My little monkey man

In the last few weeks, R has really lost a lot of his babiness. I swear I put him down for a nap and he wakes up more a little boy than a baby. He is also becoming much less my placid timid little baby and more T 2.0 (or as I like to say, R2T2).

Oh well, he has a very chatty role model and he not only looks like T, he is also starting to act like her too. Lord have mercy.

He loves books, trucks, sheep and his sister. Book is in fact that is his word for just about everything. He can say Mumma, kinda of but there are few other words that come out clear as day sometimes but not others. He can say Yeah when asked a question, I swear I've heard Ta when he hands something to me or vice versa. However, book is the one really clear word.

I've read him similar books to those I read to T at the same age and he seems to have the same literary taste as T. He has a book, "Who says baa?" about a lamb who has lost his baa. He loves this book (score one for the Dollar section at Target where I got the book) so we picked him up a car buddy (from the zoo gift store while we were picking up T from zoo camp). Its a small fluffy lamb named what else? Baa. He even got to visit sheep at the zoo (while waiting for T to finish her zoo camp) on Friday but R started crying, the sheep were just too loud.

He has also developed a great love of bananas and toast. Two food items T hated as a toddler. He is not too into meat, something T loved at this age. He has tried to feed himself with a spoon a few times (I hold the spoon and he pulls it to his mouth and won't let go).

R has learned to climb onto T's 'stage' (the low ledge at the base of the fireplace) however, he hasn't learned how to get off of it. He just grunts until Mumma saves the day. He crawls faster than I can walk. He has also developed an unhealthy interest in the garbage can and the toilet seat.

He does pull himself up a little and we are working on standing with assistance. One thing both my kids have in common other than great cheek bones and my nose is that they are very hesitant about walking. Some kids start walking at 8 months, my kids seem to be very timid in the mobility department. Both kids didn't roll 'on schedule' and R, at 13 months adjusted age still isn't walking yet.

He will get there, I have no doubt and I will long for the day, he could only crawl in a few months. Below are some pictures from today!

One part fairy, one part torch singer

Those who know me, know I love a good deal. This is why I've started shopping for the kids' clothes at consignment stores and sales.

A week or so ago, the local big consignment sale was going on. I went the first day (Thursday), shopping mainly for R and well, it while it was okay, it just wasn't as fun as shopping for T at the same age. Boys clothes are just boring. There I said it.

Thursday night, they did a reset and added extra stock they had held back so as not to overwhelm the racks on the first day. I had to go back to see if I could score more deals. However, that meant I had to take both kids with me. T had been in 'camp school' on Thursday so I only had one kid to curtail and keep tabs on while trying to find a deal.

So back we went on Friday. And we did score some deals. T spotted a few dresses she liked for play dressed and at consignment sale prices, I could afford to get a few. She got a fairy dress (lots of tulle), a handmade red number, and two dresses that will fit her a ways from now. That being said, she has been wearing one of the size 7 dresses as it nearly fits her if only a bit long.

I had told the kids (read: I told T) that if they behaved I'd let them each pick out a toy. A little bribery I've found goes a long way.

Well, T found just what she has been waiting for: a microphone. They had a microphone and stand boxed up new and one that had been used. There was an $8 difference so I picked up the used one.

We couldn't get it to work so we high tailed it back for the new in the box one. It was $20 but I figured we would get a bit of use out of it. We all know T loves to sing even if she can't really hold a decent note.

I turned back to R to see about what we could get him but he had already decided he wanted a drum. How he managed to grab it, I'll never know. The drum was $3 so it averaged out to $12 per kid. More than I wanted to spend but they did behave.

Off we went to pay and then home.

We barely got in the door and T wanted her fairy dress on and the microphone out of its box and assembled ASAP. Its a good thing we have a stash of various sizes of batteries. Having to wait until we could pick up additional batteries would have done in T.

She wore her fairy dress all day and switched out for the red one for a little bit.

I was out most of the following day (Saturday), only to return to find a tear in the back of the fairy dress. Now I get to try to patch tulle. Apparently, from what I've patched together from T, the fairy dress got caught on the red dress and being a 4 year old, she pulled them apart. At least the tear is in the back at the bottom so it won't affect any future pictures too badly.

Enjoy the pictures!

My little torch singer!

Singing!

What did R do during the serenading? Eat his lunch.

Admiring her 'new to her" shoes from the sale

Isn't blowing bubbles the first thing you think of when the new toy gets boring?

Fairy T and her walking stick (just like "Old Nana")

Just because its a great shot!

There's only one place hotter than Kansas in July!

So its been one hell of a hot summer. We had nearly an entire month of temperatures over 100F (over 38C). My garden is brown, my shrubs are dying and we are barely out of the extreme drought classification. We run from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car to the air conditioned store and back again.

Even getting the mail some days had to wait until the sun went down. The joke is around here that there is a reason to go to church on Sundays and that is so you don't have to go to the even hotter place.

We had a few dips in the wade pool. Here's some pictures from our last one.

Channeling his inner MacKenzie brothers! All he needs is a Stubby!

T sharing a snack with R, how touching!

Oh look, some rice cracker is stuck to my finger...

Here, you eat it! Sisterly love! Not so touching!

Update on the kidney thing.

So those who have been following R since birth will remember that he was born with a slightly enlarged left kidney. This condition is called hydronephrosis or what I like to call the kidney thing as I never pronounce the medical term correctly. He was on low dose preventative antibiotics for about six months as this condition can often lead to kidney infections.

He had scans done at 1 week old, then a month old, and last December (so he was about 7 months old). As of the December scan, the enlargement was almost completely gone. Since the enlargement was close being gone, R was taken off the antibiotics.

We had a follow up scan last week (R did not like being prodded in the slightest!). We got the all clear from our doctor this morning so we are officially kidney thing free!

Yay!

He has his 12 month well child visit with the doctor on Thursday so we will see how much Mr. "I Like to Shove Food in My Mouth Unlike My Siste" does with my arch enemy the scale. He is currently sporting about 7 teeth and is struggling to understand the term "gentle"...those fine motor skills haven't quite kicked in yet.

Coping with the century mark

We've had hot temperatures these here parts lately. By hot, I mean over 100F...I don't think I need to convert that for my Canadian readers, suffice it to say its HOT.

We've utilized the pool more this year than last. T helps R stay cool too.

Oh look, Mumma's other face is back!

Did you say you were hot?

Equal opportunist

Hello Great GrandMa Jones!

Ah dude, your name is Mud...

Most of the time, T loves R and R adores T. They giggle together, play together and despite the age difference, I think genuinely like each other. R always gets excited as soon as he hears T come into the room or when we pick her up from school etc. Mumma's fun but T, she's better. Unless, the cats are around then they out rank Mumma too. Mumma wins out when he's hungry or has a booboo.

Today, we picked T up from her day camp and everyone was all smiles. That was until we were headed out of the parking lot, driving out of the parking lot to be precise.

Out of nowhere, T started shrieking from the back seat that I had to stop IMMEDIATELY. There was an EMERGENCY with R. I. HAD. TO. GET. TO. R. POST. HAST. No explanation, just stop the car NOW!

T had made a crown today in class (it was King Solomon day I think). It had stickers on the points of the crown. T was very proud of said crown....you can see where this is going right?

Well, while I got T tied into her carseat, she was trying to help R get his frog lovey (Bob Gratton la Grenouille). R kept dropping Monsieur Bob and T, being only too willing to oblige, kept picking it up and handing it to him.

Well as T would lean over to hand R the frog, she held her crown in the other hand. That hand dangled enticingly over R's face...and yep, he grabbed the crown. And ripped off one of the crown tips and its small sticker (read: a choking hazard). Thus the emergency.

We have repeated time and again that R shouldn't have little things near him because he might put them in his mouth and choke. Choking is bad and he could die (those are her exact words).

If R gets within a mile of something he could choke on, be electrocuted by or otherwise harm himself with, T starts freaking out. By freaking out, I mean screaming at us to stop him if she can't. She runs around closing doors to rooms, picking up cat food dishes and chastizing R when he does something wrong. R has two mommies, one age 35 and one age 4.

Back to today's events.

When I got the car stopped, I went over to R's side to see what was going on. T hadn't said much more than R had something that he shouldn't and I had to get him out of his seat pronto and find whatever he had. She was crying profusely but I finally got out of what had happened.

I untied R and finally found the choking hazard/sticker, hiding under dear old Bob. R didn't quite get all the hullabaloo but he got a tongue lashing from T the remainder of the way home.

I taped up the crown and nary a word has been said since. I'm sure S will hear all about how R ruined T's crown when he gets home tonight.