Seth is 3 years 11 months old!

Late again – this has been a very busy time for our family.  We went to North Carolina again this month plus my parents came to visit and school is ending.  So busy.

Seth is mostly the same.  Very whiney, but growing up.  He seems to be getting nervous about moving and all the stuff that’s going on in our house and I also don’t think he gets quite as much sleep as he needs.  So, that makes things kind of difficult for him.

Preschool ended.  Seth really enjoyed it, but I think is glad to be done and at home.  Of course, this will be a busy summer.  We went to Magic House to celebrate the end of preschool, but only saw a couple of his classmates there.  I think it was still pretty special for him.  He also was able to celebrate his birthday with his preschool class.  At first, I think this caused him some confusion about whether he was 3 or 4, but I think it’s mostly clear at this point.

We went to North Carolina house hunting.  It was exhausting for all of us, but I think Seth enjoyed that he was able to go.  I think it was actually really good for him because he was able to see Greenville and North Carolina and help pick out our new home and also meet his Primary class and see the local school, park, library, grocery store, etc.  He is worried about making friends (of course), but I think he can at least relate to the city.  By the end of the trip, he was identifying himself as a Pirate fan (the Pirates are ECU’s mascot) as well as a Cardinals’ fan, so I take that as a good sign.  Flying was pretty exciting for him as it’s been almost a year since we flown.  Mostly a test drive for our trip to Japan this week. 

My parents visited for the month and he enjoyed spending time with his grandparents.  He even got some one-on-one time, which he really enjoyed.  He was a little teary some days because he is pretty sensitive lately, but overall, he had a lot of fun. 

Seth is doing really really well with reading and is starting to read little stories, a few sentences long.  He wants to do lessons every day, several times a day and I am really proud at how diligent he is and how well he is progressing.

Seth is really really into Super Heros lately.  We have convinced him that if he eats foods that are the color of super heros he will be like them, and so he will eat red and yellow food to be like Flash, green food to be like Green Lantern, etc.  It has expanded his food intake a little bit, but he is still a small guy.

Fun Things This Month:

• Salem Celebration Day – we went to the Methodist Church where Seth goes to church and he sang his song for us.  So cute – he went to the bible school there while we listened to the sermon and even got angel wings.  It was exciting.
• Transportation Day at the Heights.  Everyone was a little grumpy, but Seth enjoyed seeing all the trucks and getting plastic hats to wear.
• Mom’s Day – at preschool.  I got a special present for Seth and got to have a little breakfast with him and watched him sing a song with us.  It was really cute and I enjoyed the one-on-one time with him.
• Singing in church for Mother’s Day.  So sweet.
• Birthday celebration at preschool.  We made cupcakes with sprinkles, even with Spiderman wrappers.  He got to wear a birthday crown and it was a special day.
• Trip to North Carolina.  The highlight for the boys (besides getting a new house!) was getting to go to Chick-fil-a for lunch pretty much every day and play in the play land there.
• Last Day of preschool – Seth brought home all kinds of art work and a special book with pictures from all his days of preschool.  We have been collecting all his preschool things in a notebook and he loves to look through it all the time.
• Salem night at Magic House – Seth had lots of fun, but we didn’t see his teachers or many of his classmates.  Because he had been begging us for a month or two to go to the McDonald’s by the Magic House, so we went there first and the boys had SO much fun.  They don’t like the food that much – but they LOVE to play there.  Almost as much fun as the Magic House.
• Grandparents – besides the usual of playing, wrestling, and talking with them (and playing lots and lots of Uno and Blink card games), Seth enjoyed:
• Transportation Museum – loved going on the tram.  He sat up front and said All Aboard the first time, but it really scared him.  He enjoyed the trolley a lot, too.
• Grant’s Farm – loved the tram and the bird show.
• new scooter – an early birthday present and enjoyed it at the park
• walking to the park and to downtown Clayton to eat
• playing at the hotel with them
• ward picnic

Andrew is 6 years old!

It’s birthday day!  We are keeping it a little low key.  We bought Andrew a small present, but of course, it hasn’t arrived yet.  Seth and Logan bought Andrew a Justice League DVD, which is the new favorite around here.  But the main present was getting to watch Star Wars, which Andrew has wanted to watch for a long time, but we always thought it was too scary for him.  He watched episodes 4 & 5 today and thought it was the best present ever.  We also did a cupcake this morning and went out to Chinese buffet for lunch and Katsu took the afternoon off.  I think Andrew had a lot of fun.  He is having a little party tomorrow at the park with an army pinata.  I was a little hesitant about the army thing, but what can you do?

Andrew was reading to me this morning and it’s amazing how much difference a year can make at his reading.  He can read level 1 readers pretty well.  Level 2 readers, too, though it depends a lot on the level.  Some of them are really hard and some are really easy.  He wants to read Junie B. Jones, which I usually read as a chapter book at night.  He gave it a little shot – I think it’s a little hard for him (more in length than in difficulty), but if he really wants to, I’m game.  He also is starting to read everything that is around him, which I think is a bigger bridge to cross.  To realize how much text is around you all the time and to actually read it.

He has been a little devil at home lately, but is an angel and very well-behaved at school.  I guess the two goes together.  We just need to work at home a lot on self control and calming oneself down without being aggressive or destructive.  Sigh.  But on the other hand, he gets really irritated with everyone at school because they are always so naughty.

Andrew has really been into Justice League lately.  They are obsessed with super heroes and want to watch it and play it all the time.  It’s cute.  So … boy.  He also is really into playing Wild Kratz on the computer and trying to win all the power suits.  He wants to invite over his friends so they can help him beat it.

Andrew is getting more into playing soccer and sports with friends.  But he still prefers chase and tag and other games that mostly involve chasing.  He does seem to prefer more boy things this year – army, super heroes, etc.

He finished up swim lessons.  It definitely has upped his confidence and he is swimming better.  I am proud of him.

He is really into playing Uno.  He learned like in the last week and now he wants to play all the time.  Before school, after school, before bed.  We feel like we have finally turned a parenting corner where maybe we can enjoy the children more on their own level.

He wants to have special time with us each night, but he needs to get sleep, too.  It is so hard to figure out how to spend enough time with him when he is in school all day, especially one on one time.  I feel like that has been the big challenge of this year.

Andrew gave his first talk by himself during Primary.  We prepped it in the morning on prophets (I loved that he thought one of the more important things prophets tell us to do is not to pray to statues).  He read the whole thing himself without any help, though I had written President Monson and he kept saying some weird combination of President, prophet and Thomas.  So, cute.  It was really great.

We love our little Mother’s Day boy.

Fun Things This Month:

• Opening Day for the Cardinals.  Andrew was a little nervous about getting out of school early, but it went off without a hitch (in fact, there were a few other kids leaving early for the ball game).  Andrew, Seth, and Katsu went.  He kept looking for his preschool classmates’ dads.  Mostly the boys enjoy the snacks, of course, and ice cream in a helmet.  They also enjoyed playing in the play area.
• Planetarium show – it was the Sky Tonight.  Andrew was a little disappointed that it wasn’t a movie one like Seth saw, but we enjoyed learning about the constellations.  We also got to check out telescopes outside the Planetarium.  It was a lot of fun.
• Dinner at Maggiano’s to celebrate the new job.
• Birthday party at Matthew’s house.  Andrew was feeling a little under the weather and I ended up having to pick him up early because he was throwing up.  It was a one time thing – I think too much jostling and running around + allergies.
• He had a play date, but wasn’t actually too much fun, I think.
• Andrew had a field trip at the Botanical Gardens.  He enjoyed seeing the flowers and most especially enjoyed that I bought him a lunchable for his lunch.  One boy in his class brings one every day, so Andrew was excited to be like him.
• Eye dr. appt – he was borderline last year, so I finally brought him to a pediatric opthomologist.  Andrew is 20/20 and had his eyes dilated and they look great.  No glasses yet!
• Transportation day at the Heights.  We got to see all kinds of trucks.  Andrew was pretty pouty, for some reason, but had fun.  They mostly wanted to collect hats and hang out at the Game truck that had video games.
• A Luau party.  He seemed to have fun with all his friends.
• Cupcakes at school.  He seemed to enjoy it and came home with a crown.

Rest of Logan Post

I realized I forgot to write what happened in the last month, plus I have stats.  So, the rest of the post.

Logan is still big.  34.5 inches tall (98%), 27.8 lbs (90%) and 48.5 cm head circumference (90%).  No dropping off the charts.  Otherwise, pretty normal.  The doctor thought we should go see the surgeon again since one of his abscesses is back, but we’ll see.

Fun Things This Month:

• General Conference – Logan liked the snacks but otherwise tried to wreck havoc.
• Every week, while the boys have swim lesson, Logan and I walk over to our local bakery and share a chocolate chip scone and then walk to the library.  It’s a nice little routine and I’m sad it’s ending.
• 2 Planetarium shows.  It was the 50th anniversary of the Planetarium and while we go thru their often on the way to the science center, but we’ve never seen a show.  The shows were all 50 cents, so we went Seth, logan and I to see a show during the week.  It was the Little Star that could.   Logan liked it okay, but got bored and antsy.  The second time we all went as a family and Logan was hollering as soon as sat down – he just wanted to nurse and I said no, so Katsu and he ended up wandering around downstairs and missed the whole show.
• We went out to eat as a family at Maggiano’s to celebrate getting a job.  It was fine.  Logan behaved well and didn’t throw too much food.
• Logan had the stomach flu for a whole week which was awful.  Enough said.
• We went to the Magic House as a family.  Logan loved it, of course.

Logan is 18 months old!

Good thing toddlers are so cute … Just kidding.  Logan is really cute and we are really in love with him.  He is happy and funny and a bit of a ham.  Mostly, he just loves doing anything and everything his brothers are doing.  I can’t believe the stunts he is trying.  He doesn’t want to just get out of his stroller – he wants to climb out sideways onto the stairs.  He doesn’t want me to place him in his carseat – he wants to go in through the back hatch and climb all around the car first.  And he is very … vocal … whenever something doesn’t go his way.  I feel like he has spent the better part of this week screaming.  But when he is happy, he’s happy.

Sleep has been torture this month.  Logan is teething his molars.  He is drooling like a faucet and nothing seems to alleviate the pain.  He is crying a lot at night and I feel bad for the neighbors.  Poor kid.  It seems painful – I can’t wait until they pop out.

Logan still doesn’t talk a ton and his pronounciation is basically just the first letter unless it’s a word he really cares about.  This morning, he woke up, looked a book, and then realized the big boys were awake, so he went over to their door, knocked on it and said – clear as a bell – Andrew.  But I don’t think I have ever heard anything like it before or since.

Logan probably says these words – Mom, Dad, Andrew, Seth, Joe, cat, ruff (dog), amen, chair, head, n (for nurse), hi, hey, hat, hot, car, train, truck, yeah, …

There is probably more that I am not thinking of.  His favorite words are car and truck.  He is obsessed with cars and trucks and loves to watch them.  He can spend quite a bit of time looking out the window.   They are doing construction at the park and so he loves to watch the trucks do their thing.  One day a steam roller truck was coming within a foot or two of the little fence around the park.  Logan just stood there transfixed watching.  And we went to the transportation day at the park yesterday and it was like the time of his life.

Logan seems to be left handed.  He definitely uses his left hand for most things.  He waves all the time.  Whenever he hears someone saying hi or bye or whenever he sees cute things.  It is pretty darn cute.  He also is getting pretty decent at using utensils – spearing things with forks and getting spoon food in his mouth and even using a cup some of the time without too many spills.

Logan has pretty much given up baby toys.  He likes building train tracks.  He likes playing with Trio blocks.  He likes playing with cars and with the race track.  He loves to look at books – basically anything with vehicles or with flaps.

I can’t believe how fast our baby has grown up!