Jack can crawl!!

After working on crawling with Jack's physical therapist for what seemed like forever, Jack finally made a breakthrough! He can crawl!!! It is so much fun to see him movin' and groovin'. He started off wearing his special little support shorts to help him keep his legs closer together, but in only a couple of days he has graduated to full on, shorts-free, high speed crawling. He now engages in regular "grazing" (crawling all over a room, searching for bits of debris to eat, regardless of whether or not it is edible) and I'm going to have to step up my housekeeping efforts. Hooray, Jack!

Colin's Drawing

Today Colin made the best drawing! He's been drawing some recognizable things for a little while, but this was the first I was able to scan. On the top right corner in blue is Lightning McQueen (of course). You can see the face, and the little blobs just beneath are tires. On the bottom in blue is a snake named Sarah (no offense, Sarah). I love it!

Sitting on Ben's Lap

Checking out the pond

Chinatown

Today our Philly adventure led us to some delectable dim sum in Chinatown, at a restaraunt called Ocean Garden. It was amazing and delicious!

At the entrance to Chinatown

Jack quickly observed that we use chopsticks to get our food, so he tried to help himself to the shrimp stuffed bell peppers (an excellent choice). When he failed, he practiced his drumming skills.

Valley Forge

Friday we went to see Valley Forge for the first time. It's only about 30 minutes away, and it's amazing! We'll definitely be heading back again soon. There were so many cool things to see, and it is a beautiful park.

In front of the Memorial Arch (commissioned in 1917!)

Under the arch

Checking out a cool building

Amelia & Colin in an instant classic!

I taught Amelia and Colin the song "Faith" and tried to get them to sing it for me. These are the results. Please excuse the prompting and my singing. For the record, I have no idea what's wrong with Colin's underwear!

NYC Pics

The family in Central Park

Me and Colin at Rockefeller Center

Kids playing the giant piano at FAO Schwartz


Taking a spontaneous break after too much fun looking at toys.

Mike and kids at the Plaza

Amelia the American Girl

Grandma Debi gave Amelia an American Girl doll named Chrissa for her birthday. Amelia loves her! Chrissa has a special bed with blankets that Amelia fixes for her each night, and sometimes Chrissa sits in a doll chair with us at the dinner table. Here are some photos of Amelia with her doll.

Amelia making an evil smile after we rolled Chrissa's hair

Chrissa and Amelia, both with hair done perfectly!

Chrissa wearing the new ball gown that we bought in the special American Girl store in NYC. Unfortunately we didn't have the foresight to get new shoes. I guess the purple sequins don't look too bad with the eighteenth century style gown.

A small bite of the Big Apple!

We took a quick day trip up to New York City this week to visit some friends of ours and check out the city. It was amazing! We walked everywhere and rode the subway, too! Here is a small list of the sites we saw: Central Park, 5th Ave, FAO Schwartz, Rockefeller Center, Magnolia Bakery (the cupcakes were delish!), Times Square, Monks from Seinfeld (it's actually called Tom's), and American Girl Place. It was really fun, and we can't wait to get back and see more. I forgot my camera so I had to borrow my friend's. I'll be posting some photos soon. Here is a picture of the kids wearing these great NYC t-shirts that they got for their birthdays. Thank you so much Lori, Lucy, and Sarah!

Jack is One?!

It's hard to believe, but Jack turned one yesterday! He is such a fun little baby, and so happy. Following are some photos from the day.

As an update, Jack just started doing some physical therapy in the pool at a local YMCA with a special physical therapist. We are only going to do four pool sessions, but we're hoping it will give him the little burst he needs to be ready to crawl. We've done two sessions so far, and he was a champ! Jack really likes the water, and I know he's working hard because he sleeps really well once he's done.

Playing with his birthday balloon.

We went to the zoo in the morning, here he is sporting his safari hat.

The kids love the giraffes!

Getting ready to watch Amelia and Colin blow out his candle!

At first, he totally rejected any cake. Mike and I were cracking up. I wonder why he is so suspicious!? He loved it once he gave it a chance. I eventually just cut some cubes of cake, put them on the table, and let him go to town.

"Am I really allowed to eat this?"

New Accessories

Amelia got some darling new hair accessories from our friend Kim and her new Etsy shop Azure Sky Creations. Aren't they wonderful!?

Jackie Chin (or Chan)

I took some photos the other day of Jack wearing a darling little Chinese outfit that Debi and Mike gave him when he was born. He looked very Chinese!

After a couple of photos he snapped into serious Kung-fu mode! Don't mess with him!

Garden Harvest pt. 2

OK- this one's real! We picked a pile of green beans today and two cherry tomatoes. This picture is my half. We also discovered a massive blackberry bramble just behind our dog run! I hope we can beat the animals to some of them once they're ripe. Dad, I know your mouth is watering!

Garden Harvest pt. 1

Here it is, folks. Our first and very bountiful harvest! It is half a green bean. Tiffany picked the bean and split it with me, and I carefully saved my half to record our first piece of produce. There should be lots more beans ready soon, and there is at least one cherry tomato that is just days away from coming off. We'll be feasting soon!