Heat Wave

Despite the fall equinox this week, summer is having a hard time letting go in LA. It's 105 here today. Fortunately the kids had swim lessons this morning, so we got a reprieve from the heat at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. Both Jack and Sadie love the water. They are both comfortable going under water and are always thrilled to be in pools or the ocean. As is their Taurus-nature, following instructions at swim lessons is not so easy, so it may be a while yet before they master the doggy-paddle. Hopefully these early swim lessons will at least prevent them from inheriting my inability to enjoy water. As long as my kids don't show up to pool parties with giant snorkeling masks on their faces I'll be happy.

Catch Phrases

Phew, I'm glad that I posted a slug of photos around Labor Day, because it's been a lean period for photos since. The kids both caught colds immediately upon returning to preschool, so we have not been doing a whole lot on the weekends. Their incessant snotty noses also don't make for the cutest pictures. We did manage to get this photo of Sadie at the playground last weekend and I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of Sadie's favorite phrases.

Sadie is very fond of saying the following:

"I got it." (Which means, "Stop trying to help me, I'm doing this on my own whether you like it or not."

"Look at me." (Whenever Sadie is proud of something she has done or is doing, such as in yesterday's case when she picked up an apple and started taking bites of the whole apple for the first time.)

"No, Jackie Boy." (Not surprisingly Sadie often wants to convince Jack to stop doing whatever he is doing, but we were surprised when she started calling him "Jackie Boy," which we do not call him, but which we think she picked up from preschool. She seems to use this whenever she really wants to get his attention.)

"Here, Jackie Boy." (Used when Sadie wants to distract Jack from whatever toy he is playing with so that she can get it for herself.)

Kiddie Pool Party

We celebrated Labor Day by inviting some of Jack and Sadie's best friends over for a kiddie pool party. Their friends Tatum (featured at right on the top), Mimi, Charlie and Zev all came over for a little fun in the sun. Sadie and Jack are getting to a social age where they do better with more kids around. Our backyard may be seeing a lot more traffic.

The Wave

Sadie has recently mastered the art of the wave. While she has been waving for more than a year now, she recently perfected waving for the camera. Now when we ask Sadie to smile for the camera her arm instinctively goes up Miss-America-style.

Family Traditions

Jack has inherited many traits from me, but this one may be the oddest: He is carrying on the tradition of tearing the heads off of dolls. A family friend who stumbled upon the aftermath of one my baths when I was child commented that the bathtub looked like Jonestown. Let's hope that Jack doesn't take it that far.

The Kisser

Jack is going to be that boy on the playground chasing the girls around trying to kiss them. He loves to give hugs and kisses. We had a wonderful visit with Pud last weekend and, as you can see from above, Jack was not shy about showing his affection for Pud.