Chatty Dutchy

Having never had a 15 month old talker, I am shocked (SHOCKED!) at how much Dutch has to say. There's a lot on this boy's mind. Here's some of the highlights:

**Each night before bed, Dutch desperately tries to keep himself awake while I rock and nurse him. "What's that? Right there?" he'll sit up and ask, pointing to the framed painting of boats docked. "Boats." I tell him. "Oh, yeah." he replies. Again and again "What's that? Right there?" "a mirror, a rug, a book, a nightlight, blankets, shhhhhh..."
"Oh, yeah." he says. **

**Dutch LOVES Ernie. As in Bert and Ernie. But only Ernie. He can find Ernie (or Elmo) anywhere, in nearly any one of his Sesame Street books. He points to Ernie and exclaims "Awww....Ernie..." mwa.**

**He first learned Mama, then Dada. Next he gave up Mama and everyone became Dada. Now, he's finally added to his repertoire: like all toddlers before him, he's learned to pronounce his sister's  name as TenTine**

STEM at the Library

I have said it before and I'll say it again: Bellingham Library is amazing. They have SO many family events that are exciting and get kids motivated to learn and they make these opportunities incredibly easy for the community. 

If you follow me on Facebook, you've seen the picture of Clem with her Reading Superstar sign. This summer, Clem read 15+ hours, earning her this yard sign (making Mama proud) as well as a free book, lunch at the Bagel place downtown, free swimming and bus passes. Yeah! I know! For reading! 

 And then last weekend we hit up the library on a rainy Saturday afternoon, knowing that the STEM UNI was going to be there. STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math. Yeah! That has Clem written all over it. This mobile learning is sponsored by the Whatcom Center for Early Learning (Holllllaaa!) that's motto is "You (parents) are your child's first teacher!" That's what I always say! But I substitute first for best, whatevs.

 There were tons of science activities for kids from Dutch's age on up to Clem's having to do with the sciences. Dutch loved exploring sound with the bells and Cam and I got in on the action while Clem worked a balance. Cam and I got a pretty good start on Twinkle Twinkle.

 Clem worked pulleys,

 and then made fraction pie. Her favorite of the learning centers was archaeology. She got to "dig" for dinosaur bones in a tub of lentil beans. Using only a paint brush, she swept the lentils away until she found pieces of bones to re-assemble.

 Dutch was pretty fascinated by the fraction pie she was working on.

A little to fascinated. I love Cam's hand on Dutch's head steering him away from Clem's fraction pie. 

My Kindergarten Baby

 Our girl started Kindergarten. In retrospect, it does seem a bit silly now to have cried so much the  night before since I do teach at the same school and all. But my BABY has started Kindergarten. She's out there in the world and I have to share her with everyone, like it or not.

 While I may not have been ready, this girl SURE was. All sass, enthusiasm, energy and thoughtfulness. Now she has a place to spend it all. We got to school in the first day of Kindergarten right on time, even though her hair ("Princess Leia buns, please.") took a bit longer than I planned.

 We rolled up to the building and there was hardly anyone there. Just teachers and students trickling in two or three at a time. Clem was all smiles and glee.

And then the buses unloaded. Clem got to see what 400 kids in one large play space looked like. She was not amused. "Take me home, mama!" she said. "Or let me come draw in your classroom! I need you!" 

Well, all the crying I'd done the night before paid off as I wanted to take her home/back to my classroom right then. But I put on my confident mom pants that morning and pecked her cheek, promising a fun lunch date together. 

And off she marched to her first day of Kindergarten. She had a bumpy start but held strong. I'm so proud of this girl. 

Artist Point

Today the fam and I crossed the last item off of our Summer Bucket List with a trip to Artist Point! Artist point is the furthermost point that one can drive on Mt. Baker. 

(some of you will recall that I attempted driving this myself 2+ years ago. Cam was too tired to drive and napped in the passenger seat and a toddler Clem sat in the back singing away as I attempted switchback after switchback on the unrailed part of the mountain. In dense fog. Driving so slowly that the cars behind me began honking, waking up Cam. When I pulled over--I couldn't take it anymore--I barfed over the side of the road. I couldn't allow myself to even be driven up that road. The point of this story is that it's STEEP and unprotected. Cam drove this time.)

 We made it to the top this time. It felt like we were on top of the world. So beautiful up there and we picked such an amazing day to go.

While my sure-footed loves were trekking all over the craggy rocks, I took selfies with my baby loves and meandered slowly over the paved trails. 

Finally, it was nearly time to go and Clem got to play (FINALLY! she said) in the snow that was still on the ground.

14 Facts about our 14 month old

Because it's a tradition (here's Clem's!) and because he's practically 15 months old already...(better hurry!)

1--one nap/day (if we're LUCKY we'll get a nap out of this kid)
2--more days until this big boy starts Daycare!
3--trips to the zoo this summer--busy boy!
4--meals per day
5--diapers a day
6--known words (mama, dada, up, baby, kitty, pretty)
7--books before bedtime
8--babies in his  new class (5 are boys, too!)
9--teeth and counting!
10--little piggies that LOVE to be played with
11--attention span
12--the numbers of times we typically have to get him down from something he's climbed and isn't meant to
13--hours of sleep each night! (YAY!)
14--ish months old

Bellingham Bells

 Last weekend, we crossed another item off of our Summer Bucket List: attend a Bells' game! It was super fun and super hot! The whole clan was there and we got spectacular seats!

 I wore Dutch as long as I could, but it was SO hot! Did I mention the heat?? We both got heat rash from being so close together, so he went  up to the front and harassed the other team's batter. (Just kidding. Cam was the only one who did that.)

 Clem met the Bells' mascot Dinger.

 And Dutch climbed stairs with Grandma.

When Clem started to literally climb the walls (the picture above is not sideways, she is climbing) we knew it was time to hit the road. We made it to the 7th inning which was great considering we have two little ones!! We will definitely be back again next season.

Sunday, at the park

 Oh boy, here we go: TWO kids doing some serious park playing. Our days of Dutch sitting quietly in his stroller or backpack are over (some would say they never happened). This kid is on the move, and so proud of himself.

 He tried out all kinds of new things including the slide,

 whatever you call this port-hold window thing,

 and of course, eating things. Here he is licking up a piece of wood chip from off the stairs (just wait, it gets better).

 This kid went up and down the stairs to the slide approximately 9 million times.

 And then he got off the stairs, to go eat some rocks.