I was just snapping pictures randomly trying to get her when she was IN the new coat rack, but of course she didn’t cooperate…but then I happened to get these two:
Category Archives: Playing
Sitting on Owen
They were both having a ball!
Owen loves Katie’s toys!
Here comes Diesel!
He got this out last night and has been playing with it ever since. As you see, Katie got into the middle of things. 🙂
Button Pusher
This was new to me today, but we rarely play in the living room…
Owen is 4 years 4 months old today!
Owen + a slide + Katie’s pool
As mentioned previously, Owen just LOVES Katie’s pool and wanted to play in it after dinner. I then had the bright idea to get out his old slide so he could slide into the pool. And he LOVED IT. 🙂
And then I told him to try sliding down on his belly…which, as you will see in the video, it took him a minute to figure out just how to do it. But after that, it was GAME ON!
And a few more butt slide shots!
And a comparison to just over three years ago…May 2010 and June 2013.
Katie’s Kiddie Pool
We finally got out the small pool I had bought for Katie about two months ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t look really closely at what I bought, and it’s not so much a pool as a splash pad—which requires a constantly-running hose to keep the side of the “pool” up and the sprinklers going. (I had just thought we wouldn’t use the hose for the sprinklers part…but if you don’t, the sides don’t fill up to hold the water.) So…we can’t use warm tap water in it so Katie gets chilled pretty quickly—even when it’s 85 degrees out. But, she still liked it. And, of course, Owen LOVES it. He was more enamored with it than his big pool!
I’m fishing!
Water slide!!
Today we went to a friend’s birthday party (the husband of one of the mommy group moms) and they had borrowed a huge inflatable water slide. Owen just wanted to splash in the water…but eventually started going down the slide. And then we couldn’t get him off! He was SO happy! And it was great to watch!
When it was time to go, we asked him how many more times he wanted to go down the slide and he stopped and was really putting some thought into it. His answer? TEN! 🙂
Then on the way home he kept asking about the water slide and saying he wanted to go back to it. I’m sure he’ll get to go on it again since we have play dates at the house that owns it. 🙂
Fun ride on daddy
Tom came home early today…
Waiting for a friend.
Owen had a friend coming over for a play date and this is where he wanted to sit and wait.
Then we were sitting on the beach together:
“Hi Katie! Welcome to the party!”
Camping!
Roasting marshmallows…
Everyone sitting around the campfire…
Katie’s first playgroup mishap
So we were all outside at playgroup. Of course Katie didn’t want to sit still in my lap so I just let her go. At first she was content to just sit there.
But then she was OFF LIKE A SHOT and was obviously THRILLED to be free and had a ball zipping around, through the gardens, over obstacles, always looking back at me and giggling. See her?
All the boys had bats and were hitting balls off tees. We had to turn them around a few times so they weren’t hitting them toward Katie. Then another mom grabbed Katie from under the trampoline so I took her.
Just then, one of the little boys tried to hand me a ball and asked if I’d play catch with him. I said “How about I toss you the ball and you can hit it?” Of course not expecting my throw to be anywhere good enough OR for him to hit it like a major leaguer. Yep—CRACK!!—direct line drive to Katie’s head (in my arms). It was a plastic ball so obviously not life-threatening, but still obviously a painful shock.
I wasn’t mad or anything—I mean, it was totally my fault—but who thinks a 4yo could hit like that?! The kid’s mom felt awful. She said “I should have warned you he can really hit.” And he was so cute. He came up and said “I kept my eye on the ball!” I said “Yes, you did, and you did a good job. It was my fault. You’re not in trouble.”
She was totally fine and didn’t cry for too long…and just developed a big round red welt after a bit.
Do you EVER find missing Lego minifig pieces?
It was five missing pieces about a month ago…and now it’s up to 20+ and we’ve looked EVERYWHERE. I’m trying not to be upset since he is only four, but we’re usually quite vigilant about not losing pieces because Katie could get them. So it’s driving me mad that we are missing so many.
Here’s Owen matching them up to their photos:
And here’s what the half-assembled remaining bunch looks like—all missing heads, torsos, legs, accessories, or a combo of all of the above. Ugh.
Of course, the flip side is that Owen couldn’t care less…he loves mixing and matching pieces SO much. In fact, the other minifigs that we did fix this morning? Within 30 seconds of giving him the okay to play with them, they look like this:
Tonight’s Bath
Yep. I’m now that mom. Tonight’s bath was a dip in the pool. (Well, technically more than just a dip.) 🙂
Every time he says “Watch me mom! Watch me!” I think of all the hundreds of times I said the same thing about cartwheels (or thousands of times if you believe what my dad says).
Six minutes of Katie
Just a 6:42 slice of life with Katie. Pretty boring for anyone not a grandparent. 🙂
And we have benches!
Tom busted his ass all weekend to get the side benches done on the new deck! And they are AWESOME! (There’s still one tiny section to do on the top level deck, and then we’ll likely just put one bench across the far end of the lower level deck. At least that’s the current plan.)
Of course, Owen loves to run up and down them, lay on them, and play on them. He loves everything about the new deck. 🙂
We also had dinner outside tonight… Katie loves her whole strawberries.
And Owen got a little messy with his chocolate pudding dessert.
Love my pool boys!
Owen’s new time out box.
We got a new storage box for the deck for pool towels and toys and whatnot…and of course Owen had to get in. We told him it was his new time out box. 🙂
Monster baby!
We were ball out on the front porch watching the new delivery of decking when Owen decided he wanted to sit in the stroller.
Owen’s first sheet tent!
I’m not sure exactly why I thought of this today, but I did. And Owen loved it. LOVED IT! He was practically giddy with excitement. Katie liked it, too!
We all have matching cars!
Even Maggie!
He was SO proud of himself!
So serious.
I looked outside to see this. He was playing with Mater and Lightning.
He loves shoes.
Tonight’s Skype
Katie crawls up…
…and over Tom.
While Owen is off wandering.
The pool I didn’t know we had.
I discovered one of Owen’s play areas today…the “pool” in the half bath sink. He knows to pull up the stopper and turn the water on to make a pool for his little turtle (a bath toy).
Weekend Babysitter
The kids had their first non-family member weekend babysitter while we were in DC—she’s the mom/nanny I found on SitterCity that introduced me to the mommy group.
Thankfully Owen has outgrown his major issue with us leaving and was completely okay with Amy (and her daughter) coming over to stay. It also probably helped that he sees her every week at play group.
He wanted to wait on the porch for them and when they pulled in, he excitedly screeched “Miss Amy’s here!” 🙂 Tom arrived shortly after they did and when he walked in, Owen pointed at Amy with a sweeping arm motion and said “Daddy! Looook!” It was adorable.
Then we were off and Owen barely even noticed or cared! YAY! On the way up, Amy texted this picture:
Awww! So cute! She said “They are just both so great. Owen is SO polite!” And she said he was calling her Sir Amy because he went on missions and reported back to her. They set up perimeters in the back yard. Soldiers manning the slides, all safe. That’s SO him. 🙂
Saturday morning I got this picture, saying her daughter braved the morning swim:
Later that day—“Airing out the babes.” 🙂
I told her I’d never even taken both of them out together! She’s hired! (I asked her later who was in which stroller and she said Owen was too squished in the small stroller so Katie went in that one and he went in the bigger stroller but that it was a tight fit. I’m impressed he fit at all—I would have made him walk! But, she said snacks and drinks were a necessity!)
Amy had also brought one of her dogs over—which Maggie LOVED! Owen wasn’t too sure at first because she’s a big dog…but Saturday evening I got this text:
“These two have become quite the pals!” (She told me later that the dog would follow Owen around the backyard as he played, and Owen would stop to pet her and incorporate her into his imaginative scenarios.) YAY OWEN!!
Then I got a text saying the barter box* was full:
*Part of Amy’s payment is a box of goodies from our huge pantry. We first did it when she watched Maggie one weekend and Amy was game for another surprise box!
Our wide-awake cutie:
We made it home about 3:45, but only for long enough to get ready for our dinner at the General’s house at 6. We didn’t want to confuse Owen (or possibly start a tantrum by him seeing us leave again) so Amy took the kids out for ice cream while we rushed in and out.
We got home—FOR GOOD—at 9:45. Amy said both kids were VERY good, that Owen is incredibly polite and has extremely good manners, and that Katie was attached to Amy’s daughter at the hip all weekend. 🙂
It was AMAZING not having to worry one bit about the kids all weekend. I am eternally grateful to have found Amy.
And as a word of warning to the grandparents: the bar has been raised…we now expect texts and photos when you guys babysit the kids! :p
I didn’t do it!
I was in the kitchen doing something and when I looked in the living room, I saw this:
Owen swears he didn’t do it. Knowing Katie, it’s entirely possible she actually did do it herself…so I had Owen join her.
And a good shot of her cute outfit from (I think) Grandma Marsha!
