Summer Vacation

The boys and I have been having a delightful time in California.  We've seen so many great friends and family.  Ben has logged in enough hours in the swimming pool to officially turn into one of those sharks we saw at Sea World.  Josh's vocab has grown with every day, he's not saying phrases like "go away meow" and "nana's car" and "bye bye pool".  Too many good times to be shared... so here's a highlight of a few summer fun photos.

Ben and Josh

Cereal

Cereal is the breakfast food of choice in our household. This morning was just another classic example of life in the Thiem household. Josh, who had already eaten a banana and a bowl of cereal earlier, wanted another bowl of cereal. He managed to open the dishwasher, stand on the door and call out for a bowl. I removed him from the dishwasher and went back to my morning agenda. I turned around again and he had pulled out a plastic plate and the box of cereal from the cupboard and successfully poured the entire box out onto the plate.

Let's just say there is now cereal everywhere....

Josh, 16 months

• Weighs at least 25lbs
• Eats just about anyting and everything... last week's latest favorite: roasted beets
• Runs most of the time instead of walking
• Obsessed with fire engines, sleeps w/ the "waa waa shirt", a NYC Fire Department t-shirt
• Interested in all trucks/tractors/machines
• Loves building things (legos or trains)
• Has figured out how to go down the slide, head first
• Very vocal, has the words for Mamma, Dadda, something that sounds like Ben, ball, waa waa, bye bye, uh-oh, bubba and often chooses to scream
• Very confident with signs (food, water, dog, cat, light, fan, helicopter, all done, hot, please, more, book, car)
• Idolizes his brother
• Loves playing outside, either picking tomatoes, digging in the sandbox or riding Ben's bike
• Enjoys sharing a room with Ben, although definitely enjoys sleeping with Dad on a regular occassions
• Loves reading and will often bring books up to us and sit down in our laps
• Is a climber, will happily stand on the top of the slide, the chair or the couch... also enjoys climbing through tunnels
• Discovered that one of his favorite toys: the cardboard box
• Favorite songs are row row row your boat and the wheels on the bus
• Has 5 teeth

Josh in the Box

Housework

I'm not a neat freak and I don't think I'll ever be one... but I tried really hard this week to find the humor when a girlfriend came to my house for the first time and afterwards when we crossed paths she said she had a lovely time at our house and it was really nice to see someone's house a mess. Oh dear. I wonder if things will get any better with time?

What Ben thinks of Daddy

1. What is something dad always says to you? "Eat your dinner"

2. What makes dad happy? "Saying please and thank you"

3. What makes dad sad? "When people don't listen"

4. How does your dad make you laugh? "Funny toys"

5. What was your dad like as a child? "toys"

6. How old is your dad? "31"

7. How tall is your dad? "bigger than you"

8. What is his favorite thing to do? "go in the shower"

9. What does your dad do when you're not around? "play with Joshy"

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? "making paper famous"

11. What is your dad really good at? "going in the shower"

12. What is your dad not very good at? "when the children ask to go somewhere on the computer and daddy doesn't know how to go there, it might be a little tricky"

13. What does dad do for a job? "go to work and do jobs"

14.What is your dad's favorite food? "daddy food"

15.What makes you proud of your dad? "doing proud toys"

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? "we'll have to think about that or watch the movie and see about that. Do you want to do that after lunch or you watch the movie"

17. What do you and your dad do together? "we play"

18. How are you and your dad the same? "we're boys"

19. How are you and your dad different? "cause we're not the same"

20. How do you know your dad loves you? "because it's good"

21. What does your dad like most about your mom? "she's good at things"

22. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? "to work"