Day 61 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion is brushing his teeth every night before bed now.  At least when we can remember.  He does pretty well with it most of the time.  At least he doesn't make a huge mess. 

 

And daddy took this one, so I'm not sure of the background on it.  I'm pretty sure he had help getting into this position though, which is funny because I have  a picture of Orion doing the same thing at about 6 months old.  If Apollo continues this pattern, he'll be walking by his birthday. 

Day 60 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

So instead of moving Orion, we let him sleep with us.  We were really late getting to bed and it was today by the time we got in there.  The small child was effectively taking up the WHOLE bed. 

 

And Apollo was pretty content chilling with his bottle and his Boppy.  This may be his new lovvie... hopefully not, hopefully he'll choose something...softer...

Day 59 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Apollo is growing up so fast! *sniff* He's already holding his own bottles and has been for several days now.  And with him starting on the cereal too, he's going to be eating dinner at the table with us like his brother before we know it! 

 

And Orion is having baby nightmares.  He woke up uncontrollaby screaming.  So we got him some chocolate milk and strawberry wafers and then I laid down with him in our bed and rocked him to sleep, letting him sleep there. 

Day 58 of 365 Photo Challenge

Orion thought that climbing inside a paper grocery bag was hilarious... even when he stood up and started running into everything... including straight into a bookshelf.  He just toppled over and giggled and did it again.

 

And we started the little pigget on some cereal tonight, just a tablespoon to test it out for him. He seemed to enjoy it and he was able to swallow it like a pro... barely got any on his chin.  He did spit some back out, but he swallowed at least half of it, so he did pretty good for the first time. He's up to enough formula now that he needs some solids in his diet.  Won't be too long and we'll be testing out green beans and carrots!

Day 57 of 365 Photo Challenge

Orion was supposed to be sleeping as this was taken 30 minutes after he went to sleep.  Silly goofball was playing with Scout, so he got caught red-handed.  He was asleep not too long after this though.

 

We were playing with Apollo after his nighttime bottle and I guess the tickling and jostling around were too much for him to handle. I didn't even realize I had caught it on film until later after we got him cleaned up.

Bug Juice

   Don't get me wrong - I love juice!  Just not juice crawling with itty bitty parts of insects.  if there's anything worse than a whole insect, it's part of an insect because it makes me wonder where the rest went.  With that said, I'm not really referring to juice here either.  I'm referring to the recent Similac recall of its powdered formula due to the possible contamination of the formula with beetle parts and larvae. I'm pretty sure I am just as grossed out as every parent whose child is on formula. My baby boy is on Good Start not Similac, but it just as easily  could of been the Good Start that got contaminated.  I have mixed feelings though about the whole recall and the consequential reaction of the general public. Be forewarned if you continue to read, that this is my opinion and is subject to be different than yours.  I might piss you off, second your opinion or hurt your feelings, but that's my prerogative and it's yours to keep reading.


   Drop-side cribs and pack-n-plays were recalled last year because babies DIED and the manufacturers had to react.  Lives were lost before those products were pulled.  Reactionary recalls are common... someone gets maimed or killed by a product and the product is pulled from shelves until a fix is found and the products go right back with either the problem resolved or a fix-it-yourself kit. My older son, Orion had his pack and play recalled.  The very same pack and play he slept in as a newborn.  It was recalled because of a collapse hazard where many had collapsed and an infant had dies due to suffocation.  I returned my product, got my refund and replaced it and was then thankful my child's pack and play had not proven to be faulty. When the toy recall of 2007 happened, it was because thousands of children were getting lead poisoning and becoming seriously ill. Millions of toys were pulled from shelves. I did have children yet when this occurred, but again, the majority of American families were affected and most of them either tossed the foreign (and possibly dangerous) toys and moved on.  Some were able to return them and get their money back.  But I don't remember a class-action lawsuit in either of these cases.  Maybe there was one, maybe there were 50, but I didn't hear about it.


  Similac discovered some beetle larvae in one section of one manufacturing plant in Michigan and it voluntarily recalled hundreds of thousands of containers of formula that had a remote possibility of being contaminated. Something like 1-2% could have possibly been contaminated. And the biggest effect was a possible upset stomach and refusal to eat.  I don't know about you, but if my child refuses to eat more than once, I'm going to investigate the cause and the first thing I'm going to do is investigate what he eats.  Some of these moms that are complaining tried to give their child the contaminated formula multiple times before getting a clue. And yes, an upset stomach in a baby is an unfortunate situation, but I can guarantee it won't be the last time that child has an upset stomach. I get an upset stomach at least once a day - should I sue every company I consume food from?  Apparently that's how one mom feels - she filed a class-action lawsuit against Similac because some of her child's formula was recalled. Really, lady?  Did you do this because you're truly concerned about the food quality standards in this country?  Or did you do this to make a quick buck in a devastated economy?  To be honest, I couldn't care less what her motive is and what her objective is, but one fact of the case is that her husband is the lawyer representing her.  The majority of the class in a class-action lawsuit usually sees very little payout from the lawsuit.  The lawyers are the ones who stand to make a huge payday.  Had Similac known about the problem and neglected to do anything, then yes, a lawsuit would be in order.  But that isn't the case here, people.  The company acknowledged publicly in a time of see-saw economics that their product had flaws and might make kids sick, so to please return it at their expense (Oh yes, they paid people shipping costs to send it back to them when there was no local store to return it to.).  They took a hit to their public reputation AND they then lowered the prices all over of their liquid formulas that were not affected.  I'm sure that decision was in part to lure customers to keep buying their products, but it also reduces costs for the parents of babies on Similac. Similac just as easily could have raised costs due to their millions in losses because of the recall.  Yes, the company will lose millions of dollars over this VOLUNTARY recall. In my honest opinion, a class-action lawsuit is silly.  But what do I know?  My baby didn't get sick, so I'm an idiot in a corner with no knowledge of what's going on.
 
   I guess what it boils down to that irks me, is that Similac did this willingly and not under the advice of the FDA, which by the way, has a limit on how many bug parts can be in food.  Yes, a limit, meaning all manufactured food in the United States can contain buggie legs and such, as well as rodent hairs.  And these food are deemed completely acceptable.  Curious how many bugs you've eaten today?  I had a peanut butter sandwich today so maybe I should sue JIF because there is a remote possibility that my 12 ounce jar could have nearly 100 bug fragments in it. The chart below shows at what level the FDA will take action against the manufacturing plant and/or parent company...here's your food for thought:

Product	Action Level
Apple butter	5 insects per 100g
Berries	4 larvae per 500g OR 10 whole insects per 500g
Ground paprika	75 insect fragments per 25g
Chocolate	80 microscopic insect fragments per 100g
Canned sweet corn	2 3mm-length larvae, cast skins or fragments
Cornmeal	1 insect per 50g
Canned mushrooms	20 maggots per 100g
Peanut butter	60 fragments per 100g (136 per lb)
Tomato paste, pizza, and other sauces	30 eggs per 100g OR 2 maggots per 100g
Wheat flour	75 insect fragments per 50g

Day 56 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion is forever stealing shoes.  It never fails that if you leave your shoes laying around, he will inevitably snag them, probably put them on the wrong feet and then hide one.

 

Apollo wore himself out playing.  We put him down on a blanket to chill out and he was conked out in under 5 minutes.

Day 55 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

I know there have been quite a few pictures of Apollo in the IntelliTainer lately, but he loves that thing.  It works wonders when we're trying to make dinner.  And Orion....well, he's a handful no matter where he is. He climbs over anything we try to block him in with and we don't have anywhere in our house where a baby gate would work, so he usually runs free and gets into trouble.  He was actually playing nice tonight though and trying to teach Apollo how to use the echo microphone. 

Day 54 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion was watching the late night version of Yo Gabba Gabba and jumping all over tarnation in his pack and play.  Which will very shortly be retiring from his use.  He climbs out of them now, so he can no longer nap in them or be left in them if we need to do something. And I just realized in this picture how long his hair is getting!

 

And what can I say about this little cutie?  He adores the IntelliTainer, and his Jumperoo and his swing.  He's a regular little busybody and he always loves to look at mirros and play with toys.  He's really utilizing all the gadgets on the IntelliTainer now, plus he can touch the floor flat-footed in all of his seated toys, so he enjoys them more.  And if you can't tell, he has started sucking on his bottom lip as a soothing process.  It's funny to watch.

Day 53 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Since mommy is sick with an icky bug, today was 'play with daddy' day.  Orion spent most of the afternoon (when he got up from his nap) playing Xbox with daddy.  As you can see, Orion even has his own controller.  It's not conventional, but I found out it's pretty common for daddies to rip out the guts of an old controller to give their kid - weird, huh?

 

And Apollo amazes me every day with what he does.  The kiddo just turned 4 months old and he's able to stand with help from daddy.  He can almost pull himself up too.  I guess he's just skipping the whole sitting up thing. He only sits when he plops down from standing like this, then he rolls forward.

Home

    We got home early yesterday morning, just after 2 AM.  It took us FOREVER to get home, but we made it and in one piece with most of our sanity intact. There were SO many delays.  First, we forgot the cooler with Apollo's medicine and drinks in it, so we had to go back to Alex's mom's house and get it... and that was after a tearful goodbye, so Alex had to do it all again.  That set us back 20 minutes. Then we missed the exit off of I-24 for 840 by 20 miles.  We started thinking we'd missed it when we were 10 miles past, but there wasn't another exit for another 7 miles, so that was frustrating.  That put us back by almost an hour.  Then we were just North of Huntsville and got stopped for over 30 minutes in dead still traffic.  Turns out a truck had burned through on the interstate and it happened right when we got to the traffic - the fire truck had to squeeze through the shoulder on the interstate.  So at this point, we were almost 2 hours behind, plus we left 2 hours late as it was because Alex had to go to the ER, but more on that later.  So 4 hours behind and we stop at the state line for dinner, which took about an hour since we had to change both boys and both of us had to go to the bathroom.  You can see where I'm headed with this.  I had planned to be home by 10 PM, but we were barely to Clanton, Alabama by 10 PM.  Orion was fussy, so we stopped at McDonald's and got a late-night snack and some pick-me-up Mickey D's Sweet Tea.  So back on the road by 11 and as we're coming into Montgomery, the traffic comes to a stop again.  This time, it was a wreck.  I'm not sure still what happened exactly, but there was a semi across the oncoming lanes, though it didn't look like it had been involved.  maybe it was just blocking traffic from something.  On our side, once we got up to the wreck point, we had to go all the way around through the exit to avoid all the debris from the car on our side.  I'm not sure what hit it or what it hit, but there was no driver's side left.  The front passenger side was a little smashed up, the car was smoking and the driver's side was just...gone.  I don't know if it was smashed in that bad or if it had been cut off in a rescue.  What did freak me out a little is that car looked exactly like a car that nearly ran us off the road when it merged onto the interstate.  (I had moved over so they had the right lane to themselves and they tried to come all the way over into the left lane.  I had to swerve over the rumble strip to avoid them. Good thing I'm a good driver!) After that setback, I just resigned myself to getting home super late.  It was a horrible drive, but it wasn't too bad in the long run.  Alex and I figured out the details of our Halloween Party and worked out some stuff for Orion's birthday party.

   Now, the reason Alex went to the ER... there was an accident while we were in Tennessee involving Alex, Orion and Apollo.  Alex and Apollo were laying in the hammock in Angelia's backyard and Orion wanted up, so I put him in the hammock too.  We swung them once and the S-ring supporting the hammock snapped and they all 3 fell.  Orion landed on the soft grass and Apollo was mostly laying on Alex.  We did take Apollo to the ER for our first visit with a child.  He landed on his right arm on the support pole, so we were worried about a hairline fracture or a dislocation, but it turns out he just had a contusion and was prescribed Tylenol.  Two days later, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese and Orion was pulling and tugging Alex everywhere.  By Saturday night, Alex's arm was really bothering him.  So he went to the ER Sunday morning and he too had a really bad contusion. It wasn't a break or dislocation, but it was bad enough that they prescribed him Loratab for pain, put his arm in a sling and work sent him home for fear of liability.

   Which means I have to get a job and soon or this holiday season is going to suck... we're not even fully making ends meet when Alex works full-time and he just lost 3 days of work.  He only took 1 off to go to Tennessee, but they canceled the Wednesday truck, he took Saturday off and they sent him home Monday.  Now  I am just going to have to find a band-aid job to get me through the holidays, then look for something I really want to do.  Meanwhile, Alex has to lose 40 pounds to get into the military, which is something he really wants.  So he's going to pledge this winter if he can lose the weight and go to basic next fall.   I know he can lose the weight - it's just a matter of which branch - I want him to go Air National Guard and he wants to go Army National Guard.  I will support him no matter what and I want him to be happy, but I want him to do something he truly wants to do.  I also want him to keep the kids in mind.  Part of me just wants him to fully go Air Force.  He's always wanted to do something with planes and yes, his whole family (Dad and two of his brothers...the other is 3...) is Army, but I want him to do this for HIM.  The Air Force is just more accommodating to families, plus the thing he wants to do is stationed at NAS Pensacola, so we wouldn't have to move, at least not for a while.

Day 52 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion has found the laundry basket... too bad he was dirty at the time and now I have to rewash all those clothes... at least he had fun.

 

Apollo is getting much more use out of Orion's jumperoo than Orion did.  Orion only bounced in it about half a dozen times before he outgrew it.  We just didn't have a place to keep it at Laurelwood.  Now that we're keeping it at my parents' house, Apollo uses it daily and he's about figured out how to bounce it.  And he likes it for 20-30 minutes at a time, so it's good exercise for him and good leg toning...

Day 51 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

So Orion has learned how to open doorknobs, which means the little doorknob covers have got to go back on.  We put them on to start with, but took them off when he didn't really fool with them.  Now he ca open doors on his own.  And he's proud of it.

 

And Apollo is just a smiley, drooley mess most of the time.  It is definitely time to break out all the drooler bibs, because he soaks his shirts.  I have found though that he likes to chew on blankets and washcloths, so that helps soak up the excess drool.  Now hopefully those teeth will erupt soon so the drooling will be for something... besides to soak his clothes.

Day 50 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Apollo is starting to reach for everything you put in front of him.  This is from when we stopped at Alabama/Tennessee state line and ate a dinner of leftover cookout food.  He kept reaching for the camera, which was cute, so I snapped a picture of him.  Good thing too since he slept most of the trip.

 

Orion on the other hand had a difficult time sleeping and was a grumpy baby by the time we stopped in Clanton.  Alex and I were very thirsty and it was after 10 PM so most places were closed, but this McDonald's was still open, so we got us some Mickey D's Sweet Tea, always a pick me up on a long drive.  We also got some chicken McNuggets since they had a great deal.  But Orion was moody at best and pitched a fit when it was time to go.

Day 49 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion was cruising at Chuck E Cheese today.  This little car was supposed to take pictures, but it was being tempermental and putting lines through the pictures, so I took my own.  Orion had a blast and he got truly worn out. He was falling asleep on me by the time we left.  He even fell asleep on a ride...

 

And Apollo had to get in on the action too.  He was too little to really play at Chuck E Cheese, but he had some fun courtesy of Nonni at Monkey Joe's. As you can see in the background, Monkey Joe's is an indoor playground with a bunch of inflatable bouncers, obstacle courses and slides. Riley and Orion were holding their own with the big kids, but Apollo took it easy.  He did do some bouncing though!

Day 48 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion wanted to play basketball with the big boys, so daddy made HIM the basketball.  Slam dunk!

 

And Apollo was mad because he had to take a nap while the older kids played.  And I FINALLY caught his infamous pout with the camera.  He does this alllllll the time, but he always stops when I bring out the camera.  I surprised him this time and caught it.

Day 47 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

So Apollo beat Orion to the ER.  He, Alex and Orion were in a hammock in the back yard at Nonni's and the hammock broke.  Alex took the brunt of the fall and Orion landed on soft grass, but Apollo did land on his right side on the support bar under the hammock.  Since he's so little, we went ahead and took him in to the ER.  He checked out fine, just some bruising on his right shoulder, but no fractures or concussion.

 

And Orion is already a cool dude.  He climbed into his Uncle Cody's car and jumped into the driver's seat.  Then he searched through the car and found his sunglasses.  Doesn't he look cute?

Day 46 of 365 Photo Challenge

Orion and Riley commandeered the XBox 360, meaning they sat somewhat still for at LEAST 5 minutes. Best, most peaceful 5 minutes of my day.  The 2 Y/O Terrors attack...

 

I am fully convinced that Orion is going to be my little Linebacker and Apollo is going to be my little Rockstar.  Apollo is already nibbling on guitars, real and inflatable.  Riley would go nuts if she saw Apollo "numming" her guitar, but we couldn't find the inflatable microphone.

Day 45 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

First day in Smyrna at Lee Victory Park.  Orion loves these swings and did when he was little too.  He had a blast and got worn out pretty quick. There was also an injured butterfly, a huge daddy long legs and a ninja squirrel at the park. 

 

Apollo is practicing his sitting.  This is the chair on Alecia porch and he sat there while Orion incessantly rang her doorbell until she answered the door.

Day 44 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion eating his reward lunch for being such a good boy during his ultrasound.  Too bad he didn't get his ice cream because he started acting out right after this and was being SO bad he didn't even get a toy today.  While we were at the store, he kicked me in the head when I was getting something off a bottom shelf and he rolled the cart over Mimi's toe.. and laughed about it both times.  Plus, he was spitting, hitting and screaming the whole time, so he got lunch and that's it.

 

Apollo, on the contrary, being a perfectly sweet little angel.  He didn't fuss at all in the store and he even held everything for mommy.  He was definitely the good child today.

Day 43 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

The swing Mike gave us 2 years ago is still going strong... albeit many, many sets of batteries later. Orion loved this thing, and Apollo is taking after big brother.  Kiddo will swing for an hour at a time, watching TV.  Sometimes he falls asleep in the swing, but most of the time, he just swings and coos and smiles at anyone who walks by.  He's my little lovebug.

 

Orion was shaking his cup and tried to "feed his neck" with his sippy cup. Orion looks naked here, but he's wearing a Pull-Up and pants.  He is starting to take his diaper and/or Pull-Up off.  He took his night-night diaper off the other night and subsequently pooped in his bed.  Then later in the day, he took his Pull-Up off and threw it at me and proceeded to smack himself and exclaim in delight. *sigh*  So he wears pants almost all the time now, even if it IS blistering hot out. Hopefully this is a sign that he's getting ready to really potty train...

Day 42 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

This is apparently how Apollo watches TV. I had him sitting down after his bottle to watch Yo Gabba Gabba while I got Orion seated at the table and fed.  I walked back in to check on him and he was doing this.  I straightened him up and went back to fixing lunch, and again he was like this.  I found him this way 4 different times and finally gave up and let him sit like that for a few minutes until he started fussing, then it was nap time.

 

Orion loves his baby brother, but the jealousy is starting to show and he's acting out a bit lately. Apollo is in no danger as Orion hasn't tried to hurt him, he is just throwing more tantrums and not listening.  I guess any attention is good attention when he feels he's being slighted, even if he's getting in trouble.  (They're getting the same amount of time each, but that's half as much as Orion is used to. The novelty of the new baby has worn off for him and he's getting closer to two every day.) So upon the suggestion of my parents, we took O out shopping and left Apollo with them so Orion could have some one-on-one (one-on-two?) time with Mommy and Daddy.  We went to the Dollar Tree and let him pick out a toy and this is what he chose - it's an alligator hat, but he has it on backwards.  It was the best picture I could get of him wearing it.

Day 41 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Orion is such a little goofball.  He turns into a total ham most of the time when the camera comes out. This was no exception. We were unloading the car at Target after getting Apollo's medicine and some super-cheap Pampers.  They had the Cynthia Rowley ones that started at 14.99 for 23 diapers on clearance for 6.48, so we picked up the 1 pack they had of size 3 and two packs of size 4.  We managed to get all 3 designs for boys. Paired with O's leftover Huggies jeans diapers in size 5, Apollo is gonna have a stylin' bum next Spring and Summer.

 

And Apollo is turning into a ham of a different sort.  He still hams it up for the camera like Orion does, but he's also starting to get a little chunky.  Orion didn't have an ounce of fat on him at this age and his little legs looked like toothpicks, whereas Apollo's chunky thighs could pass for Thanksgiving drumsticks.  And he's super-ticklish there too...it's so funny because if you tickle his thighs, he smiles but tries not to laugh, although he usually fails.

I Need A Vacation

   Seriously, with all of the stress brought upon us by our neighbors, Alex and I are in desperate need of a vacation.  Not that we can turn paper into money, because believe me, if we could, we'd have visited Tennessee months ago.  But it rained suddenly and a $200 gas card bonked Alex on the head, so after a false start this week, we are set to go on a much needed get-away next week.  The boys' bag is packed already and we're just gonna leave it that way since they have enough clothes to do that.  And packing their stuff is a pain in the butt. 

   We're going to be leaving either early Tuesday morning or late Wednesday afternoon, depending on how work looks for Alex.  There's a good possibility that the Wednesday truck may be canceled.  If that's the case, we'll be leaving out about 4 AM on Tuesday and making a sweep through Smyrna that afternoon before heading on to Nashville. Then we'll be staying through Sunday morning.  Not too sure about any definitive plans, but we are mostly planing to visit with family.  I know Nana and Papaw are excited as they haven't met Apollo yet.  Neither have Aunt Lisa and aunt Buffie, the triplets and Gracie.   Or the big one - Samantha and Riley.  They're the reason this trip came into existence.  I showed Alex a picture of Riley and she's SO big now and it made him completely homesick since he hasn't seen his sister and Riley (his niece) since January.  Riley was 19 months old when we left and now she's over 2!  Plus, Samantha didn't know she was pregnant with Luke yet when we left and she's due in a month and a half.  We'll get to take her the baby gift for Luke too... as well as take Deja CJ's gift.

   That makes me wonder...what has changed about Orion since we left... Well, he was 15 months old when we left Tennessee.  He's now 22 1/2 months old, so it's been almost 8 months.  In that time, he has learned to walk, run, jump, kick, throw, brush his teeth, sit at the table, drink from a hard spout cup, go down a slide by himself, play a kazoo, climb furniture, climb stairs and talk - he says a lot of words now and has dozens of other "special" words that mean something to him, but most people wouldn't know what he meant.  I'll try to make a list of his words:

   He says Mama, Daddy, Mimi, Popff (Pops), Up, No, Yes, Bubba, Baby, Milk, Ju (Juice), Cup, Bug, Gabba (Yo Gabba Gabba), Ow, Eww, Uh Oh, Mine, Oh No, Nana (Banana), Go (When he has to potty), Night-Night, Bye-Bye, Hi, Hey, Whee, Truck and more than I just can't think of right now.  He's such a helper too.  He takes trash to the trash can (including wet diapers) and his brother's bottles to the sink.  He brings Apollo a binkie when he cries and is always trying to bring him blankets.  I guess it was good decision to have them so close together, even if they DO drive me nuts sometimes.  At least they nap together and both sleep through the night together.  Orion (usually) goes to bed at 8pm and is up by 9am. Apollo is in bed by 10 pm and is up by 10am.  I like the staggering, it happens that way with their naps too.  It gives me a few moments to get one settled before the other one needs me.  I'll be glad when Orion is out of diapers.

Day 40 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

I have a picture very similar to this of Orion, although Orion was a bit older (and smaller - ha ha).  I remember it well.  Regardless of the picture of Orion, Apollo is obviously getting big.  He ate 30 ounces today and screamed bloody murder when he finished his last bottle.  I am thinking cereal soon is in order.

 

Orion has a "playhouse" in our living room that is created by the Pack n Play and his Fisher-Price house doorway.  He goes in there all the time to play - that's where his toy box and Learn n Groove Table are.  He also goes in there when he's in trouble to hide.  That's what he was doing here and when I called his name, he stuck his tongue out at me, so I snapped it into the photo archives.

Day 39 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Not the best quality picture and I realize the lighting is pretty crappy, but Apollo was holding his own 8 ounce bottle.  Not only is he being a little pigget, but he wants to do it himself.  He held it for about 15 seconds before he let go and wouldn't do it again, so this is the best I could get.

 

And Grandpa sent Daddy a computer in the mail, so we gave the box to Orion to play with in his Pack n Play.  He was supposed to be watching Super Why, but he spent almost an hour in that box before he started eating it and I had to take it away.  Yes, I said eating it...

Day 38 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Apollo is getting to be such a little character and he loves mirrors.  He is really enjoying the IntellTainer and this mirror is part of it.  You can see his Jumperoo in the background - he's starting to play in it some too.  I love babies at this age!

 

Orion loves his chair, but he very rarely SITS in it.  This was a rare moment and he was actually on his way out of the chair as I snapped this.  He usually dives over the arm into the chair on his tummy and rolls out... boys...

Day 37 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

Apollo went swimming with big brother today and he held his own.  He even went down the slide and splashed a bit in the bubbles.  He's gonna be a water baby just like his brother.

 

We had BBQ Beef Brisket for Labor Day, which we served on garlic Texas Toast with cheddar cheese slices. Orion even had his own little sandwich, which he tore into.  In true BBQ fashion, he got it all over his mouth and even in his lap. He really enjoyed it and ate over half of this sandwich, plus one fried Mac N Cheese nugget and 7 Corn nuggets.  This baby loves his corn!

Day 36 of 365 Photo Challenge

 

It has been unbearably hot and miserable for the entire month of August, so Orion has had little time to enjoy his pool.  Today, it barely broke 90, so we pulled it out and gave it a whirl, especially since tomorrow's our Labor Day cookout with Mimi and Pops!  We left it half blown-up at their house for tomorrow.  He had a blast and only came in when the mosquitoes started to bite.

 

And Apollo is teething...and drooling...everywhere.  I took this from under him.  Mimi was holding him on the porch and I was on the ground below - he had already clobbered me with half a dozen spit strings before this one... this was just the first good picture I managed to capture.