This summer has been pretty great so far, I have to say. We had our annual beach vacation a couple weeks ago, and we were only missing Sophie and her family this time. They are in the process of buying a house, so it's an exciting time for them, but they and their sweet boys were missed. Now it's almost the end of June, and I am enjoying a few slow, lazy days before we make the trek to Massachusetts.
Sunrise--a view that I never saw with my own eyes because I like to sleep too much. Fortunately Tim is an early bird, and so I have pictures like this.
They were laughing because Tim was telling us that she had tried to greet him with a handshake when we'd all arrived.
We brought one of Annie's best friends, Annabelle, who was visiting from Texas.
This was our first time renting a triplex. and I think almost all of us loved it. We loved having this big common area, and the option of a pool. The little kids were in that pool every day for hours, and there were pool guys there every morning keeping it clean. The one drawback to being in the triplex, as one of my brothers-in-law pointed out, was that because we were not as spread out along the beach as we always have been, we had less of the beach to ourselves. A minor annoyance.
Thomas and Israel played together well.
I loved having coffee in the morning with views like this--Elise loving on little Forest.
They had a lot of fishies in this bin.
It wasn't me!
The hot tubs were a huge hit, most of all with the teen boys. A couple people witnessed my dad, Robert and big Joey in a hot tub together one night, but alas, no one took a picture.
I was loving their style.
We liked our unit. There was lots of comfy furniture, all of the stuff we needed in the kitchen, and adequate bedroom space for all of us. Our room got very bright in the morning, which kept me from sleeping in too late.
We had balconies on the street side, probably for the sole purpose of watching the sun set over the sound.
Thomas is still avoiding being in water, but on the night of day 5 I think it was, he was having so much fun on our beach walk, he ended up a little wet. It's pretty hard to resist the ocean when it's a beautiful day and the temperature's just right. I said to Tim, "Remember how when the big kids were little, there was no such thing as just dipping their toes in!"
Once our week at Topsail was over, Mom and Dad stayed at our house for three nights, and that was really nice. The last time they stayed in New Bern, it was at an Airbnb down the road, and it just wasn't the same. I hope this can be the start of a new tradition.
Thomas turned 2 on May 17. What a difference a year makes! It never ceases to amaze me how much these little ones grow and change in such a short time.
He is just starting to speak in sentences, usually very short ones with no verbs. "Aquarium... bigger fishies." "People hurt. Help. Accident." He's into numbers and colors, counting things and saying colors while looking to us for verification. He's gone from walking to running, and he's getting faster all the time. He especially loves running around our backyard barefoot. He is barefoot most of the time because he takes his shoes off and loses them, so typically I don't bother with them at all. That way, when I want him to look put together, I've got them. He's crazy about Blippi. His favorite toy is a $1 spray bottle. Sometimes I get out the bubble wand, and he sprays the bubbles with it. Life doesn't get much better than that.:)
He is starting to like food more. His favorite foods currently are chicken, lentils, his pouches that we give him once a day, and raisins. He still nurses a lot too, and our sleep situation hasn't changed much. I get him to sleep in the twin mattress on the floor, and then when he wakes up I bring him into bed with us. He still nurses a couple times during the night. Rachael from 10 years ago would absolutely be appalled. I can hear her now telling me about how she made it a priority to get these babies sleeping through the night, and in their own beds, at a reasonable hour like 7:30, maaaaybe 8 or 8:30 in the summer. I think it's a combination of age + additional kids that has worn me down. Once you have older kids, your life can no longer revolve around the baby stuff--the baby has to come along for the ride. But I wouldn't want to go back to the days of agonizing over what I would do when we go on a trip or attend an inconveniently timed event, because it always felt like one day off the schedule was going to be the end of it.
For about six magical months, his hair grew in curly, and he had a beautiful head of curls this time last year. But then it started coming in straight, so just the ends were curled, and as it got longer it looked shaggier and shaggier. My straight-haired genes asserted their dominance. I broke down and got him his first *real* haircut about six months ago, right after we got our family photos done. That was a questionable choice, as his hair was looking kind of silly by then -- he was getting bang trims, and you can see in the photo above how that would go. So since December he's been getting real haircuts, which he won't sit still for, so we get mixed results.
Last June
December...
Maybe a week or two later, looking like an old soul
When we first found out we were having him almost three years ago now, Tim immediately looked forward to having a little buddy who had nothing better to do and liked nothing more than to go for rides with him anywhere, anytime. That day is here. When Tim asks him if he wants to go for a ride with Daddy, he exclaims, "Jeep!" or "truck!" Something besides the boring old Subaru.😊 So now Tim is all set with his little buddy, and his bigger buddy Delaney, who at 16-going-on-17 will still go for rides with him as long as she's not busy (and as long as it's not to Lowe's).
Tim, Annie, and Timmy were gone a couple days of Memorial Day weekend for Timmy's soccer tournament in Williamsburg. When they got back Sunday night, Thomas's joy when they came in the door was so heartwarming. "Home! Home!" he shouted, and practically danced at the sight of each of them. I like to think it was a little balm for Timmy's heart after a tough (and close) loss for the team. His little heart so full of love is an injection of joy into this family.
Buuuuut...not always. He has some very bad moods sometimes, and he can be a most disagreeable young man whose favorite word is "no, no, NO!" or "Dop it!" The latter is what he says at bathtime. He used to like baths, but for a few months now, he has hated them. He also avoids getting in the pool past the top and maybe the second step. I took him for an ISR maintenance lesson a couple weeks ago, and boy did he hate that. But he can still float, so that's good. He doesn't have to like it.
Teeter!
As I scroll through photos for this post, I just wish time would slow down a little.
.heic)
.heic)
.heic)
.heic)
.heic)
.heic)
