Summer is Ending!

With the end of summer coming I figure that we'd better get in as much swimming as we can right now before we are no longer able to do that.  So we went swimming this week!!  A favorite of everyone, and Kylie is getting good at swimming without her floatie.  She did a lot of dunking herself and learning to hold her breath!

Afterwards we usually play in the clubhouse for a few minutes to dry off before heading home.  Hayden loves to crawl around in the huge empty room and explore the empty cupboards.

This week Kylie has been pretending that she is a cat a lot, so while drying off that is all she did.

We did get a few storms this weekend so we were stuck inside.  Hayden likes to look at books now, which is nice.  Sometimes Kylie will randomly "read" one to him, but not very often.

They also like to watch the rainstorms and can sit for the longest time in front of the window watching the rain come down and looking for lightning.

One of Hayden's favorite games is peek-a-boo.  He likes to hold a cloth or blanket over his head and then peek out of it.  He is so playful!

I have also been doing some sign language with him for the past few weeks.  He picked up "milk" pretty quick, and kinda has "all done" down, and we are still working on "drink", "eat", and "more".  The way his face lights up when he does something the same as someone else is so cute!  We even play a game with this flying disc where I shoot it, Kylie retrieves it (like a dog, of course), and gives it to Hayden to put back into the machine for me to shoot it again.  He just loves to be a part of the activity with everyone!

Like I mentioned last week, Kylie still loves the cat and wants to play with him all the time.  Hayden couldn't care less for him.  One day the cat threw up right in front of Kylie, and immediately Kylie was right next to him patting his back and asking if he was ok.  It was so cute!  She didn't leave him alone for the next twenty minutes and was always petting him and giving him kisses and asking if he was going to be ok.  I think she cares for him more because he was her little playmate when she was a baby.  I love how she still cares for him!

Hayden has been trying super hard this week to walk.  He still loves someone to hold his hands and help him walk everywhere, and lately has been picking stuff up and wanting to walk with things in his hands.  Sometimes Kylie and I will each have a hand and help him walk and that is a lot of fun.  But this week Hayden has been more adventurous and I see him taking 2 or 3 steps along to get somewhere!  That is so exciting!  Saturday morning Brandon and I had Hayden walk between us for a while until Hayden was just so giggly he kept collapsing.

He is so close to walking that he could literally start at any time!!

Happy Times!

Finally this week Hayden is back to his normal self!  He is playing by himself and with Kylie again, and I can look at him and smile and he will giggle and smile back and not demand to be picked up.  I love it!!  Also he is sleeping better and only waking up 3-4 times a night instead of hourly.

One of Hayden's favorite things to do is to play in the sinks.  He likes to control the water and get all wet.

I am just so happy that he is back to his giggly self.  The best thing in the world is when Kylie and Hayden just play and giggle together.

Kylie and I are still doing crafty things off and on.  This week we played with marshmallows and toothpicks and made designs.

Kylie also still likes to play with the cat.  Hayden basically ignores it unless he wants to rip fistfuls of fur off him, so it's nice that at least one child likes the cat.

If you can't tell, Kylie and Hayden don't like to wear clothes... somehow by the end of the day they are just in their diaper, and some days Kylie doesn't wear any clothes at all unless we go outside...  Which, by the way! We went swimming for the first time in a month.  It was long overdue, but with all the sickness and fussiness swimming just didn't work out.

On Wednesday I had a first time opportunity to call Poison Control.  A little freaky!  Kylie had found an ant bait trap while out on a walk and brought it inside without my knowledge.  Hayden got ahold of it and was playing with it before I found out what it was.  At his age, I know it was in his mouth and just my luck the top had been broken off, so I had to make the call.  Luckily if he did digest any it would cause only an upset stomach, and I had already done everything they recommend (lots of fluids).  In the end Hayden was just fine!

Kylie is becoming a great little photographer.  I was trying to get a picture of Hayden smiling one day, but he just kept reaching for the phone.  So Kylie came along and took the pictures for me while I got him to smile!

On Friday we all went as a family to play at a park.  This was so great for the kids because Brandon works so much, so they really loved the time to play with him and have fun.

On Saturday we all went to the rec center to go swimming as a family.  It was super fun!  It was so nice to have such a calm and happy week!

Welcome to the Sick House

So I was sick all last weekend, and then on Monday when I was finally feeling better Hayden comes down with a fever.  Bummer.  Luckily his fever never went above 100, but it did linger for a few days.  Poor little sick baby!  There were many sleepless nights and sleepless days full of cuddling and crying and whining.  The only symptom he had was the fever, so that makes me think that it was caused by him cutting another tooth possibly.  Though I haven't seen a new tooth yet...  I only think this because for the rest of the week he has been absolutely impossible.  Constantly whining or throwing a tantrum if I am not holding him and walking around with him (He won't let me sit down), or helping him to walk around.  It has been driving me nuts!! Ok, my ranting is over.

Anyways... Kylie is still doing her "scary eyes" and taking selfies of them.

On Monday we got another huge storm that caused flooding everywhere.  While Hayden was taking a nap Kylie and I went out and played in the rain for a few minutes.

Kylie and her friend Brighton played a lot this week, like usual.  One day they found a huge tube and played "telephone".  Kylie absolutely loved it!

Here is a little Hayden tantrum.  He would just flip his lid if I didn't walk with him or let him play with my phone.

Saturday was our big day.  Brandon had a scout camp out Friday night, so I got stuck with taking the kiddos with me on my cub scout hiking trip Saturday morning.  We had to find a trail that I could take a stroller on, which was difficult with all the flooding that happened recently.  But we all had fun and Kylie just had a ball doing everything the cub scouts were doing.  At the top of the hill we stopped and did an activity building things in the dirt and rocks.  Hayden had fun eating all the dirt and rocks, and Kylie tried to "help", but mostly ended up getting 5 inches of mud stuck to her shoes.

After our hike we went to play in the Virgin River.  Hayden was sleeping at this time, so Jenn Feltner, my cub scout partner, was awesome enough to take Kylie in and watch her until he woke up.

When Hayden did finally wake up we joined them in the river.  The cub scouts could have stayed there all day playing in the water and mud, but eventually we had to drag them away because Kylie and Hayden were getting worn out.

You would think after all that sun and exertion that the kids would be dead tired (especially after Kylie got stung by an ant), but nooo.  Hayden took a short nap later that day and Kylie did not nap at all.  These kids just have too much energy!!

Getting Our Creative On

On Monday suddenly Kylie started doing "scary" faces.  They are pretty humorous!

Kylie is playing very well with Hayden and I just love when they play together and hear their laughter.  Monday, on a whim, I put Hayden in Kylie's doll stroller and they just had a blast playing like that.

This week I have tried to do more crafty things with Kylie while Hayden is asleep.  Her attention span is still very small when it comes to sitting down and doing something, so they are pretty small projects.  One day we just put cereal on spaghetti noodles stuck in Play-Doh.

Wednesday we built a fort which was a lot of fun for both Kylie and Hayden.  We took books in there and enjoyed ourselves.

One night we did colored ice cubes in the tub.  That was fun for the whole 30 seconds before they melted.  When we do that one again we will only do a few at a time so they last longer.  Also they turned the water a gross greenish color.

Thursday we made Tootie Frootie necklaces, which Hayden enjoyed eating when he woke up from  his nap.

We also did some watercoloring and playing with stickers.  So that was super fun!

Our evening walks are turning out to be so nice now that the weather is cooling down.  We like to go down to the grassy area and play (Hayden just wants to taste all the rocks), and then go play by the waterfall.

Friday the Princess Anna dress that I ordered for Kylie's Halloween costume arrived and of course we are not going to wait two months to wear it.  Kylie loves dress up so much that we may as well get all the use out of it that we can.  Within seconds of seeing it Kylie has stripped and was ready to wear it.  Then, of course, we had to watch Frozen and throughout the day Kylie randomly started singing "Let it go, let it go".  I think she likes it!

Hayden was kinda sick all week still with a runny nose, poor kid.  So he was very whiny and clingy for the week.  I did notice this week, though, that he just loves to dance.  He has done a little booty shaking before, but this week he danced to every bit of music that came on.  It's lots of fun to watch him!