Sensory and Scavenger Play

One of the best parts of summer is the fact that my nieces are home from school so Jack, and now Mikayla, get to spend time with their cousins.  We decided to do a nature scavenger hunt and some sensory play the other day.  This led to a day outside in the pool, a bon fire with s'mores, and then tent camping in the loft.  I am so happy my kids will have all of these priceless memories to cherish forever!

Jack and Lilly toured the neighborhood looking for some nature items.

Team work!

A green leaf: check!

Deciding which flower to choose

They did it!  Great job, guys!

We can't forget about Miss Kayla Layla! I put together some sensory bags with paint, soap, oil, glitter, and various craft items.

Seconds in my little moose put a hole in the bag.  She is SO delicate!

Learning about mixing colors

SQUISH!!!

Shake-a, shake-a, shake-a!

Kaitlyn is such a great cousin teaching Mikala how to mix the colors.

My little scientist

Watching her cousins

Such a fun day!

Months 7 & 8

I have to say that there is a major part of me that feels incredibly guilty for only now getting to this blog post, but another part of me that feels proud that I am getting to it before you are actually 9 months.  Life has been the most joyous kind of crazy there can be.  May and June have been jam-packed with fun and milestones achieved.  You, my precious little girl, have TONS of personality!  You have sprouted 2 bottom teeth, and I think the top two are on the verge of breaking through.  You love to babble and talk to anyone and anything.  My favorite is watching you on the monitor in the morning and when you wake up from your naps.  You have lots of books and toys in your crib and you sit and play and talk to yourself for a little while before deciding you are ready to get up and join us.  Another love you have is climbing.  We have a stuffed shark that Jack received from the Hayes at Christmas and you love to crawl, climb, and bury your face in that thing.  Just like your brother you love your cousins and your Dixie dog.  You crawl around the house with intense purpose and don't like it at all if you find yourself sitting alone at any time.  You absolutely adore Jack and he is starting to warm up to you (wink, wink).  You find great amusement in everything he does, especially when he starts crying... you find this hilarious.  You continue to be a tremendous napper, sleeper, and eater.  You declared your independence this month by refusing to eat anything from a spoon, which was fabulous since I, ahem, had just made all kinds of purees.  You love food, but you just want to feed yourself.  And no one better eat in front of you...you tend to have a bit of a temper.  Speaking of tempers, you display yours with a frustrated cry that makes you sound as though you are constipated.  We will have to keep you in check with that temper in years to come, little girl.  I love how happy, well-rounded, and spirited you are.  Sometimes I feel sad that I don't do as many things with you as I did with your brother, but you are so fortunate in other ways.  You have a big brother that constantly entertains you and teaches you new things.  You haven't said any real words yet, but I have a feeling when you do, it will be "Jack."  We just absolutely love you to pieces, Mikayla; you make our family complete.

Pictures tell the best stories...

You just adore your brother!

Selfie!!

Eating like a big girl in your high chair at 7 months (notice all the food everywhere...you are quite the messy girl!).

You love playing with your brother's toys.

My smiley girl!

Such a pretty and sweet baby.

There are two things I love about this photo: the look captured shows how thrilled you are to be sitting next to your brother and to be up on the chair like a big girl.

The look on your face says it all: he is next to be and not moving!

Classic Kayla move.  For the record, your brother is sitting so far away from you because he said you were going to get him.  I guess he was right!

What you are doing to your turbans half the time you are wearing them.

My 8 month big girl.

Playful girl!

Look at that smile!

You LOVE electronics!

You are always turning things from from front to back to try to figure it out.  You do the same thing with books.  I think you are looking for the image.  You are quite inquisitive.  I think you will be a lover of science.  At least I hope you will.

You will pull yourself up and climb on anything you can get a hold of.

 The next group of pictures shows my attempt to take a picture of you and Jack together.  Jack was reluctant and you were squirmy!

You love it when I take your picture.

 You are both so lucky to have one another. 

You crack me up in this thing.  You will lean all the way back and just relax.  You are just the cutest!

My playful girl.  You love crawling through and under things.

You love books...let me rephrase that, you love sitting on books.  You are not so much interested in hearing the story, but rather trying to figure out the pictures and where they go once the page is turned.  As for sitting on them, that is just you!

No words, just love.

This one is my favorite.  You heard Daddy on the phone down the hall in his office.  I was trying to change your diaper and you took off.  You pulled yourself up and scratched on the outside of the door trying to get him to let you in.

We have this papasan chair up in the loft that used to be in my classroom and you love to play in it.  We spin you around in it and you love to climb up the side and then fall (shown in the next picture).

Like this.

Beach Day

     Some of my fondest memories of my childhood and teenage years involve lazy summer days spent at the beach.  Now, when my family goes to the beach, we are there ALL day.  And it can be a huge family event with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, grandmas, etc.  We all take our beach days very seriously.  When Jack was born, he was too little for me to trek to the beach, especially as a new mom and living in a new house and a new city.  But that next summer I knew I had to get him started right away so he gained a loved and appreciation for the beach, after all, every summer for the rest of the time he lives under our roof will be spent at the beach. In fact, I dream of him wanting to learn how to surf and I keep brainwashing asking him to one day buy Mommy a beach house.  

     Since the time Jack's feet hit the sand and surf, I knew I had him.  It was love at first sight, just like Mommy.  We have every beach toy you can imagine and the last two summers have been flawless.  During the last few weeks of school, Jack and I discuss our excitement of the upcoming beach days we know we will soon enjoy.  Each morning Jack looks out the window and says, "Today is a perfect beach day, Mommy."  It just melts my heart.  We leave at 8:00 in the morning to go to San Clemente, park, drag the stroller and Wonder Wheeler down to our favorite spot, play all day, shower off, change back into dry clothes, head over to Avila's for an early dinner, and then head on home.  Once home, Jack and I get ourselves squeaky clean, tell stories of our favorite part of the day, read our favorite book Beach Day and climb into our cool sheets, which feel marvelous on our sun-warmed skin, and finally fall into a deep sleep lulled by the memory of the sounds of pounding surf and the seagulls talking.

My little beach boy so happy to be playing in the sand and surf.

   I knew this summer was going to be much more of a challenge and much different since I now have Mikayla and she is only 8 months old.  The pressure was on.  I looked up the weather report for the best beach day of the week, headed to Target and the market to buy all the necessary supplies, and then got myself mentally ready to tackle my first day at the beach with a toddler and infant in tow.  I must admit, I was quite nervous.  Would I be ready, would I forget anything, did I have everything I needed....would Mikayla be like her father and hate the beach? GULP.  The night before I got everything ready and felt as though I was preparing myself for battle.  Pack-n-play:check; Wonder Wheeler:check; food/drinks/snacks:check; towels/blankets:check; bottles/formula:check; sand toys:check; sunscreen:check; diapers/wipes:check; fresh clothes:check; umbrella:check...PHEW!!  I began wondering if it was all worth it.  But no, I knew in that moment as I stood and looked at my gigantic pile of beach gear, that yes, oh yes, it would be worth it...hopefully.  I even decided to practice loading and unloading everything because I knew I would have an antsy toddler and most likely, an overtired baby once we got there.  I was ready.

     My mom and Lilly showed up around 8:30 and our journey began.  Both kids took a short nap and once we got there, we parked, loaded up, and were on our way.  I got everything set-up pretty easily thanks to the helpful hands of my mom and niece, but the look on Mikayla's face said she wasn't so sure about this place.  She tends to put everything in her mouth, so I anticipated her eating sand.  I put her down on the blanket, she took a handful of sand to taste, screamed, and then screamed more when she couldn't get the sand off of her fingers.  Great.  She is Surya.  

Notice how she is holding her hand.  She is still upset about the traces of sand left behind.

Wondering why I keep handing her these sand toys when she clearly has no interest in playing in the sand.

She enjoyed watching the waves, but she made it clear that she did not want to be put down under any circumstance.  She was so tired, but did not seem to have any interest in going to sleep so I strapped her into the carrier and took a walk.  I think that made her more wired.  When we got back, I decided to put her in the pack-n-play so I could figure out my next move.  I brought her beloved purple bear, which she has made her lovey, but she just kept crawling back and forth screaming at anyone who would listen.  And people listened.  There were three older ladies next to us, and she crawled over and began puttin' on the charm.  They, of course, started talking back, so no chance of a nap at this point.  Then, another group of people came next to us and began hammering their umbrella into the sand next to her, which she thought was awesome.  Ok, no nap, maybe I'll try the water.

Begging onlookers to save her.

    Once down by the water, she made it clear that she wanted none of that either, so I just gave up and held the finicky child.  My mom reminded me that she used to bring a sheet to put over the pack-n-play so I couldn't see out.  I did not bring a sheet, but I did bring a plethora of beach towels.  Therefore, I went to work, determined to get this child to take a nap.  Who doesn't like taking a nap at the beach?!  One-by-one, I draped the towels over the crib.  She kept finding a sliver of light, a crack to peek out of and scream at us, but we stayed strong.  Her cries started dying down and she finally went to sleep. 

Poor jack wanted a towel and some shade when he got out of the water, but was instructed by Mommy not to touch or go near that pack-n-play!  Part of being the first-born, kid!

   She stayed asleep for a little over an hour which gave me time to go play with Jack and Lilly.  Unfortunately, once she woke up, I had to begin the taking down of the massive camp I had set up for us.  My mom and Aunt Teri took turns holding Mikayla while I rinsed Jack off and cleaned up.  I think it took me 30 minutes to get everything packed up!  We decided to go ahead and try to continue with our tradition of eating at Avila's and were successful...sort of.  We made it there, ordered, and ate some of our food while Mikayla shredded napkins, threw food on the floor, talked to every person that walked by, and choked a few times on food she shouldn't be eating.  We decided to call it a day and took the rest of our food home in a doggie bag.  Jack was about ready to pass out in the restaurant from exhaustion  and I thought for sure Mikayla would be the same way.  NOPE!!  She stayed awake almost the entire ride home.  Sometimes she would scream, sometimes she would coo and sing, sometimes she would try to tear apart her sun shade for her car seat, and sometimes she would throw her bottle and laugh (thank goodness Lilly was back there to help us).  BUT...at the end of the day, we made it.  

   We got home, took baths and showers, read Beach Day and fell into our deep, peaceful sleep.  As Jack was falling asleep, he said, "Mommy, let's go to the beach again tomorrow."  I rolled over and pretended to be asleep.  My most favorite quote of the day was when my mom said to Jack as she watched me unload the truck, "Boy, your Mommy must sure love the beach!"  Thanks to you, Mom, I surely do, and I hope to give my kids the same priceless memories of beach days that you gave me.