Update-June 22

It’s been a busy two weeks or so and I feel very behind on my updates! We’ve all had a pretty important month so far…

Charley:

Charley is a big old two year old! We celebrated his 2nd birthday last Wednesday by taking him to the woods to run around (while Alice screamed in the stroller the whole time…more on unhappy babies later…) and took him out for ice cream. No, really! The local scoop shop serves dog sundaes- soft serve topped with a cherry and two milkbones. He seemed enthusiastic, although he probably would have enjoyed free access to a compost pile just as much. On a related note, Charley fulfilled a lifelong dream and actually caught a bird at the park recently. The bird flew off after being spat out, apparently unharmed, and Charley looked very confused and crestfallen. Sometimes our dreams aren’t all we hoped they’d be, I suppose.

Philip:

Philip finished up his summer teaching responsibilities yesterday, so as soon as all the finals are graded his summer vacation will have officially begun. We celebrated Philip’s first Father’s Day on Sunday. Alice gave him a little photo book of her early days, and I made him strawberry coffee cake for breakfast. The ladies at church sent him home with the altar flowers, and we grilled steaks for dinner. A good day for a wonderful Papa. It’s been so great having Philip around almost full time for the past several weeks…I know we’re all going to be in for a shock come September.

Alice Virginia:

Where to begin? Alice is pulling up easily on furniture, opens cabinet doors, can climb the bottom two stair steps, and is waving and clapping her hands. She’s pretty much lost interest in her toys in favor of exploration and is getting into things all over the place. It’s a delight to watch. Less delightful has been the emergence of her first tooth. I had no idea that teething was going to so dramatic! Poor little miss has been miserable and there have been lots of tears. Even her favorite things haven’t cheered her up: She screamed on several walks, screamed all through the grocery store, and for a couple days didn’t even want much to eat. Today, however, we went on our Wednesday adventure and she had a very good day. I’m hopeful that the worst of the teething is over. Interestingly (and thankfully) it hasn’t seemed to interrupt her sleep too much, and she’s still sleeping pretty well. Lately when I put her in her crib she sits up and then plops face down to fall asleep on her fuzzy blanket. It’s the most adorable thing.

Me:

At the risk of sounding terribly dull, I will say that one of the most exciting things I’ve done lately is switch grocery stores. But have you ever thought about how much money you can save by going to Aldi?! My friend said she’s saving $200 a month. It’s very exciting. I’ve also been thinking lately about how lucky I am that we landed here. I have such a nice group of friends and I’m really enjoying the small town network. I had a fantastic conversation about books from the man we buy our fruit and summer veggies from- he was reading The Brothers K by David James Duncan, one of my favorites- and walked away with several recommendations. I’ve read two books set in Appalachia in the past week by coincidence and have decided to keep up the streak and find a couple more. Any suggestions?

It looks like I’m making cupcakes! Actually, I’m making diaper pail deodorizing disks.

June has been treating us well. Tomorrow Alice has her 9 month appointment, and then on Friday we have family visiting for several days. I’ve planned the menus and scrubbed the shower so we’re all ready and excited!