Photos!

Thanks to Rob and Emma for sharing their pics.


Sofia & Edie enjoying a post-run ice cream


Joe & Rob hanging out with the baby girls



Sweaty Boyd Family

Celebrations!

49:35
On Saturday I ran my first race since having had Fiona. Since I'm training for a 1/2marathon in October I needed to run 6 miles this past weekend, so I ran a 10K (a little over 6 miles). To my surprise I did pretty well. It was a small race, but I placed first in my age group. I was very excited to have done so well (for me) given that I just started training again and it's the longest run I've done in a year. I got a backpack for my trouble.

Coincidentally, Rob was also there and he placed first in his age group in the 5K. Congrats! Unfortunately they awarded him second place at the event and gave him a water bottle instead.

Edie and Sofia enjoyed the post-race goodies, namely ice cream. Emma has a cute pic of them with ice cream smeared across their face and dripping down their chins. Emma will send me pics and I'll post. Joe "forgot" our camera.

Will's Third Birthday
On Sunday we joined the W family to celebrate Will's Third Bday. Sofia crashed his first birthday party when our friend Naomi took her along (Naomi babysat for us that evening when we went out to dinner with our friend Allison who was visiting from Chicago).


Will sneaks a taste

Happy birthday Will!

Summer Evenings in Cleveland

This just in…

Joe called to share the official news that we can’t leave Fiona alone on the bed…pillows or no pillows. She fell off the foot of our bed. Joe was in the kitchen, with Sofia, and had the baby monitor on, but heard no stirrings from Fiona until suddenly he heard a “thunk” followed by a cry. He said she cried for “10 seconds” and was fine. He didn’t see any marks on her and Sofia had her smiling a few minutes later. Sorry Fiona!

Wade Oval Wednesdays (WOW!)
Speaking of smiling…we went to “WOW” last week to have a picnic dinner and listen to some Irish music. Here’s a pic of Fiona’s adorable smile:



And yes she’s stumping for Obama:


Sofia enjoyed the music and the warm evening breeze.



Burning River
On Sunday we went to the Great Lakes Burning River Festival on the West Bank of the Flats. The Festival is a family-friendly event that celebrates local farmers, artisans, waterways and the environment. Unfortunately we arrived rather late and missed most of the activities and booths, but we did catch an R & B/Gospel band and had a couple of Great Lakes beers.

Sofia made a friend.





Finally,

A very happy birthday to my nephew Vincent who turned five years old on Friday.


This was taken last fall, so he was four, but it's an adorable photo.

Last Weekend in July

Sofia’s Last Day at Goddard

Thursday, July 31st, was Sofia’s last day at Goddard. It was bittersweet, at least for me, since it marks a new chapter in Sofia’s life. Sofia spent the first part of her life at Goddard, starting when she was six months old. She started in the infant room (“Baby Belugas”) and then transitioned to the toddler room (“Mini Manatees”) from one year to 18 months and ended in the toddler II room (“Smiling Jellyfish”). Along the way she shared her trip with other children, many who started with her in the infant room. I should have taken photos earlier, but I waited until the last day, so many of those kids are missing from these pics, but here are two in particular that were with her when they were babies too.


Little Claire started with Sofia in the Baby Beluga room. Claire also has a little sister who was born a day before Fiona. Claire, and her dad, ran into Joe and Sofia in the hospital which is how we discovered we were both there at the same time!

Little Joe is in the background, and he was also with Sofia since they were babies.


Ben started in the Baby Beluga room when he was about 10 months old. Little Ben cried a lot those first few days, but Sofia and I would try to play with him when I’d visit at lunch.


Ms. Stacy, Sofia's teacher

Ms. Jen, her other teacher

I wasn’t able to take photos of her teachers Ms. Carrie and Ms. Debbie, because they were on vacation, but they took great care of her! Her teachers gave me a folder with many pieces of her artwork and, to my surprise, included notes on some of her milestones, including when she first stood up in her crib, when she first started crawling, her first haircut, and greeting her teacher for the first time. It was so great to see those milestones acknowledged and recorded! I’ll miss visiting Sofia during lunch, as well as miss playing with the other kids, but I’m happy that she’ll be home with Fiona and have another type of great experience.

Click for more pics

Pool Party!

On Saturday we had an impromptu get together with friends and had a little “pool party” for the kids. By the way, we tried trimming Sofia’s bangs on Friday and did a great job of butchering it again.


Notice her too short, and crooked, bangs


Emma did a better job with Edie’s bangs


Little Nora joined the wet fun

Somehow Joe and Fiona were wiped out.


Fiona Update
As I mentioned before, Fiona has been busy rolling around and she’s now batting at toys and putting everything in her mouth.


Pulling "Charlie the Chango"


Got you, Charlie!


There’s a baby in the mirror!


Ah...time to chill out

Fiona’s has begun to blow raspberries and is a champ at drooling. She’s also accepted that she needs to eat during the day and has been taking more of the bottle. Joe said she had a whole bottle yesterday.