Catch-up week

I am looking at the pictures that I haven't put on the blog yet and it seems like they were taken at least a month ago, but it has only been two weeks.  Time is funny.

First up; graduation!  We were so happy to have Mark, Paula, Jessie, and Daniel there.  Here we are at the School of Public Health ceremony. 

 Drew was not so thrilled with the color choice for the public health master's students hoods.  They are salmon.  I thought it was perfect, since we only have to drive about 10 minutes to watch our native cohos, sockeyes, chinooks, and chums migrating up the fish ladders!

We had the "Best Cuban Meat Sandwich in America" (says Esquire Magazine in 2008) from Paseo for lunch.  So. Much. Meat.  But ever so tasty!  We looked over Lake Union while we munched, then skipped some rocks while we waited for the next ceremony to start.  Here's Drew taking Vivi to the water:

The kids were very good for Drew's department's ceremony.  When they introduced Drew, Vivi started walking up the isle toward him, so she is in the department picture.  It was only fitting, since his classmates have always considered her the department mascot. 

We are very proud of our graduate!

After graduation, we headed to Leavenworth.  It's a Bavarian themed tourist village in the Cascades.  We stayed in some really nice condos at the Icicle Resort.  Here is Papa Mark multi-tasking, but in a most relaxing way!

There were lots of fun things that we would have liked to do there if we could have stayed longer.  We did have a chance to splash in the pool and try out Vivi's new suit.  

We visited the fish hatchery and took a stroll down the nature trail.  Then we had brats at the Munchen Haus for lunch.  Vivi liked it, especially her German pretzel with cheese sauce.  How German people manage to keep from weighing 500 pounds is beyond me. 

There are lots of fun shops in Leavenworth.  Drew found me a floor puzzle of the human body!  He knows me well.  We also stopped by The Cheesemonger and sampled many delicious cheeses.  They had coconut gouda . . . it was pretty amazing.  And made me think of She's the Man.  We had delicious crepes at Pavz, listened to some yodeling in the town square, then headed home.  It was such a fun weekend, everyone was rather worn out the next few days. 

And now we are back to life as usual!  Drew is finishing up his paper and taking trips out to the Navy base at Bremerton in his spare time.  We are still waiting to hear where and when we will go next. 

The children are unfazed by our lack of knowledge concerning our future.  Rafe is content to explore his immediate surroundings and learn new skills.

Sitting

Changing emotions in rapid sequence:

Grabbing and batting

Socializing

 Vivien is not to be outdone by the baby.

Sitting and putting on chapstick at the same time wearing pig ears she put on herself

Showing Rafe the parrots crinkly wings and wearing pants she put on herself

Lying on the couch, swaddled.  She has her baby skills mastered.

She is working on skills of her own too.  Specifically (and terrifyingly), potty training!

She's doing surprisingly well.  Today, she walked to the toilet without being prompted, took off her training pants, put the "bear chair" (her training seat) on the toilet, mounted, peed, got off, put her pants back on, and hung up her training seat all by herself!  She likes to get high-fives for her efforts and brag about her accomplishments to Nana, Grandma Paula, and Daddy.  She seems exhilarated to be learning a new skill and wearing big girl panties.

She is getting better at only trying to pick up Rafe when Mom is around to help, but she still has her moments.  She can now open the door to Rafe's bedroom by herself.  I was in the middle of carving this watermelon for a baby shower I hosted this week:

 when Drew walked into Rafe's room to discover Vivien doing this:

She'd climbed into the pack and play while Rafe was taking a nap and moisturized his face for him with copious amounts of Aquaphor.  He seemed to take it pretty well.

She's also learning to separate food she wants to eat now from food she wants to eat later.

And she likes lettuce as long as there's something to dip it in.  This is straight sour cream:

And, she's talking like a champ.  Here are her favorite phrases right now:

-"Sit down!" (she says it to herself when she's standing on her high chair.  She gives herself very good advice, but she seldom ever follows it . . .)

-"Look at me!" (said either while holding a camera or looking through small holes, like in the center of a DVD)

-"Want more ___"

-"Hi, how're you doing?" (said with my phone to her ear)

-"See ya later!" (whenever anyone leaves, or to her poop right before she flushes the toilet)

-"How 'bout" (I say this when I'm trying to distract her from things that are making her upset.  How 'bout you play with this?)

-"Here you go!"

The other day I took a sample of what her "nap-time" sounds like.  It is long.  You should only listen to it if you are doing something else.  It's the cutest background noise there is :)

 And now I'm caught up!

We love you!