Big Brother

One of my favorite parts of becoming a parent again has been watching my little baby boy become a big brother. Little Man l-o-v-e-s his little sister so much more than I ever imagined and it is such a joy watching him care for his little sister. The picture below is so typical of Little Man; I can't tell you the number of times in a day he asks to hold June Bug or snuggle with her. I'll look back when we are riding in the car and find him grinning at her or holding her hand but the best of these moments are the times when he will randomly kiss her head and say, "I love you so much, June Bug." Mmmmm that is good stuff.

The other day I was getting June Bug dressed and put this cute little polo shirt and shorts on her and was complaining to Trav that she didn't have a bow to match. I said, "I can't put her in a polo without a bow, people will think she is a boy." Little Man, who was playing on the floor below us piped up, "June Bug not boy. June Bug my princess girl."

Firefighter Olympics

This week our little family attended the annual Texas Firefighter Olympic Games in College Station, Tx. Travis was on the soccer team that represented his city and has really enjoyed getting back to the game as it has been a few years since he last played. Little Man has been to a few of Trav's practices and is really starting to get into the game since Daddy is playing and practicing all the time so Trav went shopping last week and bought him his very own shoes, shin guards, socks and mini soccer ball. I bought him a blue jersey with Daddy's number on it and some tiny little soccer shorts in preparation for the game. We both gave him his gifts the night before Daddy's first game and he was SO excited that he insisted on trying on his clothes immediately, even though it was bed time. As soon as he was dressed he turned to me and said, "I so excited mommy! Take my picture!" Hahah. Afterwards he took all of his gear and laid it out on the chair beside his bed. It was too cute.

It was unbelievably hot even though all of the games were in the first half of the day. Little Man only lasted in his uniform through the first game and then he stripped down to his pull-up. June Bug was cool as a cucumber with 3 fans pointed directly on her, plus a few spritz downs from Nana's spray bottle. We did have a little incident when she stuck her little finger in the foam blades and was startled enough to let out a wail and every firefighter/paramedic within a 10 block radius whirled around to look, haha. Guess they can't ignore instinct.

Oh and did I mention his team won the gold? :)

Knock, knock

This weekend our family drove down to San Antonio to spend a couple of days hanging out before heading up to College Station to watch Travis play in the Firefighter Olympics. The Riverwalk was a huge hit with Little Man, especially since we ended with dinner at the Rainforest Café. We ended dinner by ordering a “Volcano” which is really just a huge pile of cake and ice cream with a fake sparkler coming out the top but it is a big hit because all of the wait staff bring it out yelling “Watch out! Volcano!!!!” Look at that sweet face!

The next morning we headed out to Sea World to brave the heat and catch 2 shows (20 minutes each) and 1 exhibit in 4 ½ hours. It was very hot and very crowded. I’ve received some concerned and downright strange looks from people when we have told them that we were bringing June Bug with us to Sea World in the dead of Summer but we were well prepared. We closed up the top of her car seat and the top of the stroller and attached fans at the openings thinking it would just keep her cool enough not to be miserable but there were actually several times when we had to turn off the fans because she was crying from being too cold. One lady at the Sea Lion show had a few choice words to say to me about bringing my infant out in the heat so I had her feel June Bug’s ice cold foot. She left me alone after that.

On the way from San Antonio to College Station, Travis and I were desperate to entertain Little Man because his “game” of choice was to make that obnoxious sound from Dumb and Dumber, you know the one, over and over again. We tried to teach him how to tell knock knock jokes and after 15-20 minutes we gave up; he is just too literal. We would tell this joke….

Knock, knock
Who’s there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?
And he would say, “No mommy, a banana is yellow!”

A little while later we were riding in silence when Little Man told the following joke:

LM: Knock, knock
Us: Who’s there?
LM: Little Man
Us: Little Man who?
LM: No! I’m not an orange banana!

Yep, not quite there yet. More vacation installments coming....

Conversations heard in my household 100+ times per day

Conversation#1:
LM: Why mommy?
Me: (giving some long drawn out, thoughtful explanation of why)
LM: But why?
Me: Ummm because God made it that way
LM: But why?

Conversation#2
LM: Whacha doing mommy?
Me: Working
LM: What's daddy doing?
Me: Working
LM: What's Nana doing?
Me: Hmmm, I don't know buddy
LM: What's Pop doing?
Me: (sigh) Ummm I don't know, probably working
LM: What's Ashlie doing?
LM:What's Jordan doing?
LM:What's Meme doing?
LM:What's Papa doing?
(you are laughing but he will keep asking until he has covered everyone he knows and has ever met)

Conversation #3
LM: What's dat sound?
Me: (listening to the silence) What sound?
LM: Dat one
Me: (still hearing nothing but silence) I don't hear anything buddy
LM: M-O-M-M-Y dat sound
Me: I don't hear anything buddy
LM: Oh, its me, "Little Man"

Conversation #4
LM: What happened?
Me: What happened? What do you mean?
LM: M-O-M-M-Y, what happened?
Me: What do you mean buddy? What happened to what?
LM: (walks away)


Also heard a couple of hundred times a day, in his truly southern drawl:
Dis not wurking
what's dat?
I don't lyyyyke dis
It too lowd
Dis is not funny
Wook at me, mommy, wook at me, I cute!
dis stuck, fix it
i need help
hi mommy, its me, Little Man (why he introduces himself to me 100 times a day is beyond me)

Finally, my favorite thing he has said in a long time happened while we were standing in line at church to buy donuts for breakfast and he is holding a dollar bill...

LM: hey mommy! who dis guy on my money?
Me: That is president washington
LM: I don't lyyyyke him, take him off, dis MY money

She's A Chip....

Momma...

Daughter...

Real Randumb

I just have to point you guys to my brother-in-law's new blog...RealRandumb. He is an immensely talented artist, and we've been enjoying his creations for years. He has a really different way of looking at the world, as evidenced in this blog, so be prepared to laugh, cry and scratch your head. Love you Jordan! :) I'm really hoping he will post a link to some of his original videos - they are awesome. Don't forget to leave comments!!!

Full

My little man has been sick the past few days with a cough, fever and upset stomach. Trav and I have been laughing at how "popular" I've been all weekend and how efficiently all my kids (including Daisy) share my lap. I really am underneath it all and the bowl was just in case LM lost his lunch as there is no jumping up with an infant in your lap!