So close

I dropped the girls off at the gym's childcare this morning while I went for a run. When I returned to pick them up, the childcare workers said, "You should see her! (Anna Kimball) She took 12 steps!"

Woah. I've seen her take two steps here and there in the past week or so, but not 12! She's definitely not off and running yet and had only one other instance of consecutive steps today, but I would certainly say that we are so close to the real deal.

In other news, we took a little day trip to Bryson City, NC this weekend to see the fall colors. I was initially told by my dear husband that our destination was about two hours away ... let's just say it's a good thing I grabbed some DVDs at the last minute because two hours was really four. (in his defense, our return trip, via a different route, was much shorter) In my defense, I wanted a chance to actually enjoy the fall colors, too - not entertain two children with while getting a crick in my neck and an ache in my head.

But thankfully we had our new Routan minivan to deliver us to our destination, complete with a drop-down DVD player and headphones that the girls could actually use. We would up having a great time seeing some new things, eating out together, which we rarely do as a family, and making the most of autumn's beauty.

I love how this shot depicts our way home - Emery was pretty much no-maintenance with DVDs and a nap ... Anna Kimball, though, quickly tired of digital entertainment, wasn't really even that excited about finally facing forward in her car seat and eventually made sure we knew it. Nevertheless, the trip was a great success and one we'll surely repeat.

These days ...

Anna Kimball still isn't walking (20 months and nearly 30 pounds, OUCH), but is scaling everything, her favorite mountain being Emery's Tripp Trapp high chair which is particularly precarious and apparently really fun to climb. Somehow she has the good sense to mainly climb in when Emery is not around, perhaps knowing this could incite a wee bit of jealousy and "SHE'S IN MY SEAT!!" Anna Kimball is also obsessed with standing on stools. So now I have two full-time kitchen "helpers."

Emery is attending ballet class and seems to like but not love it. I almost loathe it since the whole experience is 90 minutes door-to-door on Friday afternoons in the height of traffic and I don't even get to watch her! And I'm quite certain she just stands there while all the other girls dance around ... she's not a big participator in situations like this. In the spirit of being positive, I'm sure it's been a good experience for her in some way and I'm sure we'll all be grateful to get our free Friday afternoons back in 4 weeks.

Emery loves her little co-op preschool on Wednesdays and Parent's Day Out on Thursdays. So happy I can leave her and Anna Kimball for that matter, too, in situations like these and we don't deal with separation anxiety. I think Anna Kimball enjoys a little break from her older sister, too. Though she adores her, currently all Emery has to do is look at her funny and Anna Kimball simply can. not. take. it. Commence SCREAMING. Commence me trying not to scream as well.

Lots of bread baking going on, too. I think I just like the feeling of having something tangible to show for my day, something I put my hands to and was good, sometimes even great, not just a work in progress as these girls, sweet as they are, seem to be.