The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Miles loves this classic book. It's got to be in his top 5 all time favorites. He can read it because he knows all the words by heart. Earlier this week we found a horned tomato worm in our garden & Miles is certain that this thing is the hungry caterpillar. He's delighted. It's like a freakin celebrity sighting in our backyard. We have to go out and check on our caterpillar at least once per day. Normally I would pluck this thing right off and squish its green guts out, but I can't do that while its #1 fan is standing there looking like he's won the lottery. I thought about planning a night massacre followed by a cover up and tales of a caterpillar that moved on to a new plant somewhere, but I know Miles would be disappointed.

My whole garden took a hit during the heat wave so I was okay when I first noticed the damage, but I had no idea. This thing has completely decimated one entire plant...every single leave is gone. And of course he's now moved on to my best tomato plant. Miles has high expectations for nature's magic. He's sure we're going to get to see the cocoon and the resulting butterfly. I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen a real cocoon. I just assumed they crawl off somewhere to do their cocoon, but who knows maybe we'll see it. I am quite certain that we won't see the butterfly emerge, but we'll see other butterflies and Miles will be just as happy. I however will not be happy because I looked it up and the horned tomato worm is a moth...a huge ugly brown moth. Sigh.

Perfect Saturday Morning

We've left the triple digits and are enjoying the outdoors again. This morning we headed to the park around 8:30am and it was cool enough that I threw a little blanket over Emmett's legs as he napped in the stroller. It's so nice to see that fall is coming!

Teeth!

This morning I noticed a little white spot on Emmett's lower gum and I felt the tip of a tooth breaking through. You can't really see it yet, but I can certainly feel it. He's been a drooling, chewing mess lately.

Yellow Robot

Last year I remember thinking that Halloween would be more fun once Miles was old enough to get excited about picking out his own costume. Guess whose kid wants to be a yellow robot this year? At first I though he meant a yellow robot like Plex on Yo Gabba Gabba, but in fact that is not what he has in mind. I don't know where he gets these ideas, but he's very firm about this decision so I guess we will attempt to make our own. When I ask for more details all I get are stiff robot arm movements and his specification that it needs to have "trisity" which I think is electricity. He has high hopes for my robot construction skills. I've just emailed Fleece Farm to inquire about their stock of yellow sweatpants which are surprisingly hard to find. I want it to be comfortable so I think I'm going to try something with felt instead of the typical cardboard box robot. Wish us luck!

Picnic

We enjoyed the evening breeze with a picnic outside. Even Emmett ate outdoors. We had one uninvited guest. I took care of him, but he got the last laugh.

Play Date

Friday I took a mental health day or a half of a mental health day since it's too busy to take a whole one and I hosted a play date. Miles had fun and I enjoyed having a conversation that didn't revolve around work. I think I'm going to try to take one day off per month to just have a play day with my boys. I think I need it more than the kids!

It's weird to think about how long I have known these mommies and how much our lives have changed over the years. Even though we don't get together often it feels like no time has passed when we do only now we have kids whose growth reminds us that time is indeed passing all too quickly. Can't wait for the next play date!

Manners Fail

Miles has been great with some manners and not so great with others. We've been especially working on interrupting. He likes to have my complete attention at all times so if I am talking to someone besides him he often interrupts with a loud chant of "NO TALKING!" Sometimes I let it slide because I understand that he wants to have some mommy time after a day apart, but there are times when information needs to be exchanged. Grandma may have information to share about the boys' day or mommy & daddy may want to converse about the day's events. I think he's old enough to understand and to learn a little patience so I'm trying not to let it slide anymore. Grandma has been working with him too and had taught him to say, "excuse me, I have something to say" when he needed to interrupt. Last week I picked him up from grandma's and as she was telling me how the day went Miles started in with his "NO TALKING!" When asked what he was supposed to say if he needed to interrupt he politely said, "excuse me I have something to say" at which point we all turned our attention to him and he followed with, "I wanted to say NO TALKING!" Manners fail.

Dogs Days of Summer

I am officially sick of this triple digit heat. We hardly ever go outside which I miss and when we do I can't stand it for long. We've been venturing out in the evenings, making good use of shady patches in the yard and playing in the water. Summer, we've enjoyed you, but we are wishing for fall.

Garden Update

Our garden is growing and we are learning things we can incorporate next year. I think our main problem this year is that the soil isn't very rich. We are going to try to add some compost and see what we can do to bring it up to snuff. The tomatoes and the squash have been easy crops that we will do again. The herbs are nice as well, but the mint is getting out of hand. According to my mom mint is invasive and works best in pots. I think she's right. On the up side, the mint seems to attract butterflies and it smells really nice. Most of our cucumbers died and I'm not sure why. The live cucumbers have all these tendrils that tangle around the other plants. I think they would work best in their own separate bed or maybe on a trellis. Some of our green beans died too and the ones we have produce just a few green beans every week or so. There's really not much you can do with five green beans so it seems like a wasted effort. The garden continues to be a source of entertainment for Miles so this is a project we'll continue.

Baby Blues

Emmett has the most gorgeous blue eyes. I know lots of babies have blue eyes. Miles did for a short while, but his weren't like this. Emmett's are bright and when the light catches them just right they are almost neon. I have even been asked if I photoshop his pictures. I don't. We were sure they would turn brown, but it is taking a lot longer than we expected so who knows. Emmett is now 6 1/2 months and his eyes have changed, but just to truer blue. I looked it up to see when a baby's eyes should change. Supposedly they darken the most over the first 6-9 months. Emmett still has plenty of prime darkening time, but I'm going to go ahead and hold out hope for blue. I'll be sad to see these pretty peepers change.


6 1/2 Months


5 months


4 Months


2 months

Juice Pops

We have been looking for ways to beat the heat. Today we tried our first homemade juice pops. Miles made a huge sticky mess, but thoroughly enjoyed himself. Since the pops were just diluted apple juice we let Emmett have a few licks. He loved it! He kept an eye on Miles and was ready for another bite anytime Miles came close.