Snippets from the End of Summer

I've been so busy and haven't been keeping up with  the blog. So here are some shots of what we've been up to lately.

Elena loves to play in her car outside.

Elena got her first haircut. I've just been letting it grow out, but when I saw she had some split ends I asked Francine, our friend and neighbor, to trim the ends. Elena did great.

She got a lollipop afterward. She likes to go with Jorge when he gets his haircuts, and the people there always give her a lollipop afterward, so she was looking forward to getting one for her own cut.

Samuel is a big explorer.

We've been spending a lot of time outside enjoying the weather. I steamed some edamame and here Samuel's sucking on a pod. 

 

Morning

Samuel's interested in whatever Elena's playing with. 

He is so strong. He's standing a lot on his own now.

Elena's favorite snack is strawberries and cream. 

Samuel weaned himself a month ago. He will not nurse at all. In fact, he arches his back and turns away if I offer it to him. So it's been pretty exhausting pumping 4 times every day and washing all the pump parts every night. Below is a picture of all the parts I have to wash at the end of the day. That's part of the reason I've been so busy. Some days Jorge washes them, which gives me some more time, but the process of pumping is time-consuming and just a big inconvenience.

Jorge has been working hard. There was a fire that reached the probation camp he works at, so he's been commuting even farther to a different camp for awhile now. His regular camp is finally cleaned out and ready for the boys to be transferred back, so things will get a little less hectic for him soon. And things are always hectic at home with two kids, it seems like. But it's good . . . there are a lot of laughs and hugs.