August Afternoons

There was a chill in the air today. Autumn is definitely on its way. I opened all of the windows and let the cool air blow through our house. It was so refreshing. After lunch I went down stairs with the littles and we built a tent. It was super fun playing together and reading.

I figured I had hit the jackpot this afternoon when I coaxed the older two down for a nap after I had gotten Joe to sleep. I was envisioning a long wonderful chunk of sleep nestled next to my two children under our tent on the basement floor. Camilla wasn't too keen on the idea at first, and then gave up her protest and rolled over. She quickly fell to sleep just like I knew she would. That girl has been super tired lately. I drew on Hyrum's face with my finger and played with his blonde locks of hair until he slowly drifted off. Just before he was gone for good, he twitched so bad I thought the tent would come down on top of us. He apologized with a sleepy voiced, "Sorry mommy", then closed his eyes. The wind raced outside, causing a whole lot of weird clunking upstairs. The dryer was just finishing up it's cycle, and I was trying to ignore it all and get some rest! Joe is cutting teeth and nights have been nothing short of brutal all week. Just as I started dreaming, I heard Joe on the monitor. It had only been like fifteen minutes! I went up and soothed him back to sleep. I caught a few more minutes of sleep until my little teether beckoned me to the side of his crib once more. At least this time he was smiling. So we played, looked out the window, and watched the cars. Then I found myself watching him munch down a ride cracker in his highchair while I tried to wake myself up. The other two were still sound asleep in their little tent. I promised myself I wouldn't be mad if this thing backfired. So I enjoyed the moment and quiet with my baby while he crunched and wiped crumbs off his chunky little cheeks.

A little while later the older two joined us. The mango popsicles we had made this morning were finally frozen and just what we needed. I'll just try and forget about the part where Hyrum wet his pants while sitting on my lap.

Joseph really loved his popsicle. I suppose it felt good on his teeth. I just love that they are homemade and full of healthy goodness. After he had eaten half of it, he started moving around. I may chalk up these sleepless nights to teeth and an upcoming milestone. No wonder he's always shifting around and in his sleep.

I helped him up and he smiled big. He can only stand for a few seconds on his own, and is able to get down carefully. He's quite proud of himself when he does it! He's been pushing the toy car around in the backyard for a few days now. He loves having his feet under him.

Ah! He's growing up way too fast!!