Stroller derby

Today Casey and I were going to go hiking to the farm with Catherine and Baby Mathias but it's way too hot. So instead we went hiking at IKEA! They have a little cafe area where there is lots of room for kids to get up and play so I don't have to worry about Casey running around between bites. They also have a baby changing room stocked with diapers and wipes! And kids' meals for 99 cents. So you can imagine there are moms, babies, and strollers everywhere. It was like stroller derby trying to get out of that place.

Casey had a blast trying out the kid beds, a crib, all of the little tables and chairs, a little rocking chair, children's tents, and rocking horse. They even have a slide. And it was nice because we weren't really in a hurry, we were just killing time, so she could hang out as long as she wanted. And she was thrilled to have a baby along. Every time we got separated from them she said, "baby? baby?" She tried to tickle his feet to make him laugh.

At the end we got ice cream cones, which are only a dollar! Last time she ate my whole cone so I figured she could have her own this time. She was concerned that Mathias didn't get any ice cream and she kept saying "eye tee. baby. baby. eye tee." And pointing at her ice cream and Mathias in case we didn't get it. She always likes to make sure everybody gets served.

Busy girls

Yesterday we met Jeanine, Lance, and Brynn at Las Palmas Park in Sunnyvale. They have a great playground and water play area where the girls kept very busy. We brought sandwiches and had a picnic in the grass.

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The last picture is of someone riding her motorized double cooler with her kid riding in the front. Where can I get one of these?! I had to take a couple of pictures after she went by. Do you think she made it?

Picnic time

We've been having a lot of picnics lately. Last week after daycare we met Katie and her mom Marie at the park and brought some sandwiches and let the girls run around. I think they might have eaten more than usual, but I'm sure they burned off each bite within seconds. The girls always have a great time playing in the water and on the swings and the slides. After the water they usually end up with fewer clothes but between the two of them they have a full outfit. They didn't have buckets so they had to use Katie's shoes instead. Casey is finally starting to like bread and I love the picture of her standing up on the bench of the picnic table, chowing down on her sandwich and mine.

Casey is 25 months old today, but who's counting?

Casey's 25 months old today, but now that she's two I don't have to count by months anymore, right? I don't like to have to look at my watch to check the date when someone asks me how old she is.

Thursdays are Eric's day to take her to daycare because I run in the mornings. I came back at 7:30 and she was still sleeping! Why does she sleep in on Eric's day and not mine? Then she sat down at her table with her dogdogs and ate her oatmeal and grapes. Of course she made sure they got some too. Notice her pouring her own milk into her oatmeal.

I said goodbye so I could go to work and then I came back because I'd forgotten to open the garage. I came inside and had to say goodbye again, got another hug, went outside and waved in the window again, Eric pointed to my shirt and I looked down and saw oatmeal. So I had to come in again, wash off the oatmeal, say goodbye again, and luckily I came back because I'd forgotten my computer. Eric was impressed by the number of times I had to go back in the house. Luckily he doesn't see me do that every day with almost 22 pounds in one arm. I think I used to be less scattered but it's hard to remember.

Achee

Last Friday Casey and I went down to Santa Cruz to visit Karen and Ashley (Achee). The girls played in Karen's beautiful backyard while Karen and I sat and talked and had snacks. I don't know why we've been taking the girls to museums, parks, and zoos, because this was much much easier! The girls were entertained and we didn't have to chase them once. Usually Karen sends Ashley off to chase Casey and bring her back anyway, but still, it was much nicer.

When they both sat down on the chairs on the little porch of the clubhouse, Karen and I jumped up and ran over to take pictures. They are so cute.

Olympics

Casey is usually completely unimpressed by tv. When I was on maternity leave I'd try to get her to watch Sesame Street at 4:30 when I wasn't sure if I could make it until Eric got home, and I'd usually end up watching it myself while she played. And when we were teaching her sign language we tried to get her to watch some baby signing DVDs and found ourselves pointing at the tv saying "look at the cat! look at the baby!" and then realized maybe we should stop that and be glad she wasn't mesmerized by the tv.

Last night we watched the Olympics and she was actually interested. We saw the women's gymnastics horse vault and every time they did a flip she'd say "wow!" or "ooOH!" It was really funny. One day I'm going to get a video of her running to me when I pick her up from daycare. I swear the girl goes from 0 to 60mph in less than a second. She looks just like those girls running toward the vault.

Running

About a year ago, my running buddy Wendy and I were talking about how we were going to take Casey running with us all the time. So finally we decided to give it a try. Of course Casey must have been anticipating this, so she made sure to stay up all night and keep me up with her. She was crying again at 5 am and wanted to get up so I asked Eric to take her. Then when I got up at 6:20 to meet Wendy at 7 I saw the two of them sleeping on the couch looking very comfortable. Unfortunately I had to wake her up but she said yeah when I asked if she wanted to go for a ride in the stroller. We got DogDog, a blanket, shoes, and snacks and headed out, arriving only 10 minutes late.

I made Wendy push, since she's faster. We had to sing almost the whole way to keep Casey happy. First it was Happy Birthday to everyone we know (her latest favorite), and then Wheels on the Bus. They say you should do your training runs at a pace where you can have a conversation, which we usually do, but singing is a whole different level. That's hard! Not to mention embarrassing. I'll add singing to the workout plan Jeanine and I are creating, where you put your kid in a stroller and give her 20 toys and do lunges as you pick up the toys that get thrown out.

She liked seeing the deer and the quail. Hopefully some day she'll work up to more than 24 minutes!

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed

Hiking

On Friday we took the tram up to the top of Squaw Valley and went for a hike. We learned some valuable lessons about hiking with two toddlers. Don't wait for the family with the crying toddler. They will catch up to you when yours is crying. This can make the difference between 10 stops each and 20 stops each. By our calculations, we hiked about 10 toddler miles, which corresponds to approximately a half mile to a mile.

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At first neither girl wanted to ride with her dad so the moms had to step up. We each realized this would stop the crying on about the third stop. Luckily, eventually the dads were able to take over. Then we found a big pile of dirty snow, which was a big hit with the girls. When we left, Casey said "bye bye no (snow)!"

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We were supposed to go to Squaw on Thursday but Casey got a weird rash on her arm and we went to urgent care instead. It just wouldn't be a vacation without a trip to urgent care. Luckily a little cream cleared up the mysterious rash. As long as there were no doctors around (the first couple of hours) Casey had a great time, saying hi and bye to everyone who came or left.

Double retaliation

For some reason, Ava's piggy was using Dada's shoe as a potty. Dada retaliated by making the piggy use Casey's shoe. And of course, since Dada's shoe was now available, Casey took a turn. And in case you're wondering how we know she was pretending it was a potty and not a chair, she did the sign for potty and said "bobby" (potty) and "poo poo!"

We're home

To tide you over until I can get the Tahoe pictures up (they're on Eric's computer), here are some pictures from the ride home. Casey took good care of DogDog and Meow DogDog. She shared her stickers with them, read to them, and then changed Meow DogDog's diaper when he pooped.

At our Starbucks rest stop a woman saw Casey using sign language and came over and told us how great sign language is for kids and started singing the ABC song and doing the signs for the letters. Casey heard one of her favorite songs and stopped running around like a maniac for long enough to listen to the song and then request another (Wheels on the Bus).

A girl and her dogdog

She loved the sand, the lake, and the pool, but whenever she can, she wants to "wing! wing!"

Seventh state

Right now we're in Tahoe on the Nevada side. That makes 7 states for Casey in the 9 months we've been together -- California, New Mexico, Utah, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, and now Nevada. Not bad for a two year old.

She's definitely been enjoying herself in Nevada. We're here with our friends Susan, Steve, and Ava (Ahwa), their au pair Luma, and their dog Bella. The first day we went to the beach, the baby pool, and a playground. Since then we've been biking and hiking and this afternoon we're going to head up to the top of Squaw.

Casey's enjoying being the big sister, as long as Eric doesn't pick up Ava. She gets very jealous if Dada plays with any other kids. Of course it doesn't go the other way around, because she can sit on anyone's lap she wants.

Davis

On our way to Tahoe we stopped in Davis to visit Heather, Aaron, and Hayley. We had a great time playing in the water in the back yard, reading, going to the playground, walking, eating, and eating some more.

Heather is reading to Casey in the fourth picture. Casey must have liked that book becaue Eric and I had each already read it to her, then she took it to Aaron who also read it to her, and then Aaron jokingly asked her, "who is going to read it to you next?" and she pointed up the stairs, where Heather was putting Hayley to bed. When Heather came down Casey followed her around with the book until she got the hint and started reading.

Guess who served herself

Gilroy Gardens

Last Friday we went to Gilroy Gardens with Jeanine (Neen), Brynn (Bunn), and a bunch of other old and new friends. Casey had a blast. Neen taught Casey how to put her hands up on the rides.

Here are a few more pictures from my endless supply of happy driving photos.

DogDog gets a turn