From Preston:
I got Grandpa in trouble a while back when I told everyone that he taught me to make awesome fart noises. Sorry, Grandpa! He has officially redeemed himself, though, by teaching my awesome DUCK noises. Now I LOVE to quack like a duck! I still like to blow raspberries and make other less than beautiful noises. I also love to make other animal sounds like: Baa, moo, woof, meow, RAWR, cluck, and hissss.
It’s no mystery that I LOVE my kitty, Jack. I ask for him almost as much as I ask for Elmo, and Jack gets the most unprompted hugs out of anyone in the family. One morning, we were all cuddling in bed, and I was touching Jacks wet nose and generally giving him a lot of love. Mom said “Preston, can you say: Jack, I love you.” Of course I can say that! I looked Jack straight in the eye and said “Ack, a buh doo.” Mommy is jealous that I said it to Jack first, but she’s knows I love her.
On Saturday we had a picnic. It was beautiful outside, so I shared my pool and my swing with little Gavin. We had a lot of food and played some games in the yard. Here are some pictures (and here are some more):
As I mentioned, Preston loves to help around the house. He's really good at following directions, and I find that the more I engage him in what I'm doing the happier he is. When I cook dinner I'll ask him to help me find things in the fridge and then to close the door. When we are playing or cleaning up I'll ask him to bring me a toy or put a toy away. Sometimes I'll hand him an object and ask him to give it to Daddy. We have to play detective around the house now, because Preston has a silly sense of where things belong (he always has). If I ask him to put the phone in the living room away he will put it in the printer.
One of is absolute favorite chores is feeding the cats (as you might recall from the spaghetti incident). He now knows to get the dindin out of the pantry, and reach in to get a handful to put in the dish. If any spills out of the dish he picks the pieces up one by one to put them back. He puts the dindin back in the cabinet and heads straight back to pet a kitty. I think it's his favorite because it's the easiest time to catch a kitty.
Another fun chore is for him to help me put the laundry in the dryer. I hand him the wet stuff and as him to "throw it in." He puts it in the dryer and tries to close the door after every single piece. I have to keep reminding him that we aren't done yet. I think he just likes to hear the door slam!