Sunny Days Make Me Smile

No matter what else is going on - a warm, sunny day makes everything a little brighter.  Cold, dark and rainy days only motivate me to want to crawl back into bad.  I may not want to work when the sun is shining, but at least I am a little bit happier in the process.  My mood is better and the daily stress of life doesn't bother me quite as much.

The best thing about nice days - we get to have some outside time in the evening after childcare pick-up.

Yesterday we arrived home and set the boys down in the front yard to play.  Out came the various outside balls for them to throw and chase.

Wyatt found a stick and promptly tasted it.

They watched people and cars and turned toward all noises to see what was happening.

Wyatt is just as active outside as he is in the house.  He crawls all over the yard and chases the balls.  He can pick the giant ball up over his head and give it a two handed throw forward.

Ruslan doesn't like to crawl around the yard.  He used the giant ball to stand and then held it for a while.  This series of photos makes me smile.

Wyatt Needs a Fanny Pack

Both boys are constantly on the go.  And when Wyatt sets off across the room, he doesn't want to leave his toy behind so he transfers it from hand to mouth and off he goes. 

Crawling

Once the boys figured out the forward motion of crawling, they started getting around really fast.  They see something that they want on the other side of the room and race off to get it. They crawl over objects and each other to reach their destination.  Whenever I want Wyatt to crawl to me, I put the remote on the floor and he rushes to my side - he loves the remote and is always looking for a way to reach it.

I took this video in our kitchen Tuesday evening - the boys had just eaten dinner and were having some playtime before bed.  Enjoy the fish kisses from Ruslan.

Baby Gates are now in place at both entrances to the main living area - separating them from the kitchen, front hallway and both sets of stairs.  Both of these gates are flush with the floor, while the ones we used for Juliana had a gap at the bottom that the cats could squeeze under.  The cats are not happy about the latest change.  The baby gate at the top of the stairs is still in place from Juliana's toddler days, so we are in good shape with gates now.

More Adventures in Backwards Crawling

Not only is Ruslan still having fun with crawling backwards, he is getting really fast.  Once he gets the hang of moving forward, he is going to be getting into everything.  While I am sitting there playing with them, Ruslan hangs out and plays with the toys.  As soon as I leave the room he is on the move.  He crawled his way under the stroller and then along the back wheel until he was stuck against the wall - but he was smiling and incredibly pleased with himself at his accomplishment.  I pulled him out, turned around for a minute and heard him crying.  He was back under the couch, only the top of his head was sticking out this time and he was really mad that he was stuck (so no pictures that time).

Ruslan Crawling

Ruslan is getting really good at crawling...unfortunately he only crawls backward.  He crawls as far as he can until he gets stuck somewhere, like here when he crawled under the couch.