Time to brush up on gospel doctrine?

This morning we've been building with blocks. It started as normal, building a bridge. Usually we just build bridges. Today we progressed, though, to building a library tower temple barn. It was pretty impressive.

But Nathan wasn't done there. To the best of my understanding of toddler speak, he started using his blocks to build Zion. That's what it sounded like. I really need to take a closer look at that nursery manual my mother in law gave me. What are they teaching my kid at church? 

When "Please bless the food" becomes "bwess food!"

Last week we started on cereal.

It was not her favorite. She hasn't yet gotten the idea that when the spoon comes, she should open her mouth. We'd have to put our fingers close to her mouth. And she, thinking she'd get to suck on a finger, would open and get a mouthful of...what? What is this? But she did swallow most of it. I don't think food will get exciting until we start on something that has actual taste, though. I'd probably make the same face if I had to eat a rice cereal/formula mush.

We've also been working on prayers. Nathan likes to pray. And he'll say about half of the words that you tell him to say. My favorite, though is "Thank you for..." Because Nathan's "thankyou" sounds like "give you." "Give you mom, give you dad, give you Clara." It sounds like he's willing to trade his whole family in exchange for blessings like "sleep good" and "have fun." Apparently family, the thing that should be most important, matters little. All he wants is a good night's sleep and a good time the next day. Little hedonist. It's funny and sweet to watch him learn to pray. And he pays attention a lot better when he's the one praying. Double good.

This baby

This baby is six and a half months. Can you believe it?

I can't. We took her in for her six-month visit a couple weeks ago. She's huge. At four months, she was still zero percentile for her weight. At six months, 14 pounds, she's skyrocketed up to the fifteenth percentile. I'm thinking the fourteen pounds may have something to do with the six ounces she consumed immediately before going to the doctor, though. Literally, immediately before. I lost track of time (I wish I could say I was doing something important) and realized both kids were asleep and we needed to be at the doctor in twenty minutes. So, supermom that I am, I fed Clara a bottle while putting shoes on Nathan and myself, changed Clara's diaper and got her overalls on. Yes, I fed a bottle and changed a diaper on the same baby at the same time. I'm a little proud of my multitasking skills.

She's working on learning to sit. And she loves to watch her big brother. Big brothers are the best, except when they trip and fall on top of you. That is sad.

This picture goes all the way back to June 1, when we first got the exersaucer out. Her feet barely reached the ground and if you didn't prop her up right, her arms would get stuck and she'd sit there with her chin resting on the seat. She's grown into it now and loves it. She especially loves the giraffe on it, which was also Nathan's favorite. He made the giraffe permanently bendy from pulling it down to chew on it.

And Nathan couldn't resist the novelty of a new toy. This is the only time he climbed in it, though. It's not fun to be stationary anymore.

All hands on deck

We've been a little preoccupied around here lately. Building will do that to you, I guess. Ever since we moved in we thought it would be nice to add some sort of patio to our backyard. Because seriously, how has this house existed for twenty-plus years without making the backyard space a little more livable?

So this year we took the plunge. It started as an impulse.  We went into the backyard to talk about location, size, etc., and the next thing we knew, we were ripping up grass to move a sprinkler line. Whoops, we started building a deck. I guess we better finish. Has that ever happened to you?

We got the footings, poles, and beams into place. Nathan called it a barn. And then my dad, wonder building-man, came to the rescue. Because we really didn't know what we were doing. And my dad, who built both of the houses I grew up in, thinks decks are "simple" projects. He helped us get it square, strong, and ready to plank.

 With a little expert help and innumerable trips to Lowe's, it's nearly done. Well, nearly usable. Once the planks are finished, I think we'll celebrate with an outdoor dinner. We'll still need to add stairs, railing, and some trim around the sides. Hopefully that won't go the way of all other projects I start, lose steam, and then wait a couple of years before completing.

But if you ask Nathan, it's already just right. Just right for dancing.