July 2

Today felt much, much longer than normal. Perhaps it's because we packed it so full of fun things?

This morning, Chris took a break from preparing his signature breakfast (whole-wheat banana chocolate chip pancakes) to arrange Caleb's alphabet magnets with him.

Caleb clearly enjoyed this turn of events.

Yes, my nearly two-year-old still loves his ring sling. I'm gradually getting him used to the idea that the sling belongs to Daisy now. In the meantime, the water wrap works just fine for her on land, too.

After breakfast, Chris took the kiddos for a walk. Then, Caleb got his first chance to help Chris wash the cars. 

He was a quick study.

Now he's an old car-washing pro!

He even grabbed some soap bubbles...

and scrubbed the car!

Then we went to a "Welcome Home" party for our friends Amber and Michael (it just feels weird to call him that...) and their three kids. It was an awesome event, featuring a bounce house, a tractor (aka riding lawn mower) with wagon, balloons, and ice cream. Oh, and our friends.

Unfortunately, I foolishly left my camera at home. I kicked myself many times for that one. You'll just have to check out Amber's blog and see if she posts any pictures of the party.

And somehow, we attended a party honoring them, but went home with a gift home from them. I'm still not sure how that worked, but I feel a little bad about it.

I don't feel too badly, though, because the gift is really awesome. Amber made this play mat for Daisy. I'm pretty sure it's one of the coolest gifts anyone has given her - Amber designed the fabric, had it printed, and then sewed it into a play mat. The daisies have her name, birthdate, birth length, and birth weight. What a precious (and useful!) keepsake!

After a long  nap, Caleb woke up and wanted to listen to...

you guessed it. That James Taylor video.  

He doesn't normally get to sit on the stool all by himself, but he did a good job. He's always so absorbed in the video that I knew he wouldn't misbehave on the stool.

Caleb's two favorite things:

"You Can Close Your Eyes"

a balloon

He got to take the balloon home from the party, and fell asleep in the car holding on tightly to the string. When we got home thirty minutes later, he was sound asleep, but he still had that string in his hand.

After dinner, we all went to the pool for thirty minutes. I wore Daisy in her water wrap and got her wet for the first time. She loved it; in fact, she promptly fell asleep. I suppose I would, too - strapped to her mommy's chest, warm water, the sound of fountains splashing... I'm falling asleep as I type this!



This is turning into a pretty fun weekend!