A Birthday Party

I wanted to do this last year, but wasn't sure the boys were really big enough to understand it. (That and I wasn't feeling that great during the month of December last year.) Anyway, we are having a birthday for baby Jesus in a couple of weeks. I'm excited about planning it and Scott and Blaise, who both love birthdays and parties are also excited. We picked up a few things for our party while we were out today and Scott asked me, very sincerely, "How old is Jesus?" I told him that he's pretty old... but we're just going to put 1 candle on the cake. Actually, since Scott and Blaise think that candles are essential to birthday cake, I'm thinking 1 candle on each cupcake.

Can I Drive?

After grocery shopping, we stopped to fill up the gas tank. It needed it after the last leg of the drive home. As I got back into the car Blaise started the following conversation-

B: Mommy, can I drive?
Me: Right now?
B: Yes, can I drive now?
Me: Um, no. Maybe when you're 16.
B: Ok, when I'm 16 (of course, his pronounciation of the word 16 was entertaining.)
S: I can drive when I'm 16 too.
Me: Sure, Scott, you can drive when you're 16 too.
S: I'm going to drive Daddy's car when I'm 16.

Apparently, they are serious about this whole driving thing and have already been doing some thinking about the details. Yikes.

Thanksgiving

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Ocean City with Cullen's family. The whole Scott clan was together again and we took an updated family picture- had to get a new one with Michael in it. And this time everyone was awake (well, we woke Michael up for it) so no one has to be photo-shopped in!

We had a wonderful time. Scott and Blaise could not have enjoyed being with their cousins more. Connor (our nephew) has really grown up a lot since the last time we saw him... or maybe just opened up to us? We actually got Connor hugs, smiles, and he even refered to Cullen as, "my Cullen," which was incredibly amusing to me because that's how Scott refers to him and Elizabeth- as if he owns them. They ran laps around the house, they hid from each other, they watched movies, they read books, they colored, they played football (sort of), we even took them to the boardwalk to run and then to see the Winterfest lights. It was a very fun visit- exhausting, trying to keep up with them in the far from child-proof house, but fun.

Reading to keep them out of things... Playing DS to keep them out of things...

More DS... Scott and Blaise are always a captive audience for such things!

Here's a little video... I promised I would include it. Aunt Carol brought some games for the kids to play. One of the games was Bingo and this is what happens when Uncle Buddy wins at preschool bingo...

Oh, and we played this really cool game called Carcasonne. Add that to our Christmas list, and the kids version too.

Watch This!

It's high time for a Michael update. In the past few weeks he's really figured out his hands. He loves to play, intentionally, with toys. He's also figured out that the purpose of hands is to put toys into his mouth and the purpose of toys is tasting. His favorite toy is his "holey" ball- he does an amazing job of stuffing his entire chin into one of the holes as he gums it (I'll have to get a picture of that act soon.) He also loves the exersaucer, which is nice for the grown-ups :)

In other news we got out the booster chair for the table. He can sit up well enough to be in it and really just wants to be right at the table with us. Tada!

He can sit up well enough for the chair... actually, he can sit up! Only for a few seconds, but that's impressive for a guy his age. Here's a picture, and a quick video of the falling over part- because it totally amuses me the way he does some serious crunches the whole way down and goes in somewhat slow motion, and also the huge grin he's got on his face the whole time.

He rolled over last Friday, so I'm sure that'll be a regular thing soon. And sleep... well, just let's not talk about that. The big battle is coming as soon as we return from our Thanksgiving travels. We'll be heading off to Ocean City next week to be thankful... Scott is most thankful for everything in the food category, and Blaise continually says "My 2 whole families," in reference to the pictures we have on our mantle of each of our "whole families" (aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents included.)

Pajama Day

Mark your calendars... in addition to today being Veteran's Day it is also officially Pajama Day. Scott's been begging to stay in his jammies all day since August. Today, we have no place to go AND it's pouring rain and dreary as can be outside. Therefore, it's officially pajama day. Scott is thrilled!

And Thank You to all our Veteran's :) We appreciate all that you've fought for. Now to do our part to keep those freedoms that were won... if you haven't checked this out yet, take a minute and check out www.parentalrights.org, then join with us and many others to protect our freedoms.

2.5

Today Blaise is 2 and a half. Hard to believe he's that big already... well, that old. He is still a little guy. Wearing the same clothes he was wearing last winter, which includes a few 18M items, but mostly 2T. It wouldn't surprise me if he's sharing a wardrobe with his little brother within 18 months. He's weighing in around 27 lbs now, maybe. He's just under 35" tall, which means he should be tall enough with his shoes on in January to ride Goofy's Barnstormer (kiddie roller coaster) when we go back to Disney World... if he wants to. He loves slides and other playground/fair attractions, but is still afraid of carousels and still freaks out if you push the swing too high/fast. Not sure what either of those issues are all about since he's not afraid of much else. His adventure's now include jumping into the pool "by myself" at 4 feet and falling from a ladder at a playground. I'm convinced he was caught by the hands of God in the playground situation. But those are just two of many times when he likes to tease by climbing to relatively high places and being independent... I still believe he will be our first trip to the ER.

In other news, he is still ahead of the curve with his language and is known for speaking "in paragraphs." It's so funny to see just how different he is from his big brother. He has now mastered the proper responses to the top 2 questions people ask preschoolers- "What's your name?" and "How old are you?" Even responding the former with just his first name or his full name, depending on his mood, or if the asker probes for more information. He's very interested in drawing, coloring, and eating markers (oh, I mean, he did that once, pretending it was chapstick.) Amazing the attention span he has for sitting and drawing. And he actually spelled his name for me the other day. We'll have to work on his clarity with that so that he can correct people when they try to spell it wrong (and they can understand him.) He's also finally taken to sitting and being read to. He will pick out books with Scott everyday and sit and listen to a few stories before "rest" time. He's even picked out a few from the library... although, I'm not the hugest fan of his most recent selection "Chicken Cheeks" which is basically using a different word to name the rear end of huge variety of animals, before they all fall down and the last page says "the ends." Funny, yes, but not my favorite selection for reading aloud to preschoolers. The other thing he does with books now is take a few to his bed with him for "rest" time. Then he sits and reads them to his kitty cat and Tiger... and sometimes he falls asleep with the book over his face :)

As potty training goes, this kiddo is perfectly capable of being completely independent... but not trustworthy enough and too moody. Meaning, he dresses himself, when he feels like it, and can actually complete the task much quicker than his big brother, because he's more patient with himself. And also that he knows how to hold it and has demonstrated quite clearly that he does in fact know when he has to go. He's also made it very clear that he can get on and off by himself, since he frequently decides he needs to close the door (and lock it), or that he needs to stop and clean the bowl midway. Some days he's perfect and tells us everytime, but some days he just doesn't feel like it. Guess it's all part of being 2 and I'm not worried about it at all yet.

Finally, he's now officially a middle child (since July), and living up to the role quite well. Teasing everyone and being sneaky about it so Scott usually gets in more trouble than him. I try to watch that, because I remember life with my brother, but I know sometimes he gets away with things. And he's still got that smile :)

Homecoming/Halloween

Clemson homecoming this year happened to fall on Halloween. We like to go to Clemson for the game and the RUF reunion... and this year was no different. Since I had planned on making the boys all new costumes this year, I was pleased to hear that they would be doing Trick or Treating at the Assisted Living Facility nearby. I pulled together a Goofy for Scott from my brother's OLD Goofy hat that he had given to the boys back in August. I last minute decided to make a Pluto from scratch last Saturday for Blaise... since I couldn't find the right color sweatsuit. And I also pulled together the Mickey outfit for Michael and then made mouse-ears by guessing the pattern that I used for Pluto down to size... came out great for all the guessing :) They seemed to be mostly comfortable in their costumes. Scott loved his, Blaise tolerated it when promised candy, and Michael was content- which is all you can ask of a 3 month old.

Friday we did the Trick or Treating with a friend for the "seniors." Everyone had fun.

Saturday we headed to Clemson for Homecoming... it was wet. Very wet. Michael didn't enjoy the game, because he wanted to see and was stuck in the sling AND inside my rain coat. We only stayed for the first half, because of the wetness and the coldness too. Scott and Blaise had a great time and really enjoyed the game. Blaise would have liked to be allowed to stand up and pace, but we were in the top deck with a couple of empty rows ahead of us- he sat. Clemson stomped Coastal, as expected, despite playing pretty sloppy football. Cullen and I are still trying to watch the rest of the game on ESPN360 - my new favorite thing :)

After the game we went to CPC for the RUF reunion... it was pretty small this year, but it was still nice to see some people and just to be there. The big boys had a blast playing with the campus minister's boys, so that was fun for them too. Remarkably, they both managed to run around the fellowship hall the whole time we were there... this is after walking all the way across campus to the stadium and back again! (Blaise was carried for a good bit, but still.)

Finally we went to visit some of my local friends in Clemson and just for fun dressed up the boys again to Trick or Treat on their street, but we only went to 3 houses, since it was still wet, and we aren't really about Trick or Treating... we're about bringing joy to other people with the boys cuteness (hope that doesn't sound wrong.) At home our philosophy for Halloween is that it's a golden opportunity to interact with and build relationships with our neighbors. The big question right now, is how to do that without encouraging the boys to be greedy :) All in all though, Saturday was a good day... and Speaks left us with a thought provoking question to entertain on the ride home as he always does. What is the most useful thing you learned through the college experience? (Or something like that.)

Yesterday, just to stretch the whole costume thing out and make it worth the effort of putting them together, we visited my parents in costume. They are house hunting and Cullen actually got to spend the early afternoon helping them out looking some. Hopefully, they'll find something they like before too long.

Boys in Action...

Here are the promised videos from October...

Scott was pretending to play guitar on the pillow and singing- which he refused to do at all prior to October, so this was an exciting moment for us. I think he was playing guitar because he missed playing Rock Band with Uncle Mike and who knows where the singing came from. It was also cute when Blaise told me, if you can catch it, that "Baby is holding my hand!"

Blaise and his friend Silas playing on the ramp to our shed... a favorite activity whenever the boys have friends over to play. Yes, occasionally there are wipe-outs, but this was a good day :) Oh, and I love listening to Blaise count.

Short, but very funny, if you see it. He was getting a little bit stuck in the Bumbo seat (it happens when you are really much too big for it.) I asked him if he wanted help to get out and he insisted he could help himself. If you watch closely, you will see his left hand pulling him out by his right hand. This really cracked me up in person... the video's just not quite as clear what he was doing.

Here's Michael, hanging out in the Bumbo and talking away. It' surprising to me how much he is playing with his toys already... this one was taken at least a week ago, and the one below was taken this morning.

This is a fun one... Uncle Mike brought his friend Kelli and her little boy over for dinner a couple of days before Halloween. The boys all took a turn showing off their costumes and Joseph didn't want to take his back off. Then the boys all had fun pulling Mike off the couch. They found it worked best if all 3 of them worked together :)

Where, Oh, Where Did October Go?

Wow, it doesn't seem like it's been a whole month... but then a lot has happened.

Quick picture summary of our trip to NY early in the month. We had a great trip. First stop after the overnight in Maryland was to see Cullen's cousin Amy and her little boy Sam. Sam will be 2 in January and we had not yet met him... we usually see them at Thanksgiving, but last year wasn't the typical Thanksgiving. Anyway, the boys all had fun together and it will be neat to see if they remember each other in a few weeks when we have a more typical Thanksgiving in Ocean City together. (Yes, this was the best picture... it's hard to take pictures of boys when they are having fun together.)

Then I cried a little, when we stopped to say Hi to Grandpa... it was hard to be at Grandma's house without her. I cried watching Scott and Blaise play on the Hoppity Hop thinking how much Grandma would have enjoyed watching them bounce all over her house. We introduced Michael to his Great Grandpa, who could not have been more thrilled to meet him. The pictures remind me of when Great Grandpa first held Scott. I cried again as we were driving from Great Grandpa's house to Great Grandma Jill's house and were telling Scott that we were going to see his Great Grandma Jill... he was so confused. He kept telling us he still needed to see his Great Grandma... his other Great Grandma. Then he clarified... he saw Great Grandpa and now he needed to see Great Grandma. He remembered and it made me smile inside, while I tried to re-explain to him that she's in heaven with Jesus now.

We spent a day with Grandma Jill and "Granny" Annie (who by the way, Blaise is still talking about!) It's always calm and relaxing to spend a day with them :) They made Michael a quilt and it's amazing, as are all their quilts.

Then we headed upstate to see Aunt Jesse and Darrell... not sure what to call him right this moment, so we settled on "Almost Uncle" Darrell. We are getting very excited about the wedding coming up in December and were thrilled to be able to "deliver" Jessica's wedding dress and see the basket that Scott and Darrell's neice will get to carry together... kind of a different way to do Ring Bearer and Flower Girl. Ok, so that was mostly just me being thrilled about that stuff... the boys were thrilled to play football with Almost Uncle Darrell.

We also stopped over at my cousin Emily's house to see her and her family and my Uncle Guy and Aunt Fran. Old Uncle Guy was enthralled with little Michael. I'm always sad that we don't get to see more of Uncle Guy living down here... maybe someday they'll come visit us! It was another good visit. Then we headed back down to New Paltz to start the homeward trek. We spent a morning with my Aunt Cynthia, and cousins Eljay and Allee, picking apples, pumpkins, and hanging out at Grandpa's house. The kids had fun with El and Al, as they always do... another one of those, it would be nice to be closer. (At the same time... it was COLD.) We went back to Grandma Jill's for the night and got to visit with Uncle Doc and Caroline too. I'm not sure why it is SO fascinating to my boys to watch other people play video games, but it is. I guess I should add this particular game is just Caro training her various puppies, feeding, and grooming them. Totally don't get the fascination... she HAS plenty of real pets.

Here's our little Tiger... couldn't be cuter... smiling all the time and giggling for me too, ever since we got home from NY. The trip totally threw off his night sleeping... we'll get there eventually, and I'm doing fine with it. He's growing up too fast! How is it that he's 3 months old already?

The other huge thing that has absorbed our month of October is a drawn out goodbye to our dearest friends. The ones we get together with monthly to play Settlers', the ones we're all friends with... whose little boy is going to room with Scott and Blaise when they're all at Clemson together in 2025 and whose little girl has so much personality! Here's Blaise and his buddy Silas playing in our backyard last week.

And this is Riley- she can keep up with these boys, no problem!

Then on Monday we took them to Riverbanks Zoo. What a fun time. Here are our boys on the dinosaur statue... Silas had asked if they would get to see Triceratops at the Zoo and Rachel had explained to him that he wouldn't. As we were getting in the car to go Silas looked at me and said, "Dinosaurs are dead," and shrugged his shoulders, "something happened to them." Too cute... needless to say, we had to take a picture on the dinosaur :)

I'm sure lots of other things have happened this month... can't think of them off the top my head at the moment though. I do have a few videos and I'll post them later... then tomorrow we are off to Clemson for Homecoming and we have plans to Trick or Treat there as Goofy, Pluto, and Mickey Mouse. Yes, I'll post pictures, when we get home.

Quote of the Week

Last night we (Scott, Blaise and I) were discussing princess's and the fact that only girls are princess's. I pointed out that boys were prince's. After telling Scott and Blaise were my 2 princes' Scott's response:

No, just Blaise is a prince. I'm the King.

I found that statement very firstborn :)