July 31

Poor Daisy hasn't been getting enough sleep lately; the past two nights, she's woken up in the middle of the night and fussed for a few hours before falling asleep. Since one nap a day isn't enough to help her catch up on her sleep, I put her down for two  naps today.

The morning nap was a great idea. She woke up happy as a clam!

(She's checking out her reflection in the Weber grill.)

Since she was happy and it was still relatively cool out, we walked to the neighborhood playground for a picnic lunch. 

Sunglasses were a must.

Can you see her new teeth? The center right (her right) one has been there for a few weeks, but just in the past few days the other front tooth and the one on the far right popped through. Her top left one is also about to break through, and I'm starting to see tooth buds on bottom left and right, too. 

Sheesh. Teething is hard for this girl, especially when they come in clusters!

She was feeling pretty happy today, though. 

Caleb also rocked his sunglasses. He knows he's cool when he wears his shades.

We had a lovely picnic in the shade, but sadly the playground equipment was too hot for playing.

Daisy didn't mind, though. She was happy just to be outside!

Caleb, however, was sorely disappointed. This was when I knew it was time to go home.

July 30

Can you tell that somebody got the movie Up from the library recently?

In case you haven't seen or heard of the movie, it's about this:

So today, when Caleb was talking about his house floating away, I offered to tie some balloons to it. He was so pleased with the whole situation!

While Caleb played in his house, Daisy found a butterfly. 

I know you can't see the butterfly, but trust me, it's there. It's that gray spot. And actually, it was probably a moth. And it was probably a mostly-dead moth, because she nearly touched it and it never moved. 

Daisy was thrilled! She tried (pretty successfully) to say "butterfly" and sat happily watching it until it eventually fluttered away.

Also, funny story. We had my sister and her boyfriend and my parents over for dinner tonight, and at bedtime Caleb requested that Grandma put him to bed. Then he asked for Daddy. Finally, he asked for me. So just like always, I sang him one song and snuggled for a moment before saying goodnight. But before I left the room, Caleb said, "Now I am going to look out my window for a little bit."

And then the wheels in my head started turning. The past few days, I've noticed his curtains are pushed to the side a bit when he wakes up in the morning or after naps. Was he really...

Then he said, "May you please leave now so I can look out the window? Please leave now!"

So I left. Of course I headed straight outside and there he was, standing on his bed, peering out his window. What a little stinker! He giggled, we waved, and I came back in and put him to bed  for real. Funny boy! I wonder what else he does while we think he's sleeping?

July 29

We have Olympics fever here.

I think the kids are especially into the games because we never, ever turn on the TV. The games are exciting, but the fact that they're on the big, shiny TV is even more exciting. Caleb watched the opening ceremonies with Grandma while we were out the other night, and has watched some of the events here and there. Tonight, it was synchronized diving.

Here, he is staring intently at the TV. The stick in his hand is a microphone, and he is pretending to announce the games. Over and over, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in Piston Cup history... and here we have swimming! Look at the bounce!"

Really. We didn't even put him up to it. He just did it.

Daisy can't handle the suspense. She was glued to the screen. It's a good thing she doesn't watch TV that often! (Or maybe it's a result of the fact that she doesn't watch TV that often...)

July 27

Today is Chris' actual birthday, so we celebrated again. He spent the morning golfing, and in the afternoon the kiddos helped him eat cake and open gifts.

Birthday cake. Yum.

Caleb and I decorated the chalkboard wall for Chris' birthday.

Boys and presents. Chris' hair is a direct result of the morning's golf game - it doesn't normally look like that. I wish I had scanned the photo in the frame. It's a picture of Chris when he was around Daisy's age, and he looks just like her. Only not underweight.

Caleb wore the bags,

While Daisy opened them.

It was a fun day for our little family. Then my mom came over and Chris and I went out to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, which is actually next week. What fun!

Also, while looking for the picture I put in the "Happy Birthday" frame, I came across this one of Chris and his sister, Grace. 

Do you see that he is meeping that baby's nose? Does it remind you of when Caleb met Daisy, and immediately did this?

He is definitely his father's son.

July 26

These kids. Can we just talk about them for a moment?

Oh, my. I love how they love each other. Today, Daisy showed me that she can climb up onto a miniature bench that sits on our front porch. It's adorable, but terrifying. What if she falls? But the moment she climbed up on that bench, Caleb sat down next to her. And the moment he sat down next to her, she reached up and... 

started wiping his hair? Apparently Daisy has a strong maternal instinct.

Caleb thought it was really funny.

Then she did this: 

Oh, don't mind me. I'm just a quivering puddle of goo.

She's hugging him! Of her own volition! They love each other!

(Side note: our dinner companions tonight informed me that in a few years' time, they will no longer love each other like this. I hope and pray this is not the case.)

And then she pretended to blow her nose. 

Because that runny nose from the teething? It's not from the teething. It's a cold. That she picked up at the church nursery. And now Caleb has it, too. I give up.

July 25

We are in the midst of a busy few days here. One of the things on our agenda is to celebrate Chris' birthday. His birthday is Friday, but we have plans to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary that night. So today we threw together a quick little celebration at the neighborhood pool. Chris' sister, Grace, and her husband, Adam, are in town this week, so the celebration was even sweeter.

We all had so much fun splashing in the pool!

(It was 107 degrees today. Really.)

Chris' mom and both sisters joined us for dinner and swimming. I promise that Adam has a body - he is not just a floating head, no matter how much it looks like he is.

Grace and Sally (and I) were delighted by Daisy's stair-climbing ability. Daisy loves to sit on the first step in the pool, where she can splash and scoot to her heart's content. When she gets bored, she just climbs up to the puddle/fountain area. Clearly, it's still hard work for her. Don't you love the look of fierce determination on her face?

It's been a year since Grace last visited (is that right? WOW!), but Daisy immediately fell in love with her.

I think it helped that they had matching yellow and blue bikinis.

I wish she lived closer.

I don't think Caleb could have been any happier - some of his favorite people, at his favorite place.

These three are so goofy together!

Even though we talk about Grace all of the time, Caleb was a little suspicious of her this morning.  Now, he adores her. (Though Sally still might be his favorite, simply because she has blonde hair. Those blondes always win his heart!)

Daisy enjoyed Grandmother time while Chris got ready to devour his birthday cake.

My handsome husbando.

Caleb helped blow out the candles. I wasn't about to put 31 candles on the cake, so we did three, then one.

Daisy shared a piece of cake with Grandmother, and impressed her with her fork skills.

But even more impressive was that Daisy was willing to share the cake! She took a bite, then fed Grandmother a bite of cake. Good job, Daisy!

July 24

1. Daisy says "catch" now, and throws a ball to us.

2. Caleb keeps insisting that his name is NOT Caleb, but is in fact Lightning McQueen. It would be cute, except that he corrects us each time we call him Caleb. It's getting old, fast.

3. Daisy has three teeth on top that are almost through/already through at once. I find this especially odd because she only has two teeth on bottom.

4. Caleb got Cars 2 from the library. Some people said it was too dark for kids his age, others said it was fine. Caleb himself informed me that it was not fine; he asked me to skip through a few parts in the twenty minutes he spent watching it today. At naptime, he said, "I want to talk to you for a minute. In Cars 2, the car jumps into the water."

Me: "How did that make you feel?"

him: "Sad."

I am blessed to be raising such a sensitive, articulate little boy.

5. Got Daisy's lab results back today. No Celiac Disease (praise the Lord!), but despite my best efforts to provide her with iron-rich foods, she is still anemic. We  now have nasty iron supplements for her. We're still waiting to hear back on the immunological tests - those should be another week or more.

6. Daisy has a runny nose today. We are going to assume that it is from the teeth, and not from the fact that we put her in the nursery at church on Sunday. (It was our turn to serve back there, so we were with her and one other baby the whole time.)

Luckily, Daisy knows just how to handle a runny nose:

Kleenex.

And lots of them.

I should have known she was up to no good when everything was quiet for a few minutes. I thought she was just playing happily. Really, I was right: she was playing happily. With my Kleenex. *sigh*  It was a rookie mistake; I should know better by now.

Also, I find Caleb's current chalkboard art to be fascinating. He's drawing lots of circles, but not with a continuous line. Or even with one color. I actually think it's pretty cool!

7. These children are going to be with babysitters the next three days: Grandmother for Bible Study tomorrow, Grandmother again for a dinner with Chris' colleagues Thursday night, and Grandma Friday so that we can have an anniversary/Chris' birthday date. I'm not sure when I was last away from the kids so much! Please start praying now that they do not behave like wild animals for the family.

July 23

Goodness, it was hot today!

I was feeling frisky this morning, so I took the kids to a nearby park. Happily, the park had a splash pad with fountains; sadly, I left my camera at home. Then we went home and... got back in the water. I needed to water my plants, and Caleb likes to help, and... well, you get the idea.

Caleb "helping" water the plants.

Please note: the hose is aimed away from all plants. Any actual watering that occurred was merely incidental.

He did remember to water the Daisy, though.

Luckily, the girl understood that the spraying was all in good fun.

Then Caleb took the water play to a whole new level: he removed his clothing and sat down in a metal tub filled with two inches of dirty, old  water. Once I realized the boy was adamant about bathing in that tub, water temperature be darned, I filled it up with fresh, cold water.

He knew it was cold, but he enjoyed it anyway.

Look at that happily bathing beauty!

Daisy was smart, though, and had nothing to do with the cold water. She sat, soaking wet and shirtless, at the picnic table and was quite pleased.

Both wet, both happy. 

Then they both ate massive lunches and both took loooong naps - Daisy three hours, Caleb three and a half - AT THE SAME TIME!!! I could really go for this one-nap-a-day thing with Daisy!

When Daisy woke up, she caught up on her favorite blog, which just happened to feature both her and Caleb today. She's never really experienced our computer or the fact that it's a touch-screen before, so she was enthralled. You can't see her whole face, but she was grinning ear-to-ear over that picture of Caleb. Can you see a hint of her dimply smile?

July 22

Today we spent our afternoon at a lovely party, celebrating our friend Mary's fourth birthday. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car, so you'll have to imagine Caleb wearing butterfly wings and Daisy charming the crowd. 

We spent yesterday evening at a different fun party - this time, a couples baby shower for our friends Jessica and Travis. Again, I left the camera at home. I also left the children at home, supervised by Grandma.

Apparently they behaved like wild animals the whole evening. We got home just as my Mom finished reading Caleb and Daisy their last bedtime story.

Wild Woman Daisy was rolling, climbing, and bouncing all over Caleb's bed, toothbrush in hand.

She's totally into the climbing and bouncing lately.

Wild Man Caleb loudly proclaimed, "I WILL NOT lie down! I AM NOT going to bed!"

I have no idea what got into those kids!

Daisy's current favorite book is anything by Matthew van Fleet. We have Dog, Moo, Cat, Tails... I think that's all. She loves them.

Despite the fact that we were home and things were back to normal, Daisy and Caleb remained wired. It took nearly an hour to get them to bed... Yikes! Sorry, Mom!