Pictures at home from June

This month has just flown by and I can't believe we're just about a 1/3 of the way through summer already.  How does that happen, and why can't it happen in February rather than June?  

This photo is altogether ridiculous, no?  Not posed at all, Gus just climbed up there to sit by Louie and then when I went to take a cute picture he did some goofy rubbing of Louie's head and of course refused to move the cup of milk from his mouth. (Seriously his cup of milk is like another body part, it is ALWAYS THERE... I'm a little concerned about what this means for potty training.) 

Louie will be six months old this weekend.  Half a year already.  I mean honestly!  In honor of this half a year milestone, I will be leaving him for a whole weekend in the middle of July.  I'm just now starting to come to terms with this fact and am starting to obsess a little.  I'm so excited for a weekend with my girlfriends, but of course a little nervous to leave these boys on their own.  I didn't leave Gus overnight until he was 18 months old... because the idea caused me to panic, but Louie is such a different baby.  It'll be FINE.  Right?  Right!  

Louie also sprouted two teeth this month, which made me quite happy because maybe his horrible sleeping at night from about four months old on has been for a legitimate reason!  And just after these two teeth popped up, he slept through the night for the first time, a feat Gus has managed probably fifteen times in his whole 33 months of life.

Sleeping all the way through the night was of course just that one time, however the sleep thing overall has been a bit better.  On good days it's one to two wake-ups per night...I can deal with that.

One sleep-related frustration happening though is that Louie is now rolling onto his tummy like a mad man, pretty much every chance he gets.  That means that when I put him in the pack-n-play to sleep, he often rolls onto his stomach and then doesn't know what to do with himself.  He hasn't quite figured out how to roll the other way, so he's stuck, and he doesn't appear to know or want to learn how to put himself to sleep on his tummy.

That puts us into a predicament.  I watch his antics on the video monitor and find myself  unsure of what  to do and when to intervene.  Usually I don't go in there until he's actually getting upset, but it's frustrating, because these hi-jinks are making the process of getting him to sleep take much longer, and often times I've just fed him, so when I do go in there he's spit up massive amounts all over and I have to change the sheet.

It's also contributing to shorter naps and middle of the night frustrations.  Where as before he would often wake up momentarily and lay there awake for a bit, (sometimes quiet and other times cooing and talking to himself), and then put himself back to sleep, now he sometimes will wake up after like a half hour and roll to his tummy, end then be all, "Okay Mom!  Nap's over!"

I'm pretty confident this is a phase that will fix itself when he learns to roll from tummy to back, but for now... it's really freaking annoying.

Gus benefits from the fact that his mother is nursing his brother and consequently is ALWAYS HUNGRY and prone to impulse buys at the grocery store.  Here he is eating a Vanilla Wafer cookie.  Super random, yes, and I bought a huge bulk box of them at Costco?  What is wrong with me?

I'm loving how sweet these two are together.  Louie just adores his big brother, like truly can not get enough of him.  And Gus loves to make Louie laugh, which has come especially handy on long car trips where things are getting dicey with the little one.  Gus can usually perk him up a bit and even turn things around when Louie's about to lose it.    

Who doesn't wear snorkel gear in a 10 foot round pool?

Crazy drool... proof of a teething baby.

A blurry photo, but it's just oh so sweet.  

No, we do not take very good care of our lawn.  It is about 1/3 grass and 2/3 weeds.  Maybe someday I'll care enough to fertilize and kill weeds and all that, but not during this current stage of life.  

Okay, this picture was taken last Friday after my failed attempt to start potty training Gus (notice the diaper?).  Oh boy.  We went diaper-free upon him waking up... and that was a doozy of a morning.  After going through four pairs of underwear before 11:00 AM (plus an accident when he was in his swimsuit outside running through the sprinkler), I gave up.  Right before that he was sitting on the potty for a half hour because he had to go #2 and I KNEW IT, and he just wouldn't go.  So when Louie woke up from his nap and I knew he would want to nurse (and he refuses to nurse with Gus in the room), I put a diaper on him quick before I went to get his brother.  

I came back ten minutes later and sure enough.  #2 in his diaper.  Little rascal.  

I'm declaring that he is not ready.  He's showing some signs of being ready, but then there are others that indicate he's totally not (like refusing to help undress himself at all, and not ever actually initiating going to the potty himself).  

So I'm done for now.  We'll try again in a few weeks, or a month.  Actually I'm really not willing to commit to any specific date at this point, the horror is too fresh.  So... someday, we'll try again.  

Ahhh potty training, I've barely even dipped my toe in the waters and I already HATE YOU.

Look how pretty!  Our grass may be hideous but our gardens and perennials are looking pretty good!  (Though note to future self: don't ever plant asters in the window boxes again, just... not working.)

The more and more I learn about plants, the more I think they are pretty awesome.  Dan planted just a small little morning glory annual in the ground below that trellis less than a month ago, and it has been really cool to watch it climb the trellis.  Every day it's bigger and doing new things.  

You know you're getting old when watching plants grow starts to thrill you, huh?

Here's Dan's twelve thousandth attempt to teach Gus how to peddle, this time by actually tying his feet to the peddles.    

Gus had other ideas.  "Daddy you ride it!!"

And later... "Daddy build something with Thomas legos?!  Please Daddy?  Please?"

We're both suckers for when he says please, even though playing with these stupid mega blocks ALWAYS ends in hysterics and tears because they fall apart so easily.