Roly Poly

Here is Logan checking out his new room! Lately he has been rolling over here and there, tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy, but today he really figured it out. He was lying on a blanket on the floor and he just kept rolling over and over until he was off the blanket. He has also been turning himself on his back a lot. I'll leave him in his crib or Pack n' Play for a few minutes and come back to find him turned around 180 degrees.

A Week's Worth of Naps

 

Why is this post called "A Week's Worth of Naps"? Because any mother of babies and/or small children knows that nap time is prime time to get stuff done. And a week's worth of naps is what it took to get Owen's room transformed into "The Boys' Room." A paint job, some rearranging of furniture, and a good closet clean out-- that's what it has taken to get the job done. I wanted to get the boys sharing a room before school started, but painting wasn't something I had necessarily planned on doing; I kinda woke up last Tuesday and decided to do it. I'm really glad I did. I'm happy with the result- it's very bright and cheery, and now it feels like a boys' room. And it's the first big change since we bought the house a year ago.  Besides paint, I pretty much worked with what we already had and didn't really buy anything new.

 

And because I am a HUGE fan of Before & After home improvement pictures, here is the room before (so dark! so messy!).  And then there's Owen "helping" to paint the closet (I made him strip down and put on a diaper so I didn't have to worry about him getting paint all over his clothes.  Let's just say it's a good thing I did that.)

Layers

What happens when a stack of coffee filters falls into a baby bathtub full of water on the kitchen counter? Well they become unusable for coffee, that's for sure, but they also soak up the water, expand, and become beauuuutiful fluffy works of art.

Daddy's Office

Jeremy usually works from home at least once a week now; sometimes the boys "help."  On this day, Logan was fascinated by the new pack of paper on Jeremy's desk, and Owen was playing in Logan's crib.  (The crib has been in Jeremy's office temporarily while Logan adjusts to sleeping in it.)

P.S. Wait, what is that on Jeremy's monitor?  Well the left monitor is his work, but the right monitor is Breaking Bad.  He started watching it from the first episode a week or two ago and he is already caught up to the current season.  He is obsessed with it.  He lives and breathes it.  In fact, as I sit here typing, Jeremy says, in a conversation to his friend regarding Breaking Bad: "It's all I care about."

Grammy!

Owen always looks forward to Fridays, which he calls "Grammy Days" because his Grammy takes care of him. (Soon it will be Logan, too!)

Bucks Lake 2013

The gang gathered around the campfire for our first night- s'more time!

Owen, watching Peter Pan and resting after a fun-filled first day

Jakodi (and the camping staple, Big Mouth Billy Bass)


Some lakeside tunes


Logan, the agreeable son, happy to be at the beach


Jon & Ashley


Logan (all tuckered out from his afternoon at the beach) and SuperDad.  Seamas photobombed.


The kids just being their usual silly selves

We got him into the lake this year!  All that practicing in our pool is paying off, as Owen isn't afraid of the water anymore.  Despite this, he still preferred sitting at the edge of the water and throwing rocks to doing any actual swimming.

And just because it's fun to see how things change...

Bucks Lake 2012- Jakodi

Bucks Lake 2012- Oisin

Bucks Lake 2012- Owen

Bucks Lake 2011 

Bucks Lake 2010 

Play Date

As usual, a play date for Owen is more like time for me to catch up with friends.  Meanwhile, Owen tries to get me to play with him instead of playing with the other kids.

Reunited

Jeremy was in San Diego this weekend for his annual ComiCon trip, and this was the first year I noticed that Owen reeeally missed him.  But to sweeten the deal, Jeremy promised to bring something home for him from ComiCon.  Owen's request: a big Iron Man action figure.  Jeremy even got suckered into buying him a second toy, a big Magneto action figure.  That's all he talked about all weekend.  I know that Owen was really excited to go pick up Jeremy from the airport, but he was just as excited to pick up that Magneto action figure, too.

Ducks

We've been trying to take advantage of the walking/biking trails we have right at our doorstep, and I've been having a fun time trying out new paths and walking farther from home now that I have my handy-dandy double stroller.  I hate hate HATE excercise, but walking is the one thing I actually enjoy.  Almost any route we take has ducks that swim in the creek, and today we brought some bread so Owen could feed them.  Here he is (still in his PJs) feeding the eager ducks.

Backyard S'mores

Owen, unfortunately, has inherited my sweet tooth.  Fortunately, the prospect of dessert helps the vegetables get eaten.  Not that we ever use bribery or anything...

Last night we took roasting marshmallows in the backyard a step further and made s'mores.

Zzzzzzzzz

Logan is pretty precious when he's asleep.  He'd be even more precious if he would sleep flat.  Like in a crib.  But we'll take what we can get, whether it be his swing, rocker, bouncy chair, or car seat.

Fairyland

We're waaaaay up high, and Grammy, Daddy, and Logan are waaaaay down below

This is "Jake" steering the pirate ship (Jeremy gets to be "Cubby," I'm "Izzy," and Grammy is just Grammy).

These are "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" references.  He's not all that into the TV show anymore (thank goodness, because at the height of his interest I had pretty bad morning sickness, and the song still makes me feel like I want to barf), but whenever he gets the urge to play pirates, we all fall into these roles.

All tuckered out, but not quite nap time; right before he yelled at me to stop taking his picture (uh oh, is that what he's going to do now?)

I'm not sure much has changed at Fairyland since my last trip 30 years ago, except maybe some fresh paint. Owen, in his usual fashion, took awhile to warm up to the new place, but once he found a pirate ship to play on, the whale's mouth and the dragon and the waterfall seemed much more alluring.

4th of July

4th of July "fireworks" with Grandpa

me and my little snugglebug

Owen in the sandbox wearing Captain America, the most patriotic of his favorite superheroes

Corn on the cob- one of my favorite summer foods, and it always reminds me of Indiana

Oreo pie (my first try)- a dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free dessert that Owen could eat :)

Logan's first 4th of July, wearing what Owen called the "fireworks headband"

...and one big Popeye smile

Garden

I know I should utilize the garden space behind my classroom more often, but I don't.  However, today's Monet lesson begged for some outside sketching time.  I haven't been out there in a reeeeeally long time, and lo and behold it is now a flower and vegetable garden!  I have no clue what this plant is, but I'm guessing it's some kind of vegetable since was right near the lettuce and the pumpkins.  Last year when I did this lesson it was freezing cold, despite the fact that it was July.  This year it was perfect weather, early enough in the day that it hadn't heated up to triple digits yet.

Home Again

*Sigh.* My first day back at work.  I have been dreading this for awhile now, but the inevitable day finally came today.  It was pretty tough to leave Logan at daycare for the first time, as much as I knew everything would be fine (he would have fun, he would be with his big brother, etc., etc., etc.).  Yesterday was even worse-- not only did I have my usual "Last Day of Vacation Before Going Back to Work" blues, but I was also all weepy at the thought of leaving Logan behind.  In some ways it was even harder than when I had to leave Owen the first time.

On the outside looking in, it's actually kind of a nice situation.  I'm teaching Summer Enrichment, which means I'm only working half-days, it's only for four weeks, and I'm teaching art.  That's not a bad way to ease myself back into work.  On the other hand, no matter how you look at it, I still don't get to be with my little baby.

Now that my first day of work is behind me (only 17 more to go!) it really wasn't so bad.  Logan slept at daycare most of the morning and was a happy baby the rest of the time.  I have a nice group of kids in my class, I'm getting out and interacting with the world, and I get to teach art!  To be honest, when I'm teaching, my mind is so busy that I don't have time to think about much else most of the time.  But it sure was nice to be home again this afternoon.  This is a photo of Logan being kicky, smiley, and cooey on our bed when we got home.

Pudding

You would think that Owen's love for pudding would cause him to get more in his mouth, but instead it ends up all over his face, his hands, and the table.  Every.  Single.  Time.

Aside from cupcakes, pudding is probably Owen's favorite thing to eat.  Jeremy has a game he plays, where he pretends that he is going to eat Owen's pudding, and Owen flips out.  Now whenever Owen has pudding, he teases Jeremy and says, "YOU can't have my pudding, Daddy!  Ha ha!"

Nananananananananananananananana...

...BATMAN!

The Lego Store.  It was the only way I knew I could get Owen to agree to come to the mall with me.  I can't blame the kid; I don't particularly like going to the mall myself, but I needed new bath towels and I had already been all around town and couldn't find the right color anywhere else.  So after we went to several "towel stores" (successfully!!) we played at the Lego Store.  I let Owen pick out a little toy, and of course he chose Batman.

This was all after he peed all over his pants, my shoe, and the Macy's bathroom floor because we are still working on how to pee in a big potty.

Almost, But Not Quite

Owen has grown at least a few inches in the past few months.  We haven't been keeping track, but at his 3-year-old well check last week, he was measured at 37 inches tall.  A few months ago, he wasn't quite tall enough to ride the rides at the zoo (36 inches) but now he can.  He can reach the water faucet in the bathroom sink when he stands on a stool, and it's soooo nice not to have to lift him up anymore.  All of a sudden he must have hit a growth spurt.  But he's still a little too short for other stuff...like this water fountain at the park.  (Notice his tippy toes.)

In an unrelated story, here was a conversation I had with Owen this afternoon after he scratched his fingernails on my car (again) leaving marks on the paint (again).
Me: Owen, please don't scratch the car.  See?  It leaves marks that never ever come off.  It ruins the car.
Owen: Mommy, you just gotta go get some tape.
Me: Some tape?
Owen: Yeah, tape will fix it right up.
Me: You think tape will fix it?
Owen: Yeah, but you have to just press it on.  Just press it on.  That'll fix it.

Kiwi

Yum, I love summer fruit :)

Play

Logan started to like "playing" this week.  Finally we can bust out the plethora of baby toys that Owen used to play with, which I boxed up awhile back to make room for his new toys.  Logan hates sleeping in his Pack-n-Play, but he loves being in it so he can hit and kick his animals.  He even helped me do report cards-- he played while I worked right next to him at the dining room table.  It was a win/win.