Handprint Fish

I love it when the kids bring home art work from school that incorporates their handprints!

Not So Awesome Little Sister

Naturally Daphne likes all of Tyler's stuff. She constantly takes Tyler's stuff and claims it as "Mine!!!!" Both kids are particularly attached to stuffed animals and Daphne is very observant. She always runs off with whatever stuffed animal is Tyler's current favorite. Daphne had been stealing his giraffe pillow pet but last week someone gave Tyler a tiger that he is quite attached to and so now Daphne steals the tiger. Tyler usually steals his animal right back and the two of them fuss at each other. It is a never-ending game!

Awesome Big Brother

Tyler is always eager to help out with stuff. Lately I have been having him put Daphne's shoes on her when we get ready to go somewhere or take her shoes off when we get home. So now when we get home Daphne often plops down on the floor right by Tyler and waits for him to take off her shoes. It is really cute.

Later Gator!

Our bathtub in Portland had some kind of non-slip treatment on the bottom that the previous homeowners had put in. So recently I bought an alligator tub mat for the bathtub in our apartment in Austin so the kids won't slip. Daphne, who normally loves baths, is a little freaked out by the gator. I have to close the door to keep her from running off while I start filling up the tub. Once the gator is covered by bubble bath she lets me put her in and she soon forgets he is even there. Funny how I thought the gator mat was cute when I bought it!

Fish Pond

Tyler, Abuelita, and Daphne

Tyler's Shoes

Wearing Tyler's Spiderman shoes

Daphne loves to put on Tyler's shoes. Tyler is not so thrilled with this activity. Of course he doesn't remember that he loved to try on my shoes at this age. Michael is less than thrilled with this activity because the kids and I all have stinky feet and he wants us to air out our feet and shoes as much as possible.

Chillin' with Daddy

Have I mentioned that Daphne loves to wave? She waves at people she knows, sometimes people she doesn't know, and animals. Daphne frequently waves to birds and whenever I can't figure out who she is waving to I assume it's a bird off in the distance.

Songs

Tyler is less than thrilled when he figures out a song he likes is about love or girls. Of course this covers the majority of songs! This evening we were rocking out to GNR's "Paradise City" in the car. Tyler told me that he really liked the song except for the part about the girls being pretty. He doesn't believe me that he'll change his mind on this in about 10 years.

At the Playground

We have been trying out new playgrounds when it's not as hot out.

I kid you not- Daphne climbed up this slide
just like Tyler is doing in this photo.

Watch out- Hurtado's on the road!

Daphne loves to swing!

Swinging with Abuelita

Swinging with Abuelito

Reinventing How to Sit on a Stool

Daredevil Daphne

Our Daphne is fearless! We took the kids to the pool today. I repeatedly stood Daphne up on the side of the pool and she excitedly jumped into the water into my arms. She had a huge smile on her face the entire time. Meanwhile Tyler mostly stayed in the shallow 1'-6" deep pool and we managed to cajole him into the main pool once to ride around on his raft.

Then this evening while out to dinner, not once but twice, Daphne undid the latch on her high chair strap and then stood up in her high chair. She was pretty pleased with herself.

Girls!

Tyler was telling me how he used to be able to pick where he sits at his old school but they have assigned seating at his new school. I asked Tyler who sits next to him. He told me the name of the boy on one side and told me that they are friends.
Me: Who sits on your other side?
Tyler: A girl.
Me: What's her name?
Tyler: I don't know.
Me: Maybe you should ask her what her name is.
Tyler: I don't like girls!
I had to remind Tyler that I am a girl as are many family members and he did concede that he likes some girls, including all the ones I listed.

Big Girl?

Little Miss Messy thinks she is done with the high chair. At meal times Daphne climbs up into a regular chair and then gets mad when we strap her into her high chair.

Short Hair

Tyler was due for a haircut and since it gets so dang hot in Austin (hello 106 degrees last week), we opted to go for a shorter hairstyle especially since he has such thick hair.

Shopping

Shopping with the kids is quite an adventure these days. Tyler wants me to buy everything he sees and is constantly saying, "Mommy, I need to show you something." I have been telling him to ask Santa since January and if I had truly kept track his Christmas list is probably a mile long by now. Daphne often gets mad when I strap her into a shopping cart and so I have been trying to let her walk more. However, she touches lots of things and I really have to keep a close eye on her. If I do get a cart both kids want to help push it or ride on it in ways not recommended by the manufacturer. We have been running a lot of errands to get stuff for the apartment and the kids are getting a little weary from all the shopping.

 

Tyler, Daphne, and I spent over 2 hours in IKEA! To be fair,
only a fraction of the time was actually spent shopping. We ate
lunch in the café and played throughout the store. The kids
wanted to try out all sorts of chairs and naturally played with
the slide, circus tent, and other toys that were on display
in the kids area.

Tyler can be such a ham. He tried to pick himself up while
standing inside a basket at Staples. And of course Daphne tried
to copy him. Prior to this the kids had taken about 6 or 7
baskets off the stack and had scattered them on the floor.

Containment at last! The race car shopping
carts are such a pain to push but they really
do help entertain the kids.

Unpacking

Unpacking has been slow going but as of today we are done with boxes. Not everything has found a home or been put away in an orderly fashion, but we are no longer digging through boxes. We did finally get the kitchen fully unpacked and organized last night and that has made a huge difference. We also came across a number of items that were supposed to be packed for storage so we had to re-box those and take them to our storage unit today.

I definitely don't recommend moving with a toddler! Daphne touches just about everything she sees and so it has been a challenge to unpack and keep her out of trouble. Especially since she can reach the edge of the kitchen counter now. Overall both kids have been pretty good sports and they have been pretty happy to see familiar toys and objects come out of boxes. Tyler actually helped us unpack the toys.

Boxes for kitchen stuff were never-ending!

Breakfast in the kitchen before we had
the dining area set up for meals.

Exploring all items as they came out of boxes

No!

Daphne finally said the dreaded toddler "n" word: No. This morning I asked her if we should go change her stinky diaper and she firmly replied "No!" As if she had a choice! Daphne has had the side-to-side head gesture for no down for months so I anticipate I will be hearing "no" quite often. We still hear "mine" all day long.

Riding Along in My Automobile

Both our vehicles arrived from Oregon late Tuesday night and we went to pick them up yesterday. The kids were excited to be in familiar surroundings. Daphne has been particularly excited because the day before the move we turned her car seat around. Legally we could have turned her forward facing when she turned one but we kept her backwards longer since the "recommended" age is 2. But with the Texas heat we figure Daphne will get more cool air from the AC facing forward.

Little Miss Messy

Tonight at dinner Daphne thought it was great fun to take a sip of milk and then let it dribble down her chin, which then dribbled down her neck and bib until it pooled in the pocket of the bib. She kept doing this despite us telling her to stop. Then Daphne got really angry when we took her milk away and drained the milk pool out of her bib.

First Day of School

The kids' first day at their new school went unbelievably well. Daphne's teacher introduced her to another classmate and they started playing right away and Daphne barely even blinked when we left. Her teacher said she was happy and sociable all day. However, Daphne did get upset about 10 minutes before we picked her up because other parents had been picking up their kids and she hadn't seen us yet. Similarly, Tyler went right into his new classroom and started playing. He didn't cling for extra hugs, which he often did at his old school. His teacher said he had a great day and seemed to fit right in with the other kids. Tyler told us he had a lot of fun.

Our Stuff has Arrived

The moving truck arrived today with all our stuff. It pretty much took the movers all day to unload items here and at our storage unit. Michael and I have made a dent in the unpacking but have a long way to go. The kids were excited to see some of their familiar things like their beds, blankets, and bath toys.

New Words

Daphne's latest new words include: kay (for okay), yeah, and yay.

Kiddie Pool

The kids have been loving the inflatable kiddie pool that my dad set up in the backyard.

Tyler likes sliding down head first

Spraying down the slide for optimal slippage

Daphne and the Dogs

My dad's cocker spaniels Jamie and Allie love having Daphne eat in the house. Not only is she messy, but she quickly figured out that they love it when she feeds them directly. This makes Daphne giggle. The dogs are a little less fond of Daphne chasing them around the house and trying to not-so-gently pet them. We have been trying to teach her how to pet them properly.

Allie laying in wait for food.

Daphne was dropping handfuls of beans for the dogs so I took
her tray away. In the process she grabbed her plate and it fell
to the floor, which resulted in a feeding frenzy.

Corn on the Cob

I wasn't sure if Daphne was ready for corn on the cob. She took one look at the rest of us with corn on the cob and she wanted her own ear. Daphne does think she is at least 4 like her brother.

Damon's 2nd Birthday

We helped cousin Damon celebrate his 2nd birthday last weekend. The cousins spent the day playing with water guns and wreaking general havoc at PawPaw's house.

Sonia made Damon this awesome cake
shaped like a minion from Despicable Me.

The happy birthday boy

What are you looking at? This is my cake!

Too busy eating cake to smile for pictures!

Michael hanging out with 3-week old Micah

Bryce, Damon, and Daphne

Water Gun Battles

PawPaw armed his older grandkids with water guns:
Noah, Daphne, Damon, and Tyler

All the kids chasing after PawPaw

Damon and Noah

It's a good thing Damon and Daphne didn't
really know how to pull their triggers otherwise
Damon would have soaked me when I took
this photo of him.

Tyler and Noah spraying PawPaw

Michael and Tyler battle it out

Daphne had fun running around and getting wet