Reade (Five Months)

At 5 Months I:
* Can roll over! I started rolling from my tummy to my back.
* Blow raspberries
* Stopped spitting up
* Sleep from 9pm-11:30pm and then wake up every one to two hours from then on out
* Can sit up on my own, but not reliably
* Crack up when I see my brother
* Hate being put down
* Play in my walker
* Really like to watch other people eat
* Still need to be swaddled
* Can be held by anybody
* Can put my whole fist in my mouth
* Love to watch TV
* Enjoy swinging in park swings
* Got to meet, enjoy, and say goodbye to my wonderful great grandfather

Check out my Four Month photo.

Away

I have been meaning to upload tons of photos and videos, but my energy levels have been so low since getting over this cold. I drove up to Sacramento to spend some time with my Nana and uncle so uploading photos is out of the question. At least I can attempt to blog with cell phone pictures!

Blake on Grammie and Papa's front step:


Getting bigger:


We try out a new park every time we are in Sac. This one was just okay:

TV

My neighbor watched Reade for an hour and a half while I took Blake to a pumpkin patch. We spent some good, quality time together. That means I get to spend the rest of the day watching TV right? My kids are both napping so I watched all three episodes of Outsourced on NBC.com. Hilarious. Try it out!

Let The Seasons Begin

I never liked Halloween until I had kids to share it with. You would think all of those scary decorations would scare Blake, but he always screams out for one more lap down the spooky aisle. He now calls Target the Halloween store.

I have the kids' cold so things have been even slower around here.

Weather

I wish there were more lightning and thunderstorms where I live. Blake gets a subscription to High Five and I could have killed them the other day. The title of one of the poems was "Scary Storm" and showed a child huddled in his room afraid of the storm outside his window. I promptly sat Blake down in front of the computer and showed him video after video on YouTube about how fantastic lightning and thunder really is. I really should be a storm chaser!

Being brave:




Both of my kids came down with colds so we have been lounging around the house for the last few days. I am still in my jammies (it is 2:35pm) because Blake woke up every time Reade woke up (every two hours) and cried his little eyes out. Just when I was going to start sleep training!

Century Ride

Andrew completed his first century bike ride. It was the Grizzly Century in North Fork (about 30 minutes from his parent's house). He rode 100 miles over a 10,000 foot elevation gain. It took him eight hours to complete and he was tired and a bit light headed at the end. Good job Andrew! You can see a map of the ride here.

He took these pictures:

About 1500' up the first climb.

Sunrise over the hill.


Riding:


Andrew paired up with the guy in the front. He said it was nice to have someone roughly the same skill level riding with him to keep him motivated. A bee stung the guy on the thigh 20 miles in so he had to ride in pain while his thigh cramped up for the last 70 miles:


At Mile high lookout, time for a rest stop after another 50' or so more vertical feet.


The last bit up to the Mile High Lookout:


The view of Mammoth Pools from Mile High Lookout. This view is well worth the 27 mile bike ride to get there.


A close up on the domes in the distance. Our route took us up to the left of them to add some elevation and distance. We ended up descending most of the way to the water, then back up behind and above the rocks, then back down to the water, then across the hills back towards Bass Lake.


More Mammoth Pools shots.


Refueling at the rest stop:


Lunch at 9:30am is good when you've been up since 5:30am.


Andrew ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of California rolls:


Notice there are no photos from the first rest stop to the summit. It got a lot harder, the elevation makes your legs burn way more than doing this at sea level. This photo was taken at the highest point of the ride. Just after this photo, I got another rest stop, and then the next 12 miles was a 4500' descent at about 30mph. Way fun.


Another great accomplishment and adventure. He isn't quite sure if he will attempt this exact race again anytime soon.

Turntable

Rummage sales rock. I made sure I arrived early just so I could snatch up the good stuff. I got the turntable for $15 and went home expecting to plug the thing in and rock my heart out. Turns out, my Onkyo receiver doesn't have a phono hook up so I had to order a preamp. The preamp arrived in the mail and now my system is complete. It is fabulous and I can't wait to head over to Rasputin Music on Monday to pick up some vintage vinyl. I look forward to buying some: Janet Jackson, Mamas and the Papas, Elvis, Madonna, and whatever fun stuff I come across. Blake loves the record player. We even danced like 8th graders together. Precious.