Preschool for Troy and Justin

Both boys started preschool this past week. They have been precious about going to school.

Troy needs a little extra structure and interaction with some kids his age. Justin needs to be around peers for his speech development. So we kept Troy at our church preschool and added Justin in with him.

On the first day, Justin was so excited to go along with Troy. As we were walking him to the car, he was pumping his fists while yelling “yay! yay!”. His preschool has carline drop off which makes it SO easy to drop them off. For their first day, Brian and I both went to drop him off. As he was being walked away from our car, he was looking back at me as if to say, “uh, what are you doing to me and with whom am I leaving?” He’s done great this week (he only goes part of the week) and has been pretty worn out at naptime.

Troy, on the other hand, is in the “three” year old class although he turns four about a month after he starts school. Either way, he already has some buddies in his class and will probably do a great job at getting them in trouble with him. Typical boy I suppose. He LOVES preschool so this is a good thing for him. They are practicing the red/yellow/green light system. Basically each kid starts on the green light. If they get in trouble, they are moved to the yellow light and two (sometimes more) warnings will then put them on the red light. The kids are somewhat bribed by candy or goodies as a reward to staying on the green light.

So each day this week his teachers said he had “a great day” and had been a good boy. Wednesday, I asked him how his day had been and he told me he had a bad day. Specifically, he said he got in trouble for throwing bark at other kids. He raised his hand to a certain level above his head and said that they are big kids and were “this” tall. I asked him about this at least 4-5 times. Each time he said he was put on the red light. Then, he said his friend Walker and Brady were put on the yellow light for throwing bark at other kids.  This was confusing because his teachers had specifically said he had been so good. Come to find out, after getting the details from his teachers, he never got in trouble. What gives? Why make up the story?

So we did find out that he got put in time out one day this week for jumping on a kid after his toy was taken away. Nice. Nice.  So I realize I need to read books on raising boys. Just need to carve out the time and do it.

I made these little matching outfits with fabric from Dr. Seuss’ Oh The Places You Will Go! It’s so adorable! Anyway, as I was taking a picture of Try, I realized that I forgot to hem one leg of his pants. Luckily it was just that one side so it didn’t take long to fix it.

Blaine at Eleven Months

Here we go…the countdown to the big 1. Seriously, how did time go by so fast? My little “baby” is still just that, a baby…but he’s a mover and a shaker. I’ve been glad that he’s been exclusively nursed this whole time. In fact, when I’m nursing him is the only time he’s still…except for when he’s sleeping. So anyway, he’s also developed a little temper.

He doesn’t like to be changed so he’ll grunt and throw his hands up and down to let you know. And, if he gets a toy taken away from him (because he only wants age inappropriate toys), he will try to hit you. What’s up with that? It’ll be interesting to see how that develops.

On other news, he’s talking more and more. He will, on his own, point at the cat and say “Abbie”, and will also say eat, mama, dada, up, eat, uh oh, oh, all done.

The two top molars have come in already and the bottom two are almost through. He’s got some chompers for sure!

Standing proudly…he’s started cruising a bit and will push a toy around easily now.

The little brown spot on the back of his left thigh is a birth mark. It’s gradually gotten bigger as he’s grown. It was the size of a pea when he was born. It’s now about the size of a grape.

Blaine at Ten Months

Little dude started pulling up to stand and cut his forth tooth the day he turned 10 months. He started crawling a little after he turned 9 months and has been all over the place. In the morning after getting milk, he crawls all over the house. Blaine seems to have a ton of fun keeping us on our toes. Gone are the days of him staying in one place for longer than 2 seconds. Entertainment at its finest.

The brothers have become afraid of him, like he’s some sort of monster. The creature eyes one toy, heads that way and the two older brothers lose it – like screaming as if they were little girls. Ridiculousness at its best. Again, very entertaining.

Anyway, Blaine is a fun little thing and still as sweet as he can be.

The kid loves to crawl all over the place. Concrete, hardwood floors, carpet, you name it….but he’d rather crawl in grass than anywhere else. We had the yard sprayed for bugs/insects (and biting creatures) but he still ends up with little bites on his legs. He doesn’t seem to mind yet.

Some determined little feet…

Blaine at Nine Months

A little butterball, full of life and happiness. He’s cutting teeth left and right. And is SO heavy! Problem is he loves to be held. It’s lovely for a while but when you feel like your arm is going to fall off, you have to put him down. He’s not a fan of being put down.

Oh the concentration here….using that pincher grasp. He’s pretty much eating anything he’d  like these days. And he pretty much likes anything.

I know I’m partial but I think he’s absolutely gorgeous with those blue eyes and wavy blonde hair.

He’s bossy, too…..we have no idea what he’s saying (except for saying Abbie and bye-bye) but he has a lot of jibber jabber going on.

And, I might as well say it…..I’m his favorite person. Love!

9 month stats:

Height: 30 inches

Weight: 27 pounds, 1 ounce

Head: 18.5 inches

Off the chart

Poor baby got salmonella poisoning from his middle brother. Wasn’t so bad but still….maybe something I’ll elaborate on later.

Photo book for Blaine.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IctHLJs3Zs3VQ&cid=SFLYOCWIDGET

Blaine at Eight Months

Well, here we go again. Sweet boy is still sitting up like a charm but is completely content with staying in one spot this month.

For Mother’s Day (this month), I took Troy and B to my cousin’s barn in Tuscaloosa. It’s actually a pretty neat/nice place with 5 bedrooms on the top, stalls on the bottom, big bays on the side, bays on the front, a concrete floor, kitchen up and downstairs, laundry room, bathrooms, etc. Enough to house my cousins, their 3 kids (2 sets of cousins), my mom, sisters and all of our kids. We had a blast! Justin and Brian stayed home because Justin was feeling sick. Turns out he had salmonella…..maybe I’ll write more about that later.

Below is one of my favorite pics of Blaine. He shared his cord blood when he was born. I kept forgetting to get his picture in the shirt so I could send it back to the hospital. The shirt just fit him (or maybe it was too tight, you be the judge). But, he was so sweet and innocent sitting up straight here. In the background is the land around the barn.

Justin has begun a true interest in Blaine. He can make him laugh which provides entertainment for all. Acting silly always makes a baby laugh, right?

He’s really started saying “mama” and I think he knows what he’s saying. Melts my heart.

Blaine at Seven Months

Here I go trying to update Blaine. Yep, third child syndrome has set in at our house. Well, it set in a while ago I suppose. Keeping up with the blog has proven to be difficult.

So….back to Blaine. He turned 7 months at the beginning of April. What else happened in April? Blaine started sitting up confidently. And with such perfect posture! His little feet and legs would lay straight on the ground while he sat up as straight as a board.

His smiles come all the time. All.the.time.

And we started to think about moving him to his crib. This mama wasn’t ready to move the kid out of his parents room.

His eye teeth came in right after his two bottom teeth. So for a brief few weeks, he looked like a baby vampire. I’ve loved taking him with me where I go: the grocery store, a ladies night out at the local running club. You name it, he’s easy so I take him with me. He garnered so much attention at the ladies night that he ended up in the “fashion show” with one lady. Then he decided to spit up (a lot) – but at least he only got that on me and the floor. Oops.

Peek-a-boo is one of his past-times.

He went to his first big social outing (I think it was his first) to a fun event in Opelika called On the Tracks. He was, of course, the most adorable baby in attendance.

Then, on April 20th, his Memama and Grandy came in town to participate in the final rolling of the original Toomer’s Corner trees. Sure, they are (were) just a few trees. But, they were filled with pomp and circumstance, tradition and love. I specifically recall one Sunday after the Auburn/Alabama game back in 1997 or 1998 when Brian and I came to Auburn just to see the trees. It was like snow. I have the photos somewhere collecting dust. Anyway, anybody who’s been to downtown Auburn probably has some sort of memory about the trees. A few years ago, a man poisoned the trees with some pretty potent stuff and the trees have slowly declined. They were cut down on April 23rd.