He can talk!

Tad has started talking the end of June and for the most part it's pretty fun! (After about the 30th time of hearing "Mom" I get annoyed.)
He's been learning a lot of things the past couple of weeks. (I put pictures in a slideshow below because there were so many.)
* Words he knows: Tie, hat, church, juice (means a drink), bus, truck, Cars (he loves the movie), horse, candy, bye (he says it with an accent, I really need to get it on video), hello, nks (thanks), trick, shoes, socks, purse, dolly, daddy, work (if you ask where daddy is), mom, keys, please, book, TRACTOR, pompa, Nannie, Crystal, Lauralee, Ernie, hot, knock-knock, kitty, go, "Where are you?", cookie (sounds like truck-key), teeter-toter, swing, ready, Battery (he wants me to put it in the exercise bike so he can play on it).
* He's getting better at tearing bread for the ducks- we still need to work on his throwing the bread.
* He taught himself how to swing on the trampolene frame. Now he always tries to swing if he's holding 2 people's hands.
* He taught himself to go down his slide head first.
* He learned he can go swimming in his pool in his clothes..... Mom's a sucker and didn't get mad, just changed him into a swimming suit and let him continue playing.
* He ate a whole hot dog without freaking out on the 4th of July. He'll loves watermelon.
* He's obsessed with his church tie and tries to put it on himself, he also wears his hat all day (if mom's not hiding it).
* Unfortunately, he's also learned to throw tantrums. When you ask him to pick something up and he doesn't want to he'll grunt and reach out, like he can't reach it, or he'll try to pick it up and grunt like it's too heavy (even though he just dropped it). The other time is when you make him come inside, he sits at the bottom of the stairs and acts like he's dying.
* He can climb on his teeter-toter by himself, but can't quite get it to go.
* He can make his bed with help!
* He pretends to say his own prayer or help dolly say his prayers.
It's fun to see him learn, but also scary wondering where he learns some things.
** He's also learning to tell on himself when he does something wrong. He reminded me of two words I forgot he knew: Color.... He colored on my exercise bike. When I asked him if he knew why he was in trouble he said "Color". And just a minute ago, he put something in the fish tank. After another timeout, I asked if he knew why he was in trouble and he said "fish". He makes this easy huh?!

Growing fast! (4th of July)

Why do we make June so busy?

 Now that the sprinkler valve is FINALLY fixed- everything that could leak, did and it took a few days.  We were able to turn the sprinkler system on.  We've got a great strategy: Fred runs the system from inside and I get to be the one that stands in the water and turns the sprinkler heads up or down to make sure they get everywhere.  I put Tad in his swimsuit so he could play in the water.  He's not a fan of the big sprinklers, so when we were done I put his little hose sprinkler on and he was much happier.  I think he'd spend the whole day outside if I'd let him.  Of course after watching mommy use a screwdriver to fix the sprinklers, Tad had to too. 

Friday night we helped Crystal with her Work Summer BBQ.  It turned out great and people actually stayed to play the yard games.  Even though we were exhausted, we still got up early to go to the Zoo Sunrise Safari.   I love the zoo and I'll get up on Saturday to go - especially if it means LESS people and MORE active animals!  

The picture is blurry, but it's the 3 of us and the gorilla that was hanging out right by the window. 

 We got to see the zoo keepers fill up the Alligator pond.  (The Alligator did not like the cold water and moved faster than I've ever seen them move.)  It was cool because the zoo keeper took time to tell us about the animal and what they do for them each day - with only 5 of us standing around. 

 I'm really excited for them to finish the new part of the zoo with the polar bears and seals!   They have a new area where the kids can dig in the dirt right by the construction sight.  Tad was in heaven-  "dirt!" "dirt!"

He just learned how to do an elephant sound from his cousins this week. 

He's finally brave enough to climb up and go down the slide by himself!  And loves it!

We went to the Bountiful Car show with Nashaela and Paul.  This suburban was HUGE - and had a ton of leg room inside!  Then to finish off our already eventful Saturday, we drove to Logan and got a free truck liner from a guy off KSL!  It fits perfectly!  We stopped to help Lauralee de-weed her yard, but she was already done.  So she went with us to the Logan Park Festival to look at booths and to get some Aggie Ice Cream!

This jug is leftover from Crystal's BBQ.  I knew sooner or later Tad would see it and figure out how to push the button.  Sure enough, Sunday after church I heard water hitting the floor.  He was trying to get a drink like he does from water fountains.  :}

Continuing his helpfulness...... I was making banana cupcakes this morning and he got his stool so he could lick the beaters.  I'm just happy he's trying new foods - maybe we'll get over his dislike for textures after all!This week he has started to look a lot older to me.  He's not even 2 yet but he looks more and more like a 3 year old every day!



Cousin Fun

 I found this random place (Gilgal) to visit in Salt Lake.  The description said it was a garden with LDS related statues.  Not exactly what I had in mind, but it was free and kind of interesting. 

Then we went to Red Butte Gardens.  None of us had ever been there, but I'd like to go again, this time without Tad so I can take time to actually look at all the plants.  If you're into plants or want a nice nature walk, this would make a great date! 

We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed their shady tables.  Then started around the trail.  There were lots of cool plants and they're all labeled.  The favorite part for the kids was obviously the Children's Garden. 

 There was a cool snake maze that ends at the snakes mouth with a fountain.  Tad was drenched from standing too close. 

 Tad hurried over to the snakes spraying water.  I'm not really sure why he thought putting his shoe in first was a good idea...... but he loved it. 

Everybody loves a puddle.

(Evidently, Tad is quite the poser.) 

Tad is loving having his cousins in town!  Today J. and Tad jumped in the gutter in the rain.  Such a simple thing, but I loved watching them and it gave me a chance to start teaching him to move onto the sidewalk if there's a car coming.  (Hard to believe J. is 6 already- my kid is a giant!)

 I also REALLY appreciated the older boys and Bro-in-law coming over to spend their vacation day digging a hole in my yard so Fred could fix the rusted out valve to the sprinklers.  Good thing it has rained a lot so we haven't NEEDED them yet. 

Tad's a pretty impressive puddle jumper (probably because it combines his two favorite things - water & jumping)!