Jason's sister Karen came to visit for Rachel's third birthday, and although she already posted her own blog and pictures, we will too! We are so lucky Karen came to visit and play with us, meet Ava, and celebrate Rachel's 3rd birthday. Thanks Aunt Karen!
Rachel seems so grown up now, and so smart. If you can keep her focused on a task, she will do it very well. She is better than I am at the game of memory... if she is willing to sit still and pay attention. In soccer and in gymnastics, we are working really hard to stand still in line and listen to the coaches' instructions. (Most of the time, though, Rachel is running around like crazy doing her own thing.)
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| Recently playing a lot of marble works, thanks to Aunt Cynthia |
Karen came with us to our first gymnastics class and to the pool. She helped us make cupcakes, helped us host family for a dinner, and then joined Rachel at her birthday party. We got a pumpkin and then played with friends and had food.
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| Kelsey, Lily, Rachel and Bodhi play behind our house |
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| Cousins Jeannie and Lily help Rachel hold Ava |
Rachel is often lost in her own creative play and on her own agenda. She has been healthy and weighs 29.6 pounds and is 36.5" tall, making her 25th percentile for height and weight. You may remember at 12 months old we got quite scared because she wasn't gaining weight, despite a healthy appetite. She still seems much smaller than many of her peers, but we're glad she is healthy and growing appropriately. She is going to preschool Tues and Thurs full days and is comfortable and happy with this routine. We go to the library every week and usually have another outing like the children's museum or the zoo.
At the library this past week, I wanted to find another book by an author we really like. Rachel shocked me with her ability to remember things, since it has been weeks since we have read the Panda Palace and have only taken it out from the library once before:
Me: "Rachel, I wish I could remember who writes The Panda Palace."
Rachel: "Stephanie Calmenson, Mommy. Why?"
Me: "Good memory! Wow! I want to look for another book by her. Let's go to the 'C' section."
Rachel: "Why?"
Me: "Because Calmenson starts with 'C'"
Rachel: "Why?"
Me: .... stumped ... again....unable to answer all the 'why' questions over and over.
Anyway, bedtimes have been way better with Rachel. Possibly because she is taking a shorter nap but possibly because of her sticker chart and her motivation to watch movies. She has certainly had a lot more screen time since Ava was born, and loves watching movies. We try our best to limit screen time and to make it a reward for things like great bedtimes. Since Rachel is back to sleeping at 7:30pm, she seems to be waking up early again. Jason spends many of his mornings from 5:30-6:45am convincing Rachel to go back to bed or to play in her room quietly until Momo's (the clock) eyes open. But motivate her with some movie time if she goes to bed well and stays in her room until Momo's eyes open... and she will often succeed.
Jason finally recovered from his own 100km race and spent many hours in October coaching cross country. His girls team and one boy went to States last weekend and did well. Now cross country is less demanding until the last meet just before Thanksgiving in Arizona. School is in full swing and Jason is involved in a million things with school and is working long hours.
Ava is in a nice routine at home and doing well... except she won't take a bottle. She will take a few sips and then reject it. We've tried many different nipples, positions, temperatures, times of day, times of the feed... but nothing seems to work yet. Everyone keeps telling me not to worry because she will take it if she gets hungry enough... but so far I'm not sure. She had her first morning at school this past week to see if she would take some without me around... and she took 3-4 oz. in the 4+ hours she was there. It's a start - but she's going to need to get better at it if I'm going to be able to leave her for more than 3.5 hours of work. Ava's routine hasn't changed much since the last post - 3 to 4 naps per day, sleeping 12 hours at night with 1-2 wake ups for milk. She is rolling over well from back to tummy and likes to sit and stand more, but can't really hang out in the Bumbo chair for very long yet. She is full of gurgles, 'ah-goo' sounds, and blowing raspberries.
I have been focused on my work options. I have been contacting clinics, meeting with clinic owners, and looking at business ideas. I have made a decision and accepted an offer and will post more about this in another blog shortly. I plan to return to work as early as mid December, providing we can figure out Ava's schedule and bottle at daycare.
I have been swimming 2 times per week and running 3 times per week, and not much else. The odd bit of strength work and the odd hike or bike. My swims and runs have been really tiring me out, and I have to keep reminding myself to take things slow. It seems like it's taking so long to get fit again! I ran 7.2 miles slowly this morning while pushing Ava, which I think is the longest run I have done in over 2 years. I still have a lot of running to do before my half marathon on Dec 7th - it will be 13 miles and it needs to be faster than what I'm currently running. I have a friend that is willing to run my long weekend runs with me, and I really hope we can keep it going because it's my favorite time of my week.
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| View out our master bedroom... the mountains are white and ski season is here! |
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| Rachel helps stain our fence |
I'm still trying to figure out the best way to post videos and photos, since we each have a phone and then we have our real camera and each of those three devices requires its own system... but I'll post what I have and hope you can enjoy it!
Videos:
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