Cold after cold

Our kids keep getting sick. First Maren had a cold, then I got it, then Linden got it, then Linden got an ear infection, then she had some vomiting episodes, then as soon as everyone was healthy Linden got a new cold  then Maren got it then Jeff got it. Miraculously, I have stayed healthy this round.  This new cold is really awful, and Linden has slept pretty terribly for the past number of nights, which means I have too.  But I think we are all headed toward healthy so hopefully sleep will improve soon too!

 I know it has been a few weeks since I posted, and plenty has happened in that time, but it’s hard to think back and remember what.  But  I can think back to the past couple of days,  and on Thursday Maren turned four years old!  She has turned into such a big girl. She is reading more and more, is a pro on her balance bike, and for her birthday we got her a real bicycle with training wheels.  She is just barely big enough for it and I think it will last her a while. Unfortunately I missed her first time out riding it, but Jeff says that she did really well and just has a little to learn about peddling.  At four years old Maren is independent, as stubborn/spirited  as ever,  getting better and better at figuring things out and solving problems, and is super into rainbows and rainbow colors.

 I have been terrible about taking photos on my phone the last few weeks, but here are a few recent ones:

Eating weeds

This was Linden this afternoon:

She is a good eater so far - she will try anything, even dandelion leaves. 

Last week was eventful. My mom visited, and we did lots of fun things. Here are a few photos from the past two weeks:

Sitting up!

Linden is sitting up on her own, quite well. It was a fairly sudden change, and she suddenly seems so much older! Sitting independently led us to green light a couple of things, namely trying food and going on the baby swing.

Food is fun for Linden, although  sometimes it seems she’s a bit frustrated. I think she would like to actually be satisfied by the food, but about 90% of what goes into her mouth (which is not much to start with) comes back out. She is learning to chew more than she is learning to swallow. But she is super interested, and brings every new food right to her mouth. So her introduction to food has been quite successful.

Maren’s favourite activity is swinging. I can hardly think of a time when she has stopped swinging on her own - it is almost always me or Jeff telling her she has to stop. But if first impressions mean anything, Linden will be even harder to pry off the swings. Maren’s first time on the swings she was a little unsure, and it took her a while to warm up to it. Not Linden - she was squealing and laughing the first time. So we could be in for some serious tantrums in the future.

Meanwhile,  The purple ball game never gets old, and in fact being able to sit up seems to have made it more exciting:

In her own words

Linden has a lot to say lately. Mostly it sounds like this:

This has basically been the soundtrack to our week :)

Sleep-deprived

My last post was titled "Teeth," but I completely failed to mention that Linden got her first two teeth. Chalk it up to sleep deprivation. Linden hasn't been sleeping well, but hopefully it is temporary, maybe related to teething.

Last week we took a trip to Cypress Hills. We stayed in a cabin, went hiking (I was on my trike), swam, made s'mores, and generally had a good time. Staying in a cabin worked much better for us than camping. I expect we will be taking that option for a while.

Maren and Linden are beginning to be able to play together - it is super fun to see how much they can make each other laugh. We tried to capture it on video, and of course missed the best of it, but here is our best attempt: