Back to School Night

This week we attended Back To School night at Thing 1's daycare/preschool. He will be starting kindergarten next fall, so I thought we better get used to attending these things. I picked the boys up a little early so we could get home, eat dinner, and then go back to the daycare. The center had some of the staff available to watch the kids while the parents sat in little chairs listening to the teachers discuss the curriculum that our children will be following for the next year. Anyway, on our way out of the house, Thing 1 got very upset. He kept saying that he couldn't go to school because he hadn't slept yet. He also made a point of saying, "But I don't have my lunch!" No matter how many times we explained to him that he wasn't going back for a full day, only for about an hour, and that he already had lunch that day, he would not listen. Poor guy, was so confused!

Back To School night was interesting. We really like Thing 1's new teacher. She is very friendly and patient with the kids. It makes Thing 1 more comfortable in class and more willing to try new things. He's a child that is very concerned about doing things correctly and won't even try something if he is afraid that he will do it wrong. Not sure where he got such a perfectionist attitude? :)

Took the dog out and...

Came inside to find this...

No, we don't keep our children in a cage. I took MJ outside to pee and when I came back in I found both boys sitting in her cage, playing!

Excuses, Excuses

I've been absent from blogging. I was very bad at blogging in August with only 2 posts. That's terrible. I can't say it is because nothing occurred in this household and that our lives have been so boring that all of you would have fallen asleep. It's been my own procrastination and preoccupation with other things.

After our vacation to visit family in August, The Mr. was gone for a week on business. This happens on occasion, as you already know. However, this time he left on a Sunday afternoon and returned on a Friday evening. This left me extremely busy and exhausted by the time the week was over. Then, the weekend of his return, I began feeling ill. I went to work on Monday, only to leave at noon. My hope was that I would rest all afternoon and be at 100% by Tuesday morning. I was, unfortunately, mistaken. I felt awful. I attempted to get an appointment with my doctor to be told that they had no appointments that day or the next day. I would have to go to an urgent care clinic. Wednesday morning I made an appointment with the urgent care clinic. The doctor there told me that I had a stomach virus. I am out of work until Monday. I could have gone back today but I figured, why go back on a Friday? So, I had the doctor write the note for Monday.

So there you have it. My excuses for not blogging much in the month of August - or at least not for the past 2 weeks.

My future plans include: attending the Renaissance Faire and taking a Sign Language class. I start class on Thursday and purchased my book today. The class is 100% paid by my employer as we have a Deaf Program where we work and it would be helpful in my position if I could communicate with the staff and clients of that program without the use of an interpreter. (Interpreters are expensive, if you didn't know.) Posts on these events, as well as any cute or odd things my boys do, should follow.

Vacation in Pictures

We returned home at 3am on Wednesday from visiting family. Here are some pictures from our trip to Boston.

Our first stop on Saturday: New England Aquarium.

"Mom, the fish was THIS big!"

Thing 2 enjoyed watching the fish, sharks, and turtles swim by.

Thing 1 was able to touch a starfish.

We found that Thing 1 wasn't even half the size of a sand tiger shark.

Our next stop was the fountain. It was incredibly hot and humid making the cold water feel good!

Thing 2 being held by his uncle as he was just sprayed in the face with water and needed some comforting.

Our final stop for the day: Quincy Market. We needed to eat some good food before taking the T back to the grandparents'.

That steak & cheese sub was very tasty!

We couldn't forget to eat some nice bacon wrapped scallops! (And I did eat some New England Clam Chowder; however it was gone way before I could take a picture of it!)

Thing 1 sharing Grandma's smoothie.

This is how the boys spent the car ride back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

And this was just day 1 of our vacation. We enjoyed spending time with family that we hadn't seen in awhile. We miss all of you and can't wait to see you again!

The First Time Out

Yesterday, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were being bad. They kept getting into things they weren't supposed to and throwing toys around. Well, we had put Thing 1 in time out for these things and thought it was about time that Thing 2 start time out as well. (He can be the instigator at times.) Thing 2 was hitting the dog's cage with a toy (the dog was in the cage, by the way). The Mr. told him repeatedly to stop; however Thing 2 just looked at him and, very defiantly, began banging on the dog's cage again. So The Mr. sat Thing 2 in the corner. Thing 2 had a very confused look on his face. He sat there for a few seconds and then just got up. The Mr. sat him back down in the corner. This is when Thing 2 realized he was in trouble. He then began crying! The Mr. and I had difficulty containing our giggles as he just looked so cute sitting there all sad because he was in time out.

Sprinkler Fun

We purchased a sprinkler a few weeks ago and since it has been so warm recently, we decided to set it up. Here are some pictures of the boys cooling off in the sprinkler on a hot day.

15 month stats

Thing 2 had his 15 month check up yesterday. He cried as soon as the doctor arrived and didn't stop until we were pulling out of the parking lot. He did get a clean bill of health, though! He weighs 21 pounds 14 ounces and is 30 inches tall. He's in the 34th percentile for his weight and 36th percentile for his height. For his height versus his weight, he is in the 56th percentile. He is small at this age compared to Thing 1. Thing 1 was always in the 90th percentile for everything. No wonder we can't use a lot of the same clothes over again!

Our only concern at the appointment was that Thing 2 doesn't say many words. Or at least many words that we can understand. He talks a lot but we have difficulty figuring out what he is trying to say. Thing 1 will speak for him and say "he's hungry" or "he's sleepy." The majority of the time Thing 1 is correct. The doctor, however, was not concerned at all. He stated that this happens often with 2nd or 3rd children. We need to work with Thing 2 by telling him the name of the objects that we are giving him and trying to get him to repeat them. We also need to try to keep Thing 1 for talking for his little brother! Thing 2 does say 'thank you,' 'tickle,' 'dada,' 'mama,' and either 'down' or 'dog' (not sure which as he says it to the dog in the morning when she jumps up). A lot of times we can only understand what he is saying when it is in context. For example, when he gives us a kiss, we say 'thank you' and he will also say 'thank you.' But if he is babbling on and says 'thank you,' I would have no idea!

Anyway, the past 15 months have gone by fast. He has 8 teeth now and is walking around like a pro. He "runs" down the hall at daycare when we go to pick him up as he wants us to chase him. He finds this hilarious! Thing 2 loves his big brother and wants to do everything he does. Yesterday he was coloring on a piece of paper sitting next to Thing 1, who was also coloring. He did pretty well holding the crayon and trying to make lines on the paper. It will be interesting to see what else he learns over the next few months!