Row Row Row Your Boat

Nevi's version of Row Row Row Your Boat:

Row Row Row Your Boat

Gently Down the Stream

Mary Mary Mary Mary

Like a Spot A Dream

4th of July

This is the first year Lafayette (Waneka Lake) has hosted it's very own fire works display and 4th of July celebration. It was scheduled from 4pm-10pm, we arrived around 6pm on bikes, Nevi in the Burley trailer (thanks Petits and PopPop/Nana). It was a true family affair, we played on the playground, jumped in the bouncing jumping castles, ate our dinner picnic, and played in the grass while we waited for the fireworks to start. Nevi's first fireworks display. She was a little crazy by 9pm (much past her bed time) but we actually made it to see the fireworks display. Of course, after 2 fireworks, Nevi was a little freaked and wanted to go home. We started to pack up our stuff, but ended up finding a comfortable spot with her one ear buried in my chest and my hand covering her other ear. Robb and I both agreed that this was the loudest/closest fireworks we've ever seen. They were FANTASTIC but to a 2 year old, VERY loud and a bit scary. Once we had her ears covered and head secure, she was able to actually enjoy the fireworks and we made it to the very end. She was calling out, 'Look a red one!' 'Mom, they're going to bite me!' 'Wow!' etc etc etc.

Telluride BlueGrass Festival June 2011

Telluride Blue Grass Festival in Telluride Colorado. June 2011.

AKA: TO-HELL-YOU-RIDE!!!!!!
Second vacation this year for just Robb & Kate. Nevi, Dylan and Jack were all at home in Lafayette with Ahma & Ahpa having their own fun. This trip had many amazing highs and unfortunately, some lows too. First I'll start with the highs. TELLURIDE is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The beetles haven't affected this area (possibly this altitude) and it's been a wet spring SOOOOO it was the greenest piece of heaven west of 'Ol Miss. Telluride rests at 8900 feet and the temp highs during our trip were in the '70s and the lows in the '40s. Perfect. The music was, of course, awesome. The most impressive bands during our experience were: Emmy Lou Harris, Bela Fleck, Trampled by Turtles, Jerry Douglas and I also liked Railroad Earth, which we will be seeing again with Yonder Mountain String Band in August at Red Rocks Amphitheater. We missed Yonder Mountain at this festival (boo hoo) because our stay was cut short. Segway into the lows.... I'm about 2 months pregnant and there were 12000 festivarians packed into this gorgeous but quaint place, most of who were there to PARTY! The air was violated by cigarette smoke and a god aweful smell of cabbage and soy sauce coming from the asian festival food booth. Although no one was belligerent or disrespectful, the sight of vomit to a woman who is already constantly nauseous due to hormone fluctuations is a bit much to handle. Additionally, the port o potties seemed to always be FULL. That's all I have to say to say about that. It was a fun trip and we met some REALLY great people - everyone there was SO HAPPY! We left camp on Saturday and had an amazing breakfast at Kate's Place and an inspirational hike in Ridgeway, Colorado, about 22 miles outside of Telluride. We are SO grateful for Ahma & Ahpa who allowed Robb & I to have 2 vacations thus far this year. As any parent can attest, time away to rekindle and regroup is imperative. Although our situation hindered some 'all out fun' on this trip, it was still great to just BE together and have no responsibilities or worries. Nevi was in good hands and so were we.

Watermelon & Swim Goggles...

Thanks Nana & PopPop for the fun summer-care-package. Nevi obviously REALLY likes her new swim goggles, plus her new red beach chair, Nemo beach ball (as Nevi calls it), and other fun water toys. Swimming is by far Nevi's favorite thing these days....not to mention eating all the DELICIOUS watermelon and seasonal goodies.

Puddle Jumping / ROCKIES GAME!

Been a rainy few days here in Colorado - making the most of the weather......

Nevi at 26 months

A little about Nevi at the age of 26 months... *All of her baby teeth are, including her 2 year molars *She is fiercely independent and is often found saying, 'I do it! NO, I DO IT!' *She weighs 28 pounds and just in the last 2 weeks hit a growth spurt in height - she's looking long and lean, just like her daddy *She loves SWIMMING, throwing rocks /sticks in the creek and jumping in puddles more than anything in this world *She has no desire to do anything except exactly what she's doing in the moment - if she's outside, she doesn't want to come in... if she's inside, she doesn't want to go out. I suppose this is a gift in some ways (to be totally content exactly where you are and have no need for anything but what you have). However, trying to make transitions with Nevi can be a challenge. She needs a 5 minute warning before a transition will take place. *She is starting to let momma put barrettes and hair ties in her hair now, to get the hair out of her face *She loves trying on clothes now which is a HUGE change from last year when changing her clothes/diapers was such a struggle. She actually woke up last night around 10pm asking if she can change her pjs...she just wanted a change...no particular reason. I gave her the option of no pjs or the keeping the ones she has on. She chose to stay in her current dinosaur pjs. When Grandma Pat sent some new summer time outfits for Nevi, she chose to put nearly every outfit on AT ONCE. SHe was bundled up in 5 layers of clothes and pranced around the house like a queen, so proud of her new attire. *SHE IS DOING GREAT WITH POTTY TRAINING! Something clicked in the last week and now she does all of her pee pee and poo poo in her potty chairs at home. We have a potty chair on every level of the house and now when she has to go, she just says, 'I have to go pee pee' or 'I have to go poo poo' and we waltz into the bathroom to take care of business. She ONLY wears big girl underwear when we're home now. When we're out and about, it is a different story. She doesn't seem to like toilets - she's more comfortable right now with her potty chairs. I have a toilet insert for regular sized toilets so that she doesn't fall in - one for the house and one for public bathrooms. She doesn't like either and has had no success in our home toilets (with the insert) or in public restroom toilets. She tries but nothing happens. We we often wear our pull ups still when going out on adventures for this reason. One milestone at a time. I am not sure why so many parents are eager to potty train their children so young because it is actually MUCH easier to change a diaper than teach a child to use the potty. Valuable lessons, yes, but LOTS of consistent and diligent work. * She can blow her nose with a tissue or hanky and yes, she can even pick her own nose now. *Her favorite movie is POTTY POWER and she also still likes BABY SIGNING TIME, CURIOUS GEORGE, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, DORA THE EXPLORER, SESAME STREET/ELMO'S WORLD, BERENSTAIN BEARS, CAILLOU. Nevi really likes watching tv/movies but we limit it to 1 -2 hours a day of tv (some in the morning and some at night to wind down) and the rest of the time we play. *She loves her babysitter, Stephanie, who sees her every Friday while Robb and I are work. They are becoming very close and I love hearing the things that Stephanie teaches her when I come home on Friday nights. Nevi picks up on everything! Stephanie is a colleague of mine at Home Instead Senior Care and has 2 grown daughters of her own so she knows the power of little girls and has a loving yet stern approach with Nevi, which is really great. *Nevi NEEDS boundaries and is testing them daily. Once they are established, however, she respects them and thrives within them. *Her vocabulary is off the charts! She is starting to make attempts at long winded sentences and enjoys a good conversation these days. I have to admit, though, sometimes I get lost in the direction she's going with her stories. She likes to make up stories when 'reading' a book and does this based on the pictures that are available. She doesn't really like being read TO - which is interesting because my mom says she same about me when I was her age. But we continue to keep books as a daily activity, establishing a positive relationship with them in whatever capacity she will allow. *We are in the process of registering Nevi for preschool beginning this August 2011. This preschool is only blocks away from our house and is owned and taught by a previous colleague of mine (www.kiddiekopia.com is the website if you'd like to learn more). It is a neat program that divides the 2-3 years old up from the 4-6 year olds. We will be registering Nevi for Tues & Thurs mornings from 8:30a-12:30p. Nothing is final yet but these are our informal plans as of yet. *Nevi sleeps around 12 + hours each night and still naps for 1-2 hours every afternoon. She almost always wakes up happy! * We are very active - fun adventures daily! Yesterday, we went to Little Monkey Business and played our hearts out on the jumping castle, the slides, the bouncy swings and the basketball hoops. The only time that Nevi gets REALLY grouchy these days is when she's tired or hungry. Too bad she doesn't just say, 'Gee, I'm hungry momma. Can we eat?' It usually looks like whining and crying with 'NO' being shouted all over the map. Emotional maturity and body awareness/recognition will come soon enough..... and I will be ready. After she eats, she returns to her pleasant and happy and curious self. Amazing to watch this transition. *She loves to sit on my lap while we watch movies at night. *She loves to sing, play the drums and also play the piano. *We often dance at night to our favorite CDs. *She is still a good eater but is definitely developing preferences now - not much of a meat eater (though tonight she ate my meatloaf, horray!), and loves fruit and cereal and toast and cheese. Probably her favorite food is cottage cheese with avocado and a banana on the side. She only drinks milk and water. *Nevi sucks her thumb and often asks me if I will suck my thumb with her. I politely decline. *Everything that I teach Nevi (or do to Nevi), she tries to teach (or do) to me right back... ex. She often rubs my back and tells me that everything will be OK.... One time she actually checked the back of my pants after I let one wrip and told me I was clean and had no poop (ppphhhheewww). I can't remember a time I laughed harder. * She LOVES her baby dolls. She has Baby Daughter, Baby Lily, Bathtub Baby, and Baby Drew. She takes on and off their clothes, puts them in her pull-ups, feeds them, brushes their teeth and does everything to them that a good mom would do. She has many other favorite stuffed animals too, like Big Pink Bear, Tucker (teddy), Carsten (lamb) and Pooh. * She loves to organize her barrette tray, separating them by colors and by favorites. I AM DOCUMENTING THIS STUFF MOSTLY FOR MY BENEFIT, SO I NEVER FORGET NEVI AS A TWO YEAR OLD, BUT ALSO TO SHARE THE PERSON NEVI IS BECOMING WITH ALL OF YOU. Ahma & Ahpa probably know all of this stuff already as they has taken on a 4 day weekend with Nevi recently while Robb and I took our first trip away - went to NOLA.