Back to Work...

Well tonight was Joel's official last night of summer vacation with mom and dad. He'll go back to Ms. Pat's full-time tomorrow. I'm trying to not get in the, "ugh- I don't want to go back to work" mood. So instead I am focusing on the great summer that I was fortunate enough to spend with my baby boy and darling husband.
I loved "sleeping in" 'til 8:00 every morning- thank you Benny for waking up first. :)
I loved our weekly trips to the zoo watching Joel run around the toddler area. He would point to the animals, munch on gold fish while we pushed him around in the stroller, and even made a few friends while playing in the grocery store.
I loved feeding Joel waffles for breakfast.
I loved taking naps while Joel took his nap in the afternoon.
I loved having dinner with my family every night.
I loved running around the house chasing Joel while making the Jaws "Dun-nah" sound and hearing him squeal.
I loved reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and 100 First Words a bazillion times. Every day.
I loved using sidewalk chalk with Joel in the backyard, even though he just taps the chalk on the ground while I draw pictures.
I loved watching Joel get excited about swimming and kiddie pools.

So even though I would love to stay home with my boys every day, I know I get more time with them than most working moms do. I'm excited to get this school year started and get that much closer to Halloween costumes, pumpkin patches and putting up a Christmas tree. :)

Party for two...at home

This weekend Benny is taking a referee class in Austin which lasts from 9-6 Sat. and Sun. So Joel and I had our first day at home alone today in a long time! We watched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show this morning while Joel had his morning milk. Then we played for a couple hours after eating waffles (Joel's breakfast staple) around 8:00.
Joel took a little nap around 10:30. After lunch we went outside and played in the backyard for a bit. I tried to blow bubbles with Joel, but he just wants to hold the wand and dip it in the bottle over, and over, and over... Combining the soapy bubbles with the dirt he already hand on his hands made a lovely mess that Joel felt needed to be wiped on my arms. All over my arms. It was like he was saying, "Ew mom, get this stuff off of me. Here you take it."
So then we went and had a bath- which Joel will only stand or squat in, not sit. It actually makes it easier to bathe him, but it worries me because he tries to walk around in the slippery bath tub. We've had a few close calls, but I've caught him before he whacked his head too hard. Ugh, boys.
After his bath, Joel took his afternoon nap, so I took my afternoon nap. Man, I am going to miss those when I have to go back to work. Then we had an easy dinner after a failed attempt to sneak off an get fast food for dinner. Apparently my car battery is dead? I guess that happens when you leave a car sitting for basically 4 weeks straight. Oh well, hopefully we can fix that Monday.
Joel and I had a great evening watching Despicable Me- Joel is in LOVE with this movie. No matter what he is doing he will stop and become entranced whenever I put this on. It's kind of hilarious and a good thing to keep in my bag of tricks.
He also helped me get a few chores accomplished before enticing me to have a tickle fight with him. He laughs so hard when I tickle him. His face turns bright red and he can hardly catch his breath but he loves it. I love it. His laugh is probably my favorite sound in the entire world.
I love that Joel and I had today together. We missed daddy of course, but we had such a fun time just lounging around and playing. That kid is pretty perfect for me :)
I'll have to take him down to the park tomorrow since we will be home-bound again with no wheels.

Houston Visit

We went to visit our Houston family this past weekend. Joel had a great time at the splash pad at Niccole's apartment. He was so brave, too brave, running through the sprinklers and then straight into the kiddie pool.
Afterwards, we went to dinner with Thomas and Jessica and had a good time although it was usually at my expense. Benny and Thomas went to a Dynamo's game afterward so Joel and I went back to Niccole's to relax.
The next day we all met Grandma Doris for breakfast. It was so nice to see her, but it makes me sad. She's getting older and I wish Joel knew her better since she has always been such a huge part of my life. Then we finally said goodbye to Niccole and went to Rhea's daughter's 1st birthday party. It was great catching up with her- I can't believe we've been friends for 20 years! When did I get old enough to have a friend for that long? Sheesh. Rhea's kids are so cute and that little Stella is as sweet as can be. There were a lot of little kids there and Joel thought he owned the place. He wasn't being too shy and he was having fun pulling on the strings of the balloons hanging in the air.
Overall we had a great little mini-trip to Houston and Joel was great. He made it through both Saturday and Sunday without his usual nap and wasn't fussy at all. He slept for about an hour in the car each way, but otherwise he just enjoyed looking out the window or talking to himself :)
He has started to mimic when we say, "One, two, three!" The one is hard to make out, but the two is pretty clear, and the three is usually just a squeal. He has also started "dancing". This usually happens for a just a few seconds while a jingle for a commercial is on. He will either spin in two circles, or just kind of bend his legs and squat a few times. Then when he sees me watching him he will run over to me laughing. He's so funny.
We're thankful to have had such a nice weekend with our friends and family, and we need to get better about going to visit them!