And Then There Were...: Sneaky August

Hi folks! The summer has really flown by. We have broken out the pool once. Been to the Splash Pad a few times, hit up Taltree many times. Their new Children's Exploration Garden has become quite the favorite since it has animals AND things to climb on. The Railway Garden has fallen a bit in popularity. Mom still likes it for the predictable air-conditioned oasis and nice (easily accessed) clean bathroom. We've been to Fair Oaks Farm. It is truly an impressive operation. We've been to the Indy Zoo, the Michigan City Zoo, and this weekend we catch the Star Wars exhibit at the Indy State Museum before catching up with family poolside.

Cali is rapidly growing and becoming stronger. She recently transitioned to cloth diapers and is proving that her evacuations are far more powerful and voluminous than her sister's were. We may be abandoning cloth if the leaks aren't contained soon. She also drools like a fiend. I don't think she's teething, but she is very oral right now, so she could be in the early stages. She should be rolling over and sitting soon. Her neck strength is pretty impressive. She's usually pretty good at entertaining herself on her floor mat. Crinkles are her favorite right now. And burp cloths.

Tomorrow, she'll be 5 months old. At her 4 month appointment, she weighed 14 lbs, 5 oz. She is now around the 50th percentile. Her fuzz has gotten longer and lighter, but I doubt she'll have much hair before she starts walking. It might be a nice honey color to start though. Her eyes have lightened to Ellie's and my grey-blue.

Ellie has been conducting. I think she will be a very musical child. She sings quite a bit, and has expressed interest in all the instruments she can get her hands on. The summer has gone quickly this year since she is in Montessori from 8-3 daily. I think we'll abbreviate her schedule once school starts back up in the Fall so we can do more together. She's at a fabulous age where she can interact at a higher level and is starting to get interested in letters and numbers. I'm hopeful that she'll be an early reader simply because she loves books and stories so much that I can't wait for her to be able to experience the joy of reading them on her own.

E has been enjoying longer hair. Her go-to hair-style has evolved rapidly over the past 6 months from 2 tiny barrettes, to larger barrettes, pig tails, pig tails with barrettes for her bangs, loops, and now loops with a headband for her bangs and fancy flowery barrettes. I think the time for doing her hair has doubled just in the last week, lol.

P and I have a new venture. We're involved in a new local restaurant, Main+Lincoln with a really impressive and active group of people. P has been helping with demo and design of the bar. I have been helping with the identity and marketing. I'm excited to see what the final product will be. It should open in late 2013 and will be run by a pretty fabulous Chef.

I may be entering into a phase where I take on too much again. I've quit 2/3 of my original volunteer commitments to have time with the girls, but they've been replaced now by the restaurant work and the Tri Kappa Publicity Committee. It's less physical travel and design work though, so I can do a lot of it on my laptop while they play. As much as I don't enjoy marketing, it seems to keep sucking me back in. I do love planning and list-making. The silver lining is that I can put it on my resume if I ever decide to get back into the job market.