Lex went to bed early tonight (no nap) and
Eve was very happy to have the run of the living room. She
bopped all over taking out toys and climbing on things and
fully enjoying the fact that he wasn’t knocking her over :) The
video is about 2min, but cute.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkNEIDhxdWI]

Eve has quite the personality these days and is a lot of
fun. She’s talking more and more, and likes to say “hi lex” and
“big ball” and a few other phrases. She is very silly and
easily tickled, and she has a really funny fake-ish laugh. The
other day at the grocery store I was kind of talking to myself
and said, “what am I doing? that’s silly” Eve heard the word
silly and started laughing :) It cracked me up. She’s also
fairly strong willed when she wants to be and doesn’t hesitate
to shriek and throw a mini-tantrum if things aren’t going her
way. Other times she is mellow mellow and happy to go with the
flow. I love watching the personality emerge. I think she’s
getting more beautiful by the day too.

She does
this funny little thing where she squeezes her hands and arms
in to her body and makes a funny face. It looks like she’s
bursting with happiness. I couldn’t get a great picture of it,
but this is kind of the tail end. She’s adorable
anyway.

Alan took the week off and we had a fun,
family-filled time. We went to MA to visit Lauren, who was in
town for a quick stay on her way to Venezuela. We met her and
her boyfriend at our favorite ice cream stand, then spent the
afternoon with them at her mom’s lake front home. The kids had
a great time playing fetch with the dog and examining the boat
trailer and it’s many fancy gears and pulley systems. That
night we went to Alan’s parents house to celebrate his mom’s
birthday (and set up a new computer for them). The kids were
exhausted by the end, but a good day was had by all. The next
day Alan joined us for our regular lunch in the park and saw a
puppet show. Lex actually sits still this year and watches the
show, something he never did last year. Of course Eve is always
on the move now, but she stays pretty close to the picnic
blanket… so far. Friday night was the Pampered Chef party and
therefor Friday was devoted to prepping for it. When I host a
party I like to do it right :) On Saturday we went to a
friend’s birthday party. They had a big backyard with lots of
food and things for the kids to do. We didn’t know many people,
but we all had fun anyway. Today was a little more low key. Lex
and I went bathing suit shopping and stopped at the grocery
store (on his insistence, really) then played outside with the
neighbors all afternoon. I got some GREAT landscape/gardening
advice and then we enjoyed dinner on the deck… until the
downpour and our hasty retreat inside :)

The kids have been sleeping pretty badly lately (ok, me
too, which is why I’m blogging at 2:00am), but I think it’s
mostly because of the crazy week. I tentatively have a busy
week going forward, but I may try to scale it back a bit and
get everyone back on routine. The kids have been going to bed
really late and we’ve been even later. I’ve been struggling
with the WW thing and I think it’s mostly because I’m tired all
the time! Next week may be all about routine, rest, and proper
grocery shopping!!

Anyway, enjoy the
pics.

Watching
the chickens and goats at our favorite ice cream stand. Leonard
helped Lex up and Eve is trying to figure out how she can get
up there :)

Lex,
peeking out of the covered bridge.

After a
long day, the kids cuddle on the couch to watch a movie. It
looks like a peaceful, sleepy scene, right? It lasted about a
minute before Lex was up and bouncing again. Poor Eve just hung
on and begged with us to put her in bed. She went all day with
just one 10 minute nap. I think she was asleep before we got
out of their parking lot.

Lex
decides to try curling up with a few good books. That too
lasted about a minute before he was on the move
again.

Eve sits
on daddy’s shoulders for a better view of the puppets. One
parent per kid makes outings much easier!

Fun in
the pool at Jonathan’s birthday party.

I think
the camera was on the wrong setting here, but she’s so cute
anyway. I found a few balloons left over from Lex’s party so I
made Eve a necklace :) It was supposed to be a flower, but
ended up looking like a very large ring, and she decided to
wear it around her neck instead. She had a lot of fun with
it.

We’ve been having some late nights around
here. The kids are finally in bed, though not yet sleeping, so
I thought I’d blog for awhile :)

My Pampered Chef party on Friday was
tons of fun. All week the weather forecast was nice and sunny,
but Friday morning a storm rolled in and the day was dreary and
overcast. I was bummed. I went out, by myself!, to a WW meeting
then got a mani/pedi (treat for losing 10lbs!) and grocery
shopping. I’m kind of crappy at the grocery shopping these days
and we seem to be going every couple of days :/ Got home to a
remarkably clean house and deck. My husband rocks!! Together we
finished cleaning inside, with the expectation of moving the
party indoors. However, around 5:00 the sunshine decided to
come out and the evening was beautiful. We made Cran-Raspberry
fizz (a tasty summery drink with raspberry sherbet) and Greek
Cheese Torta (sooooo yummy!). I also had chips & salsa,
veggies, cookies, and Peach Sangria. All very yummy. We had 10
guests and my friend Andi brought her husband (Alan’s buddy
Mike) and her boys, so while the ladies where having fun, the
men and boys were running around, laughing and sharing the
food. It was really relaxed and fun. People ended up staying
until it was dark and very chilly. And not only did we have
fun, but I earned lots of free products! I’m so excited to
start this business. So far I have 5 people who want to host a
party! Yay!

A little
note we found later that night.
I’m not exactly sure
what it means, but it’s cute.

I have not changed a poopy Lex diaper in
two days! No, I haven’t been handing them off to Alan and no,
we haven’t shipped the boy out for a few days. Instead he seems
to have discovered an honest interest in toilet training. He
still insists on diapers, which is ok because I’m not convinced
he knows he’s going to pee before he starts and he often runs
to the bathroom with a slightly damp diaper and puts the rest
in the potty. He’s been burning through the sticker chart and
earning TV show privileges daily. I made him a third chart
yesterday and numbered it 10 stars instead of 5 stars to earn a
show. He’s earned two shows already! He doesn’t seem to care
much about the shows as much as the stickers though. He has
also been asking to use the bathroom at public places and at
friends houses and I think he’s interested in seeing all the
different bathrooms and he remembers which ones have potties or
step-stools or which ones don’t flush! (outhouse at the
strawberry field last week) He’s making progress. I’m so proud
of him!!

PS. We had a fantastic Pampered Chef party on
Friday. I have lots to tell and will make a separate blog about
it soon, however it is late now and we had a busy day so I need
sleep.

While a lot of toddlers we know seem to be
developing friendships, Lex has remained a bit of a loner. We
had an odd experience at the playground last week that I’ve
been meaning to blog about. We went to a kid show in the park
at lunch time with Michelle and kids, then stopped at the
playground for a few minutes. It was nap time, but I thought
we’d be ok. When we got to the playground there was a very friendly 3yr
old girl there. She gave Eve a big hug, and gave Dylan a big
hug, almost climbed into the stroller to give Caitlin a big
hug, then she got to Lex, who was sitting in our stroller. She
said hello and started to hug him, but he dropped his head down
and started crying! It was sad. I pulled him out and cuddled
him and chalked the whole thing up to a nap time situation.
Dylan, this girl, and another little girl then walked around
holding hands (Dylan is smooth!) and playing
ring-around-the-rosey. Lex kept his distance, but watched them
carefully. At one point he settled himself into the base of a
tree and just watched them. I went over to talk to him and I
offered to help him play with them or something, but he said he
just wanted to watch. It was a little weird and I felt a little
bad for him, but I know he’s an introvert and I expect more of
the same as he grows up.

Anyway, all this to tell you a story
about today :) We went outside this afternoon to fill up the
pool and do some swimming in icy cold hose water. On the way
out Lex asked if Parrish could swim with him. I was surprised
by the question and told him we could definitely go ask. When
we are outside Parrish often runs over to play but Lex always
seems a bit indifferent, so I was surprised to hear him
requesting it. So we went over to Parrish’s house and Lex
walked right up on the porch, but refused the knock, instead
deciding to crawl up on their ledge and peek in the window.
Hm… we’ll have to work on that. Anyway, the dog made our
presence known and Parrish’s dad came to the door. Lex wouldn’t
talk to him, so I asked. They were heading out and couldn’t
swim, but said maybe a little later. So we ended up staying
outside for two hours, playing in the pool and waiting for
Parrish. Lex kept saying, “will Parrish come play with me now?”
It was so cute. They came home after awhile but Parrish was
sleeping and Lex could see him napping in the car and was
confused as to why he wouldn’t just wake up and come play. We
went in a few times (diaper changes, etc.) and each time Lex
insisted we go back out quickly because Parrish is going to
come play. I felt so bad for him because Parrish never came out
to play. I think it’s the first time he’s requested a play date
and it didn’t work out. It was sad, but there will be plenty
more days and lots of time to play.

As the pool drained into the lawn
Lex helped me scoop water out with buckets to water the
gardens. I initially gave him a watering can to use, but he
wanted my 3 gallon bucket (which he couldn’t even begin to
move!) so we compromised on the little purple bucket. After
about three trips he said “Mommy, this bucket is very heavy!”
and switched back to the watering can. He was a very good
helper though!

Hope everyone had a fun, festive day. We
had a pretty average day and another year with no fireworks.
Our town apparently has a very nice little 4th of July
celebration with music, food, fireworks, etc., but we’ve yet to
make it. I wanted to go this year, but both of the kids are a
little off today and it just felt like too much to try and push
them and keep them up late. Lex is scared of loud noises too,
so he probably would hate the fireworks. Oh well. I may go sit
on my porch and watch the highest ones over the tree
tops.

I just did a quick search for the
previous year’s 4th of July posts and found two funny things
from last year. First, I was excited that Lex was showing
positive signs towards potty training. This is fun, in a ironic
sort of way, because I could post the same comment again this
year and it would still be accurate. Apparently we haven’t come
very far in the potty department this year. The other thing is
that there is a video of
Eve in her little stars and stripes dress and her
laugh is adorable. It’s the same laugh she has now, only
smaller :)

And now for some rambling…
Sometimes I feel like a party-pooper with the holidays. I can
really get into Christmas and birthdays, but that’s about it.
We do Halloween and Thanksgiving, but we don’t seem to
celebrate anything else. All the neighbors
(Keeping-up-with-the-Jones-itis) are having parties and music
and decorations and whatever, and at our house it’s just
another day. I put on a red shirt, but that was purely
coincidence. Sigh. I assume that as the kids get older we’ll do
more. Or not. I guess we’ll see. For now I have a quiet house
and hear the fireworks in town starting, so I’ll say goodnight.
Happy 4th of July! (or Happy Birthday, as Alan’s been saying
all day)

UPDATE: Alan and I sat in lawn chairs in the front
yard and saw about 50% of the fireworks over the trees. Nice
way to end the day.

Lex has started a new heartbreaking habit
at nap and bed time. For some reason he recently wants someone
to stay with him (I think this started with the new, bigger
bed). Sometimes Alan or I will lay down with him until he falls
asleep, or at least until he’s really mellow, but this isn’t
always possible. I’m not sure it’s really ideal to get in this
habit anyway. So, anyway, the times when someone doesn’t lay
down with him he frequently ends up sobbing and wailing very
pitifully and saying, “no, don’t leave me mommy. don’t leave.
i’m all alone, please don’t leave me.” It breaks my heart. I
try to explain that Eve is there and I’m just downstairs, but
he doesn’t seem to care. It’s sad, but I know it’s just because
he’s tired. As a parent you can only hope that the decision you
make aren’t traumatizing your kid. :/

We had a beautiful day today! Let me start
by saying it ended with a nice, calm bedtime and both kids
asleep by 7:00pm. Can’t beat that!

I
took them to the lake today. I’m pretty sure it’s Lex’s first
time at the beach and it’s definitely Eve’s first time. I
think!! Anyway, they both loved it! I was a little worried
because swimming the past two summers has involved me standing
right behind Lex and hauling him up every time he lost his
footing and went under. Today only involved one rescue mission
and it was at the end of our stay, when he was very tired. On
the way over I made up the “belly button” and “stop, return”
rules. The first says he can only go as deep as his belly
button and the second says if mommy yells “stop” he must stop
immediately and come back to me. Surprisingly he did very well
with both rules, although a few times he “confused” his belly
button with his nipples. :)

Eve was
very excited when she saw the beach and water. Here she’s
standing by the shore squealing as Lex is running around in the
water.

A
typical conversation went like this. Me: Can you see your belly
button? Lex: (looks down) No! Me: C’mon back in then! And he
did :)

Eve spent most of the time at the waters edge playing with
the sand and splashing in the water. She seemed to love it
though, and when we went up to the picnic tables for lunch she
kept trying to run back to the beach. She learned to say
“bucket” today. You can hear it pretty well in the video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Vj1lWEWsg]

This is
a cool picture, I think. He was freezing and his teeth were
chattering, but he looks beautiful in the
picture.

Sitting
on a bridge at the playground. The lake has a great beach area,
a playground, and lots of picnic tables. It’s a really nice set
up. Eve was laughing as Lex and Nate ran across the bridge, but
I couldn’t let go of her long enough to get a good picture.
This one is silly, but cute.

Lunch
time. This morning Lex asked me to cut up a pear so he could
bring it to the lake. He was excited when lunch time came
around and he could finally eat his pear.

We were there from about
10:30am-2:00pm. I was convinced they would both pass out in the
car, but not so. Eve fell asleep pretty quickly, but Lex chose
to eat biscuits instead. When we got home I put her in bed and
he said he wanted to “watch the singing penguin movie and read
some books,” so I put on Happy Feet (I love our library!) and
he sat on the floor reading to himself. Not sure why he wanted
both, but he insisted and I wanted to eat lunch and unload the
car, so his plan made us both happy :) She woke up after about
an hour and they played happily while I cleaned (much overdue)
the kitchen/dining room area. I often feel bad about cleaning a
lot while they play because I don’t want to be ignoring them,
but after the busy morning I think a quiet afternoon was just
what we needed.

Dinner involved a fun
game of “Eve, can you say…” fill in the blank, she repeats it
as best she can, and Lex rolls around in hysterics. The game
was much funnier today because they were both so tired. Then
showers, stories and bed. Love it when it’s easy. Lex is now
sleeping with doggie stuffed up his PJs shirt. I guess that was
easier than the blanket belly pack he normally constructs for
doggie.

Alan is playing poker tonight so
I have sooo much time to myself tonight, and the kitchen is
already clean!! I’m going to savor the moment by watching lame
TV and eating fat-free, sugar-free pudding. Wild woman, huh?!?
:)

I know you all are dying for a cloth
diaper update, so here goes! I’m kind of struggling with them
these days. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but we can’t seem
to get past the diaper rashes. I think I solved the issue with
the liners (hemp absorbs a lot, but doesn’t wick away from the
skin, microfiber is much better at wicking) but Lex keeps
getting rashes and now Eve has another pretty bad one. She also
has diarrhea (tmi, sorry) a small fever and is pretty sleepy
and fussy, so I’m hoping maybe more teeth?? I don’t see any in
there, but the other option is a stomach bug or something, so
I’m hoping for teeth! Once again she’s back in Huggies and Lex
may be back there tomorrow if his rash doesn’t clear up. The
problem is that diaper cream is complicated with cloth diapers,
but with these rashes we are going through the diaper cream
like mad! I have to say though, that these kids are amazingly
happy and well behaved considering what their butts must feel
like most days.

On another note, Lex has entered an
interesing (and often annoying) new phase of questioning.
Whenever you say anything, or grunt, or breath loudly, or
(heaven forbid) swear, Lex is right there asking, “why did you
say that mommy?” I think he’s learning what words, sounds, etc
a person makes in different situations, but when Eve drops a
toy on my toe and I yell “ow!!” it doesn’t help to have Lex
right there saying, “what are you saying mommy? what did you
hurt mommy?” He often knows what you said, but asks anyway.
Alan and I keep reminding ourselves that this is a good and
normal phase and, though annoying at times, still cute and.
Kids are funny.

PS. Happy July and happy 15
months to Eve!