Our summer so far

Our summer has been very fun, very hot and very busy. I'm going to mostly let the pictures speak for themselves but I'll throw my two cents in here and there.

These first two pictures were taken on Independence Day. It was the second time Liam swam with floaties on his arms and he absolutely loves them. It used to be that every time we would swim Liam would get so mad at us for holding him and he would be fighting us off the entire time. We found some floaties at the dollar store and thought we would give it try. We really thought that he would hate having them on his arms and that he wouldn't be able to use them anyway but we were wrong. As soon as he realized they were meant to help him swim alone he was all for it. He swims like a fish with them on.

Our Fourth of July was so much fun. Paul actually had it off and we spent it with his side of the family. We swam, ate delicious food, talked and laughed and played ring around the rosie with a stuffed Uncle Sam.

Then we watched a few fireworks that Liam still wasn't very fond of. He wasn't crying like he was last year but he was a little scared and covering his ears. He kept talking about how he wanted to go inside and watch TV. To give him credit, it was a very long day and he was pretty tired.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but Liam has been LOVING playing in the sink. He does it at least twice a day most days. I give him a few mixing bowls and he goes to town. Lucky for him (and us) he's getting a water table for his birthday.

He is also loving riding his bike in the cool evenings since he now knows how to pedal by himself. He doesn't know how to steer yet though so he mostly pedals down the driveway until he crashes into the grass then he gets off, pulls his bike back up the driveway and starts again.

We took him back to the zoo a couple of weeks ago just for a couple of hours and it was way crowded and way hot. We went to his favorite exhibits then made a bee line for the exit with screaming toddler in tow. (Oh yeah, Liam doesn't like leaving... anywhere. The mall, the park, the restaurant, the zoo. He throws a fit every time. We went to lunch the other day and when we were done eating we asked him if he was ready to go. He said no, of course, so Paul said, "Well, what do you want to do here?" He said, "Just sit." So we sat. Only for about 2 minutes then he was good to go. I guess he's just never in a rush.)

Liam has rediscovered his Halloween costume from last year and he makes me put it on him occassionally.

He enjoys counting his claws.

We had our first doctor's appointment about a week and a half ago. I was about 8 weeks along and we were both so relieved to see that everything is going smoothly so far. It was also a wake up call that there is actually a tiny, grape sized, person growing inside me who will be coming out in just a few short months. Both times that I've found out I was pregnant, it felt very surreal until that first ultrasound. Like I'm not reallly pregnant or it's not really happening until I can see it actually is. And sure enough, yep, it's happening. We are so excited and so super nervous to be parents of two. So far, I have been very encouraged by the way this pregnancy has started out. I was deathly ill with Liam and pretty much in bed whenever I wasn't at work throwing up in the bathroom. This time, I'm feeling so much better. It's seriously a miracle. I feel like it's all working out the way it's supposed to so that I can care for Liam while caring for myself. It's still hard and exhausting but it's working. I hope I can repeat those words when the baby arrives.

And one last picture. I'm weaning Liam from nursing. It's only been a week but it's going very well so far. Except for this little disturbing aspect. The other day Liam showed me his art and told me that it was "booby." (That's what he calls nursing). Can you see it in the picture? It really is! I laughed at first but I can't help but feel I'm traumatizing my little guy. Poor baby is working his frustrations out through art. Maybe that's how great artists are created, I don't know.