A couple days ago, while Peyton and Lauren and I were waiting at Burger King for Daddy to pick us up after we dropped my car off to get the CD player fixed, Lauren grabbed the hash browns I gave her and stuck them right into the ketchup container.  Loved it.  Really messy, but she loved it.

So when she saw the container of salsa from our mexican take-out, she had to have some.  I tried to discourage her, but she’s about as stubborn as her mom and dad and begged to try it, so I let her.  She went through the typical range of expressions when one eats something really hot, only she didn’t try to disguise it like the rest of us do.

Wanna know a secret?  These pics didn’t come from her first taste.  See the mostly-empty container in front of her?  She ate it.  Crazy girl! 

The next evening Uncle Gordon and Aunt Jenny had some hot cheetos, so we let Lauren try them.  “NUM!”  Yes, she needed a drink of water, but she loved them and wanted more than we’d let her have.

Maybe I ate too much salsa when I was pregnant with her.  Who knows.  Crazy!

Here are a few other pics from the last few days:

Last week it was REALLY hot again – high 80s/low 90s for a few days – so we spent a lot of time in the kids’ pool and went to the YMCA often to swim.  Here’s a cute pic - there are quite a few other expressions if you’re my facebook friend, but I’ve already uploaded quite a few pics tonight…

On the 4th we went to Uncle Gordon’s for a BBQ and bonfire and fireworks and motorbike rides   Steven is SUCH a great cousin and Peyton LOVES when Steven offers to ride him around on his toys. 

If the tongue wasn’t in the way you’d see the funky tennessee teeth Peyton has right now – one bottom tooth is missing (see previous post) and the other is loose as well, and, since the two adult teeth are coming in behind, the loose tooth is being pushed sideways and out…as loose as it is right now it sticks straight out when he smiles with his teeth closed.  He laughs hysterically about it because it’s so gross (and because I make a big deal about how funny/gross it is), which is probably why we haven’t just pulled it out yet.  He likes the disgusting boy humor of his buckish tooth.  Watch for a new pic in the next few days, though…every time I brush his teeth I’m afraid it’ll fall right out.

And two more things: Lauren had her measurements checked again today at the doctor – she’s tracking right along, so doc says we needn’t come in again until her regular 2-year checkup.  Great, she’s considered normal again

That other thing: James had a mole removed from his stomach today…a few weeks ago I noticed for the first time that the brown was “bleeding” out in a ring around the mole - NOT good.  He thought it’d always been that way, but with the number of moles I have I know what to watch for and feel like I wouldn’t sent him into the doc before if I’d seen that, so we made the appointment and the doctor removed it.  It was quite the surgery – 6 stitches - and is bothering him tonight (and will probably bother him for a couple more days).  Doc thought it looked okay, but it’s better to remove it and be sure for peace of mind than to leave it and find out when it’s too late.  Anyway, when the lab gives us results I’ll let you know.  I’ll probably also post another pic of his stitches when I get a chance.

G’night!

Lauren learned a few new words on the 4th – “Wow!” and “Woah!” are now part of her regular vocabulary.  Very cute.

Happy Independence Day – or something like that.  Did anyone see how much tribute we have to pay just to cover the cost of the interest on the national debt?  Ridiculous.

Been a while: here’s a quick update:

Peyton shaved his head, lost a tooth and had his first trip to a waterpark this week.  He was proud of his haircut and especially glad of the fact that he no longer needs to comb it, very sad to say goodbye to his tooth (but glad to see the dollar under the pillow), and super-excited about the water park.  There were really only 8 slides at the park we went to, but because Peyton is young they let him go down on my lap without a tube, which meant we could skip the line for tubes and go straight to the top.  Wait time for each ride was probably about 5 minutes including the walk time, so we hit up the main slides 2 or 3 times each before we got bored (and cold – cool breeze on wet body, even in the hot sun, doesn’t feel so good).  We spent about 3 and a half hours there before coming home.  Meanwhile, Daddy and Lauren had a grand time at home…

Lauren keeps learning new words, including Peyton, or ”pee pee.”  Another favorite is “dookit,” or “look at!”  She’s learning to say “sorry” since she likes to hit and kick brother (though it’s usually in her own defense, since brother likes to get in her face).  She also knows who she is, but when she says her name is sounds kind of like “doggy.”  So we’ve got a kid named after urine and the other after our pet.  Go figure.  She also got a new pair of shoes for her growing feet – size 5 baby!  Woot!  She’s also developing quite the personality, as you can see:

What mischief!