Chew Chew (as opposed to "Choo Choo")

I've been very hesitant to write about this because as soon as I do, I will jinx it....but I am so excited that I decided to risk it anyway. Little Man has finally figured out the art of chewing! He still isn't tackling crunchy foods yet but at least we are seeing progress. The big event happened last Thursday at lunch. I made Emily some Eggo french toast sticks. I gave one to Zach simply to entertain him while I finished making the cubs' lunch. Twice he took big bites with his back teeth and CHEWED it. One bite was big enough that I was worried that he would choke on it, but he chewed it up. He even fussed when I tried to take it away from him. Amazing. That evening he ate several small french fries...and taking bites, not just the microscopic nibbles that we are used to. He now eats rice and scrambled eggs too! Woo hoo!!

A little kitchen decorating.

We celebrated Steve's birthday on Tuesday by grilling shrimp and Filet Mignons (from Omaha Steaks - thank you Auntie Leslie and Uncle Craig!!) on our new grill (thank you Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John!!). Dinner sure was yummy.

After dinner I decided I would do some organizing in the game room upstairs. I had a stack of things to move into the attic. Things were moving along smoothly until I lost my footing and punched a delightful hole in our kitchen ceiling with my size 8.5 shoe. Lord knows it couldn't have been in a closet or the pantry where it wasn't so noticibly visible. So, Happy Birthday Steve, I hope you enjoy the personalization I added to our kitchen.

I didn't take a picture of my "decorative touch" because it made me sick to look at it. On the bright side, I was able to get the contractors over yesterday (how's that for service??) and I did take a picture of the lovely patch that we will be taking time out of our "family weekend plans" to paint.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

Today is Daddy's birthday. Even though he spent it working, we still hope he had a wonderful day!! We are planning on spending some quality family time together this weekend to celebrate your big day. We love you!!

All around good dog!

He even fills in as a pillow when needed.

Fun in the sun...and sand and sea.

Auntie Leslie and Uncle Craig sent this really cool Sand and Sea table to the cubs for their birthday. They love it!

Emily adjusting the umbrella. July 26...it was really hot this day. Good thing the pool was close by to cool off in.


It was much cooler this morning so we were able to play in the shade.

Goodbye Alli-gator, Hello new pool!

Grandma Shirley and Grandpa John sent the cubs a replacement for Alli-gator and this pool has all the bells and whistles. What fun!! The slide was a big hit! Huge thanks to Grandma and Grandpa!

First time in the new pool.

Deciding who gets to try the slide first.

Chivalry is not dead. Ladies first.

Open season, fighting over the slide.

Zach may be scrappy, but it looks like he won this round.

Reversed roles

Last Saturday my LCMOMs group hosted a pool party. I thought Zach would love it. He loves water. He loves to wash his hands and take baths. He loves to play in the pool and with the water hose. He's a fish. Emily doesn't like any of those things as much as Zach does. She's getting there, slowly but surely. However, on this particular Saturday, Emily did far better than Zach. She went right into the pool with Daddy. She even fell into the water face first, which I thought she would have come back up screaming, but she just wiped her eyes and kept going. Zach screamed the whole time. He did not want to be there. I really think it was just too cold for him. The party started at 10am and the water was really quite cold. I think if it would have been an evening pool party, Zach would have loved it since the water would have been warmed by the sun. I am not discouraged. I know he loves water and will eventually love the big people pool. Right now he's perfectly content with his little people pool.

Emily in the big people pool (I can't believe she left her hat on!!):

Screaming Zach:

The best part of the day for Zach....anywhere OUT of the pool.