water babies

It's never easy to leave the pool!

With the scorching heat keeping us from doing much else, we have spent a lot of time in the pool these past few weeks.  Paul tries to take Emma Jane after her nap on the days he gets home early.  Vivi and I join them most of the time.  We were relieved to learn that Vivian seems to enjoy the water just as much as her sister.  Emma Jane is quickly becoming very comfortable in the pool and can even glide underwater a few feet from the steps to Paul or me.  This afternoon she did this over and over again and came up smiling each and every time!  Vivian just sits back in her floaty and chills.  Thank goodness both girls love the water because we will be spending many more days at the pool this summer!

wakey wakey

Emma Jane loves to "wake" Vivi from her naps.  (We don't go into the nursery until Vivi is already stirring, but Emma Jane doesn't realize she isn't actually waking Vivi up.)  Big sis quietly climbs up the side of the crib and gently nudges her baby sister while whispering, "Come on, sissy, wake up.  It's time to play!"  Vivi almost always gives Emma Jane a big smile.  I will never tire of watching these girls play together.  To me, it's one of the best parts of being a mom of two!

sudsy sisters

Since Paul was out of town this weekend, I put the girls in the tub together for the first time.  Emma Jane was thrilled!  Two nights in a row she hurried through her dinner and didn't even ask for dessert because she was so excited to take a bath with Vivian.  Vivi loved it, too, and giggled the whole time. 

flying solo

The title of this post has a double meaning.  First of all, this weekend is the first time I have had to practice solo parenting of two since Paul is out of town.  What does a mom do to entertain a very busy almost three-year-old and a perpetually hungry 6-month-old?  Well, we spent a lot of time in the playroom and kitchen!  Unfortunately, it is just TOO hot to play outside for very long and I am not quite ready to brave the pool alone with both kiddos.  After two full days of missing daddy,  Emma Jane had just about had it with boring old mom! 

To break up the just mommy monotony, I helped Emma Jane make a "kite" today. She's been asking for one ever since she saw some flying over the beach a few weeks ago. I knew this kite wouldn't actually work, but I didn't let Emma Jane know that. We designed and decorated the kite together while Vivi took her morning nap. Then I took Emma Jane outside to try it out. She grabbed the end of the kite string and ran as fast as she could all over the yard and up and down the sidewalks. As long as the kite was above ground, she thought it was flying. She was so proud to be flying her kite solo! After our kite flying adventure, we woke Vivi up and went to the new frozen yogurt place to celebrate Emma Jane's new kite flying skills.  Vivi is still happy to watch her sister having all the fun, but I have a feeling that this will be coming to an end very soon.