Picking

What a fun day!  I had my last soccer class this morning, then was supposed to have a picnic at the park with my friend Sam and his mommy.  Unfortunately, Sam was sick so we'll have to reschedule :(

Soccer was a lot of fun and I did a great job (as usual).  When class was over, my coach gave us all a medal, which I very proudly wore the rest of the day!  Excuse the poor quality photos from mom's phone.



Can you tell how excited we were to get our medals?  A group of 3 and 4 year olds don't normally pay attention this well :)


Since we weren't meeting Sam, mom and I decided to have lunch out - we were going to go to Chipotle, but when we parked the car, I saw Five Guys and wanted a burger instead, so we went there.  I had an awesome lunch and mom even let me try a peanut for the first time! I've had peanut butter, just not whole nuts (mom says they're a choking hazard, but they were fine).  Mom had to crack the shells for me, but I loved getting the peanuts out and eating them.



We went home and I played with my legos while she put the groceries from Peapod away.  I'm really starting to enjoy the legos and am able to put all the little pieces together now.  Unfortunately, Peapod didn't deliver half of our groceries, so we still have to go to the store, boo.  Mom was NOT happy about that!  Though she doesn't usually like me to nap, mom told me I could nap today (I think she really just wanted a nap herself).  Daddy's in Philly watching a Rugby tournament, so she let me nap in her bed!  We both got a great nap in :)

We woke up, grabbed some containers, put our rain boots on (there were bad storms last night and it was a little muddy) and headed over to the local farm to go strawberry picking!  It's kind of late in the season and today may well have been the last day of picking for strawberries, but we got almost 2 lbs of good berries.  We got to take a wagon out to the fields and it was pretty bumpy.  I was sliding around, so asked mom if I could sit in her lap.  We each had our own buckets and I got good at spotting the good berries hiding in the shade.  We took the wagon back to the car and stopped at the farmers market on the way out.  Mom let me get a strawberry lemonade slushy that was fantastic!  We also got some fresh peas that looked really good.  Yum!





Since half of our groceries didn't show up (all refrigerated stuff, so no meat, fruit, veggies, grrrr), mom said she'd take me to get sushi for dinner!  We stopped at the fabric store first so she could get some fabric for a dress for me and for some more "unpaper" towels for the kitchen.  I picked out sparkly butterfly fabric for my dress - we'll see how that goes!  Mom finally got the guest room mostly in order and set up her sewing machine again, so she's looking forward to making a few projects.

We went to mom's favorite sushi restaurant in Rockville and I ate EVERY.SINGLE.BITE of my rolls and even 2 pieces of mom's.  In addition to a whole bowl of miso soup and a huge glass of water.  You think I'm a growing girl???  I've grown so much taller, but strangely haven't gained a ton of weight (not according to mom's scale, at least).  I haven't been to the doctor in a few months, so I guess we'll see when we go back for my 4 year well visit.  After dinner, we walked to the grocery store to get some lemonade - mom said we could make strawberry lemonade tomorrow and I can't wait!  Should be good with all those fresh strawberries!

It was already bathtime by the time we got home, so I got to play in the tub while mom folded some laundry in the bathroom.  And daddy called to say good night while I was in the tub, so I got to tell him all about our fun day!  Mom and I read 3 books at bedtime and I continued to read for almost 2 hours after that (that's what happens when I nap...).  Mom said she didn't mind and maybe we'll sleep in a bit tomorrow (mom can hope, right?).  I have swimming tomorrow morning, then we have a fun birthday party to go to!

Hope everyone is doing well!