New Cousins Meet

Just before we left for Florida, we had an opportunity to meet up with Jess, Stalin, and Jahan; Jack, Francesca and Claudia. 

Jahan and Camila were born within 2 weeks of one another.  It was pretty special to see the babies together... they barely interact at this ageexcept for grabbing at eachothers toys or toes or whatever is closest!

Liv and Auntie Claudia had a good time playing together...

It was too short a visit -- I didn't take nearly enough pictures -- and I really hope we can do it again before Jess and her family head back home to India.

Fourth of July Family Vacation

The Ruoss clan got together for a fun family vacation over the independence day holiday.

We all stayed at Wayne's family lake house - the perfect setting for this crowd!

(left to right) Camila Ruoss, Chase Sanders, Summer Pfeiffer, Ashley Sanders, Olivia Ruoss, Colin Sanders, Ethan Pfeiffer

 

Everyday we played at the beach and in the water (Liv's practice at the reservoir the week before paid off!). It was lovely white sand, shallow warm water - perfect for spending the day all wet!

There were piles of sand toys and chairs, in addition to the super fun jetskis, and the great boat for towing and cruising.

We had a fun birthday celebration for Chase who turned 15.

Excellent bbq, loads of balloons, cake, and lots of friends.

Luna got to gum on a cob.

Liv enjoyed her first hotdog with her cousins.

Sure, there was more rain than usual (thanks, Hurricane Alex) - but it kept us from getting too hot or sunburned. Here's a crowd of kids having a sword fight with nerf swords! Too Fun!

Everyone knows the best way to get a 2 year-olds attention: (the tv remote, and) Bubbles!

Tubing was a favorite activity for the big kids.

Here's Roger and Chris really playing hard!

Even the little ones got a ride!

Woo - Hoo!!

A wagon ride home from the beach.

Happy Kid.

Liv Pics

Summer kid!

 Liv has a couple new additions on the patio... a new cardboard cottage and... a pool!

This morning as he was headed out to play in a golf tournament, Jeff mentioned that it was going to be over 90 degrees today!  OMG! "Liv, let's get dressed, we're going to the store." (I had seen a little inflatable pool at CVS for cheap - and was kicking myself for not buying it on the spot.) 

It was the perfect fun for a hot day... hooray! 

My little helper!

I took the girls to a "nearby" lake the other day - quite the adventure. I admit, it was a little stressy to go somewhere new with all the beach, picnic paraphenalia solitas, But we mananaged (quite well) and it was so worth it! Liv "practiced swimming" (wading) all on her terms. It was really pretty cool to watch. I had set her up with her toys in a shady spot in the sand; she asked to go down to the water. She sat on the water's edge and threw pebbles for a while. Then walked in up to her ankles. Back out. Back in 1/2 way up to her knees, back out. Back in up to her knees, back out. -- and she'd make little comments to me (to herself): "It's not cold. Its just right." "it's not deep. it's just right." "it's just sand, it's nice." When she got up to her belly. she invited me to join her: "You can come here, with me, if you want... it's not too deep." When she got comfortable with that she'd walk away from me. Once, she stumbled and got her face wet. She gasped, eyes wide! ...stood right up, walked out of the water, sat down on the sand looking nervous, then marched right back in to where she had been. I was so proud! She kept at this little routine in/out, in/out, in/out a little deeper each time, claiming "I need to practice." "It's not scarey, it's fun." It's not too deep, it's just right." The only coaching I gave was that when you get in past your belly you need to take small careful steps. She had one other scarey moment when she was in to her shoulders and got knocked off balance by a boat wake, and was up on her tip-toes, chin way up and just barely keeping her face out of the water... she might have even gotten dunked a little but I was two steps away and told her "I'm coming, here's Mommy, I'm here." and pulled her (with my one free hand that wasn't holding Camila) to slightly shallower water. She was so brave! She stayed right there in the water, composed herself and kept on with her game. It was great to watch her build her skills and confidence.

Varmint Hunter

So, we have this lovely landscaping that we spent a pile of money on... and dozens of squirrels, gophers, moles, rabbits, and deer that think it's a salad bar! 

Jeff's father's day gift was a pellet rifle - with a scope! Better watch out, Varmints!

Camila Luna at 5 Months

Luna is almost 5 months old. 

We had a visit with her pediatrician last week.  She's 2-foot, 2-inches and almost 16 pounds (in the 90th/95th percentile for baby girls her age.  Good Grief!) She got another pile of vaccines, but got over the shock pretty quickly this time. (There's a whooping cough outbreak in CA these days - we're happy to have our kids vaccinated - the dr. recommended that we as parents consider a pertussis booster (often included with tetanus, these days).)

And we talked about solid foods. New science shows that introducing certain foods earlier or later does not have much (if anything) to do with allergies ... so it's all free game: strawberries, stone fruit, wheat, eggs, etc. and they're not pushing that boring rice cereal anymore.  Great news! So, we continue to follow Camila's lead, and let her try the flavors and textures that we're eating. Here she is gumming a stalk of asparagus!!

 

She adores Liv and lights up whenever she sees her. It's a delight to witness. 

She's getting chattier, always wants to join in the conversation "lah, lah, lah. rah, rah rah."

And now she's starting to scoot around on the floor. She made it almost all the way across the bedroom to me this evening! Whoa!

It's fun to watch these things develop!

Making the Bed

I remember this being a favorite event when I was little, too.

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What wonderful little "helpers" Mommy has!

Napping

Napping has been a challenge for us (pretty much always...). Neither of my girls seems to want to miss a thing and fights sleep like the enemy. I probably haven't really taken "sleep training" seriously enough. 

But that said, we're working on it now.  Ideally, they will nap at the same time -- at least for a while.

The only way I can pull this off -- right now -- is to lie down with each (or both) of them. But it worked! And I had almost two hours, in the middle of the day!!! HOLY CRAP!

These baby days are so precious... I am so blessed to have these moments! 

Thanks for sharing them with us!