A hot summer day + sippy cup=

Yuck. Super smelly yuck.

Gemma's New Ride

Gemma got a tricycle from Grandpa and Grandma McGarry. She loves to be pushed around it and William and Amelia love to push her.

Grumpy Old Troll

When we went to Lake of the Ozarks, I took the kids to a park while Kelly gave her presentation. The playground equipment had a bridge and Amelia came up with a game involving a "Grumpy Old Troll". This was the face that went along with the game.

Gemma Reading

Gemma loves to read. In addition, for some reason all out kids have found this shopping cart irresistible to sit in.

Overheard

The kids had soccer tonight and this was my first practice I was able to attend.  With temperatures in the mid 90's and no shade, it was warm!

John and I tag teamed watching Gemma, watching the soccer and taking some pictures.  It was a lot of fun to see them in action.

At one point, I was the photographer and I snuck over to a spot closer to William's group on the field.  The kids were playing some sort of game where they took turns running on the field to play a little two on two soccer.  After a few minutes, the coach would call out and the kids would switch positions. Two kids were always playing and two kids were on the sidelines watching their team mates play.  William and his teammate just finished playing and ran to the sideline together when I overheard this conversation:

William: Hey!  That was fun!
Teammate: Yeah!
William: Hey!  Let's have a dance party now! (waves arms over head and kicks feet a few times).
Teammate: (has a you are crazy look on his face.  Then looks to the left and right before allowing a huge grin to spread across his face.)  SURE! (Teammate rolls on the ground in what might be best described as a break dancing type roll).

--

The dance party continues on for a few more minutes before the boys are called upon to be soccer players again.

1 year well visit

Gemma finally had her one year well baby visit this morning.  The dr has been out of town and our family schedule has been crazy as of late (stay tuned for more details on that one).  Her current measurements are:

Height: 31.5 inches--100%++

Weight: 23 lbs 2 oz--87%

Head circumference:47 cm (18.5 inches)--90%

The doctor continues to be very impressed with Gemma's growth (the rest of the kiddos too).  She is above the 100% mark on the growth curve by a good bit and weight and head size are appropriate.  We had a brief discussion about cow's milk and diaper rash before discussing the allergic reaction Gemma had in March.  We talked it over and he isn't convinced it is a drug allergy (this is more for my record than anything else).  A drug allergy would have produced hives all over her body, not just on her head/face.  We discussed the next time she is prescribed penicillin it should be watched carefully and perhaps be given a smaller dosage to start the script in the event it was an allergic reaction.  We haven't had a hives occurrence since that day (thank goodness!), so we can currently chalk it up to a fluke occurrence. 

Lastly, we talked about the developmental milestones.  We got a big pat on the back about Gemma's physical development.  It was somewhat entertaining to be given props for doing a great job as Gemma was literally scaling the chairs in the exam room so she could attempt to crawl up onto the exam table (and from there, who knows?)  I feel like she is on track, but it does feel good to have someone else confirm that is the case.

Gemma is all caught up on her shots now - she got three today.  William and Amelia were horrified they would be witness to the shots.  William insisted upon waiting in the hallway because he couldn't stand to see Gemma get a shot and then cry.  Amelia decided if William didn't want to see, she didn't want to see either.  Gemma was a champ.  She cried during the actual shots and then gave a very, very dirty look to the nurse on her way out.  For not having many actual words, this girl can get her meaning across!  When I opened up the exam room door, William about fell into the room.  He was so worried about his baby sister!  He needed to know how she was right away and checked out her band aids.  What a sweet boy!

Conversations v.?

I'm talking to the kids about the plan for the afternoon. We need to pick up some toys, do a little schoolwork and then the big kids will watch some tv while I work out (Gemma is napping).

William: when can I turn the tv on.
Mama: when I'm getting ready to exercise. When I am doing my push-ups and sit-ups, you can turn the tv on.

(Amelia crosses her arms across her chest and juts her chin out)
Amelia: mom! Mom! You should not call them sit ups. You are not sitting up.
Mama: what...?
Amelia: you should call them head ups. You only can lift your head up when you do that exercise. You should call it a head up. A sit up should look like this:

(Amelia demonstrates laying completely flat on her back and then sitting completely up without using her hands. Much.)

Amelia: see? That is a sit up. That is not what you do. What you do is like this:

(Amelia lays flat and lifts her head several inches off the ground.)

Amelia: see? See? That is what you do. It is not a sit up.

Mama: ok (trying not to laugh)

William: I can do a mountain climber! Wanna see?

Mama: (laughs out loud). Sure!

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