September Snippets

As September comes to a close, here are some of the ways we've been keeping busy this month:

Schoolwork: 

It's such hard work to be a big kid!

This calculator is one of Luke's favorite things.  Like Father, Like Son.

Signs:

It's one of Luke's new hobbies.  There are notes everywhere around our house.

Shopping: 

Every time we walk into Old Navy, Leah asks me to take a picture of her with the dog in the display.  Too cute!

Sleep:

Yes, it's getting better.  I'm not going to write any more for fear that I will jinx us!

Maybe the ol' rump in the air is the trick to her sweet slumber!

Sneaking tastes:

She's moved on from banana bread, folks!

 

And she's not even trying to hide it!

 

Superheroes:

It's serious business to save the world...



But it's a lot of fun to show off your Super Powers!

School Festival:

Leah gleefully squealed, "Faster, Faster!" as Luke spun them in terrifying, dizzy circles!



At least they'll be able to ride amusement park rides together someday as I look on!



Luke tried his hand at hockey at the Greenville Road Warriors Inflatable Game...

...while Leah gave big hugs to every mascot at Luke's Back to School Bash!

Soccer:

Luke's first soccer season began this month.  It deserves its own future blog post, but here's a sneak peek.

The skills practices, games, and drills are adorable and quite entertaining at this age!

I was so excited that the orange slices that I remembered from childhood are still a staple post-game snack!

Spectating:

Every good soccer team needs its own cheerleader!

One of her favorite lounging positions.

In sunny weather...

 

...or on rainy days,

Leah is Luke's #1 fan!

And the cutest soccer spectator ever!

First Lost Tooth!

Luke lost his first tooth yesterday!  We've been on borrowed time with this particular incisor, and have been on "Tooth Watch" for awhile.  Ever since Luke bit into an ear of corn in May and loosened his tooth, he has carefully avoided biting and chewing with the front of his mouth.  We've been cutting up apple slices, taking corn off the cob, and waiting. 

 

Luke was initially apprehensive about the idea of losing a tooth, but after a routine visit to the dentist a couple of weeks ago, his mindset changed.  The dentist told Luke that it was his job to wiggle his loose baby tooth free, and ever since, he's been excited and ready.  Combined with the fact that only one child in Luke's kindergarten class has lost a tooth (and you get to have your name added to the prestigious "Lost Tooth Chart" in the classroom when this event occurs), Luke's competitive nature has kicked in, and he's been wiggling it like crazy.  We knew Luke's baby tooth didn't have long when we looked at it this week- It was hanging on by a thread, and able to be positioned into all kinds of grotesque sideways positions in his mouth: 

 

All of the sudden, yesterday afternoon, Luke exclaimed, "I got it!" and there it was: this perfectly formed, exquisite, tiny piece of his childhood in his hand.  As a mom going through this for the first time, a million visions flashed before me:  My infant boy's first gummy grins, the painful process of teething as this baby tooth initially emerged, how much I adore his gorgeous toothy smile, and how the milestone of my children losing teeth will never be as momentous or special as this very first time.  This right of passage will slowly transform into a ordinary occurrence as we go through it for the fifth, tenth, and twentieth time with each of our children. 

 

So we did what should be done the very first time.  We celebrated.  We high-fived.  We cheered.  We used the word, "awesome" a lot.  We took pictures.  And we video-called Daddy on Facetime while he was at work to show him the new gaping hole in Luke's mouth: 

I love this one,  If you look closely. you can see Leah's little tootsie toes in the bottom left corner of the picture.  She stood beside her big brother the whole time, encouraging him and oohing and ahhing over his lost tooth:

 We got out Luke's tooth pillow, and he carefully placed his tooth in the zippered pouch.  We hung it on his door knob, and excitedly speculated on what the going rate is for the Tooth Fairy these days.   At our house, it's $1 per tooth, which is low compared to the national average (I learned this by reading a recent article on msn.com, in case you were wondering).  We figured that there was no need to set the expectation too high for tooth #1, as our little man would surely expect the same amount for each subsequent tooth.  Luke exclaimed, "This is my lucky day!"  which was darling, since I had in fact picked him up early from school due to a fever.  He was fine with a dose of Motrin, and I am thrilled that he was home early so I was able to witness him losing his first tooth.  He was brave and excited, and not at all scared about the blood that accompanied the tooth falling out.  The dentist had prepared him for that by telling him that it was "good blood" and  God's way of cleaning out the germs, which meant that the grown up tooth was healthy and strong.  Phew, b/c we hadn't thought the verbally prepare Luke for that!

 

Along with her monetary deposit, the The Tooth Fairy also left a small scroll in Luke's tooth pillow last night that contained an interesting fact about teeth.  This may have been even more thrilling to our inquisitive little man than the dollar, and will be a continuing tradition each time Luke loses a tooth:  

Hooray for our enthusiastic little boy, who continues to amaze us by embracing each new experience in his life with a sense of wonder and excitement! 

Waggin' at the Waterpark- 2013 Edition

 

It's one of our favorite Saturdays each year:  Our waterpark opens up its' gates to the dogs, and Winnie has a blast swimming in the pool and playing!  This fall, we all went to the waterpark with Winnie, and it's hard to tell who had the most fun!  Luke stood in the water for a long time, throwing balls to Winnie, who doggie paddled out to each one and promptly retrieved them:

 

Leah joined her big brother in the pool, and all three kids (and some furry friends) played together:

Then the sprinklers were turned on.  With barks and squeals of glee, my kiddos ran toward the water and chased each other through the splashing water: 

 

We love attending this annual event, and it brings us so much joy to watch Winnie have so much fun!

Critter Keeper

 

One of the summer programs that we attended at our local library featured the Critter Keeper.  This unique title belongs to a man who provides educational information and entertainment to children about his 17+ species of creepy crawlies.  Leah snuggled closely in my lap as the Critter Keeper wandered around the room with various reptiles, arachnids, and insects, and I held on tightly to my sweet baby girl.  Meanwhile, Luke grabbed a seat in the front row, oohed and ahhed at many of the creatures, and is still reciting many factual tidbits from the show (which was almost two months ago and was actually excellent).  Luke has always been fascinated by the Reptile House at the zoo, and has his own collection of toy lizards and bugs.  One afternoon after seeing the Critter Keeper, Luke donned his zookeeper hat, put on his "badge" and backpack, and invited Leah and I to come to his very own critter exhibit.  Our little zoologist proudly displayed his informational animal booklets beside each species, and gave us a detailed description of his entire collection:

The sight was just too cute for words (and if I can use "cute" referring to a photo of plastic bugs, then we know Luke must have been especially entertaining and adorable!).  How lucky we are to have our own Critter Keeper who enthusiastically educates and shares his love of these creatures with us!

Big Girl!

 How our baby is becoming a big girl, right before our very eyes!  I absolutely love the above picture, as it captures our happy, sweet girl with her admiring Daddy in the background.

Leah is 2 years and 8 1/2 months old.  This may not seem especially significant, but it absolutely blew my mind when I realized that this is the exact age that Luke was when Leah was born.  So up until this point in Luke's life, he had no sibling, while Leah's world completely revolves around her big brother.  Thankfully, Leah is carrying on many of Luke's favorite things.  Recently, I asked Luke if he wanted to read a Thomas the Tank Engine Book, and Luke replied, "Nah, I don't really like Thomas any more."  My heart practically broke.  Thomas was one of his favorite toddler/preschool stages for a long time, and I am relieved that Leah seems to love trains, too, so that we don't have to part with this sweet childhood theme yet: 

Our Fall Routine

Leah and I are settling into a routine now that Luke has been in kindergarten for several weeks.  Our days are quiet and peaceful.  She will sit and read books for hours.  Often I ask her if she wants to go to the park or to play with a friend, and she'll reply, "Can we just stay at home?"  She is content to help me empty the dishwasher, fold laundry or bake, and will color, play with stickers, and do "crafts".  How different this age was with Luke, where I feel like I didn't ever sit down!  Leah has completely given up her nap, which works out since we spend over an hour in the carpool line each afternoon waiting to pick up Luke.  Luckily, Leah is happy to hang out in the car with me, patiently waiting, which is amazing for a 2 1/2 year old.  We started Leah's fall Kindermusik class this week, and are enjoying cooler mornings to play outside:

Outdoor painting in her pajamas one morning last week.

Another of Leah's favorite fall activities is curling up with Daddy to watch football.  Go Deacs!

Playing Grown-Up:

One of Leah's new interests is Doc McStuffins (which she calls, "Doc McStomach").  She gives "check-ups" to many of her stuffed animals and to any other willing patients, which is very cute.  Now that her big brother wears a backpack to kindergarten, Leah pretends to go to school too, and wore Daddy's work backpack around the house recently.  I think it was a bit too heavy for this little peanut!

 

Leah has the cutest pronunciations of words, which are rapidly disappearing as she becomes a big girl.  For a long time, she was unable to say the hard "k"and "g" sounds, and substituted with "t" and "d" respectively.  This meant that "I Can!" was pronounced, "I Tan!", and "Go!" was "Doh!"  She also made the "y" sound for all of her "L's" so she was "Yee-Yee" (Lee-Lee) and Luke was "Yuke".  My favorite may have been listening to her sing "Mary Had a Yittle Yamb" and "Jesus Yuvs Me".  I'm savoring these last weeks and months of her baby words before they vanish entirely.     

Accessories, Accessories!

 This weekend, Leah discovered her drawer of headbands and bows, and decided to accessorize herself!  This is especially funny, because I often ask her is she wants a ponytail or headband, and she refuses (she will only wear one bow on the side of her head to keep her hair out of her face).  This hairdo was completely self-created:

Embarrassed that I had my camera: "PLEASE, MOM!"

Big Girl Bed:

After repeated episodes of climbing out of the crib last month, we gave up and converted Leah's crib into a toddler bed.  It's been a long, difficult transition, and right now, Leah requires someone in her room with her to fall asleep at night and is waking an average of 1-2 times in the middle of the night and getting out of her bed.  The good news is that for the first time in her life, Leah is not crying herself to sleep and/or crying for hours each night (I know, it sounds awful, but that's how she's been since birth, and the reason for her vocal nodules/raspy voice).  Also, since there are no naps anymore, the going to sleep process is usually quick.  There have been a few nights this week where Leah has slept through without waking, so we are hopeful that there are long stretches of uninterrupted sleep in our near future.  We also have an upcoming appointment scheduled at the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders (at the Children's Hospital) after receiving a referral from our pediatrician for Leah's "behavioral insomnia", and are looking forward to any insights they may offer us as to how to help our little girl. 

Big Girl Bed!

Don't let this picture fool you- She's a nocturnal party animal!

Posing with Bubba. 

We are enjoying our Peanut so much right now!  She's sweet, fun, and very loveable, and it's a joy to spend my days with her.  Luke's preschool begged for me to let Leah join their two day 2-year old class this fall, and I told them, "Not yet..."  She's growing up too quickly already, and I'm loving this special time with my big girl!