“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” ― Albert Einstein
Jett's been having a pretty great summer...he went to a pottery class last month and made these beauties:
He gets to play with friends practically all day long, plays at home with his brothers, and is generally pretty easy going when we go on family outings. This kid was made for summer.
Jett is actually really creative in so many ways. He loves to paint and create things. He also enjoys engineering things. He comes up with very impressive creations. Like, for instance, he made a bow and arrow using a clothes hanger, rubber band, and a wood plank from the Lincoln Log set. He and Cruise make bows and arrows all the time now. Probably because Mom has issues with guns and pretending to shoot people.
Something I've been trying to do recently is take pictures of his scenes he sets up with his toys in the shower. They are just too funny! So I try to get a picture before I get in the shower later in the evening.
Jett is funny because he tries to hide that he is scared or sad. He is always saying he's not afraid of anything, and he generally isn't. But he always wants to be "tough" and I have to remind him that there isn't anything wrong with being sad or scared.
Jett enjoys earning money to put in his piggy bank, playing with friends, playing Minecraft, and hanging out with his brothers. Sometimes he is out playing with friends so much I have to make him stay home for awhile just so I can talk to him and see how he's doing. He's a busy kid.
Jett is getting excited for Kindergarten and is especially excited to go to school with Cruise and possibly take the bus home with him.
He's learned a few more words and tries to say words we say. I still don't understand him most of the time, but he is really good and trying to show us what he wants. He's learned the words "Up" (which he also uses for 'down') and "Hot" after he burned his hand on the side of a pan. When he says hot he goes "Hot ta ta ta ta" which is pretty cute. He also can say "fishies".
He's become quite the big boy lately, wanting to do everything his brothers do. We ended up putting them all in one room together last week. What happened was I was going to put Cruise in his own room and Miles in with Jett. Well, they didn't want to all be separated, so we put them in the bigger room together and their dressers in the smaller room (which also made room for me to set up my drums!). Anyway, he does not want to sleep in his crib even though he has yet to figure out how to get out of it. He prefers to sleep in a big boy bed. Last night, I went to put him in his crib and he climbed into bed with Jett and snuggled up to him ready to sleep. I asked him, "Miles, do you want to sleep in your crib?" "Uh uh" (No). "Miles, do you want to sleep with Jett?" "Uh huh" (Yes). Since Jett was okay with it, I let it go and shut the door ready to hear them goof off. Instead, they all went to sleep right away. However, Jett fell off the bed in the middle of the night so I had to put Miles in his crib so Jett would have more space.
When I set up the drums, I played a little and Miles just danced and danced and danced! He loved the drums! Maybe I have a future drummer on my hands?
Miles also won't nap in his crib, which is especially frustrating. He will scream, cry, throw his pillow and blankets on the floor, and just refuses to nap. But I take him out and put him in my bed to nap...out like a light. So, needless to say, the crib will be going soon.
Miles loves to play in water, just like all kids. The other day I filled up a giant pot with warm soapy water, added a spoon and a whisk, and let him play with it out on the deck. He loved it. He also loves to play in bodies of water when we go in the mountains. It doesn't really matter how cold it is, he still loves it. He also likes to run in the sprinklers with his clothes on with his brothers. He has a blast! But he has a blast doing anything with his brothers. And of course, he loves to go swimming!
He was mad because I wasn't going to hold his hand to go down the slide...then he made this face and so of course I had to help him.
His favorite things lately are Buzz Lightyear, trains, and cars. He also likes to be read to, especially if it's a book about Buzz Lightyear. He also has this uncanny talent for finding permanent markers all over the house. I swear I put them away where they cannot be found or reached, and yet, he finds them all and draws all over himself.
Miles is also that kid that throws things at people. I hate it! I've never had a kid do this before but I am trying very hard to be patient and teach him to not throw things. He's getting better, but he still ends up hurting someone and it gets frustrating. Usually I just take away whatever he throws, which really makes him mad, but it's the only way I know how to teach him it's not okay. Other than that, he is pretty good playing with others and is good at sharing. He still loves nursery and his favorite nursery worker Jimmy.
Miles also learned to do this little growl thing that is super funny. He'll come running at me growling and go and "attack" my legs by pretending to bite me (thank goodness he only pretends!) and it is just the funniest thing! He loves to rough house and be tickled. He also loves to climb on you and sit on your face for good measure. It's especially fun when he has a full diaper (gross!).
Love this little stinker! He's quite the silly dude!
P.S. His favorite song is AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long". It's his favorite song to dance to. Ha ha!
So...I have zero pictures of our bike ride. Taking pictures while riding a bike down a canyon isn't the best or safest idea. So we didn't get any pictures. But we did have a lot of fun! We took two cars with us so we would only have to go downhill since it was going to hit 95 degrees that day. We parked Dave's car at the mouth of Provo Canyon, drove to Bridal Veil with the Jeep and bikes, and started biking from there. Cruise & Jett each had their bike and we had Miles in the bike trailer. He was just content the entire time and the boys had a blast as well. It started to get uncomfortably warm the last ten minutes or so, but it wasn't too bad. Once we got to the bottom, we locked up our bikes and drove back to Bridal Veil where we took off our shoes and cooled our feet in the frigid water. Once my feet went numb, it didn't feel too cold. Ha ha!
After looking and looking, Dave and I finally found a new babysitter for our kids!!! My sister and Casey are expecting their first baby in a week and so that meant they had to retire from their babysitting gig. So we had to find someone who would be willing to watch the boys and be able to handle what they dish out. We actually got someone who worked with Cruise when he was in preschool; her name is Rani. She was the teacher aide for the special needs/autism preschool at Vineyard Elementary. She no longer works there, but she and I have kept in touch since then. She is fantastic with the kids and I never worry when we are out. Last month we were able to go to dinner and a movie (Jurassic World). So...meet Rani!
This month, Dave was in charge of the date plans and so we went out on the boat to Deer Creek. I can't tell you how much more relaxing it is not having to bring children along. Anyway, we picked up pizza on our way up and launched the boat.
As soon as we got to the spot we wanted and put the anchor down, I needed to go to the bathroom. Of course. Ha ha! So we had to go all the way back to the dock where I ran up the hill to the toilet with no seat and no running water. I was impressed that it had toilet paper and didn't smell at all.
Anyway, I got back to the boat and we went back out onto the water where we finished eating our pizza, lit some citronella candles, and a regular candle so we could roast marshmallows and make s'mores! It was so much fun! Then we sat and talked, drank some sparkling cider (that we forgot to bring cups for), and played that game where you have to say three things about yourself, one of which is a lie, and the other person has to guess which is the lie. It was pretty hard since we know each other so well, so it was probably the worst game ever that we could play, but it was still a lot of fun, especially since we can both tell when the other person is lying. It was hilarious.
Finally the sun started going down and we had to go back in and get home. We had a blast and it was so nice to get out and enjoy each other, especially after a long week of stress! It's going to be nice being able to get a date once a month again!
