Fireworks-Inducing Waterworks

This being Peyton's second Fourth of July, we were pretty excited to show her all of the fun the holiday has to offer.  Our neighborhood, or "The Island," pulled out all the stops once again - a BBQ, lots of watermelon, and our own personal fireworks show for the kids.

The celebration started out great.  Peyton and Amber (who else?) donned their best red, white and blue outfits and toddled around "The Island" for a few hours, making the most of their playhouse, trike, corn popper, and all the other goodies at their disposal.

 "We should totally send this picture in to a magazine. We are ROCKING the festive gear."

 "Piggies, Amber? Game, set, match.  You have outdone yourself in the cute department."

 "You push, I'll ride.  Then I'll ride and you push some more."

What's more American than fighting over a corn popper?

Next, it was time for one of Peyton's most favorite pastimes - eating.  Peyton enjoyed watermelon, hot dogs, and chips, and really got into the spirit of the holiday waving her flags.

 "Hmm.  Not bad.  Not bad at all."

 "Take the family picture quick. Amber is stealing all the snacks!"

 "I'm giving Miss USA a run for her money. Doe she wear a patriotic plaid dress, wave flags, and stand in a red white and blue pool all at once?"

 "Bring on the dogs!"

"My diaper is full.  Full of fashion."

After a quick costume change (thanks to an unfortunate and utterly embarrassing butt explosion in a neighbor's garage), Peyton got right back in the action, took a front row seat, and eagerly awaited the fireworks show.  But, our little scaredy cat did not appreciate the loud popping and shocking light display.  At one point, we thought it might be helpful if Martin lit the fireworks to show her they were nothing to be afraid of.  That plan backfired as Peyton thought her Daddy was being eaten alive by the fireworks since he was on the other side of it.  We tried for a few minutes, but decided not to torture the poor girl any longer, took her inside, and let her world go back to normal with a relaxing viewing of Marmaduke.

 "It's okay, Mommy.  Every stylista needs at LEAST two outfits per event."

 "I'm ready for round two!"

"These look interesting, but I'm not so sure, Daddy."

"Marmaduke.  My happy place."

18 Months Old!

She may be 18 months old, but our darling daughter thinks she is 18 years old.  Miss Thang has developed quite an attitude lately - it's her way or the highway.  She resorts to fake cries, ear piercing screams and full blown, throw her body on the ground in a fit of rage temper tantrums.  She also fake coughs and fake sneezes to either draw even more attention to her attention-starved self and/or mock those who are actually coughing and sneezing.  Ah, the joys of the terrible twos.

Actually, while PK Drama has her moments, she really is a good girl.  She is enthusiastically exploring her vocabulary now - mimicking every sound we make and adding better pronunciation of words like "Mommy" and "Daddy" instead of Mama and Dada.  Speaking of Daddy, Peyton adores hers, and in her mind, he is her savior who can do no wrong.  As I alluded to in my opening paragraph, we've had a few behavioral challenges, which has led us to expose Peyton to the dreadful "timeout."  Only one glitch: Mommy is the only one who ever actually puts Peyton in timeout.  In fact, the last time I did so she screamed "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" the whole time - as if her knight in shining armor would rescue her from her wretched, evil Mother subjecting her to the torture chamber.

Here is this month's winning picture:

And the out takes:

Mommy and I are having creative differences this month.  She wants smiley and cute (boring!) and I want demure and mysterious.

'Sup, suckaz?!!

Daddy, I'm not laughing with you, I'm laughing at you.  Dork.

Did you say raise my left or right arm if I'm done with this stupid stinking photo session?

Please kill me now.  How many pictures could you possibly need to take?

Peter the Rabbit, Scotty the Bear and I are unionizing.  No more pictures until you give me some apple juice. 

Monday Morning Jam Session

The debut of the critically acclaimed "Peyton's Pretenders."