Great job, Mira!

Mira has been doing such a great job wearing her patch lately that we bought her a Pink Power Care Bear. Here she is showing off her latest bear:


Great job, Mira! We are so proud of you.

Mira's eyes update

Mira had her 3-month appointment last Friday for her eye exam. We've been faithfully patching every day since her first visit, for about 2 1/2 hours a day. Mira has been so wonderful at keeping her patch on and not complaining much.

Her visit was very encouraging! While Mira really hoped she could be done patching, she'll have to keep patching for another 4 months until her next appointment. BUT, the doctor did say that Mira's vision has improved. She's gone from 20/40 to 20/25 in her left eye, and from 20/80 to 20/50 in her right eye! Hopefully, that will be even better at her next appointment.

I asked the doctor about how long she thought Mira would need glasses (because she had mentioned that it's possible the problem can be fixed), and she thought there was a 50/50 chance that Mira either will always wear them or won't need them at all. We don't care either way, but it would be nice for her to not to have to wear them. We'll see.

Swimming lessons/fun at the park

Today was Mira's first swimming lesson! She really enjoyed it. They put the kids in little inner tubes, had them throw a toy, then they would paddle to it. She did really well and is looking forward to the next lesson on Saturday.


I had planned to take the girls to an apple orchard this afternoon, but Amelia slept a bit later than usual. (Actually, all THREE of us fell asleep [Chris is out of town this weekend] and we ALL slept later than I thought.) So I took the girls to a large park about 3 miles from our house. Mira made a friend named Lilli there who was also 4 years old. It was a beautiful afternoon and we ended up staying about 1 1/2 hours at the park. We'll have to go again soon. Mira is really hoping we run into Lilli again so we can schedule a playdate.


Just lazing around at home:


Kisses for daddy!


Milk mustache!

Amelia's first haircut

I've cut Amelia's bangs a couple of times, and not very well, might I add. So it was time this past weekend to bring her to the salon for a "professional" 'do.

The "before" shot:
Spraying her down:

First cuts:

One satisfied customer!

Work camp.

Put them to work. They stay out of trouble.


Don't you love Amelia's wife-beater shirt?


And thanks for the cupcakes, Grandpa Randy!

Again with the butt?

Mira was watching "Sid the Science Kid" today and they were learning about smells. Mira held out her finger and said, "Mom, what do you smell?"

"I don't know," I said. "Where was your finger?"

"Not . . . in my butt!" Uggh. The "joys" of a 4-year-old.


And in other news, Amelia got her first "shiner" today. She's walking pretty good, but is still a little unsteady. She fell near the coffee table and got an eyeful of the corner. Fortunately, it was a rounded corner. Unfortunately, it was hard wood. She took it very well and didn't cry too much. I hate to have to explain this at daycare tomorrow!


Here's a photo of Amelia in the neighbor's backyard. She really is a mischievous little girl! And so funny. She doesn't tell jokes or anything, but there is a little glint in her eye and she really knows how to get into trouble! We think she'll be "the funny one"!

Weekend with the 'rents

Last weekend Mom and Dad come to spend some time with us. We haven't seen them since early August, and didn't have plans to visit until Thanksgiving, probably, so it was wonderful to see them. We took them out to dinner Saturday night for their birthdays. Then on Sunday, Chris took Dad to the Vikings game, and Mom and I did a little shopping with the girls. Of course, Mom fit in a little play time with Mira and Amelia.

A beautiful log cabin was built in just one afternoon!


My beautiful 4-year-old:



What the heck is on Amelia's face? She's cute even covered in crusty food!


Somehow, Dad escaped my camera. He had a great time at the game, even though the Vikings blew a nice lead.

This weekend, I take Mira to see "Mama Mia" in the theater. She loves the soundtrack so much that I think she'll really enjoy the movie too. Oh, and I guess I wouldn't mind seeing it again either!

Hello? Who is this?

Lately, Amelia has really taken a liking to our phone. She holds it to her ear and says, Hello?" She's so cute when she pretends to be all grown up.

It's for you!

Here's a photo of Mira enjoying the rain with some bubbles. She's really enjoying the days at daycare and keeps asking when she'll be going to kindergarten. Next year she'll be taking the bus from daycare to kindergarten, then getting dropped back off at daycare. She's really excited about it!

How sweet!

Mira to Grandpa Bob: "One hand was in my butt and one hand wasn't. Which one do you want to smell?"

Niiiiice.

Yearbook Yourself!

It's all the rage. YearbookYourself.com.

Here's Mira in the 50's. I'll try to get more up soon of the whole family!

Fun day with the bros.

Jeff, Sara, Justin, Mandy, Abby, Nicholas, and little baby Norstad came over last night to spend today with us. We had such a nice time! The men played in the neighborhood poker game last night, and all came home with more money than they left with. We had a nice breakfast, then the men played golf while the ladies entertained the kids. Then the men watched the kids while the ladies went shopping and got manicures. (We think we got the better deal!) We loved having you all!

I didn't take many photos, but here is a really nice one of Amelia and Mandy:


And I discovered that Amelia knows how to climb the stairs! So here are a couple of photos of her making her escape with her "partner in crime" Nicholas!

"Come on, Nick! They are gaining on us!"

"Oh, no! Where did my partner in crime go?"

A clean "getaway."


We've been patching Mira's left eye for a couple of months, just a couple of hours a day. I heard about this site (patchpals.com) that sells cloth patches that go on over the lens of kids' glasses. Mira picked out the fairy one. It's much nicer for her than having to take off that sticky patch every day, plus a bit cheaper!

We hope you all had a good weekend. Lindell family book club is tomorrow!

Our Labor Day at the State Fair

I decided that since it is a family blog, I should step up and give Michelle some rest from the blog updates...for today any way.

We decided to face the 80+ degree heat and take our annual trip to the state fair on the last possible day. Mira has now been there 5 years in a row...hard to believe. It's Amelia's 2nd time but next year should be her time to fully enjoy it.

Every year Michelle and I have our things to check off the list from the fair; cheese curds (Michelle and I), pronto pup (me), photo booth picture and holiday ornament (wow that was PC of me-sorry retail background)
In between, Mira rode on many rides with mom and dad, enjoyed all the food (favorite was the cone from the dairy barn) and looked at the baby animals.

It's like....butter!


Hey, not so fast.
Amelia's view for most of the day

We were all tired by 2pm but still made an appearance at a neighborhood picnic later in the day.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day.

Chris

"When I was your age . . ."

Well, Chris and I finally did it! We pulled out the old "When I was your age . . ." story with Mira. We have had DVR on our tv for quite some time. (For those of you not in the know, it's a digital video recorder, much like a VCR, except no tapes. And you can pause or rewind live tv . . . awesome!). So Mira is a little pro at using the DVR, pausing the tv whenever she needs to leave the room or eat a meal or go to the bathroom. Chris and I were watching her in action with the remote and had to pipe in: "You know, Mira, when Mommy and Daddy were little kids, we had to get off the couch and actually walk over to the television to turn the channel!" Oh, the horror! It's definitely something Mira can't comprehend. You have to LOVE technology.

And now for the bad news of our weekend, so far. We were at an outdoor wedding reception yesterday. Mira ran over to play at a nearby park, and in the process startled a small dog, who jumped on her and scratched her leg pretty good with his claws. Mira was bleeding pretty good, and for quite a while, we thought the dog had actually bit her. We don't think that's the case now, but it did require a trip to urgent care to determine if she needed stitches. They said it could go either way, so we opted for no stitches. There may be a scar, but I think the trauma of putting her through stitches would have been worse for Mira. So we didn't make it to the fair after the reception, and now Mira can't go in the lake today at her grandpa's. She was really good about everything and is letting us change the bandages when we need to.

On a lighter note, Amelia is officially a walker! She walks about 80 percent of the time now. It's really cute to see. Here is a photo of her in action!


I haven't taken a real recent photo of Mira, so I'll be sure to add one to the next post.
Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Tuckered out in San Fran

My friend (Sarah) and I went to San Francisco for a long weekend. We got back late last night, but not before packing in as much as we could in the time we were there. We stayed at a great hotel near the Fisherman's Wharf. It was a nice walk to the wharf, which we visited every day! Sunday was a busy day. Sarah and I rented bicycles and rode across the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. It was such an amazing adventure! The weather was really nice for a ride—cool, but a bit windy. Seeing the bridge from a bike was something to be remembered. Sausalito is a really charming town across the bay with excellent ice cream (and I found the orange purse I wanted to buy on my trip!).


We took the ferry back to San Francisco, too tuckered to ride back, plus we had tickets to a night tour of Alcatraz so we needed to get back for that.

Alcatraz was a wonderful time as well. It was so interesting to take the guided tour and learn all about the workings of the penetentiary. I found it interesting that the guards lived on the island, along with their wives and children! I don't think you could pay me enough to live that close to some of the most dangerous people in the country. If you ever have the chance to visit San Fran, Alcatraz is a must!



Monday was also packed with a cable car ride to Union Station and lots of shopping! Then Sarah and I took the bus to her friend Jessica's house on the northwest side of SF. I think we covered every mode of transportation available to us! Jessica took us on this beautiful hike to The Cliff House, where we had dessert right on the edge of the water. Beautiful views!


A game of Scrabble followed (I won!) and dinner at Houstons, right across from Pier 33. We also saw Robin Williams' house:

This is Sarah's friend, Jessica, who took us on a great hike, and a great drive to Golden Gate Park. Thanks, Jessica! It was so nice meeting you.

AND, if you are curious, Jessica is a fantastic crafter who has an etsy store. Check it out if you have the time! I love the onsies!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5853388


Tuesday brought us home, but not before one more walk to the Wharf to see the seals. Uggh, they smelled so bad! They just hang out there all the time.


I'm really glad to be back home, as great as the trip was. I missed my girls and Chris quite a bit! But it is nice to get away once in a while.

Happenings this week

I've been a bum about blogging lately. Lots going on, none of it super exciting. Here are a few photos from this past week.

Amelia is starting to take steps more and more frequently. While crawling is her preferred way of getting around, she is attempting 3-5 steps more often. It's so cute to see her toddling! We think she was busy learning to talk and growing teeth, so walking took a backseat. Amelia is up to about 20 understandable words, and can repeat a lot of what we say. She added "love you" to her vocabulary recently. So precious!


Here's a photo of me and the girls on the porch. It seems like I forget to get photos of me with them, so that's something we'll have to work on. The matching dresses were birthday gifts from Aunt Debbie. I hadn't gotten pictures of them in the dresses before. Thanks, Deb!


Chris has a business contact who sent us a mushroom playhouse (www.bazoongi.com/, click on "Play Structures"). It is so cute and the girls really love it!



And Amelia's favorite toy is not anything from Christmas or her birthday. Oh no. This little one loves to play with the remote for the television. We've tried to give her a different remote with no batteries, but she wants the one for the television. Fortunately, we can press a button on it and she can't switch the channel, but she's messed up many a viewing session anyway.


Hope you are all well! I leave for sunny (yet chilly!) San Francisco on Saturday until Tuesday. I'm sure Chris would love some homemade meals delivered and cleaning services during my time away. Or maybe just a phone call to see how he's doing with the kids!

We have more steps!

Okay, I picked up the girls at daycare yesterday and Connie told me at Amelia took 12 steps in a row! Chris and I still haven't seen any of this walking yet. At home, Amelia really would rather crawl. So that's why there are no video or photos of this event. Maybe this weekend. I'll try to post more later. Nothing really exciting going on here.

We have steps!

Yesterday at daycare, Amelia took 6 steps . . . twice! Wow! I was shocked to hear that since we've never seen Amelia even stand unsupported. So we took her home and tried to see if she would do it again. We did see her take 3-4 steps a couple of times. We didn't quite get photos, but will try to post some video or photos soon. Great job, Amelia!

Hand, Foot, Mouth, what?

Amelia had her 15-month doctor appointment yesterday. She is growing great! She loves food of all types, is talking more than her age normally does, and is looking into walking someday, but hasn't yet let us know when that will be. Amelia is at 21 pounds, 9 ounces, so she's around 75 percent for weight, and is at 50 percent for height. Amelia also has 6 teeth in, and is in the process of acquiring about 3 molars. The doctor said she looks wonderful.

However, what we thought was a really bad diaper rash is actually Hand Foot Mouth disease. It's not bothering her really, and she's not feverish or crabby, so they don't prescribe anything for it. It will just have to run its course. And it looked much better this morning already. She had a few sores on her feet, a couple on the palms of her hands, and one on her tongue. But it was mostly on her diaper area. I've heard it's going around and that it lasts 3-6 days, but Amelia is already looking much better so we're hoping there are no signs of it in a couple of days.

Here's a Website that explains it:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm#6