The end of vacation

The last day of our vacation we spent at home relaxing some. It always seems you need at least a day at home before going back to work or school after a vacation. Need a day to unpack, get some groceries and just sit. Well on our last day at home Scott, Zoe and I played in the backyard with some light sticks and hunted for lightening bugs. We found one lightening bug, just wasn't a good year for them I guess. And then we experimented with light sticks. Max's name was a little harder.

It also gave me a chance to harvest some of the basil and make some pesto to freeze.

It ended up making around 2 cups of thick pesto.

Museum

We also went to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum and Zoe had a blast. There were lots of fun things to do and of course the day that we went was a special day for kids going into kindergarten, so there were more people there than usual, I think. After lunch though there were lots fewer people which made the art space lots better. Here are a few pictures from the day.

There was a video wall that we could stand in front of that had letters falling from the top and we could catch them. Max was able to catch some on his stroller as well. I was able to catch several letters on my arms and head. I guess it actually does say something but it is changing so much that it is nearly impossible to read.

There were several of these large disks around to spin. They had different mediums in them and would mimic waves, or avalanches.

Zoe got to play in the water, which she loves to do. There was a great big pool with lots of different toys and also ones to make. They provided the rain coats and there was a big wall of hand dryers to dry off some of the clothes.

While Zoe was playing in the water Max played in the little kids area. He sat around and played with a few toys, but it gave him a place to play as well so he wasn't in his stroller all day. And then Zoe joined him and they played with the enormous lite brite.Then Zoe got to go create, and that is one thing that she loves to do. She got to paint...

Make some wire art (out of really big twist-ties)...

And she made some paper.

And one item that we went back to several times was...

this really huge person that we could push and pull levers and move arms, hands, fingers, and torso. It was one of the times that we saw Zoe really stand her ground.

It's me, Zoe

If you haven't noticed most of these posts revolve around my little brother Max. Yeah he is cute, I do love him, and he does do a lot of new stuff all the time, but I need my space as well. I'm sure he'll weasel his way in here somehow though.

Well today I went to the doctor for my 4 year old check up. I get measured in height, unlike my little brother, ha. I'm 40-3/4" tall, which makes me taller than 74% of kids my age and I weigh 35 pounds, thats 50% heavier. The doctor said everything looked good. I took an ear test and eye test and passed everything, and I got a sticker with Dora in a pretty dress.

I went on vacation with the fam and we did lots of fun stuff. At the hotel I jumped between the beds. I could see myself in the mirror doors as I was jumping. Mom and Dad had to make me stop, but I got to do it again. It was so much fun.

I got to ride in a little train at Station Square with my mom, right after I had some ice cream. Yum.

And I did some modeling and posing at the fountain at the point of 3 rivers. Really my foot is not broken. Daddy keeps saying it is, it is just turned in.

That's all for now you'll hear (well read) more about our trip soon.

Oh and by the way I just had a birthday and my party was totally awesome.

Vacation-Pittsburgh Zoo

The fam went to Pittsburgh for a long weekend. We did lots of fun things the first place that we went was the Pittsburgh Zoo. We found animals that everyone loved and enjoyed watching. We were really looking forward to walking through the tube under the sharks and the polar bear.

It was pretty impressive to watch the polar bear push off the top ledge and then push off the bottom and go sailing past us back to the top.

The sand sharks made some pretty cool shadows on the side walls also. A couple of them swam over the tunnel so we could see their belly's. The sand shark has 94 teeth in 3 rows. It was also educational.
And Max was happy that he got to see lots of different fishes in really big tanks.

Scott's favorite was the polar bear.

Jen's favorite was the seadragon (look like seahorses with leaves all over them)

Zoe's favorite was buying the stuffed lemur (only a 3 year old could do this at the zoo), we think she like the gorillas since that was the only animal she wanted to see a second time.

Max's favorite the fishes.

More about our vacation to come later.

I grew

I was 9 months old yesterday, 8/12, and I went to the doctor today for a check-up. I didn't have to get any shots, yippee. The nurse measured me and weighed me. I even got to sit on the scale this time instead of laying down. I really am growing. I now weigh 20 pounds and 10 ounces, I'm 28.75 inches long, still not tall yet, and my head is 18.25" around. I gained 2 pounds and 6 ounces from my 6 month visit and grew 2.25". The doctor was very impressed with how much I grew. And agreed that I should be eating lots since I grew so much. I also get to add more foods to my diet. Pretty much anything that is small enough for me to eat, and mushy enough since I only have 2 teeth, still.
While I was waiting for the doctor my mommy let me sit on the exam table and look in the mirror. There was another baby on the other side who was playing with me. We bonked foreheads a few times, squished our noses and I licked the mirrow a couple of times.
My sister came with me this time as well. I liked having her there. I did cry and scream at the doctor a little bit, but not too bad. I stood really tall for him, finally tall and not long. And Zoe got a really cool sticker at the end of the appointment for being such a good big sister. I would have just eaten it so she might as well have it.
I go next just after my first birthday, and I have to get shots at that one. Yuck.

Look Mom

This past Saturday Max finally did it. He is now crawling, slowly, usually unless there is a goal. So nothing is safe anymore, especially Zoe. She will be learning that lesson all too well over the next few months I'm sure. He of course loves to go after some of his toys, but paper seems to be one of the items that really gets him going. Take a look, he'll show you his prize at the end, a receipt that I put beside me so I could get him to crawl towards me.

I'm so fast my hand is a blur.

Max is fascinated with my camera. I'm just waiting for the tink tink on the lens, is anyone there.

On Sunday Grandma and Grandpa were visiting. Max finally let Grandpa spend some time with him without looking like he was going to cry. Max was showing Grandpa his books and all of his toys. He really is just showing it because if you take it from him, he'll let you know until you give it back.

Max eats and swings

We decided that we had to get a video of how Max prepares to eat. He really does love his food and I think he would eat practically anything. There have been a few things that he isn't fond of, but he still eats it. Watch the little video clip of our octopus and make sure to watch how fluid the movements are with his feet and hands. It's just mesmerizing.

Max also had his first day swinging at the park this past weekend. He just had fun hanging out in the swing and watching everything that was going on. He especially liked watching his sister swinging beside him. I'm sure he'll be laughing and screaming while swinging soon.