Things I miss/Things I love

Eliza has started to enunciate her R sounds.  Sometimes she'll catch herself saying a word the "old" way and correct it.  It's not like I wanted her to have a life long speech impediment or anything, but I'm a little sad to see her old way of pronunciation go!  It reminds me of other things she used to say that are now distant memories, like "cock corn" for popcorn, or "rispy crispy treats", or how she made us call her Rosa for over a year!  Or even when she was a baby and used to say "goya goya goya" or "pock pock" instead of "pat pat" when someone coughed and she'd pat them on the back.  She's such a big girl now!  In fact, the other day at Home Depot, S said, "Darn it.  They don't have the part I need" and Eliza said, "Dad, I'm glad you didn't say damn it."  LOL!  We've been talking a lot about our upcoming vacation and the other day at school Eliza told one of her teachers, "Sorry I won't be able to make it for your birthday party. We'll be at our cabin."  The teacher got a kick out of it.  I assured her we don't actually have our own cabin.  :)

I need to remember to document the little things Ezra is doing, especially since now I know how quickly they grow up.  He has a different smile now, more of a grin, with all of his teeth showing and a wrinkled nose.  Even though he looks just like Daddy, I'm pretty sure the wrinkled nose look is all mine.  He still says, "whoa!" all of the time and the other day he said, "ki cat" for kitty cat.  Saturday morning I took him on a kitty cat neighborhood tour and he loved it.  One cat even came up and let Ezra pet him.  Sometimes he imitates Eliza and last night he imitated her squeal. 

I Have an Incident Report

From the top we have: Ezra coming home from school with a sticker that reads, "I have an incident report."  i.e. My friends and I are taking turns biting each other again. Next up is Ezra sitting on the shelf in the hallway proudly, that is until he got stuck and I had to get him out.  Then a picture of him standing proudly on Eliza's dollhouse. 

his torso stuck on a shelf.

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Quintessential Summer Picture

These two ask to go play with the water table constantly.  Well, Eliza asks and Ezra stands in the window, looks at the table and bangs until I let him out.  :) I usually just let them go for it, even though they always end up soaking wet.  So here they are sopping wet, having talked Daddy into hauling them around in the wagon.  For once Ezra didn't try to stand up and jump out while the wagon was in motion!

We

Eliza and Ezra are becoming more and more of a team.  They're starting to actually play together, which makes it a lot easier to do things like start dinner.  And Eliza is very good at warning me when Ez is doing something dangerous.  Yesterday the two of them pushed their white table all the way across the house, into Eliza's room.  Ezra was proud to help and Eliza said, "We decided the table should go in my room."  When they fight over a toy, Ezra has started doing this whining noise and definitely playing the role of baby of the family.  Many times Eliza just hands the toy over to him.  We went swimming at a fun pool with a pirate ship last weekend and Ezra and Eliza both loved the water slides.  Ezra spent most of his time trying to belly flop into the water.  Sunday we went to a bouncy castle with our good friends and Eliza hung upside down on the ladder like a little gymnast.  Ezra really loved bouncing too.  Yesterday Eliza and I squeezed in a girl date to Shipe Pool and she's getting the hang of using her kick board to get around the big pool.  I was excited to be able to focus on her in the water, but she was more focused on getting ice-cream after. :)  Ezra is definitely running now.  I have a feeling we're going to end up being those people who have their kid on a leash at the amusement park!  Last night when we were cleaning up after the kids went to bed, I found corn on the cob hiding behind the curtain.  The curtain is currently one of Ezra's favorite hiding spots.  He loves to play peek a boo.  Yesterday Eliza brought a blanket with her so they could make a fort behind the curtain, which might have something to do with the corn on the cob. 

Happy Sounds

Eliza has gotten very into the song We Are Young.  She sings it in this sweet, dramatic voice in the car.  "Tonight... we are young."  So cute.  And Ezra has started saying, "Wow!  Whoa!"  I don't think he knows what he's saying but he sounds like quite the little surfer boy. 

Wild Man

I'm starting to think Ezra's middle name should have been "Danger."  And I'm starting to realize why websites like this: http://www.onestepahead.com/osa/safety.html exist.  With Eliza, we put safety locks on the cabinets and covered the outlets.  And that was pretty much it.  A lot of the baby proofing gear seemed to me to be an industry trying to profit off the paranoia of new parents.  Now I realize we just had a calmer, more easily distractible child the first time around. Sure, Eliza tried to grab harmful stuff at times, but basically we just distracted her with something else or moved her to a new room and she forgot about whatever mischief she'd been pursuing.  Ezra is focused.  He wants to figure out how things work and even if you remove him from the area 10 times, he'll just quickly run back to where he was.  He gets out of child safety restraints, including his stroller straps, his high chair straps and his baby swim straps.  Thank goodness he hasn't figured out the car seat yet.  He'll stand on anything.  Like his toy barn the other day.  Or his sister's doll bed.  He almost got the child safety lock off of the cabinet last night.  He's working on opening door knobs.  The after hours staff at our pediatrician's office now recognize him.  He's been to urgent care once, the ER once and I've already had to call poison control.  He's curious about everything around him and he needs to get to the bottom of it immediately.  Not in a mean spirited way.  He's still a great cuddler, adorable smile, very loving.  He's just mechanical and driven and curious... like his dad. 

4th

Last year (Ezra's 1st July 4th) the drought was so bad that fireworks were banned.  We ended up going to a neighborhood block party in Mueller and watched a fireworks video on a screen.  So, lame.   Two years ago we had a great July 4th with Phin and Troy down at Auditorium Shores but getting home with the crowds was a nightmare.  I'm happy to report this year went much better!  We had a picnic with Marshall, Janet and Lola and watched the fireworks from a great viewing spot that meant no crowds and easy parking.  We could see the fireworks very well but we couldn't hear much, which was was fine, as no kids were traumatized!  Ezra sat so still in my lap and watched in awe, occasionally signing "light."  Eliza gave us a play by play, "Did you see that purple one?  That one looked like a rainbow!  That one was my favorite!" 

During the day I was at home and S was at work.  I took the kids to Lake Park, where we fed ducks, Eliza rode her bike, and we watched a little parade.  Later we had Dipping Dots at the mall and played at the indoor playground. 

Friday I was at work and S was home (School was closed Wed-Fri).  S took the kids to a farm where they saw all sorts of animals and got to see a cow being milked. 

Saturday we went to visit the grandparents, and Eliza was excited to help make homemade ice-cream, pick a watermelon from the garden and watch Daddy shoot fireworks from the driveway.  Shooting fireworks turns S into a 12 year old boy.  I think he may have been even more excited than Eliza!  Both kids loved swimming at the rec center.  Ezra is completely fearless in the water (and tries to drink it) and Eliza has started going all the way under and opening her eyes.  They were amused to watch Papa and both of their parents conquer the Wibit obstacle course and to see Grandpa give it a royal effort. 

Sunday we headed home and spent the afternoon swimming with Eliza's best friend and her family.  It's cute to watch Ezra play with two 4 year olds and a 7 year old.  He clearly thinks he's just as big as they are.  All in all, a great long weekend!