I usually hate posts like this

I have so much to catch up on that I just don’t have the time to sit down and write everything out into individual posts, so instead I am going to dump it all out in one giant post. Here’s what we’ve been up to!

We visited the Library of Congress and saw the Capital bldg from afar. It wasn’t too hot or humid that day and we enjoyed being out in D.C. for the afternoon.

While we were in the city, we walked around a Farmer’s Market and then got some pupusas from an El Salvador restaurant. It just happened to be Chris’s birthday that day, so we had to do something special for him. I asked if these resembled the kind he ate on his mission, and he said they did. They were quite tasty and both Brendan and Alex ate some as well.

I didn’t mention this before but Alex finally got the hang of crawling while we were in Illinois (he barely got that milestone in under 10 months!) and a week later, he was pulling himself up and cruising along furniture. One of his favorite hangouts in the dishwasher. It’s so fun to watch him move around more and explore things in ways that he couldn’t before…

…until he pulls a knife on his mom. Yikes! I had forgotten how mischievous a mobile baby is. Lesson learned though. We now take the silverware caddy out when Alex is nearby. We have also finally baby-proofed the house so that the little stinker can’t get into anything dangerous but he still manages to find stray marbles that I’ve missed. I seriously throw a handful of marbles away every day and he still finds more! It is infuriating. I think Brendan is the culprit though because he thinks it’s hilarious that Alex pops them straight into his mouth and then I freak out and chase after Alex who is furiously crawling away to avoid his mean mommy who won’t let him eat marbles. The little guy is fast!

Even though we’ve baby-proofed things, Alex still manages to get into trouble. Last week he ate my deoderant- well, more like he chewed it up until he realized that it was disgusting and then started crying until I had wiped out every single fleck from him mouth. Just to be safe, I checked the packaging and sure enough, the container says “If swallowed, call Poison Control immediately.” Ummmm, can we just say that I had a major freak out right then. I was pretty sure he hadn’t swallowed any but I couldn’t be sure so I had my first experience calling Poison Control. Luckily they were nice and it turns out it really wasn’t a big deal. I never want to have to do that again though.

Alex also got his first haircut! Here’s a before:

It’s kind of hard to see the wings he’s got by his ears so here’s a second shot:

And this is now:

He was not happy that I interrupted his eating to take some pictures of him. I can’t believe that he’s getting so big. In just a month and a half, he will turn 1. The thought of that makes me get a little teary eyed.

Brendan also seems so grown up and sometimes I look at him and have to do a double take. When did this happen!?! We’ve been working on our writing lately and he doesn’t enjoy it. He’d much rather be outside playing or chasing after Alex but we’ve been slacking this summer and it’s time to get back on track.

It’s odd to think that summer will be over so soon but luckily we still have some fun things planned to make the most of what we have left. In a couple weeks we head to Colorado to visit Chris’s family and we cannot wait! Although every time we talk about it, Brendan starts crying and saying he doesn’t want to go on an airplane. I wonder what he’ll do when we actually get to the airport. I’m hoping he changes his tune. And I know that once we’re in Colorado and he sees his Grandma and Grandpa and cousins (and aunt and uncle too!) he will be over the moon.

So that’s about it. For now!