Shiner

Well, it's the first but I'm quite sure it won't be the last- a black eye...

The coffee table is not kind when you fall face first into it- OUCH!!

It doesn't look too bad on camera, but it's pretty ugly in person.

The Who

Everyone knows about the "why" stage that toddlers go through and I am not looking forward to that. Cause, I'll admit sometimes I lack creativity in coming up with an answer when I don't necessarily have one, and I want to try to avoid the "just because" answer as much as possible. Don't get me wrong- I know I'll be keeping it in my back pocket for when I really need it (along with my "because mommy said so!")

So, back to the point (I think I have one), I don't remember anyone telling me about the "who" stage. This is a stage that Alli seems to be in currently. Anytime she sees a picture, book, magazine, cereal box, etc., she points to every person, character, animal or thing and says "who dat?" No sooner than I answer her is she pointing at the next one saying "n who dat?" If she doesn't get an answer right away, it becomes "who dat mama?, who dat mama, mama, who dat?...." It can be hard to come up with an identity for random people in magazines. And, as you can imagine, it quickly becomes boring especially if it is the same person over and over- "that's baby Alli, that's baby Alli..." The funny thing is she often already knows who it is and so when I answer, she says "right" with a satisfied nod of approval. So cute.

I don't know why I am so surprised and amused by this, because basically she is just mimicing what I have done to her so many times with pictures of out-of-town family members- which is all of them :-(
The mimicing behavior is also the reason why I so often hear "NO TJ, DON'T DO DAT" come out of her mouth. It's very hard to try to explain to a 2yr old that it is mommy and daddy's job to discipline TJ- not hers. She just doesn't get it.

Summer fun

Alli & cousin Maddy looking so cute & having so much fun

Weeeeee! She had a few rough landings at first, but she kept going back for more. What a blast!

TJ has had a love-hate relationship with the pool. He started out liking it until Alli splashed a little too much and got a little crazy with the water hose. Then, he started hating it. But he's warming up to it again and is starting to love it. It's a good thing 'cause mom, dad and big sister Alli really like swimming and playing in the water (especially at the river or lake), so there will be a lot of that in his future.

Rainy Day Fun!

It's been raining a lot lately and we're just not used to that in San Antonio, so we're trying to make the best of it. When Alli saw that it was raining one day she insisted that she needed her jacket and umbrella (or umbaya as she says). Any excuse to get the ladybug rain gear out works for her. She had never actually used it in the rain before. It's usually just for dress up in the house. So, this was much more fun...

She was really hamming it up for me!

Check it out- galoshes and all. This is quite a get-up!