A Sunday afternoon graham cracker snack put John in the mood for s'mores. He mentioned this to me before I left for the grocery store, but of course I forgot to get the chocolate. (We already had the marshmallows, left over from some baking project.) Never fear. He made a special trip with Ed to pick up the elusive ingredient while the grill warmed up for our chicken dinner. This was a powerful incentive for Edward to eat all his dinner as he knew the joy that awaited. (He had them at daycare during a lesson on camping. He is unlikely to have any real camping experience until he's old enough for Scouts!)


John found a stick and his pocket knife (Boy Scout remnant?) and whittled a poker while Ed finished his veggies. It was a nice long stick, keeping Ed from getting too close to the grill, but still required parental vigilance. I kept hearing the voice over to one of those Emergency reality shows: "In the split second it took to say Hello to a passing neighbor, the grill had turned over..." Ugh. Anyway, it was a success and the treat was enjoyed by all.

John was grilling a second set of marshmallows so I managed to both feed Daniel and snap this shot. After I'd set the camera down and turned back, this is what I saw: "More more!" (Note: these pictures were taken in immediate succession despite the pitch black back drop of the first. Guess the flash was overwhelming at such close range.)
The treats were the end of a fun-filled weekend. We started with a rare Friday evening adventure to the Children's Museum. John got home early and the kids were just waking up from naps. We wondered how to fill the hours until bedtime and decided on the museum. A quick call to Grandma and Grandpa revealed that they were also at loose ends (or, at least willing to skip whatever they had planned) so they met up with us for a bit of museum fun. Surprisingly, it was a perfect time to go. Hardly anyone else was there between about 5 and 6 p.m. It was great to have four adults there so we could let the kids explore in different directions. When I go by myself, it's always a challenge to keep up with them!

Daniel was very methodical in placing these cones. They were all stacked when he approached and he spent a long time picking them up one by one and placing them in a row--much longer than I would have credited his attention span!

It is difficult to let him climb up this tall slide on his own, but he really can do it and the pure joy of the ride down is infectious.
We split up Saturday morning with John taking Ed for a haircut and the library and me taking Daniel on an errand and then to the park. (It was supposed to be the other way around, but he fell asleep in the car so we switched course.) It was fun to watch Daniel explore the familiar park on his own, rather than following Edward around an attempting to replicate all his physical feats. He got around just fine, but on his own terms. We spent about 10 minutes at one point playing "Mommy, sit here" as he moved from point to point and patted the place next to him for me to follow. The only command I ignored was when he flopped belly down on the concrete and patted the ground next to him. Simon says: no thanks.

We met up back at home for lunch and while the boys were eating, I spotted a wooly worm climbing on the screen. We kept an eye on him until lunch was gone then got down to explore.
We have almost this exact shot of Edward two years ago (a lot less hair though!)
This picture mostly defies explanation, except to say that the bucket was some sort of helmet as the vehicle morphed between race car and fire truck.

Daniel still eats bubbles.

But he's so cute we'll keep him anyway.

And we'll close with an Edward story. Sunday morning I took out a blueberry coffee cake for a treat. Edward was intrigued by the notion of cake for breakfast, but I tried to explain so he wouldn't expect chocolate. I told him it was blueberry and cinnamon and that it was called coffee cake because people like to eat it with coffee. He considered for a moment.

"I will call it juice cake because I like to eat it with juice." Can't argue with pure logic.

Well, I wish I could say we've been too busy living life to find time for blogging about it, but the truth is we've been up to a lot of nothing this month. I finished my summer class about the time of the last post and have been enjoying a more leisurely schedule since then. Next class starts next week and I'm not looking forward to it--another dry business requirement, Operations Management. Maybe I'll be surprised, but I'm not holding my breath. I really enjoyed the summer class though, an elective about leadership, so maybe I can ride that high all the way through the fall term.

We enjoyed another backyard pool adventure on Friday after naps. John's office observes "summer hours," sending staff home at 3:30 on summer Fridays so he was home for the fun. We were amused at Daniel's fine motor skills as he attempted the squirt gun. Only his thumb is strong enough to pull the trigger and holding it this way means he squirts himself in the face more often than not. He seems not to mind though. (Click on this picture to see a larger version that shows the spray of water.)I had to snap this pre-pool shot. Who doesn't love a baby belly hanging over a diaper? I still can't bring myself to take Daniel for a haircut because I know he won't look so much like my baby with the wild curls snipped away.
Here's Daniel reading to himself on Sunday morning after church. I've managed to take both boys solo to church the last two weeks. Can't promise it will happen every week, as it's quite stressful and there's not a lot to be gained spiritually from the endeavor. However, I am aware that this is how they'll learn the ritual, and I see kids not that much older who can keep it together the whole hour so there's hope. This week we left during Communion when Daniel took a toy combine (metal) and chucked it two pews ahead of us, luckily not hitting anyone in between. I can tell the experience leaves an impression with Ed though because after watching part of a Sesame Street episode featuring a magician wearing a cape, he described it to John as "the priest made the cards disappear." I had watched it with him and it had not occurred to me to equate the costume with the priest's vestments!

John, like his mother, can not appreciate a photo of himself, but I think this is sweet.


The latest development in firefighter wear is using a pot as a face mask. In the picture above, Daniel isn't sure a frying pan will create the desired effect.
Again, I had to get permission to post this one and it was granted, reluctantly. John was already home and changed for the pool by the time Edward woke, bleary-eyed from his nap. He needed a little snuggle time to fully shake the sleepies out. It's so interesting that he still does this on occasion when he wakes. Daniel will have none of it. Even if he wakes up crying (which is unusual, but does happen) he allows himself to be held and rocked for maybe 15 seconds before squirming down and trotting across the room to deposit his pacifier in his bed and then run for the door.

Our local schools start on Thursday and the university's fall semester starts Monday. Our air conditioning is turned off as mild days are giving way to cool evenings. Summer isn't over (and I'm sure we'll have more heat) but signs of fall are all around. Locals always say that summer is the best time to be in Iowa City because the pace is slower and the population thins as students head out for summer adventures. Even though my schedule isn't tied to the academic calendar (no summers off!) I always appreciate the reawakening as the town buzzes with the energy of a new year.

An amusing anecdote (and requisite background info):

Background #1: Two weeks ago, I made a deal with Edward: if he could get through the morning drop off with no tears he could have an M&M when we got home. I was at my wit's end with the daily melt-downs and thought this would give him incentive to keep it together. Before you scoff, "ONE M&M??!" know that this was only my opening gambit and I was prepared to offer just about anything to break this horrible cycle. He did not counter, so we did not escalate the bargaining game. The first couple of mornings, I could see him swallowing hard and considering the prize awaiting before steeling himself for a "Bye, Mom!" He also started deciding in the morning exactly which color M&M he would choose when he got home. Call it bribery, call me a horrible parent, but it worked. He has resumed his customary cheerful disposition at school and I am no longer starting my days with a broken heart. It was so successful that after the first week, he became a bit hit-and-miss with requesting the reward. If he brought it up, I immediately produced the treat, but if he didn't mention it, neither did I.

Background #2: Last night we took a walk after dinner to get ice cream--a great way to end a summer weekend. We had the double stroller with us, but on the way home, pushing uphill, I suggested that Edward could get off and walk for a bit. He complied and I kept pushing while he and John trailed behind. Suddenly, I heard Ed's piercing shriek and looked back to see John scooping him up from the sidewalk. He had tripped (over his own foot) and scraped his knee, though the blood-curdling screams had John convinced he'd knocked out a tooth or worse! We were only half way home so it was a long, loud walk--not the restful summer evening we envisioned. At home, it was bath and bed time and as a distraction for Ed, I suggested he could take a "stand up bath." (I also thought it would be wise to avoid total immersion of the wounded knee.) I used the handheld shower head to hose him down, careful not to have direct spray on the knee. This was both distracting and calming and he got clean, pajama-ed, and tucked into bed. I didn't realize how big an impression this had made until we were leaving daycare and the director popped her head out of her office to say, "Hey, I heard Edward got to take a shower!" I gave her the back story and she said he hadn't told her anything about the scraped knee, just the shower.

Scene: Today, 12:30ish; returning from work/daycare, taking off shoes and putting away hats in front hallway; no mention of the after school M&M until...

Edward: I'm not going to have an M&M today. Yeah, because I'm a shower man and shower mans don't need M&Ms.

I'm not sure which is funnier, the ego-inflating "shower man" or the plural "shower mans" but either way, I almost choked stifling my guffaw.

Last week we ventured out to the Johnson County Fair and had another fun evening. The cows did not make the same impression on Ed as last year, but nonetheless, a good time was had by all.

The goats are friendly, though the boys were hesitant about the hands-on experience. Daniel preferred to stand back a bit and say, "Hi, goat!"


After trying on the helmet, Ed said he wanted the fire-fighter to show him the mask. He dutifully pulled out the full face mask and tried it on, demonstrating the attached microphone/speaker and letting Ed speak into it. Later, we learned that Edward had intended only the flip down mask attached to the helmet.
Luckily the kids are still small enough that the number of available rides is somewhat limited. Daniel rode this, a train, and the merry-go-round with John holding him tight. Edward also tried a small-scale Ferris wheel (which he rode alone with no objection, even when it stopped with him a the top to let another crying kid off) and a big inflatable bounce slide. In the future we may have to discuss ride rationing ahead of time or our "free" family fair outing could get quite pricey!

We ended the evening sharing a huge cup of ice cream. Edward, as usual, asked for chocolate, but I persuaded him to try a new flavor "cookie dough" (slightly less mess due to the ice cream itself being vanilla.) It was pretty loud though and he didn't quite hear my description of this new flavor. After a few bites, he exclaimed, "I like co-KEE-do!"

We've got him straight now and he actually requested this flavor on last night's excursion. He also asked me on the way past the grocery store this afternoon if we could have that "special treat," cookie dough ice cream at home some time. I'm guessing this will happen.

Daniel had his 18-month check-up last week and sailed through. He's tipping the scales at 29 pounds and measures about 33.5 inches. Within about 90 seconds of entering the exam room, his doctor said, "Well, I guess I don't have to ask you about his language skills!" He is quite the little chatterbox. His teacher reported that he now has most of the class asking, "Why, why?" about everything. Daniel also is into greeting everyone and everything, including this exchange as we drove by a landscaping crew, "Hi law-mo, har you?" (translation: Hi lawn mower, how are you?) If you say, "Hi Daniel, how are you?" He'll respond with a matter-of fact, "Good."

This post starts and ends with video and has two weeks' worth of photos in between. Someone has fallen behind in the family chronicle. I could try to come up with an excuse, but let's just chalk it all up to life, and whatnot. ("Life is not 'whatnot'." name that John Hughes movie!)

We actually had two of the most beautiful weather weeks ever in a Midwest July. Warm(ish) days followed by nice cool nights. Many around here were complaining about the lost summer, but not me. I could skip the whole heat/humidity scene without a second thought. It did get a little warmer this weekend, and yesterday I decided to blow up the kids wading pool during their nap time for a surprise afternoon activity. Amazingly, there was only one small hole in the pool, which had been wadded up in a ball for two years. Nothing a little duct tape couldn't handle. We never took it out last summer because with the house on the market, we didn't have a place to stash it out of potential buyers' view. They had a good time splashing around and flinging water with shovels and squirting implements. The part of the video with Daniel extricating himself from the pool cracks me up.

We've also had some summer fun with popsicles recently. Of these four shots, the first three are from the same sitting, with homemade frozen fruit punch popsicles. The last one is the aftermath of Daniel's "bomb pop"--my favorite red/white/blue popsicles that are a 4th of July staple. (Though this was just taken Sunday, well after the 4th!) In any event, they clearly enjoy the cool treat. Daniel was shirtless after soaking himself playing with watering cans in the back yard. Actually, he was pantsless too, and ended up with popsicle juice dribbled all the way down his belly and pooled in his belly button. Needless to say, next stop was the bathtub.




In the car recently, Edward spotted a jogger without a shirt and asked why. I explained that sometimes when guys get hot they take their shirts off. A few days later, on a nice temperate afternoon in the back yard, he began tugging at his own shirt, and when I realized he was trying to get it off, I questioned, "What are you doing?" "I'm hot," he said firmly. "Guys take their shirts off when they're hot." Of course Daniel had to get in on the action (he MUST do everything his big brother does and say everything he says) so they pranced around shirtless for a while. It was late in the afternoon and the yard is mostly shade at the time of day, so I wasn't worried about sunburn. Just look at those pasty white bellies!
The water is not turned on in this photo of Daniel, but you can see how he could get soaked in no time. The other factor is that he doesn't really understand pouring in a direction away from one's own belly. This also complicates tooth brushing as he is inclined to take a drink and then dump the rest of the cup down his shirt in an attempt to imitate Ed pouring back into the sink. Many a morning has ended in a shirt change immediately before dashing out the door to daycare/work!

Two Saturdays ago, there was a car show to benefit University of Iowa Children's Hospital so we took the boys and met Grandma and Grandpa to check out the vehicles and enjoy some kids games/activities. The owners of this vehicle were kind enough to let the boys sit on it. We were terrified that they would somehow break or scratch it, but owners were calm as could be. Ed thought it was the best thing ever and we had to stop by again later for more admiration.
Iowa mascot Herky was part of the festivities, which was a major hit with our kids. There weren't a lot of other kids around when he first came out so they kind of had him as their personal playmate for a few minutes. They each had their hat "stolen" and traded lots of "fives" but they had to draw the line at giving Herky a stroller ride.

As if this weren't already great enough, Grandpa played a beanbag toss game and won this amazing firetruck. We try to remind Edward that Grandpa won it for BOTH boys, but sharing is not high on the priority list when this truck comes out to play. Luckily, Daniel is easily distracted with other trucks. This one has buttons to push for siren and other firetruck noises and a ladder that goes up and down. In this photo, you'll see Ed has hiked his shorts way up. He told John, "someone at church wears his pants like this." Ha! I have no idea who he's talking about--many potential contenders for this award, no surprise. It didn't take long for him to decide this was uncomfortable. And once again, shirtless, despite, as noted above, our recent mild weather.Another funny Ed story, may get lost in blog translation, but here's at least an attempt. Last Sunday we took a trip to Chariton to visit John's grandparents. We stopped in Knoxville (the next town north of Chariton) to pick up KFC for lunch--Grandpa's favorite. Ed noticed that there was also a Taco Bell sign on the store and asked if we were getting tacos. (Note: I'm not sure how he knows what Taco Bell is--I think maybe he's asked about it as we've driven by in Iowa City.) He's also recently been interested in "open/closed" signs on store windows. So apparently this fast food convergence was percolating all week because on Saturday morning he was playing with John and offered him some food. He got out a bookmark he made at our town's recent literary festival, held it up and announced, "Ed's Chicken Bell is open!!" He then proceeded to bring various toys and offer them for consumption. Then he turned the bookmark around and said, "Ed's Chicken Bell is closed!" This game has been repeated frequently and never ceases to amuse any of us.

Finally, I've been trying for weeks to capture Daniel's "jumping" and the second part of this video is about as close as I can get. He never actually leaves the floor, but he does it with such gusto! The first part of the video was cracking me up. He's played with this car a lot, but this was the first time he seemed not to understand that he was in control of its motion.

Here's a funny story to get us going and then we'll see how much of this I can complete before naptime ends. Last night we went out for dinner--a rare treat at our favorite local restaurant. It's a bar by night, but at 6 p.m on a summer Sunday, perfectly suitable for families. So we're sitting there enjoying some pre-meal popcorn and coloring on the kids' menu/placemats when I look up and notice that someone sitting at the bar directly across from me has some extremely low-riding shorts. I alert John's attention to this display, subtly I think, and it's kind of a loud place with music and TVs and such. Yet, immediately, Ed turns around to see what I've just pointed out and says, loudly, "Who's tighty whitey?"

When, oh when will I learn to keep my mouth shut? Luckily, the person in question either did not hear or chose to ignore the observation. Once again, I note that it is a fairly loud atmosphere, but that does not stop our young parrot. Hear it, see it, say it.

Our dinner was sort of a celebration of the return to good health (which of course we chose to toast with french fries, but who's counting.) Daniel was sick ALL of last week and it was both sad and frustrating. Actually, he'd sort of been sick for the last three weeks, with two weeks of diarrhea leading up to spiking a fever on Monday that did not break until Wednesday night. (The two ended up being unconnected, except for the possibility that the two-week GI bug weakened him, allowing another virus to settle in.) We spent Thursday waiting out the daycare's 24-hour rule (fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school) and thought he was fine to go back Friday. When we got there, I noticed his arms were a little red. I lifted his shirt and he had a rash all over his torso. So of course we had to leave. In the medical mindset, the rash (roseola) was actually a good thing, because it helped explain the fever from earlier in the week. In the mom mindset, how do I cope with an 18-month old who feels like crap for a whole week and doesn't understand why I'm not doing something to make him feel better?

(continued from Monday...)

I think he'll forgive me, but he's still a little dubious as I have been returning to the bedtime-only rule for pacifiers. They were a Godsend last week when comfort at all costs was key. He'll still throw them back in bed when he gets up, but he's learned to say "paci?" with a pleading pitifulness that is hard to resist.

Edward's latest trick is the recitation of the fable, "Three Billy Goats Gruff." This is our latest book on CD from the library, and it's quite a dramatic reading, which he imitates with gusto, shouting, "Who's that tramping across my bridge?!" I wonder what they think at school when this bursts out of nowhere. I hope the teachers are at least familiar with the tale. I'm actually a little annoyed with his teacher, who is leaving the position in two weeks to move to another part of the state and seems already to have checked out. I get that mindset. I've been there. But I think when you're responsible for the daily nurturing of 12 three-year-olds, you owe it to them to be fully present until the very end. Of course, I can't say anything. I just keep watching her countdown in Facebook status updates and think I'll probably be as glad as she is when it reaches zero. It's too bad, because I thought well of her before and have not had a negative experience with any other teacher in three-plus years at this daycare.

So by now you're thinking, "Enough with the writing and make with the pictures already!" We actually don't have many right now as the camera took a back seat to the thermometer and ibuprofen. But here are a few at our afternoon park excursion before the aforementioned celebration dinner. (Note: I just spent 20 minutes trying to get this photo to display right and Blogger keeps rotating it back to vertical. Sorry--you'll have to turn your head or open and rotate in your own photo program.)

The last weekend in June, my family gathered in Chicago--all of us together for the first time in two years. All but John, who was in Minneapolis attending the annual conference for his newspaper association. If you think the word "Minneapolis" was ever used without air-quotes during our weekend together, you don't know the Geraghtys. John says he was sorry to miss it, but the conference was well worth the trip, as his paper won two national awards for coverage of last year's floods and the ongoing effects on area businesses. Woo hoo!

Since I was single parenting for the weekend, my pictures don't really chronicle the whole experience. (Though I must add that I was extremely fortunate to have so many helping hands available!) I think it's best to just leave it at "you had to be there" and let these pictures speak for themselves.

PopPop came to our room the first night to read goodnight stories for Ed, but Ed demanded Gram because he knows she never travels without books. She brought a new library selection about the beach and Ed made himself comfortable using PopPop as an armrest. She had barely finished the last page when PopPop's phone rang and it was Ann saying her girls were also in need of stories and kisses. Gram and PopPop's work is never done!Abby started the party with a bang and Joe was caught in the crossfire. Much hilarity (and a load of laundry) ensued.
We spent Saturday morning at a park carefully scouted by Aunt Nora. Plenty of equipment in all sizes, a sandpit, LOTS of shade (!) and several nearby food options for lunch. Props to Aunt Nora!Daniel is used to following Edward around and attempting to replicate all his physical feats, but this time he had yet another role model in cousin Sean, age 4. He saw Sean execute this swinging over the slide move and you could just watch his little mind immediately working out how to accomplish it. He did not end with a butt plop on the slide like Sean, but was quite pleased with himself and the swinging.Brothers holding up their end of the teeter-totter with cousins on the other end (and in the middle, I think.) This game later evolved into "mechanic," which was very fun until just after this video ends. The next time they got down to "fix" the truck, another kid immediately jumped on and started bouncing and Sean's finger was pinched. Ouch!



Now we skip ahead to the end of the weekend, when we retired to Gram and PopPop's with the Arizona contingent to play and have lunch while waiting for their airport departure. Daniel immediately found this helmet on the front porch and insisted on wearing it.



We stayed over until Monday, which was the plan all along, but also a necessity due to major sleep deprivation on my part. I could hardly stay awake until the 3 p.m. airport departure so there's no way I could have made the four-hour drive alone. We all took naps and then had an evening together. Monday morning Gram and I took the boys to the beach. It was a little chilly and Edward was not too pleased when he ended up on his butt while trying to fill a bucket. But he got over it and mostly spent the time digging. Daniel LOVED splashing along the shoreline and would venture out as far as I let him, undeterred by the chilly waters and breeze. Needless to say, it was tricky to get pictures of this as I was sure the camera would end up in the lake while I was lunging for Daniel.