Fire House Tour

Yesterday Jack, Kai, and I were lucky enough to experience a tour of our local fire house with our MOMS Club. Jack was not feeling super cheerful, but he did report later that he had fun. I certainly thought it was interesting!

Walking through and posing in front of the fire truck, looking thrilled.

Kai is a Rock Star

Kai has discovered something new he can do with his voice! Work that microphone, boy! Also, I think he's having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction...

School!

Finally, pictures from Alexander's first day of school on Wednesday.

Bye Bye, Summer!

Tomorrow Alexander starts kindergarten, so today is the last day of our summer vacation. We got through about 2/3 of our Summer Activity List. Since I've last blogged about it, we did #11 (write a letter), #32 (teach Jack to count to 10), #47 (send a care package to soldiers overseas), and #43 ("paint" the sidewalk with water). We've kept very busy, had a lot of fun, learned some new things, had new experiences, and connected to the community.

Since the beginning of the summer, I think Alexander has matured ever-so-slightly. He's over-the-moon about starting school tomorrow. He's learned to tie his own shoelaces, gotten new glasses, and probably grown an inch. He's got his new school shoes; his outfit is picked out; his backpacked is packed. He's visited his new classroom, met his teacher, and found his cubby and his chair. He knows one boy in his class from meeting at the playground several times, and he is excited to meet the other Alexander in his class. I believe he is ready for this new and exciting chapter in his life. I, on the other hand, am not ready in the least.

Jack has also grown this summer! He's putting together longer and more complex sentences every day and has started singing his own original songs for us just like his big brother. This summer he has learned to count to twelve and has finished learning all his shapes and colors (right down to distinguishing between dark and light). I am very excited to see how Jack will emerge as a true individual while Alexander is at school. I am looking forward to seeing him bond with friends, discover his own personal interests, and be a great big brother to Kai.

Kai's still our easy-going, happy little cutie. He's been giving me some trouble at night, but I forgive him since he's so pleasant otherwise. He loves to spend time in his exersaucer, have tummy time (yes, he is one of the few babies I have ever met that actually tolerates it quite well), and be read and sung to. He absolutely adores his brothers who enjoy "entertaining" him. He can roll over both ways and even scootch a little on his belly. Today I think he moved about 12 inches! I know this fall will be a time of great development for him!

While I am anxious (to say the least) about Alexander going off to kindergarten, I do feel that this will be an exciting fall, full of opportunities for all of us. I can't even imagine the growth, the development, the fun, and the excitement that this year will bring to our family.

Some Jack quotes

"When me have my house, I be boss my house long time."

"I a human name Jack."

"It is night time because morning time was last week."

Growing Up

Our "little" Alexander is growing up! Last week he lost his first tooth. We did the string/doorknob trick, which Alexander thought was really fabulous. He also thought the cash the tooth fairy left was fabulous! He's got another tooth that is pretty wiggly, and another two that are just starting to wiggle. He'll be a rich boy soon! He's planning to save up for roller skates.

This week Alexander made his second visit to the eye doctor and found that he does now need glasses, which thrilled him to no end. We'll see how long the excitement lasts, but for now he's over the moon. He also charmed the socks off everyone at the eye doctor's office and at Sterling Optical. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this little character of mine! He conducted most of the business interaction at the eyeglass store himself, from the time we walked in and he said, "Yes, I'm looking for a pair of green frames," (he ended up with dark blue), to the end where he gave the clerk his personal information. I felt like I was just his chauffer! I think the glasses really suit him, though, and Justin thinks they make him look (even more) like a mini-me.

If that wasn't enough, here's the big one: next week Alexander starts kindergarten.

As my dad quoted last week, "Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the days." Okay, so he's not getting married yet, but the way time is going, I think that will come before I'm quite ready for it, also.

Exersaucer Boys

I'm not going to make you guess, because I think it's pretty obvious. I just love to do line-ups like this. (They're in birth order.)

4 months old!

Kai turns 4 months old tomorrow, and today he had his 4 month well visit. He is now 19 pounds, 12 ounces (99th percentile) and 27 inches long (98th percentile). He is growing and developing perfectly.

This IS my day job

Last year I learned how to twist balloons. This year I am adding to my resume by learning to paint faces. Alexander is a great subject, stays very still, and (with persuasion) picks a nice variety of designs. Jack... not so much. They both love it, though, and so do I! I took my paints to a recent park playgroup and got a chance to practice on other people's kids, all of whom sat even more still than Alexander, probably just because I wasn't their own Mommy. It was nice to get a chance to paint some girls, too, although Alexander did allow me to give him a butterfly face one day. I didn't bring my camera to capture my work on the other kids, but here is just a sampling of some of the things I've done on my own kids.

ETA: This is soooo Alexander. He started out the day as a vampire, then decided he'd like to be a fairy instead. I love this kid.

There's a First Time for Everything

I have this thing in the corner of my bedroom. It's a sort of cage-looking wooden thing that I've been assembling, disassembling, moving, altering, assembling, disassembling, and moving around from room to room and house to house for the last five and a half years. From time to time I've thought to lay a baby or toddler in it, given that (despite it's cage-likeness), it seems like sort of a cozy place for one to sleep in. This has not pleased the babies and toddlers. Time and time again, they prefer the comfort of their mother's arms above all for sleeping, occasionally accepting a baby chair or Mommy's bed as a substitute, but only if they are tightly swaddled, at least until 6 months of age.

And then there's Kai...

He's recently started being able to sleep without being swaddled, and occasionally accepts being placed in the crib for a nap. I hear there are babies out there who sleep in these things regularly!