Mom Day weekend cont'd

Mother's Day Weekend

The eve of Mother's Day was spent with some good friends here at the house, where we broke bread together and caught up on each other's lives. Adam doesn't actually eat bread (Iron Man Triathlete) but ate most of the other offerings. He has been working from afar but is back for the summer, back to his busy wife, Sarah, who is completing her PhD here at CU. Sarah is training for a Century ride, a 100 mile bike ride through the Rocky mountains and then some. Robb married them last summer, 4th of July.

Sunday, Mother's Day was spent at a beautiful park in Louisville, a hop skip and jump away from home. Robb packed a picnic lunch and we explored the acres of land, pond, trails and of course, swings - Nevi's favorite. It's hard to get her off of them, actually. Her favorite sign in sign language is MORE and she frantically signs MORE when you attempt to get her out of the swing. All around, a very relaxing and very fun weekend.

May 2010

So, it's no secret that Nevi is a great eater. She eats almost anything I cook for her so, of course, I pump her full of whole foods, greens, fruits, anything colorful that will give her body the needed nutrients for development and enjoyment. But now she's starting to enjoy feeding herself and almost demands independence around mealtime. So, I let her have it. Except for the fact that takes too big of bites, she does really well with finger foods. A spoon and bowl still present challenges, but she's getting better everyday with her fine motor coordination. This meal happened to be a veg/quinoa dish that was the messiest yet. Good thing Dylan is around to clean up the floors!

Our friends, Ron and Irene, from Barbershop, had us up for brunch last weekend (Platteville, CO) and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Nev had a great time playing with their dog, Jasmine (and spilling orange juice on their white carpet :(). She made a great connection with Irene, who is great with kiddos - she kept running up to Irene and burying her head in Irene's lap. It amazing to see Nevi trust and love new spirits that come into her life. Irene is the wonderful woman who made Nevi's Christening gown. Very talented soul.

Finally, Robb ran his May race in Denver, conveniently enough at Coors Field, where our Colorado Rockies play ball. The race ended in the field so Nev and I rushed from the streets of Denver (where we happened to run into Dinger, the Rockies Mascot at the race start) into the field to see Robb run the final leg of this 5K ON the field! Robb came in 1st place in his age group so we didn't have to wait long. I had to capture Nevi pushing her stroller on this blog because I stood in awe of her that day - she pushed that stroller all the way from the parking lot to the stadium! What a fierce little girl! She was so exhausted that she fell asleep in the car on the drive back to Lafayette and when we got home, she still didn't wake up as I carried her up to bed. Nevi is an incredibly light sleeper so it is very unusual to actually SEE her sleeping and be able to carry her sweet little sleeping self in my arms. A precious moment for mommy.

April 28th, 2010

It's been a very fun week here in Colorado. Last weekend, Nevi and I went to our friend (Jen's) baby shower. She's expecting a girl so, of course, I'm already thinking of all the fun the girls will have together. The picture also features my very good friend, Carri.

The UPSIDE picture is not upside down in my computer picture file but for some reason appears this way in the blog. I had to include it anyway because this is Nevi's newest favorite activity. Robb has a few large tupperware/rubbermaid containers stowed away under our bakers rack that he uses to ice his hands after long days of giving deep tissue massage to prevent inflammation in his aching arms. Nevi has discovered them and thinks they are the best seats in the house. She has even initiated 'independent play' with them by bringing over little animals from her farm set and balls from other toys and playing with them on top of these containers. It is darling to watch. She also pushes these containers around the 'circle' main floor of our house, like she's racing cars. Up until pretty recently, Nevi has relied on us to initiate most of her play so it's really neat to see her trying it out on her own.

Just today, Robb and Nevi went to their first Rockies games of the season! They were both unbelievably happy and full of excited energy when they got home, fuming of sunscreen and sweat. Ahhhh, the glorious smells of summer. Wish I could've been there. Apparently Nevi had little interest in sitting down to watch the game (not surprising or unusual for a curious toddler), but they had a great time walking around, exploring, and playing in the children's playground. It was a perfect spring day here in Colorado, perfect for a ball game.

LASTLY, it is hard to believe but today is the day, 4/28 4 years ago, that Nevi's Grandpa Bob passed away... it also happened to be his birthday so a powerful day it will always be. The funeral home made a video for us featuring our favorite photographs of dad/grandpa and I played it for Nevi tonight, hoping that if I show her pictures often enough, she will at least recognize Grandpa Bob, even though she never had the chance to meet him. I'm sure he would have adored her adventurous spirit and her love for the outdoors.

Diaper Dash clip

Mom/Dad Group

Below are some photos from the '50 foot Diaper Dash', Nevi's first running race. She sure made Daddy-o proud.

Another new fun thing.... I just started a local Mommy/Daddy Group that will most likely meet weekly. Some families from our birth class join us, but also neighbors and local friends. There are 13 families interested so far. Last week was the start of this new social outlet and it looks like there are more takers for this week. As of now, we meet every Wednesday at 4pm at our place. If we actually get a group established, we may take turns hosting these gatherings, which I will like very much. I love being around other mommies right now but more importantly, I'm wanting to give Nevi the opportunity to play with other munchkins. Since we don't do daycare, I really want her to be around other little ones regularly so she can build relationships and have fun! We'll see where this goes.....

13 months old...

We're all pretty pleased with the warmth and rebirth this Spring. Nevi enjoys outside time more than any other time, a woman after my heart. She is almost always content when we're outside playing in 'our' space or meandering through the neighborhood and community playground. She is easily intrigued by rocks and mulch and always has some earth element in her hand when reentering the home. A collection is being built just outside the front door, where we place her favorites for next time. We practice scooping up dirt from one pot and putting it into another pot quite frequently. Little does she know that these pots will soon be filled with plants and flowers come Mother Day. Robb has been running one race each month and Nevi and I actually made this last one, in Broomfield. They usually take place during naptime, but Nevi's naptime seems to be altering...from two naps to one nap a day most days now. At this recent race, there was a 'Diaper Dash' for kiddos under 2 yrs. old so Nevi got to run her very first race. 50 feet of cuteness. Those pictures next....