A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend was relatively low-key. I babysat on Friday and fell asleep watching the Palin interview. Ugh, I can’t stand her smugness, sarcasm and snide comments. I could have bared a McCain presidency, but her nomination has prompted me to take a proactive role in Obama’s campaign.

Sofia got her first (and only, I hope) black eye on Friday. She was playing in the family room, near the coffee table, and somehow hit her eye socket on the corner of the table. She calmed down thanks to the “boo-boo bag” (a cold pack covered in fabric we keep in the freezer), but a little purple dot appeared. The next day it was a full-fledged black eye. You can see a trace of it in this pic.


Itzel and Sofia


Sofia showing off Mommy’s shoes (and showing off the chocolate ice cream she sneaked at dinner)


I asked Sofia to say “cheese”!

Sunday morning we joined Rob, Emma, Edie and Cora at Memphis Kiddie Park for the girls’ first carnival rides.


Sofia and Edie on their first solo flight


Giddyup!


Their first roller coaster ride


Future NASCAR drivers? I hope not!

They seemed to have had a very good time and no tears of fear were shed. We went last year and we could only get Sofia on the carousel, and even then she almost cried. She's a big girl now!


Sofia at 18 months old (October 27, 2007). What a beautiful day!

That afternoon, Fiona and I went out to knock on doors, along with another volunteer, for the Obama campaign. We were making sure that people are registered to vote and poll voters on their potential vote. Although the majority of people we were tasked to reach weren’t home, those that we did reach were mainly Obama supporters. The lone McCain supporter lived in a $350K townhouse...coincidence?

And finally, another first...Fiona cut her first tooth on Sunday. She has a sliver of a tooth erupting from her bottom gum. She's a trooper and hasn't been too fussy!

IHOB (International House of Boyd)

It’s been a busy few weeks and we're excited to host my niece Itzel, who’s visiting for a few months.

A week or so before she arrived we went to the Taste of Cleveland and ran into Dora.



On Labor Day, we visited Cleveland’s “Best Playground.” Joe recently googled “Cleveland best park” and came across this playground. It really is very nice. It’s near Beachwood, on the east side, and about 20 minutes away. Preston Park has several play areas ranging from a large sandbox complete with pails, cranes and water, to various two-story playhouses. The playhouses include a fire station, police station, bank, and a train.


You can see some of the playhouses in the background

Numerous slides, climbing walls, swings, and bouncy cars dotted the playground.

Itzel’s taking a year off between high school and college and decided to take advantage of the time to experience living in another country.

We celebrated Itzel’s 18th birthday on September 5th.


Itzel blowing out her birthday candle

Fiona is busy growing and trying to be even more mobile. At Fiona’s last doctor’s appointment, a few weeks ago, Fiona weighed in at 15 lbs, 5 oz. She started rolling at about 3 months and is now trying to crawl. She pulls herself up on her hands and knees and rocks. She’s managed to pull up one knee and goes forward. Regardless of how she does it, she can certainly move across a room if you leave her on the floor.


Focused on rocking


Can look up while she rocks!

Miscellaneous photos or news
The week before Joe went back to work, he and Sofia went to the zoo and met up with Rob, Edie and Cora. Sofia and Edie had a fun time watching the elephants and playing at the playground.





We also had time, before Joe went back to work, to go to Columbus for a conference I had to attend. Joe and the girls visited COSI, a science museum.


COSI is a very nice museum and had a great area for toddlers.

We also spent a little time at the hotel pool and Fiona had her first dip.





Lastly, Fiona and I joined Emma and Cora at a “Mommy and Baby” exercise class. Basically I use Fiona as a weight while I do lunges or bicep curls. She loves it though!