The Hairy Ones

Atra:

A mythological Assyrian cyclops who is known to strangle enemies with her leg hair.

well on his way at 18 months

a BIG week

Two milestones that we never thought would be reached in this house, have occurred in just the past few days. August must be sensing that 18 months is an age of great expectation in the land of toddlerhood... or someone told him that his 'half-birthday' is on the horizon. Regardless, for those keeping score:

1) He gave up the bottle. Well really, we just quit offering it to him, and he hasn't asked for one. So, mission accomplished.

2) He actually acknowledged my existence. It only took 17 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days for him to say it, but he is finally saying 'Mama'. Sure he reserves it for only times of absolute meltdown and distress, but we're still counting it.

Guptons in Galveston

We made the annual trek down the Texas coast this past week for some r&r with the extended Gupton family. August was infatuated with the ocean this year, and loved to let the rolling tide wash the sand from his legs. 

There was also a generous amount of down-time on the patio spent by swimming, hugging cousins, and dancing of course.

There were also a few outings to local attractions such as an aquarium, a ferry ride to an abandoned fort, shopping in the historic district, and OF COURSE a visit to a local coffee shop.

All in all, it was another wonderful trip to the beach. We're so thankful that Kevin's grandmother provides the opportunity for all of us to spend this relaxing time together. We're already looking forward to next year...

Embrace the Camera

We're back from our annual mini-vacay to the coast with Kevin's family!

Augie would be a beach bum if we let him

Boredom

It's been an abnormally sizzling summer around central Texas. We're used to our hot summers, but this one came on strong and fast, and has yet to show any sign of backing off. The only chance for a moderately comfortable outing happens in the early morning or late evening hours. August loves to point to the window and request that we move out to the swing (using one of his hundreds of forms of the term 'Uh-huh'), but I have to continuously explain that we would melt. So, the rest of our day is spent lazing around in the air conditioning. We've done a good job at scheduling some indoor activities to help exhaust some of August's endless energy, and of course shopping is always one of our favorite options too, but a large portion of the day consists of playing around the house. Thankfully this comes just as August is grasping the concept of 'pretend' play, so we're discovering some new fun with our old toys of late...

However, all of the books and toys in the world can only contain a precocious toddlers attention for so long. The boredom naturally turns to mischief, and this kid is full of it. 

 (note: Daphne in hiding)

Starfish (take 2)

August and I recently wrapped up our second summer of swim lessons. Since there aren't a whole lot of options for the under-3 swimmers, we repeated the Starfish class that we took last summer. Though I must admit, this year's session was exponentially better than our previous experience. Of course August is 10 months older than he was last summer, so he was a bit more capable and emotionally invested this go round. In addition to a much more competent instructor, the other great thing to come out of this year's class was the relationships that we established with the other swimmers and their moms. We finally met a fun, diverse group of friends who are really enjoyable to be around. As a matter of fact, we've already had one playground play date, and another get together at a classmate's home pool. With many more gatherings on the horizon, it looks like we're finally getting a social life!