The End of the Beginning

About a year ago, Ian started taking gymnastics classes. At the time, I wasn't necessarily considering anything that structured for my 2 1/2 year old, but after attending a few open gym play times, their staff encouraged me to do so. I guess they noticed he had a knack for it... and I started to notice it, too. The real selling point for me was when a male coach told me gymnastics would be great for building coordination and flexibility for sports later on.

So, I'm sure you're thinking that they tried to convince me to put him in classes as a marketing ploy, right? Well, I suppose that's possible, BUT the same staff members who noticed his aptitude for gymnastics also recently recommended us to another gym... one that has a boys' team and coaches who are former Olympians. Several weeks ago, we did a trial class there, and next week Ian will be making the switch.

Let me interject that yes, we realize he is only three, and we are certainly not counting on a budding 2028 Olympian here. He is also a few years out from anything remotely serious like their competitive boys' team. But the truth is, he's turning cartwheels and doing flips on the bars, and he LOVES his gymnastics classes, so let's go with it!

So last night, we bid farewell to Gym Kids and Ian's teacher, Miss Ashley. When we started going there, he called her "Miss Asha-wee," and he talked about her all the time. In the past year, Ian has learned to make the "l" sound plus do flips on the trampoline (and couch...and bed...), do a penny drop from the bars (hang from your knees, swing, and drop to your feet), and walk the length of a balance beam. John usually takes Ian to his classes, so whenever I have a chance to see him in action, I am always so impressed! Maybe aspiring for the 2028 Olympics is not so far-fetched, after all. (Wink, wink.)

Thanks, Miss Ashley, for a great year!

Little bro watches from the sidelines.

The other crazy kids in Ian's gymnastics class

By the way, we did do our MPM craft today... we made a little gift for Miss Ashley. However, we made the same thing for some family members we'll be visiting this weekend, so I won't post about that until next week. And if you are a family member whom we won't get to see over Labor Day, rest assured that there is a lot of crafting going on around here, and you will be a recipient soon enough!

Seth's Room

Well, Seth's room looks a lot like Ian's room did once upon a time. Yes, the poor kid gets all the hand-me-downs, even my nursery decorating ideas. However, there is one thing I never got to do in Ian's room... paint! This is one reason why I love Seth's room so much now... it's like the nursery I envisioned when I was pregnant with Ian is finally complete!

By the way, the metal truck on the wall is new. I hope it's secure enough that Seth won't get too curious about it... this room has already been rearranged once because he started pulling on his curtains where the crib used to be positioned. I think I actually like this arrangement better than how we first had it when we moved into this house... which is why I'm posting pictures about it now.

Also, we have the drop-down crib which they don't manufacture anymore. I'm really hoping it lasts another year for us until we can bunk the boys together. I just saw this post on what to do with your drop-down crib (she calls it a "cot," she's in Australia) since you can't technically sell it. I don't know if we would actually do this, but it's a neat idea nonetheless!

3 1/2 and 16 Months

Sunburn Grief

First of all, let me just say that I am so thankful that the worst thing I have to be grieving about right now is a sunburn. I certainly hope this doesn't offend anyone who is truly grieving. However, I imagine the stages of a sunburn to be similar to the five stages of grief.

1) Denial - Someone says, "Wow, you look red!" You think, "No, I don't. I'm just flushed. I put on sunscreen."

2) Anger - Dangit, why didn't I put on more sunscreen!?!?!?

3) Bargaining - If only I had a different brand of sunscreen or a stronger spf. I'm so glad it's me and not my boys, though. Why did I remember to put sunscreen on them but not myself? Well, at least John can relate with his sunburn. Hey, I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine.

4) Depression - It hurts! I can't lay on my back. I can't get comfortable. Oh man, now it's itching.

5) Acceptance - Well, the fact that it's peeling means it's not going to turn into a nice tan. Just went from red to white again. Sigh. Well, at least summer is almost over.

MPM: Shhh, Don't Tell!

For this week and next week's Monday crafts, I won't be able to post pics just yet because we are making some gifts for family members whom we will see over Labor Day. Don't worry... in a few weeks, I'll catch you up to speed on our artistic antics! Meanwhile, here are a couple more photos that my neighbor took at the lake. Their dogs also came along for the ride. It's always nice to borrow someone else's boat... and their dogs, too! All the fun, none of the upkeep!

See today's earlier post about our end-of-summer adventures.

Summer's Full Circle

Well, our area schools started today which doesn't really mean much for those of us with preschoolers (except more traffic coming in and out of our neighborhood). My boys will finish up their summer session at Mother's Day Out this week, take a week off, and start back up again after Labor Day. However, since everyone else is in back-to-school mode, we are feeling it, too. And even though it is still hotter than blazes outside, summer activities are coming to an end.

Toward the beginning of the summer, we enjoyed our first outing to the Y's splash pad. We've spent many a hot day there just trying to cool off these past few months. On Saturday we bid farewell to the splash pad as they've closed it for the school year. Some friends were able to join us, too.

Seth says, "Bye bye splash pad!"

You gotta watch out for these three!

Also at the beginning of the summer, we took a family day trip to Canyon Lake. That was a fun little "beach" experience, but we were stoked when our neighbors asked us if we wanted to go out on their boat this past weekend. Ian actually rode on a boat when he was five months old, but clearly doesn't remember it. We all had a lot of fun on this little "back-to-school" (for the big kids) boating adventure.

Seth basically snacked the whole time!

Ian spent a lot of time at the stairs.

Ian and Daddy get to drive the boat!

Pretty tuckered out after this fun day in the sun

Peachy Keen

One of the definite perks (among many) that came with our new house was the peach tree in the front yard. We actually harvested peaches right after we moved here last July, and we've been waiting to see if they'd come back this year. Well, the tree did NOT disappoint!

Our first flowers budded back in March

Little green fuzzy peaches, April 21

Starting to turn peachy colored, July 1

Getting bigger, won't be long now, July 13

We finished picking our peaches on July 18

We did have a little scare with our sweet tree earlier this year. The city sent us a notice that it was encroaching on the sidewalk, and we either needed to trim it back, or they would come and "take care of it." So, John gave it a little pruning job which meant we lost some branches (and lots of peaches), but thankfully we got to keep our tree! So, since we get so many peaches, we gave some to friends and family, ate a bunch (the boys LOVED them), and froze the rest waiting for a good opportunity to invite the neighbors over and enjoy peach ice cream.

Ian loves to help out in the kitchen.

Ice cream man in action

Neighborhood shindig last weekend

MPM: Felt and Floss

This week's craft was a little crazy, but I totally love the result. I'm not really sure why I decided to let my three-year-old SEW, but sure, why not? Let's start with showing the end result, and then I'll tell you what all we did along the way.

So I have some felt on hand in cute prints... Ian chose the monkeys because he said they were the "Bobo Brothers" which are characters on his current favorite cartoon, Diego. He then helped me pick out buttons, and he sewed on three of them while I did the rest later. I actually found it easier to use some super sticky tape to put them on first, and Ian loved cutting the tape with my super sharp scissors. He really felt this was a privilege because I NEVER let him touch those scissors.

Playing with the embroidery floss... love his concentration!

Putting tape on the buttons before we sew them

Hurricane Seth having a diaper for a snack?

Ian practices writing his name on the felt

So I cut out the letters for his name, and once Ian saw the Sharpie come out, he also wanted to give that a try. I also NEVER let him touch Sharpies, so basically, Ian was in hog heaven playing with all these taboo tools. He's actually getting pretty good at writing his name these days.

Seth saw the mess we were making and offered a trash bag...
or seven.

Sorry for the weird orientation of the photo. I take most of my MPM pics with my phone, although I'm not sure why I don't just use my regular camera. While I did most of the stitching on the letters, Ian actually helped on a portion of each letter. We did this part in spurts throughout the day, though. I mean, he does have the attention span of a three-year-old, you know. And here's a MPM first... a video!



Yes, I do realize that sewing can't really compete with gymnastics in this little boy's world. But you know what? Whenever we would say that it was Monday, Ian used to say, "Yay, gymnastics day!" But this week? He came in my room Monday morning and said, "What day is it.... are we going to do a craft today?" Hooray for Mod Podge Mondays!

It's Monday, but...

I'll have to take a minute to interrupt our regularly scheduled program (Mod Podge Mondays) to bring you this... I have recently been oh-so-lucky to enter a contest and WIN! My friend, MAB, presented us with the challenge of picking interesting drink combinations at Sonic. Here is her initial blog post if you are interested, but you can't enter anymore since I've already won, neener, neener!

Since I commented oh, like 20 times (to increase my chance of winning, of course) I promised MAB I would try the winning drink with her. Below is her video reveal of the winning drink followed by my own late-night attempt at video editing which ended in frustration with the software, a silly song stuck in my head, and the desire to go out and get another Dr. Pepper after it was all said and done! This one's for you, MAB!





As I continued drinking, I did catch a hint of watermelon every now and then. I found the drink to be well, drinkable, but certainly not my favorite. And Ian just came up with his own concoction... I should have enlisted his help when I was entering the drawing! By the way, my phone is just propped up on my steering wheel, hence the weird angles and such. Hmm, we stay-at-home-moms must have too much time on our hands.

Sethisms

So, it's time to do a similar post about Seth. I guess he's not saying much, yet, but he sure is doing a lot! He is one busy kid... and pretty expressive, too, for being a boy of such few words.

He does say "mama" and "dada" but has altered these slightly to "mah-meee" and "dah-deeee." He says "ba ba" which could mean his bear, pacifier, baby, bye bye, who knows? "Bye bye" is usually accompanied with a wave of the arm. He also says "tigoo" when I've handed him things which I think is "thank you." And I think "Uh-na" is his word for Ian, so we have some work to do on that one!

He points a lot... at what he wants and what he wants to show you. It's fun to see how he notices things like the other day he points at a bird outside the window. "Da!" I say, "bird." "Da!" "Bird." "Da!" Well, like I said, still a boy of few words.

But just because we can't understand the words, doesn't mean he's not saying something. He jabbers all the time. It almost sounds like a conversation sometimes, like with inflection and everything. When I'm in the car with both boys, Ian and I usually have pretty constant conversation going. Seth just sits, listens, observes, watches out the window. But if it is JUST Seth in the car, he likes to have his own conversation with mommy, too.

When Seth dances, he used to just kinda bounce. Now he stomps his feet and turns in a circle.

He doesn't do it as much as he used to, but he still needs his little "mom check" every now and then. This usually means he comes and sits in my lap if we're playing on the floor or he raises his arms to me to be picked up if I'm standing. He just wants to be held or sit for about a minute, and then he's off playing again. Also, if you ask Seth for a hug, he kinda backs into you (almost like he's going to sit in your lap) and just stands there until you hug him.

Seth is also pretty possessive of his mama. Doesn't like for her to give much attention to Daddy or Ian. He'll have to learn to get over that.

When he's not seeking comfort from mom, he's usually toting around his green bear/blanket and sadly, there's often a darn pacifier in his mouth. Even if I take it away or hide it from him (for use at night/naps only) he somehow finds the spares or ones we've lost! I even witnessed him pointing at it on the bookshelf so that Ian would get it down for him. This pacifier and bear attachment has grown in just the last few months and will probably be a hard bond to break.

Even though he's been teething like CRAZY lately, he's actually been a pretty happy kid. He's loving mobility and explores ALL OVER THE PLACE! He has an obsession with unrolling the toilet paper roll... and a radar that seems to know when we accidentally leave the bathroom door open! And we're in that phase where he loves to open and close things and put things in and then take them out.

Seth got pretty tickled when we were watching this video on another blog. I replayed the video, and took our own video of Seth's reaction. This one's for you, Tricia!

He loves pictures and videos of babies. He loves looking at himself in the mirror. All in all, pretty typical baby stuff going on here... but he's our one and only sweet and silly Seth!

Ianisms

I loved Lydia's recent post about conversations with her son, Caleb. I do enjoy TALKING to my little man, and he makes me laugh pretty much every day with the things he says. So, it's time for another round of Ianisms.

Ian STILL talks a lot about when he gets bigger. Poor kid, don't try and grow up so fast! So the other day he says, "When I'm 20, I'm going to college." I said, "Oh, OK.. what is college, Ian?" "It's a big school where you read lots of books."

"Someday when I get bigger, I will be in charge." (In response to one of us telling him to do something. Why? Because we're in charge.) "And then YOU will get smaller and not be in charge!" (Sorry, kiddo, it doesn't work like that.)

Ian is usually pretty good about saying "please" and "thank you." But then he always like to announce, "I used my manners!" And if he doesn't get what he wants, he pouts, "But, I used my manners!"

When we get to the intersection just past our neighborhood, Ian announces, "If you go that way, you go to my school. That way is to the Y. And that way is to gymnastics!"

He's started making some very boyish comments like, "Let's go to the neighborhood POOP." (instead of "pool") and then he's so tickled with himself.

So, Seth is learning to talk. So we are asking him a lot of, "Can you say..." questions. Well, Ian makes an appoint to tell us that HE can say whatever it is. In fact, anytime Seth does anything that catches our attention, Ian wants the same attention too, of course. Like when Seth climbs up on the couch, "Good job, Seth!" Then Ian says, "I can climb on the couch, too!" But what's funny is that he acts like it was SO hard for him to do, almost mimicking Seth's struggle to get up there.

And on that note, this one simply takes the cake. I accidentally bumped Seth's head when I put him in his carseat today. "Oh, I'm so sorry Seth!" Then, Ian says, "I can bump my head, too!" And he proceeds to hoist himself up so that his head touches the rim of the car. Seriously, kiddo?

We have these 100 calorie packs of pretzels that we tote around for a quick snack. But because the packaging kinda looks like his fruit snacks, Ian calls them, "pretzel fruit snacks." I don't imagine that would taste good. Ian has also proposed that we put ketchup and salt on ice cream. Ew!

Ian wanted to play on John's computer tonight. "I really really really want to type on your computer." John repeatedly says no. So then Ian says, "I really really really want you to not say no."

And so here is what happens when Ian takes a video on my phone. Yeah, I have no clue.

MPM: Space Scenes

Supplies were: black paper, white crayons, holographic space stickers, space-themed foam stamps, and glitter-glue. We started out drawing stars and shapes with the white crayons, but once Ian found out stamps and stickers were involved, the crayons lost their allure fast. We've done stickers before, so that also didn't take long... but the stamps, oh, Ian LOVED those. We basically squeezed out some glitter glue onto plates to put our stamps in... and Ian would keep reciting what I told him, "OK, push this down, now lift up, and push on the paper... look, Mom, a spaceship!" The stamps would probably work better with actual stamp pads, but I didn't have any in white, so we'll do that another day, especially since he enjoyed that part so much.

And then there was the Seth factor. Hmm, what to do with Seth? Clearly, he is too little for our crafts. I tried to distract him with toys, but he soon wandered over to the table to see what we were doing. I tried letting him color on plain paper, but he kept knocking the paper off the table and dropping his crayons. Then, I taped the paper to the table, and he just ripped it up. Then he started eating the crayons, so I just gave him a snack and continued helping Ian.

You want me to just sit here and play with THIS?

Nope, I'd rather see what you guys are up to!

Next week I may try and see if Ian and I can do our craft right when Ian gets up from nap and Seth is still down (usually). This was actually my plan LAST week, but Ian took the longer nap that day for a change (of course, when I have plans). Next week's craft may actually involve SEWING, so that will definitely require a lot of mom-Ian interaction. Ooh, I'm already excited! OK, here are more pics from today...

You can't go wrong with stickers!

Ian loved stamping, though!

So then Ian gets REALLY creative.

So, what's interesting about this last photo is that Ian had the idea to stick the two pages together (after rubbing one on the glitter-glue plate) to make the mirror images. That was something we did on our first craft day. Ian was so proud of his idea, and I was proud that he actually remembered the technique we did several weeks ago. Just when I was beginning to wonder if this was just too much work or that my kids were too little to appreciate it, I get this confirmation. Ian was also excited to tell his Daddy about our space scenes. He made sure to report that Seth ripped his paper, too. Oh, brother!

John told me that he thought our weekly crafts were pretty cool... like something you would read about and say, "What a great mom!" Well, that made me feel good, too, since most of the time I feel like I'm either drowning or just treading water with this mom thing.

The finished products

 Oh, and by the way, I buy a lot of the craft supplies on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I think the stamps, stickers, and glitter glue (set of four) were all $1 each. The Target dollar section is another great place to find supplies.

Alright then, until next week...

Momsense

I have recently taken on a fun new project. I started attending a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) program at a local church earlier this year. They break for the summer, but will soon be back in action for the school year, and they were in need of a publicity coordinator. This basically means that I do their newsletter. Well, I've been known to do a newsletter or two... so here we go again!

The theme for this year's MOPS (as set by the overarching national organization) is "Momsense." We'll have all kinds of things that pertain to that theme... a Bible verse, small group names, decorations, weekly discussion topics, etc. Oh... and a similarly themed newsletter, too, I suppose! (I better get to work on that soon.)

However, for this blog post, I'd like to talk about my own "momsense." To me, that means the set of skills, knowledge, resources, instincts, and know-how that makes momhood WORK in the day in and day out. Some of it I acquired from books, blog posts, family and friends' advice, and good ole Google searches every now and then. Some of it I guess I was just BORN with or BLESSED with, because I don't know where it comes from most days!

I have this deep desire to simply help other moms... especially moms who are in a situation that I have been in or am currently dealing with. For example, the mom who just moved here with two small children, just trying to get her bearings in an unfamiliar city while dealing with disappointment in their housing situation, the difficulty of husband's new job and work hours, the adjustment (read: no sleep) her children are experiencing, and the plaguing Texas HEAT that she is not used to.

Because there was a time when I moved to this city during the "drought summer," found out I was pregnant, spent the next few months throwing up while also trying to unpack and get acclimated only to realize that we'd be moving again in a year anyway for which I was thankful because the rent house was kinda dumpy, and Ian wasn't sleeping well, and so on and so forth...

Or the mom whose baby starting fussing a lot at age six weeks, and she wasn't sure what to do or what was causing it. Yeah, Ian just kinda decided he hated the world at age 6 weeks, and let's just say we learned a trick or two. And since Seth had his own set of tummy issues, I was able to add even more tips to my bag o' tricks. I made sure this mom actually wanted my advice first, because well, advice, especially when unsolicited, can be overwhelming and annoying.

I never want to be annoying... and there's a fine line between offering advice and being an intrusion. While momhood and even "momsense" can be a communal thing, and it's important for us moms to stick together and help each other out... there are SO many personal decisions involved as well. And some people take things very personally. What I have learned through my own experience and by watching others' reactions is that we are all so unique and individual and SO ARE OUR CHILDREN, that what works for me may not work for you.

And so I recognize that. I will tell anyone who wants to hear what works best for us, but I don't expect anyone to do things my way. Because each mom has her own "momsense," and while she may be reaching out for help, when it comes down to it, only SHE knows what is best for her kids, herself, and her family.

Busy Week

It's been a busy week around here, and I've taken a bunch of photos. Here are a few slide shows of our trip to The Jumpy Place (an indoor play place), some pics around the house, and our Brunch-n-Buddies (a monthly playdate that I host).

Look Ma! I have teeth!

Um, Seth has a lot of teeth. In fact, I noticed his last one-year molar just below the surface of the gums this morning. He's gotten four new teeth in the last two weeks! (Sorry, facebookers, this is redundant.) And I think that makes eight new teeth in two months! Hmm, let me see...

Bottom right molar: noticed today
Bottom right canine: July 28
Top right canine: July 25
Top right molar: July 10
Bottom left molar: July 1
Top left canine: June 1
Bottom left canine: May 24
Top left molar: May 21

OK, so my calculations were a little off, but I feel like every time I look in that kid's mouth, he's got a new tooth! So, needless to say, it's been a snotty, drooly, and fussy couple of months. I was thinking this seemed crazy to get so many teeth in quick succession (but better to get it over with, I guess) but I pulled out Ian's tooth chart, and he did the same thing in July/August 09! Seth is just doing it a little earlier, but he's gotten most of his teeth earlier than Ian anyhow.

Speaking of August 09, THAT is when we moved to SA. We've been here two years! Crazy!

Speaking of comparing my boys, I remember Seth being bigger than Ian (when compared at the same age, of course) through most of his first year... he was probably level with him around 9 months, Ian had a few ounces on Seth at 12 months, but by 15 months, it would seem that Seth is slimming down. At Seth's age, Ian weighed 1.5 lbs more, yet was 1/2 inch shorter. Well, there's no doubt about it. Ian is certainly a big boy now!

Yes, sorry that was a completely uninteresting post. I actually wanted to post something more insightful, but I am tired and have a headache. I think it's the heat. Goodnight, then!

MPM: Ice Painting Pictures

Seth was like, what is this? Ian complained it was cold.

Ian had the idea to put it in his mouth, not Seth!

Then Ian decides to throw the ice, and Seth is off to the toy bin. Ice painting lasted about 5 minutes.

This is the idea, though, that it would leave fun colors/patterns on your fabric.

Ian requested "more paint" which he squeezed out in big globs, and then Seth crawled through it.

Yes, Seth, the hose is a great idea for you, son!

The cardboard was under the fabric, so we painted that.

Ian called it a "rain storm" so I helped him add in lightening and sunshine.

So the ice painting itself was somewhat of a bust, and the other painting became an absolute mess, but nothing that a good spray-down with the water hose couldn't fix. I was hoping to keep our colored fabric, but the boys basically coated it with black paint. I am the one who brought out the other paint, so I shouldn't be too disappointed in the end result. And I still have some of the colored ice, so maybe we'll just watch our drinking water turn fun colors with it or mix them together to see what happens.