The Nature of Boys

I have been learning some lessons in life--The Nature of Boys. Boys truly are born with "boyness". From throwing things that are or resemble a ball, to helping build things, to pretending to play with guns. Boys are boys. Boys teach other little boys how to be better boys (Julie helped me with that one). I guess these things make us just love boys all the more:)
The other night I had Barrett put up the toddler bed that someone gave us. Not that I'm ready to have Damon have free-reign of his room at night or in the morning, but because I wanted the mattress up off the floor. Damon loved helping his Dad carry the pieces to his room and tried to help assemble it by putting screws in holes. He seemed to get satisfaction at the completed project too. Boys:) I even discovered him the other morning looking at books on his bed--so cute.
Yesterday I was on the phone with Grandma Ro when Damon pulled out a water gun and started making sounds like he was shooting it. Where did he learn that?! It was actually pretty cute, but very surprising! I had to pull out the video camera today as he pretended with the water gun. What will tomorrow bring?! (oh, pause the play list on the right before watching the video--and yeah, I have no idea why I had him make gun sounds then try to say "Angel Moroni" all in the same video clip)

*I must say, although he has is very much "boy", he does have a little of his mom in him--he is a great helper and loves to "mix" with me. I sit him on the counter when I'm making breakfast, lunch, or dinner and he helps me. He loves to help mix brownies, cookies, biscuits(with Grandpa), and muffins. So far, no catastrophes:)

Our Boy

Damon has been pretty cute lately. We were heading out the door Saturday to go to the Primary Pioneer Day Activity. Damon found his Dad's hat, put it on, and started to leave. It was so cute--the few pictures we snapped just don't capture how cute it really was:)
Last week Damon's little $10 Kmart sandals broke. I guess he played a little too hard in them in Idaho. I've been in search for a new pair, but 2 Kmarts and 1 WalMart later, no luck. The big problem isn't just that stores aren't carrying sandals this late in the season, but that the few pairs I do find don't fit due to a little boy with fat feet. Today I fianlly had success!! I decided to try out Burlington Coat Factory. I loved getting shoes here when I was in college--cute shoes at really great prices! Same story--2-3 pairs of sandals, but too narrow for little Diggs. I found some Crocs and decided to give them a try (Walmart's didn't work out). Yeah, they fit!! I let Damon run around the store for awhile in them and they seemed to do ok. I turned them over, $5.99. Not bad. I shopped around, then went to check out. I remembered I had a gift card from like 8 years ago when I returned something. The cashier and I didn't think it would register, but lucky for me it did!! I only had to pay 28 cents for the shoes and the other items (which were on a great sale) I bought!!! So, Damon's shoes were basically free:) The cute part is, he wouldn't take them off when we got home. I told him to go look in the mirror and he loved it! How cute that he loves his new shoes:)
So, this morning I found a onesie and hat our friend, Katie, sent Damon from M&M World in Las Vegas. I tried it on him and tried to take a picture, but he wouldn't let me. I was telling Barrett this story over dinner and Damon leaves and comes back in the room carrying the little outfit asking for a picture. So, I put the outfit on him and he even wore the hat. He still wouldn't let us take his shoes off either. Why are kids so cute?!

Our July so far...

Our Fourth of July was spent on an airplane. Barrett, Damon, and I headed out to Utah on Independence Day and enjoyed seeing Southwest terminals and planes decorated with red, white, and blue (out of 3 airports, they were the only ones that decorated for the holiday!). We discovered our carseat had been lost, but tried not to let that dampen the 4th. Barrett's dad had a yummy BBQ waiting for us. The boys next door came over and lit off some firecrackers--not pretty fireworks--and eventually Damon's little heart was racing and he cried and wanted to go inside. He finally went to bed after eating some of Grandpa's ice cream. We continued the evening outside watching the neighbors light off illegals and legals and enjoying the Utah night air. The next day was enjoyed by all--except Damon won't let Grandpa take him on anymore tractor rides and probably won't walk in the creek again either--we also headed off to Costco to do some shopping for my mom. Costco is so much fun to shop at with someone else's money and with a fun purpose:) My parents and 2 sisters stopped by to say hello. Jenny just returned from a mission in Hong Kong and it was good to see her--still the same old Jenny! On Sunday, we went to a quick sacrament meeting, then packed up Grandma Ro's car to head up to Idaho for my mom's family reunion. We haven't driven that far (5 hours) in a really long time, but we survived. We stopped off in Idaho Falls to see the Temple. We were hoping to stop in Rexburg to see the changes since I went to school there long ago, but we had all the food and hungry people in our car and at the cabin. My parents and all my sisters and their families were there. Our cabin had 6 bedrooms and was so fun. We enjoyed being with each other for a few days before the actual reunion started. We went canoeing down the river, rode ATVs(I did one tiny ride which was enough for me), went on walks, went to Yellowstone National Park, ate yummy food and candy, and saw Jenny's mission pictures. Damon loved seeing his cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandparents. He loved playing outside and threw just about every rock and stick he could get his little hands on. If the door to the cabin opened, he was there trying to head outside. I found a tick on his head on the drive up to Yellowstone and my dad had to pull it out. Yuck. The family reunion was so fun. It began Wednesday night with seeing Hello Dolly at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. It was such a good, fun, entertaining performance and fun to see cousins and aunts and uncles. The next day was the big breakfast and family picture. We then floated down the river and ate lunch at our cousin's cabin right on the river. Our cousins planned this family race which consisted of a canoe race, .6 mile run, ATV course, and a run/swim through the river and back. Each family had to compete. It was highly entertaining and funny to watch--especially when one of my cousins busted out in a speedo, swim hat and goggles. That night we met up for dinner and had family talents/skits and family history. We all headed into Yellowstone the next day with our families. It was fun to be places and run into your cousins--I even ran into an old roommate who was there for a family reunion too and lives on the east coast! Some of the cousins got together that night to watch old family reunion videos and sit in the hot tub. We played Uno at our cabin and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. The last day was a fun day at the Resort lawn area. Another chance to catch up with cousins, ride ATVs, play soccer and volleyball, eat lunch, learn to fly fish, do crafts, and the slip and slide. The kids also got to hunt for the Candy Tree. My Grandpa used to always "grow" candy trees and it has been a tradition that I think has been done at every reunion. It was really sad and hard for us to leave. We had a great week even though there were some "snags" coming home. I sure am lucky to have such great parents who love me and take care of me even if I'm married and have a family:) Thanks!!

Pain-filled Week

Damon has discovered "pain" this week. Poor kid was being a good helper and helping me unload the dishwasher--one of his favorite things to do. He was handing me a pretty heavy glass cup, when it fell, heaviest part down, straight on his toe! He cried and cried all morning long. It almost immediately turned black and just keeps getting uglier, but at least he can move it and walk on it. He wouldn't let me treat it at all--no ice, no popsicle!, no bandaid, and barely a little cold water (I was smart enough to give him motrin to easy the painful throbbing). The sadest part was he's learned some new vocabulary--"ow"--and anytime I tried to sit him down or he looked at his toe, he'd cry "owww". Cute, but sad. I finally was able to calm him a little with Elmo. He ended up falling asleep on me watching Elmo!
I laid him on the couch and was able to get a few things done for 45 minutes. He took a great nap that afternoon too! When Barrett got home, Damon had to show his wound to him. He even still looks at it and points.
Later that day, we picked up some friends from the airport and I was in the back with Damon, handing him toys. I was helping him put some little sunglasses on. Well I ended up pinching his little pinkie in the sunglasses and we had tears all over again. He kept showing me his pointer finger after that (not the finger that got injured).
The next morning, he injured that poor little toe all over again when playing on the couch. Ouch!
This morning was another "painful" experience. We had appoitments this morning with a nutritionist. Damon was on my lap and she grabbed his finger to prick it for a little blood sample. Well, Damon was so mad and cried and cried and kept saying "no, no, no, no". The worst part was, she wasn't even supposed to prick his finger, just mine!!! So, she pricked mine, and I noticed that Damon's bandaid was full of blood, so I asked for another one. Long story short, I had to use my own wipie to clean mine and Damon's bloody hands then try to distract him the rest of the appointment so he wouldn't look at his bandaid-ed finger. Kind of annoying. Poor kid!
We're heading off to a family reunion at some cabins and I'm worried we've entered the ouchie-always need bandaids stage. Sigh......