ABC's

Mice, bats and bears, oh my!

Belle

We just returned from a week-long vacation with Grandma & Grandpa Bott and Aunt Sara. We had a wonderful time at Watoga State Park. I enjoyed the many animals we saw -- some more closely than Mommy would have liked. A field mouse visited our kitchen in the rustic cabin every night; a small black bear walked behind our cabin one afternoon and Grandma discovered a bat flying around in the living room one night during the end of our week. (She had to sleep with the light on so it would buzz around all night!) We had many great adventures including swimming in Watoga's chilly pool. I didn't mind after a while. I enjoyed swimming with my new life vest that Grandpa bought for me. I had a great time getting wet all week -- including playing in the river at Cass Scenic Railroad. With Mommy's help, I also caught six fish on our last night in the park. We fished for bluegills on the backside of the lake, which was very near our cabin. On the way back to the cabin (we decided to leave early since we had already embarassed Grandpa, Aunt Sara and Daddy with our fine fishing skills!), we saw three deer! We had a such a great time that I've been telling everyone about all the animals since we returned!

Lilly

Whew! What an exhausting week. I didn't sleep very well, which is to say that no one slept very well last week -- since we were, afterall, staying in tight quarters. Belle sure did enjoy running around in the woods all week! She loved playing with the rocks and sticks and looking at all the animals. I, however, was less than impressed with the woods or with fishing. I didn't enjoy fishing at the lake on the first night so Grandma stayed home with me the second time everyone went fishing. What I did enjoy this week was riding on Daddy's back in this great new toy. I got so slap Daddy's head and had a great view of everyone. After the inital shock of the cold water in the pool, I also enjoyed swimming. The exciting news for me this week was I pulled myself up for the first time -- while playing in the living room of our cabin. Now I try every chance I get!

Sisterly love

Belle and I have been playing a lot more. She calls me her "little baby sister" now. While we're getting along pretty well, Belle isn't always very nice. She still doesn't share very well. Sometimes, when I'm playing with Elmo she comes up and takes him from me. All in all, though, we're becoming pretty good friends.

I'm learning more each day. Although I haven't mastered crawling, I am trying to pull myself up to a standing position. I just want to be able to keep up with Belle and play with all the cool stuff that she has. Mommy said we didn't have a box for me to play in (like Belle did when she was a baby) so we compromised and I got to hang out in the laundry basket. Daddy even pushed me around in it for a bit.

I'm getting so big and learning so much -- like learning to stand up -- that Daddy had to lower my crib to the lowest setting. Since they did that, I was able to reach the cord to the air conditioner, so Daddy had to move my bed. Then Mommy decided to take the bumper out too. It was all too much change for me. I was not happy with it and I let them know by crying for three hours Saturday night. Between me being upset and Belle having her issues, Daddy and Mommy only slept for a few hours Saturday. So Mommy decided to give me my bumper back and all is right with the world again!