Happy 4th of July!

My patriotic kids








Watching the fireworks

Summer Fun & Grandpa's Visit

Grandpa has been visiting this week, and we've been having a fun time doing many different summer activities. We've been to the pool, where Luke has a new trick that he finds hysterical. He loves to be thrown up in the air ("like a big kid", he tells Daddy) and is quite proud of himself each time. Luke and Grandpa rode George the Train (at one of our local parks), we've gone to the zoo, playgrounds, and also celebrated Grandpa's birthday yesterday. Here are some pictures and a couple of recent videos of our summer fun.

Such brave boys in the pool!


The train for kiddos is such a neat feature of the Greenville Parks Department.


Luke talked about Grandpa's birthday cake all day, and declared, "DELICIOUS!", when he took a bite.


Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Click here for a video of Luke learning to blow bubbles.

Click here for a video of Luke being a "big kid" in the pool!

Otter Creek Water Park

Tonight we visited Otter Creek Water Park, which is one of our Greenville Parks and Recreation facilities. Luke loved it, and ran through the sprinklers and fountains with unadulterated joy. He exuded pure happiness as he and Daddy went down the waterslide, and giggled and laughed as they splashed in the pool. It was so much fun for us to watch our little fish have such a great time in the water, and it was a wonderful summer evening activity for our family!

Checking out the fountains

Tootsies in the water


I don't know who liked the slide more- They went down it over and over again!

What a brave little boy to run through this froggy sprinkler!



I wish I had audio so you could hear the shrieks and giggles of glee here.


Each time Luke ran through the froggy, he proudly gave Daddy a "High Five!"


My loves in the water


So adorable!

I went a little overboard with the pictures. There were just too many cute ones, so the extras are in our Winterhoff Family Photo Albums.

To Daddy on Father's Day

With Love to Daddy (written by Winnie and Luke):

Happy Father's Day! We want to tell you some of the reasons that we think that you are the best Daddy in the world.

From Winnie:
1) You take me on such fun walks around our neighborhood.
2) You give the best belly rubbies and ear scratches.
3) You throw the ball to me in the backyard until we're both so tired that we can't play anymore.

4) Even though I may have an attitude, I really do appreciate that you give me my weekly baths, clean my ears, and brush me.
5) I know that even though I now have a little brother, I am still your special girl.

From Luke:
1) You take me out for tacos (and sometimes sneak in a cookie without Mommy knowing!).
2) You have the best shoulders to ride on- I can see everything from up there!
3) You have veto power when Mommy tries to dress me up in wimpy outfits.
4) You are the best at playing roughhouse games like flipping me upside down and "Airplane".
5) I love learning all about trucks, sports, and bugs with you (Mommy tries, but she really doesn't get it!).
6) When I grow up, I want to be just like you. You are my role model and best buddy. Thank you for loving me so much.


And to our grandfathers (Poppy and Grandpa):
Happy Father's Day to you both! We love you so much! Mommy and Daddy think that you have been the best examples of fatherhood to them and want to thank you for all that you give to our family.

3 Generations of Winterhoff Boys

Grandpa Richardson with his guys (Love the coordinating shirts!)

The Drama of Being 2!

We are quickly learning that having a 2-year old includes lots of drama on a daily basis. There are the tantrums (complete with kicking, screaming, and tears), the battle of wills between parent and child over the simplest tasks (it took me 20 minutes to attempt to get Luke dressed one morning this week before I conceded defeat), and the introduction of discipline (No matter how many parenting books I've read, it still feels like we are making it up as we go along). We have begun to put Luke in "Time Out" when he hits (a common occurrence at this age of testing boundaries). However, Luke will not stay in a designated "Time Out" chair or spot, so one afternoon last week (after dodging blows from an angry toddler), I firmly picked up Luke, placed him in his crib, and said sternly, "Time Out". I closed his bedroom door and went into the other room to take a deep breath. Less than 15 seconds later, I heard a soft thud, followed by the sound of Luke's door opening, and the "pitter patter" of little feet in the hallway.

"Hello, Mommy," my son said as he smirked at me. I stared at Luke, incredulous that he had climbed out of his crib for the first time, so effortlessly, and obviously so proud of himself. I hoped this was an isolated event, until the next morning, when Mark and I watched in the video monitor as Luke woke up, immediately hoisted his legs over the edge of the crib, and lowered himself to the floor.

"GOOD MORNING, MOMMY!" Luke shouted from the upstairs catwalk, as I scrambled out of my own bed downstairs. "BABOO CLIMB OUT OF CRIB!"

Not quite ready to transition Luke to the toddler bed and undergo all of the sleep retraining that is involved with this change, Mark and I have assumed the tactic of manipulation ever since. For the past week and a half, we have repeated to Luke: "Don't climb out of the crib. You don't want to hurt your knees, do you?"

Skinned knees are one of the biggest current dramas in Luke's life. He is constantly falling on the sidewalk, scraping his knees, and is absolutely traumatized by the slightest injury. He closely examines his body for microscopic boo-boos, asking, "Mommy, kiss it and make it better." and needing Elmo band-aids for "healing":



So far, our current strategy seems to be working. Luke still initiates climbing out of the crib, but stops halfway over the edge, and whines, "Be careful- No hurt knees!" This gives us enough time to dart into his room and intercept our little climber before he escapes. I know, there are so many examples of great parenting in this post (safety, verbally tricking our child, etc), but we are just trying to stay one step ahead of the drama.



And overall, Luke is a very sweet, well-behaved, happy child. We're 2 months in, and the "Terrible Twos" really aren't bad at all, but I may be jinxing myself by speaking too soon. Here's a picture of our family before going to church this morning. As you can see, someone has perfected the look of an extremely innocent and charming little man:

Catching Up

Luke and I are finally sitting down in front of our laptops to chronicle some of the fun activities that we've done in the past few weeks. Here's our summary of several of our recent adventures:

Our friends, the Deckerts, stopped by our house while on a road trip last month. Luke liked seeing Baby Ashleigh again, and they had fun forming a 2-man band and playing with Luke's musical instruments:

Such a gentleman, opening the car door for a lady:

Mr. Mike gave Luke his first real "golf lesson". Great form, guys!


Luke and I also attended our first "Zoo Tots" class at the Greenville Zoo, which was adorable and called: "Trunks, Tusks, Toes, and Tails." Our zoo sponsors these classes every month for children of all ages, and May's theme for 2-year olds was elephants. There were many cute age-appropriate activites, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of the elephant exhibit. I think Luke's favorite part was the popsicle that was provided at snack time, but I came home reciting tons of educational, elephant-related facts to Mark, making sure that our family is appropriately informed and up-to-date on all things pachyderm:

Unfortunately, someone was not in the mood to deal with my picture-taking...


Checking out one of the exhibits in the Zoo Tots Class (and ignoring Mommy's camera!).


With all these fun activities going on, sometimes we need days at home just to be silly. This is how we greeted Mark when he came home from work one day last week, when we didn't leave the house and/or get out of our pajamas all day:

Pool Fun!

Our neighborhood pool opened a few weeks ago, and we've been there almost every day since! Luke can see the pool from his bedroom window, and from the time he wakes up in the morning until the time we put him to bed at night, he looks out longingly and asks, "Neighbors' Pool?" It's amazing how much has changed in Luke's water skills since last summer, when we settled him into a raft and he contentedly floated and splashed. This year, he blows bubbles in the water, jumps off the side, climbs the ladder, and never stops moving! Our pool is such a great summer activity and a fun way to tire out a busy 2-year old. We captured a cute video of Luke blowing bubbles in the water and swimming. My favorite parts:
1) Luke narrating the entire time, and referring to himself in the third person: "Baboo hold Elmo ball!", "Baboo Climb!", "Splash!"
2) The way that Luke thanks Mark ("Sank You!") for tossing him the ball.

Click here for the video Luke playing in the pool!