Handsome and His Hat

Morgan is affectionately known as "Handsome" at school since his recent hair cut. He's had an ongoing love affair with one of the hats from the dramatic play bin at school and often insists on wearing it outside. I finally had a chance to capture a few pictures of Handsome and his hat last week at the family picnic.

Summer Days

We're doing great and enjoying the summer days. We're trying not to melt in the near 100-degree weather we're having so we've had to get a little creative with indoor activities to replace some of our outside time.

Morgan decided to try out Hand Foot and Mouth disease last week. Actually, he and most of the members of his little class posse went down with it. It sounds a lot worse than it was for him, he only had a fever for two days and a sore throat with blisters. He had pretty good spirits during the couple of days he was down and Jacoby did such a good job entertaining him. We often found Morgan laying on the floor with Jacoby playing beside him, talking to him, telling him what he was playing with, etc. Morgan bounced back quickly and continues to be our very busy little boy. He's the official keeper of all of our shoes, and any time he hears "out" or "walk" he starts distributing shoes to their appropriate owners. He also firmly believes he needs to wear a coat to school but we've slowly talked him out of this. When we picked him up on Friday, he was visiting the Toddler classroom and had just finished having a snack at the "big boy" table and was quite pleased with himself. Trading is a really big deal in our house right now, and Jacoby has learned that Morgan can drive a really high bargain when it comes to some of the most prized possessions that the two of them have to share.

I had multiple appointments with Dr. Jacoby this weekend, who has a new-found interest in his doctor's kit. Besides being checked out thoroughly with the stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, and thermometer, Mommy also received multiple "pokes" that would "help you grow big and tall". And during my "pokes" I was reminded to be "brave" and to "cooperate" and that it would be over soon. He was quite thorough and even pretend-cleaned my arms with alcohol wipes before the shots! He gave me a "special button" (an IV) that he used to give me "special medicine". It was an interesting glimpse into how he's been processing the last couple of months and gave us a chance to talk about these things through his play. Mommy got to pick out a sticker at the end of the appointment. (: Jacoby is also fine-tuning his skills on the tricycle--steering and pedaling at the same time can be very tricky!

I took Friday off, so Justin and I enjoyed a run on the trails together at Chautauqua--something we probably haven't done together since Jacoby arrived in our lives! We went out to breakfast and ran a few errands. The owner of our house (who lives out of state) is coming for a visit in a few weeks, so we've been tidying up and making sure everything is in order for her. She's graciously extended our lease for another year with the same rent as when we moved in three years ago! We took the boys up to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday in an attempt to escape the heat but ended up joining every other person in Colorado who had the same idea. We did enjoy time outside and a picnic in the car. The boys are great travelers, so they didn't seem to mind the time in the car.

Here are a few pictures from our week:

Our rice box...a sensory table of sorts

Busy little hands

Rocky Mountain National Park

A familiar scene for us this summer...and yes, that is yet another garbage truck. I have trouble walking away from trucks at the thrift store that need a new home. (: Who would have ever guessed that I would have a special place in my heart for trucks?!

Enjoying a summer treat

Morgan enjoying his bite-sized treat (even though I have no doubt he would have tackled a whole piece if we'd given him the chance)

U-N-E-V-E-N-T-F-U-L

We are finally enjoying seemingly normal, uneventful weeks around here...just the way hot, lazy summers should be and it's wonderful. We spent the weekend doing chores around the house (inside and out) and then took the boys swimming today. The two of them fearlessly tackled the big, twisty slide and made about 40 trips down into the splash pool before they decided they needed a new adventure.

They've been having a great time at school. Jacoby's class went on a field trip to the Butterfly Pavilion and have spent a lot of time working with their bug theme. They're also cooking in the big kitchen and have made jello, ants on a log, and lemonade so far. Morgan is part of a posse of boys who run the show in his class. He's not the oldest in the group, but he's the biggest and they follow each other around to see how much trouble they can get into. Boredom is running high in the Infant class and it's clear that they're definitely ready for the Toddler class! Morgan's class takes lots of trips to the park in their big wagon and also play with water outside. Summer seems to be a fun time at the school. Both boys move up to new classes at the end of August.

We made reservations this weekend for a family get-away in a few weeks to Snowmass and Aspen. Thanks to a surprise summer work bonus and a gift, we took advantage of summertime specials at a beautiful condo in Snowmass (just a little ways from Aspen) and plan to spend 4 days enjoying the outdoors in a part of Colorado we don't get to visit too often. We're very excited to take the bus tour in to see the beautiful Maroon Bells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_Bells), and the condo has an athletic club complete with a pool for kids which we plan to take advantage of. We're excited to get away for a couple of days together as a family.

We didn't have the camera out much this week, but I found a few miscellaneous videos that got mashed together to show what the boys are up to these days.

4th of July

Happy belated 4th of July everyone! The boys and I have had a wonderful long weekend together while Justin made a quick dash up to Montana to see some of the extended Young family while they were here visiting out west. I took Friday off, and while the boys were at school and Justin was on his way north, I enjoyed a full day to myself which was a much-needed treat for me. The boys and I went swimming at the pool, played at the park, and have kept busy at home over the past couple of days. Rain and thunderstorms kept us from venturing out to see any fireworks, so our 4th of July celebration was pretty quiet. There is never a dull moment with these two, so the days have flown by!

I breathed a sigh of relief when I flipped the calendar over to July and saw that all we have scheduled so far this month is a routine dentist appointment for Jacoby. I'm really hoping that we get a break from all of the medical appointments over the next couple of weeks. I think it's starting to take a toll on everyone. We started Jacoby's growth hormone treatment last week. After an extensive training session at the endocrinologist's office, they gave Justin and I the ok to begin giving him the injections at home. Jacoby is definitely not excited about the shots but seems to handle them ok right now. We were thrilled to also find out that his MRI and ACTH test all came out normal. It's a great feeling to finally be treating his growth issues.

Morgan had an appointment with the allergist last week and was tested for a few things that all came back negative. We finally had to go in and get lab work done with him, and the little guy handled his first blood draw like a champ. Since he's become extra sensitive to eggs over the last few months, the allergist thought it might be wise to check to make sure he's not developing allergies to anything else right now.

We hope you all have enjoyed a great holiday weekend and wish you a wonderful week!

A busy day at the park

A very exciting 4th of July evening...

Enjoying the backyard pool

Getting warmed up in the sunshine

Roommates

The boys have been roommates for about a month now. We unofficially moved them in together when the cousins visited. Morgan has a history of keeping us all night whenever he has to sleep in the pack and play, so we decided to disassemble his crib and reassemble it in Jacoby's room during the visit. That pretty much sealed the deal, as Justin and I were definitely uninterested in repeating that process again.

The boys seem to really like being in the same room together. We've had a few adjustments to make and have discovered a couple of things about sharing a room together. For instance, Jacoby quickly learned that if he accidentally got too close Morgan could swipe Baby and hide him in his crib where his big brother couldn't reach him. Morgan has figured out how to sleep soundly despite having a load of toys and laundry piled high on top of him in his crib. And somewhere along the line, after finding Morgan without pjs one morning, the boys figured out that clothes are optional. There have been late nights full of singing and giggling, so they've also had to learn how tired they are in the mornings when they stay up late. But it's wonderful to hear them chattering away at each other each morning and to walk in and find them so happy together!

Some of our little artists' work

Their name signs were hung ridiculously high to keep them out of arms reach