November 2013

 November was just as busy! We started to settle into our new house and get into a routine again.

 Rowen and Cooper had their first sleepover! Cooper was more than willing to come to our house for the night and he was the best sleepover buddy ever! They had chicken nuggets and fries for dinner, brownies for dessert, played lots of superhero legos, dress up, etc, watched a movie while eating popcorn, and then finally it was time for bed. I read them a few stories then they got pretty silly :). Lots of laughing! They did eventually fall asleep for the entire night in Rowen's bed. The next morning they just had to take a bath together and then it was out to play in the first snow.

A few days later it snowed much more! Pax and I enjoyed the morning in the snow, making snowmen and walking around our property. It was beautiful!

We did lots of playing inside towards the middle of the month as the days grew much shorter and the weather got much colder.
Rowen always find creative things to do! On this particular day he made a train out of some large boxes. Pax enjoyed riding in it :).

Every now and then throughout the month the sun would shine enough for us to spend some time outside in the dirt! The boys love this part of living in the country.
I'm working on getting used to it ;).

We celebrated lots of family birthdays (Aunt Nina, Nana, Uncle Shon, and Henry). Pax loved helping everyone blow out their candles!

The night before Thanksgiving we celebrated Henry's 1st birthday. He was a fabulous birthday boy!
We can't believe he really is a whole year old; however, he has sure brought our entire family a lot of happiness over this past year! We love you Henry.

October 2013

October was a busy and super fun month for our family.

We enjoyed a gorgeous fall day at the pumpkin patch with our good friends. The boys picked out pumpkins, everyone picked apples, we all enjoyed a picnic lunch in the amazing weather, and played with our friends in the sunshine.

In mid-October we moved into our new house. We are loving everything about it!

 Eric and I went to his work's Halloween party the weekend before Halloween. Eric went as his ex-boss :). He won the costume contest! I went as Wonder Woman per Rowen's request. I will spare you the photo!

We had a great time carving/drilling pumpkins in our new home.

 

Rowen lost his first tooth!! In the middle of the night :). The tooth fairy was very generous, bringing Ro 4 quarters, a package of superhero stickers, and a batman pin to put on his school back pack.

We had a great Halloween with our good friends, Tim, Devri, Cooper, and Quinn.  This year we had 3 batman's and one cheetah bumble bee. They were all so incredibly darling!

My two superheroes with their jack-o-lanterns.

Kindergarten!!!!

Rowen has been soooo excited to start Kindergarten and FINALLY the day came for him to begin this new journey of school... teachers, learning, homework, recess, making friends, riding the bus to and from school, eating lunch in the "Cougar Cafe", going to school with Grammy sometimes and coming home with her too (Grammy teaches at Snowdon!), inviting new friends over to play after school, and of course so much more.



Ro really wanted to ride his scooter to school on the first day. I thought we left plenty early to get to school on time but we ended up having to run the last few blocks to make it on time- barely!! Grammy was waiting for us at the corner, she took Pax (in the stroller) and Rowen's scooter and helmet then Ro and I ran into the school. Luckily we weren't the last ones there:).

This Batman backpack is very special to Ro. He picked it out and mommy spent way too much money on it but I just couldn't resist once I saw how in love he is with it.  Bat wings come out of the sides and a bat hood comes out of the top :).

Once we got to his classroom Rowen found his seat right away and began coloring. Grammy and I tried to take several photos of him but he just kept saying, "Bye mom". He was ready for me to leave the minute we got there but I just couldn't leave too quickly. I hung out as long as I thought Ro could stand it (about 5 minutes) then headed home with Paxton. It was sure a strange feeling to leave the little boy who made me a mama at school ALL DAY LONG! Crazy but so very good for him.I really wasn't emotional. I cried so much throughout the entire year leading up to this day just thinking about it that I think I got all the tears taken care of. Honestly, I was just so excited for him. I know that Rowen is going to LOVE school. He is such a creative, imaginative, curious, intelligent person.

Here Ro is with his sweet teacher. 

Rowen insisted on riding the bus home on the first day. I was a bit nervous but he was fine with it. I waited for him at the bus drop off (just a few houses down from us) and he got off and ran to give me a big hug. He said he had a great day but that he missed me :). This has been the response I usually get from him- he likes school, has a good time but misses mommy. What a sweet boy! I know this won't last long so I am savoring it for now. I always get lots of hugs in the morning before he leaves for school and at least a few as soon as he gets home. Bed time has become a time that he needs lots of snuggles from mommy to help fill him up so that he can get through the next day :). I don't mind that one bit!


Grammy sent me this photo during Rowen's second week of school. He chose to take school lunch so that he could have tacos. He wasn't thrilled with the meal however because it was "too messy". Home lunch seems the way to go for now :). He likes lunch meat and a piece of cheese or a peanut butter/banana roll up, fresh strawberries and blueberries, and maybe a chocolate pudding, and always WATER. He says he is so thirsty by lunch time that he needs water! Ro rarely eats all of his lunch. I make sure he gets a good snack as soon as he gets home and then he usually eats dinner really well.

We are so proud of our Rowen! He is doing so well with school, already 3 weeks in now! He comes home each day and tells me about something fun he has done (today it was the computer lab). He tells us that his favorite part of the day is when he gets to draw. He is learning so many amazing things. I am so happy that he gets the opportunity to have the teacher he has and go to this school.

Paxton is 2!

Paxton turned 2 on August 27th, 2013. We celebrated our darling boy more than a few times. Once while vacationing at the ocean with our aunt, uncle, cousins, Grammy and GiGi, once at the park with good friends and family, again with some good friends with an outing to Mobius and lunch at Red Robin, and last at Nana and Grandpas house. Pax loved being sang too each and every time and did a great job blowing out his candles!

Singing Happy Birthday to Pax at the ocean house we rented.

Playing with tractors at Pax's park birthday party.

Daddy is helping Pax try out his new balance bike from Grammy.

Here are just some of the most special things about Paxton at 2 years old...

saying lots of phrases: love you, milk please, where are you RoRo or mama or daddy or mammy?, good job, help please, I can do it, and so many more

saying a few complete sentences!!!

overall has a great disposition- mostly very happy and goofy

still likes to dance, has quite the strut and does funny little moves with his arms while walking when he is trying to get a laugh out of us

naming many objects when he wants to- car, tractor, bus, many animals (favorites to say are giraffe, moose, octopus, shark), etc (too many to list at this point)

becomes frustrated when he can't do something as well as he would like to (hitting golf balls, playing with legos, riding his bike)

often tells us when he has gone poopy by pointing to his diaper and saying "poo poo"

very attached to mama right now

thinks Daddy is the best playmate (besides big brother of course)

favorite song is Old McDonald and often sings, "e i e i o" throughout the day, sings along to songs on the radio in a sing songy way (especially likes "We are young" by Fun.)

TRACTORS, TRACTORS, TRACTORS right now! (this is our neighbors tractor)


wonders where RoRo is when he is gone, walks around the house saying, "where are you Roro?"

Calls anyone he sees with white hair GiGi :). This can be somewhat embarrassing for me while shopping with him in the grocery store, but oh well.

LOVES to play on our beds
















loves to read books

goes down stairs without any help

pretends to talk on the phone to multiple family memebers- "Hi Papa. Ok. Bye Papa."

obsessed with the iPad, asks for it throughout the day

beginning to become as intrigued with Lightning McQueen as his big brother was

calls Lightning McQueen "ming"

asks me to write the first letter of everyone's name in our family on the driveway with sidewalk chalk- P= Paxton, R= RoRo, M= Mama, D= Dada, G= Grammy, P= Papa, N= Nana, G= Grandpa, H= Henry; he says the name and I write the letter

takes one nap from about 1-3:30/4 each afternoon

squeeky clean boys

Harlem Shake

Here and here are my favorite videos of the boys dancing. I just love how happy Pax is and Rowen is so perfectly Rowen here- dressed in his lion/cheetah/panther costume :).

An interview with a 5 year old

At 5 years old Rowen...

• loves to play pretend anything- doctor, daddy, zoo keeper, race car driver, dinosaurs, chef, lion, superman, veterinarian,
• loves to write books, lists, letters, notes and has excellent phonemic awareness- almost always giving every sound a corresponding letter at this point
• can write several sight words on his own
• can read several sight words
• can read many other words in stories I read to him just by knowing the beginning sound and thinking about what would make sense 
• is reading many books on his own but becomes pretty frustrated if the words don't come really easy; however, he is a bit of a perfectionist :).
• is VERY excited to be a reader!
• is becoming a swimmer (very close to swimming independently), takes private lessons at the YMCA; jumps in on his own, goes under water easily/comfortably, "dives" underwater for his "dive toys" and touches the bottom of the pool to get them, swims to me from the pool wall for about 10-12 feet on his own then back to the wall on his own
• loves preschool, his teacher, and his school friends; they love him back!
• enjoys having friends over to play (Cooper and Ally are the friends we have over to play the most these days but he has been invited to play dates and we have had a few other friends from school over a few times this school year)
• still tells us that he will never move away from mommy and daddy, in fact he becomes very emotional if we talk about how someday he will be all grown up and have a house and family of his own
• has "kids" of his own- these are his stuffed animals; his family grows each week it seems with a new baby being born frequently; he has given each one a name and an age; they all sleep with him at night; Ro is sure to tuck them all in; he often tells the oldest kid to watch the others while we are gone; brings his youngest (the baby bear wrapped up in his "blue baby" in the photo below) with us when we go to the store, to Papa and Grammy's house, Gigi's house, etc.
• gets very rambunctious sometimes, jumping off the furniture, running around the house nonstop at times, wrestles with anyone who is willing, has to be told often to not jump on the couch/jump from one piece of furniture to another
• likes to wear only his underwear around the house
• has a great sense of humor; he just gets stuff that we wouldn't expect a 5 year old to understand the humor of
• LOVES his little brother fiercely!  Very protective of him, gives him lots of hugs each day, likes to play with Pax, misses him when he has been gone at school, play wrestles with Pax very appropriately (and on the other hand can be a bit rough with Pax at times when Ro has lots of pent up energy just dying to get out).
•  is registered for full time Kindergarten starting in the Fall of 2013 and he can't wait!
• still gives me lots of hugs each day but the kisses are not as frequent
• Weighs 45 lbs and is 46 inches tall, wears a size 11 1/2 shoe, size 5 pants or xs boys pants, size 5 or 6 shirts or xs boys
• And there is sooooo much more! 

Rowen's doctor clinic is "free". However his eye clinic is not free. Here Rowen is giving Daddy a check up.

This is the "open" and "closed" signs he made for the clinic door.

Rowen's Aunt Nina and Uncle Chris gave him this Fur Real baby bear for his birthday. Rowen LOVES this bear. It moves, opens and closes its eyes, makes cute little baby bear sounds, and snores when it sleeps. Rowen takes very good care of his "Honey Bear Honey Buns".

I love this boy! He is so kind, gentle and nurturing.

1) What is your favorite color?

Red

2) What is your favorite toy?

Liger

3) What is your favorite fruit?

Strawberries

4) What is your favorite TV show?

Imagination Movers

5) What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Chips and salsa, cheese and crackers

6) What is your favorite thing to wear?

Superman costume

7) What is your favorite game?

Duck duck goose

8) What is your favorite snack?

raspberries

9) What is your favorite animal?

liger

10) What is your favorite song?

Magic (from Cars 2)

11) What is your favorite book?

Superman comics and Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Williams

12) What is your favorite cereal?

I don’t have one

13) What do you like to do outside?

Swing on the swings, ride my bike

14) What is your favorite drink?

Chocolate milk

15) What is your favorite holiday?

Easter

16) What do you like to take to bed with you at night?

My kids (Rowen has 11 kids! All stuffed animals of course J. He takes very good care of them.)

17) What is your favorite breakfast?

Waffles with peanut butter and chocolate chips on top

18) What do you want to be when you grow up?

A zoo keeper

19) Do you like being 5?

Yes!

20) What do you like about being 5 the most?

I can swim!

21) What is your favorite thing to do?

Play with Cooper!

Pax at 18 Months

He is 1 1/2 years old! This little sweet heart of ours keeps us on our toes and sure makes us happy!

At 18 months old Paxton... 

• is saying lots of new words in addition to the old ones. Most recently... "cool", "oh boy", thank you sounds like "tay too", please sounds like "peas", said "pie dish" as clear as day recently, "go go" when playing with cars/trucks, "Co Co" for Racoco, said "tickle tickle" recently when he was tickling with Grammy, "nigh night"with the t on the last night clearly enunciated, "Papa", "baba" for bottle, "Nana", and of course "mama" and "dada" but he says "MA!" often to get my attention :).
• says "Hey!" or "Hi!" when he walks into a room or greets me in the bathroom :); this is particularly sweet because it pretty much sums up Pax- happy and easy going for the most part.
• says "Roro" and looks around the house when Rowen is at school
• loves books still. His favorite books right now are Wheels on The Bus and Old McDonald. We MUST read books before nap and bed time OR ELSE :(.
• loves to have his shoes on. Pax brings me his shoes and points to his feet.
• still LOVES to be outside any chance he can get. Seriously, this kid is so into being outside. He could be outside all day long if I let him. He pretty much has a temper tantrum every single time it is time to come inside. 
• hums along with me while I hum when rocking him to sleep for nap or bed time.
• no new teeth have come in but his one year molars have just continued to work their way down this past month
•  knows how to be silly and can sure be a ham (as you can see from the photos above).
• says "dada" when he walks into our office/gym even when daddy isn't home.
• LOVES cars! He hasn't been introduced to CARS yet but he loves all of the hot wheels cars we have out. I am sure once he truly discovers Lightning McQueen it will be all about him so I cam putting that off for awhile :). Been there, done that and it was fun but we are in no hurry to return to Radiator Springs every day! 
• Lines his cars up in nice straight rows, races them off the couch, chairs, bed, etc
• loves ice cream! And not much else... well, he eats but he doesn't seem to be crazy about anything in paticular. Pax mostly eats yogurt, cheese, bananas, strawberries, oranges, chicken, mac and cheese, Ritz crackers, pirates booty, 
• continues to have a great sense of humor! He gets how to be silly, how to flirt, how to tease.
• loves the ipad app, ABC Little Animal Explorers
• takes a 2-2 1/2 sometimes 3 hour nap each day and sleeps from about 7:45 p.m. to about 7:00 a.m. if we are lucky. Pax thinks getting up at 5 a.m. ready to hit the toys is no big deal. Mom and dad disagree BIG TIME! But he sleeps all night unless sick or teething badly so we can't complain too much.
• LOVES to dance! He has some pretty cute moves. Recently the boys have been dancing to The Harlem Shake- pretty hilarious!
• goes to music class with mommy every Monday. He loves every minute of it.
• got his first hair cut while 18 months old-towards the very end of the month.
• likes to play "hide and seek" with Rowen. He thinks this is so funny!
• laughs/giggles out loud at "CoCo" every day. He thinks she is very entertaining. He also sits on her and tries to control her but he sure does love her.