potty talk

The joy of raising boys! They love bodily functions and potty talk. Harry has been in this phase and I've been trying to figure out how to stop it. Ben and Dan (neighbors) told him that they didn't want to play with him if he was going to talk like that. He decided today that he wasn't going to talk like that in front of them anymore. I hope the peer pressure continues to work. I think the boys first used to laugh when Harry would talk like that so it would encourage him to do it more. This afternoon, Ted said some potty talk. Harry said, "It's not funny, Ted...but I love it." Bob and I cracked up when he said that.

Soccer in the snow

Ted has been playing soccer this spring for the first time. His game was scheduled at 8:30 am this morning. It started snowing right at 8:30. It wasn't sticking to the ground but with the wind it was really cold. Since it was so early, I went with Ted while Bob stayed home with Harry and Nate. Ted started out wearing a long sleeve shirt and shorts. After the first quarter, I put his sweatshirt on underneath his jersey and game him my stretchy gloves. At half-time, I put his sweatpants on him. The other team asked if we wanted to end the game after the 3rd quarter and we agreed. Our team won 3-1. Ted almost scored a goal today. He was right there but couldn't get the ball in before someone took the ball away. He's still working on trying to get control of the ball and I see him concentrating really hard when he gets the ball. Unfortunately, there isn't much time during the game to think before someone puts pressure on you. Ted and a few of the other boys were trying to catch snowflakes with their tongues during part of the game. He did a good job hustling in the beginning of the game but toward the end he kept falling down. I'm not sure if his legs were tired or what is going on with that. Andy (Ben's dad) was a ref and kept telling Ted to get up. After the game, I told Ted that it probably wasn't safe to fall down all the time like that. He told me that it was fine because the other kids watch out for kids that fall down.

Lucky Harry

Tonight was the elementary school's "Spring Fling". It was a carnival and silent auction. Bob was really tired so he didn't want to go. They hyped it up at school so Ted wanted to go. He had soccer practice until 6 at the school and then the 3 boys and I went to the carnival. It was fun but very noisy. Nate had a hard time at first but then was ok once we were in the gym for the games. I hadn't planned to stay too long but each of the boys had a punch card for 12 games. The cake walk cost 4 per time so I asked the boys if they wanted to do that. I thought we'd do it a couple times and then have fewer punches for the games so it wouldn't take as long. Harry and Ted both did it and Harry won the first round! He picked out a small white cake and then we moved on to the games. We stayed until 7:45 which was later than I thought we would but it took a little while to do all the games. Bob came there right as we were getting ready to leave because he was starting to worry about us. I couldn't hear him calling me on the cell because it was in my purse and the gym was loud. The boys were so tired tonight. They went right to sleep when we got home.

Conference with Harry's preschool teacher

I talked to Harry's preschool teacher today about him. She said that she was getting a little emotional while filling out the form for him because he has changed so much since last fall's conference. When he first started there, he spent much of the day wandering around the classroom watching other kids. He didn't talk a ton either and they would have to really try to pull stuff out of him. He has really come out of his shell now and sometimes they have to cut him short during show n tell. She said she usually asks if there's anything else and he responds "Yes, ....." She said she needs to stop giving him that option, especially when they're short on time. She had asked Harry if there was anything about school that he didn't like and he said music. "You don't like music?" He replied, "Not so much." I am so relieved to hear how well he's doing now. I thought he just needed some extra time to adjust (and it was a rough year right before that with the move and new brother) but it's sometimes hard to know if you're doing the right thing.

Check ups

It was time to see Dr. Chris. I hadn't done any of the well child visits for the boys so we did all of them today. They're all doing great, of course. Nate is 22 lbs and 30 3/4 inches long. His head is 19 in (90th percentile). Harry is 36 lb and 41 3/4 inches tall. I don't remember Ted's stats because it wasn't written down for me. I think he's about 48 lbs and 47 1/2 inches tall. All 3 of them were around 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height.

Dr. Chris commented that it's interesting to see them acting so much like you'd expect with birth order. The 2nd child typically talks more. Harry was a chatterbox the whole time the dr was checking Ted and asking him questions. The oldest is usually high-strung. That's typically Ted.

Dr. Chris asked Ted a few questions about what he likes to do and what he likes to eat. I was sort of glad that he answered honestly that he'd rather eat candy than vegetables. Last year, he responded he'd rather eat carrots instead of candy. I didn't have any big questions about Ted. The doctor said we've done a really good job with him. That's always nice to hear, especially when we're going through a major testing phase with him at home.

When it was Harry's turn, I asked the dr. about him doing his falling down routine. He will act like he is too weak to do things like get dressed or put away his clothes or wash his hands. Dr. Chris said it's normal for him to regress to baby-like behavior at this age still. While I was talking, Harry was up on the exam table rolling his eyes and giving me funny looks. It cracked me up!

Nate was taking more steps at a time today. He's getting more confident and the dr. said he's doing really well walking. I love it when they learn something new and smile and laugh with pride. We tried to get pictures of him tonight but I think he was too tired. He got shots today and screamed while getting them but then did fine.

It was Bob's birthday today. We went to Red Robin for dinner so Bob could get his free burger. Ted was upset about not getting to play with his friends today but he did ok once we got to the restaurant. Harry told the waitress a couple times that it was his daddy's birthday. Bob also got a free sundae. While the waiters were singing, Harry looked at the sundae and then up at Bob. It was so sweet. I wish I could better describe the love I saw (partially due to wanting some of the yummy sundae). We also had cake and ice cream and sorbet when we got home.

funny and cute

Harrison has been saying that some things are disgusting lately. He doesn't pronounce it quite right, though. He says "icksgusting" instead.

Nate took a few steps on his own the last couple of days. He's taken up to 6 steps at once. What a fun and exciting stage this is!

Last night was date night at our church. We left all 3 boys there for the first time so we could eat dinner by ourselves. We had used it before but always took the baby with us. Ted and Harrison always have a great time when they've gone. Nate did really well too. We dropped them off just after 5 and picked them up just after 8. I could tell Nate was happy to see me. He gave me lots of hugs. He screamed about how unhappy he was when we put him in his carseat to drive home. Hopefully we can find a good sitter to come to our house so we can get out more often. We have used some girls who are really good but they're young and I'm not comfortable leaving all 3 boys with them. The church probably won't have another date night until the fall and we'll want to go out before then. The person who organizes date night has a couple daughters who might be good sitters for us.

Happy 1st Birthday, Nate!

Our baby is 1 yr old! It has gone by so fast. Each kid seems to grow up faster than the last one. The screaming tantrums have started already when he doesn't get his way. Nate has been walking holding onto a finger for a while but doesn't feel comfortable walking on his own yet. It won't be long and he'll be all over the place.

I decorated his birthday cake today. I decided to make royal blue for the edge. After I added the food coloring, I wondered if I made a mistake. It was pretty but dark. He cleaned up fine in the bath after cake so no problem!

Lost his tooth

Ted lost his first tooth today! He came out of school and told me right away. Then he told me that Elise pulled it out by accident. It took a little bit to figure out what happened. I think a few kids had felt it and when Elise did that it fell out but stayed in his mouth. He is very excited for the tooth fairy to come.