Day in the Life with a 2 1/2 Year Old - Part 3

We are over the summer hump! Just a month til preschool starts and I think we'll survive :)

E is still on the move, but with new toys! He's finally tall enough to use the balance bike he got for Christmas, though he's definitely not a whiz at it yet. He also had fun using scooters at his friends' houses, so when a neighbor was giving one away, I jumped at it!

Our friends offered us a 90's era swingset that had never been used, or even assembled, so we happily took it off their hands and have been having fun swinging, sliding and hanging! Other outside favorites are playing catch (he can actually catch now - rock on!) and digging with his shovel in the now-empty flowerbeds.

We've had fun playdates with friends at pools, splash pads, baseball games, birthday parties, and of course, hikes. The baseball game was a bust since E didn't understand why they wouldn't stop playing so he could go play on the field - sigh. And then there was the home run that pegged me in the leg which left me with a wicked bruise for a couple weeks.

We had a wonderful visit from my friend Christine and her 21 month old daughter. They're from Houston but have been living in Tokyo for her husbands work, so we were thrilled to enjoy 4 days with them. Emmett LOVED her daughter and they played together REALLY well.

Luke had a long business trip at the end of the month, but we enjoyed a visit from his mom to help out, and then E and I headed to Houston to spend some time with my family. Luke met us there and we all headed to the beach for the weekend! E loved the beach so much, and the condo we always stay at has a fantastic pool, lazy river and water slide (which he stoutly refused to ride until the very end of the day). He and Ben had a slumber party every night with side-by-side toddler inflatable mattresses (ours is like this), and they slept wonderfully every night.

7:01 a.m. Up and at 'em with Emmett calling for Luke to come greet him in bed. My sister thought it was funny he waits for us. Every morning Ben would try to get him to get out of bed but Emmett refused until a grown up came to get him.

7:30 a.m. Breakfast time! I offered Emmett a choice between cereal or toast and eggs (a new development, he's enjoyed eggs like 5 times in the past week!) and he says he wants Life cereal. Easy peasy!

7:45 a.m. All done. He carries his bowl to the kitchen - his new after meal chore - and then asks to go out front. Luke takes him and I get dressed and tidy up the breakfast dishes. We trade off keeping an eye on E while getting ourselves ready for the day, then E and I bid Luke farewell for the morning.

8:45 a.m. We pile in the car and drive to the Hike It Baby hike we're hosting at Great Hills Park Trails. The "cool" forecast for the week has made this hike a popular one - 10 families show up! An impressive feat for an August in Texas hike, right?

9:30 a.m. After some playground time we set off on the moderately challenging toddler hike. It's a bit technical in a few spots, but the toddlers manage it well enough (although I end up carrying E in the Onya for the last 1/3 mile). My friend even braves it with her 17 month old twins! Unfortunately a plucky squirrel ate through the zipper of my backpack at a park last week to steal our snacks (UGH! I was SO MAD!), so I'm using the less nice backpack. Bonus is that with no back padding, my ice-cold camelbak keeps me cool on the hike :) E eats an applesauce pouch and some Goldfish along the way and then we share a GIANT peach when we get back - he eats most of it.

11:40 a.m. We bid farewell to our friends and head home. He has a few minutes left of his Daniel Tiger episode from the car, so I let him watch while I dash up for a quick shower. He declares he's hungry, so I call Luke home and warm up lunch.

12:15 p.m. Lunchtime! On the menu is leftover rosemary honey salmon, rice, green beans and some rotisserie chicken. E is hungry today despite the snacks and cleans his plate along with some blueberries. The boys enjoy a few minutes of playtime (puzzles are all the rage now!).

12:40 p.m. We say bye to Luke again and head to the backyard to play on the swing set. We eventually end up in the front yard to play catch and pretend cook (he picks leaves off an ugly bush and calls them different fruits or veggies). We head inside and snuggle on the couch to read a few books. He's looking tired, so I offer him some milk to go upstairs and get ready for a nap.

1:20 p.m. It's a little early, but we easily read a few books, then go potty, and snuggle up on the lamb rug with his new favorite stuffed animal, a penguin from my Whole Foods colleagues from when I was pregnant.

1:30 p.m. I head downstairs to start on this post and relax a bit.Then it's time to tackle a few adult chores (like making the final payment for my car - woohoo!).

3:08 p.m. Emmett wakes up earlier than usual from his nap. I'm a bit at a loss since he usually goes down a little bit later but sleeps until 4:15/30ish these days. I let him watch some Daniel snuggled up with his penguin and a bowl full of strawberries while I pull together dinner. I usually do that during nap, but I ran outta time today! I already made a sesame peanut sauce, so I boil some buckwheat noodles, slice some cucumbers, shred a carrot and marinade some mushrooms in soy sauce and sesame oil. Then I rinse the noodles in cool water and toss with the veggies, sauce and some rotisserie chicken I shredded yesterday. Put it in the fridge and we're good to go for dinner!

4:20 p.m. My friend Aubrie and her son and newborn daughter come over for an impromptu playdate. The baby sleeps the time away while the little boys play bubbles and lawnmower in the backyard. Aubrie and I have fun chatting (albeit disjointedly - life with toddlers!).

5:30 p.m. Luke is home! He's got another work trip this week, so he's been coming home a little early this week for more family time. We all chat for a minute, then Aubrie heads home. We play ball in the front yard and chat about the day.

6:00 p.m. Dinner time! Luckily E agrees to wash hands without a fight (which has not always been the case lately...) and we sit down to eat. He says the spaghetti tastes funny (he's been obsessed with spaghetti and meat sauce lately so this was probably a little too different), but he eats plenty of chicken and does have a few bites of the noodles and cucumber.

6:20 p.m. We horse around a bit more, and E asks to see airplane photos on Luke's phone (a thing ever since Luke's last trip, it can get out of control sometimes, ugh...).

6:40 p.m. I wave goodbye to the guys and head to Body Jam. We just finished 3 weeks of the same routine (which we do for every launch), so I was excited to mix things up and do some old favorites! Nicole has an awesome mix and we have a blast as usual. One of the jammers made some fun shirts for us, so a few of us had to model them selfie style ;)

8:20 p.m. I say hello to Luke and hop in the shower for the second time today. Then I surprise both of us by asking him to make me an Old Fashioned. I've never been a dark liquor person, but Luke and Christine made some the other week and I was intrigued. We watered mine down just a bit and I loved it! Feel like I put on my big girl pants haha. We turn on the latest Game of Thrones episode and totally dig it.

10:00 p.m. Oops, kind of a late evening downstairs. We head upstairs to get ready for bed and turn the lights out without reading (a rarity these days).