They're Growing Up So Fast!!

As mentioned in a previous post, Brooklyn's hair is now long enough for a pony tail on top. It will be a while before we'll be able to make two. We think it makes her look so much older. Sorry about the number of pictures of it. I just couldn't make up my mind and I love looking at my cutie!!


Ethan loves to explore in the kitchen drawers. The other day he had the tongs and was literally trying to pick up Brooklyn with them. She was on her stomach and he was trying to lift her by her back with them. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to catch it. He quickly gave up and sat on her (he sits on her quite often and sometimes she doesn't mind). Poor girl.
Ethan loves to sing. We've been trying to record some of the songs he sings, but he often gets camera shy. We hope to share some of it in future posts. He usually needs a little help, but some songs he can sing nearly by himself (though I'm sure he doesn't know what all the words mean). Some of his favorites include: ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Elmo's Song, The theme song to Thomas and Friends (even the part that describes all the trains), songs from Cars, WallE, Winnie the Pooh, Bob the Builder, Sesame Street, and more. His vocabulary is increasing so quickly it is so amazing. Just this morning I overheard him while driving his cars around say, "Super Readers to the rescue!" (It is from one of his favorite PBS cartoons.) It is so fun to see him learn and grow.

8 Months of Brooklyn

It's hard to believe that Brooklyn is eight months old today. It sure seems like she's growing up a lot faster than Ethan did when he was little. She's hit a few milestones that we haven't mentioned here on our blog yet. She's been 'scooting' all over the house for a while now and loves to practice pulling herself up on her hands and knees, although she hasn't quite learned how to crawl yet. She is also able to sit up from a laying position. She's also been able to hold herself in a standing position as long as she is supported for a few weeks now. She also has enough hair for a little pony tail on the top of her head. We need to take a picture of this.

Ethan has been as cute and silly as ever. Earlier this week Ethan and Jen were talking about growing up and marriage. Ethan said, "Grow up and be a daddy." She asked him who he would marry when he grows up. He exclaimed, "Marry Grandma Morrey!" We thought this was funny, but the best part came next. He then said, "Brooklyn grow up and be a mommy. . . . Brooklyn marry Loni!" Loni is our new sister-in-law. Oh boy! It is overwhelming to think of all the things we still have to teach him.

Jen has been having fun learning new things in Photoshop this week. The pictures below show some of the things she learned to do this week. Kyle hasn't done anything particularly fun this week. He's been working hard on the class he's taking this summer (only two more weeks until he's done, then there will be room for fun).

The other day we took the kids to the park near our house. It was Brooklyn's her first time down the slide (assisted, of course). As you can see, she really loves the swing.

Ethan had a good time swinging with his sister.
Rather than have Ethan push the stroller with Brooklyn in it all the way to the park, we let him ride his new bike (or, "bicycle" as he likes to call it). This ended up being a bad idea, since he is very slow on his bike, and insists he go the entire way "by self."

This last picture was one taken at John's Wedding in June. We liked how it turned out with the layer adjustments Jen made. (Ethan looked so cute in his little suit!!)

4th of July Weekend

We went up to Logan again for the weekend to spend time with the Morrey family for the 4th of July holiday. The Morrey's have a party each July 3rd to celebrate Kyle's grandma's birthday and to see the Logan fireworks. We had a great time visiting with everyone.

We took the kids on Saturday to feed the ducks at First Dam and to play Pooh Sticks. Ethan thought it was fun to jump on his uncle John's tummy.
We didn't know how Ethan would react to the fireworks this year. Last year he seemed a little frightened, but still watched them. We tried to prepare him days in advance to get him used to the idea that we were going to go see fireworks. Kyle showed him footage of them on youtube and everything. Sometimes he liked the idea, but usually when we'd bring it up he didn't want to see fireworks. We thought that since Grandma was going to be there he would want to be there too.

He was pretty tired, being that it was way past his bedtime. Here he is waiting for the show to start.
Before the show started, Kyle asked him if he wanted to watch the fireworks or go to sleep. He said he wanted to sleep. He was faking being asleep in this picture.

During the fireworks he refused to take the blanket off and cried if we tried to show him any of the fireworks. He said repeatedly said things like, "all done," "want to go home," and "watch something else."He eventually fell asleep. (In the meantime, Brooklyn loved the show.)
The next evening on our drive home we asked Ethan about his trip to Grandma's. He talked about playing Pooh Sticks, and going on a hike, and watching the fireworks. We asked him if he liked the fireworks, and said he enthusiastically said that he did.