August

The first of the month Joseph went to the temple.  The boys and I went to a nearby park, the view of the temple is from our parking spot.  There's lots of trees so we generally couldn't see the temple while we were there. We had a little picnic lunch and then went to the playground.  The idea was we'd leave the playground in time to meet daddy outside the temple but the boys were having too much fun.  It was HOT.


I'd never been to the park, it was a fun little playground and we had it all to ourselves the entire time.  Our toddler loved this slide and I took him down it several times (don't worry, I held his legs).  There were lots of things big brother enjoyed.  And they both loved the swings.


Later that day our preschooler went to the store with his dad and I took the opportunity to let his little brother ride his bike.  Our toddler was totally adorable the entire time.  He really assumed ownership of the bike and had a blast with everything we did and everywhere we went.



(I must have given the boys haircuts just after the first of the month.)

Ever since then he's been more insistent on getting a turn with the bike, and thankfully big brother has been fine pushing the umbrella stroller instead ... by the end of the month big brother would want his bike, but so long as there's both the bike and the stroller, we're fine.


Our toddler is very opinionated, determined, sweet, and playful.
He seemed to think the color white was called "ice cream" for a while. Sometimes he still says that but he also knows white. As much as we have ice cream it's not usually white. Though Hot Cup makes it so it does start out white. Another source of the confusion could be the white ice cream truck, which really doesn't come that often. Anyway, kinda funny :)
He's using spoons all the time and loves to steal my flatware. He always wants to trade with me so I have to eat with the toddler ones.
He loves stop signs and stairs & slides. He can see stairs & slides in anything - he's always pointing at random things saying "upstairs, upstairs, upstairs, weeee!" One time at my parents he kept climbing on my dad's lap and sliding down his legs. Now I have to be careful of how I have my legs because if he sees a slide....
He's talking tons. It feels like he's saying everything.
On our way out the door one morning the poor guy fell on the top concrete step in front of our house. He managed to not fall down all the stairs, keeping his body on the top, but he did get scraped up and bumped his head on the second step. The injuries weren't too bad but it must have been a terrifying experience. After being inconsolable for quite a while he finally responded to a question by nodding yes. So we headed out again and on our way to the door I grabbed my camera and asked him again, hoping he'd nod but he said mmm-hmm instead.  Our preschooler then said I've never seen him nod before.  I thought it fun that he knew why I was filming.  Even though he wouldn't nod again then, he does fairly often now, but still says his high-pitched mmm-hmm too.

He loves costume stuff.


- At his Uncle's birthday celebration.
- Suggestive of how mommy wears her keys sometimes.


- He can be stubborn about what clothes he's willing to wear. Though shirtless is pretty rare.
- Wanting to rinse out the potty, cause that's what big brother does.


He's pretty adventurous at parks.


Our preschooler is talking tons too. He loves talking to us and often says "Mommy/Daddy, I want to tell you something ..." to make sure we're listening and ready to respond.

8/24
Preschooler: Daddies go to work. Mommies and kids don't go to work.
Me: Sometimes mommies go to work. I get to stay with you, but some mommies go to work. Before you were born I would go to work.
P: You can make lunch and dinner. You can make food mommy.

8/25
P: How many [slices of] peaches left?
M: Seven.
P: Seven. Wow.
(Just an example of his use of the word wow :)

8/25
P: What you doing mommy?
M: I'm just giving [your little brother] his Pediasure.
P: That's so nice of you mommy.

This is the first time (lately anyway) that he wrote his alphabet on the chalkboard.  He does it all the time and loves it.


I took a couple pictures of him putting dirt in his dump truck and he was disappointed when I stopped.  He said he needed 20 pictures of it, so gave him my phone and let him take pictures. I'm sure we got at least that many.


I've always gotten a little chuckle out of reading this with our firstborn.  I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least a year ago when I first asked him about the duck near the top of the spread.  I asked what it was doing and he said it was sleeping on the grass, with it's wing in the pond.  Haha, he still says that and it's cute.


- Playing with daddy
- Playing with mommy, one of our last days with any alone time. Now that he's at school we don't get our daily alone time :(


The first four days of preschool were in August.  Our boy loves it.  It's 2.5 hours of school but he spends 4 hours away.   The bus ride home is about an hour, I'm not a fan but he doesn't seem to mind. I'm so grateful it's afternoon pre-k instead of morning, because our toddler naps in the afternoon and they love to play together. It'll be rough next year when he's gone all day.  (A few weeks ago I mentioned #2 on the potty, things are going well there :)

Now pictures of our boys playing together, I love those ♥.



Our last night with our friends before their move to Colorado. They're yelling at the thunder, asking the rain to wait until they're done with their popsicles.


Making butterflies with Ms Denice. Toddler's first time with markers.


- They both love the spray bottle.
- And the swings.


Our toddler was very disappointed when he didn't get new shoes at the store like his big brother. The next day I got out the next size up for him and he insisted on one of each (1 old, 1 "new")


At the park with some friends.
Our toddler was convinced the chipmunk was a dog and kept making dog (panting) sounds.
In the picture of our preschooler on the seahorse, I'd asked him if he was frowning or just not smiling. He's telling me that he's frowning.
It's adorable when our toddler prefers his brother's hand. And twice adorable when big brother welcomes it.



My baby sister spent some time with us before returning to BYU ♥. We always love when she's here! I ended up leaving her with the boys a few times, so that was nice.
Carousel & cookies at the mall.  Our preschooler's nervous smile.



He decided to put his arm around his brother before I decided to take a picture. The smile wasn't suggested either.