Summer, summer, summer, summer

It is officially SUMMER here in Texas! Say it in an urgent whisper like on High School Musical 2: "Summer... summer... summer... summer..." This means it is too hot to do anything outside all of a sudden, really, especially with a two-month-old. I don't know what to do with such a small baby in the summer heat--Dane was born in September so he seemed old enough to fend for himself (theoretically) by his first summer. So we are looking for good things to do that are indoors where I don't need to think about babies being dehydrated or overheated or sunburned.

We have a very awesome new built-in activity with the Frisco Athletic Center, which has a gym and free day care for the kids and an awesome swimming pool and water park! Dane loves going to the fun club and even more loves going swimming with me afterwards. It's been a real lifesaver for me this past week. Other than that, we've been staying close to home and spending lots of time talking to Graham, who is just getting to be so expressive and SO happy and smiley, I just can't get over it! If he makes eye contact with someone he just breaks out into the most beautiful, enormous grin, and coos and talks so happily as long as you keep doing it back to him. I feel like we've gotten to a GREAT baby stage, where he doesn't scream that much any more and he's not as hard to get down for naps, and sometimes (not all the time) he takes longer naps and sleeps for a while, which is AWESOME. He loves his swing and basically naps in there all the time during the day now, but we've got him still sleeping normally at night. 

Look at these stripey pants!

Oh, he LOVES his playmat. He will lay there for 20-30 minutes just looking at the same toys over and over again and being sooo focused on them. One of them plays music and he is just fascinated and so happy to sit there and watch and listen.

Kind of working it in the Bumbo!

Dane has been really loving summer too. He loves playing in the water, so swimming and splash pads are high priorities for us. I just signed us up for a mommy and me swim class that will hopefully help him become the slightest bit more water safe before we spend a week at Bear Lake with the Leiningers, and also because I know he'll really enjoy it. I also bought this water table for him and it has been a big hit. It's pretty low-tech, but he doesn't need much to keep him happy. And I love that we have our covered patio that keeps him in the shade when it's 97 degrees outside!

And I love the water table because I can sit 5 feet away from him, but INSIDE, in the air conditioning, and he will happily play by himself with me watching through the window. WIN WIN.

Dane and his best friend Ben were playing at the water table today and completely soaked themselves, so we had to take off their clothes and dry them. So they spent the rest of the afternoon running around in their diapers and looking like twins. It was hilarious. 

We are all of a sudden really close for our trip to visit our families, and I feel like there is SO much to do to get ready. And yet I spend my time reading and blogging instead of planning for that... I guess it'll happen whether we're ready or not!