Jumpy House Playdate

We met up with 3 other mom's and their kids today for a fun play date.  These are just as good for the kids as they are for the moms.  Originally we were planning to go swimming, but the weather just wasn't cooperating, so we headed to Woody's Jump N Play.  To our surprise, they had new inflatables!  The new slide is very steep, so the kids just flew down it- of course the boys loved it!  They were on the slide the majority of the time and Mark and I watched from the bottom; he wanted to get on so bad, he tried to crawl onto the slide.  I brought Mark in one of the less crowded inflatables and he loved it.  He laid on his belly and let the other kids bounce him around; he liked sitting up in it too.  After all the exercise we headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch.  We put the 8 kids at one table and moms and babies at the other.  We love spending time with our friends!

 

Little Brother

Army Crawl

Mark is officially on the move!  He just learned how to crawl, but his belly is so big he just can't get it off the floor.  So he "scoots" all around, but it gets him where he needs to go.  He's all over the floors and opening cabinets and finding tiny crumbs to put in his mouth.  Our house is pretty much childproof, so I can let him wander. :-)

 

Spin Art

Today we did a really fun art project.  I wish I was creative enough to think of this myself, but it was the result of another fun mom's blog.  The idea is so great because it is completely mess free and so much fun for the kids.  The boys had a blast with this one!  We cut out circles and picked three paint colors.  We put our circles and paint in the salad spinner and spun away.  We got our salad spinner as a wedding gift and now we finally have a use for it! ;-) Aiden kept asking, "how fast do you think it's going?" and then he tried to make it go faster.  They loved pressing the button to make it spin and the art came out really neat.  Because of all our projects this summer, our playroom is decorated on every wall!

 

New place to nap

Recently, this baby has found a new place to nap.  He gets in his Jump-a-roo and jumps and plays for a while; then, when he gets sleepy, he lays his head down and jumps himself to sleep.  It is so funny and he does it almost every day. :-)

 

Photo Shoot

Once again Kelsey did an amazing of taking pictures of our family.  Can't believe the boys actually smiled for her. (bribery with a chocolate donut)  Now we finally have family pictures with Mark!

 

Finger Foods

Mark has upgraded to eating some finger foods!  He tried pork today and he loved it.  Actually, he's loved everything he's tried.  He even liked green beans (which he didn't like pureed).  He likes bread, chicken, potatoes, blueberries, pancakes, and of course puffs.  Most of his food ends up in his lap, but he's learning.  He lets us know that he enjoys his food by humming the whole time, the boys think he is so funny!

 

Doc Update

Mark went for his 9 month check up today!  I knew that he had gained weight because I was monitoring it myself after the last visit, but even I was surprised to see that he had passed 20 lbs!  The doctor asked me if Mark was pulling up and I explained that he just learned how to sit and was no where near pulling up.  He sat Mark on the table and grabbed his hands and Mark stood right up.  Dr. P said, "well he is fully capable of pulling up".  So that confirms it, Mark is a lazy boy and just doesn't WANT to do more.  Dr. P said it wasn't necessary for babies to crawl and that some just go straight to walking.  All of his verbal and motor skills are great and he is growing normally. 

Here are his stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 2 oz  42%
Length: 30 inches 92%
Head Circ: 18 1/4in 78%

At this age, Ty was the biggest and Aiden was the tallest.  Mark is still smaller than they were at this age, but he's catching up and I still think (and hope for his sake) that he'll be bigger than his brothers eventually. ;-)

New Park

The boys and I ventured out to find a new (and more exciting) park today!  After a quick google search, we headed to Atlanta.  It was a hot sunny day- perfect for playing outside.  This park was great!  It had new and different equipment that our local parks don't have.  There were posts with a foot rest where you could spin around.  Some older boys were doing it and Aiden had to give it a try.  He struggled a little bit and I helped him until I got dizzy by pulling him as I ran around the pole in circles.  This park also had "motorcycles" to ride on, which the boys loved.  They each had one to ride, but they quickly figured out one worked better than the other, so they got on together and rode the "fast" one.  I got a work out when I had all 3 boys on the swings, pushing them simultaneously.  We stayed for a while, but had to head home when the 3 water bottles I brought were all gone.  It was hot! 

 

 

Dressing themselves

The smartest thing I did this summer is labeling a drawer in each of the boys' dressers and putting shorts and t-shirts in them.  They have learned to put their laundry away and best of all they have learned to get their own clothes and dress themselves.  I told the boys to get dressed this morning before we headed to the park and Aiden comes out like this . . .

 

 

I guess I can't expect him to choose matching clothes.  We might need to work on his fashion sense. 

Summer Fun Part 2

We have found some more fun activities to keep the boys busy this summer.

 

On one rainy day, we made an aquarium and the boys loved it!  They cut out fish and drew faces on them.  Aiden made a "Nemo" fish and Ty made the large purple fish which he called "the daddy fish".  Ty made a shark, Aiden made an octopus (with only 4 legs) and I made the turtle, which Aiden said looked old.  We went to an empty lot in our neighborhood to find rocks and a small plant to put in our aquarium.  Ty loved cutting, one piece of paper must have been cut a hundred times which left me picking up tiny scraps for weeks! 

 

On a different day we did a rainbow melted crayons project.  Of course this was fascinating because the boys got to use the hair dryer and watch as the crayons dripped down the canvas.  It was fun and turned out really neat!  Great for broken crayons (we had plenty).

Of course we have our outside time and Mark loves being outside.  He loves to watch his brothers play or ride bikes.  He is usually content for at least an hour when we're outside.

 

and when my creative ideas run out, we can always build a fort.  For some reason with boys, that never gets old. :-)

 

 

We appreciate Cows!

This family will gladly dress up like cows for some free Chic-fil-A!  We made "moo" noises in the car on the way there!  Yum!

 

9 months

Mark is 9 months old!

 

Mark . . .

 

is the best baby!  He is so content and very easy to travel with.  As long as he is fed, he is very mellow and comfortable anywhere we go. 

 

loves to eat!  and if he sees someone else eating (even if its something he can't have), he immediately wants to eat.  I have to feed him first before we eat dinner and if I have a snack I have to sneak so he doesn't see me.  Ty likes to tease him by showing his food and eating right in front of him.  Mark gets so mad!

 

has mastered the spin on his belly.  He usually ends up in the middle of a circle full of toys and spins as he plays with each one.

 

puts everything in his mouth.  He has me vacuuming constantly. 

 

will sleep just about anywhere, in his bouncy seat, in a crib with his blanket, in the car and being held.

 

has tried some puffs and did well with them.  We will start to try some new finger foods soon.

 

has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks straight now.  He wakes up early like his brothers and usually goes down for a morning nap shortly after.

 

 

 

 

Movie Time

 

 

My two big boys and I went to the movies today to see The Lorax- part of the dollar summer movie series.  We attended last year and when we came in, we saw all these other moms with large bags full or snacks; bags of pop corn, juice boxes, candy, etc.  I was the inexperienced mom and paid the $8 for a small popcorn for us to share.  Not this time . . . I learned and did the same for this time; I had all my snacks prepared.  Aiden loved the movie and would laugh out loud at the funny parts.  As I predicted, Ty got a little restless, so I brought the leapster for him to play and it kept him occupied.  It was fun to have some "big kid" time with them.  Mark got to spend some fun time with Aunt Mandy, where he played with her pups, and took a nap. :-) 

Independence Day Weekend

We finally made the trip up to Dayton, TN for a weekend.  Janice and David invited us to spend the 4th of July weekend at their house on the river.  We were ready to swim, go boating, water skiing and hang out on the river.  Well, it rained and it was cloudy pretty much the entire time.  We kept hoping the next day would be better, and it actually got worse; on Saturday it rained pretty much non-stop.  Despite the rain, we had fun.  We had to get creative to entertain the kids inside, but they always have a good time with their cousins.  Janice made a camp sight in the garage where the kids slept; it had a tent, trees, and even a camp fire (with battery lit candles).  They loved it and hung out there a lot!  We did get in the river, but it was chilly, so it didn't last for long.  We played Wii, board games and took walks- even in the rain!  Of course there was always lots of yummy food.  The guys did fireworks on Saturday night and to our surprise, Aiden (who loves loud noises and fire) wanted nothing to do with them.  He had an intense fear and didn't even want to be outside when they were going off.  Ty watched and thought they were cool, but after the sparklers Aiden, Mark and I went in the basement where we couldn't hear them.  It was a fun trip, and we are looking forward to going back when the sun is out. :-)