Another summer update...

It is frelling hot outside!! We had at least three days in a row where the temp was 104 degrees and temps have stayed above 102 for the past week! Youch! There's just no other word for it. Despite the temps, Fender did get to go outside and swim one day. Pics below.

I also want to mention a couple of really precious things Fender has done recently. For the past 5 weeks, I've woken up every morning to "Momma, Rock a baby." Which means when I peer my head into his room, Fender is standing there with his blanket waiting for me to grab him up and take him to the chair and rock him until he is ready to get up and play for the day. It is so incredibly sweet and wonderful. (I'd prefer he maybe slept in until 7:00 or 7:30 before getting me up, but 6:30 it is...) Some mornings if he is pretty well awake already, we open the blinds and watch the birds and squirrels running around on the tree tops while we rock and sing his "rock a bye" songs. It is funny when he wants you to sing a certain song...he will sing a couple of the parts he knows like..."up above the" which means he wants to hear "twinkle twinkle little star" of course. And "rock a baby (on tree top)" and Frere Jacques which he sounds out something very similar.

Yep 5 straight weeks of that...so it was quite a surprise this morning when instead of "rock a baby" he said, "watch Elmo." Uh....wha???? And he was ready to go too...down he went, straight to the living room and repeated his request over and over (because certainly I hadn't heard him the first 20 times on the way or else Elmo would already have been on when he got there.) Thankfully Tivo records Sesame Street just for these occasions and Elmo was on lickity split while I made breakfast. I guess this is how Saturday morning cartoons begin. I don't think we've ever turned on the TV before breakfast until today.

Another neat thing was he decided he was finished watching Elmo when he was hungry because he walked himself into the kitchen, straight to his chair, climbed up and said "breakfast". But the oatmeal apparently wasn't tasty enough because after a couple of bites he wanted a "pop-tart." It took me a couple of seconds to realize what he was asking for, but once it was in front of him, he ate it all. Yea for cinnamon whole-grain pop-tarts!

Okay and saving the best for last...when we were getting ready for bath time last night, I sneezed, and without missing a beat...Fender said, "Bless you, Momma!" Oh...can't he stay that sweet always?
 
 
 
 

More recent camera phone pics...

Yesterday: Fender "Rock a baby" at YiaYia's.
 

Driving mom's truck:
 

Walking to dinner with Memaw and Aunt Lala:
 

Just playing in the carseat:
 

Camera phone pics

Cleaning out my phone I found a few fun pics.
March 2007: 5 months
 

October 2007: 1 year
 

November 2007: 13 months
 

April 2008: 1 1/2 years
 

Summer is just plain hot...

Well summer is in full swing now. The days are near 100 degrees every day and the heat index typically surpasses that. Which makes it difficult to play outside without water. We keep the water hose, small pool, and friend's with pools close at hand. Mostly we're in "survive the summer" mode. Or at least I am. The heat doesn't seem to phase Fen at all. Even when we tell him it is hot and we need to go inside and his cheeks are flush red and his hairline is dripping with sweat...doesn't matter...the play must go on at this age and parents just have to suck it up and remember they were young too once and who wants to be cooped up inside all the time. Not to mention, rubbing your legs and belly all over with mud helps keep you cool. :) (No pictures of that mess, but I'm sure there will be more opportunities.)

Things to do inside on a hot-hot summer day
...take pictures with the camera and look at them over and over...yea digital!
 
 

...playing with puzzles is fun too.
 
 

...messy fruit Popsicle with Memaw is another great way to endure the summer heat!

Blog to book and works of art...

Artwork of our 21 month old. No circles in this one because it is paint, but he can draw circles and spirals now, which started at about 19 months.

Okay, as Fender's second birthday draws near, it reminds me that it is almost time to make another book. I don't think I mentioned his first book before. It was just sort of an experiment the first time, but as it turned out much better than I expected, I am looking forward to doing the next one. I also thought a couple of you other moms keeping blogs might be interested as well.

I found a site last year called blurb.com (last year it was the only one in existence that did this sort of thing, but it may not be now). There is a free software download and then in a matter of seconds (maybe a couple of minutes) you can download all your blog posts from blogger.com into a book format. You have to tell it if you want to start from the first post or last post and a couple of other "set-up" type things, and then you are done. You can tweak anything you want and spell check everything. Once you are happy with it, you upload it back to the website (free) and then you order your book ($$$). :) Ours was actually $50 because of the number of pages (132 I think). But if you want more after that, they are cheaper and you can also be entrepreneurial and set your own price and sell your book online to anyone and everyone.

Anyway, in case any of you are interested in what the product looks like...here are some pictures of some layout choices for Fender's Journey: Year ONE. I designed the cover, inside layouts, colors, wording, and all the content, is mine of course, directly from the blog. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Enjoy. :)

Scooter moderno...

Memaw couldn't resist this purchase for her favorite grandson. It is a Plasma scooter, which basically scoots around on its own when you turn the wheel. No need to pedal, no motor. It is odd and very cool. Fender doesn't seem to grasp the idea yet, but he's more than happy to push it along real fast with his feet. We all had a fun time trying to show him how it goes.

A fantastic video...gotta love that Memaw!!! :)

4th of July...

By request: Fender 4th of July comparison...this year and last year.

With Memaw and Lala out of town, we decided to let Papa have the day to relax and we celebrated the 4th of July just the three of us...and three dogs as we were dog sitting for Lala.

After completing his Red Cross safety course at the local pool, we bought a small back yard pool, which he swam in every day throughout the weekend making a running total of 7 straight days of playing in the agua. Fender and I started the morning off with a brief walk over to visit YiaYia for breakfast. In the evening, we didn't cookout, but we did make burgers in the kitchen and we finished the evening with a short drive over to watch the city fireworks. In true Fender fashion, he had no reaction (scared or excited) until he studied them a bit and decided he kind of like them. He mostly watched in silence as he found the perfect way to end this 4th of July by nodding off to sleep sitting in Momma's arms on the tailgate next to Daddy with fireworks booming overhead.






And on Saturday we drove to Plano to visit one of my good friends from college who was in town visiting her sister. My friend's daughter turned 8 three days before and we gave her one of our dogs for her birthday. :) Yes, it was a surprise, but it was something she had been wanting and reading up on for a couple of years and her parents were wanting to get her a dog but never took the leap. Both my friend's family and her sister's family fell in love with the dog immediately. They explained to me how no one in China had dogs as pets and how they really wanted get one for their kids but were too nervous. Well...Happy Birthday, Audrey...meet Morty. :)

Water slide...

A quick bout of swinging with Memaw and Papa at the park, then on to our last day of swim class where we got to go on the big slide...up and down again and again...that is all he wanted to do. He loved it. No surprises there. Glad Daddy was there for the "uhni, uhni" (which means "again, again" in Fender terms). And the day was even more fun with all the family support. Not only were Papa and Memaw there, but YiaYia came too. We just want to say, "Thank you guys!" for always going the extra mile to say, "I love you." Fender is so blessed! What a fun day.
 
 
 

A retro scooter...

Well, whatever you call it, Fender calls it his bicycle even though it has four wheels and no pedals. Typical, a cool unusual retro gift from Aunt La La, just because. :)





When Fender plays in flowers taller than he is and with such vibrant colors, it just screams "picture time."