Gymnastics and bubbles…

“A child is a curly, dimpled lunatic.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s been awhile since we’ve posted pictures of Ashlyn at gymnastics, so on Saturday we threw a camera in a pocket and headed over to Sunbelt Gymnastics for our weekly game of “Chase Ashlyn around the gym”.  We were too busy chasing Ashlyn to get pictures of her running around, but we did manage to capture some action shots of a few exercises.  As you can tell, Ashlyn likes the bars.

Saturday also came with a visit from PePa for our bi-weekly breakfast.  For some reason he has turned into “Grandpa” now.  Ashlyn was the one who named him PePa in the first place, so we’ll see if she reverts back to the original name as she gets older.

More grandparents visited on Sunday, and they brought bubbles with them.  Kids are simply fascinated by bubbles and Ashlyn is no exception.  I wish I was fascinated by anything as much as she is with bubbles.  I love watching her watch bubbles, and that will do.

Thanks to the great weather this weekend, we were able to break out the water table at Ashlyn’s request.  Nena decided it would be fun to throw a ball in the water to splash Ashlyn.  Ashlyn got her back.  I’m not taking sides or anything when I say this, but I’m pretty sure Ashlyn won.

In baby news, little Flinn is now over 25 weeks old and according to BabyCenter.com he is roughly the size of a rutabaga.  I don’t have the slightest clue how big a rutabaga is, but luckily BabyCenter.com was kind enough to let me know that he is between an ear of corn and a English hothouse cucumber.  Clear?  Good.

Work begins…

“Having a two-year-old is like having a blender that you don't have the top for.”
-Jerry Seinfeld

Each week Ashlyn’s little brother gets closer to coming into the world, and we decided to get the whole nesting thing out of the way early.  So this weekend we started on his room, and Ashlyn as always joined in to help.  We even let Ashlyn pick the color, which was an interesting process that involved moving the samples around the wall multiple times and finally scratching out all the ones she didn’t like.

We finally landed on a color and began taping up the room.  I don’t know if Ashlyn was just bored or if she thought we were going to paint the dog as well, but Rusty was not immune to the painter’s tape.

With the dog and room fully prepared, we set to work on painting.  Mom created a pancho of sorts out of extra drop cloth so that Ashlyn wouldn’t get dirty.  Ashlyn painted with a roller and a brush, and generally managed to get more paint on the wall than the floor.

The pancho worked, kind of.  We just didn’t make it long enough.  This by the way is Ashlyn’s “I made a mess” look.

Aside from painting, Ashlyn is really getting into books.  She can’t read yet of course, but she’ll pull out books at every opportunity.  She remembers what the books are about, and what the pages say, and it’s funny to hear her “read” them.  I can only hope that this trend continues throughout her life.

Only 15 weeks to go until our family grows by one, I only hope we’re ready in time.

Haircuts and noses…

It’s been 2 years and 5 months since Ashlyn was born with a full set of hair.  Here’s a reminder:

As you’ve seen from recent pictures, her hair has gone from “new”, to “full”, to “crazy”.  So on Friday we decided that it was time to trim the Ashlyn Afro™ in an attempt to make it more manageable.  Since it was her first haircut and we weren’t sure what she would think of it, we did it at home.  She didn’t have any problems, and in fact decided it would be a good time to floss her teeth.  It was a little sad to think that we were cutting off the hair that she was born with, but it was definitely time.

Saturday was a day for learning at the museum in Ft. Worth.  It was the second weekend of the “Grossology” exhibit, which was designed to teach children about the human body in a fun way.  Ashlyn was much too young for the exhibits, but she found a few things to do, including climbing a wall made up of sores and moles as well as sliding down an esophagus.  Yay!

We had better luck in the main area of the children’s museum where Ashlyn was able to see insects, tornados, cows, and flying beach balls.  She also got to see her first Planetarium show which was hosted by Big Bird and Elmo.  Ashlyn enjoyed it; we could hear multiple “ooooh, look at that!”’s from her seat as the moon and stars showed up in the sky.

In one portion of the museum there was a little hospital area where Ashlyn got to play Doctor to some little babies, which was good practice for her future little brother.  She mostly just beat the baby with one of the implements and then handed it to mom, so we still have a little work to do.

On a side note, we recently had our first run-in with another kid at daycare.  According to her teacher, a boy in the class was pestering her and took away a toy.  In response, Ashlyn bit him and wouldn’t let go until a teacher pulled her off.  When we talked to Ashlyn about it her response was “Matthew did it”.  We let Ashlyn know that it’s not ok to bite people, and at the end of our conversation Ashlyn told us that she should “bite cereal, not friends”.  That’s good parenting right there.

Big girl steps..

There are numerous steps to growing up, two of which are in process right now for Ashlyn.  The first, as previously mentioned, is the journey called “potty training”.  It’s going well for the most part, and she’s already past the need to get rewards every time she goes.  When she does get a sticker, it sometimes ends up on animals who aren’t as invested in the potty training process.

Ashlyn spent the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Wolfe on Friday.  Our good friend Alec Baldwin was in town, and it would have been rude for us not to visit with him.  We would have taken Ashlyn with us, but when you’re out with Alec you never know how late you’re going to be.

This weekend also marked another first in Ashlyn’s life; she has moved from the crib to a real bed.  We weren’t sure how she’d do with it since the new bed gives her the option of leaving any time she wants.  However, she hasn’t gotten out of bed once on her own and hasn’t had any problems at all adjusting.  In the morning she stays in bed playing with her toys until we go in the room, at which point she jumps down off the bed.  She’s doing so well with new things that we’re going to try getting her a job next weekend at the local Albertson’s.  It’s about time she learns how to pay for her own diapers.  Buying her own diapers would also help encourage her on the potty training front.

Gymnastics continues to go well.  Heather records meets when they’re on TV and Ashlyn likes to watch them.  Here are a few pictures of Ashlyn trying to imitate the moves on TV.  She’s not quite up to Olympic standards, but as young as those girls are she may be ready for the 2016 Olympics if she isn’t careful.

And finally, a big Happy Birthday goes out to Aunt Tracy!  We went out to dinner with the Wolfe’s to celebrate on Sunday, and of course Ashlyn was immediately drawn to Heidi.  They had fun reading books and playing while the adults enjoyed margaritas.  Before the food arrived Ashlyn started eating the salsa with a fork, but it was a little on the spicy side.  When the milk didn’t work, she tried her yoga as a calming exercise.

Less than four months to go until our little boy comes into this little world of ours, and I’m looking forward to the blog growing along with our family.  Until next time, adios!