The Accidental Boilermaker

We were back at the zoo today.  But first, Nate and Jameson were being silly this morning. Evelyn got to feed the giraffes. And run through the sprinklers. She also really likes to stand on the surf board. The zoo made for a fun morning, but a long afternoon.  No one wanted to nap once we got home.

I took the kids to Chicago by myself!  Katherine had some free time before school starts and asked if I wanted to bring Evelyn and Jameson over for a visit.  I was more than a bit hesitant. Bringing only Jameson to Chicago for the bachelorette party I thought had been enough of an adventure.  I wasn't sure I could handle both kids.  But Nate told me to go and I realized that yes, everything could go terribly but more likely, we would all have a fun time.  And we did. Monday we went swimming at the pool near Katherine's apartment and then my parents drove in for dinner. Tuesday we went to the beach and it was a perfect day.  Evelyn loved the water even though it was freezing.  We swam out to the sand bar several times. Jameson makes a pretty good beach baby.  He was happy to play in the sand or the water.  Or eat Katherine's googles. Katherine's close friend met us at the beach with her two boys.  Evelyn enjoy...

Jameson is 7 months old.  I feel like the last month has just flown by.  He is full on army crawling and getting into trouble by trying to chew on electrical cords and door stops.  I also feel like I hear mama and dada more often when he babbles. Jameson loves to eat.  Everything he has tried so far he likes including sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, green beans, peas, avocado, pears, and applesauce. Sleeping has been only so-so.  He has been waking up a lot at night.  He isn't always upset and can put himself back to sleep, but we still wake up because we hear him on the monitor.  I'm not sure if he is growing, teething, or something else entirely.

The plan today was to go to the zoo.  But the zoo was closed in order to prepare for a special event.  So since everyone was already in the car, we instead went to the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society.  Random yes, but I had seen on facebook that today was their open house.  It was pretty cool but there really wasn't that much to look at.  I'm sure if you were a true train enthusiast, you'd find the museum much more interesting. Evelyn at first was very excited but then the steam engine blew its whistle and I thought we were going to have to go home.  She actually was quite scared pretty much the entire time.  We were standing in front of the engine pictured above and Evelyn kinda freaked out.  I think what she was trying to tell me was that we had to move because we were in front of the train and when it started to move, it would hit Jameson.  It took a lot of convincing that this train was not going anywhere. The steam e...

Somewhat last minute, Nate signed up for a time trial in Alliance, OH.  So we decided to all tag along and make it a short family vacation.  Kind of on the way to Alliance is Akron which has a zoo and with our Fort Wayne zoo membership, we got 50% off our admission.  So Saturday we went to the Akron Zoo. The zoo's current claim to fame are three snow leopard cubs.  We only saw one, but it was awfully cute. There were a few animals that our zoo doesn't have - like grizzly bears and flamingos, but it didn't have any peacocks.  Evelyn even asked where they were. Evelyn got very excited when she first saw the carousel.  She's never been on one and was moderately patient while we visited the rest of animals and worked our way back to the carousel so we let her ride.   Jameson and I watched Nate and Evelyn go round and round. Everyone was pretty hot and tired by the end but it was a very nice zoo and definitely worth the ...

Jameson had his 6 month check up this morning.  He weighed 19 lb 7 oz (76th percentile) and was 28.5 inches long (96th percentile).   Here's a similar picture of Evelyn at her 6 month appointment. The doctor was very pleased with Jameson's developmental milestones.  He sits up really well (but does still topple over), reaches for objects, responds to his name, and babbles. Since Jameson has also started to army crawl, the doctor predicted he will be walking by 10 or 11 months!  I think that means big trouble for me.

My birthday was Friday.  It was really just a normal day which was fine.  I ran in the morning with Evelyn and Jameson.  Afterward, we went to the splash pad and then church in evening.  We also got ice cream after church.  Yum! Saturday was Meredith's bachelorette party.  Jameson and I drove to Katherine's apartment in Chicago and left Nate and Evelyn at home.   Meredith didn't know what Kate and I planned for her party.  Everyone managed to keep Whirlyball a surprise and Meredith was very excited when she found out. Whirlyball is like a lacrosse - bumper cars combo.  You get the court for an hour and play 10 minute games.  All of Meredith's bridesmaids plus an extra friend from Purdue were able to come to the party. It was a blast.  We played 3-on-4 and changed up the teams every round.  Best part I think was when the sisters team won our game. Jameson stayed back at the apartment with Oma and ...

Evelyn is 2.5 years old.  Jameson gets monthly updates; only seems fair that Evelyn gets biyearly ones.  We met Nate at the zoo this afternoon.  We headed straight to the water stream because it was so hot. Evelyn still loves books.  Her favorite shows are Curious George, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Timmy Time.  She likes to tell me she can do things "by myself" or if she wants me to do it she says, "you do it by yourself."  If she understands that something can't happen today, she often says she will do it tomorrow.  She still is a picky eater, but thankfully she eats the foods she likes. Evelyn likes trains and airplanes.  She still loves to go for runs in the stroller.  Playing with bubbles and chalk are favorites when we are outside.  She also seems to be really into dresses and skirts lately. She loves Jameson and as he becomes more active, she sometimes engages him in her play. After the water stream and...