Although we've still spent our fair share of time outdoors this summer, it's been so hot. With temperatures well into the triple digits in the last couple of weeks, our afternoon sandbox time is sometimes postponed until after dinner, and is sometimes cancelled altogether. We've found some fun things to do indoors, including cutting windows into a huge cardboard box then decorating it with crayons and stickers, playing with lots of blocks and puzzles, making our own smoothies and Isaac's favorite snack, hummus, and playing games that can burn some energy, like doing animal imitations. Caedmon gets a big kick out of practicing the various forms of locomotion of the animals we see at the zoo - waddling like a penguin, sauntering like the gorillas, running like an ostrich, balancing on one leg like a flamingo, and hopping like a frog/kangaroo/rabbit. Isaac enjoys watching and tries to do what his big brother is doing, and he's making progress, too!
Caedmon always wants to see the preview of photos I take on the back of the camera, and today he also wanted to see Doug. He was checking to make sure Doug was smiling for my pictures...it's hard to tell but I'm sure he probably was!
To make sure we get some good "outside time" in before it gets so hot, we've been playing in the front yard during the mornings. I'll set up the sprinkler and the boys have a ball! Sometimes they just stand in it and let it spray them; sometimes they get bowls or cups to fill and haul around the yard, or just select rocks or other objects to "wash"...
...sometimes Caedmon will pause for a quick drink...mmm, so refreshing!
And of course, sometimes they pick up the sprinkler and carry it off, usually surprising themselves when they get sprayed by it as they pick it up!
Playing in the sprinkler is fun for us all but I know Caedmon still misses the hour or more that he's not been spending in the sandbox every afternoon. I didn't realize how much, though, until yesterday. I'd been working in the kitchen to get a meal ready to take to some friends who just had a baby and he'd been inside with me the whole time. Realizing his need to burn some energy before we got in the car to deliver the meal, I sent him in the backyard and encouraged him to play with his trikes, or balls and tee, or just run and play for a few minutes. He asked me to uncover the sandbox, but I didn't want him to get all sandy, and we really didn't have a lot of time before we needed to leave anyway, so I shared that with him and got him started on playing with his tee-ball things. Isaac stayed out too, and I peeked out the back door every minute or so just to make sure all was well, and they seemed to be playing nicely. Then Isaac came and banged on the back door (sounding the alarm, perhaps?) and when I went to get him Caedmon had vanished. I scooped up Isaac and started calling for his brother, and after a few tries heard just a small sound in response. I started for the direction of the sound, seeing neither its source nor a good place that Caedmon could be hiding. Then I spotted his bright orange shirt...under the sandbox cover. He had crawled under and was playing with his diggers, all smushed down in the sand. Despite his obviously uncomfortable posture, he was determined to stay!
We've known for a long time that Caedmon is picking up so many new words from our conversations, but it can be so funny and surprising to hear him incorporate them into his dialogue with us and Isaac. One of his new additions has been recently been used as he offers Isaac a pretend drink with a toy cup: "It's okay, Isaac, it's bee-caf." (Decaf.) I can only think of a handful of occasions that he would have heard that word, so I'm impressed that he's using it so appropriately!
We were thankful to get to go to see Grammy and Papa this past weekend to celebrate Papa's 60th birthday with them! Hopefully there will be pictures to come...but we all had so much fun, and were all especially impressed with our little farm boy, Isaac. He fed the cows cubes right out of his hand with very little hesitation and had a lot of fun feeding, then chasing and petting, Grammy and Papa's chickens. He calls them "Mammy" and "Papa" very consistently, and I think he's trying to say "Caedmon" now too, as well as "outside" and "book."
Whatever we're doing and wherever we go, there is one thing that is constant with our boys - they want to be in motion. They are busy, busy guys and love doing, running, jumping, chasing, exploring, testing their limits, and learning new things...all wholeheartedly. Every situation presents opportunities for them to expand their horizons and they have such a fresh perspective on things that I would otherwise consider to be mundane. I am blessed to be able to watch the light in their eyes as they enthusiastically learn and grow!
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