My birthday

For my birthday Jay took a half day of work. In the morning Theo and I went to the library and actually saw lots of friends at toddler time.
Jay got home and we had lunch and then went to the mall. There is an extreme heat warning and we decided to do the indoor play area and walk around. I just wanted to do something that Theo would enjoy and would be fun for us. We went to Cold Stone. Theo picked out a brownie batter ice cream and a chocolate for his 2 flavors. I got butter pecan and Oreo cream. Jay got mint and . . . something else too.

Theo liked his chocolate flavors, but I think it was a bit much. We shared. He asked if I liked sharing with him. I told him I did. He said, "I love sharing with you!" He liked feeding me big bites. He decided he liked my Oreo cream ice cream better than his flavors.

I picked up take out for dinner and on our way home, because Theo really really wanted it, we stopped for blueberries at the store. I think I spoil that kid. But it wasn't like our food was going to get cold. The car thermometer said 112 degrees when we got in, and that was under the car port.

Jay and Theo made me a joint gift. Theo picked out a small stone that he called Jupiter. Jay polished it and set it so that it can be hung from a necklace. He also printed a jewelry box pyramid with Stargate symbols on it. Jay and I used to watch Stargate together on Hulu when we were newly married. He also carved an "e" on it so it is a "jewel-e." Theo likes to point to a mark on the rock and tell me it's Jupiter's red spot. Also he has forbidden me to put it on a chain and wear it. He insists that it belongs in the pyramid.

That's Jupiter around my neck!
Days later, Theo is letting me wear it.

My parents got me some very nice gifts also for my kitchen.

I was sweetly surprised that my mom also had a gift for me from her mom, who passed away earlier this year. She had crocheted some fall leaf coasters for me and written a card with cash (rather than a check).

Negotiator

The other day Theo was knocking his magnet letters off the fridge (again) and I told him to pick them up because I really don't like stepping on them.
Theo answered in a very friendly, reasonable voice, "Then don't step on them. Walk around them, like this!" And then Theo proceeded to show me twice that it was possible to walk in the kitchen without stepping on them.
Maybe he'll work in negotiation when he grows up.

Counting and Bedtime

Last night before bed he asked for 4 socks. He them on his hands and feet. Then he asked for 5 pajamas. We put on multiple shirts and pants. Then he asked for 8 stuffed animals, and then 9 books. After that he declared, "Now I need 10 cloths for 11 boogers!"

(We use cloths instead of tissues at night because he demolishes boxes of tissues.)

I shut him down at this point. It was bedtime. Also, if he wasn't stopping at 10, this could go on all night.

Speeder

Theo has only named things once before: we were playing with imaginary giant ants while swimming a month ago and Theo named them "Jeannette, Pool, and Rock." Well yesterday he got a little figure that Jay 3D printed for Theo ages ago that was called a space cow. Theo named it Speeder and ran around yelling, "This is Speeder! Speed, Speeder, speed!"

It's so cute to see him imagination.

A piano duet at my parents'

There's a book called Pete the Cat and his 4 Groovy Buttons.
In it, the buttons pop off and roll away, one at a time. Each time the book says, "Did Pete cry? Goodness no! Buttons come and buttons go. . ."
Theo found a button one day and insisted he needed more buttons. Then he insisted we sew it to his shirt. I told him he could use his paint shirt (which is a HS Jr ROTC T-shirt). I asked a few times if he wanted the buttons to be able to pop off or not. He said he did not want the buttons to be able to pop off like Pete's did.
He lied. He was so sad that the buttons did not pop off and roll away. I will have to devise something with Velcro in the future.

Theo in his shirt with the groovy buttons that do not pop off and roll away.

 I watched Rachel for 3 hours a week ago and they had fun together. After she arrived, I heard her tell Theo that she wanted a cupcake for a snack. Theo immediately responded brightly, "My mommy can make some for you!"

30 minutes later she was still talking about cupcakes and I figured that it would be a good activity to keep them busy. We put one kid in charge of the wet ingredients and the other did the dry with their own bowls. Then we made mini cupcakes. After they cooled, I made frosting and put it into small bowls with different colors for them to decorate. This is where things got crazy. Between trying to make the different frosting colors and help them put the most important parts on (rainbow sprinkles) the kids ate a lot of the cupcakes and frosting. Oops. The other times I watched Rachel we had healthy snacks. But they had a great time.

Stirring green and red frosting.

Painting Water Wows with real paint brushes and cups of water

Sunday nap. I had to clear off a spot for me.

Rain

We had the rare occurrence of rain and sunshine at the same time. Deserts can make for extreme weather differences in the sky. Theo loves playing in the rain, both trying to get very wet and also insisting that he needs an umbrella or two.

Notice the drops visibly hitting the ground and the blue sky behind them and the bright light in front casting a shadow on Jay's head. 

Also a preview of his Goku Halloween costume. He's going to wear this thing forever.

No filters.
I took a picture into the sun and it looks like most of it is in black and white. It's not.