Thomas Starts Preschool

After taking a year off with school Thomas is again enrolled and loving preschool!  We did a lot of work for him on our end to make the transition to preschool as successful as possible.  On many mornings, and a few afternoons, you could find Thomas and Elin in “school” at our house. 

We all talked a lot about what our thoughts were on school and that it was really important to help our brains grow and develop.  After doing a little research I narrowed down some preschool choices and made appointments to go and visit.  Thomas and I went together to the visits.  The first school, a Montessori based program, was a bit to strict for Thomas and I.  We couldn’t run fast enough out of that quiet, eerily no chaos place.  It was the oddest “school” environment I had ever seen, and it was most certainly not for us.

We then went to Apple Creek preschool and it was lovely.  The teachers were welcoming, the kids were smiling and having a great time and best of all Thomas didn’t sink his body into mine and try to hide!  His body language instantly relaxed and he was ready to jump in, and did, with another boy at a sand table.  

I really liked the classroom set up, the philosophy, that we had friends who had been through the program with both a child with special needs and one without, that all the teachers were either teacher educated or working towards an education degree and that the time was not 5 hours, but rather 2.5 to begin with the ability to add in a extra 2 hours with the stay and play option.  This way we could slowly transition Thomas into his classroom and to the longer days. 

Since starting Thomas hasn’t looked back. He is making new friends, learning so much everyday and the transition has been everything Mike and I could have hoped for. He always has stories to tell us about school and he is loving writing and having special pens/markers to write with.  We are so proud of our little guy and cannot wait to continue to support him as he learns and grows.

William is 5 Months Old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time seems to have gone even faster than with Thomas and Elin, then again maybe not, Nonetheless William is 5 months old.  I am trying to soak in every last ounce of his newborn squishy snuggly baby-babyness that I can, as it is all quickly seems to be fading.
The littlest big guy continues to be a very smiley happy little guy.  He cannot get enough of his brother and sister and always has smiles when they are around.  I swear he is watching them and planning out how he is going to start moving so he can keep up!   Which brings me to the fact that this guy is wiggly!  He is rolling from his tummy to his back like crazy and has started to scoot around on his tummy.   He's figured out how to kick his feet, grab his toes and get toys to play with.  He has also found a love in chewing and sucking on his fingers.  All this chewing and drooling has had us wondering about teeth, but so far we still just see him flashing his gums!
These days William is a chatter box and will here and there tell you how much he likes something with a great baby giggle and laugh.  He is using his back sounds of his voice and loving playing with the different tones and rising and falling inflections.  If only we knew exactly what he was thinking and saying as the stories he tells seem quite interesting.  I could spend all day listening to him talk to me, his Daddy, his siblings or the random object/thing he seems particularly delighted by!

William had a 5 month checkup with his doctor as we never got to see him at his 4 month appointment.  He was 26 inches and 14 lbs 9 oz.  We are going to start doing his reflux medicine 2x a day and I'm going to continue to stay dairy free, seeing here and there how he tolerates it and if I can add it back into my diet.  His doctor was very pleased with both his growth and developmental milestones. 

William is 4 Months Old

William is growing so quickly that in one sense I want time to stand still and him to stay a small snuggly baby and on the other hand I love seeing who he continues to become.   He continues to be a really content little guy who really just likes being around and part of the team.  He is really happy go lucky and loves to give whoever he can a gummy smile.  This usually charms them and as we always say it is hard not to smile when you look at him. 

He is in awe of his big brother and sister and loves watching them, or trying to as they move really quickly!  He is still not quite sure what to think of the animals but he stares in wonder at them. 

W is a strong little guy who seems like he has one thing on his mind and that is moving.  He is rolling from tummy to back and scooting when he does tummy time.  He can hold his head and shoulders up for a good 10 minutes while he watches us or he plays with his toys.  He is playing with a lot of toys in the middle of his body and still learning how to reach and grab the toys that he wants.  He loves to bite and chew on his hands and yours too.  He has also discovered his feet and loves to kick and stare at them while he is playing.

William is very engaging and likes to capture you and then have a back and forth coo and ahh conversation, there are even some grrrllllsssss and bubbles in there.  We haven’t heard a giggle yet, but think it might be right around the corner and we are anxiously awaiting it.  We have started to figure out his vocalizations and what his cries mean.  He very rarely has a full on cry fest and if he does, even with him being our 3rd, Mike and are scrambling because it is so rare for him to “loose his noodles.”  He will often give you a sad fussy whiny noise if he is displeased with what is happening, like he wants to be all done with tummy time.  He has a much longer fuse than I remember with Thomas for sure and Elin possibly…funny how much you can’t remember about the babies as they grow so fast.  He then has a “mahhha  mahhhhaaa” cry for being hungry and if he is tired he usually just tries to snuggle in or doesn’t cry if you hold him in the cradle position.  The big sad cries come when he is scared by a movement or noise and then he gets a big pouty bottom lip, a very sad face and then he really cries….OR he is in his car seat….the kid HATES his car seat! 

William is a “good sleeper” which is always a common how is your baby question.  He generally follows a predictable pattern of naps/sleep and goes to bed between 7-8:30 and then wakes for the day between 7-8:30.  He gets up to nurse and doesn’t even open his eyes most nights.  He is still sleeping either in the rock and play next to our bed or more and more snuggled into my arms.    Some nights when the days naps allow he ends up being awake after the big kids go to sleep and he gets Mike and I’s full attention.  We all love the quiet and being able to just be with our little guy and talk about all the new things he is doing.  *as our schedule is pretty flexible we often get one kiddo up with us after the other 2 sleep so we get one on one time with each kiddo every few nights…it is pretty amazing and special for both them and us.  Ok back to William, he generally naps a few shorter naps (2- 45 minute to 1 hour ish)  in the morning while there is a lot going on, sometimes in my arms, the rock and play or in a wrap.  He is usually up around our lunchtime 11:30-12:30 depending on the day and then goes back to sleep for his big afternoon nap around 1-2:30 depending on how his morning naps shook out.   If everything lines up right I then get a good snuggle in with him, nurse him a 2nd time into a deeper sleep and then put him in his rock and play for the 2nd half of his nap.  These monster afternoon naps are typically 3-4 hours long.  Then he is up for dinner time, seeing daddy, might take another power nap, bath and then bedtime routine. 

Some of his favorite things are swinging outside, looking at the leaves, giving and getting kisses, bath time,  smiling at anyone and playing with his brother and sister.  Some of his least favorite things are car rides and loud startling noises, like a loud unpredicted guys laugh in particular, he is super offended by them.

We had to reschedule William’s actual well baby visit as his pediatrician had been called into the hospital.  Aside from wanting to talk about his reflux as he had gotten increasingly spitty over the last few days I had no other concerns.  We ended up taking all 3 kiddos in for a “sick visit” just to make sure that their still lingering coughs and Elin’s runny nose were all ok and that no one had any ear infections.  All was well and William weighted in at 13 lbs 15 oz and was 25 inches long.  We have his well baby rescheduled for “5 months” so more then.  As for his reflux we upped his medicine from 1/2 a pill of 15 mg Prevacid to 3/4 of a pill.  I am still not eating any dairy and these 2 combinations together seems to be working to keeping him comfortable and less spitty/urpy!

Fall Gardening/Yard Work

We spent the past couple weekends playing in the yard and dirt.  We took out all our summer crops and planted a few for the fall/winter.  We decided to try brussel sprouts, garlic, peas, a few lettuces, radishes, and more carrots, leeks, and parsnips.  There was also time for a family bike ride to our pond to let the kids fish.  Just like always they got nothing and after a few casts, they decided that they were done fishing.  We then took a few family pictures and headed home.  This past weekend we got the yard ready for our first upcoming frost.  We will see how the garden fares as usually there is another few weeks before the first frost/freeze.  The kiddos loved playing in the dirt and helping out.

Beautiful Fall Day at the Zoo

My cousin Trisha was in town for a conference so she was nice enough to join the kiddos and I at the zoo.  It was a beautiful day and we got to see a lot of animals and enjoy some gorgeous fall weather.  We started the day off by catching the last 1/2 of the bird show.  The kiddos both got to hand a dollar to the raven in support of bird conservation.  We then headed over to see the monkeys, tigers, koalas and other animals along that path.  The tiger was making some vocalizitions, half roar half chuff (I learned that from Wild Kratts) and the kiddos didn’t like it one bit so we got out of there.We also got to check out the creepy crawlies in the bug room.  There are a lot of bugs in Texas and some of them are not good…so I took the opportunity to study the bad poisonous bugs for our own safety.  Like most kiddos Thomas and Elin love bugs but I am so afraid of the ones that can hurt them so I have had a in general “No touching Texas bugs” policy with them.  It is working about 50% of the time. 

Then we headed to the elephants and giraffes stopping to grab lunch.  The kiddos love feeding the giraffes and it is honestly one of the coolest things I have experienced as well.   William woke up when we sat down for lunch, had his lunch, and then was ready to do the zoo!  He looked around at all the animals and even got up close and personal with a giraffe…what a lucky 3 month old!

We took a break to let the kiddos legs rest and get a few pictures and then we were on for a long trek back to see the cheetah experience.  One of the favorite episodes of Wild Kratts is the on on cheetahs, so I thought the cheetah experience would be cool for them to see…and I wanted to see it too.  The cheetah and his black lab “brother” are about a year old and it is one of handful of cheetah/dog pairings in zoos.  They do it as to help the cheetah’s become ambassadors for the other cheetahs in the wild as the labs help show the cheetah that being around people is ok.  We watched them and listened to their story for a bit before Elin and William got too tired and we needed to sneak away.  Then it was time for the dreaded ride home…dreaded because William refuses to enjoy his car rides…big boo!  We made it home in one piece after several stops to calm him down.  The positive was that both Thomas and Elin got naps in after a big zoo adventure! 

Dallas Stars Game

Mike got some tickets for the Stars game against the Kings so off we went!   Some looked at us like we were half crazy bringing our 3 little kiddos to the game, but they were in awe and really did great with their listening ears on!   Thomas and Elin were in awe watching the guys skate!  William was awake for the first 5 minutes before he snoozed most of the time.  The buzzer was a little loud for Elin but a few cotton balls later she was a happy camper.  Aside from the game their next favorite thing was the roasted nuts and popcorn treats!  The biggest surprise of the night was that Mike and I actually got to watch 2 periods of hockey and didn’t need to wrangle the kiddos to do so…it was a win for everyone.  Thomas keeps asking when we are going back…so we will have to see what we can do to help him out!

Park Day

The kiddos and I went on a park hunt before Thomas had his second dentist appointment (a second opinion on his cavity being filled and the need for surgery to remove his tooth).   We headed closer to his dentist’s office and then found a great new park to explore.  The kiddos loved the climbing wall…especially Elin my itty bitty rock climber!  Later that night we met some friends at the park and William tried out the big boy swing.  He loved it and thought he was pretty cool as well.  Loving the cooler fall days and being able to get outside without sweating or too many layers just yet!

Halloween 2014

The kiddos and I started Halloween day off with some spooky shows and breakfast.  Then it was time to start crafting…I had a list of things I wanted to make, but always forget how long one thing takes.  So we got a couple crafts done and then changed for our lion walk before lunch.  After lunch it was naptime and W and I snuck away for a few errands.  When we got home Halloween was in full swing.  We attempted William in the pumpkin like we had in years prior with Thomas and Elin…he hated every single miserable second.  In fact I am certain that he thought it was the worst thing that has ever happened to him.  After we gave up on that, Thomas and Elin Mike and I carved pumpkins.Then it was time for a quick dinner and TRICK OR TREATING!  The kiddos were so excited to go this year.  We had been reading books, watching shows, talking about trick or treating and maybe just maybe they both remembered a bit from last year.  Thomas for sure did, Elin might have?  We took our family photo out front again and again had a lot to piece through to get a good one…This year Thomas was originally going to be Bumblebee the Transformer from Rescue Bots, but then he decided he wanted to be a farmer.  Elin, along with many other little girls out there was Elsa or “Frozen Girl.”  William started the day off in what Elin called his Pumpkin Patch outfit and ended up being a cross between a farmer and a scarecrow. We met up with a group of neighbors and the kiddos ran door to door as we made our way to the neighborhoods block party.  Once we arrived at the block party it was mass chaos. There were bounce houses, a scary Halloween movie playing, a haunted house and trunk trick or treating to be had.  After trying to survive there for a bit we ended up over at the pumpkin painting and then called it a night.  We trick or treated back home and then the kiddos got to check out their candy haul.  After they got to fill their belly with some of their sugary treats we all headed to bed.  At some point when we were sleeping the switch witch came to our house.  We didn’t get a note or anything but she left a couple of Lego toys and a few candy treats, but the rest she took with her.  The kiddos were pleasantly surprised with how “nice the witch was” to leave them some candy and a toy.   What a great and safe Halloween night!