There and Back Again... and Again

We spent half of July in Utah.  I faced some of my fears and... it turned out okay.

At the beginning of the month (on July 4th, to be exact), the boys and I flew up so we could spend some much needed time with my brother David and my sister Trace.  We just love her kids.  We hadn't seen the boys for two and a half years and we loved just about every minute (during the day, ha ha).  I almost cancelled our flight the night before (Atticus woke up with a fever of 104!) but he rallied and had a lot of fun!

Above were some of our Independence Day festivities.

We went to the Curiosity Museum, the Aquarium, and spent a day at Scheel's.

There was a lot of sweet, much needed bonding.  I sure hope we can see them again soon.

We came home for less than a week and then drove up a second time, this time with Dane.  Our first few days were spent with Bob and Marti.  We went to the Fowkes family reunion in Nephi (they are from Marti's Mom, Renee's side).  

We got some time with Dane's cousin, who is "Uncle" Jake to Atticus (when he couldn't think of Jake's name he just referred to him as the "big guy with the best beard"_ and we had a lot of time to hang out with Bobba and Nana, especially at the beginning of our trip.

Atticus often woke up early enough to go with Bob on walks and look for golf balls.  One morning he decided he needed to wear a pair of Bob's shorts so he could run fast.  It was hilarious.

Halfway through this visit my other sister, Laurel came into town with her family.

There was hot tubbing, the Curiosity Museum, boating, Farm Country, 

a trip to Hogle Zoo, and more bonding.

Atticus LOVED being with ALL of his cousins (this includes Drew, Schaffer and Kennedy), but it was pretty obvious who he bonded with the most.  He and Natalie are only three and a half months apart in age and they were practically inseparable.  

 

It makes me even more eager to plan our next reunion.  I just LOVE my family!  The nights weren't easy for either trip (they never are!) but it was so, so, SO worth it. 

Speaking of tough nights, our sweet, adorable Hinckley spent most of the month still struggling with gas.  At the end of the month he ended up having an ear infection again, and Dane and I are wondering if his initial ear infection (he had it at the end of June) never really went away.

Regardless of the reason, he was still needing to be held pretty much all night and even then struggled to stay asleep, even with my new dairy and soy free diet (the gastroenterologist did confirm his milk-protein allergy at the beginning of the month.  It's not easy avoiding those foods while being away from home!)

That didn't stop him from being the star of the show a lot of the time.  He's just so sweet, pleasant, and roly-poly (we LOVE his chunky thighs!) that everyone falls in love with him.

I'm SO happy to report that, while we didn't dare give him too many solids while traveling, he is now trying all sorts of baby food and finger foods!  The spell seems to have been broken! 

He has been shaking his head "no" all month (we're now wondering if it was, in part, due to his ears! poor little guy!)  He also twists his cute tongue all over the place.  He still isn't crawling- seems content to just spin around until he finds a toy he can play with , but he REALLY wants to stand all the time.  He'll lock his knees and won't let you sit him down.

Our final Saturday morning we spent some time with Dane's grandparents.  Once again, Hinckley go got a LOT of attention.  Who can resist squeezing that little body?

Speaking of all the attention given to Hinckley, Atticus has struggled with sharing the spotlight.  While I get frustrated sometimes, I'm proud of him for actually verbalizing this more and more.  "I'm jealous of Hinckley because..."  But don't feel too sorry for him.  He gets a whole lot of loving and attention.

At the very beginning of the month he was jumping into the pool and busted his chin open.  We are still trying to get it to heal completely (he has picked it and opened it up again and again!)

His swimming is amazing (he is completely floatie free!) and he has now conquered his fear of jumping in to the point that he jumps off of the high ledge next to the pool "like a big kid."  We are SO proud of him!

He has been pretending to be a cat a lot lately (I actually enjoy this- he calms down, lets me hold him in his lap, and is faaaar more cooperative when he's a cat!) and has been asking for stories with unicorns, dinosaurs, tigers, and princesses in them.  Ha ha, he also often requests for stories with something violent that happens.  Silly boy.

Another very recent development is his attachment to his bed.  For starters, he is finally admitting to being tired and even will just go to his bed- on his own- to try to take a nap.  It rarely works but it's a huge step for him.  The downside to this attachment is that, when he feels hurt or offended, he will storm off and say he's "just going to sleep!"  He keeps misinterpreting what Dane and I say, believing that we've told him he's a jerk and that we don't love him anymore.  It is pretty heart breaking.  We have our work cut out for us this month!

In spite of what he may sometimes think, we ADORE our crazy, fish of a three-year-old!

Atticusisms:
"I'm going to kick you out of the house!"
"I'm gonna move to another state!" (neither of these first two are said in a joking manner!)
"If you say that again I'm going to __________ (some pretty nasty threats often follow)."
"Are my goggles upside down?"
"Mommy, I like girls.  That's why I want a sister."
"Tell me a quiet story about Jesus and a unicorn." (during church)
"Can I please have broccoli?"
"Just one more kiss!" (when he was saying goodbye at my mom's house- I think he hugged and kissed Natalie 4 times)
"I really, really love her." (right afterward in the car)
"I really miss Natalie. Will I ever see her again?" (the next day when we got home)
"Why is your belly button disgusting?" (What does disgusting mean?) "I don't know."