New Love

They were first exposed to it on the Wii. Now the boys have a new love...

archery

We couldn't find any arm guards at the sporting goods store, so we used an old pair of daddy's wool socks and cut the toe off. Kenny was giddy the first time he hit the target.
James remained in the baby swing a safe distance to the right and behind the amateur archers.

Backyard

Before my parents moved to Saudi Arabia my dad built us a new deck. Our old deck was messed up during the hurricane last fall and since my parents had sold their house my father didn't have a yard to work in. We LOVE the deck. Since my house will be the new hang out place for the family when they are in town it will be wonderful to have a place to sit outside and let all the kiddos play. Thank you Dad for all you did!!

Cute babies are my favorite deck accessory!

James and I had a difference of opinion on whether or not he should eat green beans.

He won.

My 7 month old!

James

Loves banana and orange baby food, Nilla wafers, and baby Goldfish. He lights up when I enter the room. He rolls front and back and even bumps up on his knees. He loves to move his legs and bounce around. He has a serious side and is very attuned to the world around him. He reacts to the feelings in others more so than any baby I've ever seen. His blue eyes are piercing and so bright! He is ticklish under arms, producing wonderful fits of giggles. He loves his brothers. He also likes to watch the colors on t.v. and Baby Bach is his favorite thing to watch. We are so grateful everyday that we have him. He was worth the wait, the sickness, the weekly shots, the restrictions, his delivery gone bad, and the difficult recovery. Our family feels so complete with him.

I Know This Is A Little Late...

But I do have school starting stuff to post. Things have been so busy! I'll start with me and work backwards.

I have a good class this year. They are a typical bunch chatty wrestling kindergartners. The only downside is there are 22 of them. That is a lot of little 5 year olds in one room with one person. I also forget every year how young they are! Kindergartners still such babies at the beginning of the year. It takes them until about October before they really understand how school works and become more self-sufficient. But they will get there, it just takes time.

Nathan

Nathan is going to a babysitter with James until January, at which time I hope to get him into a preschool/daycare. He likes his new sitter, Charlissa, but hew does not like his baby cousin Hailey who she also watches. No offense Hailey, but Nathan doesn't like any babies, especially a baby that can get into his stuff. He didn't like the babies at his sitter last year. He is okay with James for now, but I know that story will change when James becomes mobile. It is something Naters will just have to get over.

One day Nathan brought his Little Einsteins rocket with him. Hailey liked the rocket. Nathan would put a little person in and go to put in the next one as Hailey took out the one he just put in. At one point he looked at her and said, "This is NOT a toy!" He also looked at her and matter of factly said, "I don't like you." Poor Hailey, she just wants to play. And poor Nathan, he doesn't want babies to touch his stuff and he's too stubborn to move his things out of the way.

As for his visit to the neurologist, his fine motor skills are developmentally delayed. He is having migraines. The doctor is a little concerned. His office exam went fine, but given his delay, and the increasing frequency of his headaches combined with his age he wants an EGG and an MRI. He already had the EGG, but I have to schedule the MRI with the hospital tomorrow because he will be under sedation. It is probably nothing, but he is fairly young to have these issues and we want to make sure. The doctor said if he were 8 or 9 and having migraines it would be much less concerning. But in a 4 year old is different. I'll update more as I know.

Kenny- The First Grader

Kenny came with me to my school this year. I was a little hesitant about taking him away from his home campus, but there are some perks at my school. One being I get to pick his teacher. Another being I am good friends with that teacher and get to hear stories. My very dear friend, Mrs. R. is a great first grade teacher. We taught together for 3 years before I moved to kinder and I was both her sons first grade teachers. Her personality and teaching style is perfect for Kenny. He really likes her and likes his new school.

And true to form, he has charmed the staff already with his wit. Here are a few examples.

DAY 1- When his teacher came to tell them to clean up after lunch and get ready to go, he looked right at her and politely said, "I am not finished with my lunch. I was too busy communicating with my friends to have time to eat." Well, too bad little mister, more eating less talking.

DAY 2- The class was supposed to decorate a little foam fish sticker or paper or something like that. Kenny paced his sea animal stickers and then drew an elaborate pirate scene with a story about the bad man walking the plank and God rescuing him and something something something. His poor teacher had other things she needed to attend to while he was deep into his story so when the principal walked in she passed him off to her and he continued his tale to my boss.

DAY 3 and 4- He took on an alter ego- a robot. He spent his time submerged in this alternate reality in his mind where he is a (his words) "fully automated robot machine." In the library he started messing with hands around his eyes. When asked what he was doing he said he was adjusting his focus or something. He came home on Friday with paper goggles on. His teacher told him if he was a robot she, as a human, should have a master control switch to turn off his volume. He didn't like that idea and told her he was the kind of robot who could do all that himself. I had to tell him that night to install an extra listening software to his robot memory systems before school the next day. At least it worked, he listened better.

He did several other funny little things with other teacher. The good news, he is behaving fairly well and his teacher doesn't mind the alter ego as long as he gets things done and doesn't bother other people. He will also be tested for G/T this year.

On a note school related note...at dinner the other day he stated the following regarding his vegetables, Mama, this is repulsive." I looked at him asked if he even knew what that meant to which he replied, "Repulsive means worser than bad. Like a tomato salad mixed with light bulbs. That would be repulsive."