Simon The Photographer

When we were in Boston this summer, Papa gave Simon an old camera. We held off on giving it to him until we had some time to talk about it and to play with it. We gave it to him yesterday and he started calling himself Simon The Photographer. 

We found a wooden camera to give to Lillian so she has been taking pictures too. Alan and I play with it occasionally so she realizes how fun it is. 

The Sister.

The Father

The Rainbow (he loved this one!) 

The Mother - from kid angle

Everything in the house is getting chronicled. We then took a walk around the block to find more things to take pictures of...

Some action shots of the photographer.

To focused to smile.

So many of Simon's pictures after the jump...

Rockababy in tree trops

Lillian loves taking care of her baby doll... singing her lullabies, feeding her bottles, and washing her hands in the play sink.  She usually clams up when we pull out the camera but I finally managed to get a little video of her babysitting routine, including Tura Lura and Rock a bye Baby.

Lillian Poops in the Potty!

Lillian pooped in the potty! Alan asked her if she needed to poop after her nap since she had not pooped yet. She said yes. He put her on the potty seat. She thought about it then she pooped! :)

We aren't really starting potty training yet -- just talking about the potty.

My contemplative pooper.

Reading to bunny in the morning.

Jessie's Surprise for the Last Day of Summer

Friday was Simon's Last Day of Summer. Jessie had a surprise planned and had been talking about it all week. When Quiet Rest Time was over, the kids woke up to find that the surprise was a TREASURE HUNT! Jessie had made clues and hidden them all around the house with the final clue leading to a treasure map. I missed the beginning of the Treasure Hunt, but apparently Simon took a couple clues to understand and then he LOVED it and left Lillian in the dust. She was awarded a medal though so all was well in her world. They finally found the treasure - X marks. It was a cooler full of water balloons!! There was much joy as water balloons were thrown all around the back yard. They even got a bowl of Pirate Booty (Trader Joe's Cheese Puff things). 

First Balloon thrown!

BACK FOR MORE!

Watching Lillian.

Some Kid Stories and Thoughts

I got this quote of the day (below) and thought it so applied to my kids. We expect them both to have down time in their bed before falling asleep and occasionally also have some in the morning (if they wake up before the allowed-out-of-bed time of 6am).

Lillian now, instead of just crying, will add words to her crying when we abandon her in her crib at bedtime. For instance last night after a 10pm tuck in we heard "Mama, I want a hug!" After a couple tries and no response she switched to "Daddy. I need my Daddy." Talk about tugging on the heart strings, and she is not even two yet. After a couple minutes of being ignored by her parents, she calmed down to tell Digit a story and maybe sing herself a song (I was soon asleep myself so don't know).

This morning Simon told me that he was sorry I missed his story time. I asked more and found out he was telling a story to his animals (last night?) about flying unicorns that he thought I would enjoy. I was cordially invited me to come and listen to it again tonight.

From Goodreads:

Quietness is an essential part of all awareness. In quiet times and sleepy times, a child can dwell in thoughts of his own, and in songs and stories of his own. 

Margaret Wise Brown

September 3, 1947: Goodnight Moon was published 68 years ago today. The beloved children's picture book, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd, has a lesser-known sequel/companion book called My World.

Jessie and the Kids at the Beach

Jessie took the kids to the beach last week and they had an amazing time!

Growing like a weed!

At 22 months we measured Lillian. She's grown more than 2 inches since the beginning of June (about 3 months).