Cleansing the throat

A few weeks ago, Allie and I were drinking some A&W root beer. She thoroughly enjoyed it and pretty much drank the entire can by herself. The kids rarely get to partake of soft drinks, so I think it was a real treat for her. About 30 minutes after we finished our root beer, Allie asked for a drink of water. She said, "Daddy, may I have a drink of water to get rid of all this alcohol in my throat?" I tried not to laugh and her request, and instead asked her about the alcohol in her throat. Of course, she thought that root beer had alcohol in it because of the word "beer." Pretty smart, although she didn't question it while we were drinking it.

Rolling Over

Here is some old video of Lincoln first rolling over (from May 2009). Again, sound effects added.

Driving the car

Last month, we visited Jen's parents. Jack and Allie were outside playing together and decided to drive the kiddie car. Notice the amount of time each spends pushing the other in the car. I've added a few sound effects near the end, so don't be alarmed...

Long Live Oscar the Dog 09-30-09

Oscar, my parent's dog, was put to sleep today. He lived a long fruitful life, but he is in a better place now.

ABC musician

The other day, Jack set up a keyboard for himself and started to perform. His first song was a good ol' standby--The ABC song. Sorry for the poor lighting.

Crazy Eyes

Jack having some fun with his eyes.

Lincoln crawls

Here is some video of Lincoln starting to crawl the other day. Sorry about the lighting, but you should still be able to see it. Also, he is pretty good at "Army" crawling, where he uses his forearms to drag himself along. You can see that in this video too.

New music added - Aug 2009

Just to update those who care to know, I have uploaded four new songs to my ReverbNation player (check the left side of the page). The other songs are still there, just pushed down the playlist a little.

The first song is a medley of hymns that I arranged for performance at a church meeting this past week (entitled "Sunset Valley..."). The second, called "Samuel tells...," is a Christmas hymn that I arranged for a performance at a church meeting last winter (2008). The third, "Atlantis," is a original song that may not appeal to all, but I've included it for those who may find this type of song interesting. The fourth, "Walking Song," was written by me when Jack was first learning to walk--I'd like to say it helped him walk, but I have no evidence to prove it. All of the songs are not in their finished, professional condition, but I thought it would be nice to add a variety of new music to the player.

Thanks for listening. Comments and feedback are always welcome.
-Adam

Allie's First Two Days of Pre-K

Last week, Allie started pre-kindergarten at the elementary school near our neighborhood. She previously experienced daytime schooling when she attended a 3-hour, 4-day a week type of pre-K last school year.

The first few days of pre-K were only half-days in order to help the children acclimate to going to school every day. This week, however, is full-day pre-K (well, they finish in the early afternoon). Upon arriving home after the first day of class, Allie reported, in typical fashion, "It was boring." The next day was not so boring, but she did indicate that she is "tired of going to school." Later in the week, she did indicate that she is having fun and generally likes her school class. More reports to come, but we wanted to at least post a few pictures.

Allie's first foray into "swimming"

Tonight, Jen had a pool party with the young women from church. The party was at an apartment pool of one of the leaders and it was first come first serve. So, Jen and the kids got to the pool at about 5:30pm to "reserve" space for the 15 or so girls that would be coming later in the evening.

When I showed up to the pool at 6:00pm I saw that Jack and Allie had adhered themselves to a group of two young couples who were lounging at the pool. Allie latched on to a girl named Nicole, although every time she was asked what the girls name was, Allie couldn't remember. Allie was wearing arm floaties to help keep her from sinking under the water. Allie and Nicole played around for quite some time, all along Allie wanting to swim out into the middle of the pool by herself.

I finally wrestled the kids away so that the young couples could continue their lounging uninhibited by our children. The kids and I went to another part of the pool and wanted me to pull them around by their arms so they could be "swimming." I did this for a while and eventually Allie remembered that her new friend, Nicole, had told her to kick her legs if she wanted to swim. So Allie started kicking her legs like she was "riding a bicycle" (her words). She started to trust that the arm floaties would help keep her buoyant and kept kicking her legs. By this time I had let go of her and was sitting on the pool steps while Allie and Jack hung on to the sides of the pool. Allie eventually pushed herself away from the side of the pool, all of the while still kicking her legs and the next thing I knew she was in the middle of the pool..."swimming."

Allie was quite excited and started to swim laps around the pool. Oddly enough, she complained that her arms were tired, but that her legs were not yet tired. A few minutes later I caught Allie jumping off the side of the pool and bobbing back to the surface of the water after temporarily going under. I thought she would take a big gulp of water or something, but she did not. I was a bit surprised at Allie jumping off the side of the pool, but I guess I should not have been. She can be quite the daredevil with her body.

Anyhow, I just wanted to pass on a short story of Allie and her new found swimming technique. The kids are slated to go swimming again tomorrow at a friend's house, so Allie can continue practicing her "swimming."