Chris worked some more on the porch but did not finish as much as he had hoped. The posts are installed and faced. We had to redesign the top railing which required an additional trip to Lowe's and will require more routing.
The routing is one of the things that has to be done in a very narrow window of opportunity (while Samantha is awake) so hopefully some weekend work will help get it done.
Since there is not much to write about the house, I will just post more about the cute girl that lives with us.
Lately, she has started trying to get the dog ready to go for a walk...first she calls him "Dog, Dog!" and then tries to get the collar over his head. He is too excited for an opportunity to walk but still too wary to try to let her put the collar on. It's just too funny!
She is getting much better at stacking her large blocks...
...but sometimes struggles to figure out which articles of clothing belong on which body part (but it doesn't stop her from trying!).
Personally, I think she does it partly to make us laugh!
There was a little bit more porch progress this week. Once the paint was removed from the brick, I worked on the porch floor. The first thing it needed was to have some holes patched. These large holes were from the original railing (and filled with lead). The smaller holes were from our temporary railing. I mixed up some concrete and made it nice and smooth.
After the patches were cured, I used some muriatic acid to etch the surface. I followed this with a nice gray porch paint. It worked really well and didn't even need to be touched up. It's just nice that it's all one color now - the old surface had so many color variations (rust, grease, adhesive, paint, etc.).
Chris got a little work done on the new railing by installing the posts. We are using some pressure treated lumber for the posts and then facing them with some nicer, painted wood (like the current posts). Hopefully we'll be able to finish up the railing this week (if the weather cooperates!).
Samantha and I did some fun things during the week - play dates, picking peaches, etc. We also got to meet up with Traci, Claire, and her family for lunch (since she lives in Washington state we only get to see her about once a year). Samantha and I drove over to Hagerstown to see them on their way back from vacation. It was a great time!
Samantha's favorite for the week was probably the Howard County Fair. She had so much fun watching all the animals. Her favorites were the chicks and ducklings. It was a fun age since she could "moo," "baa," "neigh," "oink," etc. when she saw the different animals.
I told Chris when we got back home that instead of a sandbox, she needs a cornbox! She had so much fun playing in the dried corn - it was hard to get her out of there.
After the experience at the fair, she sat down and put on her muck boots (on the wrong feet but pretty good for 18 months!). I guess she didn't want to step in any animal poop...
She's become very proficient at the puzzles we own - I think I need to get some different ones for her...
She had her 18 month appointment at the pediatrician yesterday. She is still a big girl - 34 1/4 inches (98th percentile), 25 lb (79th percentile), and 45.5 cm head circumference (30th percentile). So she's tall, thin (for her height), and has mommy's pin head! I compared my height/weight from that age and she has an extra inch and an extra pound and a half (but a smaller head). I think she's going to end up pretty tall! The doctor was even surprised that she's been above the 95% curve for so many visits in a row - I guess that's not very common.
She also got two shots and did not make a peep - I was so proud of her! We also just noticed that tooth number 15 has come in. Only one more canine and then the two year molars before we get a little break!
Hopefully next week I'll get to show some more porch progress!
It may be a little while before we can do some front porch sittin' but we did get some work accomplished on it this weekend.
Chris removed the old railing which makes it look so big and open.
We also purchased all the lumber for the new posts and railing. Before we can install them, there are a few things we need to do first. The previous owners painted the trim all around the house but unfortunately they did not care at all if they got paint on the brick. So before we can install the new posts, we need to remove the paint. It took a long time but it looks much better. Of course we both want to find the person that painted like this and well, I'll leave it to your imagination what we want to do to them!
Chris also spent a good deal of effort to remove the lead that was holding the old railings in place. We will be able to patch them with some concrete and hopefully it'll remove those giant holes in the porch.
Samantha finished up her swim lessons this week and she did a great job! On the last day of class, they were supposed to "jump" from the diving board into the deep end of the pool (with the parents in the pool to catch them). She enjoyed it so much that she did it twice. I think swimming is one sport that we'll have to continue.
Today there was a lot of activity outside our house today. They county is getting ready to repave a lot of roads around here. So there was a lot of grinding away the old surface, scooping/sweeping up the debris with backhoes and street sweepers, and putting everything in the multiple dump trucks. She had a good time supervising!
Samantha has been very interested in dressing herself lately - even if it's incorrect or not hers.
Mommy's flip flops...
Shirt inside out and sideways...
And Mommy's work goggles...
And one last picture for the week - she loves watermelon!
