West Virginia, Idlewild, & more

Last week we went to West Virginia for some family camping.

John David got to ride his bicycle around camp, go swimming, roast marshmallows, and play with a cat that lived under the cabin next to us.

Here are some memorable moments:

1.  John David asking me if he could ride his bike down the steps of our cabin.  After saying "no, that's dangerous," and hooking Rex up to nurse, out of the corner of my eye I saw him do it anyway.  BAM!  He flewover his bike headfirst as soon as he hit the gravel at the bottom.  Good thing he was wearing his helmet.  The bike landed on top of him.  Luckily, the only thing he injured was his lip.  It swelled up pretty good but he was okay after an ice pack and some hugs & kisses.

2.  John David jumping off the dock.  He's always been a little afraid of water.  He was hesitant at first but eventually agreed to jump off the dock holding Daddy's hand.  Then he did it with Mommy.  Before our 3 night trip was over, he was RUNNING down the dock by HIMSELF and jumping out as far as he could, shouting, "CANNONBALL!!"

3.  Rex LOVES the water.  He's our little fishy.  For as cautious and hesitant as John David is, Rex is the total opposite.  He could drown himself while sporting a huge smile.  He crawls into the water and doesn't seem to notice (or care) when it goes up around his mouth & nose.  He will leap out of Daddy's arms to "swim" to Mommy or vice versa.  He does not like to float in his baby raft (a ring with crotch support to hold him in).  He wanted out!  He would bend forward so far that he would tip the raft and dump himself headfirst into the water.  So much for that.

4.  Lately John David has been singing that Taylor Swift song, "Mean" to himself.  He must relate to the lyrics.  The part he sings is, "You don't know what you don't know.  Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me but all you're ever gonna be is mean.  Why you gotta be so mean?"  I have him singing it on video on my phone, I need to figure out how to put it up on this blog.

The day after we returned home from WV, we took the kids to Idlewild.  There were a tons of bees swarming around anything and everything with sugar in it.  People eating ice cream, drinking coke, even kettle corn!  Sugar is sugar though.  During lunch, we had to move tables several times because there were just so many bees flying around us and we couldn't enjoy our food.  Rex smeared jam on his shirt and I figured that was flirting with disaster.  Eventually, we had to just get up and walk with our food........

So you know where this is going, right?  Later in the day, John David took a drink of Daddy's coke (diet, nonetheless!) and let out a blood curdling scream.  I knew from experience that he only screams like that when he's been stung.  He was pointing at his tongue and I couldn't figure out how a bee just flew into his mouth but then David looked down and a hornet or wasp (not a bee though) was crawling OUT of the straw!  (The straw was black).  Poor pumpkin!  He started drooling profusely and his tongue swelled up---not terribly---but enough so that he talked with a lisp.  Several hours later during dinner at Texas Roadhouse, he started crying again, saying his tongue hurt.  :(

As far as Idlewild goes, John David LOVES rollercoasters.  He's getting tall enough for the bigger kid rides (as long as he's with an adult) and he puts his hands up in the air and laughs and laughs.

This is totally off topic but I've meant to mention how sassy John David has been getting.  He had timeout during our camping trip for something (I forget what for) and while he was sitting in timeout he said, "I'm not in timeout.  I'm just sitting here because I want to."

Oh boy.

At some point, I complained about how hot I felt, and said, "I feel like I'm melting.....Like a snowman!"  Later in the day, John David got mad at me for something and said, "I'm gonna melt you like a snowman!"  Wow, he's getting good---personalizing his insults!

Here are a list of more things he's said to me:

"Mom, I'm gonna FLUSH you down the TOILET!"

"Mom, I'm gonna throw you in the bushes, you big banana."

"Mom, I'm gonna put YOU in TIMEOUT."  (Okay, does that mean I can just sit here for 34 minutes in PEACE and QUIET without anyone talking to me!?!?)

"You're killing me Mom, you're killing me."  (He learned this phrase from Daddy).

My mom always wished I'd get a kid as sassy as me and it looks like she's getting her wish.  :)

Anywho, here are some recent pics:

Rex & Daddy.

Me.

 Eating ice cream cones.

You can see the dock in the background.  They also had a floating trampoline that I forgot to take a pic of.

Here's the cat.  Several times since leaving John David has asked, "Where's my cat?"

Off to ride his bike again.  Other kids in the park were amazed to see such a little boy riding a pedal bike.    They would say, "Look at that little boy!  He's so little!  And no training wheels!"  John David would take this as an insult and say, "I'm NOT little!  I'M BIG.  Right Mom?"

He gets very hurt and offended when other kids and adults call him little.  He will cuddle up to me and say, "I'm a big boy.  I'm not little.  'Cause I'M big. 'Cause I'm 3!  I'm big and tall."

sharing licorice

I just love this picture, taken last night.  Rex looking at John David with such adoring eyes while they sit on the steps and each licorice after dinner.

sharing popcorn

Last night the two boys were sitting on the steps sharing popcorn (out of the same bowl!) so sweetly that I had to take a picture.

Rex & Cooper

Here's Rex playing outside today.  He's still crawling (not walking yet).  But that's okay, I probably couldn't keep up with two kids if they were both walking around in a non-fenced yard.  Especially since John David is now zooming around on his little bicycle.  And I thought these pics of Rex lovin' on Cooper were really cute.  He's always got hugs for Cooper, who is such a doll, he just lays there and takes it. 

more Colorado pics

Colorado

Here are some pictures of our trip to Colorado several weeks ago.  I apologize for taking so long to post these.  I started to work on this several times since returning home but for some reason, my most favorite photos aren't popping up as possiblities.  They are definitely on my computer, in Aperture, but then they aren't available for selection when I try to upload them here.  So, that's why I've been delaying this post, because I can't get my favorite ones up here!  But, I still can't figure it out, and I figure that posting something is better than nothing.  It's disappointing because I had some super cute pics of our niece Eliza with the boys...yet I can't post them.  So frustrating!  There are several awesome pics that I can't get to pop up.  Some are of Nana & Great Grandma with the kids (sorry I wasn't able to post them, if you guys are reading this---I tried).

Here is John David on his Strider bike.  He zoomed all around the camp grounds on it and also on the playground behind his Nana & Auntie Dawn's house.  As soon as we got home to Pittsburgh we saw that Target was running a special, $20 off of a Lightning McQueen pedal bike, so David ran over there light at night and bought one.  The very next evening, John David spent 30 minutes to an hour trying to figure out how to balance and pedal at the same time on his new bike.  Then, VOILA!  He was doing it!  It was a bit anticlimactic as a parent---you don't get that big fantasy moment of your child taking off, albeit wobbly, while you stand there and pray they don't fall.  The Strider truly teaches kids how to ride a bike.  I'm very amazed that a 3 year old can ride a bike so well.  John David has two little friends who were also riding pedal bikes last year (when they were also 3).  The concept is that children need to learn balance first.  Then how to manage pedals.  It works!! 

Here are Rex and Eliza sitting on the porch of our cabin.  There is a much cuter photo where they are BOTH looking at the camera & smiling, but......DANG IT I can't figure out why I can't pull it up.  We all went camping in Durango, CO for four nights.  It was so much fun.

This is John David with Charlie at the campsite.  He LOVED Charlie.  He still walks around saying, "Mom, where's Charlie?"

Me, "In California."
Him, "Yeah, he's still at the cabin."

He also asks, "Mom, what does Charlie say?"
Me, "Alright buddy!"
Him, "Okay buddy!  Alright buddy!" (and he does the 'thumbs up' sign when he says it).

Eliza, Auntie Dawn & John David.

Daddy and Rex on Father's Day.  David got that purple shirt.

This was at Thomas' Day Out.  We got to ride a Thomas the Tank Engine train for 10 minutes in one direction and ten minutes back.  Kinda lame but John David had fun.

At the Thomas' Day Out, they also had a little petting zoo.  So here's me & Rex.

This is Mesa Verde.  That little excursion proved to be a disaster.  John David was not on his best behavior......then the last straw was when he dropped his Lightning McQueen sippy cup over a cliff.  A major meltdown ensued and David and I had to turn around and leave our group tour in the middle of it.

David & John David.

And here's Rex.  He hung out on the porch of our cabin quite a bit.  He was happy to crawl around up there and watch us all sitting at the picnic table nearby.

"perry" dogs & more

Several weeks ago, John David was watching yet another episode of Diego.  Diego introduced his friend, Panchita the Prairie Dog.

John David turned to me, "We have a Perry dog!  Dolly!"

Then he said, "Mommy Perry.  Daddy Perry.  John David Perry.  Rex Perry.  And Dolly Perry!"

So, there you have it folks, we are the Perry Dog Family.

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He has become quite the little talker.  While driving around town, I can hear him behind me talking to himself.

"Mommy's a girl.  Daddy's a guy.  I'm a boy.  Rex is a baby.  Dolly is a Perry dog."

Then, "Mommy has princess parts.  Daddy has a penis.  I have a penis.  Rex has a penis.  Dolly's a dog."

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John David still mispronounces his name occasionally.  He loves to ask strangers, "Hi, what's your name?  I'm Gone David."  [John David].

He still says "gabana" instead of banana.

He sometimes drops the "s" sound at the end of Rex's name, which I guess demonstrates that he understands that typically the "s" sound at the end of a name denotes plurals or possessives.  So he says, "Wreck."  Which makes me laugh.

Hmmm, they are a few other words but I can't think of them right now.

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Rex can wave "hello" and "goodbye."  He smiles so big and proud too.

He has started giving high fives.

He says "Mama" and "Dada" purposefully and to get our attention.

He has been cruising along the couch and other furniture and will occasionally take a step or two between pieces of furniture.

He just cut his upper right tooth last weekend and the left one will erupt any day.

If he wants to know what an object is called, he'll hold it in the air and grunt until we say what he's holding.