Hard day at the office

Yes! It's true. There is a baby keyboard. Usually Hogan and I play his games together, but today I needed to clean the room and keep someone's hands off of Troy's bonsai trees and busy on something productive. Hogan means well when tries to water Troy's bonsai trees, but somehow branches end up breaking, pine needles cover the floor, and the spray bottle full of water empties onto everything except the trees. So, I thought I'd try letting him play his computer games on his own. I shouldn't have been surprised that he could maneuver through the games and work the keyboard by himself, but I was. He's becoming such a big boy!

Safe Place

While playing in his room this week Hogan has thought it amusing to ask Troy or I to put him in his crib. He stands beside it and says, "Out?" We reply, "You mean in?" Then he replies, "In?" We've had this conversation several times already this week. Once he's in his crib he then begins to ask for things in the room. It's a fun game. "Dog?" (he means the giant reindeer that Uncle Chris and Aunt Allison got him for Christmas) After the dog follows, "Car?" Next, you guessed it, "Ball?" Last in is "Duck?" After all of his friends are in his crib with him Hogan pretends to go "night night" But this is no relaxing, close your eyes "night night". This is a falling, bouncing, wrestling, laughing "night night." Finally, after exhausting himself and all of his friends in his bed Hogan stands up and says, "Down?" which means the game is over.

Rainy Day

The free stickers that came in the mail were perfect play for a rainy day. The teacher in me envisioned sticker activities looking a bit different, but Hogan's method was much more fun!

Applied Technology

Even though I technically know Hogan probably shouldn't be messing with the DVD player I sometimes like to see how situations will play out. When he walked into the living room with a DVD case from one of his Baby Einstein movies I just watched with curiosity to see what he was planning to do because it was evident he did have a plan. First, he came to me to get it opened. Unfortunately, this case was empty. I thought this might be the end, but he surprised me by going to the shelf where we keep his other DVDs and finding another movie, which of course, I opened for him. He pulled out the DVD and toddled in his bow-legged way over to the DVD player with confidence. He knew exactly what to do. He pushed the 'open' button and slipped his DVD in. Things like this make me realize very quickly that it's going to be very hard to be smarter than Hogan when he turns 16...or 4.

Going to the Temple

Two baseball games in two days!!!! Here are some things we learned from one night to the next.

1. Don't send dad out on a hunt for a drink when Sammy Sosa is coming up to bat. Hogan and I got to see Sosa's 601st homerun. Poor Troy was scouring the park for some kind of non-soda, non-alchoholic drink to get Hogan through the last few innings.

2. Bring more than one drink. The first night we had one lonely sippy cup, which is why Troy was hunting for drink when Sosa came up to bat. The second night we brought 2 sippy cups and a cup with a straw (apparently it's a ballpark rule not to serve lids with drinks- that doesn't work with toddlers)

3. Bring toys. The first night Hogan played with the big arm of the lady beside us. The second night he played with his train (less embarrassing for us).

4. Don't buy colorful drinks with straws that your child can't drink. The first night I thought the strawberry margaritas looked yummy and so did Hogan. He was very mad he couldn't have a drink. The second night we only bought boring looking drinks with no straws.

5. Remember where you parked. The first night we were traipsing up and down rows of cars in the dark. The second night we were able to quickly locate our car.

See- we are smart parents. It just takes us two tries to get it right!

Omas are fun!

Oma came to town yesterday to visit you know who! Everything is a little more fun with Oma. The couch is a horse, a train, and a soft place to fall! Thanks Oma for visiting us!!!!

Boots

Of all the shoes Hogan has he loves his boots the most. He had left these at a friend's house and we finally retrieved them this week. When he saw them tonight it was like meeting a long lost friend. He immediately said, "Boos" and started to put them on. I'm constantly intrigued by the things that capture his attention.

Stairs

The cheapest playground ever: some stairs, a ball, a warm summer day

Hat?

Always be very scared when you hear a little voice say "Hat?" and you know that there is not a hat around. Canteloupe makes a sticky hat. A sippy cup that Hogan has somehow managed to open while you're driving and pour on himself makes a swerve off the road hat. A diaper makes an apology hat as in "I'm sorry mama for pulling all the diapers off of the shelf....Haaat?" A measuring cup filled with water makes a refreshing hat. A shoe makes a silly hat. And an actual hat, who wants to wear one of those?

Multi-tasker

Here is a list of all the things Hogan can do while brushing his teeth:

• eat toothpaste (preferably minty fresh Colgate)
• apply perfume (he prefers 'Happy' by Clinique)
• put on lipstick (any color he can get his hands on)
• drench the parental who is sitting patiently beside him
• drink copious amounts of water from any container that will hold it
• empty my makeup bag (the one I forgot to zip)
• brush his hair
• laugh at himself in the mirror
• look so cute that all Troy and I can do is to shake our heads and laugh.

Apartment Living

When I said clean the pool, I didn't mean... (by troy)

The fun thing about living in an apartment is negotiating space and living compactly. Did you know that we can fit a small pool on our itty bitty porch? Who knew? BUT if you move everything just right, throw out a few things and don't mind getting splashed by Hogan then it's the perfect space to swim!

Sour

Hmmm... what is this? Think I'll try it.

Aunt Allison captured Hogan eating a lemon. She said his face was priceless. Look at this bite- he has no fear. Is ignorance bliss? Hogan might say "No, no, no, no, no" to that!

An Apology

I apologize
to all the roly polies
who meet Hogan's hands.

Happy Father's Day

Visit to the Train Museum

Watching model trains

Getting his first tattoo

All aboard!

Breaking the rules! The sign said 'No Climbing!