Happy FOURTH Birthday Week: Interview

I love this idea and want to get it on video too, but in the mean time. I am going to put together a list of questions and ask them every year.

I learned from this excerice, that some of his "favorite" things are things we did that day and fresh on his mind. :) Some answers warranted follow up questions. :)

How old are you? “Four”

What is your favorite thing to do? “Play legos”

What is your favorite food? “Melon”

What makes you happy? “When Matthew is smiling”

What makes you sad? “Fevers”

Who is your best friend? “Garrett”

What is your favorite book? “How dinosaurs learn their colors”

What do you like to learn at school? “The months of the year in Spanish”

What do you like to do with your family? “Watch movies”

What do you want to be when you grow up? “A Fireman”

What kind of birthday party are you having? “Art party”

Why do you throw fits? “Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t” Why? “sometimes I want to be alone”

What do you like to do with Mommy? “Go upstairs and play”

What do you like to do with Daddy? “Roughhouse”

What is your favorite show? “Olivia”

What is your favorite song? “Laurie has a pig on her head” and “I know a chicken”

What do you like about Matthew? “I love him. Well there are two things. I like when he plays chasing games with me”

What is your favorite movie? “How to Train Your Dragon”

Where do you like to go? “McDonalds and Chik-a-filet” Where do you like to go for fun? “the toy store” (not a proud mom moment on either answer)

What is your favorite animal? “Giraffe”

What do you think about before you go to bed? “You” (mommy)

What do you pray about at night? "God and Jesus" What do you say to God and Jesus? "I love you God, Thank you God"

Happy FOURTH birthday week: School, Friends and Activities

This year John is in Mothers Day Out at Stonebridge United Methodist Church (where we got married) 3 days a week. There are no tears this year at all, he loves school so much. His teachers are Ms. Kindra and Ms. Lia; he has taken to them both pretty equally. His best buddy is in his class and lives around the corner from us. This is SUPER convenient for everyone.
I think the main new skill from this year is writing his numbers and letters. He loves to practice writing and is really good at it. He has some "learn to read" type games and books. Think he is still pretty far (and rightly so) from reading, but he is building the foundation. He can spell John, Matthew, Mom and Daddy with no help. He will go upstairs and come down with a drawing of some kind that always has at least one name, if not all four of us on it. He surprises me sometimes with new words I didn't know he knew. For example, he came down a few days ago with a drawing of like 10 birds and the word "Rio" under it. Have to wonder if he saw the DVD up there? But either way, I like the effort. :) He likes to write EVERYTHING on his own and just asks for help in spelling it.

He is super social and talks about all the other kids all the time. They have a system that the kids have to move their name down to a different color if they do something outside the rules, or they can move up to a different color if they do something extraordinary. John says he has not done either, and I can believe it. I think he is a rule follower when I am not around. His teachers seem to think he is about the sweetest boy that there is (or at least they make me think that :)). Not sure what their trick is. :)

He made a pretty special relationship with this little girl named Isla. I am so sad that she moved to Hong Kong during the year. I went to a birthday party with all of the classmates and saw those two in action. I can't quite put it into words, but they were beyond sweet and super good friends, holding hands, being so gentle and friendly. There is a picture of her in the slide show below.

Of course Garrett is top on his list. They like to be "copy brothers". Most all stories about recess involve Garrett. :)

Outside of school time with friends, we still have large play dates with the neighborhood kids at least once a month or so, and then small ones with my friends and their kids every now and again. The moms are still there for these, but typically the kids do their own thing for a couple of hours while we talk. The big change in play dates for John this year is the drop off play date. This is super fun for everyone. I like having them here and watching/listening to the boys interact and play. When I drop John off he is perfectly fine with it and tells me all about it when he gets home. He is such a big boy. And then there is always the random meet ups in driveways or at the park that are frequent in good weather.

We tried T-ball and swim school this year. Although it took some major warm up time with T-ball, he ended up liking it. Not sure he learned anything or picked up any skills for that matter, but I suppose it was an introduction to team sports. We were all ready for it to be over by the end. He loved swimming school. We went everyday for 4 weeks when Matthew was an infant. It drastically improved his skills and confidence in the water and I would recommend to anyone. Oddly enough, he says he wants to do T-ball again, but not swim school. So T-ball it is, and we are going to try a martial art in the summer and soccer in the fall.

a few pictures:

Happy Fourth Birthday week: A Week in the Life

As things are changing around here, this will be one of the last times that John's week looks like this....Going to be quick and dirty to get a full week in...
Monday and Friday Morning/Afternoon:
6:00 - 6:30 - I get out of bed either quickly or slowly depending on if MJ is awake yet, shower, dry hair (if there time) and make a bottle. (lets be honest, 50% of the time, this shower does not happen on my days home alone with the boys)

6:30 - 9:30 - bottle and then downstairs for coffee and living room play. John's up about 7:30, we all play for a bit and then breakfast around 8:00 (usuals include oatmeal, yogurt, toast, fruit, waffles, pancakes, cereal). Then we typically go upstairs and play until Matthew gets tired enough for nap #1. Play with all three of us typically includes stuffed animals, baby toys, trampoline, hide and seek with a toy, tickling Matthew, peek-a-boo, puppets, books, musical toys, CD dancing.

9:30 - 10:00 - Matthew gets another small bottle and then off to dreamland. He may talk a little bit before he falls asleep, but not much.

10:00 - 12:00 - This time varies from day to day, but we are on lock down, so we do stay at the house. We almost always do some sort of art and craft and a board/card game, snack and then he helps me (when he is in the mood) with my responsibilities which range from cleaning the house, prepping dinner and/or laundry. Sometimes he chooses to watch TV or play by himself during some of this time (we call this John time and mommy time). Luckily he limits his own TV and I really don't have to. When he plays by himself, it usually consists of remote control cars, going on hunts (monster, ghosts, dinosaur), crashing something into something else, coloring/drawing, play dough, Lego's, dragons, dinosaurs, pirates, etc.

12:00 - 3:00 - MJ gets up and we all eat lunch (usuals include PB&J, grilled cheese, turkey and cheese, eggs, fruits, cheese, carrots, leftovers from dinner, bean and cheese quesidilla, crackers, pepperoni, chicken nuggets, chic-a-filet, McDonald's) and bottle and then usually head out to run an errand or do something semi fun just to get out of the house. Come back for more play. I try to mix in some chores here too like laundry (while playing peek-a-boo while folding) or something in the kitchen (while John pushes Matthew around the house is chosen vehicle) or bathroom cleaning(while John sprays Matthew with a water spray bottle), etc.

3:00 - 4:30ish - Bottle and nap for MJ again. I try to set aside this time to totally engross myself if John and do whatever he wants. I would say 65% of the time, this happens; the other 35% is a mix of fun and responsibilities, again, depending on work and the to-do list.

See evening discussion below the Tuesday/Thursday

Tuesday - Thursday morning/afternoon:
6:00 - 6:30 - I get out of bed either quickly or slowly depending on if MJ is awake yet, shower, dry hair (if there time) and make a bottle.

6:30 - 7:00 - bottle and then downstairs for coffee and living room play.

7:00 - 7:30 - you declare yourself awake as your feet hit the wood floor downstairs. The three of us hang out (MJ has been awake for an over an hour at this point) in the living room and play

7:30 - this is GO time on school days. The rest of the morning must start at this point to fit it all in. I have it down to an art at this point. During the next hour we must get the following done (although the order varies on the level of cooperativeness of one or both boys): fix and eat breakfast, finish getting myself ready, get both boys changed and ready, fix and pack lunch and snack for school, pick up the kitchen, do any homework, go potty, do any dinner prep if I have time, pack my lunch, change diaper, and without fail something random (today it happened to be that I needed to take John's picture for the blog yesterday).

8:30 - I hear the door open and Johanna comes! I breathe a little easier every time I hear that. She takes Matthew and John and I pack the car and finish up last minute.

9:00 - I drop John off at school and head to work. See a separate post on school later in the week for more detail.

2:00 - 5:00 Johanna picks John up from school. They go home and play most days, but sometimes, in the 2 minute (no joke) drive home, he falls asleep. On those days, he curls up in our bed and takes a nap. Although it took him some time to accept that I was going back to work after Matthew, he now loves Johanna and they have a lot of fun. He loves it most when her daughter, Margie, is on school break and gets come play too.

Every Evening:
5:00 - 7:30: I get home and start dinner while John usually colors at the table or watches a show. We eat dinner (usuals include eggs, fruits, some sort of attempt at a veggie, avocado, hot dog, spaghetti'os, mac and cheese, meatballs, sandwich, crackers, noodles, cheese, sweet potatoes, fish sticks, pizza), clean up the kitchen and then head up stairs for bed. Lately Daddy comes home close to 7:30 on most days. After bath we play in Johns room because Matthew loves the blue chair in there.

7:30 - 8:00: John gets to watch a show and we go over the 2 rules "don't open any doors and come get mommy if you need her" (those assume that Daddy is not home yet). I give Matthew a bottle in his dark room and then lay him down and we do not hear from him until morning.

8:00 - John's bed time. Potty, diaper (hoping to stop that with this 4th birthday), teeth, book, prayer, song, cuddle, bed. He loves his shark night light. If there are days he is not tired, he is allowed to turn on his lamp and read 1 or 2 books and then lights out. He typically follows this without a problem. However, in the last week or so he is getting out of bed and coming downstairs A LOT. He sneaks down and sometimes we do not know he is there until he is hiding behind the couch. We are working on this delimma. :)

Happy FOURTH birthday week: A year in Pictures

A Year In Pictures

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

EEK!

It has been over 5 months since my last post. That is just embarrassing. So many things going on and want to have posts about. Hoping to catch up with John's birthday week posts and then a week in the life in a couple of weeks.

(I am writing this as if ANYONE still even checks in on this blog, heehee :))

First Game Day (and a flashback)

A fun comparison: John's first game day in 2008 and Matthew's first game day in 2011:

First Day of School of MDO - 2011

Today was John's first day of MDO for 2011. It started out a little touch and go, but once it was game time, he walked in with a smile. Such a difference from the first day last year.

This year he is at a new MDO and I have the warm fuzzys about this place and I think he does too. His best little buddy Garrett is in his same class, so I think that helps easy the transition. They expect a lot of them in this class and they keep promising that they are probably more responsible and capable of doing more things than we give them credit for.... we shall see... :)

He looks like such a big boy to me. I still have 2 more school-years at home with him, but I know I am going to turn around and those 2 years will be gone. I hope to do my best to soak it all in now while I can.

I missed him so much today. Just being away from him for a few hours while he was there, I could not stop thinking about him and what he was doing and if he was making friends and talking to the teachers and having fun and saying thank-you and...and...and...

Here is a quick picture:

Letters to my loves: Dear John

Dear John,

You are going through a rough time right now and all I want to do is make it better and help. You are almost 3.5 and a lot of changes are happening; you are not a fan. you have reverted back to potty problems, baby talk, insisting on being carried and fed and needing help with things you have mastered long before.

I know that you love us most and that is why you take out your frustrations on us. I am perfectly fine with that and I hope you will continue to always tell us how you feel. You will flat out say if you are happy or excited or mad or sad, even though your facial expressions are all anyone would need to see to know how you are feeling. You are not good at hiding emotions. (not that you should be I guess. :) )

No matter what though, you still are the sweetest little boy I know. Your heart is so good and you have so much love for the world.

If you had it your way Daddy and Matthew and I would be upstairs playing 24 hours a day. You love when we are all together, but are not afraid to ask Daddy or I to leave when you are enjoying some one on one time with the other.

Arts and crafts are one of your favorite things to do and you are an incredible artist. I hear compliments all the time on what a good colorer you are for your age. You should be considering how much you do it at home!

Right now you love to make and watch home videos on my iphone, you could do it for hours. You also LOVE to go swimming and you have gotten really good at it. You love your noodle, but will swim all around the pool without it too. You are working on diving to the bottom of the pool to get your toys right now. Getting you out of the pool continues to be a struggle.

Thank the good Lord you have not totally given up your nap, but you are well on the way. You take a nap about 5 out of 7 days, but those 5 days are SO much more pleasant in the evenings. :)

You love Matthew and are generally very concerned about him and ALWAYS want to help, but I think you are still pretty annoyed with him when I have to feed him or carry him, etc.

I truly miss you when we are apart and my heart instantly smiles when I see you. You give the best hugs and kisses and say the sweetest things at the most random times. You make laugh and cry harder than anyone else can. You are my sunshine!

Letters to my loves: Dear Matthew

Dear Matthew,

You are a very easy baby and I just want to cuddle with your cheeks! Every time I lay eyes on you I want to SQUEEEEEEEEEZE you! You are beyond adorable and have an absolute contagious smile. My favorite thing to do with you right now is to lay you down and get within in gripping distance of your hands.... you immediately smile and start talking and rub your slobbery, fat fingers all over my face and in my mouth and occasionally up my nose, but I don't care, I love every second of it (less the hair pulling).

You have found your feet, but instantly forget where they are when I try to take a picture of it...stinker! you have a grip like nothing I have seen and you kick like a mad man when you are excited or have something to say.

I love to watch you watch John. You will contort yourself every which way to get a glimpse, but he is a little fast for you to follow sometimes. You would give your right arm if he would sit still long enough to grab hold of his cheeks and talk for awhile. If you are fussy about something, John is almost always an instant cure (assuming I can talk him into singing or dancing for you).

The pacifier is a MUST the first time you lay down at nap/night, and you like it okay when you are in the car seat, but I think you could care less for it most of the time. Nap and night time are so easy with you (compared to John that is) and you like baths. I think God threw me a bone on those two things as your brother was a bit of a nightmare in these areas. :)

You started foods this month and are a champion yet messy eater. Still slouching quite a bit in the high chair, but we are working on it. Your neck strength is much more on track, but you still have a STRONG preference to look to your right. We do "exercises" every time you are awake and it is getting better, but far from normal I think.

You are a Mama's boy, but will warm up to others after awhile. Part of me loves this, part of me does not.

A perfect stranger could not pick out you and John as brothers in a line up, I think you got my side of the family and John got the Jones' physical traits. Which means you will have abnormally long fingers and toes and possible prone to some chubby legs. :)

Life with you in it is just better! I love you little bubba! 

3 months

Hard to believe he is 3 months old, but at the same time, I feel like he was born years ago and there was never life before him.

Super blessed that he is an incredible night sleeper...typically asleep by 8:30 and I do not hear from him again until 5 or 6 the next morning...then back down until 8:30 or so. However, this is translating into three 30 minute naps a day! Whaaat?!?!? Guess I can't have the best of both worlds. ;)

My favorite thing in the world is when he talks and laughs at me. He has an absolutely beautiful smile!

Pretty typical 3 month old with a 3 year old brother, not a lot of activity outside my arms, the swing, bouncer, floor blanket and car seat. I do have some concerns (I know this comes as a surprise to most of you). I do not believe his neck strength or mobility is where it should be. After some self diagnosis on web-md I think he may have Torticollis. I am taking him to doctor this morning to check him out. Nothing serious that some physical therapy can not help, but I would like to catch it early. The boy WILL not turn his head to the left without some heavy enticing or moving it with my hands. More to come on this...

Despite the little day time sleep he is a very happy baby. He is really only cranky when he is tired or hungry. OR if you are holding him in a position that he does not like he will let you know pretty quick. He list of preferred holds is pretty short!

Here are some cute pics: