Woo hoo hot!

This weekend was hot, or as Ashlyn likes to say, “woo hoo hot”.  We tried to play outside for awhile, and mom helped Ashlyn cool down by pouring water on her head from a toy watering can.  This was acceptable to Ashlyn, so she proceeded to pour water on herself.  She’s not even two, and she’s already becoming self sufficient!  We’re so proud.

Outside time didn’t last long though thanks to the heat, and after she dried off she sat inside and played with bubbles.  Ashlyn would have rather been outside, but she made the best of it.  She also played some catch with mommy.  It was a one way game though, as anything you toss to Ashlyn bounces off of her and onto the floor.

Given that it’s a summer in Texas, we introduced watermelon to the kiddo, and she seemed to enjoy it.  She made a royal mess out of it and we had to wipe her down afterwards, but at least it’s one more fruit that we can feed her.

After a long day of playing and eating, Ashlyn wanted to kick back and play with her iPod.  She decided it would be fun to try on mommy’s glasses for the experience.  Something makes me think she’s playing too much with the iPod if she’s already in need of corrective eyewear.

On a side note, she’s learning the ABC song, and she can count (sort of) to nine.  She typically starts at four, but if you help her along she’ll go from one to six, sometimes will get seven, and then straight on to nine.  I don’t know what she has against the number eight.

A Father’s Day helper..

We had a lot of people over at our house this weekend to celebrate Father’s Day.  In preparation of the event, we did a little cleaning on Saturday.  Unlike last year, we had a helper.  Sort of.

We started by taking out some trash on Friday.  Ashlyn wanted to help, and we were pleased as she dragged her bag down the driveway.  Were even more pleased when she put it right by the other bags.  Then we just had to smile as she proceeded to drag the trash back up the driveway, across the sidewalk, into the yard, and then over to the bushes.  We eventually were able to coax her into putting the trash where it belonged, but for awhile the bag was dragged around the yard like a blanket as Ashlyn explored.

On Saturday, it was time to get serious.  First up was some laundry, and when it came down to folding the whites Ashlyn once again felt that she could be of assistance.  “Assistance” is a strong word here, since she mainly took the folded shirts out of the basket and either carried it off or wore it like a cape.

After laundry the sponge was brought out to wipe down the counters.  Ashlyn, not to be left out, insisted on holding the sponge and doing her part.  And she did, she helped clean the windows, the dishwasher and the blinds.

She also helped wipe down the dog, and a mommy who was sorting some papers.  Way to go little one.

With the house clean, Father’s Day arrived, and Ashlyn surprised Daddy with a Big Green Egg!   (If you think Ashlyn looks anything like the last picture from the previous blog post, that’s completely coincidental. She always grills with a red block in her hand.)

Ashlyn joined in as we put it together, and later she enjoyed some tasty meats right off the grill.

So it was a busy weekend, but a good one.  Thanks to the dads for everything you’ve done for us kids over the years.  But most of all, thank you Ashlyn, because without you I wouldn’t be a father.  And I wouldn’t have a Big Green Egg.

Happy Father’s Day!

No no no no no!

Ahh… the wonderful word, “no”.  We taught this to Ashlyn a long time ago, and it was a good word to teach her since she was able to communicate when she didn’t want something.  But what used to be a cute “no?” said with a questioning inflection has now turned into a screaming repeated “no!” when something horrible is going to happen, such as a diaper change or putting on a shirt.  If I can get it on video I will, because it’s actually pretty funny.  I guess this is the Terrible Two’s I kept hearing about, and it just goes to show what a genius Ashlyn is because she’s starting months ahead of schedule.

On the lighter side, she’s learned a few new skills.  She can put her shoes on by herself now, although she doesn’t always put them on the correct feet.  She’ll entertain herself by putting on the shoes, and then taking them right back off again.

She’s also learned how to jump.  She’s been doing this for about a month, but now she’s actually starting to get up in the air a few inches.  I took a bunch of pictures of her bouncing up and down, and these were the ones that captured her in the air.

Now we’re working on sentences (she’s using three word sentences now) and the ABC song.  She doesn’t know the ABC song yet, but she mouths along to it and was humming the tune this morning.  You can bet I’ll have a video of her as soon as she can sing it through.  Until then, adios!

Come here cow!

“Come here cow” was the phrase most often heard this weekend while attending a family reunion on the San Marcos river.  We stayed in a cabin right off the river, the back of which was bordered by a large field with cows.  Ashlyn, upon seeing the cows, immediately went over to say hello.

After that, whether we were inside the cabin, on the porch, or sitting outside, Ashlyn would look over at the cows and say “ come here cows”.  The picture below is of her beckoning the cows over, but the cows either didn’t speak toddler or they were simply content to lie in the shade and chew on grass.  No cow ever came over during the trip.  Sorry little one.

 

No weekend would have been complete without bubbles, and bubbles at a cabin turned out to be just as exciting as bubbles at home.  I may have said this before, but I wish I got excited at anything as much as Ashlyn gets excited about bubbles.  Just look at that face and you’ll see what I mean.

Breakfast was always good, and Ashlyn had a good time eating her pancakes and drinking her juice with daddy.

No trip to the river would be complete without actually going in the river of course.  I couldn’t take my camera on the tubes, so you’ll have to trust me when I say that Ashlyn did really well floating down the river.  We weren’t sure how we should handle it and I admit there was some trepidation in putting a toddler in an inner tube wearing a life vest that makes her look like a tiny pink robot.  But she did great and was content to sit with mommy and look around at everything.

I was able to snap a few pictures of the pink robot in the river though.  Her favorite thing to do was sit and throw rocks.  Don’t ask me why, but if she enjoys it and it doesn’t cost me anything, I say give the girl some rocks.

After the river we had to clean her off, and since our cabin did not have a bath we had to use the kitchen sink.  This is the second time we’ve had to bathe her in the sink, and short of some water getting splashed around it didn’t go off too badly.

And this is a picture of Ashlyn after the last float this morning, just hanging back drinking some milk.

Thanks to the Wolfe’s for a great weekend with the family!