Who says I don't make eye contact with the camera?Charlotte is gonna steal my food!See?!Charlotte is a happy little sister. A man raised his hands like this at church today and Charlotte copied him just like this.Hey lady, want a piece of popcorn? We were at the Market on Central opening day yesterday. Awesome!Kissing sisters.I took Mom's camera and snapped a bunch of pictures. These are the best ones. I caught Charlotte sucking on Mom's arm right before she bit down.My Mom and Dad posed for me.I love to play in the gazebo in the town square. This is one of my artsy pictures.Any great artist has to be able to do a self-portrait.Mom took over and told me to look at the part of the camera that I'm not supposed to touch with my fingers.
Have a great week!

4th of July

We went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house on Sunday night to have supper before the fireworks. I played and played and played.Yummy watermelon!Hailey did sidewalk chalk with me. She hangs out with me at least once a week because she's Mom's helper every Tuesday this summer.I chased lightning bugs before the fireworks started.Hailey had a lightning bug butt on her nose thanks to Daddy.I really love my Daddy!We did a partial family picture. See how well I cooperated?I laid out on Grandma during the fireworks.

I learned how to balance really well on my balance bike over the weekend. I go reallllllllllly fast. Pretty soon I'll move on to a bike with pedals.

As you saw above, sort of, I've learned to float in the pool. Sometimes I kick when I'm floating and it moves me. I built up a lot of confidence in my swimming classes.

I'm getting interested in learning to read and spell. I like to ask my parents how to spell words and I spell out words I see in books.

I'm in a phase of loving to jump. I particularly love to jump from my desk to my bed in my room during nap time. Mom and Dad aren't fans of that behavior, but I don't care because it's so much fun.

New Experiences

I've had a fabulous week and a half since I last updated you. Summer is awesome!I still prefer my trike over my balance bike. I love to go really fast down the slope of the driveway and I make funny faces like this.Don't I look tough?I like to write words with the sidewalk chalk. I'm really good at writing "HO".Typical. We practice this at home so that we can really tire Mom out when we're out and about. This is an especially fun tactic at the pool.Mom took me to a concert this past Sunday and Dad took me the Sunday before. I just love the ice cream and music!I danced during almost the entire concert and then it started to thunder and rain so we went home.I have my last swim lesson tomorrow. I've learned a ton. My cousin Leif is in my class and my friend Chloe is in my class too. I went swimming with Mom yesterday and I let her hold me in the water while I showed her how I can kick. I've been too scared to do that for about a year and a half.

I also did some art classes this week. I made a tambourine, bracelets, a painting, and a pet rock. Mom dropped me off and I did my thing. I love independence!

We've been enjoying the latest session of story time. They had a special story time today with the Wonder Weavers and we got to be LOUD in the library.

Ducky

I'm quite the artist. Check out the sculpture I made with Mom's calendar blocks.Plex and I played dress up the other day.Here's my baby sister Charlotte.We went to a cool thing at the aquatic center on Saturday and there were lots and lots of ducks.There were also cousins!Leif and I hung out at the starting line for a while.Charlotte was stuck in her stroller. I think Mom was worried that she'd run into the water if she let her loose.Chloe showed up to watch the duck race too.Charlotte got a little impatient.We followed the ducks all around the lazy river.I don't think we won, but we'll find out sometime this week. It was fun though!

Daddy took me to the Oleson Park Bandshell for a concert last night. I had homemade ice cream and got to see lots of animals. We also listened to lots of singing. I counted along to a waltz. Daddy enjoyed having a date night with me on Father's Day.

I have my first swim lesson later this morning. I'm sort of excited and sort of nervous. I get to stay at Grandma's house tonight. I'm very excited about that!

Frontier Days

Life has been busier than ever. We've been swimming a lot, going out with friends and family, and generally enjoying ourselves. Charlotte and I have been taking LONG naps because we're exhausted by the time we get home. Here's a sampling of what we've been doing. Mom's been too busy to even take pictures of us! I love to eat raspberries because I like to make them owies on my fingertips.I wrote my first word. "MOM"We were in a parade for Frontier Days. This was what the back of our trailer looked like.Here's the front of the float. Our theme was "Baby Gates to Our Past" because the general theme for the year was "Gateway to Our Past." We have a modern baby gate in the front (along with an authentic kid picking his nose), a baby gate from the 20th century in the middle, and then a chicken wire gate in the back. Aunt Emily came up with the general concept.Mom snapped a picture as we walked in the parade. There were lots and lots of kids and candy. I loved it!We went to the Fort on Friday night for supper. We went into all the old buildings. Our favorite was the jail.We really liked the schoolhouse too.The food was yummy. I really liked the pickles.Sometime Mom will take pictures at the pool and splashpad, but Charlotte makes that a challenge. She's a running girl!