Schantz Family Photos: July 2008

Please Touch Museum...back again

We really love going here. Glad we got the membership! Hard to get pictures of Zach since I'm always wearing him in the Bjorn.

She is sitting in a boat in the second picture, waiting her turn to be the captain. In public with other people..she can be very patient and understanding. ;-)

These little shopping carts in the kid grocery store make me laugh. Usually it's smooth sailing...unless there are too many kids, thus ramming the carts into one another down the aisles.

We make it to the city and to this museum about 2x month and we like that we can get two friends in free with our membership (like what we did with the zoo last couple years). Then we walk around the pretty BIG water fountain park (Logan Circle) to meet Daddy there or closer to his office. It's an added treat to see him during the workday.

Caleigh

LOOK at those beautiful green eyes and curls! She is our precious (and precocious) daughter & we are so blessed.

SWEET Potatoes!

Zach appears to like food... and not just indicated by his substantial (but healthy and appropriate! ;-) weight, but by his enthusiastic arm flapping and smiles and coos when we bring a spoon near him. This raising kids stuff ain't so hard. (hahahahahaha.)

Here is Caleigh helping to entertain our little stoic (and I'm sure helping his digestion with all that belly laughing).

And one with Oma in it!

Oma made Caleigh a nightgown to match hers. But I didn't get a picture of that. Here is Oma with two of her grandkids (the others are way out in Indiana).

I love this over the shoulder look from Caleigh. And Zach looks so big 'standing' up on the play structure.

Caleigh and Oma and Jochen like to chase each other around the greenery/garden circle in their backyard. You can just see through the bushes, etc. so Caleigh usually laughs and peeks and laughs some more when they play chase. She also likes hide-and-seek but never wants to hide and usually follows the person trying to hide. It's a hoot. But we don't 'lose' her either!

Enjoying Oma's backyard

Caleigh and Zach enjoyed horsing around on Oma's BIG slide in her backyard. It was one of Zach's first trips down a slide and he seemed to be fearless! We are so thankful Caleigh is a good 'sharer' so far with her little brother. ;-)

This is an outfit Oma made for Caleigh. She is very excitable and we love laughing with her (and her big wide open mouth grins).

July 4th Family festivities

Caleigh and Great-grandpa playing. It was fun to watch them laugh together.

Zachary loved being rocked by Great-grandma. He pretty much attached himself to her and went to sleep.

Aunt Jacquie holding Zachary while trying to look at a magazine...he made things difficult. ;-)

Hard to get a good picture with this group -- somebody always looking away or nearly getting cut out of the picture. But here are the kids with their Great grandparents.

We four went to Baltimore to stay with Oma and Jochen for a couple nights. The Greats, Aunt Jacquie and cousin Max (and his friend) came from Michigan. We filled up the house so much the boys (Max and Collin) decided camping in the backyard (but with all the frills from home...X box, flat screen) was best for them. ;-) It all worked out great! We all enjoyed hanging out, playing cards and in the backyard, and of course eating our way through the weekend. We're so happy for the Greats to meet Zach and see Caleigh since it's been over a year since we've been up to MI. We plan on seeing the extended family (these plus a bunch more of them!) in MI sometime near Christmas.

Sitting up

Zach has made marked improvement in his tummy strength. We stay really close or put pillows around him, but he is sitting up and leaning forward for a toy and getting back to sitting well now.

These pics are from 7/3. He LOVES the pink serving tray Oma got for Caleigh -- just loves it. Don't know why. You may be able to tell, but the boy has very little hair. ;-) It's getting longer...but not by very much and there is not very much. We keep a hat on him when we venture out.

I like these pictures because it shows his determined side a bit, that's he's still happy, and that he has stopped falling over backward when he looks at things above his head.

This is his little basket of toys. Caleigh knows he can play with anything in there (as opposed to having to ask Mama/Daddy if she can give him a toy as we are wary of him choking on her little things, of course).

We have been keeping busy this summer -- walking to the library and having library story/play hours, parks and more parks and more new parks, Please Touch Museum, Zoo, and getting together with friends for play-dates and valuable time for Mama to have adult conversation. Although, I must say, it is refreshing to have (somewhat) adult conversation with Caleigh. The sentences are simpler and the content narrow, but it's amazing what she understands, thinks about, and spits back out later. One example -- we drove home late one night and woke her up from sleeping to go from car to house. It was raining and Caleigh told me it was raining on her head. I said it was just raining a little. She nodded, thought about it briefly and said, "so it's sprinkling Mama right"? Yep said I...

Pool days are here again!

Great toys and a lot of them to play with and share. And Caleigh's first pedal tricycle experience! She got the hang of pedaling it backwards first. But there are just so many slides, cars, and balls that it's hard to decide what to play with. Usually we arrive as one of the first five families and Caleigh has her pick of the toys--so she'll run around 'touching' each one. Then she'll go up the big 5-step slide by herself and 'wheee' down it (over and over) and eventually she'll ask to go in the pool. By that time, I'm ready for some refreshing water too so we'll suit her up and enjoy a dip. Caleigh wears (at least) swimmies on her arms and the second time we went (2 so far) she wore them with her frog float, which goes around her middle. She likes to sit on the side (with said accouterments) and then 'fall' into the water. But it's hilarious to see her almost completely covered in blown up articles meant to keep her safe in the water...but sitting on the side happy as can be.

Zach is just another story altogether. He sits happily in his stroller with hat on and a multitude of toys lashed on, close at hand. He watches the kids jumping and playing and running around. He sucks on his toys and rubs his head (and takes his hat off - naughty boy!). Caleigh and I have been in the pool both pool days for about an hour, and Zach has yet to get disturbed/cranky. My contented little boy. We wonder if he is lulling us into a stupor before zipping into his manic boy suit or something.

Here is Miss Caleigh modeling the latest in 4th of July fashion (on 7/2). Resplendent in her red, white & blue.

And playing basketball with Hannah -- she makes Mama proud. ;-) I think the first pic was a jump ball situation. Then, they wisely got two basketballs to continue play. Slam dunk! She and Hannah really enjoy playing together. They also found a little house to play in and I enjoyed overhearing them trying to figure out how to get in it (it sits beside the driveway, but the entry door is on the opposite side closer to the house/walkway). They evaluated the merits of going through the window, through the shrubs or greenery to the sides of the house, and then decided that they should go around the Mamas sitting at the table. Wise choice, little ones! They are a hoot together.