July 2012

Lukas stands up, speaks out

On July 3, Lukas figured out how to pull himself up to standing -- and with that, his reach increased vertically, so that very little remains safe from Mr. Grabby McGrabberson. Around the same time, he graduated from random gurglings to actual vocal sounds, e.g. “muh muh muh,” much more wordlike than before, and seemed to really enjoy the sound of his own voice. Heh. 

Real live neiblings of their Uncle Sam

We didn’t have Grandma and Grandpa with us for the Fourth this year, but we did have the neighborhood parade, this time with the foresight to bring something to put the candy haul in. Lukas slept in his stroller while Annika just about went out of her mind with excitement over the floats and the candy. The theme was “Games,” so there were a lot of board games, a likely-unofficial pickup truck representing Drinking Games, etc.; the highlight for Annika was the little cheapo medal hung around her neck by a guy from the Olympic Games float. After the parade was an afternoon of swimming and grilling, then watching the illegal ordnance display by pretty much everyone in this part of the city. 

A visit to the hair salon

It had been about a year since Annika had her one and only haircut, out on the deck, and what with all the swimming this summer, the ends were a little ragged. So for a little adventure, I took her to my salon and got her a haircut and blow dry; the ladies there made a HUGE fuss over her, gave her cookies, held Lukas while I hung out with her, and made it a lot of fun all around. I think we can do the maintenance ourselves, but every once in awhile, it’ll be fun to get her a pro cut. 

A summer dance class

Just for something different to do, and because Annika loves her dance class at Harmony so much, I signed her up for a little mini-session (four classes) of beginner ballet and tap at the library/community center. We had to buy shoes for this one, so since I was planning on starting her at a real dance class in the fall, we also got a leotard and tights while we were at it. It was a pretty hilarious class -- 45 minutes, unserious, kids in all manner of dancewear -- followed by us sitting down for a doughnut and milk at the little coffee bar in the building, and it quickly became the highlight of her week. 

The Olympics begin

With the TV outside, we were ready to log some quality time watching the Olympics. We let Annika stay up for most of the opening ceremonies (and seriously regretted that the next day, ugh), then spent a lot of time out on the deck with it on in the background. She loved the swimming, quickly becoming a Michael Phelps fan, but haaaated water polo and volleyball of all kinds and kept asking for more opening ceremonies whenever they were on. She also got really into the running events, including running races around the house and across the deck and such, figuring she was just pretty much almost as fast as Usain Bolt, but “maybe a little bit not as fast because he’s a grownup.” She decided early on that silver medals were the prettiest, and that the REAL winner would get a silver medal, not a gold one.