August Adventures

August 13th was a big day for the kids. We got a chrysalis from the community picnic the week before, and we let the butterfly go. Iris's birthday present came early - a convertible balance bike! I had tried to get her psyched up about it prior to its arrival. When it game, we got it out and ready for her... and she spent about five minutes attempting to use it in tricycle mode before abandoning it for other wheeled enjoyment. 

Because we knew Iris's present would be coveted by Felix and to get him better about riding a bike, Geepa helped me take the training wheels and pedals off Felix's little bike. He was about to outgrow it anyway, so why not? He's a little nervous on it and hasn't gotten the concept of pushing off to glide and balance yet. I had him riding down the tiny little slope between our house and the neighbors so he could practice without falling on pavement or gravel. This bike also contributed to Iris's abandonment of her new bike. She wants to be big like Felix, so she would rather have gotten rides on the big bike (pushed by Grandma or me). They'll get more used to them, especially if we let them play with the bikes in our unfinished basement over the winter. 

*** Warning - here be a potty story. ***

Iris wants to be like Felix in more ways than one. She, 17 days shy of her 2nd birthday, told us she wanted to poop in the potty. She was a little late on that, but she did sit down on it and peed! Huge cheers by all! I don't know if she'll keep it up, but it's great that she at least has some interest. We're not going to push her; as we learned from Felix, a kid won't do it until they're ready. But hey! Great early start! She did it again two days later, but has since had zero interest in it. Oh well.

*** Okay, potty-adverse folk, it's safe to come back now. ***

We had our first family wedding in a while. Oh, what an adventure... Nick was laid out with tummy problems Saturday morning, so I packed and wrangled the kids by myself. We all left after lunch to drive down to Germantown. Uneventful trip. However... when we arrived at the hotel, I realized I forgot my dress at home, and the clothes I brought weren't nice enough to wear to a wedding. Then we got into the hotel and found they had no record of our reservation. Cue expletives. Thank goodness for family weddings and gracious and generous family members! A little bit of room rearranging later, and we had a place to sleep. And after a quick shopping trip and grabbing a dress off the clearance rack later, we were finally ready to go. Note to self for the future - confirm all hotel reservations before leaving home! It was nice to see people at the reception, although it was a bit difficult keeping Iris away from the in-ground pool. Poor girl wanted to go in the water so badly! Alas, I had to take them home early and (thankfully?) avoided the progressive drunkenness of those remaining. Nick was in such a state the next morning that we scrapped our plans to stick around and just headed straight home. Definitely a memorable wedding for us, Trisha and DJ! ;o) All the best to you!

Felix: 5 yrs & Iris: 23 mos