Twenty Three Months

 23 Months

• The big kids start school this month. They were excited to go, but you asked me about Maggie fifty times that first day. Even Millie is going to preschool, so I have three mornings a week with just us. We have used that time to go walking up on the track while the weather is warm, cleaning the house, and focusing on reading. You are my lastest kid to enjoy books. When you are in the mood though, it is sweet to cuddle up on the couch with you.
• I have been trying to read before nap time every day. You favorite book is the Piggie and Elephant book, "Pigs Make Me Sneeze". You will sneak up on the big bed to read it. I will hear you saying "aahhh" and "sneeze". 
• Story time has started up again. Last year was hard with you climbing all over the place, wanting to ease the board, not letting others hold you, and only wanting to sit on my lap. This year isn't perfect yet, but you have grown up so much that it shows in you sitting still at least for the first book. You love when I bring out the musical instruments. 
• I decided this year that whenever I pack a lunch for the bog kids, I would pack a lunch in a lunch box for you and Millie. It has been a big hit. The kitchen stays cleaner at lunch and you two pretend that you are school kids eating lunch in the cafeteria. 
• I let you use the mini shopping chart at Cash-n-Carry for the first time. Now I can't go in without you running over to grab one. I have only got hit in the heel once. 
• Soccer season is in full swing. This year I am coaching Maggie's team. I tried asking Sam to watch you during that hour, but that hasn't work. Sometimes, you will sit sweetly with the balls. Food can keep you still, but most time I find you playing the goal and running onto the field. When Maggie is off and can watch you, you love finding Nora and playing with her. When we are getting ready for the park, you get excited and say, "soccer?!"
• You just repeated back to me "I love you"! I have been working so hard on this one with you. I love you so much!
• Your vocabulary has increased ten folds. You are still mostly one word, but occasional you will do two/three word phrases like "Millie bath. JoJo bath."

Twenty Two Months

22 Months

• Summer Olympics are on this month. We have been getting involved in the gymnastic. One night is was cute to watch you and Millie try to imitate the girls. We even got you cheering for Suni!.
• We got a visit from Auntie Rachel, Caleb and Owen. Even though those boys are older than you, you liked playing with them, but to be honest, Auntie Rachel was your favorite. You wanted her to snuggle with you the whole trip. I don't know why you choose some people (Rachel, Kelli but not Allison). The favorite thing among these cousins was the play structure. We took them out on the raft also and  spent the whole day at Schocumchuck. 
• We also got to go to Silverwood. This year was really enjoyable with you. You were tall enough to go on a lot of the kiddie rides. Some of them scared you. You did not like the bumper boats and getting wet, but your favorite ride that you went on at least five times was the puppy ride. You sit in the puppy and have a stick that takes up and down. You could do that ride all by yourself, we you wanted to do it again while the other kids went on a bigger ride. 
• We took for a weekend in Oregon. I was looking forward to this trip. We haven't made it out to Oregon in a year, so it felt good to be back at Grandma's house. That Saturday, you got some girl/grandma time while Grandpa took Sam, Dad, and I out yard sale-ing. After lunch, we picked up Lainey and Auntie Annie and Uncle Joe and headed out to the beach. It was cold there, so we definitely did not go in the water. But we had fun collecting shells, flying the kite, and playing in the sand. We finished the day eating calm chowder and bread sticks at Mo's. On Sunday, we went to church. You got to go to nursery and did well (you often cry at ours when I take you). The Price cousins came over to grandma's house that afternoon, where we got to celebrate Annie's and Brooklyn's birthdays. Monday, we played around the house. In the afternoon, we went back to Lainey's house to go swimming in their pool. Grandma took you younger kids home for some quiet time before bed. Tuesday was our last day before going home. You really loved playing in the sand box with your cousins and eating blackberries. 
• Favorites: eating strawberries from the garden, cheese sticks (sneak them out of the frog yourself), playing with Millie, siblings in general (you let Maggie babysit you), going for walks in the stroller, making a mess, sneaking cereal from the pantry, wrestling with Daddy, and dancing to music.

 

Twenty One Months

 21 Months

• We got two new kitties this month named Smokey and Shadow. They are good, strong kitties. You will grab one by the belly and drag it all around the back porch. You call them "meow meow" more than kitty.
• Usually, June is rainy and on the cooler side, but this year it has been hot and dry. We got a really bad heat wave come through and we had temps over 100 for five days in a row. We haven't dipped much below 90 this whole month. Because of this, we have been in our swim suits for one reason or another almost every day. We have been to the river a lot, our new favorite spot being Schookumchuck. We got a pool pass. We have done lots of sprinklers, even a water balloon fight. We are in the middle of setting up a slip in slide. We have used it twice now, but if you go without a tub, bruises will be left on your hips. Water is by far one of your favorite activities. When we go to the pool, I am amazed at your strength to hang on the side of the wall by yourself. You will inch your way down to the jet, because you like the "bubbles".
• We were suppose to go Silverwood, but it was during the heat wave so we decided to re schedule and go camping up past Elk City on the Red River. We are getting this whole trailer camping thing down. We had the whole camp are to ourselves. As we were exploring, we found so many wild flowers. I had you kids go and make a "museum" of all the different types of flowers that you could find. We ended up with 19 different types of flowers. It was so cute watching you try to pick them and shove them up your nose to smell them. We did a lot of fishing in the river, but being so hot, you just jumped in the water and played (though we didn't pack swimsuits so you got to go naked!). We ended the night with burgers from Elk City. It was good to get away as a family and just play with each other. 
• Fourth of July is awesome here. We went to the parade twice. You figured out the whole candy thing really fast. On Saturday, Dad joined us for a full day of fun. We got into town just as the foot races were starting. I was able to run down the street with you. I felt that you were too little for the egg toss, but maybe next year. We walked up to the park and visited all the booths. We had lunch at home and got a quick rest in before the parade started. It was so hot that we made a last minute trip to the pool. It is always fun when Dad gets to go with us. We ate Korean food for dinner from the food trucks. While we were eating, every one of you looked tired. We planned on going to the rodeo, but we were all so tired from the day that we bought a big bag of kettle corn, brought it home, and ended the night watching Sandlot. Popcorn is a good way to your heart.
• Made it camping again to Winchester. I love having the bath tub for you to sleep in!
• We have had a few visitors this month. The first one was the Shippen family. You didn't take to them like you have with other families. In fact, you keep glaring at Sarah and Talia. It was pretty funny. We took them on a little tour around town and then made our way to Pine bar for cliff jumping. Right after they left, Uncle Josh's family came to visit. The highlight with them was going rafting down the Salmon. You got so scared whenever we hit a rapid. We called them bump bumps. You pretty much just sat right in the middle because you were nervous. The week afterwards, you kept asking for bump bumps.
• You are still mischievous. This months happenings are toothpaste smeared all over Millie's Ally doll (she smells minty now) and getting into the bandaids in my bathroom and using them as stickers.
• You love fishes and especially fishing videos with Dad. You won't sit still for Disney Junior, but you will watch a whole YouTube video on a guy fishing. 

Twenty Months

 20 Months

Your cousins came this month! It was so much fun having Auntie Janecce and the kids over for the weekend. We took them to the hotel pool, Lions Park, up the mountain for mushroom hunting and cooking hotdogs, down to the river to play in the water and sand, and stayed at home where kids played and played. Jessie was here. I loved the idea of her, but did not want her to touch your stuff. Most of the time, your naps were off, but we did have some good morning walks each morning since everyone was up and playing by 6am. 

 We have been doing more movie nights. You still do no watch the whole thing, but you feel like such a big kid by getting your own pillow and blanket out. You are very particular about the way the blanket lays just right. 

 We tried to go for a little hike as a family, but the ticks were too bad to go out, so instead, we went to the river last minute. We had no swim suits, no life jackets, or sand toys, but we still had fun. The other kids kept asking me to do something with them and I reply was always, I have to watch JoJo. Well, the water was shallow and you could walk around in it. The other kids just didn't get how easy it is for a kid to drown. Well, you tripped over in the water, landed with your face in the water, and even though the water was shallow, you were panicking and couldn't get up. I was right there so I could scoop you up, but it was a good lesson for everyone how important it is to watch you. 

 We have been going to church weekly now. Maggie is such a sweet big sister and has styled your hair for me. You won't sit still for me, but you will sit still for Maggie while she puts your hair in piggies. 

• The big kids are home for the summer and you are loving having extra friends to play with. We celebrated with drinks from Creme and making our big summer plans bucket list. 
• With the start of summer means the city pool. It was been such a warm June, that we have been there lots. It is a challenge because you do not like wearing your puddle jumper. So I am sitting down on the steps with you the whole time because you don't want me to hold you but you don't want a puddle jumper. I have had to scoop you up out of the water several times baby.
• We got kitties this month. Smokey and Shadow. They are good kitties, but you are not afraid of them. You will grab them by the belly and drag them all over the porch. This reminds me that you never call an animal by the name, it is always "meow meow", "neigh neigh", "moo moo". The only one you call by name is puppy. You love animals. One of only video that you will sit through the whole thing is Dad's fishing video. You love "fishy" and when we drive by water, you like to point out, "water . . . fishy?" 

 

 

Nineteen Months

 19 Months

• We got more chickens this month. You beg to hold them, but the moment I put them on your lap, you start breathing fast and freaking out. I will take them off, but then you are back at it wanting to hold them. 
• Drawing is a favorite thing right now. You will crawl up the stool and scribble on anything you can grab. I have a whole notebook, full of scribbles. It is adorable to watch you because you hunch over and are intently focused on the tiny scribbles that you are making.
• Another cute trend now is the baby carrier. Millie has a baby carrier she received for Christmas a while ago. You have claimed it. But instead of babies, you normally have rags stuffed in it. You crack me up.
• The weather has been great this month so we have made several trips to the park and the lake. We visited Tolo lake for the first time. Just like every other kids, rocks are your favorite and I find myself sitting on the ramp, helping you find more rocks to throw in. Also, clothing and bathing suits are the same thing in your mind. After our trip to Tolo, I had to strip you down to just a diaper to drive you home. 
• We went camping for the the first time this year. We took the camper to Hammer Creek Saturday night. It was relaxing playing in the sand, pushing you around in the stroller while Sam rode his bike around the road, and watching you kids explore the bushes. No sand Astle is safe around you though. Maggie made "Hogwarts" and I spent the whole time distracting you with smaller castles for you to destroy so you wouldn't go after hers. Once she finished, we took a picture of it and then it was gone in 30 seconds. 

Eighteen Months

 18 Months

• What a fun month for us. Grandma and Papa Price came out to visit and help out with Maggie's Harry Potter birthday party. I would say you had fun at the party, but reality is, you slept through all of it. You warmed up to Papa because he fed you treats when you sat on his lap.
• You are getting so playful. I love watching you wrestle with dad and the big kids. You will go up to Dad and "tickle" his legs. 
• You have a random obsession with rags with month. You are constantly sneaking into your bathroom and grabbing a handful of wash clothes as if they are your lovey. Then they end up dropped throughout the house, so you know how much I love that.
• Probably the best thing of the month was going to Florida!!! It was awesome. It started off really rough with you throwing up all over yourself on white bird hill and several more times along the windy road. I threw away your outfit it was bad. I thought you would fall asleep on the drive down, but you didn't, and a normally 4 hour trip turned into a 9 hour trip. The flight with you wasn't fabulous either. I finally got you to fall asleep on the floor on the plane, but the flight attendant made me take you back to the seat which lead to more crying. After that, the trip was great. We stayed right on the beach. The first half of the week, we were in Pensacola Beach and the weather was great. We met up with our friends a lot, who had two boys. We made it to a fun splash pad with us girls. We also went to the zoo where we fed the birds, goats, and giraffe. I think we hung out at the hot tub at least once, if not twice a day ( a big hit with you). Last year, you didn't like the sand, but this year, it is your favorite. The second half of the week, we were in Destin. We took the bigger kids go carting. We also rented a boat and rode around the bay. It was a colder day, but we still managed to jump off the side and see jelly fishes. We also saw dolphins! We ate a ton of seafood. I know that you will be too young to remember this trip, but you really did have fun and one of the best parts of vacations is seeing you guys experience these things for the first time. 
• Easter was this month. It was the day after we got home late, so I feel bad that we didn't do too much prep for it. You did enjoy finding the eggs, and definitely enjoyed eating the candy. We got you a new Fancy Nancy book.
• Grandma and Papa Matthews got to come up for a weekend after we got home from vacation. They watched you kiddos over night so Dad and I could have some time together in Boise. I was so nervous because we have never left you over night with someone. You did great. You loved Papa Matthews so much. The moment that they got here, you ran up and wanted him to hold you. I don't know what makes you like one person and not the other, but it made they feel so special that you choose them to like.