Zoo

We had our first visit to the zoo!

The Austin Zoo is a humble zoo, but still features lions, tigers, and bears (Oh my!).

Oliver's favorite feature, though, was feeding the animals out of his hand.  His little giggles were precious as the animals licked and slurped the treats from his small hands.

And a special treat was a train ride!

Bowling

Since Oliver loves to build, stack, etc AND kick a ball, we thought we'd try kick bowling.  Oliver has a blast setting up the blocks, then running and kicking the ball, knocking down the tower.  Such a fun pre-dinner game as we wait for Daddy to come home!

Look familiar?

Oliver loves ice!  He requests it in his water, more for the purpose of playing with it than having it make his drinks cold.  I thought it might be fun for him to play with as much of it as he'd like in the sink.  He had a ball!
 
 

Aiden and I looked on, and Aiden was able to play with one of his favorite toys.

Look familiar?

Big Shoes

Oliver has started to go into our closet and pull out our shoes, especially in the morning when we are getting ready.  Those are some big shoes to fill! ;)

Park Visit - Getting Big!

I took some pictures at our last visit to the park.  The boys look so big!

Smock, and the bathtub

(Mon, Aug 8th)
It was one of those days.  You know, where you feel like every time you turn around there is something else to clean up...another spilled water, another poopy diaper, more places to vacuum so Aiden doesn't end up a human vacuum.  By dinner, I was done, but this time, even I had to laugh at myself.

Mark walks in the door, and Oliver is seated at the table with a full smock on, and a bib over top. Rice was the culprit.  I know how messy Oliver when we have rice (and curry) for dinner, so I wasn't going to take a chance since I had already bathed him.  However, as we chatted over dinner, I looked at Oliver and burst out laughing.  A smock, really?  Poor thing.  He resisted my putting it on him (understandably!).  Too bad I didn't get a picture of him with it on, but here is the smock by itself.

And today (Tues, Aug 9th), I fill the baby bathtub with water for Aiden's bath and start to undress him when I realize he has a poopy diaper. I take him to his room to wipe off the poop.  When I return (maybe 2 minutes later), Oliver has climbed into the bathtub, fully clothed (shoes and all).  He is so proud of himself.  I couldn't help but be humored. Again, didn't grab a picture.

Aiden - 7 months!

Aiden is 7 months!


Getting better and better at crawling, he is regularly interested in whatever his brother is doing...

Ba Ba Va Va

Aiden is babbling, which makes us realize he is growing up so fast!

4th of July!

Growing up, a tradition of ours was to go to the local 4th of July parade with all the neighborhood kids.  We even participated in the parade multiple years in a row.  I'd love to continue this tradition with our kids in our Austin neighborhood.  This year, we invited several friends to join us on the curb to watch the parade.

Oliver brought his loader truck with him, and he and his friend received badges from the fire truck (or "siren" as he calls it).

The parade starts!

At the end of the parade, we walk to the finish, where tacos, Amy's Ice Cream, and a playground are waiting!

I love you, Mommy.

This morning, Oliver was saying, "Mine mine mine," which means, I would like it.  (We're working on rephrasing the "mine" to "May I please have it?" or "May I please have a turn?".)  When he went into "mine mine mine" this morning, though, I just tackled him with tickles.  He giggled and giggled and then said, "I love you, Mommy."  That's was the first unprompted "I love you." I have heard from him.  So sweet!

About 15 minutes later, Oliver proceeds to tell me he would like something I can't understand. He proceeds to lead me to the closet (where I keep toy rotation toys hidden) and points to the top shelf.  A muffled "instruments" comes out.  Clearly, he has been watching and knows where I store toys for toy rotation.  

We've also passed the point (several months ago) where I can sneak a piece of chocolate or other delectable treat.  He wants a taste of whatever  I am eating.