Jackson today- Sam today

Today he read us "Are you My Mother?" teacher-style with the book facing out and him turning pages and reading it to Colby, Sam, and myself. He definitely has that one and Llama Llama Red Pajama memorized. I was so proud of him. He also is starting to copy the British intonation of phrases. He really sounds like he has a bit of an accent. We do watch a lot of British things and I think he likes the lyrical sound. We watch Kipper, Wallace and Grommit and Mary Poppins. In fact, he loves Mary Poppins so much that when I came back in from hanging the wash, he shook my hand and said, "Good luck, guv'na!" So not only will he have a British intonation, but a cockney accent to boot. Sam, I have decided has mischievous eyes. We were watching a Bollywood music video with a how-to afterwards. To have Bollywood eyes (like at the beginning of the video) you must look from side to side slowly with mischief in your eyes. Sam? Mischief accomplished. He frequently looks slant-ways especially if he's doing something silly or he's in trouble.

Jackson can SWIM!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't so stinkin' proud of this kid it's unbelievable. We were visiting the family at Veteran's Memorial Park. After going there, who would ever want to break the bank with Seven Peaks. VMP is $3 and a steal of a deal at that. Yes, there are only two water slides and one big pool (with no additional features) but who cares? For people with kids and stuff, I'd say VMP is the best! We were in the shallow "shallow end" of the pool and Jackson went under the water and I think he was trying to walk on his hands and then when he found that he couldn't touch with his hands anymore, he just went for it! He was swimming in no time. Well, doggie-paddling, but who cares?! I sure don't! Can you tell I'm ecstatic? He was also very proud of himself and his achievement.

No small thanks to Megan and Jared for being so willing to video copious amount of footage of our kiddos as well as Logan. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! And I'm also very proud that he not only went on the water slides, but liked them enough to want to do almost nothing else. His favorite? The "water gator" aka the fast slide.

Babes in Disneyland

Check out my newest post here on Babes in Disneyland. It's all about our adventures on Mickey's Fun Wheel with some great tips to keep young kiddos happy and how to avoid panicking on the swinging gondolas.

John Carter and extras

So first off, John Carter did not stink and Taylor Kitsch (a rather unfortunate last name) has an intensity that is captivating. The story is rather disjointed and hard to follow, but it is still really enjoyable if you know that ahead of time.

Sam's favorite lullaby is a girls camp song "Tell me Why" and Jackson's is "The Temple Song" which is "I Love to See the Temple". Sam is still addicted to eating his shirts at night. So much so that yesterday, he climbed out of his crib in tears to find a shirt. Of course after that big fiasco he does fall asleep in only his diaper, but instead of eating his shirt, I found him with both his hands down his pants! I just can't win.

Also on a recent long car trip, Sam had been really quiet for a while and then suddenly declared, "Pink. My fingers are pink!" He has also developed a penchant for eating tubes of toothpaste. There are lots of sample sized tubes in the drawer at my grandparents house. I was upstairs in the guest bedroom using the computer which is opposite the bathroom. (That computer is ancient, by the way. It's an 07!) I see Sam opening the drawers and pulling out toothpaste. I tell him to stop, but you can imagine how effective that was. So eventually I have to get up because he's almost got the cap off of this sample size tube. I take it away from him just as he gets the cap loose and tell him "no". Then I get a really good look at the bottle and I just have to laugh. I told Sam he should be extremely grateful to me because he had been trying to open a Monostat vaginal cream tube. Luckily he didn't eat it.

Jackson, poor kid, just got a sliver that was over an inch long gouged in his foot. Poor kid.

iPads and electronics abound. Yesterday, the kids watched Winnie-the-Pooh four times!!! Neither my sis nor I put it on for any of those times. Clearly the grandparents and gg-rents (and sisters) are not accustomed to child entertaining.

Yesterday we also made giant bubbles, set up a tent in the backyard and had cupcakes to celebrate the holiday. My mother and I also did a ton of sewing. So much fun.

I'm learning to relinquish most control and agency at the start of vacation and just go with the flow because everyone has a different opinion of good activities for the day. My idea is laying around the house. But cez la vie. I don't get to choose. Today is going to the lake and other assorted activities.