Karina, Lydia, and July 4

We have new neighbors with boys roughly the same ages as ours (they are both 4 months older).  We went over for a few minutes on our afternoon walk earlier this week so Karina could play with the older boy and go down his slide (one of the things we miss about the old house is the handful of tot lots/playgrounds scattered throughout the community).  Their slide is accessible via a ladder.  Karina has never climbed a ladder before then, but after me hoisting her a couple times and watching Benjamin (her friend) climb up it, she thought she would give it a try.  She made it all the way to the last step before needing help, and then the next time she went up all the way completely solo.  She is a very quick study and we are very impressed with her.

We've are also very impressed with what a good and gentle big sister she is becoming. She is so sweet and very interested in everything that we do with Lydia. We have been practicing holding Lydia and making sure her head is supported. Karina obviously got the message:

Lydia hanging out in the play gym. Her eyes are quite blue when she has them wide open like this.

Tanja with her girls wearing matching heart outfits.  There were a bunch of me and the girls in the last post - we'll probably need to rig the tripod and get a family picture up here soon:

I really like this outfit on Karina - she wore it to church last Sunday.

Lydia chilling with her big sister:

Lydia is so adorable when she is calm and alert.  She just studies everything around her with such intensity, trying to take it all in.

Karina is turning to be a bit of a mischief maker - her sneaky smile usually means she is about to get into something.

I've got two great little girls.

Today, for Independence Day, there was a pancake breakfast/party at church. As part of it, traditionally all the kids that wanted to participate can ride their (sometimes decorated) bikes around in a little bike parade. When we told Karina about it a couple days ago, she wanted to go immediately. I guess toddlers have a limited sense of time and when things will happen if it's more than a day out. She was a little confused why she wasn't going to go to Nursery like she would on Sundays, but she was extremely excited about riding her bike with all the other kids.

It was good for us to get to know some of the people in our new ward (congregation) at church, and Tanja and I stuffed ourselves with pancakes (I think Karina ate one or two blueberries and that was it). It was a good time.

We got a good deal on diapers online and they arrived earlier this week.  To head off a tantrum, I suggested Karina should play in the box.  This smile was the result a few minutes later.

 

As I am typing this, I am watching the DC fireworks on TV. It's too late at night to take the kids anywhere to watch the fireworks, and Karina and I are both dealing with headcolds and I am desperately trying to avoid getting Lydia sick before she hits her one month mark (I guess colds are especially bad for newborns). Of course, we have plenty of neighbors that are shooting off their own fireworks - it seems like the types of fireworks available to regular people are much fancier than they were when I grew up. It's kind of fun to see them going off over our trees, although all the noise is probably going to wake our sleeping princesses.

Happy Fourth!