Constant Supervision

Brandt and Campbell are finally at an age where they can play alone and entertain themselves.  Campbell can play in her room for hours.  Sometimes I have to go up and check on her to make sure that she has not fallen asleep.  She makes a mess, but she has fun and is just fine by herself. 

If I can't see or hear Blake, I have to go and find him.  I guarantee he is doing something he should not be.  He will throw anything he can get his hands on in the toilet if a bathroom door is open, eat anything he can reach in the trash if the pantry door is open, empty any cabinet or drawer he can reach, throw any folded laundry he can reach on the floor, the list goes on and on.  His favorite is the remote and he knows how to change the channel.  Twice I have dried one of our remotes with a hair dryer because we found it in the toilet.  Here is some of what he has been up to...

He found an open bathroom door

What?  Me??

He steals video game remotes

He texts and drives

Summer Fun

We have been having a great summer so far. The kids went to Vacation Bible School, Brandt went to Lacrosse Camp and they have had lots of sleepovers at Oma's. Brandt is also playing summer league lacrosse. They play two games every Thursday night.

We swim almost everyday and most days Campbell's BFF Brooklyn joins us with her brother and sister. Mommy gets a friend to talk to and the kids have a great time playing in the pool together.

Blake is Walking!

Over the past week Blake has been getting better and better at taking steps, but on Thursday he decided he was really ready to walk. Here are two videos of some of his first steps. The first one was when I got home from Campbell's recital rehearsal.



This one was right before he went to bed. Everyone else was already asleep and he was still up because of a late nap. He walked a really long way - all the way from the family room, almost to the front door.



Now he is walking everywhere. He still has to find something to pull himself up on and he likes one hand up and his finger pointed most of the time. It is really cute! He is so proud of himself. He still looks at you and waits for you to clap when he falls down.

Recital Sneak Peak

Campbell's dance recital is tomorrow. This year she is doing a tap routine and is very excited about her sparkly pink costume. Here is the video from her rehearsal and a few pictures. She is dancing next to her BFF, Brooklyn.

First Steps

Blake is so close to walking! He has starting taking a step here and there. He will usually take the one or two steps between the chair and sofa or sofa and coffee table, but if it is any farther, he sits down and crawls. If he is not paying attention when he is holding on to me and standing, I can sometimes let go and he will stand for several seconds before he decides to sit down.
Tonight after baths I was brushing out Campbell's hair and he was holding on to the tub. He likes to throw things into the tub, so I wasn't watching that closely. I looked up and he was walking across the bathroom. He walked all the way from bathtub, out of the door and into the bedroom! It is at least ten feet. When he got to the carpet he stopped and then lost his balance and sat down. He looked around like he wasn't sure what to do and then when we started clapping, he put his hands over his head in his "Winner" pose.
14 months, 1 day. In a couple of weeks I bet he is walking everywhere!

Summer - Day 1

Yesterday was our first real day of summer and it was off to a great start!
The kids have Vacation Bible School this week. Campbell was really excited since it is at her school and two of her friends were going to be in her class, but Brandt was a little unsure. I dropped them off, promising it would be fun and Blake and I went to run some errands.
We picked them up three hours later, singing songs and ready to tell me all the things they had done and learned. We headed to Chick Fil A for lunch and playing (along with half of the VBS moms) and they told me all about Peter going to jail and God sending angels to set him free. They are studying the book of Acts this week and yesterday was all about Peter.
Later in the day my friend Jennifer's car broke down and we rescued her kids and had them over to play. Six kids in one house was a bit crazy, but they all survived!
The kids ended the day playing school. They couldn't wait to get out of school and then on the first day of summer - they are playing school.

When Will got home later he asked the kids what they learned at VBS. Brandt was telling the story of Peter and Will reminded him jokingly that it was not really about his Oom Pete, but about another Peter. Brandt's response was "Dad, this didn't just happen. It was a long time ago - like in the '10s." It could be worse I guess - he could have said the '70s. They couldn't wait to go back for more VBS today!

Blake 1, Remotes 0

Blake is obsessed with remote controls. He will fight you for them. We have to keep them hidden of sight out at all times. If he can see them, even out of reach, he will point and scream for them. On Sunday door to our bedroom was open and Blake crawled in. He played for a little while and then came back out. Since he managed not to shut himself in, I did not go and check on him. Several hours later Will came out with the remote in hand and said, "Did you know this was in the toilet?"
Toilets are Blake's other favorite place to play, so we keep all of the bathroom doors shut (or so we thought).
Our bedroom remote will now sometimes turn the TV on and off, but no longer controls the receiver. Sometimes it doesn't do anything at all. Oh yeah, my keys are still missing (almost two weeks now). I guess there is always the chance that they were in the toilet too!