Big Girls

It seems that both my girls grew a lot in the two weeks I was without them.  We had a couple of nice "firsts" yesterday.

First, we went on a wonderful hike with the O's and their dogs to the Turkey Creek Trail by Emma Long park.  I had gone to the park a week ago with Homer and Rose to check it out for strollerability.  It turns out that a section of the trail loop is too rocky and steep, even for a jogging stroller; so we decided to dust off the baby backpack and hike it on foot.

Simone very much enjoyed being high up in the backpack.  She didn't make any fuss and spent the walk looking around or taking a nap.  I think she likes it better than the stroller.  I was a little worried how Magda would cooperate -- she's usually been in her jogging stroller on most of our hikes, since we like to go at a pretty good clip.  She did great, though.  Obviously, we were moving more slowly, but she walked (and ran) the whole 2.5 miles without once asking for a lift (at least I didn't hear her asking).  It's great that Nolan doesn't go much faster than her and that they like hanging out together.  Still, I expected some whining (I would have) but there was none!  We wrapped up our outing with some Amy's Ice cream and lots of praise for her big-girl walk.

Then for dinner, we set up Simone in Magda's high-chair and she sat upright (more or less) and kept herself occupied while the rest of us ate!  It's nice having everyone sitting at the table, though Magda is missing "her" high-chair.

The last "first" wasn't as nice.  During the hike I started sneezing and ended up going early to bad doped up on Benadril.  Today I found out that the cedar pollen count is through the roof -- so it looks like I've joined the local cedar-fever sufferers. Bummer.