Celebrating in style . . .

We celebrated the first day of summer by hitting the sprinkler park that is a few blocks from our house. Alyssa was a little unsure about it at first, but she warmed up pretty quickly and made a couple new friends. Mommy learned that she needs to watch where she's walking as there are buckets that dump water and sprinklers that shoot out of the ground without warning! ;)

Parental Influences

Out of the mouth of Alyssa . . .

Most parents try to pass on words of wisdom to their kids like "treat others as you want to be treated", "always say please and thank you". MY husband frequently tells Alyssa "always use a condom". Now, good advice, granted, but you can imagine how proud I was when my 2 1/2 year old came running up to me to say "condom, mommy!".

Almost as proud as when she told me "BEER, WOMAN!" in a growly voice.

And she's also picked up her daddy's tendency to grunt frequently, so throughout the day I get greeted with sweet little "manly" grunts from her.

But its not only Adam that is teaching her these things. Thanks to me she now says "Oh TOOT!" whenever she farts. Or she'll say "Oh, _____ toot!" when someone else farts. I can totally see that one backfiring when I let one loose in public.

Ahhh kids!

Bring on the mountain hikes!

As of about 10AM this morning I am the *proud* owner of a backpack carrier. Never in my life did I ever think that I would buy one of these. They were for those super outdoorsy, athletic, nature freaks that went on 20 mile hikes several times a week and camping on a regular schedule. My camping schedule goes about once every 7 years. And about 8 years ago I did a 7 mile hike up a mountain; I have no desire to do that again any time soon.

My midwife was the first one to suggest to me that we get one. She told me that its great for strapping on husbands and letting them have "bonding time" with the baby while mowing the lawn. I think I could handle that. ;) Then I started seeing a couple of our neighbors walking around the neighborhood with their kids in a backpack. I started getting interested ... I might want to do that someday. Then at Joel's 4 month check up his pediatrician recommended getting one. Joel does love being in the baby bjorn, but sometimes its just a pain to have to reach around him, so I started seriously thinking about getting a backpack.

And then it just so happened that our neighbor Amy had one on her garage sale this morning, so I think I got a pretty good deal, even if we don't use it that often.