Swimming

Sophie has been in and out of swimming lessons over the last two years, and she's finally starting to get the hang of it. This is the first session where's she's in the water without a parent with her. She isn't a huge fan of it, but once she gets going she does okay. Here she is with the noodle.

Lauren Gets Baptized

At the beginning of November we headed down to Va. to get Lauren baptized at St. Paul's Episcopal, the same church where we got married and Sophie was baptized. Lauren was great. She cried for just a few seconds when the minister put water on her head, but then quieted down for the rest of the ceremony. She even let the minister walk with her up and down the isle.

The whole Coughlin-Sharp crew

Lauren in her gown and bonnet, the same one Becky and I wore, as well as Sophie. 

Happy Halloween!

We had a beautiful Halloween in Philly. Nice and warm and lots and lots of kids. Sophie of course went trick or treating with Claire, who was Ariel. They made out like bandits... now we just need to discreetly lose most of the candy.

The infamous duo

On Sunday there was a Halloween parade in the neighborhood. The kids paraded up a few of the streets, where neighbors went all out with cupcakes, candy and ice cream. It was a sugar free-for-all.

Claire (Ariel), Liora (a flapper), Sophie (purple princess), Ilan (clown), Emma (crab)

And Lauren went as a Cabbage Patch kid. She didn't love the wig, but tolerated it long enough to get a few good pictures. 

Trip to Boston

Last weekend Aleen and I went up to Boston to visit Sallie, Andy and their new baby Langston (who is 4 months now, so I guess not that new). We spent a few days just catching up and hanging out. It was excellent.

Sallie, me and Aleen

And I also got to see Sallie when we were down in Virginia (what a treat!). Here are us with the kiddos. 

Pumpkin Picking

When we were down in Virginia did some pumpkin picking and carving. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, hot even. We went to a picturesque pumpkin patch in Crozet, where we had our pick of the pumpkins.

The girls cheesing it up

Sophie's pick

Lauren and Brittany

Mom, the expert pumpkin gutter

And the final products. 

Remembering Grandma Coughlin

On Friday, October 4th my grandma died. Her health had been in decline for a several months, and one morning she just stopped living, sitting at the breakfast table. We went down to Virginia for the weekend to spend time with family and have a service. Although an emotional weekend, we got to see family that we hadn't seen for a long time. My cousin Lisa and her family came in from Illinois, and my cousins Brittany and Brandon came down from NY.

The first cousins: Lisa, Becky, Brandon, me, Brittany

The Coughlin Crew: Stephen, Lisa, Becky, Brandon, me, Lauren Dad, Brittany, Jessica, Sophie

I'm thankful Grandma got to meet Lauren before her memory was really lost. Here she is with them at the beginning of the summer. 

Grandma and me, June 2013

Standing Up, "So Big," and first words

Lauren has started to pull herself up, shuffle along just a bit, and I've even caught her standing without holding on to anything for a few seconds. We're definitely getting ready for some walking. She's also babbling a lot, and has said her first few words. So far we've hear "hi" "all done" and "dada."

Lauren pulling herself up

 Sophie & Lauren both working in the kitchen...

 Hard to believe that this was Sophie just 3 years ago. The kitchen was a first birthday present. It's certainly gotten some good use over the years. 

 She now has the "so big" down pat. That and clapping are her two tricks right now. If no one is paying attention to her, she'll pull one of them out, just to make sure we know she's fabulous...which we do.

Lauren wants to be doing whatever Sophie is doing. Wherever Sophie is, Lauren is not far behind. The charm of being followed is starting to wear a little thin for Soph. Oh, what she's in for...