Father's Day

We had lunch at Aunt Di's. Michael expertly avoided the dog's tongue while patiently waiting for his hot dog to cook.


Later that day we had dinner and fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Michael had fun "helping" Uncle Nate with the tissue paper.


Then decided Grandpa needed help with his.


And of course, we watched Braden's favorite TV show, AFV.




After AFV, Michael decided he wanted to be a big boy and play games. Notice what the controller is connected to? He was having too much fun to care!

Michael's First Parade and Horse Pull

In June we went to the local Town Days parade and later that night the Horse Pull. It was Michael's first, and with the clouds threatening rain we got front row seats. Michael's favorite part of the parade was all the motorcycles.

The sirens caught his attention - he was trying to see what else was coming.


The first candy from a parade, a yummy sucker! And he thought it was all about the sirens and motorcycles.


What's a local, small town parade without plenty of horses?




Local law enforcement hound dogs.




Yippee! Another motorcycle!


And he's even handing out stickers!


Still watching the motorcycle.


Our friend Kalidawn in the middle - her dad is driving.


Our friend JD - he was in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.


It isn't a parade without some kind of military involvement.



Michael's second favorite part of the parade - Cosmo!





Michael wanted to keep watching Cosmo dance.



After the parade we got to take pictures with Cosmo. Michael even let Cosmo hold him to take more pictures!




He wasn't quite sure what to think of the whiskers.


I'm such a good sister, I even took a picture for Mike. Cosmo had lots of people wanting pictures and lots of kids wanting autographs. Swoop had people looking at him like he was a crazy man. Hmmm. What's that all about?


That night was the horse pull. For those who have never been to a horse pull, teams of horses get hooked up to a sleigh that gets loaded down with weights (in this case, packages of roofing shingles). From a complete stop, the horses have to pull the sleigh a certain distance to stay in the competition. More weight is added until teams start dropping out.



Watching the horses - and teething.




What do you do when you run out of shingles and the horses are still capable of pulling? Start getting volunteers from the audience, ask how much they weigh, then tell them to climb up and hold on.

Why the Swing was Dismantled

Michael hasn't always loved his swing. Liked, yes. Loved, no. Until recently.
When he was a baby and we put him in the swing, he would love it for about five minutes at a time. When he could crawl under it, he liked trying to figure out how it worked - and watching it swing above him. Once he got too big for it, we kept it in the living room to block the rock fireplace (because the paranoid Momma worried he'd hit his head). He ignored the swing for a few months, and recently decided he absolutely LOVES it!


Climbing in...


Buckling up (or pretending to)...


Chillin'...


Climbing out.

Repeat until Daddy gets tired of holding it steady.

I'm Tired!

Michael is so full of energy, sometimes it seems like he doesn't need to sleep at all. And he's very even-tempered. If he starts getting fussy, either he doesn't feel well or it's time to sleep. But he doesn't always get fussy when he's tired. Sometimes he tells us it's nap time by pulling his lamb and his blanket out of his crib. He runs to his crib to get it, and then runs around with it for a few minutes before he drops it and does a nose dive into it. Sounds like a tired boy, right? Sometimes he even climbs onto the rocking chair and picks out a book (we always read before bedtime and naps).

Helping Make Dinner

Michael loves helping us make dinner. Currently, his version of helping consists of twirling around in the kitchen, opening and closing the refrigerator, or using the oven mitts to play peek-a-boo.

Big Boy

Every time we look at pictures, I'm amazed at how quickly Michael is growing up. He's learning to brush his teeth by himself....









He's gotten quite good at climbing on and off furniture...


..including the rocking chair (with toys, shoes, books, or blankets in hand).



He likes chillin' on the couch with Momma and Daddy.




He's trying out "big boy pajamas" (two piece), and still loves talking on the phone.



He goes to time out (even when he's not asked).



He still loves his books (and Cosmo).



And he remembers how the water cooler works, even though we haven't used it since before he could walk (for obvious reasons).



Even though he's too big for it, he still likes to climb into his swing every once in a while.



He's even learning to put his shoes and socks on all by himself...and it's even cuter when he tries to put socks on over the top of his shoes!