"No dirty butts on the rug" rule

So, this evening, we were at my grandmother's house. At one point, my dad helped Phin go to the bathroom. After he was done, my dad came out and said, "I didn't know the 'no dirty butts on the rug rule' was in effect. Apparently when Phin was done peeing, he sat down on the rug in the bathroom to put his underwear on, then went "oh, I can't put my dirty butt on this rug, or Grandma won't let me come back to this house." Too funny, right? I must have said that to him at some point, but I sure can't remember it.

Arrrrggghhh!

Play

Took the boys to the park for a picnic on Saturday before we headed over to Great Grandma's. Today (Monday), we're headed to the pool and looking forward to Aunt Katie coming on Thursday!

Ohhh, Baby

How is it possible that my baby is not really a baby anymore? Almost 10 months old, Silas is growing up sooooo fast. I think he is desparately trying to keep up with his big brother, and doing a respectable job. How can his first birthday be coming so soon?

Here is some of what he's up to:

1. Sitting up, crawling, pulling himself up to standing on EVERYTHING, walking along furniture, standing by himself...

2. Talking, yelling, screaming. He is VERY vocal-- and not in a good way sometimes (just ask Uncle Todd and Aunt Brenna).

3. Grinning, smiling, flirting-- we get more comments on his facial expressions than you would believe. He's very personable, and loves face to face attention. He makes friends everywhere.

4. Eating-- anything and everything we will let him. Sometimes we all regret it later, but this kid will eat ANYTHING! I think he would eat 24 hours a day if we let him. (He's still spitting up sometimes, but it's tapering off, thank goodness).

5. Learning how to use his sippy cup. Since he's never really taken a bottle, we've decided to try to bypass that altogether and have him ready to use a sippy cup for milk when he's done nursing.

6. Growing teeth and hair-- yes, that really is a lot of hair for him. He has his bottom 2 middle teeth, and you can feel the bumps for the top middle 2.

7. Being sweet-- snuggling, cuddling-- he's a cuddle bug just like his big brother.

Time flies-- Phin will start preschool 2 half- days a week this fall; both boys will be taking gymnastics starting at the end of August; Silas will turn 1 October 1st; we are hoping to make a trip to visit my sister and her family in Florida this fall(Phin can't wait to see where his cousins live-- we talk about Riley, Cory, and Lainey a lot-- the other day Phin said "Lainey is the best person.") and have the boys' first visit to Disney World.

Have you ever brushed a dinosaur's teeth?

Phin has-- his dentist has a stuffed dinosaur and a toothbrush for the kids to play with. Phin had his second dentist appointment on Thursday morning, and he was a star! The dentist even called him "a pleasure." This is not something that people usually would say about Phin. I was so proud. The dentist's office just happens to be right above a Starbucks, so afterwards, we went and had a treat. Here is Phin "maxing and relaxing" with his rainbow cookie! So fun. I LOVE this boy!

Swim!

Daddy went to the pool with us on Wednesday, and I promised pictures if that ever happened, so here they are! Of course, there are no pictures of Caleb because he's taking the pictures. It was a bit of a cloudy day, but we had a blast, especially playing with Daddy in this water playground. Phin and I were able to go on the lazy river and ride the one big slide that he's allowed to ride (on a double raft with a grown-up). It was sooooo fun. He is getting braver and braver each time we go. Silas likes the water too, and is sometimes a little too brave for my liking.

Toenail polish

So, I went and got a pedicure, and Phin had to have his toenails polished, too. So we went to Target so he could pick out some polish-- he picked black. Very goth, I know.

A Day at Great Grandma's

On our way home...

... we headed down to York to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. The guys were busy building a patio at the back of the house, and it was ready for us to eat on by dinner on our last night! Grandma took Phin to the theater to see Ice Age 3, and Silas and I did some outlet shopping. So fun!

More fun in Philly

Our Fourth of July trip to Philly was a blast, even though we fell asleep before the fireworks. :(

Friday, we went to the awesomest park in Old City. Uncle Todd came with us, which was an extra treat, especially for Phin.

Playing legos with Uncle Todd.

(Hopefully lots more of these moments in the future!)

As I said, our Fourth was uneventful. By the time it was time to go Sunday morning, Todd and Brenna were ready for us to go (Thanks to Silas's very loud screaming). We always have a great time when we go over there. Thanks, guys!