July Journal

What a fun month July was! We returned from vacation and were off and running. Philip began swim lessons. He asked for the lessons, but when we arrived the day of first class, he got scared. I had to drag him over to the class, but the teacher immediately took him into the water, talked to him, and swam around with him...and he calmed down right away! He has done perfect ever since - trying anything new that she asks. We really like his teacher and it has been great to watch him learn and grow.
 

 

My parents came up for a visit. Philip invited them to his birthday party many months ago, so they made sure to be here for it! Andy went down to Florida for a few days, so it was nice to have their company and help.

Philip turned five this month! He was so excited for his birthday party this year and has been changing the theme that he wanted practically daily for the past year. We finally decided on a superhero party with an emphasis on Spiderman. He invited his best buddies, a couple from across the street, his grandparents, and his babysitter. This was the first time he wanted to invite a crowd!

Philip and I made this city skyline.

The kids sprayed the bad guys with spider webs (silly string).

 

After my parent's visit, Andy's brother came to town with his family. They had not been up for a visit since Philip was a baby, so it was fun to have them here.  Philip especially loved playing with my nephew. We celebrated Matt's birthday one night and went to dinner in Annapolis another night. Andy took Friday off from work and we went to the Natural History Museum and then into Georgetown. My niece wanted to go to Georgetown Cupcakes, so we fulfilled her dream!

Cousins

Watching the sailboat races

Philip had Andy take a photo of pretty much every animal in the Hall of Mammals.

A little birdie came to visit!

It was time for Philip to get a haircut. Julia insisted that her hair was getting long and she needed one as well. So we went in for her second haircut. It turned out cute!

Philip has been making up games for us to play. I love to watch his imagination and creativity grow. He has started picking up the cat and Herbie has been a really good sport about it! He picks Herbie up just under his arms and the cat stretches almost to the floor. They are practically the same height! When Philip is eating or doing something he likes, he will say, "I'm loving this." Philip also started calling Julia by her first name, as opposed to Babes or Baby. It seems that we are all making the transition now - we all used to call her Baby and I wondered what would happen when their new sister arrives. It seems that the transition is happening naturally as we prepare for a new little one.

Julia has really been taken by her play food and little stove top recently. She loves to go to the basement and cook up a meal for our family and guests. She seems to have swiftly transitioned into taking shorter naps - about one hour does it for her now. It seems like she wakes up practically as soon as I put her down, but I am thankful that at least she still takes consistent naps most every day. I'm pretty sure Philip was frequently skipping them by this age. She gets confused about the difference between overnight sleep and naptime - to her they are both naps. When she wakes up in the morning, she will ask, "Did I take my nap?" We took a break on potty training for a month or two, when she was showing signs that she wasn't ready yet. After returning from vacation, we eased back into it and she is doing wonderfully! If only I could convince my kids that taking a quick break from playing to go to the bathroom is not torture!

 

 

Julia has made great strides in the self-feeding department this year. This was last year's blueberry pie night...

 

and here is this year's. 

  

Both kids are having fun playing store.  They go into the pantry to grab some little shopping bags and fill them up with toys or food. Then I ring them up at their cash register. I never know where I will find some of our pantry food these days! Andy taught the kids a secret handshake that he grew up doing. He had tried before with little interest from them, but after watching his uncle/cousin do the same handshake when they were in town, Philip got excited about it. I love to see them doing their secret handshake and the excitement that the kids get from it.

Fun at the gym - their indoor playground.

 

That is all the news and notes from July!