So long summer

Paul started back to school for teacher work days today. Between soccer and tutoring, we soaked up every second we could get as a family of three before summer was officially over.

Here are some memories we made the past few weeks.

We played at the pool with sweet Selah.

Gray got to have dates with me while Paul was at soccer and dates with Daddy while I tutored. Many involved ice cream.

Gray had several play dates with Mason and Landon

Gray snuck Sophie lots of snacks

 We enjoyed watching our silly boy on the monitor

 Gray discovered Catch Phrase

 We played outside

 Gray walked Sophie for the first time. Don't you love how Soph is in mid-poop stance here?!

Gray had his first finger painting experience. He loves watermelon and loves to smear the juice all over his high chair so I figured this would be the perfect rainy day activity.

 I was clearly mistaken. You would have thought I was torturing him.

 But we have this beautiful masterpiece to show for it anyway.

Gray loves to play in closets. I try to choose my battles wisely and this is one I've chosen not to fight. So closet shenanigans have become a daily favorite around here. He cracks me up putting on his hats.

Only the best parents let their toddlers chew on syringes.

Gray "helped" me clean

He colored a picture for Daddy with magic markers. Thankfully this went better than the finger painting did.

We took one last trip to the zoo until spring. Gray was so excited that the Sowers joined us.

Besides him being cranky and whiny the past week since he's decided to only nap for 45 minutes, Gray has been so good lately. I know some of you will read this and want to say to me, "enjoy it while it lasts" and I will do just that. I know I've written about this before but Paul and I are very big on discipline for a number of reasons. God disciplines us because He loves us and we ought to do the same for our children. At the beginning of the summer Gray was having a rough time with tantrums and just being down right "ugly", as my mama would say. There were days we wanted to give in just so he'd stop whining and crying but we tried our best to be consistent. We aren't taking all the credit by any means (we've read lots of books and said lots of prayers and begged God for his guidance in this area) and we know we'll go through MANY more rough stages with behavior but I believe that really hard month or so that we had is paying off now. Two months ago Gray was having a total meltdown almost every time we told him "no" or disciplined him in any way. He tested our limits and patience big time. Lately we tell him "no" one time and he walks away from or stops whatever he is doing that he shouldn't be without any whining or crying or throwing himself down on the floor or swatting his hands at us. So I am soaking up every second of this for however long it lasts.

I'm pretty certain (and I would have said this in the midst of his tantrums two months ago) that this age is my favorite so far. I have loved every age and stage for different reasons but his age now totally blows my mind. He is so smart and is learning SO much every single day, it amazes me! So many people gave me negative warnings about how hard life would be when he started walking and I have found the opposite. He is even more happy and content and as long as we are in a somewhat baby-proofed setting, he is more independent too (even if he is partaking in some crazy closet shenanigan). He has so much personality for such a little guy and he makes me laugh so hard. He is so sweet and affectionate and it just melts my heart. Although this age is certainly exhausting (are there any ages that aren't exhausting?!), I am loving it so much and soaking up every second I can get.

So while we were sad to see Daddy go back to work this morning, we are so thankful for the time we had together this summer. And Labor Day is just around the corner, right?!