Let's Get Our Hands (and Everything Else) Dirty

Today during therapy, April brought over the really fun stuff - finger paints (washable, thank goodness)! Here are some shots from the afternoon . . .



Xander was all over it (literally). He loved it, was covered in paint, painted on himself as much as the paper, and often had two brushes in each hand. By the end, he even started handing us the paint bottles so we would add more to his paper, usually asking for all four colors! My little artist.



Sawyer impressed us by participating for a little while. He was definitely curious about what brothers were doing, and did take a paintbrush from Mommy and make a few carefully placed dots and strokes on one piece of paper. He then went on to simply wander around the deck, occasionally peeking at brothers' work, and often simply wanting some hugs and interaction from Mommy. He's trying though, and that's progress for him!



And then there was Connor. He too enjoyed the painting - he loved to have giant blobs of paint to work with. There was no "less is more" concept for him today and no "quality over quantity" concept either. More is apparently more for him. Unfortunately, a lot of his "masterpieces" ended up stuck together where we placed them on the table because they were so wet with paint. Oh well, there will certainly be more.



A collection of the ones I was able to pull apart (notice there are a few rips and tears here and there - just makes them more valuable, right?).



And then there was water - to play and to clean up with - which the two water babies loved. We spent hours and hours, long after the therapist had gone home. And at the end of it, Xander even ventured in too. That, is nothing short of miraculous. This is the boy who slept in a deck chair the entire three hours we last spent at the very nice kiddie pool with Grammy and Pappy, the one who cried if we tried to get him into the water. So, progress all around today . . .

Let's Hope This is a Good Sign

My three-year old, he of the oh-so-casual "Bye-bye, see you later!" moments, had a meltdown tonight for the first time in a long time - all because Mommy was leaving the house without him.

Our good cousins, Katie and Josh, are back for their last semester at nursing school and are once again being nice enough to come over and watch the boys on a regular basis. Tonight was the first night, and I was heading out to run some errands (Daddy had to work tonight). I thought he would be thrilled to stay with his good friends "Kay-dee an' Josh" and to visit with "Jof-seph" who was coming over later. Apparently not, he cried and cried and cried. And then he cried some more. I stayed for about 15 minutes longer than I would have normally (and probably more than I should have tonight) simply because it was so unlike him. Where was my "Bye-bye, see you later!" boy?

Well, if you can interpret a little boy between his crying and pitiful face (and yes, crocodile tears too), it was apparently because he thought Mommy was going to school without him. At 6 o'clock on a Wednesday night. Without him.

Here's hoping that he really is that excited about going to school, and we don't have a repeat meltdown tomorrow morning when Mommy is about to leave him at school. You know, in a new place and with new people. Here's hoping that my "Bye-bye, see you later!" boy returns by then. Here's hoping . . .

"Connor Go School, Too!"

For the longest time, one of my three-year old's funniest phrases has been "Carmen's at school, honey." It's something he absolutely learned from me, because he would ask about our next door neighbor every single time we passed her house on our walk. And, being almost two years older, she started preschool shortly after they moved in and was gone a lot, which Connor just didn't seem to understand. He wanted her to come over and play, like she did the first few weeks they lived there.

Well, earlier this year, he added a little bit on to it. It became, "Carmen's at school, honey. Connor go school, too?" It was as though he thought that was the fun place to be, if Carmen was there, and he suddenly wanted to go, too.

We weren't sure, for a couple of reasons. Mostly, it seemed a little silly to pay money to have him in school when I stopped working to "take care of the boys" instead. It also sounded like a logistical nightmare. The program we had our eye on runs from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And the idea of getting three boys ready that early (sorry, we're just not morning people around here) and getting him to school for a few hours only to repeat it again right at lunchtime seemed a bit much. Not to mention the little guys now have therapy two to three days every week right after lunch!

But, given our son's energy and curiosity of late, and feeling like it would be a good idea for him socially to be around other kids his age, we called and put him on the dreaded waiting list. He was number 19 early this summer, which seemed like a long shot. The little guys, who we also placed on the list for the same social reasons, were numbers five and six, respectively. They seemed to have a much better shot, though we weren't sure they would even go for it if they got in. They have a bit more attachment to home and Mommy than Connor has ever had.

Well, life seems to have a funny way of working itself out. The preschool called this morning to let us know there was an opening for Connor if we were still interested. Yesterday was the first day, and apparently a slot was left open. We took it, and tomorrow we will begin his journey of "Connor go school, too!"

It's a little scary, thinking about leaving him somewhere unfamiliar. But that's probably just his mother talking. Because if I know my son (and I think I do), he's going to love it. There will be lots of new people, new toys and fun things to do. He will get a chance to do something that doesn't include his two brothers, like everything else in his life. And he gets the chance to be a big boy in another new and interesting way. Like I said, I think he's going to love it.

And, if I know my twins, they're going to love it too. Hours of uninterrupted play without their older brother teasing and tormenting them. More Mommy time shared between just two instead of three. And a ride in Mommy's truck four more times every single week to drop off and pick up big brother!

Good stuff, all around.

Sniffle, Sniffle, Cough, Cough

There are now four people in our house with the wonderful summer cold (Mommy included), so we're taking a break today. Here's my favorite photo from the weekend at the lake.

Holiday Weekend

Connor getting a little lift in his jump from Uncle Brian.



Swimming with cousins Austin & Kyndal.

It's not Labor Day weekend if you haven't been to the lake, gone out on the boat, jumped in, and had a little bit of fun in the sun and the water. Oh, and some Capri Suns, some Cheetos (nice & messy!), and some chocolate candy bars, too!