J is for June

Our matt's vocab is growing faster than he is these days. He can say probably upwards of 30 words unprompted, his favorite of which are still "fish" and "truck". He's expanded from simple nouns like "cup" and "plate" to more complicated and adorably-sounding "octopus" (ashpts or something like it). He doesn't really do much in the way of 2 syllables, so if your name is Katie, you are really "Kate" or if have to go potty, it's really a "pot". It's fun on the days one of us is gone all day to work to come home and hear a word he's never said before.

Allegedly the summer is supposed to be vacation time off for both Dave and Lori, but we've not seen much of that yet. Dave's in his last week of an endless class for his teaching certification and also got a week of summer school left. No, he's teaching it, not taking it. Lori's typically off in June and July but with some changes at work and fall programs starting right around the corner, she's not free yet. We are both so thankful for our jobs in a time when so many people are not able to find work, but are both also looking forward to the month ahead when things should free us up to be on 'break' more together.

The Florida weather has taken its turn, as evident by the lush lawn and sky high humidity. Our thunderstorms have started and we are working with Matt to not be afraid during the storms. So far, so good. We say "boom! boom!" really loudly after a clap of thunder and he smiles and says it back. For us, the thunder is exciting. He also LOVES the rain (showers, too) and signals it with an overturned hand held high and wiggling fingers. I think he knows he has to cue us visually since it's impossible to know if "ray" means rain or raisin. A favorite rainy time activity is to grab the closest parent and head for the door. He stands on the railing on the front porch where the rain mists him and drips off the roof. He's relatively dry and yet has a front row ticket to the show. Pics below are one time he was allowed to leave the protection of the porch. He loved it.

He's also learning the letters through a video and lots of practice. He knows "O" (thank you, cheerios) and Dave taught him "T", so congrats, Tommy - you may be the first to get a hand-written card from boy genius. :) He will repeat all the letters after you and can say them all pretty clearly except for "R". Lori's favorite letter is the "Q", which sounds more like "cooo". He has letters in the bathtub, on the fridge, and our favorite, the "brainwashing" video. They repeat the letters in this crazy monotone that echoes thru the house. Then some of the letters sprout feet and arms and say their name while they dance, float, spin, and whatever across the screen. Brainwashing or not, it's working!! He loves it.

Also learning the concept of size - Matt and Lori read a book with whales in it (of course) and they say big fish little fish on most of the pages. Big is said really "big-ly" while you run your finger along the really long length of the big whale, then little is in a little voice pointing to the little one. It felt silly at first, but now the trash truck is bi.........g, the lion is bi..........ig, and mama is bi.....ig too. Hopefully he means compared to Abby.

We love and miss you all and will see many of you soon!

A day in the rain







Fire Dept Fun








a&m shots from June