4 Miles

Today (for the FIRST TIME) Will kept his underwear dry ALL day. This included a trip to the store (and I forgot to have him go there until right before we left). Hooray! (Yes, we have been potty training ALL summer, and this is the first time. We’ve been dealing with lots of dribbling accidents OR completely ignoring the fact that he is wet. So I was VERY proud of him today.)

Last night was Open House for Will’s Pre-School—he starts next Tuesday. It appears he really likes it. He was Quite Upset to leave (but he hadn’t had a nap yesterday so that was part of the reason for the tears.) He’s in a class of 12 kids with a large number of boys. The teacher has two boys herself. There are quite a number of cool toys in the room, they have two frogs for the class pets, and lots of fun things planned. It appears they will have a fun time. He starts next Tuesday–that was a hard concept to get across.  He's going to a preschool at a church, so he was talking of going to church today.  Between Sunday's church, Pre-school church, and the MOPS church it is going to get a big confusing.

Part of my lack of posting in the last few weeks is because I have been SO TIRED. Alex has hit a rough patch, as far as sleeping through the night goes. As in he just won’t. He has gone from getting up once a night back to every 2-3 hours. OR, last night he was up for 2 ½ hours straight, and then slept for 5 hours. We’re not sure which is better (probably the later, but those 2+ hours were tough). I won’t bore you with all the details, I’ll just say the kid has me puzzled. We’ve been dealing with the problems for about 2 weeks now. Is it teething? Well, I’ve been thinking he’s teething on/off for 3 months now, and we still have no teeth in sight. Is it a cold? Is it a growth spurt? Is it a bad habit? I have no idea. And it’s frustrating. Yet he’s such a happy, sweet boy with such a big smile! Really, I know we have been blessed.

This is not hard, it is not an IQ test, it will not take a long time, nor is it being done by me. But I found it interesting and wanted to give you the chance to join in. Would you like to take a survay?

 

Yesterday was Will's Third Birthday. We had some friends over to join us for a small get together. We had pizza, cake and play time. Will had a great time running around with our friends children-Ashely and Ryan. The adults had a good time talking as we watched Alex, Jack & Kevin play. They brought Will is favorite gift (so far): James (I linked to a picture of him, he's a Thomas type train, just so you don't confuse "James" with James) ANYWAY, Will & Ryan love to play trains together, so it was a very fitting gift (and Ryan knew JUST the train to get Will, for some reason James is their favorite right now.). We are going to have another family gathering with both sets of Grandparents over Labor Day. But it was real fun to celebrate with him when he actually knows what is happening. Although he still equates birthday with cake. He couldn't wait to eat that cake.

Happy Birthday The Tort!!!

Last week I got some new capries.  Will saw me in the morning and said “Mommy! You have new pants!” (Let’s not think about what that says about the state of my wardrobe—I was impressed he notice.  We also won’t comment on if Daddy noticed or not.  ) 

Today we were getting out of the car at the store. Will commented “Mommy, you didn’t curl your hair!” I asked him, “Do I look silly?”  He told me yes.  I have my own fashion consultant in the house. If you would like some consulations, I'm sure for a small fee he will be available. 

Last night James was putting things up in the attic and he pulled out a box of toys I had packed up for the move. These are toys that Will had out grown or never played with. Alex enjoys toys more then Will did at his age, so we pulled them out for him.  It was like Christmas morning in the house today.  Will was so excited to see all the new toys we had gotten for him. 

Today's paper had an article in it about how baby clothes are starting to express some grown-up views. Once example was a onsies that says "My mommy drinks because I cry." After this morning, I was wishing I had a onsie that said:

If my Mommy was a drinking woman, she'd be drinking because I emit ear-drum piercing, high decibel squeals every other minute in public, and my brother asks "Why?" ALL THE TIME.

But I don't think that would fit on one.

We had a great time at the State Fair last night!  It was a bit warmer then I expected—I’m glad we didn’t go when it was any warmer.  I felt we timed our trip very well. We left about 4, so we got there at about 5, before the fair seemed to fill up with the "after work crowd". We had some food right away and managed to avoid the crowds we dealt with the year before. It seems when ever you talk about a fair, people want to know what you eat, so I will share (and you can see how bad we blew our diet).  James had a Gyro, and I had a corn dog, and we shared some fries with Will.  Will had his favorite—PB & J and Alex dined on Peaches and Apples with Prunes.  We all were satisfied. 

Then we started out to see the animals.  (Ironically, most of the food stands are right by all the places that house the animals.)  We saw the World’s Largest Boar as well as a huge sow and her piglets. While Will & James were looking at other animals, I went over to get the "Signature Treat of the State Fair": Fried Strawberries covered in chocolate & whipped cream. (They had a big contest to decide the winner…I wanted to try it, but the final verdict is "Not worth the cost".)  We saw lots of cows in the cow barn (we were hunting for a co-worker of James’ who took the week off to help her family show cows…but we didn’t see her).  Will’s favorite thing was the tractors that pulled carts around the circular fair grounds. Each time Will saw one, he’s say “There’s a tractor!” (Never mind that we probably saw the same 8-10 ones over and over and over.) 

By the time we left the cow barn, Will wanted to see more tractors.  It cost 50 cents to ride one time around so Will and James got on one for a ride—Will was THRILLED. While he did that I got my State Fair Favorite, the Lamb Kabob. Alex and I sat in the shade and watched the “Daily Parade”. I ate my kabob and Alex ate grass. Or at least tried to.  Then James & Will got back from their ride and we walked over to the interactive exhibits. One of the buildings is done by FFA and has all kinds of great kids stuff Will had fun playing with. After that we had the required Funnel Cake & Lemon Shake-Up, and then it was time to head for home. 

We have had two BEAUTIFUL days, yesterday & today! Something that makes me love Indiana. Yes, we get summer heat, but then we have incrediable days to help "soften the blow". They have been two days with the bright, clear sky, no humidity, cool breeze–just wonderful! (The picture I took of Will below doesn't do the blue of the sky justice.) We celebrated yesterday by going to a park we haven't gone to all summer. (The two picture I included. Will had great fun going on the boardwalk over the pond, and seeing ducks & fish. Alex really did enjoy the swing–it just may not look like it!)  We celebrated today by going to the Doctor.  Actually, that was a scheduled "check up" for Will, in honor of almost being three. It was a wonderfully unevental time, and he checks out very normal. (Except for one thing. According to the information they gave us, he should be speaking "3-4 word sentences". I told James, and he said "That's all?!?"  We're not sure if he just speaks TONS of sentences at a time taht are short, or longer ones, but this kid is WAY above normal in that regards!) We did celebrate or enjoy the day by eating lunch outside, swinging on the swing, looking at a catipiller, watching a plane that kept circling around us, running, and going down the slide.  Tonight, we're going to visit the State Fair.  And blow our diet for the week(?) day.  Speaking of that, I know there are lots of things I wanted to tell you all, blog posts I have written in my head, and just not had the time to write on paper. (I think they were much better in my head. Sorry.) Here's a quick update:

• James got home just fine Sunday night.  Parents made it home, Doug is moved in, and James is still trying to recover.
• Alex is fully crawling now.  He can go across the living room (I guess that's not saying much, it's not THAT big), though he often likes to stop to take a break, grab a toy, or pick up some fuzz or speck he finds along the way.  The one thing that REALLY gets him moving? Rusty, Will's dog. The one toy I told Will he'd never have to share.  How does the kid know that already?!?
• Alex has "discovered" the cat. Our cat entering the room is met with loud sqeals of excitment. The cat is smart and usually runs away. (I say usually because she just got her hair pulled. But she was good and didn't hurt the baby! I know she'll stay away now, though!)
• Last week I only gained one pound. I say "only" because I ate poorly, and didn't work out (with having no one here to watch the kids in the morning, it was rather impossible).  This week we're eating right (except for tonight), and after two days of sleeping in, I'm back to working out.  James "twinged" his back, so he is waiting for that to heal to start back up.  I do know, while not working out, I started waking up feeling my jaw had been clenched in my sleep, my wrist was starting to hurt after working on the computer, and my back was starting to get sore.  And, seeing how quickly I gained a pound back made the point to me this plan is going to me more of a life-style change, not a 12 week diet.  But we considered last week an "off" week, and we're going to tack on another week of the plan itself.  For record keeping purposes.

Three things T loves:

1. Football,
2. Newspaper &
3. Sales (coupons)

The Tort finished eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and there was a newspaper on the table.  He began reading it and shouted:

"HEY MOMMY, THERE IS FOOTBALL ON SALE!!!"

(Like Momma, Like Son)