Summer Fun!

Summer is not officially here for another week or so, but it felt like summer today!  We made use of our pool in the backyard for the first time this year.  Meredith is so much more comfortable in the water this year (as opposed to last year - refer to "First Family Vacation" post from May 2012, with the Wisconsin Dells experience), so hopefully she will do well when we get her in deeper water at the public pool.

Here are her action shots, with the contraption Mommy set-up, which makes use of both the slide and pool:

Oh, and we can't forget Luke!  Here's Luke chilling out with Daddy, watching Sissy in the pool:

The Many Sayings of Meredith

Meredith is getting to be such a little talker.  As she's learning to turn phrases into sentences, it's really funny some of the things that have come out of her mouth.  Here are some things she has said recently:

• She can now say her "L's" and "K's" much better, so instead of just saying "hi boy" or "hi ute" (her version of Luke), she can say his name very clearly.
• The other day, she told me that she missed daddy.  I asked her where daddy was (he was at work) and she said, "in the phone".  Daddy calls us everyday when he is leaving work or just walking a long ways to a meeting, so she's used to him being in the phone during the day :)
• She often takes the "t" out of stuck. 
• Recently, she will come up and say, "hold mommy" or "hold daddy".  I thought she was wanting to give me a hug, but she wants us to hold her, not her hold us :)
• About 6 weeks ago or so, I noticed when I was singing songs to Luke that she was watching me.  Turns out, she knows several songs, so I will sing some of it and let her finish a word or two of the phrase.  She says "Jesus loves me....Bible tells me so".  I also taught her the Barney Song (I love you, you love me...) and she loves it...what was I thinking (not a Barney fan, but the song was stuck in my head)?
• At the end of this year's Bible Study Fellowship, Meredith's teachers gave her a list of the main points of Genesis that they learned each week, so one truth for each week.  We have been going over these during breakfast and she has caught on very quickly.  I will hear her say "the Bible is true" at various moments throughout the day and she thinks it's funny to say "two days" instead of six days when we ask her how long it took God to create the heavens and earth.
• Her new thing is to say, "where daddy go" or "where mommy go" when one of us leaves the room.  Cute, but kind of redundant when she keeps asking it after we tell her where they went :)
• While doing tummy time with Luke, Meredith likes to run over and say "tummy time" and proceed to roll from her belly to back.  This is a very dangerous activity, since she has no sense of personal space.  Poor Luke!
• One of the cutest things she does is come up to Luke, give him a hug, and say "I big sista now".  She has a Big Sister book and this is the phrase that is repeated through the book.
• She's been talking a ton in her crib lately before she finally falls asleep.  When I go in to check on her and tell her it's naptime or nighttime and she needs to sleep, she looks up and says "close the door".  In other words, she doesn't want mommy around and once I leave and close the door, I hear her restart the conversation with herself right where she left off.
• A week or so ago, Chad was changing her diaper on the floor and halfway through, she walked over to the window and says "I have no clothes on" as clear as day.  Oh dear!