Darr Family Blog

Weekly Happenings: This past week held a few different fun things: Sunday night, Joseph lost his first tooth! On Thursday he went on his first field trip (they went to Sea World). On Friday, Abigail and I met Paul at his work to attend the annual picnic while Joseph was at school. Since Joseph was a bit bummed about missing the picnic, we ended up running out to the zoo after we picked him up (one of my friends had gotten him from school for us). We went at my favorite time: right before closing. It was almost deserted and we were able to just wander around and see a few things (one of the perks of being pass holders is that we can go and not feel like we need to rush and see everything). We then went to eat at what Joseph calls “the pig place”, which is really a BBQ place called Augie’s (it has a giant pig on the roof).

The Weekly Weather: It was supposed to rain the majority of the week, but ended up only raining a few times. The rest of the time it was overcast and muggy, with a few bits of sunshine thrown in here and there.

What Paul’s Been Up To: School and work as normal. Not too much out of the norm that I haven’t already mentioned.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Keeping the tiny humans happy and healthy as normal. Not too much out of the norm for me, either.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: His tooth fell out Sunday afternoon, while he was hanging out in the office with Paul. He was wiggling it with his tongue and it just popped out. Paul put it in a little container that he could stick next to his bed so the Tooth Fairy could come and switch it out for a couple of quarters. He was pretty excited. We also discovered that the tooth right next to it is loose as well (which makes sense since they came in pretty much at the same time when he was a baby). He’s also created a “friend” using his dress-up cowboy hat with a pair of safety glasses (that came with the rock digging kit he got for Christmas) resting on the brim. The hat’s name is Gary and Gary has a pet armadillo (really Joseph’s plush armadillo) named Armadillo-mondo (I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried). Joseph will disassemble Gary when it’s Abigail’s bath time so that he can wear the hat and glasses as “protection” against the splashes (he really likes being in the bathroom when she’s having her bath because he likes to watch her splash around). As mentioned before, he had his first field trip and had a great time. I think he was just as excited to ride the bus as he was to go to Sea World. 🙂 He also enjoyed going to the zoo and getting to climb on the sculptures without anyone else around.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: I think I already mentioned that she has started rolling from her back to her tummy. Now when she does it, she can get her arms propped up under her so that she can look around. She’s also accidentally rolled back from her tummy to her back, but I don’t think she knows how she did it. I know that will come all too soon, though! She also continues to sweeten us all up with her smile (especially Joseph…she loves to smile at Joseph) and has gotten quite vocal. We sure love our “caboose”!

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: This past week was another pretty average one. It seems to be how life is rolling right now, and we’re all pretty okay with it. 🙂 We did have a couple of outings (a library trip on Monday and then yesterday Paul and I went out to dinner with just Abigail hitching along since Joseph went to a birthday party), but mostly stayed home. Today is Mother’s Day, so I got to sleep in a bit, got breakfast in bed, and got presents and a homemade card from the boys. I got a new stock pot and a pastry blender (I see soup and homemade biscuits in our future). 🙂 I did also get a new baby-wearing carrier (called a Tula Free to Grow) which I got to open yesterday, but more about that later. I feel pretty spoiled. 🙂

The Weekly Weather: We had quite the mix this past week. There were some sunny and warm days, but we had three days in a row of cloudy/rainy days (that were still warm…I still find it hard to remember that rainy doesn’t always mean cold). I was glad to see the sun again after that (doing the pre-k drop off and pick-up with two kids is sort of complicated when you throw rain into the mix).

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy with work and school…along with still working with the different aspects of trying to figure out what was up with the water pressure regulator. He finally found it (in an access panel that had been covered with sod) but it was stuck on there really good, so he hasn’t been able to get it off yet. He’ll keep working with it (removing the old, broken one and putting on a new one) as time allows. The joys of home ownership!

What Sarah’s Been Up To: As I mentioned earlier, I got a new baby-wearing carrier for Abigail. She did pretty decent in the Ergo with the infant insert, but she swiftly exceeded the measurements and weight suggestions, so I was trying to have her just in the Ergo itself. The problem with that though, is that her legs aren’t quite long enough to straddle the width of the carrier, so she was rather uncomfortable in it for more than 15 minutes or so. One of my friends happened to post a picture of her son “wearing” his baby brother in a carrier that looked similar to an Ergo, but looked much more narrow. I asked her what it was and she told me about the Tula Free to Grow carrier. It’s basically the same concept as the Ergo, but the back panel adjusts both width-wise and height-wise. This makes it possible for a much smaller baby to be carried in it without needing an insert. Since Abigail isn’t exactly a tiny baby anymore, I put the settings kind of in the middle. She seems a ton more comfortable. That makes this momma pretty happy!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He completed the reading log program at school and was able to pick a prize from the treasure box from the library (a mini magnifying glass). He also got a pretty cool prize from his classroom treasure box (he’s been getting all happy faces on his behavior chart on a regular basis, so he gets to pick out of the treasure box every week that they do it, but this past week some extra-cool prizes were added): a watercolor set. Finally, he had a blast at the birthday party he went to yesterday (they had a bounce house with a water slide).

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been pretty much her happy self. She has had a few fussy moments here and there, but at her doctor’s appointment last month, her doctor said she was most likely in the early stages of teething. I’m betting her gums are probably a bit tender. The pain seems to be radiating up to her ear, since she keeps batting at it occasionally during those fussy times. One funny story: I put her in her bouncy chair and was getting some things done. All of a sudden, I could hear her sucking on something profusely. I couldn’t imagine what it was, since I had not given her any toys. It turns out that she somehow got her headband down and was just going to town, sucking on that bow. Funny but gross at the same time, haha.

This Week in Pictures:

 

Weekly Happenings: This past week was another entry in the “just pluggin’ along” books. We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, didn’t go anywhere out of the ordinary, and just sort of hung around the house. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. I think weeks like these are good because they make the “fun weeks” even more fun. Plus, they’re good for this slightly-introverted momma who needs time to decompress on a regular basis.

The Weekly Weather: It was pretty average, too. I don’t think we even got any rain, so it was typical spring weather: warm and sunny.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly just school and work. He did spend some time yesterday trying to figure out why the water pressure in the house is so low at times. He thinks there might be a problem with the pressure regulating valve, but he needs to do a bit more research. The fun of home ownership!

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary for me, either. Mainly just keeping the kids happy and healthy. Like I said…we’re just pluggin’ along. 🙂 I did take the kids to the park one day, which they seemed to like (Joseph liked getting to play and Abigail liked sitting in the shade, checking out the trees).

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a good week at school, and also didn’t seem to mind our week at home. He’s rather social, but luckily he gets to socialize at school, so when he gets home, he’s good to have some down time. He did get pretty excited yesterday when he discovered a male cardinal hanging out in our back yard. We got home from running a short errand and he saw a flash of bright red in one of our trees. He asked what it was, and I wasn’t sure, at first. Then it hopped onto an outside branch and I got a good look at its profile. I was rather surprised, because I didn’t think they ever made it this far south (I suppose I consider them an “East Coast bird”), but I guess they do!

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Her major development this week is that she has learned to roll from her back to her belly. She’s also learned to move her body around more in general when laying on her activity mat. The combination of these two developments results in her not always being exactly where I originally put her when I first put her down. It’s a good reminder that it won’t be too long before she’s mobile.

This Week in Pictures: