Summertime

"We're having a heatwave, a tropical heatwave..." Summer is most definitely here! Hope this post finds everyone well and keeping cool. We are keeping busy and enjoying all of our summer activities.

June was a great month. CJ had a very nice Father's Day, his first as a Daddy of two. We had both sets of grandparents over for a cookout. It was a beautiful day. Later, we took Cooper outside to play on the baby swing in our backyard (we figured we better hang it up and use it at least once before we move to the new place) and for a dip in the kiddie pool. He had more fun playing with the hose, though. Loved making rainbows!

I returned to work on July 2, and then had a 3-day weekend and now a 4-day week, so you could say that the transition has been nice and low key. June went by in a blur, between selling our house and buying a new home in East Syracuse. We are still waiting to hear about an official closing date, but we've already started packing. In fact, most of our house is now in boxes, except for what we use on a daily basis. I can't wait to see the look on Coop's face when we unpack the boxes labeled "toy room" - it will be like Christmas morning seeing all of the toys he hasn't played with since June. We left him a smaller allotment to tide him over before the move.

The kids are keeping us on our toes. Cara is growing, growing, growing. She weighed 12 lbs and measured 23 inches at her 2-month appointment last month. So, she's gained 5 lbs and grew 3 inches in the first 2 months of life. Not bad, baby girl! She is now cooing and kicking up a storm. Thank goodness for our tried and true kick toy that Coop loved as a baby, and that we've loaned to both Reagan and Katie in their early months. Amelia is now the proud borrower of 1 of the 2 kick toys we own -- kick baby, kick! I also can't believe that Cara will be 3 months next week.

Coop is also growing, at such a fast rate. It makes my head spin! I took him to his first movie, Toy Story 3, in a theater on Monday since I had the day off. He did great. He stayed awake the entire time, which was surprising considering the movie ended right in the middle of his usual nap time. He has seen TS1 and TS2, so he knew the characters. It was neat to see him register feelings while watching the film, he reacted to moments of suspense ("Uh oh, Momma!") and joy ("Yay Buzz!") He's become a tad obsessed with the characters, actually. Its rather adorable, he calls the movies "Buzz and Woody, Woody and Buzz." He can say all of the main characters names and identify them. And the cutest thing is his 18-month old pronunciation- Buzz is "Bu-hsh." We've fed into the obsession by picking up a few TS toys and Cooper's Mimi (Grandma A.) bought him a TS fabric tent/fort yesterday, which he just adores. He even has TS band aids on his "boo boo" toe today. Yes, we are suckers for good tie-in merchandise.

And since I love to share news of the newest additions -- Kevin and Kristy welcomed baby boy Brady and Lisa and Rand welcomed baby girl Nora in June. And Mindy and Brandon will be welcoming baby girl Isabella sometime this weekend!! (M, good luck with your induction tomorrow!)

Enjoy the June photos of the kids, as well as a set from Cooper and Reagan's "first date" - hee hee!