Summer Fun

My apologies to anyone who checks this blog more often than quarterly! I have returned, and might even manage a few pictures! We have had a lot of happenings: Hunter recently lost his first tooth, finished kindergarten, and learned to ride a bike! His teacher said he was a "role model" in class, and he has loved going to school. It was half day, and he rode the bus. I'm glad I listened to my intuition and started him "early", with his Sept 9 birthday. He is now in the 50th percentile for his height, which is fantastic! (Being 7 weeks premature it took about a year to even get on the chart, and he's been in the 10-20th percentile most of his life). He is still having trouble hearing and snoring and breathing through his nose. We've done some naturopathic treatments for him, but since his tonsils are "enormous" (say the MDs) we are going to go ahead and have them removed, along with those adenoids, and probably put tubes in again - all at once. He is becoming a useful helper around the house and he loves his little brother, even though they spend the day competing with each other.

Master Kyler is a cutie and a sweetie. He loves his Radio Flyer scooter, and couldn't wait to go get on it after church recently. He put the helmet on himself, as you can see. The best thing about Kyler is that he has been potty trained for 6 months (he was 27 months when we did it)! Woo hoo! I recommend the book Toilet Training in Less Than A Day to anyone who wonders how to do it. If you follow the directions in the book, it works! If they are cooperative and show any signs of readiness, it can be done as young as 20 months. He likes to play and to cuddle and to rough house.

We spent the last week visiting family and friends in New Mexico and Arizona. The boys did impressively well on both flights, so there was no threat of being thrown off the plane (couldn't say that when Kyler was 20 months old). We didn't even have to break out the benadryl! It was nice to be "back home", though we didn't miss the summer heat. Albuquerque continues to grow like crazy, and there was a lot of new stuff built in the year we've been gone. We got to see David and Grandma Dee's new home (thanks for everything!), and Uncle Dusty and his fiance Pattie happened to be traveling through at the same time so we got to hang with them. We saw Nikki and Pepe and their family as well; Nikki's due to have number 4 any time now.

We went to the Burnham Family Reunion near Heber, AZ (my Mom's side of the family). We are not much into camping, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Thanks to my folks for bringing all the camping equipment for us, and feeding us there! Dean and Curtis built nice camp fires, and the boys had a ball rolling in the dirt and playing with cousins. There were fun games and activities, and lots of visiting with all those relatives! We had planned to stay for the Heber fireworks show, but with the early flight out of Phoenix the next morning, we decided to drive down there and go to bed instead, which was a relief (I know I didn't sleep much the night before on the swim pad in the tent with Hunter snoring in my ear). Kyler stepped in a recently-abandoned fire just before we left and got some hot ash in his sandals, which burned his toes a bit. He was one sad boy for a while, but is recovering well.