Swimming Pools, Movie Stars

Will had a business trip last week, so the kids and I stayed with my parents for a few days. We got to do a boatload of fun things: walking down to Dairy Queen for ice cream, playing in the wading pool, going to the park, and visiting Grandpa at work. This last one was intended for Graham, who was promised a chance to sit on a putt-putt. In Grahaminese, putt-putt means tractor. (My sister thought we had taken him mini-golfing.)

Dad took us to the university's machine shed, and Graham first got to sit in a green John Deere tractor that was large enough to have a cab. He was in heaven. Baby C was ambivalent. Next, Dad decided to up the ante and let him sit on the giant red combine. Graham sat there for about 10 seconds before he started violently shaking his head "no". He wanted to go back to the real putt-putt. This combine was the wrong color.

When we got home, Aunt Kim and Grandma were visiting and we got to hang out with them for a day. We're hoping Aunt Kim will find an accounting job in the area and get to stay even longer!

In other news, Graham's potty training seemed to be going okay until he had 8 accidents today. We used to be able to go an entire week without 8 accidents, so I'm not sure what's going on. He is also violently allergic to something in sunscreen. We've tried 3 different kinds with the same result: swelling and hives. We have resorted to going out after 4pm. Here he is in the pool at Mom & Dad's...



They enjoyed playing in the splash mat that was a birthday present from Great Grandma Funk. I particularly liked the fact that it said "No Diving".



Baby C is by far the most accident-prone child I have ever seen. He uses his forehead as a battering ram. Will finally got down on his level today and said, "Use your eyes! If you see something in front of you, stop!" Maybe he just needed someone to tell him that. He has learned the signs for "more" and "all done" and is learning to use a spoon.

Gabriella has her two bottom teeth now and chews on everything she can reach, including other people and the legs of chairs. She enjoyed all the attention from her grandparents because it meant she was held most of the time. Here she is enjoying the splash mat from her seat in the Bumbo:



She started solid foods this week and is doing pretty well with rice cereal:



And finally, Graham still enjoys baking. I showed him how to sprinkle the filling for a coffee cake, and he insisted on doing it himself. He is saying "Sprinkle! Sprinkle! Sprinkle!" until he gets bored about halfway through.



Here was the finished product:

Growling and Destruction

Gabriella is starting to act like a dog. She has found her tongue and sticks it out of her mouth just about 75% of the time. She also growls unabashedly, and it is quite a shocking sound to come from such a petite little girl. Of course, she wouldn't do it for the camera, so here is a video of her basically doing nothing.



(The growling in the background is Baby C or Graham, I'm not sure which. It must sound like we growl a lot.)

Gabriella had been crying on the couch on Sunday, and Graham went over to make her feel better. He had been tickling her for a minute or so and she seemed to like it. I tried to zoom in, so it's blurry.



He is becoming a very devoted older brother.

Baby C is a master of destruction. We can clean up an entire room, vacuum, leave, and re-enter the room only to find that he has pulled out every single toy he can reach, scattered Cheerios across the floor, and wiped his nose on each couch cushion (makes you want to visit, doesn't it?). Seriously, it's like he is a giant toy-magnet, and as he walks through the room, things fly at him. It's Mary Poppins' "Let's Tidy up the Nursery" game in reverse. Will calls him "Entropy Boy".

In other Baby C news, we may not have to refer to him as Baby C for much longer! We may be able to adopt him within the next few months if things go as planned, although we have been warned that things rarely go as planned. Pretty exciting!

Outside

The title explains it all. We spend every available moment outside these days. Will tilled the garden, and when he asks Graham what he wants he wants to play with, Graham takes off running pell-mell for the shed. He emerges with his garden trowel and a bucket, then spends the rest of the night digging in the garden or the flower beds. He will be sorely disappointed when we put up the fence.



Baby C loves playing in rocks and hates to come back inside. Gabriella is content to sit, as long as she's not in the sun.



They will love all their water-themed birthday toys in a month or so.