WARF

James had a week off from pool therapy so we took a fun trip to our closest "accessible" playground.  Accessible playgrounds have equipment for children of all ability levels.  This playground has mostly ramps (instead of stairs), lots of equipment on the "ground floor" and a large handicap swing.  We really enjoy this playground which is at the WARF in Warrenton.  James had a great time on the slides and loved crawling all over the spongy ground watching the other kids and checking out the equipment.

First swing!

James had the confidence to crawl through the tunnel this time.

With love.

#MCM

This weekend we cheered Aunt Allison, several of my uncles, one of my aunts, and one of my cousins through the Marine Corps Marathon.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.  It was a beautiful day and all the walking, cheering fans, and music was super fun.  It sure is hard to spot people as they ran by, but we were able to catch a few of the fam. 

James enjoyed waving at Allison as she ran past.

We had a fun brunch at Allison's after the race and the kids enjoyed hanging out in her new digs. 

Congrats to all the finishers: Uncle Jerry, Katie and Jon, Aunt Allison, Aunt Colleen, and Uncle John. 

With love. 

Fall!!!

We finally got to enjoy fall!!!  Between Daddy's crazy schedule, James' school and therapies, Mom's new work schedule, and trying to get some sleep we haven't been able to do a whole lot.  But, we were able to enjoy a day at the pumpkin patch with the VA family.  It was super fun, the kids had a blast, and we were able to stay for quite a while!

James LOVED the slides.  He went down with me a couple times, raced Grand mom, and then Granddad.  Afterwards, however, he only wanted Aunt Allison's roommate, Kateri, to take him on the slide.  They had an awesome time:

Grandmom took James down the slide while everyone else got their faces painted.  James crawled through this long, dark tunnel to get to the slide.

Look at how much he loved it!

Super-dad took care of BOTH kids at once.  Rita loved her carrier, which was a first, and slept for a long time on Daddy's back.

We knew James wouldn't want to get his face painted, even if everyone else did, so we got him his first balloon animal (a frog) and he loved it!

We went on a"hay" ride with Grandmom and Granddad and all the aunts and uncle.  James' isn't a huge fan of the hay ride, but Rita really enjoyed it.  She likes bumpy rides.

Rita LOVED the mechanical horse.  James wasn't a fan.

By this point James was falling asleep...

Meanwhile, Rita was still having a blast.

But soon James was ready to make funny faces again.

Rita had never seen a pumpkin before.  Oh! Pumpkin!

The Boak clan after a fun trip:

With love.

Lunch Bunch

Rita started eating purees so my kids are lunch buddies.  It has been really difficult spoon-feeding two kids at once, but Rita is now in the high chair so things are getting a bit easier.  Now, they can chat with each other and Rita encourages James to eat more.

We FINALLY have the playroom finished.  Soon after we moved in we wanted to knock down the wall in the basement so we had a large room instead of a small room and a hallway.  When the hot water heater flooded in May the flooring was ruined and we had to rip it up.  So, in the process, Mark took down the wall as well.  We hit a flooring snag so the room was put on hold until we finally hired a contractor to finish it.  James really likes his new room, he enjoys the quiet time to play with his favorite dinosaur toy.  It also gives us more room in the upstairs living room so we have a fun space to play.  He's been hanging out there more and Rita enjoyed playing with him today.

He is waaaay too flexible.

With love.

The Presents Keep Coming

James had such a fun birthday in July and the presents keep coming!  We saved some of his birthday money to use when the new toys got a bit old and we needed something new.  When we went to Wings to Fly James fell in love with the slide and now he has a slide of his own!

Learning to bend his knees!

"More"!

It is much easier on his muscles to go down head-first.  His core still isn't quite there.

Rita's turn!

He thought she was funny at first, but bored quickly.

James' turn again.

Using those core muscles!

 With love.

First Day of School Selfie

James had a good first day of school.  He came home with marker all over his shirt.  Hopefully by the end of the year he will draw on paper instead of his belly.

He didn't get to go his second day because he was sick, he went back for day 3, and now this morning is looking pretty sick again.  I hope this year won't turn into a disaster.

With love.

James Graduated!

So much has been going on, I am behind on my posts!

James graduated from Early Intervention, the county's therapy program for infants to 3 year olds.  They had a really nice graduation party for the kids a couple weeks ago.  James spent most of his time at the bubble station.  Thank you to Chantell for the following snapshot.  We are hoping to do a full session with her soon!  You can find her at Stills That Speak.

I was so glad the party occurred before Erin left.  We owe a lot of James' progress to her hard work.

He did it!

Saying "hi" to everyone.

We also owe a huge "thank you" to James' physical therapist.  She was such a wonderful support for us.  Not only did she get his exercises going, but she was wonderful to help us find the equipment and specialists James needs and listen to all my ramblings.  :D

With love.