Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sweetness!
While he still challenges us at times, overall, Hayden is such a delightful, respectful, energetic and thoughtful little boy. He is really starting to think outside himself and is becoming more aware of other people's feelings/needs. For example, one day, when I was teetering on the edge, he quietly came up to me and gave me a hug while saying, "your the best mommy ever." Or if he sees my hands are full, he'll grab the bathroom trashcan and bring it downstairs without me needing to ask.
Important to note, while picking Hayden up from preschool one day last week, a mother stopped me in the hallway to say, "Hayden has the best manners." She had spent the morning observing the preschool class (her daughter is in his class) and wanted me to know how impressed she was. I guess all the reminding and reminding (which can seem endless) that we do at home does translate to outside the home...good to know!
The other morning before preschool Hayden was intensely working on a drawing. It almost always feels like a mad dash in the last 5 minutes before getting all 3 boys out the door so I never got to see his picture complete before we left. When I returned home, I found his picture laying on top of the pile of clean towels folded and stacked, ready to go upstairs. It was a sweet way for him to let me know he was thinking of me.
He later explained the picture. It is a stegosaurus with a volcano in the background. If you look closely, you'll notice a smiling face in the neck of the dinosaur. That is Hayden controlling the robot stegosaurus. He wrote his name at the bottom with a 5 indicating his age and an F for his last name.
Important to note, while picking Hayden up from preschool one day last week, a mother stopped me in the hallway to say, "Hayden has the best manners." She had spent the morning observing the preschool class (her daughter is in his class) and wanted me to know how impressed she was. I guess all the reminding and reminding (which can seem endless) that we do at home does translate to outside the home...good to know!
The other morning before preschool Hayden was intensely working on a drawing. It almost always feels like a mad dash in the last 5 minutes before getting all 3 boys out the door so I never got to see his picture complete before we left. When I returned home, I found his picture laying on top of the pile of clean towels folded and stacked, ready to go upstairs. It was a sweet way for him to let me know he was thinking of me.
He later explained the picture. It is a stegosaurus with a volcano in the background. If you look closely, you'll notice a smiling face in the neck of the dinosaur. That is Hayden controlling the robot stegosaurus. He wrote his name at the bottom with a 5 indicating his age and an F for his last name.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Blast From The Past
We met our neighbors at the local roller skating rink on Sunday. The boys had never been. After walking in the door, I was immediately flooded with memories of skating growing up. After all, the confetti carpet looked the same, the cinder block walls painted brightly were familiar and the sense of being over stimulated (well, the 'over' is more now as an adult) with color, noise, texture and people was all, well, the same.The boys were anxious to get started. True to his personality, Hayden was very eager to tie up the laces and get out on the floor. I knew he envisioned himself just cruising around right out of the gate. To be honest, he does pick up most gross motor skills with a swift ease, but I had a feeling this would be different, and it was. Suddenly, his legs which allow him to pedal a bike and run as fast as the best, were awkward and uncoordinated to him. Ryan and I were delightfully surprised that he didn't get discouraged (sometimes, if he doesn't pick up something as quickly as he planned, he can get his knickers in a knot). He kept at it. By the end of the two hours he was getting the hang of it. He cannot wait to go back!
Logan on the other hand, true to his personality, approached learning the new skill with an 'easy does it' attitude. Despite others whizzing around him, he was very content to be moving at a slower pace. Much. Slower. He just would inch his feet one after the other. (also true to his personality, he didn't want to hold anybody's hand--remember the 'fiercely independent.') Surprisingly, he was quite steady and balanced. Full of smiles, he even did the chicken dance with daddy. A little girl (whom we didn't know) took Logan under her wing and remained quite loyal for most of the two hours. She doted on him and he soaked it all up. After I was returning from the bathroom with him, she approached us from the other direction. They met, held hands, and turned for the rink. It was somewhat endearing because I knew he was still my little boy and would want to snuggle on the couch that evening. But, when he's older and walks away hand-in-hand with a girl (without looking back), my heart might break.
Owen and I enjoyed watching/cheering/encouraging from the side. Thankfully, Owen was not phased by all the noise, lights and people.Afterwards, we patched blisters (next time, two socks are in order) and had our neighbors over dinner.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Birthday Logan!
Logan's 3rd birthday is as much a celebration of turning 3 as it is having survived 2! :) He presented some challenging moments during this past year, but certainly has rounded the corner and is becoming quite a big boy!
Logan is endearing, sweet, funny, affectionate, loyal and fiercely independent. He is happiest when he is home along with his whole family; he truly misses somebody when they are out. Logan walks at his own pace and is rarely in a hurry. He loves to chat with the seniors in the grocery store who are drawn to approach him. Logan appreciates having everything in it's place and does not accept extraneous clothes/items in his room.
Logan is a fabulous eater! He is willing to try just about anything. While I can't get him to eat a PBJ sandwich, some of his favorite foods include: guacamole, garlic couscous, sweet potatoes, broccoli, butternut squash soup and Mimi's meatloaf.
We love you Logan!
Happy Birthday Super WHY!
We had Logan's birthday party over the weekend. We wanted to keep the party small, simple and FUN!!! Logan had 3 friends over to celebrate. The theme was Super WHY, naturally. The PBS show Super WHY is about a group of kids who solve problems by looking in books. The solution is arrived after finding missing alphabet letters which are put together to spell out the answer. Hence, the whole theme of the party was books and letters.
So, we had a problem of our own which required a group of super readers to help! I read the boys a story about Logan's birthday party which was all ready except his birthday sign was missing it's letters. (meanwhile, Ryan was hiding 20 letters around the house). The boys quickly dispersed to each find 4 letters and bring them back to the kitchen. Afterwards, they helped us match the missing letters to the poster which then read, Happy Birthday Logan!!
Next, they each got to draw on a canvas bag with fabric markers to decorate their own library bag. Meanwhile, they could snack on ABC crackers. As they finished, they could move into the family room where there were a variety of toys, games and puzzles that all had to do with the alphabet.
The highlight of the party was cake, of course. Logan picked a sprinkle cake which we decorated with alphabet letters and his prized Super WHY toy. Logan did not see the cake before his party and his reaction was priceless! He put his hands over his mouth as he squealed with excitement, "A SUPER WHY CAKE!"
After the boys were all loaded with sugar, they went to the basement where Ryan had put out a dozen balloons (which he lovingly wrote the entire alphabet on EACH balloon) for them to play with.
Overall, it was a great party and most importantly, the birthday boy himself seemed to have a SUPER time!
So, we had a problem of our own which required a group of super readers to help! I read the boys a story about Logan's birthday party which was all ready except his birthday sign was missing it's letters. (meanwhile, Ryan was hiding 20 letters around the house). The boys quickly dispersed to each find 4 letters and bring them back to the kitchen. Afterwards, they helped us match the missing letters to the poster which then read, Happy Birthday Logan!!
Next, they each got to draw on a canvas bag with fabric markers to decorate their own library bag. Meanwhile, they could snack on ABC crackers. As they finished, they could move into the family room where there were a variety of toys, games and puzzles that all had to do with the alphabet.
The highlight of the party was cake, of course. Logan picked a sprinkle cake which we decorated with alphabet letters and his prized Super WHY toy. Logan did not see the cake before his party and his reaction was priceless! He put his hands over his mouth as he squealed with excitement, "A SUPER WHY CAKE!"
After the boys were all loaded with sugar, they went to the basement where Ryan had put out a dozen balloons (which he lovingly wrote the entire alphabet on EACH balloon) for them to play with.
Overall, it was a great party and most importantly, the birthday boy himself seemed to have a SUPER time!
Hearts and Cookies!
Ryan and I made heart cut-out cookies with the boys over the weekend. They took nearly an hour to lovingly decorate each cookie, Of course, the best part was eating them.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Super Bowl!
Here are the boys dressed for the Super Bowl. We certainly are an eclectic group of fans--Seahawks, Redskins and the Patriots all represented. To add more interest to this scene, the child who was wearing the Patriots jersey was actually cheering for the Giants (sorry PopPop!). I guess we are a little non-committal.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
We try to collect ourselves a bit at dinner; create the calm within the eye of the storm. If Ryan is able to be home for dinner, he is usually walking in the door just as I put the plates on the table. After dinner, we put our three 'men' in the tub, then jammies and bed. The evenings move quickly and schedules don't permit much time to gather as a family of 5. Hence, we try to capitalize/maximize our togetherness at the dinner table. We talk about our days, ask questions, tell jokes, plan etc.
Recently, we started doing flashcards at dinner. Hayden isn't reading yet but is eager to learn. He can read some isolated words--and is pretty sharp with recognizing word family words, but to help prep him for K, we are reinforcing some basic sight words. Bonus is that Logan is learning many of these along side of Hayden. The boys look forward to this part of the meal. Sometimes, it will even entice Hayden to eat more quickly. For anybody who knows Hayden, they know that eating comes secondary to him in life--it is just not a priority when there is so much else to do with oneself.
I was starting the dishes the other night since Logan and myself were long finished eating (Ryan wasn't home yet) and I knew Owen would awake any minute from his evening power nap. After a few minutes of quiet, I turned from the sink and saw this:
I guess if he chooses to be sneaky at the table, reading flashcards isn't the worst option.
Recently, we started doing flashcards at dinner. Hayden isn't reading yet but is eager to learn. He can read some isolated words--and is pretty sharp with recognizing word family words, but to help prep him for K, we are reinforcing some basic sight words. Bonus is that Logan is learning many of these along side of Hayden. The boys look forward to this part of the meal. Sometimes, it will even entice Hayden to eat more quickly. For anybody who knows Hayden, they know that eating comes secondary to him in life--it is just not a priority when there is so much else to do with oneself.
I was starting the dishes the other night since Logan and myself were long finished eating (Ryan wasn't home yet) and I knew Owen would awake any minute from his evening power nap. After a few minutes of quiet, I turned from the sink and saw this:
I guess if he chooses to be sneaky at the table, reading flashcards isn't the worst option.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
5 Months!
"A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure,
a messenger of peace and love,
a resting place for innocence on earth,
a link between angels and men"
Another month has flown by! This seems as though it has been a big month for Owen! He is quite the social butterfly! He will happily go to anybody's arms, greets others with a huge, open-mouth grin (punctuated by one deep dimple on his left cheek), 'chats' with coos and raspberries and my favorite--giggles! (once separation anxiety sets in, I'm sure many of these easy-going traits will change). He likes to scoot backwards on his back while he's getting his diaper changed and is getting much more active in his jump-er-roo. Owen has started eating oatmeal with baby fruit for breakfast and accepts peas and greenbeans for lunch and dinner. We'll introduce the yummy orange veggies this next month. Naturally, his standby favorite activity is still watching his big brothers, though, bath is a close second.
Owen truly has such a tender spirit and sweet disposition. Looking forward to watching him grow and change this next month! Here's hoping that sleeping through the night will be on that list! :)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
ROAR!
Ryan took the two big boys to the Dayton Convention Center over the weekend where they had a dinosaur exhibit. 60 dinosaurs; many had moving parts and sounds. They went with two friends and their dad too. At first, Logan was very scared and hung onto Ryan in tears. But then, decided it was pretty fun after all! The boys could touch the models and press buttons.
Preview: In the morning they each colored a dinosaur picture. Notice Owen who looks on with great curiosity
Scared Logan
Happy Logan
The lights in this room where red, hence, the glow
Preview: In the morning they each colored a dinosaur picture. Notice Owen who looks on with great curiosity
Scared Logan
Happy Logan
The lights in this room where red, hence, the glow
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