The beach and a swim date

Beach

Yesterday was lovely enough that Josh decided that he would take an extended lunch so we could take the kids to Burger King (on the beach) and then to the sand to play! Note what they are wearing- or rather NOT wearing- coats!! Yippee! Even though the time in between the decision and the actual outing was gray and rainy, the sun came out just in time for burgers, fries, Diet Coke, and sand. Both kids had a blast...

Swim date

Today was my turn to take Rebekah on a date...being gray and dreary again, we opted for the pool and ice cream! We decided yesterday as we returned from the beach and passed our ice cream haunt. In true female form, Rebekah planned the whole outing without any feedback and knew exactly what it would look like and feel like- FUN! And it was!

First, let's check out the suit- 2 piece! In general, I am opposed as we are trying to instill a sense of modesty. However, this suit was passed down to us and showed off her abs, so we went for it. ;)

We had a FANTASTIC time! In excitement, R pulled her floaties out of the bag and so we arrived sans arm bands. Knowing we will frequent this place, I squeezed her into a Luke-sized pair that I ourchased on the spot (they probably know me as the spendy American who just buys what she needs) and will use them for him.

Since my arms were free (not holding sweet Luke, who took a 2 1/2 hour nap with Josh this morning!), R and I were able to explore a bit more than last time. We played in the water, in the wave pool, in the "lazy river," and finally, went down the "flume"- where I held her all the way down and at the last minute held her above the water as I plunged underneath the water in the splash pool. She LOVED it! However, much my child, she is scared of going under water, getting her head wet, and being out of control- we both semi-enjoyed the waves and lazy river, but the feeling of something stronger making you go somewhere is a bit overwhelming for us both. (I did realize how vital swim lessons are and will look into that. ) Rebekah CLUNG to me (no complaining, mind you, just a hangy monkey) and finally said, "I love you, Mama. I'd like to go away from here." Fair enough. Ice cream it is.

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I let her pick out her ice cream, cone, and topping- raspberry swirl with sprinkles, all pink, of course! Oh the days of making all your choices based on "Which one is the pinkest?"

She even shared without being asked. She really is a precious girl.

We ended the day with nail-painting. I've never seen R still before, unless asleep. She was perfect. She's drying her nails here.

Luke developments

And- Luke crawled today! Never thought I'd say it, but he was on all 4's for a teeny tiny moment, but Josh and I both saw it at different times- he crawled a wee bit, then collapsed, and pushed himself around a bit after that. He is still tugging at our shirts to pull-up all the time and often pushes himself halfway-up with his bottom in the air and his hands holding him steady on the floor. It'll be interesting to see how long this process is. We both think he won't "crawl" for long.

He also pushed through 2 teeth yesterday- I know b/c I check every day- so #7 and #8 are officially in and he now has 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Good job, Buddy!

Lastly, he is talking all the time! It has been tempting to over-use the paci as he has been teething for years, I mean weeks, but we don't want to miss out on him talking. He now says "buh-bye" and waves, as well as "nuh-nuh" for night-night. He said Papa the other day (Josh's dad) and he says "Baba" for Bekah. Of course, he says Mama and Dada. I say "up" every time I add a block to a tower and he now says "uh uh uh" as we build and "dddd" as we knock them down. Clever boy. He also mimicks almost every noise we make, inflections included. He seems to love music and I've mentioned his fondness for TV and movies. He really, really reminds me of my brother. I think that's a good thing. ;)