Summer Catchup

Wow - has it been a long time since I jumped on to update the blog with all our family happenings. First, I was very busy looking for a new job, and now I am very busy at my new job. I am working for UnitedHealthcare in Operations Reporting and really enjoying it so far. It is quite a change going into an office for the majority of the time, but I like having people around me and being co-located has been very helpful while trying to get up to speed on my new responsibilities, new industry and new people I am now working with. I have been working from home about 1 day a week, so I still am able to have that flexibility when needed.


The kids are all doing great and adjusting well to being at daycare full time. Nicolas is really enjoying the summer program at daycare. He's visited a number of museums, gone to the movies, and visited a splash pad water park. I can't believe that in little over a month he'll be getting on the school bus and heading off to kindergarten.


Jackson is also enjoying the summer so far with all the great visitors they bring in over the summer. He's been able to touch some sea creatures (lobster, starfish), and some bugs (stick bug, cockroach (ew!)). He is getting ready to start Pre-K at the end of August and I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Both boys spent a week with my parents and when they came back informed me that next summer they are going for a month! Nicolas said they were so busy they didn't have time to miss us. That's a good thing, right?

My parents said they boys were in and out of the pool multiple times a day. They also went to the zoo, and cool "club house" place that had giant bounce houses as well as a plasma car racetrack, kid-sized tractor driving, went out for ice cream, and visited with my brother and nephew as well as my aunt and uncle. We were able to Skype with them a few times and the highlight of the zoo visit was that they saw a snow leopard pooping. Boys! Nicolas was apparently an excellent big brother and both boys were well behaved. It was very quiet and clean in our house for the entire week they were gone. We all missed them, but it was a nice little break for everyone. Lexi got some 1-1 time with us and the house didn't look like a tornado just went through it.


I swear Lexi is growing every day. Just yesterday (or so it seems) she was our happy little baby eating pureed food. Now she walks/runs/struts around the house like she owns the place! Her favorite words these days are "no mommy" or "no daddy" but she says them in such a cute little way (it also helps that she is still too little to put up too much of a struggle). Her vocabulary is growing exponentially and she amazes me every day with something she either says or does. I had almost forgotten what a fun age this is! She is now a very good sleeper and almost always sleeps through the night (thank goodness!). She is a better eater than either of the boys and will eat almost anything we give her. She is particularly fond of corn on the cob these days, and who can blame her - this is the perfect time of year to eat it! She is a very empathetic girl and feels the need to point out to me when one of the boys is crying. She also enjoys putting her stuffed animals and dolls down for "night night" and/or naps. She lays them on her stomach, puts a blanket over them, and rubs their backs. Which is what she has us do when she goes to bed. It is absolutely adorable and she will do it for long stretches of time as long as she has a blanket and animal/doll to work with.


Lexi is also in the midst of potty training which we have been doing haphazardly since she was about 18 months old. I thought it was a little early, but she has really pushed it on her own, so we're trying to go with the flow. At this point, it is about 50/50 when she uses the potty, but I think with a little more encouragement we could go cold turkey. She hasn't had any accidents on the floor in a while - the last one was my mother's day present of a giant poop on the middle of the playroom floor, which, thankfully, is NOT carpeted.

I'm going to do my best to be better about keeping this updated - at the very least one day a week, but hopefully more often.