Summer Daze

I thought I'd mix it up a bit on the blog and since I'm so behind in updating some things, I figured a nice summer post would be good. As to the subject, daze is truly the right word because I feel like summer is FLYING by and can't believe it's already almost July!!

Just thought I'd share some random events or things that have gone on in June. We had people over to our place a few times to watch the USA World Cup games and sadly the US is out now but we had fun hanging out with friends.

(Alyssa's new scary "monster" face)

We've been spending more time outside (except when the weather is WAY too hot) and Alyssa loves her outdoor toys and loves going outside to play.

When it does get way too hot, we find ways to cool off. Daddy turned on the sprinklers and while Alyssa isn't a fan, she still has fun.

We also love on our siblings most days as always and never miss a photo op and even try to share our sippy cup with our baby brother.

When we are inside, we usually find different ways to entertain ourselves like playing with our own video game controller (and saying "Aw man" for some reason while hitting the buttons),
stealing daddy's hat to wear

or taking mommy's purse to go "shopping [with] Mommy" and "sit in buggy". Alyssa's friend Meghan also left her purse here the other week so Alyssa usually grabs "Meghan purse" and her "keys" and looks at us and says "bye! see ya!" and heads towards the door. We'll have to try to find Alyssa a purse soon.

We also like covering our baby brother in all his toys. Alyssa knows that her brother is "bub bub" (Jacob) but when he is crying, she calls him out by his nickname (what we call him when he's fussy) and she'll go "Crabman! Stop it crying!"

When we are in the car, Alyssa switches back and forth between her current favorite song "Puff" [the magic dragon] and Jimmy Buffett but she gets confused and usually asks for "Puff Buffett" and I try to explain to her that his name is Jimmy Buffett. Either way, it's usually Puff the Magic Dragon that is playing in our car over and over again (or as Alyssa asks "one more time pease"). Funny thing though is that Jacob seems to prefer Jimmy Buffett over kids music and fusses until we switch over to Buffett or classic rock. Can cause for some interesting car rides when the kids are already arguing over which music they want to hear.

What else? Alyssa knows her last name - I don't know how but one day, she came home saying "Sas-ine" and I asked if she was Alyssa Sasine to which she responded with Mommy Sasine, Daddy Sasine, Baby Sasine, Dylan Sasine and Loucy Sasine. While I don't think she knows other kids last names, she does know her friend's Mommy and Daddy and will say _____(fill in blank with child's name) Mommy when she sees them at daycare. Alyssa also tells you (when asked) that Olivia's mommy is Kristi and Olivia's Daddy is Jared and that Daddy's Mommy is Gigi and Daddy's daddy is MayMay. She has started saying Bye to everything now. I took her to Publix the other day and she said "balloon" and "bananas" as we walked by and as we went on past the produce section, she said "Bye balloon...Bye Bananas" and so forth as we walked through the store. What a crazy nut! :)

As for Jacob, when he's not watching soccer...

or asleep (while playing or hanging out with daddy),

(Check out Alyssa pretending to be asleep with the boys...haha!)

he's practicing with his rice cereal

Now that we've got Jacob on Prevacid and it's been a few weeks, we've noticed a great improvement in his reflux. Every now and again, he'll still projectile spit up but for the most part, you can really tell he feels a lot better and is taking in more ounces (up to 6 every few hours now!). While he's still not sleeping the entire night, he usually only wakes up once around 2 or 3 to eat and go back to sleep. He's still sleeping in his car seat and hopefully soon, when we begin solid foods, he'll outgrow this soon enough. Poor boy already has enough to worry about between his reflux, his eczema (which seems to be getting better with some prescription cream we got from the doctor), and his cradle cap on his face and scalp (which I've stopped picking at because clumps of hair keep falling out!!! My baby is going bald!!)..but he's gaining weight (especially in his cheeks) and holding his head up longer and smiling, laughing and talking more every day so it's not so bad considering. :)

Alyssa has also gotten better with her appetite. While she's never been THAT picky, she is picky about certain things but she sure does love her rice (gee...that's a surprise!)

and we've got her biting off pieces now from bananas and other things which is a huge help so we don't have to cut off little chunks anymore.

Now that Jacob is holding his head up more, it looks like we'll move him to the high chair at dinner and have Alyssa in her booster seat/travel high chair so we can all sit and eat dinner together. Usually we have Jacob in a bouncer in the kitchen because if he's in the living room by himself while we're eating in the kitchen, he fusses until we go get him. He always has to be a part of the action too!

So while we haven't necessarily gone anywhere, we've still been pretty busy at home this summer too. It's getting easier each week with two kids - some days are harder than others but for the most part, it's getting easier and more fun watching our crazy Spiderpig and Crabman (yes, those are their nicknames!) grow up. Here's to lots more fun this summer!