Asleep/Awake!

Waking up happy is the key to a great day!

How to Survive the Heat

Step One: Get your hair off your face. The more ridiculous you look, the cooler you are. Step Two: Drink lots of fluid (preferably those that come in Sesame Street packaging).

Step Three: Keep your friends (like Ernie, Grover, and MoMo) close. Staying social is important.

Step Four: Convince Mama and Dada that it's too hot for dinner. Instead, sit outside with your feet in the kiddie pool. Let Mama and Dada enjoy some Corona, and convince them that ice cream would really make the best dinner for the baby.

Step Five: Enjoy the evening! At 8:00, tell them that it is probably time to go inside and watch a DD.

Blue Angels

The Blue Angels (for those, like me, who had no idea who the Blue Angels were, they are a team of airplanes that perform stunts at air shows across America) were in town this weekend. Their flight path went right over our neighborhood. Every single neighbor that I talked to was so excited about the Blue Angels. One even called them a national treasure. Lili and I weren't so sure. We found them to be incredibly loud and a little scary. Lili's expression in the picture below as they zoom over our house sums up our feelings. However, they did do some fun tricks.

Charlie the Bunny

We named our rescued bunny Charlie. After some Internet research, we found out that he was too little to release right back into the wild (his ears were still pinned back and he had a white crest on his forehead). So, we kept him for 2 1/2 days. He ate organic salad greens and Timothy Hay. Lili really enjoyed petting him and going to see the bunny hourly. By the third day, Charlie was jumping out of his tub and pooping all over. His ears had popped up, and although he still had the white crest, we felt like it was his time to go.

Daddy thought the bunny was a little gross. He was very vigilant in making sure Leah washed her hands after handling the bunny. He also didn't let her touch her face after touching the bunny. I did the same things, but dad was a little more stern. Leah thought it would be funny to infect him with bunny cooties. She kept touching the bunny and trying to poke Daddy in the face.

New Friend

Leah and I just went outside to get the mail. We found a baby bunny in our window well. It looked pretty tired, and panicked, so we took it inside for a little R and R. Don't worry, we're keeping it safe from Brain and Rugen!

New Tricycle!

Lili and I have been checking out the tricyles regularly during our Target runs. The past few weeks, Leah has been really sad when we've had to leave the bikes at the store. Last weekend our neighbor put an old tricylce out at the curb, Leah grabbed my hand, walked me over and said, "try?". I decided that the time had come to buy her a bike or we were going to have to take in the old trike of our neighbors. We went and picked it up yesterday. First picture on the *assembled* bike!

Getting some help from Dad.

Getting into it....

All smiles! The bike is a success!

Grover rode in the trunk.

Helping Dada

Leah is quite the helper. She'll follow you around and offer to, "help, help?" Of course she had to help Dad put together her new trike. Daddy thought it was super cute that he was being "supervised" by a 22 month old. Once Leah saw that it was looking like a real bike, she kept trying to get on the bike and annoucning, "bike. bike."

First Beater

Leah got to eat her first beater (from a batch of banana bread) yesterday. She enjoyed it so much, she insisted on bringing it up to the bath with her afterward. This was also the first time she "helped" me cook. She stood on a chair, and didn't even mind the electric mixer (which usually causes her to run out of the room, hurl herself on the ground, and scream, "No, mama, no! Enough!"

Backyard Pool Fun

Leah really enjoys the backyard pool now. Her favorite part is filling it up (high!) with water and jumping in the water (with help from Mama). She also likes to dump bird seed into the pool and watch (from upstairs) while the squirrels try to get to the seed. We saw one in the water, and Lili thought it was hhilarious!

Leah was posing here! This weekend it was close to 90. We tried to go to the (neighborhood) pool or as Sassy calls it "jump in pool", but it was closed due to the fact it was contaminated and needed to be shocked. Yuck. Leah enjoyed playing in the backyard, too, though.

Flower Photos

Music in the Park

We have met some friends in Plymouth's Music in the Park twice so far this summer. Leah really enjoyed it the first time. I thought I would bring along my camera to document all the fun she has when she is around music. However, this time the performers were fiddlers. I don't know if Leah didn't appreciate the genre, she was overtired, or her 2 year molar that is popping was annoying her. Either way, here is the run down of the 25 minutes she let us stay....

12:01- eat lunch. Scoff at the grilled cheese and eat only the chips and yogurt. Notice that this yogurt has a different type of packaging, so use a straw as a tool.
12:05-after protesting *loudly* as Mama tries to show how the yogurt can be sucked, realize that she's right and it makes eating the yogurt much easier.

12:10-lay down, rub belly, look annoyed.

12:15-turn toward the music at Mama's prompting, scowl at the Irish dancers and loudly announce, "Home! DD. Grober, Ernie, MoMo. Home. Bye-Bye!"

12:20-Hold Big Bird and wave bye-bye to everyone excitedly as Mama pulls the wagon to the car.

Kitties

Brain and Annie think Leah's toddler bed is their own. I've caught them snoozing in the bed several times over the past few weeks. Luckily, Lili Bean doesn't mind sharing. Luckily.

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th of July by going to the Detroit Zoo. The hours were extended until 8:00, so it was nice to go after Leah's second nap and in the evening when it was cooler. We brought the wagon, but Sassy really prefered to run. We tried to discourage it, but she was so excited to be there.

Leah really liked the apes, giraffes, and the Artic Circle. Almost every time she saw an animal she would say, "hi, Brain Brain!" If she didn't see an animal she would say, "where Brain?" I'm not sure why she thought every animal was a relative to our cat, but we thought it was pretty sweet.

Yes, Lili's hand is on my boob. She's very protective. Sassy was TIRED by the end of the trip, but she still didn't really want to leave.

Artic Ring of Life

One of the best exibits at the zoo was the Artic Ring if Life. Leah was a little nervous at first (she kept thinking the animals might come through the glass), but enjoyed the experience after a few minutes.