Who doesn't love November? One of my favorite months, of sure, especially since the past couple of years our friends from Florida have come up for Thanksgiving. This year we made sure to take the whole week off to spend it with them. With their 2 little ones, and my sister's little ones, we had 6 kids aged 5 and under that needed to be entertained.
So, road trip! First up was Mammoth Caves National Park, which was a whole day trip to eastern Kentucky. We left the little girls and took just the boys. It was a couple hour drive of snack-giving, toy-sharing, game-playing, are-we-there-yet question-answering and a quick Cracker Barrel breakfast before our tour. Friend Ryan had been studying caves so it was a great way to roll in some educational fun into their vacation. We took the Frozen Niagara tour, which takes visitors to the most decorated areas of the caves. We saw lots of stalactites and stalagmites and the tour length was just right for 4 & 5 year old attention spans. Highlights for the boys were the bus ride to the cave entrance, the cave crickets (which look like spiders on the ceiling), turning the lights out inside the cave, and asking our guide questions (including can you turn the lights out again). Our ranger was very patient and kind when their little hands kept shooting up to ask a question, and I was quite proud of them for their thoughtful (and relevant!) inquiries.
Ready to go
Some of the draperies down below
The natural cave entrance
Inside the house there's only so much room for running around, and boys need space! We took them to an apple orchard on a cooold day, but these kiddos stayed warm by all the climbing and jumping.
And speaking of jumping, we tried out Sky Zone another day, and that was so fun! Even Sam had a great time running across all the trampolines and even took a dive in the foam block pit. Adam wants to wear his special trampoline socks just about every day.
And we filled up all the in-between times with plenty of playing, dressing up, and birthday pancakes for Stella's 3rd birthday.
Oh, and of course, the main event, Thanksgiving itself: 1 fried turkey, 1 roasted turkey, 1 smoked turkey breast and 24 people!
In some ways he seems much younger than this because of the language delay, but even without his words he's becoming such an independent little man with his own clear personality. He can be determined and persistent, he can be sweet and lovey, he can be rough and tumble, he can be one of the crowd or go off on his own.
Right after his birthday he started throwing impressive fits -- the whole dramatic throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-writhe-around routine that I just found fascinating! We put a stop to that quickly but, really, it was quite a sight from our calm little man!
And since he's turned 2 I feel like I approach him differently, like less of a baby and more of a toddler.
So here's the latest from Sam:
He knows his numbers and letters, can identify animals and sounds, has quite the vocabulary. We are working on counting, colors and shapes. It's important that we continue to teach him things even though he is not speaking at the moment.
Knows his tongue, head, belly, eyes, ears, mouth, knees, toes, hands. One fun trick is to ask him where his hand is, and he'll pull his long-sleeved shirt over his hand and then "reveal" his hand.
Consistent sounds -- nananana, mamamamama, d-Uhhh!, tatatata, hotttt (whispered), occasionally a dada dada, ada-ada, oooo, bababa, and ssssss
Most of his communication is through sounds made in his throat, something I refer to as a Tarzan sound. My Dad is convinced that this is his own special language, and it may be. He has definite sounds that mean yes and no. Adam can now identify them and will say, "I think that he said Yes." His No is a definitely grunt noise and quite clear.
He has 20-30 signs, including eat, please, more, dog, bath, bed, shoes, mom, dad, all done, fan, thank you, car, bear, book, airplane, milk, cookie, cracker, moon, cold, bike, excited, go, tree and apple. He only uses a few of the signs with any real intention; he mostly just shows you them when asked.
Guess who loves baths now! Not sure what changed but he now runs to the tub when you tell him it's time. He'll tip his head up to wash his hair and also happily allows you to brush his teeth without complaint.
We switched him to a toddler bed because twice he leaned over his crib and fell out. Many nights he climbs in to bed but as soon as the door closes he hops back out to play a little in the dark room before going back to bed (or falling asleep on the floor, usually). In the mornings he wakes and plays in his room until we get him. (However, he is mastering turning the door knob...)
Sam is now pointing at things he wants. This is a milestone and a nice progression to his language development. We added some pictures to the pantry door, and he has started pointing to, say, raisins, and we'll give him raisins.
Doing well with his spoon and fork manipulation. Need to work more on open cup drinking.
New favorite toy is a battery-powered 4-wheeler that he can ride. This was given to Adam at the same age and he was terrified of it. Sam jumps on it and rides it around the basement. Steering could use some practice. He also loves anything with balls or marbles. And playing with phones or iPads. In fact, is quite insistent about having them when he sees them.
He shakes is head No, another developmental milestone
He still loves physical activities, especially wrestling with us or Adam. He recently learned how to do somersaults.
Most nonverbal communication involves grabbing our hand and pulling us to what he wants/needs. He can be strong and pushy when he tries to get you to move somewhere.
Really enjoys books (and really likes bending the spines backwards on them). He'll just stare at the sight word books in fascination. He's getting better at sitting with us and reading books, too.
We've started to encourage more pretend play, like feeding a teddy bear or pretending to drink from a cup.
2-year stats: Head 49.9 cm, Length 34.25" (56%), Weight 25.2 lbs (16%). Our 9-lb newborn is really not that far off from Adam at the same age -- less than a pound heavier, less than an inch shorter, head slightly bigger.
We are just enjoying him so much! We had a Mickey Mouse birthday party for him with family to celebrate. He was not a fan of the lit candle and proceeded to backhand it, which sent it rolling across the table. Suffice it to say, there was no blowing out the candles this year. That's ok, we have enough wishes for this little boy.
Happy 2nd Birthday, little one. We love you oodles!
you know you're behind on updating about our Autumn. It was a really pretty Fall this year, and we did so many things to enjoy the weather.
Evans Apple Orchard
With Aunt Amy and family and Grandpa Dave on perhaps the hottest day of the season -- Adam was a sweaty, dirty mess by the end but had so much fun. We never actually left the play area to go to the orchard itself.
Horse-Daze
This is a really neat event annually held by the county parks system. It features all kinds of horse-related activities and games, including horse rides, horse grooming, an equestrian course for kids to jump themselves, face painting, a hayride, food and more. The event raises money for the public horse trails around the county.
Pumpkin Run & Fall Festival
We'd been looking for a 5k for Adam to do, as part of the mile-per-year plan Michael has for Adam. Last year, when Adam was 3 years old, he ran his first 5k. Three years, three miles. This year we needed a four mile race, which don't really exist, but we found a small community 5k that also had a 1-mile family walk. The Pumpkin Run is sponsored by the local YMCA and was held in the quaint river town of Franklin, Ohio.
First up was the Family Walk, and Michael and Adam headed out quickly. Sam was itching to get out of his stroller so I let him loose on the course as well and he pretty much completed the distance all on his own. Following this race was the Pumpkin Run with several costumed participants. Aunt Angie and Kevin joined us for this race. I pushed Sam and Michael ran with Adam. Four miles completed all on his own!
Following the race was the town's Fall Festival with street food, craft vendors, kid rides and presentations by local groups. It was a perfect Fall day to be outside enjoying the event, and cousin Jake was able to come play with us.
Halloween
Halloween snuck up on me this year, and once again I was staying up late to finish Adam's Halloween costume. He'd wanted to be a mummy for a long tim but the closer the day came he kept changing his mind. I made the final decision for him and threw together a mummy costume using liner fabric I had on hand, ripped it up and dyed it with tea, and attached it to a t-shirt and pants. For Sam, we recycled the frog costume Adam wore at the same age.
We had tickets to go see Garth Brooks in concert Rupp Arena at 10:30 Halloween night, so we drove down to Lexington to join the cousins for trick-or-treating before the show.
Mother Nature didn't tell Autumn that her season was over before the first snow fall came mid-November (4 inches!), and we lost a tree in our yard due to the weight of the snow and ice on tree branches that still had leaves.
Our November ended quite busy with Sam's birthday (2!) and an active Thanksgiving week with friends from Florida. Posts on those to come!
So for the last couple of years Michael has done this relay race called the Bourbon Chase. It takes place in Kentucky along the famous Bourbon Trail; it is a 12-person team, 200-mile continuous race. Last year my sister Angie participated and kept telling me how fun it was and that I had to join the team this year. I didn't know which sounded worse -- the idea of running in the dark along country roads alone in the wee hours of the morning with a headlamp or enduring broken sleep in the back of a van. But hey, they are all fun people and I can be talked into anything. Sign me up!
This is how it works -- Each team has 2 vans of 6 runners. Van 1 (ours) runs 6 legs, then Van 2 takes over while Van 1 rests and recovers. We cheer our runner at the start of the leg, drive the 5-7 miles to the next exchange spot and waited for him/her there. Then we sit and talk and check emails and take a nap and hydrate and eat and use the port-a-potty and debate the weather and running apparel, and then our next runner gets warmed up and prepped. When we see our runner we are there to greet him and cheer the next one of us on the start of the next leg. And we do it all over again. After 5 or 6 hours of this we meet up with our other van and pass off to them for the next 6 legs.We alternate 3 times with each runner running 3 legs over the course of 200 miles.
Van 1 consisted of me and Michael, my sister Angie, Michael's brother Kevin and his wife Jenny, and Michael's cousin Matthew. Our teammates in the other van consisted of my sister Kim, dear friend Rich, 2 running friends of Rich, and our last-minute replacements that, God love them, volunteered to participate and spend 36 hours with complete strangers! They were awesome and a fun addition to that van.
Race morning (Friday) started out at the Jim Beam Distillery. It's a staggered start with 10 teams going off every 10 minutes. Team Maker's Made Me Do It (that's us!) was one of the first teams at 7am.
Starting from Jim Beam Distillery, much of the run is along remote country roads that go between the distilleries on the Bourbon Trail (the long way around) through some of the most picturesque landscapes Kentucky has to offer. And, oh, Kentucky has hills to offer as well! Some legs have rolling hills and others have steep inclines that are so sharp that you can't even run down them. There was a disadvantage to every leg, whether the hills or distance or random dogs or traffic and city sidewalks. And rain. All of us had at least 1 run in the rain.
At the end of the first 6 legs we made it to Maker's Mark, which is so beautiful and fascinating and worth the visit even if you don't drink the stuff. Maker's is also a highlight because it's the first Van Exchange point and one of the few times we meet up with Van 2 and have our whole team all together.
Our second set (legs 13-18) began after 7 at night and wouldn't wrap up until 1:30 in the morning. Our bodies ached as we donned reflective vests, blinky lights and head lamps and opted for the best wet-weather gear we had, which was pretty futile because we were all soaked to the skin by the end of our legs. Fortunately, though, the temperature was perfect for running and even with the rain we weren't cold during the outings, just while waiting for them to begin.
click to enlarge
The course is marked with signs signaling turns and designating 1 mile to go, but take it from me, it's best to study the course prior to your leg so you don't, hypothetically, take a wrong turn and end up on another leg headed out of town at 12:30 in the morning and run an extra 1.5 miles trying to get back to where you're supposed to be. Just saying.
During our breaks from the race we try to get fed and rested as much as we can. The first break we found an Applebee's for lunch, then tried to nap in the van until it's our turn again. During our second break in the wee hours of the morning we actually drove back to Lexington to crash at a house for 2 hours and dry our clothes before heading back out there. After our final set we grabbed lunch, a shower and much appreciated and needed nap before greeting our team at the finish line to run it in together Saturday evening.
I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't alway fun. My runs were challenging, my quads ached and my body was stiff, and waiting around in a van for hours made me question what everyone else saw in this race. But sometime along those 34 hours my opinion changed. Maybe it was the drama and excitement (and later hilarity) of me getting lost, or my 7-mile final leg along horse farms into Woodford Reserve, or maybe it was the race finish atmosphere in downtown Lexington.
Whatever it was, it's enough to have me already committed to next year's race. But maybe with hill training next time. And van decorations. And coordinated costumes. And a finishing stunt.
As for Jenny, well, this pretty much sums up her decision to return:
Interval
Start Time of Day
Split
Split Pace
Overall Rank
Legs 1-6
7:30:16AM
06:01:18
10:50 min/mi
375/386
Legs 7-12
1:31:34PM
05:40:22
09:36 min/mi
305/386
Legs 13-18
7:11:55PM
06:18:52
11:42 min/mi
359/386
Legs 19-24
1:30:47AM
05:05:41
09:34 min/mi
278/386
Legs 25-30
6:36:27AM
06:12:13
11:15 min/mi
378/386
Legs 31-36
12:48:40PM
5:00:39
Total
5:49:20PM
34:19:05
379/386
12 Runners
200 Miles
7 Distilleries
October 10-11, 2014
Bourbon Chase
Jim Beam • Four Roses • Wild Turkey • Heaven Hill • Woodford Reserve • Maker's Mark • Town Branch
