Zachary:
- Zachary saved up for a watch this summer and when he got it, timed everything. If I said, I'll do that in just a minute, I knew if it was 90 seconds or 30. He timed his chores, his piano songs, his laps around the house, the time Owen napped, etc. He was devastated when watch #1 broke, followed with watch #2. He researched better watches every spare minute and decided he wanted a Garmin. Ding! We remembered that Brady had an old Garmin, and Zachary is so happy with his FREE watch with GPS, the time, a stopwatch, etc. Now he is back to spending every spare minute researching an epoxy surfboard.
- Zachary and Chase beg to get together and catch lizards. The benefit of living in the jungle with our giant geckos and lizards is that there is no end to finding them in the house, in the yard, on the steps, and in the shower. They now even spend half their time at the beach catching lizards in the bushes. They've also been brainstorming where they plan to build their "hideout" between our houses (we will be next door neighbors when our houses are built) where they will do homework, sleep, snack and catch lizards.
- One way we are letting Zac earn money is by reading and doing book reports this summer. We picked out a few books for him: Hatchet, Bridge to Terebethia, and Where the Red Fern Grows. We warned him that the Red Fern ending is sad, but it was still the most tender moment to walk into the living room as he read the final pages in tears.
Kate:
- Kate is into music and singing. There is music on in the house at 7am every morning, with Owen dancing and Kate singing. She wants to be a professional singer. Sometimes if I sing with her, she stops, feeling bashful. Watching her sing the soundtrack to "Beauty and the Beast," "Trolls," and "Sing" when we are in the car is a highlight of basically every day.
- Kate is getting more courageous with ocean water. There was a king tide and big waves on Saturday. She sat in the sand and got pummeled over and over by big waves on purpose, throwing her head back and belly laughing with each crash.
- I looked up how to play dolls with Kate. Isn't that silly? But that's what she wants to play and I need to be better at it, so I got some ideas and I've been trying harder to engage in pretend play. It's so much easier for me to play board games, read her stories, and dance with her than play dolls, but this phase will not last forever and I want to participate while I can.
Owen:
- Owen is changing every minute. He points to body parts (belly button, nose, tongue, eyes), he insists of feeding himself with a spoon and fork, and he says a new word every week. "More," "walk," and "mom" are his most common words. He babbles constantly, pointing to trees and clouds and airplanes and saying, "OH!" followed by babble. He looks so much older to me, but at nearly 19 months, he is still only rocking the scale at 21 pounds. He might look older, but he still loves breastfeeding.
- Rice and sand drive Owen crazy. He hates the sticky feeling on his fingers. He does love to throw sand (groan).
- Bedtime makes Owen come alive. He dances, runs around the house in circles, plays his own game of toss and chase the binkey, sings, claps, and jumps off (small) things. It's impossible to not feel his joy and love and enthusiasm, and we end up getting all three kids to bed late because we can't stop soaking it all up. He's not perfect--he can throw a heartbreaking tantrum and he has plenty of fussy days a month, but this stage of his life is magic.
The house is moving quickly. The foundation work and pours are complete. Brady works each night and we spend hours looking at materials together and separately. Brady somehow balances his workload with the house, but comments that this time around has been a breeze compared to building the first time. We hope it all goes smoothly. We still don't love the rental (the washer and dryer broke last week, the fridge freezes half our food while the other half spoils from not having enough cold air, and the roof leaks), but eh. It will not last forever and in the meantime, we'll keep playing in the driveway and watching Zachary catch lizards.
Saturday, we snuck in some family time at the beach. It was a gorgeous afternoon with crystal clear water. That night, we celebrated our anniversary with my dream date--surfing followed by dinner at Duke's. Brady paddle surfed and I was on my surfboard, and we caught several waves together. I hope I always remember looking over at each other and laughing while we competed for who could stay on the wave the longest. It got pretty dark before we headed in, and we showered at the beach, changed clothes in the car (including throwing on some makeup and feeling grateful restaurant lighting is dim), and ran to Duke's with shoes in hand to make our reservation in time and meet up with Nic and Heidi. Perfect. Dreamy. Happy 16 years to us.
Last night, I started feeling sick after dinner. I was awake much of the night feeling terrible (cold symptoms), and in the morning, I woke up to Zachary and Kate bringing me these sweet notes and doting on me. They cared for Owen, got everything ready for church, fed themselves and cleaned up, and kept asking, "Is there anything I can do for you?" My heart was throbbing with love for them and their tender hearts.
The kids hate going on Sunday walks. Actually, they hate the idea of the Sunday walk and always love it once we are there. Sunday nights are my favorite.
