neverending summer

Dear Summer,

Please stay around forever, because Kyle and I adore you. 

Love,

Krista

I've decided we will pretend it's still summer until Halloween, when we will be forced to acknowledge the season "change." This shouldn't be hard to do since our temps in So Cal are showing no signs of fall (yes!!). Today we went to a friend's 1st birthday party at a park in Huntington Beach and it was the perfect day. Kyle had a blast running around with all the kids and the shade and breeze felt awesome while I continued to work on my flip flop tan lines :)

These past few weeks have been so much fun with my boy. We went to Knott's and Frogg's bounce house, where he climbed up slide ladders and slid down like he was 4. We checked out the OC Zoo, where he brushed a goat and rode the train (which is becoming one of his favorite activities). We swam at Mammie's house, took tons of walks in the park with Penny, Kyle had his first ice cream cone and got his 2nd haircut by his daddy.

I'm sure I'll say this about 1 million more times in my life, but 18.5 months is my favorite age yet. I've noticed such a change in Kyle recently - he is developing a silly sense of humor and has started to become more independent. He climbs in his car seat by himself, gets his washcloth and towel from his closet when we run his bath water, blows bubbles on his own and uses a fork for almost everything. Yesterday I was standing at the sink washing dishes, and I could tell he was getting bored so I suggested he go get some cars from the living room and bring them into the kitchen to play with. What do you know, a few seconds later here comes Kyle with a couple of cars, which he happily played with until I was done! SUCH a change from 16 and 17 months! He's such a big boy and I just love that I get to spend so much time with him.

favorite summer, con't.

Kyle can take or leave the pool, but give him a sprinkler or a faucet and this boy is in heaven! It's our new routine to go to the park in the morning, and when we get home I let him play with the sprinkler for just a few minutes. He gets nice and wet, and then we come in, dry off, have a snack and get in some comfy clothes for nap time. I can't believe tomorrow is August and summer is half-way over... I will definitely miss these lazy days at home with my boy, but I know this will be a summer I will always remember.

favorite summer, con't.

I'm trying not to make Kyle say "chssss" to the camera too often, because I know eventually he'll get burned out and stop doing it. But at least once a day I ask him to do it and he happily obliges. Today I saved it for our afternoon bike ride. He cheesed for me a few times and my heart broke into a million pieces. I rode him around the neighborhood and tried to engrain the moment into my memory so the feeling I get seeing his little helmet head in front of me and his tiny hands grasping the bike handles will last a lifetime.

painting

I love Tuesdays with Kyle. The weekends are our busy time, and I'm gone most of the day at work on Sunday and Monday, so Tuesday is our day to re-connect, catch up on housework and errands and do fun stuff together.

Today we made a big mess painting the sidewalk in the back yard & he loved it! The "paint" was water mixed with cornstarch and food coloring, which acts as paint on the sidewalk but washes right away with water. It also washed right off his clothes and sandals, which is awesome because it was everywhere (including his face and legs!). I loved this activity because he learned something new, had a blast and we were able to work on learning our colors. Fun day with my boy!

cheese!

This morning I held up my iPhone to take a selfie with Kyle at the bike parade. I told him to look at the camera, smile and say "cheese!" - AND HE FREAKING DID IT:

He said "chisssss" and smiled for the camera! This picture makes me so happy, my heart hurts. That smile, those ears, that double chin! My little man.

I hope everyone had a fun 4th of July! I had to go into work at 5:00 (again, the joys of restaurant life), but we made the most of our morning and afternoon. We did the bike parade in the morning, had some bloody marys and beers with friends while Kyle took a nap in his friend's crib (that was a first, and a pretty frustrating experience getting him to go down in a strange room), and BBQ'd at my dad's house for lunch. Jammed packed day with friends & family!

happy July!

Wow, July snuck up on us! This month I'm looking forward to BBQs, swimming, concerts in the park and lots of fun in the sun. SUMMER RULES! I hope it stays forever!

summer days

I'm feeling pretty lucky that our good friends who live just 10 minutes away have a pool, and that I'm able to spend summer days enjoying the sun with my boy. Today was our 2nd time swimming together in their pool, and it was such an improvement from last time! On our first attempt Kyle didn't want to be in the water unless he was clinging to me like a koala - and even then he wasn't really feeling it. But today he was much more comfortable, and had a great time floating in his raft and smiling away! Cheers to an amazing summer ahead!

stripes on my clothes and feet

I am in love with this photo because it represents everything I love about this summer - relaxing days, pool time, sandal tan lines and my sweet boy by my side. All that's missing is an hour alone to sneak away for a pedi :) Happy Wednesday!

park days (every day)

Most days, I feel extremely lucky that we have a huge park right in our back yard. Our actual back yard doesn't have grass, so we just walk right behind our house and - voila! Lately we've been practicing our "races" when dad gets home from work. I say "on your mark... get set... GO!" and then we all run as fast slow as we can, wait for Kyle to catch up and start all over again. It's my favorite.

The downside to all of this is that Kyle knows there's a huge park right in his back yard, and must go out there all the time - even when mom wants to stay on the front yard and have a snack, or enjoy some coffee in the actual back yard, or do dishes, or use the restroom, or do work. The park is always more fun!

#kyleandpenny

About 2 months ago I had a terrible day with this wagon. Kyle refused to sit down in it, my back was hurting and I couldn't lift/carry him, so we spent 20 minutes fighting each other and both crying as we tried to make the 10 foot walk home. After that day I put the wagon away and knew we needed some space.

Now that Kyle has grown up a bit and (kind of) understands the rules that he needs to SIT at all times, the wagon is fun again! The past couple of days we've taken it to the park and ran around on the grass. We took it to a birthday party, the corner market and we also ride in style to gym class. This wagon was the present Brian & I gave Kyle on his 1st birthday in the hopes that we'd make many memories with it over the years, and we're already well on our way to doing that.

Also, I love looking back at old photos of Kyle & Penny together to see how much they've grown and to think of how much all of our lives have changed. Just 15 months ago our days were filled with snuggles, long nursing sessions, naps and... not much else. Penny thought she had a new buddy to sleep next to all day long, but she was in for a surprise! Now we are go, go, go all day long. Penny joins us in the back yard for water play, she goes on wagon rides, watches us at the playground, sits in the basket for family bike rides and has to always be on her guard for tiny hands grabbing her ears/legs/tail without warning. We're very lucky that Kyle learned early on to be "gentle" with his sister and other animals, but he's still a toddler and loves to play rough. Penny has been a trouper and is very patient with him, and also with me when I sometimes lose my cool with her after a stressful day. She's such an important part of our family!

summer bucket list

Last year Kyle was my little sidekick on summer playdates and adventures (he was 5-8 months), but wasn't old enough to enjoy/participate in the summer festivities. This year I'm really looking forward to doing lots of fun stuff with him, especially because he is obsessed with water and being outside! I can't wait to take him to the splash pad, swim with friends and make homemade popsicles. I am a little worried about his pale skin and keeping it protected, so I'm in the market for an easy spray sunscreen that I can reapply throughout the day (I've been using Neutrogena baby sunscreen, which is great but it's a mess to reapply). But in the meantime, I thought I'd make us a summer bucket list to get us me excited about the coming months:

• Go to the splash pad
• Homemade fruit popsicles (I need to find some molds)
• Concert in the park as many times as we can go!
• OC Fair
• Play in the sprinklers
• Swim with friends
• Fly a kite
• See fireworks
• Go for tons of bike rides
• Buy ice cream from the ice cream truck for the 1st time
• Do sidewalk chalk somewhere other than our back yard
• Make a tin foil river out front
• Make a water bin
• Ice chalk!
• Make sidewalk paint & get some brushes
• See a parade
• Do a 5K with Kyle in the jogger
• Go to a new park
• Do picnic dinners
• Go to the water park at my mom's house
• Farmer's market for yummy berries and corn

Cheers to summer! I need a tan!