Myself!

Paul has gotten pretty independent lately and wants to do most things "himself"! Or as he says, "No, my-self, my-self"! This includes many actions throughout the day...putting his hat/shoes on, fixing a toy, getting into his chair, and the list goes on. One particular morning, he insisted on taking his pajamas off by himself and we weren't going anywhere so I let him give it a try. Well, he tried for a long time and eventually got his shirt and shorts off. He got his shorts off first which for some reason went immediately on his head...I even removed them so he could get his shirt off but he put it right back on his head once his shirt was gone. He walked around with his shorts on his head for quite some time and loved checking himself out in the mirror until that got old and he moved on to checking out the books on the bookshelf...the potty-training book of all things!

Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July weekend using Bob and Diane's new pickup camper! We stayed at Shana and Wade's (Ryan's cousins) house on Pokegama where we always have a fun time. Ryan's grandpa also gave us a boat that he no longer wanted so we now have our own boat to use for cruising with Paul! Paul loves taking boat rides and also really loves being in the water! We spent the weekend swimming, boating, EATING, and watching the fireworks on the lake...Paul had an awesome weekend and enjoyed all the different activities. Moments after arriving home Sunday afternoon, I snapped this picture of Paul. He was definitely worn out from all the fun!

Outside fun

We've been having fun with the sprinkler and the hose on this warm summer days. Paul loves to get wet and he doesn't care if he's in his swimsuit or full clothes...it also doesn't matter how cold the water is, he'll run right into the hose/sprinkler at full speed without flinching! We've really been enjoying the great weather!

Whoops, I've been absent from the blog for awhile! As I've seen others refer to this as "neglect-o-blog"! I have a few good pictures to post of Paul and will do so soon.
We've had a fun and busy start to the summer. I'm about six weeks into my marathon training program and it's going well. I meet with two other women who are also running in October once a week for our "long" run. It's been fun to be a part of a small running group and it helps to pass the miles!
Ryan is busy with the clinic and gym and has been fishing a little bit as well. He heads to Chicago in a couple of weeks for a seminar and then it's off to Wisconsin Dells for our family trip!

Paul is at a really fun stage...we marvel at his sentences and story-telling as well as his pretend play. His latest thing is to play "Baby Sierra" (Laura's new baby) which is a riot. If we refer to him as Paul when he's playing this game, he'll say "No, I'm Baby Sierra". He also likes to carry around my purse/or gym bag and tell us, "I'm going to work or I'm going shopping". Too funny!
He's also beginning to understand how to be cunning or crafty which was on full display in our garage last week...we bought Grandpa Bob's riding lawnmower because he got a new one and Paul was thrilled to see the lawnmower in our garage. He likes to sit on it and play with the steering wheel and pretend he's driving. One night, I saw him eyeing up the key and I told him the key isn't to touch, etc. Well, I had to remind him a few times about the key but he did keep his hands away but I could see him looking at it (and me) out of the corner of his eye. I could see him thinking hard then he looked at me and said "Go away, Mommy" and "You go inside, Mommy"! He figured as long as I was removed from the situation, the key was all his! After I explained that it didn't matter if I was physically in the room or not, the key was still off-limits, he again said, "Bye Mommy". Ryan and I had a good laugh later about our little mastermind!

1-2-3

We've been working on counting with Paul and he's doing pretty well. I was able to catch a little video of my little genius hard at work.

Hanging out

A few pictures from our weekend at home...Paul was really into having some kind of "head gear" on while he was playing. I'm loving the look with the sunglasses pushed on top of his head with crazy hair!

In addition to going to the movie, we had a productive Saturday. Ryan got the air compressor working and tidied up the garage. He also got the hose set up so we can water our freshly planted flowers which are pretty simple but easy to keep alive! I ran with my dad in the morning and then tackled our laundry room which was a disaster. I told Ryan how it's amazing that a room meant to clean clothes was easily our dirtiest room! The lint, dust, and spilled laundry detergent had taken over but after a solid hour of intense cleaning, it's sparkling! I will NOT let it get that bad again, I WILL sweep and tidy up every week....right??

Up!

We took Paul to Up on Saturday and had a great time! Pixar does it again with a fantastic movie! Paul did really well in the theater and only got a little squirmy near the end. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it the entire hour and forty minutes but he did great! I loaded our bag up with snacks from home which he ended up devouring!
I recommend this movie for all ages!! The dialogue between the two characters (pictured above) is so funny and clever!