Accomplishments

Thank you for the well wishes after my last post. It's so hard not to compare pregnancies and make predictions about gender. My level of nausea this time was on par with both of the boys, didn't touch how sick I was with Katy. But it started sooner and lasted longer than it did with the boys. (Started at 6 weeks and started to let up around 13-14 weeks).  Overall, I cannot even begin to complain about being sick, because it could be so so SO much worse (like my mom being hospitalized and unable to function for months - I remember her going to the hospital on Christmas day and spending extended time at my grandma's house while she stayed at her mother's). But even still, feeling sick every moment of every day for 7 weeks is HARD. It's really really hard. And I'm glad to be feeling better.

The kids are making lots of accomplishments lately. At the pool, Luke is going down the kid slide into the little pool and David is swimming a couple of body lengths under water. Katy is at Girl Scout day camp this week, which is 5 days from 9-3. It sounds crazy, but this is her first all day experience away from me, and it was tougher than I thought it would be. I was worried all day about how she was doing, hoping that she wasn't scared or upset. She's loving camp, but I'm surprised that she has been hesitant to be gone all day. But it's good practice for what's to come in THREE SHORT WEEKS.

But at least she has coping strategies for her fears. Lately nighttime has been tough for Katy, but here's one way she's getting by:

David's thinking, "Maybe if I cover my face, I can pretend that I have my bed to myself."

So with only three weeks left in summer, we're working on finishing up the summer bucket list. (I'm a bit squeamish about the term "Summer Bucket List" because it implies death at the end of summer. But I suppose that it's the death of summer itself, so ok...I'll go with it.) Katy has been asking to try the rock climbing wall at the rec center. She's technically still a pound shy of the weight minimum, but I heard a rumor that they'd let it slide. So we went as a family this evening, and I was shocked that Katy, David AND Daddy had a blast.

David wanted to watch Katy try it first.

But then he felt brave enough to try!

Then Brian couldn't help himself.

This is about as high as David made it, but I was proud of him for trying over and over and over again and really enjoying himself. Doesn't the wall look so tall? Check out Katy!

Brian had to conquer the hardest route (although he said this was very recreational, not professional).

On the last run, Katy made it almost to the top. I'm going to remind her of this when she claims that she can't conquer her (unrelated) fears.

Poor Luke wanted so desperately to climb the wall, but he had to settle for the playground rock wall. I spent the whole evening pulling him away from the wall and chasing him all around the rec center, difusing tantrums. I hope we make some accomplishments in that area soon, too.