Updates

I've been too busy playing this Summer that I haven't been blogging as much. The fact that Summer is almost over, is really a sad thing for me. I love shorts and sandals and swimming and playing outside. I don't want it to end :(.

Anyway, we have spent the bulk of the summer going swimming and to the outdoor story time/picnic & Crafts they have at the library. It's been lots of fun. But, I never bring my camera, so I don't have pictures to show for it. (Although I did buy a disposable camera that we took to the waterpark a few weeks back - so I am anxious to get the pictures back from being developed.)

Anyway, I thought I'd update on what my girls have been up to. Aubrey has been such a good helper lately. She has always loved helping me with the dishes. So, I discovered that a really good chore for her was to put away the utensils. It's great because it is actually helpful and she enjoys finding all the right spots for the utensils. It's like a game for her. She also clears her dishes after every meal. She likes that she has her special jobs to do.

She has also been really good at sharing with Brooke. Which has been fabulous. Brooke will come up wanting something Aubrey has and Aubrey will say, "OK Brooke you can have a turn." It's great - except Brooke hasn't quite caught on to letting Aubrey have a turn again!

The girls absolutely love playing in the backyard. The days we are actually at home they will both stand at the back door begging me to take them outside. Brooke will point and say, "Ou si, Ou si." And if I ever open any door Brooke & Aubrey will come as fast as they can to get outside with me. Funny girls.

One of Aubrey's favorite things again this year is picking the tomatoes. And this year she doesn't squish them and she knows to only pick the red ones. So, it's been quite helpful. Brooke has joined in the fun a few times too.



I just had to take a picture of our corn, it's looking and tasting so good.


Brookie is just getting more and more capable everyday. One day Aubrey was water painting and Brooke was playing with toys. I ran to the back for a few minutes and when I returned, Brooke had taken over the painting. She must have been watching Aubrey, because she was doing it perfectly.

First you dip it in the water,


then you dip it in the paints,


and then you paint the picture.

It was so cute to watch her do such a big girl thing so well. She just watches Aubrey and catches on so quickly.

She is still talking a lot - new words everyday. Some of my favorites are, "I'm stuck" - which sounds like "I tuk" and "itsy bitsy spider" which sounds like "Iii pie". She puts her cute little fingers together like the climbing spider and says "ii pie" when she wants us to sing her the song. She'll also, put both hands on her head and say, "head" when she wants us to sing "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes." And she claps her hands and says "pat" when she wants us to sing "Pat a cake". It's really fun watching her pick up on so many things.

She is making some progress with walking. She now will push herself to standing and then let go for a few moments. Her favorite places to do that though is in the swimming pool, or tub, or on a bed - all of the most dangerous places of course! She did take her first step the other day. It was completely accidental and she sat down immediately upon noticing what she did.

She will walk with her walker sometimes or will push chairs around like a walker. So, I don't know how soon the walking will happen, but I feel like progress has been made.




We had our 11th year anniversary on July 23rd. We had such a fun day. We both decided it was our favorite anniversary so far. First thing in the morning we let off our ladybugs (see a few posts back). Then Aubrey wanted to ride bikes together. So we played around with the bikes for a bit. Then after naps we went to the water park. It is so much fun to have Jeff there too. Aubrey gets so excited to show off all of the big girl things she does there. Then we came home and got ready for a date. We went to dinner and a movie. I know that's not very creative, but since we rarely get out, it was heavenly. It just was so nice to get to spend the day all together as a family and then get some alone time that night. It was the perfect day!