Julu 11, 2007

Nick and Ben playing with the pillows on the couch.














Ben was very happy with himself, after climbing into the kitty bed.










Nick and Ben on their wagon ride, when we visited my grandmother on the 4th of July. My sister was pulling them and my husband was taking pictures. I was in the house. Apparently Ben did not smile until they were headed back towards the house. Maybe he was too hot...he gets hot very easily.








Ben and Nick standing on their new little step stools. These are the ones that are made from tall cans. They love these little stools because they can now climb up on the living room chairs.

My mom gave these to the boys. They were originally made for my two oldest brothers so they are pretty old.







Nick playing with one of the toys I hate most, especially since they now know how to switch it over to the louder mode...and also the Spanish mode, which is actually kind of funny.

Please tell me what parent *likes* the loud mode of these noisy toys?? I hid these toys in the toy box under the table, pictured behind Nick here, with all of the other toys I don't like or they are not quite ready for. The boys finally discovered these drawers and how to pull them out. I have to find a new hiding place...maybe the trash!!??








Ben playing with Mr. Potato Head, which was also in the hidden drawer as a toy the boys weren't quite ready for. They have fun with it but they can only play with it with supervision, since it has small parts and they still put things in their mouth sometimes.








The Learning Tower that we ordered came yesterday evening. It is really nice and sturdy, although a bit heavy. I put pads on the bottom so we can slide it across the floor. The boys love it and now I just have to find things they can help with.

My only disappointment is that it is a bit smaller than it looked in the pictures. In one of the pictures, it looked like it could hold two kids easily. In reality, it is a bit cramped with two, which leads to more pushing and shoving:).

It also comes with a star-covered cloth that can be draped across the top so little ones can imagine they are in a tent or something. It is definitely very well built and not easy to tip over. Nick has already learned how to climb into it and out of it on his own.






First try at wiping down the counter top. They are so excited and eager to help do anything right now. I will save these pictures and remind them of this, when they are at the age that they don't want to help:).











Ben, wiping down one of the living room tables. This is the one that gave him the black eye, not long after he arrived home and was learning to walk.










And, last but not least, both boys working together to wipe down the same living room table, with Dancer the cat resting on the chair in the background. This table was actually pretty clean by the time they finished.

We are getting a good start on training good little helpers around the house:).



The bad news is that Nick woke up with a low grade fever *again*. I was so bummed. I was planning to take them to the little water playground at the park this morning but when I saw that Nick was running a 100 degree fever, I decided to keep him home. I noticed yesterday that he had a bit of a stuffy nose and was sneezing some but just chalked it up to allergies and being outside more lately. I'm not sure if he caught something from church again (the timing is perfect for that) or if this might just be a teething fever. Do kids run 100 degree fevers while teething?? He was very fussy and whiny again this morning. He tends to be much more volatile than normal when he has a fever, going from happy to a tantrum in one second flat. I hope it is just a teething thing that goes away quickly.