The Sneetch is introduced to the Greenway...

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  14 months and 22 days

Family,

And a good Tuesday evening to you from the Queen City, where another great day is in the books after a WONDERFUL weekend!  This blog should be a bit quicker, as for a change we don't have a thousand new developments to report.  That being said, it was a VERY fun week with a lot of activities to report, so let's get amongst it.

Not even Grammie escaped the
clutches of "Easy Street...:

The week itself was great, as it was SO NICE (as always) to be home with my girls.  We had date night on Wednesday (wife muffin and I hit Fleming's before rolling over to Blumenthal to see "We Will Rock You"), which meant that the munch had a very special baby sitter looking after her - GRAMMIE!!!!  We really owe mom a HUGE thank you, as she made the trek over the mountain to see us despite a CRAZY work schedule AND having to take care of Nanny (at time of writing, I am very pleased to report that Nanny is doing well and now able to stay at home by herself.  I'm not sure if I'd mentioned it previously, but just over 6 weeks ago she was in a car wreck and split a telephone pole in half - also breaking 4 ribs and her wrist in the process.  She's now very much on the mend, and all signs point to a full recovery.  God is good. :-)).  She was here Wednesday afternoon through to Friday morning, and we had a terrific 36 hours together.  I always hate the fact that I have to work during the day while she here, but the good news is that she gets dedicated time with Kaitlyn.  Also, given that Jenny's now at home, the 3 of them get to spend a lot of time together (meaning I really DO have all my girls under 1 roof).

Thursday was special because of a new discovery for Kaitlyn - The Children's Place.  Now a little back story - every time Grammie comes to visit, she becomes a LIGHTNING ROD for spending money.  This isn't an exaggeration, as her visits have results in quite a few large purchases - Macbook Pro, A HOUSE, new faucets and light fixtures, etc - and given that K was low on clothes, I had a feeling she would channel her energy once again.  True to form, she did NOT disappoint. :-)

So I'm sure most of you know this, but the Children's Place has REALLY cute clothes cheap, and Jenny practically bought out the store.  She walked in with a treasure trove of galcian proportions - all of which she procured for under $100!  WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!  Do I love my wife or what? :-)

K is now the proud owner of several new rasher vests (rash guards as we call them in the states), lots of new pants and shorts, and tons of cute shirts.  She's been wearing these new outfits lately, and I must confess her fashion has much improved (if for no other reason than the colors on her tops and bottoms finally go together) - too cute she is!

Looks like I just found Bobby Fischer...

Friday was VBGB, where I am THRILLED to report that it was finally warm enough to sit outside.  This was GREAT and SO much better than back in January when we were inside, as K was able to

K and AJ going head to head - I am pleased
to report that she did actually get a few in!

run around all over the place (attached to one of us by a finger, of course).  She started on the life-sized chess pieces - playing with her future boyfriend AJ - before spending the next 20 minutes walking around (including up and down the little stepped patio outside).  Lots of our friends made it over, and it was great to catch up with them.  Obviously it was a bit difficult to chat too long with anyone (as we were all chasing after our respective children), but it was great all the same and fun to watch the Sneetch bouncing all over the place.

Saturday and Sunday were GORGEOUS, and we made the most of the time.  We actually had another sitter on Saturday night, as we went uptown (our 3rd time in a week, and not once to the office!) for a baby shower (soon to be another of K's friends, as GC and Melissa are having a little girl).  That night was a bit rocky for K (we think she's teething), and the sitter actually had to sit with her for a bit due to the pain (K was crying out about every 15 minutes).  Luckily she settled as soon as we got home and slept soundly until about 8 in the morning (which was great for mommy and daddy as well).

On Sunday we FINALLY made the trek over to the Greenway as a family, where we walked 3 miles and then played on the playground at the entrance for a bit.  The weather was great, and K enjoyed walking through the playground (and eating wood chips, of course).  The elements were a bit too advanced for her, and so we didn't do too much climbing.  However, she did get to pet more than a few dogs - one of whom licked her face to bits (which she loved).  It really is AMAZING to watch how much K loves dogs.  Every time she sees one in the stroller, she bucks up and tries to bust out of her harness to pet it.  I will also say I have been surprised at how wonderful all the dog owners have been, as they have always walked their pet over, kept them calm, and then sat their patiently as K pets, watches, smiles at their furry friend.  It really is cute - until the dog leaves her field of vision and she starts screaming like a rabid banshee, of course...

Sunday afternoon we attempted the pool, but that was an epic fail.  The goal was to test out the new clothes, hat, and float we'd purchased for K, and I am pleased to report that we had a good trial run for two of the three items.  The clothes were great - they covered her well and didn't ride up.  The hat was WONDERFUL - it stayed on her head snugly, and she didn't try to pull it off.  The float, however, was, well...a disaster.

You can take the boy out of the country...
check out that handy duct tape fix...which
STILL didn't work...largely because I blew
a hole in it large enough to park a Volvo.

It all started about 30 minutes before the pool when I took it out of the box.  I'd read that you needed a pump for it, and so I found one (I actually tried three different ones and multiple attachments before I found something that worked) and had some success getting the bottom part inflated.  I then started pumping the top portion and was thrilled to see how quickly it inflated.  What I didn't realize at that time that I wasn't inflating the entire top (which was attached to the bottom) but rather some decorative bit on the awning.  It was about at that time I heard POP - and knew that "Houston, we have a problem."

"Your float inflating skills SUCK, daddy!"

The good news is that it still floated. The bad news is that it looked like something off the Jeff Foxworthy Show. The worst news was that it's still too big for K, and the second I put her in it she immediately grabbed my shirt and tried to pull up, saying "baba" constantly (which is code for "whichever parental unit you are please save me right now as I am light years from my comfort zone"). Granted, the pool was busy (and she was hungry), so we didn't make it too long before we walked home.  She crashed hard that night - a very eventful day and weekend in the books!

She's still not walking, but she is SO close - we are talking barely hanging onto our fingers at this point!   But again - we aren't rushing it, as we know things will get crazy once she's fully mobile!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print for now.  Chat soon!

Love,

Sam and Jenny