Dinglehopper

What?! Doesn't everyone comb their hair with a dinglehopper?

Lest you think I'm torturing Hallie, combing her hair with a fork was HER idea, courtesy of the very popular Little Mermaid movie.

The dinglehopper actually did a pretty good job of working out the knots left behind after a full day of swimming in and boating on the lake and enhanced by a mixture of bug repellent and sunscreen.

Crazy.

Pretty sure this is how things go down at my house each and every day.

Sprinkles

It's been a S...L...O...W process, but Hallie's finally working her way into becoming a fan of the sprinkler. It helps that Lily is completely fearless when it comes to water and is always willing to get wet first.

But as it goes with Hallie and most things, once she got the hang of the sprinkler and decided being sprinkled could be fun, she committed whole-heartedly.

After she'd had enough to drink from the sprinkler, Lily spent the rest of her outside time filling up a plastic tea cup with sprinkler water and then walking the cup across the lawn and the stone patio to where the adults were sitting. Because Lily's not the steadiest of walkers and the patio stones are a bit uneven, there was never any water left in the cup when she reached us...so then she'd turn around and walk back to the sprinkler to start the process over again. Lily must have done this 50 times without complaining, but on the 51st trip she'd finally had enough.

I think she was also a little upset that the bottom of her swimsuit wouldn't stay on. In protest, she peed on the patio. Like six times.

Then, so as not to be outdone, Hallie peed on the patio. Only once, thankfully.

I guess peeing on the patio is better than peeing in the pool...

Dreams

Because this blog serves as something of a baby book for Will and Hallie, it's a place where we post pictures of and tell stories about their adventures and milestones. But now, as Will and Hallie get older and some of my memories fade, this blog will also be a place where we document the "little things" we don't ever want to forget.

On occasion Will has trouble falling asleep. One night he came out of his room, asking for suggestions as to what he might do to pass the time and/or help him finally drift off into a peaceful slumber, and in one of my more genius moments, I came up with blowing dreams into his ears. I gave two little puffs of air in one ear and three long puffs of air in the other, and he headed back to his room, a smile on his face. The next morning he told me he'd dreamed about super heroes and ninja fighters (?).

We still go through this ritual a couple of times a week, and I love more than anything that my little boy still believes that dreams come from his mothers lips.

Hmmm...

Will: "Look, Mom, I drew a picture of you!"

Erin: "That's a great drawing, Will. Good work!"

Will: (after looking at and pondering his picture for a minute or two) "Well, it actually looks a little bit more like Grandma Brenda than it does you."

Clearly.

Identical Cousins, Part 3

Because they're cute, and because on some days I can see in them their sister moms.

Splash Pad

Just like Will and Lily love the pool (and Hallie strongly dislikes the pool), Will and Hallie love the splash pad and Hallie strongly dislikes the splash pad.  I've actually never seen a child love the water more than Lily, and I've never seen a child as willing to sweat on the sidelines (instead of getting instead of getting in the water to cool off) as Hallie.

That's a handsome boy.

Lily literally can't get enough of any
water-related activity.

She only drank like four or five cups
worth of water that day.

This stream of water, which fell every time
a bucket up above filled with water, was
strong enough to de-pants Will.  He thought
this was HYSTERICAL.

Bathing beauty.

Pouty Pouterson.

Luckily Hallie cheered up a little when we left the splash pad for the park. Both Will and Hallie only wanted to slide with Lily, so they'd wait at the top of the play structure for Lily to s..l..o..w..l..y (she's only 18-months-old) climb up the stairs, through the tunnel, and across the platform to the slide. Then they'd fight about whose turn it was to go down the slide with her. It was really sweet. And really annoying.