Farwell to the Summer

The summer always seems to pass too fast. The end of another summer has come. Boo! We've enjoyed our time up in our house, taking in the amazing weather, scenery, and company. Erik and I have enjoyed getting to know our new baby boy and seeing our baby girl continue to grow and thrive. While I've been recovering and taking care of the kids, Erik worked to transform our yard, painted the house, and put up a shed in our backyard (with help). With so many more plans for our house and yard, both Erik and I anxiously await for next summer. Next year's plans? A playhouse and swing set for the kids and more flowers!

This summer has brought a huge change for Jonah. Already a large baby, he just got bigger. I got to enjoy his first smiles, his first coos, and his first interactions with toys. I also got to see one of my best friend's baby girl, Lili, only 2 weeks Jonah's senior, make her way through these first steps, too.
Lili and Jonah-
Lili and Jonah visiting, while Katie and I do-

Mr. Gnome

My grandpa had a fondness for gnomes. In fact, when my sister and I went to Europe with him he picked up two plastic garden gnomes in Germany that we, then, lugged around from country to country for several weeks. Ah, the fond memories! When he passed away, I inherited these fun garden decorations and placed a few out in my yard.


Toward the end of the summer Cairo befriended a few of these plastic critters, affectionately naming one of them "One." Cairo and One did everything together- went on walks, played with toys, dug in the dirt, dressed up....

Organizing

Cairo loves to organize things. While I was cooking one night, she spent almost an hour organizing spiral noodles into their different colors, putting them back together, and then organizing them out again. I always love to help her find activities that keep her busy!

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Cairo in concert- singing one of her many tunes. She didn't want me to video tape her, so I set the camera down on the table and hit record when she wasn't looking.

Humboldt County Fair

Yesterday, Erik, the kids, Grandpa Lee, Ba-chan, and I all headed out to the Humboldt County Fair. The weather was amazing. We spent a few hours wandering around the exhibits, seeing the shows, visiting the animals, going on a few rides, and eating a huge shaved ice. Jonah slept the entire time in his baby carrier, while Cairo soaked in all the activity.

Grandpa Lee took Cairo on a few rides-





Now, make sure you eat your cabbage... ALL of it! (notice my cell phone for a scale of how LARGE this cabbage was)


The roosters were a little confused. They were crowing even though it was mid day. :o)

While in Ferndale, we stopped by Grandma Dedini's house to visit with Erik's parents (who have been working on tying up Grandma Ds affairs since her passing in mid July). When we pulled up the family of deer who live in her backyard were by the house having a snack.

Summer Flowers

I love flowers. I especially love the growing collection of color and texture in my backyard. Next year, I hope to add more to the mix!













... and a happy little tree frog...

Keepin' Busy

We are headed into the final stretch of our summer. It has really flown by fast!

Erik has been working on painting our house for a few weeks now. It is mostly completed, but it seems to be harder and harder lately to find the time to finish it. The amazing clear and warm weather we have been having lately doesn't really encourage one to work... that and two little kids! When Erik does get a chance to work on the house, though, he has his handy little side-kick, Cairo, anxiously awaiting to help him out. Before she paints, though, she insists on wearing a painting hat, just like daddy. Though Cairo would prefer to use the same paint Daddy uses, she settles for water.

Meanwhile, Jonah is working hard at talking and grabbing his toys. The number of sounds he makes increases on almost a daily basis now. He can purr, screech, coo, goo, and he has a little laugh. He loves to smile at me with a big huge smile that makes laugh. Even funnier, though, is the boo-boo lip he pops out when he's upset. Erik and I are afraid we are going to give his some kind of complex because whenever he does it we start to crack up. It's okay, Jonah, we love you and you will understand why we are laughing at you some day.

As I said, he is starting to grab at toys. This is a development as of this last week. He bats at his toys and works really hard at grabbing them. His look of concentration and the little grunts he lets out while he working at this is highly entertaining. When he does grab a hold of something, he holds on with a death grip. I don't mind when he gets his toys, but when it is my hair or my skin... ouch!

All this hard work is really draining on him. Recently, he has decided that he prefers to take naps on his tummy. Though doctors these days say that babies should sleep on their backs, Erik and I both seemed to have survived childhood sleeping on our tummies; so, I am not too worried about bending current day rules. Plus, his tummy naps last between three and fours hours!

Jonah is a really good baby. He does get fussy and clingy at times, but he is also a champ at sleeping, smiling, and hanging out on his blanket. He is starting to establish a pretty nice routine- up 6-6:30 am, morning nap, 3-4 hour afternoon nap, in bed by 9 pm. We are working on moving his bedtime routine to an earlier hour. He has been falling asleep before he gets his bath and I hate having to wake him up when he's ready to be done for the day.

What fun would a baby brother be if Cairo couldn't share her clippies with him! Heather and I LOVED turning Danny into "Christina Leslie"- his name is he had been a girl. Here is the first of many times...

Jonah's Smiles

A self portrait-

So, Jonah made me melt a little today. So far he has been such a serious guy. More and more over the past couple of weeks he has been smiling and talking. This afternoon when Erik and Cairo we taking naps, Jonah and I had some one-on-one time together. He had just woken up from one of his amazing naps and was in a great mood. He just kept talking and smiling and talking and smiling. He would look around with a serious look on his face and as soon as he saw me or as soon as I would talk to him his face would just light up. Gosh, it's making me melt all over again just writing about it. I think I am in love. This little guy has be wrapped around his little finger. He is definitely my boy!

Getting Bigger

Cairo is just getting bigger and bigger. Each day she does something or says something new. Yesterday, as we were sitting on the couch together, we had our first conversation completely lead by Cairo. She started the conversation with, "how did you sleep last night?" When she asked that all I thought was, "what? Did she just ask me that?" From there a whole conversation took place with Cairo doing most of the talking.

Not only is she leading conversations but she is also really developing her language skills. She is learning opposites. If I say up, she says down. If I say front, she says back. She still rarely uses the word "I" and "me," using, instead, the word "my." On top of that, Cairo has been singing and singing and singing. She isn't just singing songs she knows, but she is making up songs and mimicking the songs I sing. I really enjoy hearing her sing herself to sleep with some song she's made up. It is still too soon to see if she will make a good contestant on American Idol, but we can already tell she loves music.

Cairo wants to be a big girl and she wants to do everything that I do. Today, Erik was folding clothes in the living room and Cairo decided that she wanted to dress herself up in my clothes. She was very proud of herself with this outfit she put together... as you can see by the pride in her smile.

The Beach

This past Sunday, we stopped by the beach for a little sunshine, fresh air, and exercise. Cairo and I dipped our toes in the cold water while Erik watched from a safe, dry distance. Erik and Cairo spent some time poking around in the sea weed washed up on shore and found some shells and a few dead jelly fish. Jonah enjoyed the fresh air while all bundled up in the baby carrier as we walked down the beach. I love living so close to the ocean.