Aiden; 5 1/2

Aiden is 5 1/2 today and most kids probably don't even recognize their half birthdays, but our numbers kid has been anticipating this day for a long time.  He'll ask his friends how old they are and if they say "5", Aiden will ask "Are you five and a half, or just five?"  Most of the time they give him a funny look.  He has been counting the days until he turns five and a half.

Aiden . . .

has really come out of his shell this past year.  Preschool was a great transition for him into Kindergarten.  Before, if there were other children (whom he didn't know) on a playground, he'd say, "there's too many people- I don't want to play".  Now he'll lead Ty to go play and sometimes even talk to another kid, usually to ask how old they are and then later tell me, "I saw a girl who was seven!"

has gotten better with eating.  He's not as picky but when I suggest something he doesn't like he'll say, "I'm not hungry for carrots, I'm hungry for chips".

only wants to take showers now and he likes to use Dadda's soap instead of the baby soap.

counts down the days for events he looks forward to constantly.  Example; "How many more days until I go to the lake with Dadda?"  or "How much more days until I'm 6 years old?"  Sometimes he really makes me think by asking, "How many more days until I can drive?"

is starting to be annoyed by Ty as a little brother.  He plays with him well most of the time, but other times wants to do more "big kid" activities and doesn't like for Ty to participate.

love to do math problems, usually in the car.  We do addition, subtraction and his favorite is "times" (multiplication).  He can multiply numbers 1 through 5 and 10's.  When I ask him, he'll be thinking and he'll say, "hmmm . . . let's see" and then blurt out the answer.

is currently struggling with recognizing lowercase letters "q, p, b, & d"  He gets them confused easily, but knows all his letter sounds.

still likes to crawl in my lap to cuddle even though he's half my size. :-)

loves his baby brother!  He is very gentle with him likes when Mark follows him around the house.  Aiden will encourage him saying "Come on Mark".  He hugs Mark everyday in the car when I pick him up from school.

can become easily frustrated when he initially doesn't do well at something; playing Wii, writing letters, hitting the baseball, etc.  We have to encourage a good attitude and to stick with it.

loves fire!  He always wants to watch Jeff light the grill and jumps up and down when there is fire around. 

still likes to pretend cook in his kitchen and help out in my kitchen by stirring something on the stove.

loves movies and when he is watching one, it's hard to get his attention away from it.  His favorite is "Wreck It Ralph"

Ty; 3 1/2

At three and a half years old, Ty is a sometimes sweet loving boy and others a mischievous and sneaky kid.  He is very active and easy to love.

Ty . . .

loves to throw anything and everything.  He is always willing to play catch outside with a ball or inside with a balloon.

is such a good helper.  He loves to help me around the house doing laundry, cooking dinner, doing dishes, helping with groceries, etc.

lately has been spelling his name Y T.  He'll write the T first, but put the Y on the wrong side.  He does LOVE his name and likes to write it constantly and see it on his blanket.

has a certain side of his blanket that he uses to cover up and will ask for it to be fixed if it's "upside down"

wants to be just like Aiden and do what he does.  He plays the same games that Aiden plays and will follow Aiden around even when Aiden isn't interested in playing.  This usually leads to Ty pestering him for a little while and then Aiden gets annoyed and hits Ty and Ty comes crying to me.  (it happens on a daily basis)

has been making up stories.  He'll tell me "Mom, I stayed on the green light at school" (because Aiden has a green/yellow/red light system at his school).

has really been testing Jeff and I as parents to see what he can get away with lately.  He hates punishment and if he knows he's getting a spanking, he'll cry more before it happens than afterword's.

still loves Team Umizoomi and isn't interested in other shows near as much.

loves to share.  He always offers his food to me or Aiden.

still takes a nap on the days when he doesn't go to school.  On school days, it just doesn't fit into our schedule.

likes to count but usually skips 13 and 16, but he can count to 40 and sometimes 50.

loves being a big brother and likes to "boss" Mark around.  He'll tell him what to do and sometimes will yell "No" at him for grabbing something he's not supposed to.

wants me to play with him on days that Aiden is at school and he's not.  He'll say, "Mom will you play with me?"

Ty's first day

Ty has been looking forward to going to pre-school all summer long.  The past few weeks he has been a little more nervous about it and he's been telling me, "I'm going to cry at school".  We would remind about all the fun things he would do.  We've been counting down the days (especially since Aiden started Kindergarten).  Ty was so excited to pack his book bag and write "T Y" on all of his supplies; he even wore his book bag around the house many times.
This morning he woke up and was very excited.  We ate breakfast, got dressed, took pictures (of course) and headed out the door. 

 We dropped Aiden off at his school and then went to Ty's school.  We walked in and saw some of Aiden's old friends and teachers.  Ty was very shy and kept quiet when everyone said "Hi" to him.  We were half way down the hall when he started to get upset.  I calmed him down and we went by the water fountain for a drink.  We got to his classroom and found the seat with his name.  Ms. Casey told Ty he could sit down and play with Legos or Potato Head with the other kids.  Ty stood completely still and didn't want to move.  He refused to smile for a picture (notice Mark's little legs in the background as he tries to crawl into a cubby). 

 

I told Ty that Mark and I were leaving and he started to cry.  I asked for a hug and he said no, but quickly changed his mind when I headed for the door.  He gave me a hug and started screaming.  I grabbed Mark and got out of there fast.  I knew that Ty would not be upset long and I knew he was in good hands.  His teacher has a daughter who was in Aiden's class last year and we have become friends.  Ms. Robin called me shortly after we left and said Ty was doing great! 

 

When I came to pick Ty up he was playing with cars on the floor with 2 other boys.  He had a smile on his face and he wanted to tell me all about his day.  He told me that he colored and stayed in the lines, that he painted a picture, played on the playground, ate his snack, learned a prayer song and that he was a good boy.  Ms. Casey told me that he was such a helper; wanting to help pass out papers and wipe tables.  I know this year will be a great experience for him at school and I'm excited to watch him learn!

 

On Day 2, when I drove into the parking lot, Ty said to me, "Mom, I don't need you to walk in with me".  Well, I guess he's Mr. Independent.  :-)

10 months

It's going by way too fast.  My sweet baby Mark is 10 months old!

 

 

Mark . . .

 

 

still loves to cuddle and is very snuggly when he first wakes up.

 

loves to eat!  He is trying new foods everyday.  He likes pasta, cheerios, cheese, yogurt, bread, chicken, and all the fruits and vegetables he's been eating.  There's not much he doesn't like.

 

has 5 teeth.  The 2 middle on the bottom, 2 middle on the top and a 5th tooth on the top right just came in.

 

has not been sleeping well lately.  He may fuss a few times for his pacifier, and is usually up once to nurse around 3 am and is up ready to play at 5 am.

 

still kicks his feet when he gets excited.  He'll do this when he sees one of his brothers.

 

does the army crawl really fast now.  He has been up on all 4s a little, but doesn't move much.

 

can stand while holding on to couch or table, but doesn't move around yet.

 

is pretty much used to playing rough with Ty- Ty has been caught sitting on Mark, rolling over him and laying on him.  Mark doesn't usually fuss though.  Ty has also loves to feed baby mark.  He'll give him whatever he is eating and of course Mark will gladly take it.

 

is very friendly.  He smiles at everyone and lets anyone hold him.

 

  

. . . he was done with the pictures here.

Baby goes for a ride

The boys took Mark for a ride in their Cozy Coupe car.  This has been one of the most used toys in our house by Aiden, Ty and now Mark.  I'm sure he'll be cruising around it just like his brothers did before we know it!

 

There's a big grin under that pacifier!

 

First Day of Kindergarten

We have been talking about it for months and it has finally arrived; Aiden's first day of Kindergarten!  He was well prepared and had shown no signs of nervousness in the previous weeks.  He did great at open house and the other times we had to go to the school for paperwork.

 

 

He woke up bright and early and when I said, "You're going to Kindergarten today!" he said, "I know, I know".  The boy just doesn't show much excitement (unless we're talking about speedometers in fast cars).  He ate his cereal and got dressed, we headed out the door.  We walked in and looked for his classroom number (310)- he remembered from open house.  I could tell he was getting nervous.  We found the room and Mrs. Williams said to get out his crayons and showed him where to hang his bookbag.  He followed instructions and found a seat at an empty table that had a paper to color.  He didn't want to sit at the table where other children were already sitting.  As I spoke with the teacher, he fumbled with his crayons and broke the box; crayons rolled on the table and onto the floor.  I looked at him and saw that his eyes filled with tears.  I assured him that it was okay and helped him pick up his crayons (as I'm fighting back tears myself).  I gave him a hug and said, "I love you".  As his arms wrapped around me I could feel him shaking.  I walked out and practically sprinted to the car where I got in closed the door and lost it! 

 

 

Everything in me wanted to stay there with him, but I knew I had to leave.  He was trying to be so tough (exactly what we have been teaching him to do).  He knew that I would leave, and he was probably reassuring himself in his 5-year old little mind that it would be okay and that I would be back to pick him up.  His teacher notified me a few hours after we arrived (via email) that he was doing so well and she was using him as an example.  I felt so relieved.  I couldn't be more proud of him.  He is an amazing little boy and I know he will do great things one day!

 

Day 2 was very smooth- he walked right in and was much more comfortable; even said hi to some of his classmates.    

Lego Land

To end our summer days before school starts, Nannie treated us to a trip to LEGOLAND in Atlanta!  In anticipation, the boys were guessing how many Legos were at LEGOLAND and Ty guessed 25,000 and Aiden guessed 2 million.  We never did determine how many there actually were, but we know there was a lot!

 

Matching Polos so I can spot them!

 

On the Spinning Lego Ride, where the faster you pedaled, the higher you went (but Ty couldn't reach the pedals)

 

building a super fast car out of Legos

 

 Racing the cars they built.  They pressed the red button after a countdown, the cars were released.  Many times the boys' cars collided and there was no clear winner.

 

A ride-on motorcycle made out of Legos

 

The 4-D Lego Lego movie.

 

Mark had fun too in the giant playpen with big soft legos!

 

I think the boys could have played in this tunnel maze for hours.  It had numerous slides and so many different directions to go through.  Here they are coming off one of the slides (Aiden in front and Ty jumping off the slide)