Swimming

We recently took the plunge (pun intended) and purchased a family pass to the MIT gym for the year, which we are eligible for since Chris is an alum. This includes access to 5 indoor swimming pools of various lengths and sizes, which Frankie and I are planning on taking full advantage of! I purchased swimsuits for both of us off E-bay. Frankie's is what they call a 'float suit', which has inflatable floaties that fit inside the front and back panels of her swimsuit. The twins I used to babysit for had these, and they were really helpful in the pool, you just didn't have to worry about them quite as much.

I went for the first time last night, to swim laps and check out the scene before I brought Frankie. It was so nice to be in the pool, to exercise again. I really haven't exercised much since before I was pregnant with Frankie. I went running some this summer, but lost interest and motivation when it got tough to pencil this activity in on a regular basis around naps and work. Of course, living in the city we walk a lot, but it's not the same.

My pregnant belly is already sticking out, and I'm sure I'm an interesting site to most of the clientele at the MIT gym, since they are primarily college students. I know that as I get larger it's going to feel so nice to get in the pool and have that weight lifted from my back, at least temporarily.

Christmas

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

Ways we know it's Christmas around here:

1. Cookies. I love making Christmas cookies and indulged myself the other day spending way too much time and effort making sugar cookie cutouts and frosting them. It just wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't make sugar cookies.
2. Music. We have a squeezebox, which is a device that we have in the living room, hooked up to our speakers, that uses our wireless connection to stream internet radio stations to the living room speakers. It's great, because I can stream any radio station that's available online, for no charge. Many of these are commercial free too. Recently, I've been listening to a Holiday music station that seriously, seems like they just took any song labeled Christmas or Holiday, and put it on shuffle, and then hit play. A Christmas song by Enya will be followed up by one from Kanye West. The other day I heard a version of "Let it Snow" by Twisted Sister. The other station I've been listening to a lot is a Christian station out of Dallas; KLTY. My favorite thing about this station is that I'll hear weather reports, news updates, traffic reports, etc from Dallas (which when Kristen moves to Waco in May, it will help me feel connected to her and maybe miss her a little less. Or a little more, I can't decide). Tomorrow it's going to be 80 in Dallas. There is a mountain lion loose in a town outside Dallas, and if you spot it, please call 911. Seriously? A mountain lion? Good luck, Polks.
3. Christmas Trees. Heather has one up and Frankie has dutifully ignored it. All of Heather's scheming of ways to keep Frankie from toppling the tree over have apparently been wasted thus far. We put one up this week too, and she has also ignored ours.
   
4. Santa PJs. Ho-ho-ho.
5. Snow. We've had some this week, although it's currently a crusty, icy, slippery variety.
   

Number Two

No, that's not a reference to Austin Powers, or losing a competition, but to our Second Baby!

That's right, we're pregnant. Again! I'm 12 weeks along now, with a due date of June 16th. Frankie and her sibling will be 16 months apart.

We're thrilled to be pregnant again so soon. We want to have a lot of kids, and have them close together, so we're happy that God has blessed us with this second child so soon.

Now for a little "Rumor Control" a la US Weekly (or which ever magazine does this):

1. You can't get pregnant while nursing.

False! Fortunately, I knew this wasn't true, so we weren't foolish enough to be using it as a form of birth control, but apparently this is an old wives tale that some people still believe. I read up on the subject, and it appears that this is partially true, at least for the first 6 months. I think the statistic was something like 98% of women who are nursing don't ovulate during the first 6 months post-partum, but after that, it's a free-for-all.

I did, however, chose to stop nursing Frankie after I found out I was pregnant again, mainly because I was exhausted, and I figured I could gain some energy back by weaning. There are also unconfirmed (scientifically) speculations that nursing a child while pregnant can lead to miscarriage, but I think all the evidence is anecdotal, and no one really knows why each miscarriage occurs, so I'm sure some people just adamantly assumed it was because they were still nursing another child. There are many cases of women continuing to nurse throughout pregnancy without incident.

2. You start showing a lot sooner with the second.

True! At 12 weeks I'm already starting to dip into the maternity clothes. I haven't gained much weight, but my uterus quite happily expanded again in response to the pregnancy hormones. And no, it doesn't mean I'm carrying a huge baby. They're all about the same size right now at 12 weeks. They really don't start differentiating in weight until much closer to your due date. It just means my belly is already stretched out (sorry for the mental image, folks).

It's been fun to be pregnant a second time (she says now that the nausea has passed her by). I know what to expect now when I go to my OB appointments, and I'm not nearly as worried about every little twinge as I was the first time. In fact, having to chase Frankie around has been good for me. Exhausting, but good. I don't have time to stop and dwell on how my body is changing, or how sick I feel. I think I also trust my body a little more - I know that while a pregnant woman needs to be careful, and is carrying a fragile being, I think I feel less of a need to be overly cautious. In a good way, people, not a reckless way.

So I apologize to anyone if I've appeared a little checked out recently, and haven't returned phone calls, etc. I've been going to bed around 8 or 8:30 every night, and trying to nap with Frankie in the afternoons on the days I'm home. This means I've had a lot less free time, which is frustrating for me, but I keep reminding myself that it's just a stage, and that I'll be back to my normal energy levels again soon (and then exhausted again...).

Frankie plays the Piano

Frankie has long fingers, and many people exclaimed "She's going to be a piano player!" when they first met her and noticed the fingers. Well, the dream is already realized, Frankie loves to play the piano.

Elizabeth makes Frankie laugh

No one can make Frankie laugh quite like Elizabeth. Here's a video Heather took of the two of them laughing:

Bumper Stickers

In South Carolina, most of the political bumper stickers are very pro-Republican, and anti-Democratic, to the point of being obnoxious. Here in Cambridge, the opposite is true -- everywhere you turn you see anti-Republican bumper stickers. Now, I'm not saying whether I agree with any of these sentiments, but I'd like to share some of my favorites:

• Wanted for Crimes against humanity: (and then pictures of Bush, Cheney, and members of the cabinet).
• Bush Cheney - No Child Left a Dime
• Dick Cheney shoots his friends
• 1.20.09 -Bush's last day
• Voldemort votes Republican
• Baltar for President '08

Okay, so that last one may not be party-specific, but for all you fellow Battlestar Galactica fans (I know, I know, that officially makes me a geek), you'll appreciate that one.

Anyone else got some more?

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, and have much to be thankful for. Starting with all the wonderful friends who came for the day and dinner and were willing to bring food and cram 10 people around a 6-person table in our kitchen. Sarah was going to help me set the table, and asked if there was another leaf for the table. I smiled and said "no", and Sarah cheerfully worked on a configuration that accommodated 9 adults, 1 toddler, and 3 babies.

We were joined this year by the Polks (it was the third year in a row for the "McPolk" family Thanksgiving in which Kristen makes us all delicious pies), the Warrens, the Murrys, Linda and her daughter Leilei. Linda is my friend from work who is sharing and office with me this fall. She is a visiting Chinese faculty member, and this was her first American Thanksgiving. Nell and Macai stopped by during the day to spend some time with us as well!

We are so thankful for our friends and neighbors here in Cambridge who love us and so thoroughly care for us. It's overwhelming for me when I think about how God has provided for us in this way specifically.

We are thankful for our church, and a pastor who seeks God's heart.

We are immensely thankful for our little girl. She is so sweet, and we fall further and further in love with her every day.

We are thankful for family who love us, even when we are at a distance, and can't wait to see us and spend time with us when they can.

Pam and Patrick

Nell and Macai

Frankie plays Mindtrap

Leilei loved Maisy!

Sarah and Hannah

Matthew and Nathanael

Chris carves the bird (and Maisy waits, sentinel, by his side for a morsel)

Pictures

I finally got some good pictures of Frankie yesterday.


This was Frankie wearing the hat her great-Nana knit for her last February, when she was about 2 weeks old.

This is that same hat yesterday. I guess I'll have to put that one back away with the 0-3 clothes. She has also figured out that if she tugs at the poof on top that the strings come out.

This is one of Frankie's "heebie-jeebie" moments. Many of you have witnessed Maisy get the "heebie-jeebies", where she gets the crazed look in her eye and runs around the house or yard with her butt tucked under like a banchie with no regard for anyone or anything in her path. Frankie gets a similar look in her eye when she starts waving a piece of fabric in front of her face. It can be anything - a sock, a burp cloth, this hat, but it's always fun to see her get so excited. In this picture you can also see her two teeth!

My big girl.

I like these two because she looks like a rock climber.

Give and (not quite) Take

Frankie has started to "offer" other people the object she's holding, although she has yet to relinquish the item. I'm sure we'll get to that half of the process at some point. This morning, she "offered" Maisy a Cheerio, as I watched with amusement. I thought surely Maisy would take the Cheerio from her, thus encouraging Frankie to see that when she offers someone (or somedog) something, they are inclined to take it from her. Our sweet, gentle dog, however, licked the Cheerio and tried to nibble it from Frankie's hand, but she would let go. Before I could intervene Frankie stuck that now-dog-saliva-christened Cheerio in her mouth.

I believe these are the moments for which we pray.

The Blooper Reel

I've been keeping an album in Picasa called "The Blooper Reel" of Frankie's out-take photos. Seriously, she doesn't look like the child I know in most of these photos. Here's the blooper reel for the first 9 months of Frankie's life:

9 months!

Frankie is 9 months old today, and what a big girl! Here's what she's up to these days:

• Crawling. She's still not super-fast, but the army crawl has turned into a proper crawl, and she's much more willing to crawl to get places now . Especially when she sees Momma or Daddy across the room, or Maisy's stuffed chipmunk (seriously, why does she always want to play with the one toy that belongs to our dog and is nasty?)
• Cruising. This is her favorite pastime right now. She'd spend all day standing and moving laterally up and down the room using various furniture to hold on to if we let her. This has actually been quite nice for me, because she's good enough at it that she doesn't usually fall, so I don't have to be right there with her.
• Pulling herself to a stand. It's still amazing to me to walk into her room and find her standing up in her crib!
  
• Dancing. She shakes her head back and forth, and bounces up and down on her legs. So cute. She was doing this at church yesterday during worship.
• Recognizing words. When I ask her where the dog is she turns her head until she finds Maisy, and will often point at her. She also understands milk, momma, and daddy (at least that I can tell, there are probably many more!).
• Sleeping from about 7 or 7:30 until 5:30 most nights without much waking in the middle. She usually takes 2 90 minute naps during the day (one at 9, the other at 1:00). I'm hoping that as she nears a year she'll start sleeping longer again at night, but I really can't complain.
• Eating mainly fruit and carb-loaded snacks like Cheerios. She's always been a bit of a picky eater, and recently she's started "holding out" at meal time for something better if I'm serving her vegetables or meat (she will eat some chicken and beef these days). I've decided we have to draw a hard line, and have not been offering her additional food when she starts doing this. In talking with Melanie (one of my founts of child-rearing wisdom), she advised to start working on this behavior, because what it can easily turn into is mom or dad making several meals during the course of the meal in the hopes that the child will eat one of them, which leads to a lot of waste, and starts to get ridiculous. Instead, I'm trying to determine before we sit down what Frankie should eat for the meal, which always includes at least one thing I know she likes. As long as there is some of that food left, and she's refusing food, I've decided she's either done, or it's a preference thing, and if she were really hungry, she'd eat the food I know she likes. She does usually like to eat whatever Chris and I are eating, which is helpful, and I try and encourage this by giving her some of what we're eating when I can. In this way, we've discovered that she likes flavorful food, even some with a little spice to it! The goal is eventually to get to cooking one meal for all of us.
  
• Not stacking blocks on an 18-month-old's level. Actually, not stacking blocks period.

Pictures will have to come later, we were too busy playing and running errands today to take our 9-month photo shoot!

Weaned

I have been weaning Frankie for several weeks now, gradually cutting out a feeding about every 10 days or so. She *amazingly* decided that she was willing to take a bottle once more, so she nows gets a bottle in the morning and at night. She gets the rest of her formula from a sippy cup throughout the day.

I wanted to mark our last nurse purposefully, more for me than for her, so that I could enjoy that last time of special closeness with my daughter, an official passing of a stage and chapter in our lives. The last nurse was to be tomorrow, on her 9 month birthday.

We'd been down to one feeding for a while, the 4:30/5:00 feed that was always really more about comfort than food. I've been dreading eliminating this feeding, because it turns my fussy child into a content baby for about 45 minutes or so, which is enough time for me to prepare dinner or get us home from Heather's.

Apparently, in order to prove to me that you really can't have one specific event that mark when a child moves from one stage to another (as much as we like to invent them, it seems to always be much more of a gradual process), Frankie refused to nurse on Saturday for the first time since she was about a month old, thus making Friday, November 9th the last day I nursed my daughter.

I'm a little sad that I didn't get to make it to my pre-determined day. I planned on savoring every moment, allowing myself to shed a few tears for my big girl and how quickly she's growing up. But in a lot of ways it makes it easier for me. I didn't feel guilty today when I didn't nurse her, where I might have if I had been the one to initiate the last nurse, feeling like I was denying her something she loved. Feeling tempted to nurse her one more time, just to make today easier, just to stop the fussing and my guilt.

It's hard to give up such a bond with my baby, but it's an important step for us. People wean for all kinds of reasons, and I've found in talking with other moms that it's almost always a difficult decision and process. Life is a continual letting go for parents, and making decisions that are hard, and sometime painful, but for the best for both of them.

I'm reminded of when Frankie was first born, and she refused to nurse at first. She actually didn't know how to suck when she came out (something all the experts promise you is an innate skill, apparently not for Frankie). We spent a very painful first 10 days finger-feeding, bottle feeding, and (for me, anyway) pumping. I would try and get her to latch and feed everyday during this time, and for a few days there she would give it a go, but clearly liked the bottle better.

In a decision that was terrifying for a new mother, we decided that she needed to learn to nurse, and that I wasn't going to break down and give her a bottle for 24 hours. Babies that young can easily get dehydrated, and I was worried that she wouldn't eat. During the course of one night, I offered her the breast every time she cried, and eventually by the morning we were covered in milk and tears, but she was latching just fine. I remember it being so hard, and thinking that this would be one of the first of countless times that I would have to say no to my daughter and encourage her to go another way because I knew it was a better way for her.

Our Pastor has said that the two things kids desperately need to hear from their parents is "No" and "I love you". It's been remarkable to me how being a parent, even for such a short time, has given me a new perspective on my relationship with God the Father. I am ever amazed with the perfection in which he tells me "No" and "I love you". I pray often for that kind of wisdom in raising my child.

A serious conversation

We were given a lot of stuffed animals when Frankie was born. Up until recently, I'd been wondering what were were going to do with all those stuffed animals, but she has recently shown a great interest in those animals. Many of you have seen Frankie telling secrets to her toys, or the piece of fuzz on the carpet, but recently she has started to become more animated in her dealings with the stuffed animals. She gets very serious during these conversations, and I like to think it's because she's reprimanding a bear who has stepped over the line (possibly eyeing her Cheerios with a little too much interest), or is giving the bear a warning (don't do drugs, or else). In the following video, this bear must have really done something awful, she even throws him to the dog at the end.

The snacker

Frankie is a carb-o-haulic. She loves Cheerios. And corn chex. And pizza crust. And
toast. It's like she's got a special compartment for these types of snacks that never quite seems to fill up. Fortunately, Cheerios are her favorite, and that is not the worst food for her to be addicted to. They're cheap, plentiful, portable, and healthy. I am a little concerned we're breeding a snacker, but we'd probably breed one anyway. She was born into a family of champion snackers.

The most annoying toy in the house

Is also Frankie's favorite.


It plays a soundtrack that sounds like old-school Atari music. Air blows through the canisters making the toys spin, hop, and whir. And she loves it.

Frankie is quite the crawler now, and has learned to pull herself up. The last two mornings we've found her standing up in her crib, ready for a day of adventure (which, unfortunately for us, starts at 5:30 am). She's a very cautious mover on the whole - she doesn't like to be out of control (really? my child?). We worked really hard on the sitting-back-down-after-I-stand-up maneuver on Sunday, and she'll do it now, although not without almost a full split and a very slow lowering to the ground using whatever she's holding on to.

Here's a video of the most annoying toy in action, although watch it at your own risk. I've warned you, it's annoying...

Peek a Boo

This is from a while ago, but it's still great!

Halloween '07

Frankie was a cowgirl this Halloween. Here she is all dressed up and ready to go to her first Halloween party! The Polks hosted a baby-bash (I think the count was 20 kids, mostly babies under the age of 1). The weather was unexpectently warm - it was about 70 degrees, and with all those people at the Polks, it got quite warm in the house. Most of the babies were stripped down to their onesies before the night was through. Unfortunately, on Halloween itself, Frankie was sick, so we didn't dress her up again. She actually went to bed at 6:00 that night, so did not participate in any trick or treating. Not that she can eat the candy anyway!

Mommas don't get sick days

I knew this day would arrive, the one where I was sick, sick, sick, and still had to take care of Frankie. Of course, Frankie's sick too, and so wants her momma 24-7. I came down with a severe sore throat on Tuesday afternoon that felt like strep. Chris came home from work early on Wednesday, and I went to the Doctor, which was a complete waste of time. It took 2 hours in total, and the resident that I saw (please, no offense to the residents who read this blog and whom I love, I would have gladly seen any of you) was a complete moron. So I went home with instructions to gargle salt water, wishing I'd saved my $20 co-pay and taken a nap instead.

Turns out I don't have strep, which is a good thing, but the virus we've had instead has been a dosey. Frankie's temperature spiked yesterday at 102, so she's definitely fighting something herself. We both seem better today, but it's been exhausting to try and take care of a sick child and myself. I have many close friends here who were more than happy to help, but I haven't wanted to expose anyone to this, so we've just been surviving. My house is a mess, I feel behind at work and in my class, but I have to keep remembering that this too shall pass.

Sick baby

Who says Bumbos are just for babies?

In case you were wondering, 31/2 year-olds and 8-month olds can still fit in Bumbo chairs. These two chairs are in our church nursery, and Elizabeth and Frankie were trying them out.

Frankie loves her "big sister" Elizabeth so much! No one can make her laugh the way Elizabeth can!

Arson

Okay, so the 9-year-old boy next door has stepped over the line. The other week he was playing with his mom's lighter: setting pieces of paper on fire and flinging them from his bathroom window into the alleyway between our houses (which mind you, is only about three feet wide). He caught his own window sill on fire, and some things in the alleyway. This resulted in the Cambridge Fire being there in about two seconds flat (bless them), closing off our street, and investigating the situation. He admitted to what he'd done (not without some stern talking to from the firemen that this was a serious situation), and it's on the books as arson. This means that the fire department has to do an investigation, the police department, and DSS since it was a minor who set the fire.

Having the street shut down by two fire trucks on a Sunday evening at 8:30 PM brought out many of the neighbors, and we all started piecing together our grievances against this child. We realized our collective story about him was more serious than any of us had realized, and I think I'm relieved that DSS is going to get involved - maybe he'll get the help he needs. The Fire Chief was very concerned about the other incidents we were sharing with him, and encouraged us to call the police and create a record any time we saw something suspicious. We have begun to do this, starting with the bike that showed up in our backyard (that we know he put back there and was probably stolen). The police came and collected it.

We've also talked with several of the other neighbors, and are renewing our efforts collectively to set some boundaries with him. For example, if we catch him in any of our yards to reprimand him, and contact the owner. It's hard, because the kid clearly needs people who care about him, but he also clearly needs boundaries and discipline. While we're not the ones primarily responsible for disciplining him, we can at least discipline him when it concerns our property. At this point too, it's not just for his sake, but our own safety.

Sigh. I had hoped we had a few more years left before he turned into a real threat.

Nathanael, what do I do with this block?

As with everything else, Frankie, we put it in our mouths.

Frankie at 8 months

Okay, so this post is about three weeks past due, but I wanted to post pictures of Frankie's 8 month photo shoot:



Where to begin? At 8 months this is what Frankie's up to:

• She's got a tooth! And it appears that the another one of the bottom and the top front teeth are on their way.
• She's crawling with the best of them. Okay, so she can't keep up with Nathanael, but I think we can finally call what she's doing proper crawling - she's past the army crawl stage.
• She's starting to cruise - I think that's the term - where she pulls herself up (usually with a little help), and takes steps while holding on to furniture (and Mommy perched nervously behind her ready to catch her).
• She can move from her crawl position to a sit, which, when she first figured out how to do, resulted in several sleepless nights for all of us. She'd get in a sitting position in her crib, and then forgot how to get back down, so would cry until we came and rescued her.
  
• She can wave, which sometimes she does at perfect strangers.
• Her favorite foods are Cheerios, yogurt and oatmeal, green beans, and apples.
• She is a very deliberate child. My dad noticed this when he was visiting, and it's one of the things I want to remember about Frankie at this age. Maybe she's always be deliberate, but at least right now she doesn't like to do something until she's sure of herself. She'll try it, and work on it, she's just careful about it.
  
• She likes her personal space. This one cracks me up. The two other babies she spends the most time with, Nathanael and Hannah, love to grab at Frankie's head, arms, legs, socks, whatever they can reach. Frankie gets really mad when they do this. Hannah's not crawling yet, and Frankie has figured out how to quickly move in, grab the toy Hannah's playing with, and crawl away before Hannah can lick her forehead (Hannah's preferred method of 'playing' with Frankie).
• She can find the one item on the floor that she shouldn't put in her mouth and put in her mouth. How do kids do this?
  

Frankie's favorite cheese is Brie, which turns into a sticky paste after she's been trying to pick it up for a while. Notice how she's gotten clumps of it all over her cup, and then cheerios have stuck to the Brie. It reminds me of one of those home-made bird feeders we used to make as kids that were pine cones covered in peanut butter and then rolled in bird seed (that really just went straight in the squirrels' bellies)

New Hampshire '07

We went to New Hampshire a few weeks ago with my parents. We did lots of hiking, resting, eating, and sewing. It was a beautiful week - not a drop of rain, and the trees were in full color.


Maisy probably had the best time of all


New baby backpack for Frances


Nonnie and Pawpaw

Enjoying the fall leaves

A scenic trainride in North Conway

Maisy dog was welcome on the train - woof!

We had to keep a good hold on her during the ride to make sure she didn't try to jump out and run after any chippys she saw along the way.

Riding the train was tiring...

For everyone!

We're back!

I apologize, loyal friends and family for the long gap in blog postings (a whole month, sheesh!). We've been busy this past month, and Frankie has made some significant developmental strides.

The first of which is that she is now crawling. She's still slow, and it takes her a lot of effort to stay upright for a few steps, but she's doing it. Here's a video of the precursor to the real crawl, the scoot, or what Heather labeled as the army crawl:



She is also waving, playing peek-a-boo herself (video coming shortly), loves to feed herself finger foods, and is making more and more intelligible noises (like ma-ma and da-da). She also sometimes noticeably mimicking the words we say, which always makes me really excited. I don't think they count as words yet, but the sound awfully close. She is known to sometimes parrot "Hello" (sounds like eh-do), and "Night Night".

More pictures and stories to come!

The Tech Shuttle

On the mornings that I go to work, I drop Frankie off at Heather's and take the MIT Tech Shuttle over to the other side of campus where my office is.

Riding the Tech Shuttle is usually what you would expect -- students wearing I Love Math t-shirts, discussing experiment results on the way to the lab; although sometimes you get a little more for your money.

For example, during finals week last May, two students got on (separately) who were in the same class and on their way to their final. It was apparently open book, and so they both brought large rolling suitcases full of books to take with them. I don't know how they thought they could possibly sift through that many books during the final for an elusive answer, but you have to love them for fulfilling our stereotypes of MIT undergrads.

This morning the bus was driven by a man in his mid-forties, and I distinctly heard him tell some students to "Chill Out" as they got off the bus and thanked him for their ride. It seemed like maybe he read an article from 10 years ago on how to relate to the college kids by speaking their lingo.

Nerd Pride, baby.

Travels

How many family members and friends can we visit in one trip? That was the question we set out to answer when we went down the SC last week.

We started out in Columbia:

Lunch with Uncle Matthew:

A swim with Gracie, Uncle Matthew's girlfriend:

Gammie and Grandad:


Then it was off to TN to visit extended family.

First a stop in NC to visit with my grandparents:

Great-grandpa and Nana:

Great Aunt Nancy's lanyard is wonderful for chewing on:


We made it to TN to visit with Great-Gammie:

Great Grandaddy:

Great Aunt Ginger:

And.. Great Uncle Michael (who isn't sure how he feels about being "Great Uncle", so we decided it meant just a really great uncle.)


Finally to the lake! We met up with some of our friends from college at a lakehouse in SC.

Sam and Frankie hang out on the "beach". Mostly red clay and rocks, but still fun to play in.

The only clear shot I got of Micah all week. He's a blur in the other photos.

Haley and Jessica make the squinty face on the boat:


Sam pushes Frankie in the Tot Rider II. Frankie loved the walker her Gammie got for her to use while she was down there.

A fun game of "el gato":

Gretchen, 8 months pregnant, getting on the jet ski