The Top Ten

I am not going to say that I will start the "Ten on Tuesday" again. But I sure did love it when I was doing it, so I am going to start my own version.... The Top Ten list and hope to post weekly at some point. :)

1) My 2nd nephew Everrett Ambrose Richards was born on June 12th. I can not wait to snuggle that little nugget next weekend!

2) John loves animals like no other kid I have seen and he has been this way since infancy. I think we have discovered that Matthew's passion is for balls and balloons. The boy can not get enough!

3) The book "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" is my newest attempt at understanding and coping with parenting.... LOVING IT! Not to say that it is for every situation, but it does have a very wide range of real life examples for ages from 3 and above. I know that overall my boys are happy and healthy, but some of the theories and language in this book has really helped me to feel like I have more control of my own impatience and I can see a lot of positive changes in John. Well.... this book and a lot of prayer!

4) OKC Thunder is down 3 games to 1 against the Miami Heat right now for the Championship. This is totally bazaar for me. This basketball team did not exist (nor did its stadium or half of the things that OKC downtown has these days) when I lived there. I keep calling them "us", but it seems so foreign. Good Luck either way! "Thunder UP" I think is the saying, although I like "Roll Thunder" better. (They forgot to ask for my opinion).

5) Matthew is working on more words these days... a lot of babble...but I am starting to make a little more sense of it. The pointing and staring give it away. So far we can understand...ball, balloon, fish, shoe, mama, dada, dog, book, tree. Looking back, I feel like John was saying much more than this, but I feel like Matthew understands a lot more of what we are saying. He follows simple commands, but can also understand a few more in depth sentences. He also can pick up sign language after the first couple of times you show him. Just this week he is doing the sign for "help" (his version) and he uses it correctly. He still uses eat, more, and brother on a regular basis, but has dropped the others for the most part.

6) John's latest habit is to come into bed every morning with us when he wakes up. Luckily it has been later and later, but it was starting at like 5:30. And although I tried to sleep with him in bed, I was basically up at 5:30. Awesome. I am loving this little cuddle time!

7) Matthew must be going through a growth spurt. He is sleeping SO LONG at night and at nap. 7:30pm to like 8:00am (or longer) and then still a 2-3 hour nap! Woohoo!

8) The summer already feels like it is flying by. John has been out of school almost a month already. I know I am going to look up and Pre-K is going to start. We are staying extremely busy, but we have a lot of down time too, I think that is important for the boys to build their relationship now that they are starting to play together a little more.

9) I am in love with Pinterest. What an amazing concept. There are so many things that I now have at my fingertips. It is such a wonderful resource that saves so much time!

10) Outside of Nick Jr. and PBS are there any other channels that are generally safe for a small child? I feel like most other channels have some programming that I am okay with, but either the commercials or certain times of the day are turned more towards older kids.