Firsts

It has been a busy June! This month, our kids have experienced so many firsts...

• Amelia had her first (non-Metro) train ride -- a 7-hour ride to North Carolina with Grammie on the Amtrak train! Amelia was a tiny bit nervous at first, but Grammie reported that after a few minutes of riding, she announced, "I like the train!" She had a fabulous time and has been asking when she'll get to ride the train again.
  

• Immediately following her first train ride, Amelia also had her first week away from home. She spent a wonderful week at Grammie & Grandpa Mike's, cooking, swimming, singing, playing and laughing. She had such a great time that even after we came to pick her up she kept telling us she wished she could have stayed at Grammie's. The adjustment back to her normal routine was a very difficult one that had us -- at least temporarily -- wishing she had stayed at Grammie's, too! :)

• While at Grammie's, Amelia also had her first sleepover! Amelia's five-year-old cousin Savannah was a great playmate for Amelia, patiently showing Amelia how to do things she had never done before, like chew gum (Savannah was careful to make sure Amelia knew to always spit it out when she was done). But how Savannah survived sleeping in the bed with our little restless sleeper is beyond me. Luke and I have NEVER been able to do it!

• Amelia also saw her first movie in a theater! While still in North Carolina, Luke and I took advantage of having my parents as babysitters and took Amelia to a nearby movie theater to see the fun new Disney-Pixar movie 'Up' in 3-D. Our sensitive girl was not entirely pleased with the super loud volume and the various scary-ish parts of the movie (thunderstorms, attacking dogs, etc.), but she made it through the entire movie on my lap, turning her head toward me if she didn't like something. And her overly sensitive mom cried twice -- at a cartoon!

• Just last week, Amelia had her first treat from the ice cream truck. Yes, the truck that drives through our neighborhood plays Christmas carols in June, but it's still exciting to never know when you're going to hear the music and then to get to choose your own treat. (That's Dora the Explorer in case you didn't recognize her in ice cream form.)

• Isaac had a first, too -- his first hair cut! As cute as Isaac's curls were, they weren't fun to clean after he smeared yogurt or pasta sauce in them, so it was definitely time for his first trim. He sat on my lap and was amazingly cooperative. And a few minutes later, he had lost the frat boy wings and the mini-mullet curls in back.
  

Before (ready for DMB/Jimmy Buffett concert)

Cooperating like a champ

After (much more dignified -- the hair, at least)

• And Amelia had her first hair cut, too! Poor Amelia has never had enough hair to necessitate a cut, but we thought she deserved to go through the experience, too, if Isaac was. Of course, Amelia voted for Isaac to go first so she could see what it was all about, but then she sat very still and was a fabulous cooperator with Kim Ann, who is also Luke's hair stylist. In the end, I think the trim makes her hair look a little more like a purposeful style and a little less like that of a feral child (or Bozo the clown).

Before (out-of-control Bozo curls!)

Taking the hair cut very seriously

After (curls are still there, just slightly more controlled)

• And Isaac finally took his first steps -- just today! We were beginning to think he wouldn't decide to walk until he was 13 and just wanted to get away from us, but now at least we know he CAN do it. I definitely have to trick him into it, so I'm guessing it will be a while before he's officially "walking," but maybe it'll be before 13 after all. Hopefully I can get a video up here soon.