Summer, Sleep, Swimming, Smiles & Sisters

The most exciting thing in our house right now is that OLIVE SLEEPS!!!

Unlike her siblings, she actually understand that sleep, at night, should occur in increments of more than 45 minutes!

Elmo and Papa took Maisy and Johnny to Lakefair.  Last year Maisy was too short to ride the rides. During the last year many nights were spent discussing how she was so sad she couldn't ride anything at the fair by the water.  This year, Elmo taught Maisy how to stretch as tall as she can so she will be tall enough.  (she still wasn't tall enough for all the rides and some of the fair workers wouldn't let her on!  Poor girl, she still hasn't reached 3 feet!)

Johnny loves Olive and tries to hold her every chance he gets!

Johnny is finally (sometimes) getting Maisy to play games with him.  This weekend he and Maisy here "spies".  The gloves are all part of Maisy's "spy wear".  In this picture she is playing dead.  He's taught her all about Ben 10 and she can tell you all about each character and say their catchphrases.

Olive LOVES smiling.  She gets to happy anytime she sees us.  Her smile brightens up the whole room and Johnny spends alot of time waiting for her to wake up so she can smile!

Maisy started swimming lessons.  The 2nd picture is a result of her being tired of me taking pictures!  Even though she thinks she can already swim, she LOVES her swimming lessons!

Maisy is really enjoying taking care of her sister.  She helped me give her a bath.  Olive thought this was pretty funny.  Maisy did pretty good too and there was only one incident of her dropping a wet wash cloth on Olive's face.  (You can't see me, but I am the main person bathing Olive!)

Johnny hasn't been too pleased with us this summer!  We limit his computer and tv time, we make him do school work, we make him clean his room.  All of this takes very little time out of his day, but he feels like we are torturing him.  Somewhere he has heard this phrase, but he's using it incorrectly.  (and I'm not going to correct him!)  He walks around, glaring at us, saying "I'm in heaven". 

Maisy has adopted a phrase from her Great Grandpa Rutledge.  She can often be heard saying "For Crying Out Loud".  The other day she even performed a freestyle song she'd written entitled "For Crying Out Loud".

With the exception of a few disastrous trips (our apologies to the swimmers at the pool last night) having 3 kids hasn't been too difficult of a transition.  Olive is the sweetest baby ever and rarely makes a peep.  She is the perfect baby for our family and thankfully her siblings love her.  We were a little worried about how Maisy  would respond to her sister, thankfully we have been pleasantly surprised.

Summer Catch Up

Summer is almost over and I have, once again, been terrible about keeping up my blog.

Because of moments like this, I am too busy chasing little people to do anything that requires me sitting in front of a computer for more than just typing a search for "Lego Batman Video Game" on youtube.

Maisy likes to dress up. She also provides sound effects for all of her dress up clothes. Mostly just "ggggrrrrr"

Here is a rare moment where she is being nice to Don. Poor Don really takes it in the shorts! Maisy chases him all day. She hugs him, she tries to carry him, she bites him, (gross, i know) she pets him - and not always soft touching! But, it's not completely miserable for him. Recently she fed him cat food, one piece at a time, and he ate it from her.

Our front porch is done and Maisy loves sitting on it.


More dress up. Bet you didn't know that spiders growl? Maisy Spiders do!


Johnny was invited to be in the pet parade with his friend Grant and their family. Grant's guinea pig, Frederick, was dressed as Darth Pig. Unfortunately Johnny's storm trooper suit is about 3 sizes too small, but he didn't care. He had a great time and he's hoping he gets invited back again next year. (Gabe stepped in dog poop after the parade. Highlight of MY summer!!!)




Cousin Bailey's mother shops...ALOT. Recently I went through the next clothing size and got out shoes and put them in a laundry basket. Maisy came in the room and excitedly exclaimed "SHOES!". And sat down to play. She LOVES shoes and has spent weeks playing with them. She sorts them, she stacks them, she hands them to you and says "SHOE ON!" or "WANNA WEAR IT". If she can't get them off she says "STUCK". She really doesn't play with toys, mostly she just wants to try on shoes and clothes. I can guarantee that never once in Johnny's 7 years and 3 months has he said the sentence "I wanna wear it". Maisy says this constantly. She loves her cow coat that Darla is letting her borrow and she hands it to Gabe and says "Wanna Wear It" almost ever day. And it's not enough just to put it on. You have to zip it up also.

Here is another reason why not much gets done around our house. Maisy is a monkey. She climbs and swings from everything. (Notice the cow coat she is wearing!) Our house has remained fairly child proofed from Johnny and his parents laziness of never taking anything down. I felt confident that we were prepared for another child. I was wrong. We need a padded room for Maisy. She's climbs everything. She swings from the sink. She recently fell on her head while trying to swing from the oven door at a friends house. She climbs up and through the ladder to Johnny's bunk bed. She jumps off the couch. She likes to sit in her little red elmo chair and lean back until she falls over backwards. Basically, she terrifies me. She has absolutely no fear and is strong enough to do whatever she wants.

We got out the gymnastics bar that momo and papa gave Johnny for christmas. Johnny had a blast swinging from it. So much so that his hands started hurting. So, he developed his own pair of "grips"...spider slippers. They didn't really work, but I was impressed with his creativity.

We went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Johnny gave money to the parrot.

Here is Maisy in the Hermit Crab. Remember her in the crab last year?

Johnny posing with the lemurs

Johnny on a spider web

Johnny and Maisy on the slide

Maisy got to go on the slide herself. She had a great time and eventually got very independent. I would walk her halfway up the stairs to Gabe and then wait for her at the bottom of the slide. Before long she wouldn't hold my hand and went running up the steps trying to get away from me and point out that she could do it on her own.

Johnny continued to do swimming lessons throughout the summer and advanced to level 2. He LOVES swimming and might be the only child in class smiling during his lesson...so much that he gets water in his mouth. He likes to jump into the pool by pretending he's chopping down a tree. He yells "chop, chop, TIMBER" and then jumps into the pool. He recently told me that you aren't allowed to dog paddle in his class. They don't teach swimming to dogs at his swimming class.

Johnny loves bugs, especially spiders. Gabe told Johnny that he thought he'd enjoy being an exterminator when he grows up. Johnny said "No daddy. I was to be a mad scientist".

Johnny did a camp at the Hands On Children's Museum and made a movie called "One Last Push To Victory". He played a Robot and had a great time. The film is going to be shown at the 6th Annual Olympia Youth - Teen Fest in September at the Olympia Film Society.

Johnny recently asked Gabe: "Daddy, if you are older than Mommy, how come she knows so much more than you?". (he's a brilliant boy, isn't he?!)

Maisy is talking a lot. She also has a favorite TV show. "Mickey Mouse's Club House". But she calls it "Toodles". Toodles is a minor character on the show, but she thinks it's the name of the show. And the name of Mickey Mouse.

She can often be heard saying "hep!" or "wanna wear it". She also likes to tell you she'll "be right back" as she takes off running down the street. You know she's up to know good when she's silent. I was enjoying a moment of peace and quiet when I realized I had no idea where she was. I found her. Quietly coloring on Johnny's bunk bed. (She's lucky! Her brother had colored on it long ago!) Sometimes when she knows she isn't supposed to do something she tells on herself and yells "mama!". You'll find her in Johnny's room holding a pen just waiting for you to see her so she can write somewhere she isn't supposed to.

Maisy thinks that "mama" means she wants something. When she wants something she points to it and says "mama". I'm not sure how I feel about her equating me with the word she's supposed to use to get what she wants.

She also repeats whatever you say. Recently I burned my hand and learned the full effects of what Maisy will repeat. And Repeat. and Yell. And keep repeating over and over again. Until Gabe, in a truly genius parenting moment, taught her to say "shut the door" so now she just says "shut" all the time. And "shutty door". (feel free to add it to your parenting skills!)

1st grade starts Wednesday. Johnny will have Mrs. Crosby and Mrs. Martin and is very excited because Teddy and Grant will be in his class again. He's also going to teach all the 1st graders who only did ½ day kindergarten how to eat lunch in the lunch room.

Here is a video of Johnny swimming. He's actually even improved since this was taken.

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San Diego Trip 2009!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go on vacation with the Rutledge's? Now is your chance to experience it!

We went to San Diego to visit Legoland and Seaworld with Momo and Papa and we are sharing our pictures with you. Be warned! This is probably more pictures than you ever wanted to see of the Rutledge's. Shockingly I'm only sharing the "best" ones!

The trip was great. Johnny LOVED it. Legoland was the perfect place for him. He saw all his favorite Lego characters and got to go on rides and see different Lego exhibits and movies. He got brave towards the end and went on the Coastersaurus with Mommy, Daddy and Papa. After much discussion with him that we weren't sure he'd like it, he was very firm in his decision to attempt this ride. After the ride was complete he exclaimed "I thought I was going to die!". He has decided he never wants to ride a roller coaster again.

Johnny's favorite ride was the "Lost Kingdom Adventure". He took everyone on it many times! Personally I think he just enjoyed that you got to shoot a laser gun!

Maisy enjoyed the toddler areas of Legoland, but she isn't big enough for any of the rides. She liked walking around, but enjoyed riding in her stroller more. She was an excellent traveller, just going with the flow and taking LONG naps in her stroller or in her carrier. It was wonderful! (Her brother was not quite as adaptable at her age, so we were a little worried about what we were getting in to. Thankfully she far exceeded our expectations.)

Seaworld was by far Maisy's favorite. She LOVED the Shamu Show. They have you do something with your hands in the air called the "Sham Slam" to encourage the whale to slam it's tale on the water and splash the audience. Maisy picked it up very quickly and is still walking around the house making the hand motion. She laughed and clapped all through the performance.

Johnny also enjoyed the Shamu Show, but was a little disappointed. He thought he would get to get in the water and swim with the whales.

We were greeted by some rather rude dolphins during the Dolphin Discovery show which resulted in us being splashed and getting quite wet. Unfortunately the salt water got in Johnny's eyes and we had to leave the show early. Needless to say we don't care to see Bubbles the dolphin again.

Our favorite area of Seaworld was the Sesame Street Bay of Play. It was really neat! They had tons of Sesame Street themed rides and exhibits and Maisy, Momo and I got to watch a performance by Elmo, Zoe, Cookie Monster, Grover, and Abby Cadabby. After the performance we met the characters which made Maisy a little uncomfortable.

We are home and have recovered from our trip. The only downfall was that Maisy got sick on our trip and ended up at the dr with pneumonia. She got on some medicine and got better quickly and is back to normal now.

And now....too many pictures from our trip!

The Rutledge's....2009

Darth Vader is made out of Lego's
(or as Johnny calls him - Dark Vader)

A HUGE breakthrough for Johnny. He's been terrified of "dressed up" people for years!

The inauguration...in Lego's

Johnny's favorite - the Lego Bionicles

Maisy at the Sesame Street Bay of Play Water Fountain

Maisy, fast asleep with her new Shamu stuffed toy

Maisy doing the "Sham Slam"

In the hotel playing with Gameboy

Momo and Johnny on a river boat ride. Momo let Johnny steer. At one point they were going backwards. 7 boats passed them. Gabe was impressed with this feat!

Johnny and Papa in a helicopter

Johnny at the entrance to Legoland

Johnny posing with the Lego fish in our hotel

Maisy and Mommy on the airplane. It was her first flight! She slept throughout the entire trip. When we sat down the woman next to me did not look pleased to see a baby. She looked at Maisy, looked at me and said "she's looking at me". I honestly wasn't sure how to respond to that statement! At the end of the flight she said "well, she did pretty good".

Johnny has decided he's ready for Disneyland. His parents have decided they should start saving their money and hoping he'll be patient!

1½ Years!

Wow! Maisy is 18 months... It is really hard for me to believe. She's becoming more toddler than baby.

She now weighs 19lbs 11oz and is 2ft 4½ inches.

She's alot of fun. She's very silly and laughs and plays alot. She's currently going through a bit of a clingy phase and enjoys holding my hair while she attaches herself like Velcro to me. (Which means I have a gigantic knot in the back of my hair that I can't comb out!)

She's starting to talk alot. Still most of it is "trash talk" as Papa says; but you can pick up a word or phrase here and there. She enjoys yelling through the house "mama! wut dooo-in". Usually she doesn't really care about my answer! She also LOVES to answer questions with "no" or "yes" and usually she answers inappropriately! You may say "Maisy, are you done eating" and she will smile and say "no" as she tries to get out of her chair.

She's working on jumping and sometimes gets both feet off the ground at the same time! She also likes to walk on her tip-toes and stand on one leg. She also LOVES drawing. I keep her entertained during Johnny's karate class with a pen and a pad of paper.

This week she seems to be sleeping ok. Last week, not so much! She's working on getting her bottom molars. If you notice in her picture - she still only has 2 teeth on the bottom. I keep reminding myself that she probably does have more teeth down there; but occasionally I have a panicked moment where I worry that she may only have 2 teeth on the bottom. (she's the second, I worry about very little with her so I'll give myself this one thing!)

She LOVES taking showers at Momo's house. If she breaks into Momo's bedroom she will run straight into the bathroom and hop in the shower. Tonight she got to take a shower and we had a hard time getting her out. (she's not crying, this is her while playing with the water)

I have no idea where she learned to talk on the phone!

What started out like this....

Became this...