Home Gymnastics Practice

Linden's favorite activity is jumping. By far. So, as you know from a previous post, we've enrolled her in gymnastics class. Here are a couple videos from tonight of her practicing.

Her Own Style

Linden hates wearing anything other than shorts and a t-shirt, which is problematic when it's freezing outside. So we've learned to compromise.

This morning, she had a few requirements...and so did we. But we put together a negotiated outfit and made it to daycare.

Dinosaur!

One of Linden's favorite games these days is Dinosaur. It can start up at any time. She'll suddenly snap to attention and say "Dinosaur?!" and look at either me or Laine and ask, "Are you a dinosaur?" If she's looking at me, I'll ask if I am and she'll affirm that indeed I am a dinosaur and jump to Laine pleading with her to go hide from me.

As you'll see from these videos though, she also plays the game when it's just one of us at home. At the end of the first she hears the dinosaur. Then, in the second, she explains how the dinosaur is going to try to get her toes.

I can't explain why she decided she had to wear sunglasses.

New Railing

Two of our neighbors own McGraw's Ornamental Iron Works and install iron fencing, railings, etc. all around the Bloomington-Normal area. One issue we've had with our new home is that the entrance does not have any railings despite having some significant front steps. 

So it was exciting to work with our neighbors, Jeff and Scott McGraw, to install a new front entry railing on our new home. We wanted it to fit with the neighborhood and are excited with the result. So is Linden. Of course, she immediately found a unique route when using it. :-) 

First official activity class: gymnastics

Focus.

From the time she was very little, Linden seemed to be attracted to gymnastics (see photo). Odd, since neither her mother or I have ever successfully completed a cartwheel. It's entirely possible that she won't either, but she's now on her way to developing the kind of coordination that she didn't inherit.

So Linden began taking a gymnastics class last week with other kids her age. She was asked to do seemingly impossible tasks such as sit on a balance beam directly in front of a trampoline without sprinting onto it.

But she really seemed to enjoy it. Here's a video of one of her first springboard jumps.

Girl's got talent. :-)

Just a typical day of play (11-7-15)

Linden is getting Elmo ready for a run, just like we do with her. He's got a nook, snack, and she's working on making him cozy with a blanket in his jogging stroller.

First Fall Photo Shoot

Linden's first fall photo shoot came about without any planning. We were playing outside and I began raking the leaves, so of course Linden wanted to help. Then she wanted to play. Here are a few shots and a quick video.

Looking Back

I store all of my photos using Google Photos and it has this neat little trick where it reminds me of what photos we took on this same day in previous years. It's a fun thing to look back on from time to time, especially around Linden's birthday and this time of year when we first brought her home.

The first cluster is from the day that we first brought Linden home from the Peoria Children's Hospital (October 22, 2013).

We thought it would be a few more days until she came home, so we're both shocked, nervous and excited in these pictures when we're about to leave the sterile confines of Leaf 324 and load our sweet little miss and (and her monitor) into our car and drive 40 miles home to become full-time parents. You can read more about that day and how it all went down here.

The second photo collage was from a visit to the Twanows one year ago. She had her first play date and was getting used to walking.

The third photo collage was also from a year ago when she was a flower girl at our friend's wedding. It was a gorgeous autumn weekend and Linden was a champ.

Since the storytelling aspect of my blogging hasn't been as strong as in the past, I at least want to provide some photos of our family. That's what really keeps you coming back anyway, right? Enjoy!

Cousin Lydia Roxanne

We were excited to find the time this weekend to pay our first visit to Linden's newest cousin, Lydia Roxanne Heath.

The family lives in a north suburb of Columbus, Ohio -- about a 5-6 hour drive east of Bloomington, IL. We decided to break the drive up by heading halfway to Indianapolis on Friday, then spending the day in Columbus on Saturday and the evening back in Indy at our hotel before driving the rest of the way home on Sunday.

While there, we got to catch a win by Chapin's soccer team and Linden had a great time playing and dancing with her cousins. We're already looking forward to our next visit.

Wedding!

When Linden was still on a monitor and not cleared for daycare, we had to call in some help. One of those helpers was a recent IWU School of Nursing graduate who was working nights in Peoria -- Erika. She was able to cover one day for us each week and we're forever grateful for her help with our little bean. 

Erika was married this month and we received an invitation that included Linden. In reality, Linden was probably the primary guest. :-) 

So we were excited to attend the wedding and following ceremony in Bloomington. Linden had a great time dancing before the program started and fell asleep promptly after dinner, making it easy for us to head out. She even woke up just a bit to wave and say, "goodbye" to our table mates as we head for the door. 

9 Ridgewood

In her car

It's been a busy year and an even busier past few months. At the end of August, we moved two doors down into our new home. We're excited to be able to gain more space and stay on Ridgewood.

Had to get her this
Elmo doll

It's been a bit of a whirlwind as we try to settle Linden into a new house and her new room (on a second floor!) while trying to keep everything as normal as possible. But lucky for us, she's been a good sport.

There have been a couple times when she's wanted to go back to our old house, especially when leaving daycare, which is the house across the street from our old house.

I was worried about how she'd react to seeing our previous house empty, but finally decided it was time to show her to help her understand that our new house was where the fun stuff was. She really enjoyed walking through because when she walks into an empty room (all of them), she gives a brief shout to test the echo.  It's one of her favorite things.

We went to the basement, which is the only place where we're still storing some things, and she picked out a couple toys to bring home.

She's at such a fun age right now. We had our 24 month assessment with early intervention and the nurse told us that Linden had hit every milestone that you'd expect of a 2-yr-old. And there were even a few where she far exceeded the norm (imaginative play and speaking).

There's so much to catch up on and yet she keeps us so busy that I feel the need to go to bed so that I can keep up tomorrow. But I wanted to post something since it has been so long.

These few videos will give you an idea of what we've been up to lately. In the first, she's singing "Twinkle, twinkle" in the tub and in the second video you can take in one of her more passionate interpretive dances caught on camera to date.

Twinkle

For the love of dance

Linden's Two!

On this day, two years ago, we welcomed our darling Linden Bloom into the world! This time two years ago, I would have been settling onto a pull-out chair in Linden's room for one of the worst night's sleep I've ever had. :-)

After celebrating your arrival with Mom and your grandparents, I followed you up to your room in the NICU to make sure you were all settled in before heading back down to tell Mom all about you and your first trip.

Two years later, I can't believe how far you've come. You are one of the most independent and self-assured people I know. You're already so wise and incredibly fun to spend time with.

Having just moved into a new house a week ago, we're looking forward to settling into a new life of normalcy and comfort, though we recognize the moments of each may be fleeting.

We've celebrated your second birthday a few times and each time you've most enjoyed everyone singing you the birthday song and the opportunity to blow out candles.

This year, your birthday gifts were themed. You either received some form of puzzle or some form of bicycle. Just goes to show that we have you pegged as someone who's always wanting either quite time to figure things out, or be on the move.

We already know that this next year is going to be the best one yet. You figure so much out each day that we can't even imagine who you'll be when you turn three. We love you, Linden!

Michigan 2015

We just returned from a nice trip with friends to Michigan (near Douglas/Saugatuck). This trip has become a bit of a tradition and it was fun for Linden to come along for the first time and play with the other kids. Here's a quick video mash-up of the kids playing.

Princess

Turns out that Linden is a princess! Who knew?

Hats

First August Weekend

We kicked off the weekend with Linden's first kid's fun run at the Illinois Wesleyan University track. The local running club hosts the weekly Friday evening run for kids and I'm sure this will be our first of many races. The two-year-olds run first and go for 200 meters (1/2 a lap).

Linden ran with about 40 other kids and 60+ parents. Then we stuck around for a bit to cheer for the others.

We made it to the weekly farmer's market on Saturday morning and Linden waited patiently in line for her first balloon animal. She asked for a puppy, of course.

She walked the balloon puppy around for a few minutes, then bit the "leash," popping it in her mouth. The anticipation of balloons about to pop is one of my only phobias, so watching her pop her first balloon-animal in her mouth while I held her horrified me a bit, but she was unfazed.

We spent the afternoon swimming in the neighbor's pool and swinging, while today was full of time outdoors and playing doctor with her baby (a kit we recently invested in following a rough visit to the doc).

Tiny Dancer

We may have a dancer on our hands. As you'll see -- she's a solo-artist.

Park

We're lucky to be within walking distance of a small park, so it's great to be able to take Linden there to swing, climb, and play.

She LOVES to swing, but also enjoys the slide. Recently, she's also taken a liking to those seats mounted on a spring in the ground where you can bounce back and forth. You'll see.

Swim Lessons

We signed Linden up for her first official organized activity: swim lessons. We go twice a week and so far she's loving it. As you can tell.

She's learning how to follow instruction -- her preference is to do whatever she wants. In this photo, all the kids are working on kicking and she's perfecting her jump off the edge.

We also recently made our first trip to the neighborhood pool. That's right, one of our neighbors has somehow managed to squeeze an in-ground pool into their backyard.

In a neighborhood with such tiny backyards, I was impressed by the set-up. And Linden was excited to jump in with the other kids.

The outfit she insisted to wear to swim lessons. #stylin'

Fourth of July weekend, 2015

We had a great Fourth of July long weekend. In addition to seeing family, we also had time to relax and enjoy Linden and try some new things. The first thing we tried was painting her toenails red, white a blue, which proved a bit more difficult than we'd imagined but she still really dug it.

On July 3rd, we went to the Miller Park Zoo where we got to visit with some animals and run around a bit.

Before we left, we took Linden on her first merry-go-round ride. She rode an elephant and held on tight. I was ready for the ride to soon after it started. I forgot how easily I get dizzy.

On July 4th we went up to Mundelein, IL to my Uncle Van's, as is our tradition. Here's a brief video montage from our Fourth of July visit to my Uncle Van's where Linden had a chance to swim and play with my cousin Jay's kids, Beatrix and Wes.

The following day Laine and I rode our bikes, towing Linden behind in a bike trailer, back to Miller Park to check out the splash pad and playground. Not sure what a splash pad is? This video will provide a better explanation than I'm able to. 

Hope you all had a nice weekend as well! 

Persistence

Linden continues to amaze me with her persistence. She'll often be working on something while she's playing that I think will never work. This video is a case in point. I badly want to intervene to bend the doll's legs so that it will sit the way she wants but I don't because she's not upset.

When she finally gets it just the way she wants it, she simply moves on....

I often wish I had that much persistence.

Miner Reunion 2015

On the family farm

Each year, my dad's family hosts the Miner Reunion. My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Miner and there's quite a lineage of Miners in the USA.

When I was in 5th grade, our teacher had each of us tell the class where our family's were from. My classmates talked about how their parents or grandparents had come from Italy, or Russia, or wherever. When it was my turn, I proudly announced that I was from the United States of America, and was a bit peeved when my teacher laughed at me. She asked where my grandparents had been born. "The United States," I answered. She went on to ask about my great grandparents and my great-great grandparents and I had the same answer. It's a memory that sticks with me for some reason, but is the subject of another post.

Anyway, the reunion is hosted on the family farm outside of Champaign -- a Centennial Farm, meaning that it's been in the family for over 100 years.

It's always great to catch up with family and Linden played the role of granddaughter very well, snuggling and sitting with my dad from the moment we arrived.

LDG 2015

Each year, on a weekend close to the summer solstice, Laine's parents host the "Longest Day of Golf," which includes a Friday evening cookout with friends and then as much golf as you're willing to play on Saturday.

I was willing to play zero golf. Instead, I took Laine up on her Father's Day offer to let me sleep in, go for a run, play with Linden in the pool, etc. So it was a very good weekend.

Going for the hug.

It was especially fun because Linden's cousin Ivy was in town for the weekend as well. We're still getting used to not having the baby in the family and Linden enjoyed showing off for her younger cousin.

Linden loved swimming and Ivy enjoyed her first pool swim as well.

We have signed Linden up for swimming lessons in July through the park district, so it's nice that she enjoys the water and has been able to get in some early practice.

Linden's House

Our good friend Christine gave us this excellent hand-me-down and Linden is loving it. As you can tell, she's pretty serious about her house rules.

In this video, she puts the babies to sleep only to remember that they haven't had their bath yet so she has to "wash, wash" to get them ready for bed. 

Purple Toes

Linden got her toes painted for the first time at daycare today. They're purple and she's very excited. She kept taking off her sandals, pointing at her feet, and saying "Look it!"

Uptown Funk

We're not sure where or when she first heard it, but Linden somehow grew very attached to the song, "Uptown Funk" and regularly requests that we play the music video by asking for "funk?...funk?!"

Here's the video:

And here's an example of her request to see it.

It's become something of a security item. She will often request her nook, baba (bottle), blanket, puppy, and funk. Sometimes she dances, other times she just spaces out, but every time, it's just what she needs at the time.

Linden fell asleep while trying to climb over Laine. She's strong-willed, that's for sure.

So this is what she's been hoping to do with her chair (sit in the street).

Sitting with friends.

She's got style. There's no question about that.

And she's getting pretty quick.