Summer Fun

Summer continues to be a blast. Both kids love being outside. Whether we are splashing in the water, playing in the sandbox , finger painting or going for walks - we are having a great time. Louis loves hanging out with his papa. They have great conversations with each other and love to have lego or block building contests. Brad truly has just as much fun as Louis does. At night now he loves to hear "stories". He is quite creative in what he wants to hear about, but many times it includes stories about papa, mama, basketball, or airplanes.
Mabel is moving everywhere. Although she is not officially crawling, she scoots, rolls over and inches to everything. She pulls down books, toys - it seems that suddenly everything is within her reach. I forgot about this part of early toddlerhood. She continues to babble and talk. Like her brother she loves books. There are a lot of smiles around our house right now and that is great.

Independence day, overly Dependent kids

Overall we had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We went to the Budde Cabin and enjoyed a nice long weekend there. Unfortunately, both kids had a fever for at least a day, so there was lots of neediness and whining occurring throughout the weekend. Both Thursday night and Friday night included lots of getting up and comforting both kids. By Saturday night the kids either felt better or were so tired from getting up the previous nights and hardly napping that both slept amazingly well. Both kids got to play in the kiddie pool, Mabel especially thought it was very enjoyable! She loves splashing in the water. Mabel also got her first oreo cookie. As you can tell from the pictures – she loved every minute of it!

On Friday morning, Louis and Mabel got into their first verbal argument. All four of us were hanging out in bed (as it was only 6:20am). Mabel tried to grab a book from Louis. He responded with a “No”. Mabel in turn responded with a “ya”. Louis then repeated his “No” and Mabel her “ya”. It went on like this back and forth about 5 times, much to the amusement of Brad and myself. Finally, Louis ended it with a “No, Mabel” and turned away. Poor Louis, he doesn’t know what he is in for. Suddenly his “baby sista” from 10 months ago that just laid there sleeping, is now a talking, grabbing, pulling 10-month-old who is starting to invade his space. He has found ways to get back at her however. He knows that if he roars loud like a lion, dinosaur, tiger, shark (they all make the same noise), that Mabel will cry – he is enjoying his power. Overall though they get along great and we can always count on Louis to sing songs to Mabel to make her stop crying or play peek-a-boo to make her laugh.

Early Summer Catch-Up

Wow, it has been a long time since my last update. A lot has happened in the last six weeks, both good and bad, and I am finally feeling like I can get the chance to sit down and write.

So looking back over the last six weeks: I had a great mother's day weekend, we have spent some great time with friends and family, and had a wonderful memorial weekend at the cabin. The children love to be outside. Louis had a great time in the sand and is super excited to be going back soon. Nearly all the Budde aunts and uncles and cousins were there, so there was lots of food, drink and fun. Here is Louis wearing uncle Jordan's sweatshirt.

Unfortunately that was followed by a couple of funerals. It gave us all of us time to be together and take care of each other. It really reminded all of us about the importance of family, friends and loving what you have. There was a great weekend trip to Chicago for Brad and me. We missed the children, but it was nice to catch up with friends and get some time for just the two of us. The next thing I really remember was Father’s Day weekend. We had a great time hanging out as a family, going on picnics, having fun with our neighbors and also celebrating the day with extended family.

Last weekend we made the trip to Melrose for some a family celebration and took in the parade. Louis had a ton of fun collecting candy and seeing the police cars. He has a hard time differentiating between the words parade and prayed. So every time we prepped him for the parade he would fold his hands like he was praying or try to make the sign of the cross. I guess Mommy and Papa need to learn to enunciate better!

About the children:
Louis is as charming and as challenging as ever. He is an independent player and is very good at making up his own games to play. He has been going into “time out” a little bit more lately and it is very amusing to seem his discipline his toys (LegoMan and his friends) and put them into time out as well. He seems to really enjoy playing with Barbies right now, dressing them and coming their hair. Somewhere along the way he has learned the word "boobies". We are doing are best to ignore it and hope it ends before he says it in front of the wrong person.

Mabel continues to grow and learn every day. She is rolling around and can move so quickly across the floor. We are waiting for her her to officially start crawling and to start pulling herself up. She has started clapping, waving and talking, "Papa", "Mama", "Hi", "Uh oh" and "cracker" (I know it is hard to believe, but even her pediatrician heard it!). Mabel is also preparing us for adolesence with her mood swings. She goes from being a mommy's girl one second to wanting to be on the floor by herself, doing her own thing. But she has the sweetest smile and loves to give kisses, so it is hard to resist her.

The children take their baths together now. It is a lot of fun to see them take turns splashing. Getting water in your eyes is okay if it is from splashing vs. getting your hair washed. It has gone very well and they both seem to be enjoying it. Every now and then Louis likes to cause trouble and pour water on Mabel or squirt her with a water toy. It is only a matter of time before Mabel fights back!Again, sorry for the lengthy absence. I hope to get back on track with a new post every two to three weeks.