Joyous July

Independence Day fell on a Monday this year but we enjoyed a weekend of fun and sun.  On Friday, the 1st I took Tyler and Issac out in the back yard & shaved their heads! This was Issac's first haircut so of course I kept his hair in a sandwich bag.  Shaving off his curls has made him look like such a big boy.  He loves it & keeps rubbing his head and saying, "like daddy".  On Saturday we adventured to Owen Beach to enjoy a BBQ with some of my fellow Urbanists or Urban Studies buddies for a farewell to Felix who has since returned home to Hong Kong.  Issac LOVES the beach, he enjoys playing in the sand and water with his bucket & shovels.

To celebrate Independence day we went to our friends the Wagesters for a BBQ.  The food was great, the company was fabulous & the fireworks AWESOME. During the hot sunshine, the kids played in the pool, on the swing set & enjoyed some water balloons.  Once it was dark, the fireworks began.  It was the 1st time Issac had seen fireworks beside on the movie Yogi Bear (his fav).  He enjoyed them & did a great job of staying seated in his chair.

On July 6th, Tyler returned to work.  He was first released to part time but has since been fully released back to full duty.  His ankle still bothers him & becomes very swollen after a 14 hour night.  But the doctor says that is to be expected.  If Tyler stays at his job until May 2012 he'll become fully-vested in his retirement plan. Tyler is also only 40 credits shy of his Associates degree, so back to school he goes.  Because of these factors, we have decided that it is best for our family if Tyler works & goes to school while I stay home full time. 

Being at stay at home Mom can be fun & stressful at the same time, Issac is definitely in his terrible twos! Tyler works at night so I do dinner, baths, story time and bedtime alone. Then Tyler sleeps some days until 12 or 1pm so I do wake up, breakfast, flash cards & colors.  I spend at least 1 hour every day doing structured learning activities before I let him do free time & it has really paid off. Issac knows his 8 basic colors & can count to 20.  Issac enjoys finger painting, coloring with crayons, playing with modeling clay and building with his colored blocks.   When Tyler wakes up he spends some time reading books to Issac, some days it is 3 books, other days it can be as many as 8 or 9 books. It is so cute because Issac always asks for, "one more book".  Currently I'm trying to teach him his shapes & the alphabet.  The last few weeks the sun has been shining so I have been taking the kids to the park or to the splash park sometimes in the morning and in the evening.  One benefit of living in King County is that there are so many park options within a 15 minute drive, we go to somewhere new all the time.  Issac loves being outside & I enjoy watching him be creative in self play or running around with the kids he meets on the playground. 

Josie started to pull herself to standing on July 6th.  She now walks around the furniture & takes small steps between things.  She says ma-ma, da-da, ba-ba & Issac (her verion).  She knows where we keep her foods & crawls to the highchair when she is hungry.  She enjoys bath time just like Issac & stays in the tub playing with him for about 20-30 minutes each night.  She really enjoys our morning walks in the stroller. She only gets cranky when the stroller stops or goes slow.   Since I have graduated, Josie gets very fussy when I'm gone. She knows when I leave & is miss fussy for daddy. But she cries for him if sleeps too long, its so cute how much she wants us both. Melts our hearts. 

Adjusting to our new routine has kept me from updating the blog but it is my hope to get caught up this week.  Happy August to everyone. Until next time ~ XOXO