Big Boys and Their Toys

I haven't uploaded any videos in a while, so here are a few of Scott and Blaise taken right after Michael was born. Their Papa thought it was a good idea to give them each an official size sports ball. Scott got a baseball, which we ocassionally roll in the front yard to practice fielding grounders (he doesn't have a glove yet, so we don't actually throw the hardball- not that I'd trust his throwing ability with a hardball just yet anyway.) Blaise got a basketball. As you can see he loves to dribble and actually does quite well considering the ball is HUGE for him. Scott also has to practice dribbling. Not a problem, if you know me at all, you know I have a plethora of sports equipment, so finding another basketball was not an issue :)

This is how we entertained the big boys one of the first mornings that Cullen went back to work. Michael was actually on the floor in his bouncer seat observing the process. They actually both took turns making noodles out of playdoh, including sharing the toys pleasantly! I've always been impressed with Blaise's attention span for things like this- he enjoys playing with play-doh or even coloring sometimes for longer than Scott and for much longer than he will sit and watch a movie.

Three and a Half!

Scott's officially 3 1/2... where does the time go? He is doing well. I am trying to figure out what to do with him this year in the way of "school." I know we don't want to mess with a detailed academic pre-school curriculum... probably won't mess with anything detailed until K. But since we have no intention of sending him off to pre-school, but do intend to homeschool when he hits school-age, I'm tossing around different ideas for home-pre-school this year. So, any of you homeschooling friends want to share your pre-school experiences? I think it's funny when people ask what we're going to do if we don't send him to pre-school, and how we know what consitutes "school." I don't really know how to answer those questions... but thinking back to my own pre-school experience in Mrs. Woolsey's basement, I remember playing on the monkey bars, building with blocks, playing with play-doh, and there was one day when I guess we were making something to eat and we got to peel carrots (random I know.) All those things he already does at home anyway... so I guess mostly home-pre-school is mostly just living life and being more aware of what exactly we do everyday?

Back to Scott... Scott still loves to be read to, and is still too much of a perfectionist to do much in the way of attempting to write or draw. I did convince him today that he could draw a face... and he has progressed to writing the t's in his name by himself. His vocabulary grows constantly... be careful what you say around him, he will use your phrases- usually in proper context, within a week or so. I've started being more aware of what we read in library books. He likes to show-off when he's around the grandparents in particular and talks like he's a very important grown-up, very matter of fact, complete with gestures and everything.

Physically, he's still a strong, rough little boy. Loves to play outside, loves to play sports (baseball, football, soccer, and now basketball), jumps on everything, runs constantly, and now picks up and "tackles" Blaise. There's no doubt they are both boys :) He's still fairly tall and skinny- we are thinking he's had a bit of a growth spurt this summer. His feet have grown practically right out of his sandals and he seems taller- we'll see here in a few weeks when we start trying on his long pants :)

Michael Does NOT Like It When...

Michael doesn't like it when I have to correct his big brothers. Or when they are particularly loud right beside him. I'm with him, those are also not my favorite moments. His reaction is actually quite similar to the way Scott responded the first time he sat with Cullen at a Clemson game and Cullen got loud about the game :)

In other news, he is sleeping well at night, seems to be gaining weight, getting used to our weekday routine... and has broken out with baby acne already. It's not as bad as it was with Blaise just a few little spots on his temples and center of his forehead.

Scott still loves him and asks to have tummy time with him everyday, kisses him constantly (especially while he's nursing), and if Michael fusses Scott tells me that he needs to drink milk :)Blaise also loves him... he checks on him if he cries, shares stuffed toys with him, and tries to give him all of his toys. More on the big brothers another day... I have a few good new videos, whenever I manage to have time and remember to upload them.

Can you say "Expensive!"

It has become quite obvious that it is going to be very expensive to feed all these boys... very soon. Today after he ate his pb&j, peas & corn, and cheese, Scott ate 2 pieces of watermelon and half a peach... then within an hour (as is his custom) he was asking for a snack. Blaise is not far behind (I think he had 3 plates of poppyseed chicken, when our friends were here last Thursday) and from the looks of things Michael shouldn't have a hard time keeping up either.

Growing Boy!

Yesterday we went to the Baby Weight Check at the local hospital... we left the hospital at 8lbs 8oz and a week later he's already up to 9lbs 3 oz (on a relatively empty stomach.) Yep, the early indication is that he's going to gain more like Scott than Blaise. Obviously, he's eating well :) Sleeping quite well too, with only 2 or 3 night-time feedings, which he's good about going back to sleep after. In other news, he's recovering fast from being born and has already lost his cord stump.

Firemen

Scott and Blaise are out on the porch playing firemen. They are riding around in their firetruck, blowing whistles they got from a friend this morning, and telling us how they are putting out ten fires on our house. This is a step up actually... a couple of weeks ago they kept driving to the animal shelter in the firetruck.

It's fun to watch them playing pretend... but interesting to try and figure out where they come up with these things. The animal shelter thing I think came from a Curious George book. They've finally figured out the firetruck and Scott at least, has become interested in firefighter's and putting out fires, because last week the firetruck came to storytime at the library (we also brought home a few library books about firefighter's.) The part I can't figure out is why they think a firemen would use a whistle to put out a fire? I'm trying to remember if there was something in a book somewhere about firemen having whistles. It's usually something from a book, being as Scott loves to read so much.

Introducing the New Little Man

Apparently... laughing really hard works?! Caution- if you aren't interested in the details of birth, skip the next paragraph.

Things got started around midnight, with my water breaking in my sleep. Not a pleasant feeling. Contractions started about an hour later and we were able to rest a little bit around the house before dropping off the boys with a neighbor and heading to the hospital at 3am. They checked us in right away, since it was obvious that my water had broken. Thankfully, one of my 2 favorite midwives was on call... who also happens to be the midwife that I have been seeing regularly since I was pregnant with Scott, so she is very familiar with my "birth plan." The nurse that night just didn't really understand that I really did want a natural birth- so we were especially thankful for Tina (the midwife), who really stuck up for us :) Once we got settled into our room, my contractions were about 2-4 minutes apart and I was 6-7cm dilated. We hung around. Thrilling right? Being as we are not the most talkative people to begin with, and I was rather busy the conversation was fairly slow. And between contractions I was noticing weird things... like the clock said it was Fri 23 and should have said Fri 24. Anyway. Things progressed. I threw up, as is usual for me. Started feeling pressure shortly after that and tried to get "comfortable" for pushing. Pushing was much harder this time around. Blaise seemed to be just anxious to be born, he was out in 3 pushes, 10 minutes... not this baby. I remembered to ask for a mirror, so I could see, which to me was very cool. After about 40 minutes of pushing, Michael was born- posterior (facing up), which is the main reason pushing was so much more challenging. Because Tina did her job so well, and also because I could see what was happening and felt more in control, I didn't tear at all... despite the fact that little Michael weighed a good pound and then some more than either of his brothers. I got to hold him right away and Tina helped tremendously with making sure we were allowed to take things at our own pace immediately after birth. I got to cut the cord and they didn't take Michael to weigh and measure him until we were ready.

Michael's stats, since they are probably too small to read in the announcement picture... he was born at 6:37am on Friday July 24. He weighed 8lbs 14 oz, and was 19 3/4 inches. He is named after my dad and my brother- who were both very excited to meet him when they came by in the afternoon. He has 2 very proud big brothers, who were also very excited to meet him and both anxious to hold him when they came by right after lunch. As you can see... he has a full head of black hair, just like his brothers did and most definitely looks like one of the family :)

We were able to come home yesterday and got here right around lunch time. It is good to be home... I can't stand trying to sleep in a hospital bed. We are all doing well. Nursing is going well. The boys love their new baby brother and keep offering him his toys and asking to hold him.

Cullen will be home tomorrow and probably Tuesday too... and then taking half days for a while. Our church and some other friends as well will be bringing us meals for a few weeks. I think we are well taken care of :) We'll see how often I manage to update this as I adjust to the chaos of life with 3 little ones!

Walking and Baseball

Okay, so everyday this week we have been taking a family walk in the evening (you know, to encourage little Moose to go ahead and be born already!) When we get back to the house both the boys beg to play baseball. They get a few swings and then we come in and start the whole bedtime routine. Scott has actually gotten pretty good. He can hit quite the line drive and insists on running to "first base" after he gets a hit. Blaise on the other hand, has just figured out the proper grasp and stance... now to master actually swinging the bat instead of lifting/dropping it off his shoulder. Of course, his inability to actually hit the ball doesn't bother him in the least, so everyday he gets a few pitches too. Tonight, one of those pitches bounced off the top of his head. It was the funniest thing... had me laughing hysterically for a few minutes- which is generally not a good thing when you are several days beyond 40 weeks pregnant, but maybe that will help get things started? Oh, and don't worry all we have is wiffle ball sets and Blaise's is kind of like wiffle ball coated with some kind of foam, so it didn't hurt him.

Due Dates...

Due dates are pretty much worthless. At least that's what I've learned from having them come and go for the 3rd time with not the slightest indication of impending labor. What now... we keep waiting for a week, then the Dr will have us in for an US to measure fluids and an NST- regardless of how those tests turn out, the Dr will then try to schedule us for an induction as soon as possible. That said, pray for the baby to decide to come on it's own by Friday, so I don't have to have that fight again.

What else is new? Nothing much... still trying to entertain ourselves with playdates and library time. My dad is moving down tonight, so this week, we'll probably get to spend some time with him (since he doesn't currently have a job.)

Blaise has taken to tucking himself in lately. He still sleeps in the crib, but has his quilt from Great Grandma Jill (which according to Scott is a "cover" not a "quilt.") Every night and naptime for the past week or so, I go in to check on Blaise and he is under his cover. Nevermind that we keep the house at 78 and he sweats like crazy.

July Already?

Yes, I know it's July... and I should update more frequently. We are still here and as of today, I am still pregnant... 39 weeks now, so we're getting close to meeting our new little one. Theoretically, it could be any day, but with our track record... we're just trying to keep busy and not dwell on it. Nothing too adventurous of course, playdates and library time mostly. My favorite are the playdates that involve pools. Scott seems to be getting better at actually kicking, rather than just taking rides :) Blaise, ever the independent 2 year old, wants to do everything by himself- this includes jumping into the pool (nevermind, he only just barely gets air when he jumps.) I did actually let him jump in himself once, since then he's okay with holding my hands, but still wants to jump by himself. For the record, he didn't choke, and rarely does.

Rewind to the 4th of July... we had quite the restful day.

We started out with this performance by Blaise :) Then we headed over to my mom's for some swimming. No pictures of swimming, sorry. Later in the day we just hung out at home. Scott got to play some good soccer with his Daddy.

And then, after Scott's face was all red from playing so hard, I remembered to take a 4th of July picture of my boys :)

More recently, Blaise has started trying to play baseball... and apparently, he didn't want his picture taken :)

(PS- yes he did hit me and yes it did hurt... but he also did manage to hit the ball :)

And then today, Scott got to help Daddy wash the car. He was quite the hard worker (which is not a surprise) and stayed out there working until both cars were washed.