I Get Around

Kaleigh is more and more mobile. We've had to re-install the gate at the bottom of the basement stairs, because she can climb them quickly when crawling. She can also walk up and/or down the stairs when someone holds her hands. She does most of the steps one foot at a time - she doesn't pause on a step with both feet very much. Kaleigh is also figuring out that walking is faster than crawling. When she gets it into her head to go somewhere, she cruises along furniture as much as possible, and she only crawls when cruising isn't an option. She'll be running amok in no time!

Fun at the Ballpark

Last night I took Donovan to a game between the St. Paul Saints and the Lincoln SaltDogs at Midway Stadium in St. Paul. Grandma got tickets for this low-minor league game through work, so the boys went to the ballgame. This was the first time he's gone to a game to actually watch the game - before he's been more interested in playing with Grandma, but this time, she wasn't there. Donovan did a really good job of paying attention to the game and asking good questions. He learned about strikeouts, walks, home runs, stealing bases, bad calls by umpires, crowd cheers (CHARGE!), and between inning "entertainment." He was disappointed we didn't get a foul ball, but he had a good time anyway.

Rewards

Donovan Troy was having some trouble behaving (Understatement of the Year Candidate), so we started doing a star chart reward system. He has ten rules, and he gets a star at the end of each day if he's followed them. If he earns 8 stars in a day, he gets a SuperStar. Three SuperStars allow Donovan to choose a special activity from a list. His behavior has improved since we started this. So far, he's earned trips to the Waseca Water Park, the Science Museum of Minnesota (dinosaurs exhibits were popular with the boy), a screening of Shrek the Third with Papa (I can't believe we found a theatre still running it - and for only $2.50 a ticket too!), and yesterday the Como Zoo with their new amusement park, Como Town. He had a blast riding the rides, especially the Screamin' Dragon roller coaster and the Traffic Jam bumper cars. Papa had to drive the bumper cars, since Donovan wasn't tall enough for his own car, but he had fun telling me which car to ram. We were easily the most aggressive drivers on the track! While the boys did the park, the girls took in the animals. We joined them for a bit while Donovan rested from the rides. Dawn said that Kaleigh wasn't interested in the animals, until we got to the sea lions and the puffins. Both times, she tried to stand up in her stoller!

Damn

It's been almost 18 hours now since the 35W Bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed last night. I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around it. I used to drive over that bridge quite alot...when I was in classes at the U of M...whenever we would go up for pictures with the kids...some of my trips to the Dome. The only thing I know for sure - this shouldn't happen. Period.