Brother vs. Sister

Sometimes the sibling rivalry gets to be a bit too much! Tyler, who is way too competitive, is easily offended if we help Daphne do anything first. For example, if I help Daphne put a straw in her juice pouch first, Tyler will undoubtedly wail, "You never help me with my straw first!" as if I am constantly waiting on his sister hand and foot and he doesn't even exist.

Daphne, on the other hand, always wants what Tyler has. She constantly takes toys or stuffed animals from Tyler's room and claims they are hers. And if I give them each something, a snack for instance, she always wants whatever I handed Tyler even if they are having exactly the same thing. Daphne then cries and demands Tyler switch with her. And of course Tyler is stubborn so he refuses to switch, which is good since he shouldn't pander to Daphne's tantrums. But it would make life so much easier if he did!

Despite Daphne's love for all things Tyler this does not extend to music. Whenever we are riding in the car and Tyler says, "I like this song." about whatever is playing on the radio, 9 times out of 10 Daphne will immediately say, "I don't like it!" and pout.

Hard at Play

Often when I try to take a photo Daphne tries
to avoid being captured. Lately she has even
started saying, "Don't take my picture Mommy!"

Dr. Tyler

The kids have been playing with Daphne’s toy doctor kit quite a bit lately. Tyler gives me a pretty thorough check-up. He:

• Listens to my heart with the stethoscope
• Measures my blood pressure
• Takes my temperature
• Looks in both ears
• Gives me a flu shot and then puts on a Band-Aid

Then he asks me:

• Have you been eating lots of fruits and vegetables?
• Do you get enough exercise?
• Do you get lots of sleep?

And last but not least Tyler asks me to flex my arm muscles to check if I am “big and strong”.

Water Gun Fight

We had an inaugural backyard water gun fight with the guns Tyler picked out for Michael for Father's Day. Tyler was excited that the guns shoot 2 streams of water at the same time.

This time of year it feels great getting sprayed with a water gun!

Daphne gave up trying to operate her water gun and took a dip
in our pool. The tub was really the filling station for the water
guns but Daphne had herself a grand old time!

Swimming

Yesterday was Tyler's last swim class of his first session. He will do another 2-week session in a month. During yesterday's class all the kids wore life vests and practiced doing freestyle with just the life vest and took turns "saving" each other by throwing the life ring into the pool and pulling someone back to the wall. Tyler is excited about doing his "ice cream scoop" movements as part of freestyle and backstroke arm movements.

 

Lounging in the shade with a snack during Tyler's class

Summer Play

While it has been heating up into the low 90s during the afternoon, it is still tolerable to visit shady playgrounds in the mornings or evenings.

Our fearless climber

Tunnel slide

Spider 8s

Yesterday Tyler and I played a card game called Spider 8s for the first time. It is essentially Crazy 8s but Spider Man is the 8 and all the other cards are villains. I was ahead 2 games to 1 when Daphne woke up from her nap. Tyler pouted and informed me of a new rule for future times we play the game: We don't stop playing until Tyler has won more games!

Counting

Daphne has been learning to count and you never know what kind of sequence she is going to come up with. She often asks me for 3 of something while holding up 4 fingers.

Happy Father's Day

Michael got the relaxing Father's Day he was hoping for: BBQ, World Cup soccer, and the Spurs winning the NBA championship.

Tyler and Daphne making homemade
waffles for Daddy for breakfast



Tyler really wanted to get Michael a water gun for Father's Day.
Naturally Tyler also wanted to get the same one for himself that
we got Michael so that they could have a fair fight.

Abuelito and Tyler

Hanging Out

This morning I found Daphne in my closet wearing a pair of my boots and watching Cat in the Hat on her tablet.

Hopscotch

Daphne has a polka dot rug in her room. Lately she likes to gallop across the rug, because she can't really jump yet, and she says, "Look Mom. I doing hopscotch!"

Swim Lessons

Tyler just had his first week of swim lessons. He said that he was nervous, not scared, the first class and that he wasn't nervous at all by the third class. He was probably ready to learn to swim last summer but there was no way to fit in lessons because of our cross-country move. Tyler is really excited about the class. They have been learning floating, gliding, and jumping into the pool.

Summer in Texas...

... means cowgirl boots with dresses and shorts!

X Games

Last weekend the X Games were in Austin for the first time at the Circuit of the Americas. Michael and Tyler spent all day Saturday at the games and saying they had a good time would be an understatement.

Tyler and Michael arrived at the games mid-morning.

Having fun in the stands

Crash! (the driver was okay)

One of the tamer obstacle courses at the games ; )

The BMX course and stands

The motocross was Tyler's favorite event to watch

Capping off the day with a concert by Bad Religion.

Bearded Bathers

Lately the kids have been trying to use the bubbles in their bath to make beards like Abuelito's.

Whenever I wrap Daphne up in her towel I call her my babushka because she looks like a little Russian nesting doll. She always says, "No babushka!"

App-y

After months of not wanting to ride in the shopping cart, Daphne decided that she can relax in the cart while playing on my iPhone. I have a coloring app that she really likes that entertains her for quite a while. Naturally she wanted to use the camera feature after I took a photo of her in the cart.

First selfie! Of course Daphne is looking at the button
to push to take the photo instead of the lens.

Birthday Cupcakes

Tyler and Daphne were more than happy to stop for cupcakes today to help me celebrate my birthday.

Little Biker

We passed Tyler's no-pedal Strider bike on to Daphne quite a while ago. She still hasn't gotten the hang of it but likes to walk around the driveway with the bike between her legs every so often.

Show Day

Daphne had her last gym class of the school year on Saturday. They celebrated with Show Day, during which the kids got to show off a lot of the skills they have learned.

Daphne's favorite part of the using the bells
at the beginning of class is racing to gather as
many as she can to put them away in their bin.

Video of Daphne doing the bear crawl all by herself:

Daphne doing bar work with Ms. Leah:

Daphne's turn on the podium for a final ta-da with Ms. Leah