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One for a boo-boo, one for empathy.

And for my next trick...

Sawing a Mommy in half.  Fortunately, with a plastic saw.

News from the Younger Sibling (Sept. Edition)

Yes, yes, we all know by now that Asa is getting quite big.  He's also opinionated, stubborn, talkative, creative, and fast.  In other words: he's two.

But there are two kids in our lives!  Sprout's kicks and flutters have been getting a lot stronger, although the position of the placenta (towards the front of M.'s belly, but well out of the way for birth) adds an extra cushion that means no one else can feel those kicks yet.  Soon enough.  Meanwhile, Sprout's hearing has developed, and s/he responds to digestive gurgles and big-brother-giggles.  We're really at a point where all of the major organs and body parts have developed, and growth/brain development are the major objective of the next few months - right now, our little one only weighs about a pound and a half, and is about a foot long.  Next week will be one of the big milestones: 26 weeks, and the ability to survive outside the womb (in a well-equipped NICU, that is.  So we're hoping for a much longer pregnancy, thank you.)

We've begun to get out some of Asa's newborn clothes, just to sort through what we have.  It's still astounding how tiny some of those things are... even more astounding to remember how much too big most of them were!  Wonder what Sprout will be like - another peanut, or a bruiser?  It's going to be an interesting new year.

Playland

Mommy loved it because she went here as a kid, and was excited to share it with Asa.  Asa loved it because it had a train.  Mummy loved it because it had a carousel.  Mommy and Mummy both were misty-eyed, though, because for every ride we could do with him:

... there was at least one that was only for kids.  And Asa, for the first time, rode alone.

 
(Including the ride that Poppy remembers from when *he* was a kid!)

When did he get so big?

Mostly a picture

"Night night, Baby Drew.  Sleep tight."  *kiss*

And then he pulled up the covers, smoothed them, and walked away.

Day Out with Thomas

You should have heard the shrieks of joy.  It was all so very real to him - we were on Sodor, riding in Annie and Clarabelle, and meeting Sir Topham Hatt.

He's only grumpy because we made him turn his back on his hero.

Eva didn't quite get the fuss, and the rest of us noticed quickly that it was hot and humid... but Asa was absolutely in his element.

Even in the ridiculously hot train car.

Asa decided that the conductor was Sir Topham Hatt.  Which was just as well, since he was scared of the one with whom we could take pictures.  (Below...)

More cousin love.

The best part for the adults - which did not in any way make up for the heat - was the view of the upper Hudson River.

When we got back to the station, there were play stations, temporary tattoos, and music - with instruments for the kids.

And, like I said, we could take pictures with Sir Topham Hatt.  That part didn't go quite as well, but Asa was perfectly happy to have seen the owner of the Sodor Railway on the train.  (*phew!*)

He's still talking about Thomas, and riding on Thomas... We're really just fueling an obsession, but it was so worth it to see such joy.

Truction Wiggles! Real Ones!

Asa and Eva thought it was cool, just having Poppy pulling them in a little red wagon.  

And then he pulled them to a construction site.  And Asa, at least, was in heaven.

Each machine correctly identified... I think he only wished that the crew had left the keys.

Driving an excavator.  Life is sweet.

Cousin Power!

Finally, the last of the August vacation series... just after another weekend with these very same family members!  Maybe I'll  be really caught up soon?

The last leg of our trip involved another 7 hour car trip, this time across southern PA.  The turnpike doesn't get more interesting the more you drive it, I must say.  Just more expensive.  But all these visits were worth every mile of farmland, and every cent of tolls.

Asa and Eva picked up where they left off the week before, and then went further.  The very first morning, they were jumping on our bed.

They would jump, and rest, and jump again.

After getting dressed, they were inseparable.

But their favorite game by far is still "tackle".

They also kept me busy enough to not take any pictures of Aunt Tara or Uncle Mike, or even of Mummy's cousins Alison and Chelsea, with whom we had a fabulous lunch one day.  All I can say is that I completely understood Asa's sentiments, as we headed home:

Thank you to everyone who hosted us.  We had a wonderful trip, and we love you all!