Reading Buddies

This is my last week of summer school (big huzzah!) but daycare is closed, so we're trying our best to make do.  Today that involved Daniel coming to school with me for 2 classes.  They were my best classes, also my smallest at only 9 students per class, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

At the end of class I looked over and saw just about the sweetest thing ever...

Not only was he reunited with his beloved Brown Bear book, but he had two friends to read it to him!

Sweeping

Daniel would not stop fussing at me while I was trying to sweep because he wanted to help.  After I finished up, I gave him the broom and he went straight to his bedroom to sweep up.

His technique needs work, but at least he went over to put the broom away when he was done.

Recently.

Here are a few photos from the last few days...

Danny wearing my John Deere hat..

Tom was busy on Friday night so Daniel took me out to dinner at our favorite pizza place.

It was awesome, he was good company and we had a great time.

Went to the library on Saturday and Danny immediately found Brown Bear, Brown Bear and sat down to read it.  It's his favorite book but has "disappeared" to my classroom recently (I'm using it for a lesson, I'm not just being cruel).

At home he found my headband and rocked it for a little while.  Apparently he likes putting my things on his head..

I woke up early this morning to go for a run while these two lazy bums got to sleep in.  They were even still sleeping when I got home at 7!

We decided to have him cuddle his Pooh bear.

He was very happy to see Pooh when he woke up.  This kiddo loves this giant Pooh bear.

This afternoon Danny helped wash the car.

Gotta start them working young!

Challenge

If I write it on the blog, it's binding...so here goes.

Tom came up with an awesome running challenge for us that we started last week.  He went for a run last Saturday and when he came home told me that I had 24 hours to "reply" with a run of my own.

So I went for a run last Sunday morning...for the 2nd time in 2 years, not exaggerating.

I've run 5 times since then for a grand total of 6 runs since last Sunday!  Our challenge is working.  Each of us has gone for both evening and really early morning runs (we leave the house at 7am, so when we run in the morning, it's around 5:45).

So far there are no rules on distance, time, speed, etc.  We're just trying to build good habits.  Hoping we can keep this up for awhile!

Fourth of July

Happy 4th of July!  We played with some sparklers and the camera to get that fun shot last night.  

In big news, Daniel has been sleeping so much better at night recently.  He's been sleeping until about 4am, nursing, then sleeping for another two hours or so.  Well last night, we hit a new record!  He slept from 6:30pm until 5:15am!  Yahoo!  This has been a long time coming!  He was waking up every couple of hours for about the first 14 months of his life...

AND today 5:15am was the only time he nursed.  He's going to be weaned before we know it.  He gave up pacifiers on his own a few months ago.  Now we just have to get him to drink milk from a cup instead of a bottle...baby steps.

Anyway, back to our day.  Here's the boy modeling his sunglasses very seriously this morning...

He took a really great morning nap and then we decided to go to the aquarium for a special treat.  We didn't want to be outside in the heat of the day, so this was a great special indoor activity.  Just like at the rodeo, he screeched and squealed pretty loudly.  He was SO excited!

After an afternoon nap, we had some time in the kiddie pool (no pics), ate some dinner, and then walked around outside to chase chickens.  We have at least two, but I think three, families of baby chicks that live around our house.  Daniel loves them and will follow them everywhere.  They're pretty friendly with him, too.

Danny got to see some sparklers.  We'll wait til next year to let him hold one on his own...

Even in the light he thought they were pretty awesome.

All in all, a successful day.  So nice to have a day off and for it to feel like summer.  Work's been keeping us busy, even though I'm just working half time.  Looking forward to some more summer nights coming up!

Tickle Fun

Sometimes waking up from a nap takes a bit of lounge time on the floor..

And a video of tickling!

Rodeo and Beach Fun!

We had an exciting weekend!

We put letters all over Danny in the bath..

It's 4th of July weekend, which means it's the Makawao Rodeo!  We missed the parade on Saturday morning cause of rain, naps, etc...but we went to the rodeo in the late afternoon.  Danny, who is obsessed with animals, couldn't believe he got to see horses and calves in real life.  He pretty much spent the entire time saying "moo."  We haven't really got "neigh" down yet...

Lately he shows excitement by tensing up his body and screeching.  To his parents, it's funny and pretty cute.  To strangers, it can be annoying, but what are you gonna do?  He's not screaming to misbehave or make ugly noises, he just has so much excitement he has to get out.  Luckily a few of our rodeo neighbors thought it was cute.  Some stared at us, but most thought it was cute (or at least they pretended to).

We let him stand up at the fence with the other kids to get a closer look at the rodeo action.  

Today we packed up and went to Baby Beach.  Known for reef that keeps the surf out and a nice shallow beach, it was perfect.  The only thing it's missing is a shower or a hose.  Again, Danny was just so, so excited to play.  He loves the water and the sand now.

The water was ridiculously perfect.

We took a break in our tent to eat some broccoli and an apple.  What kind of beach snacks are those!?

After hitting up an awesome Barnes and Noble sale (I got 3 Christmas books for $6!) and eating some lunch, we came home.  Daniel found my cowgirl hat and decided to wear it around the house.  I guess next year we'll have to sign him up for mutton bustin' at the rodeo...or at least the stick horse race!