In September

Gavin built a cool robot from recycled materials at cub scouts:

 Mom and I went to my favorite consignment sale and loaded up:

 Gavin got his face painted at the family day for Jake's job:

 Amelia dressed up like a pirate to score a free dozen donuts at Krispy Kreme (which Pop Pop was happy to share with us):

 Finally took some after church pictures. Amelia looks adorable every week. She likes nursery but it takes her a few minutes to warm up to staying in there alone. I usually have to sit with her awhile first.

 Watching kiddy song videos with Daddy:

Best school picture ever:

Gavin is doing well in school - keeping up with his work and avoiding getting into trouble. His teacher is back from maternity leave and she is great. He plays outside in the heat every day after school with the neighbor boys. This past month he's been doing exercises most evenings to try to integrate some primitive reflexes. Not sure if the exercise are helping with his neuro pathways but he has gotten stronger and more coordinated. He and Amelia still play well together most of the time. Amelia is still so sweet, and stubborn. Her vocabulary continues to grow and I am amazed at some of the stuff she says. This week she pointed to a shape and correctly said "circle" without any formal teaching from me. Her most frequent phrase is "I can do it," which she strongly believes about everything. This morning she threw a fit walking down to the bus stop because she wanted to put her hand in her jacket pocket instead of holding mine. She has been really into puzzles the last couple months - the frame type with around 25 pieces. She asks for help sometimes but can do them herself when she wants to. She is still napping for a couple hours each afternoon, thank goodness. Amelia is doing better with potty training - sometimes she uses the potty, sometimes her diaper. Hopefully we can wrap that up this winter.

End of July/ 1st Day of School

A few pictures from the end of July:

 This is the only use the potty is getting:

 Gavin's 1st day of 3rd grade. Amelia refused to smile, and then Gavin got scared by a bee:

 How Amelia spent her day without Gavin:

Amelia at 2 1/2

Amelia is now 2 1/2 (specifically 2 and 7 months). She speaks in almost-full sentences, and I can understand most of what she says. Gavin interprets sometimes. For some time now she has been able to sing the alphabet and can count to at least 10. She is working on colors. She likes to color, play with little people, do puzzles, and carry around stuff in her dress up purses and backpacks. She is into Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! She likes books, her favorite reading activity is to point to different items in books and say "what's that?," even when she knows the answer. Sometimes she eats well, other times gets picky. She is not much of a breakfast eater, preferring to drink milk and snack throughout the morning. She will usually eat at least some of whatever we have for lunch. She really likes noodles, cheese, yogurt, goldfish, popcorn, most fruit, pizza, and chicken. If she doesn't want a food she says "no! icky!" She loves to brush her teeth. She is energetic and enjoys playing outside when it's not too hot. On our last Monkey Joe's trip she managed to climb on all the the big blowups. She likes to walk Gavin to the bus stop in the morning, the other day our neighbor Darius (5 yrs old) gave her a hug before he got on the bus. She loves to swim, but insists on having her life jacket off most of the time. She swims underwater as far as one breath takes her. Gavin is still her favorite, she likes playing catch and chase games with him. Any time we get in the car she asks "Meemaw's house?" and she often says "I wanna go Meemaws house." 

"Like dis Mommy:"

 The one day I risk taking the camera in the pool she would not smile:

 hands ready to dive:

 snack after swimming:

4th of July

We had another great 4th of July. Started with the pancake breakfast and flag raising at church and ended with a night of fun with friends. We swam, ate, and shot fireworks. At first Amelia was terrified of the fireworks and insisted on going back inside. I bribed her with a glow stick and cookie, then she was able to sit on my lap and watch. After a while she started enjoying the fireworks and was asking for more at the end of the night.

May/June

In May after we got back from our Florida vacation is was time to open up the pool. We needed to install a new liner this year and decided to do it ourselves to save money. Long story short - we have a new pool. It's a little bigger than our old one, 27ft vs 24ft. We are getting our use out of it. At the end of May Gavin graduated 2nd grade, Uncle Tom visited over Memorial Day weekend, and Amelia caught a cold. Then I caught the cold which turned into a sinus infection. I was sick for 3-4 wks, putting a damper on our summer plans. We still managed to have some fun. I took the kids swimming as often as I could bare, Amelia and I did mommy and me swim lessons, and we made it to the library and park to play with friends. Other than that the kids spent a lot of time at my parent's house, for which I am thankful.  

 Harmonicas from Tom:

 snack after swimming:

 Peaches! 5 years after planting it our peach tree produced lots of fruit. Much of it was ruined by bugs or squirrels, but there was still plenty left to eat: