I do not know what happened, but somehow this photo got deleted by mistake. It's Gus keeping cool at the starting line of the putt putt course by slurping down a vanilla bean frappachino!
While in Lake Chelan we hit the putt-putt golf course. I really thought Reese would love this, but he really wasn't too interested.He spent quite a bit of time running in the sandtraps. That's Kyle's dad in the upper right. Granddad and Gigi went first. They were on the speed golfing plan so after these first couple of holes they were way ahead of us. There they are way off in the distance in this photo below with Reese running on the green. In the distance is the new "The Lake House at Chelan." We took the tour of the model. It's sort of a time share. They sell each unit in 4 blocks so you get 13 weeks a year. It is very fancy and we like it a lot, but I think once a year every other year is plenty for us. Also it's quite expensive. Reese did enjoy playing with the flag. He finally decided to try to putt...of course it's during Daddy's turn and he's off to the side of the green. Gus enjoyed himself even though he was stuck in the stroller and it was a million degrees. At one point Reese tossed his ball in the trash and announced he was all done! We were only about halfway. He found a gimpy bird to chase around the course. I don't know why this bird hopped around on one foot to escape for quite awhile--it flew just fine when it decided it had had enough of being chased.
The last hole Reese suddenly wanted to putt all of our balls in, so we don't have an accurate accounting of who won (it was Mommy).
Mimi, Uncle Travis, Uncle Dylan, Amy and Amanda brought up the rear. Then we packed it in before we all dies of heat stroke. I believe we hit the pool shortly after this.
In our backyard we had a inground heated pool. You wouldn't think a pool would need to be heated in a sweltering place, but it sure was nice! I love being able to get right in and be comfortable without having to go in incrementally being cold with each new inch of body in the water.
We found these cool chairs that have two waterguns built in! Tubing goes through the chair into the water providing and endless supply of ammunition!
Gus floated around in his floaty ring that has a mesh seat. He really enjoyed the pool. Reese got into it once too and then turned sideways to kick and paddle after me. That made him tip over. Luckily about 10 minutes prior I had reminded him to close his mouth and nose if he went underwater by mistake. We were able to get to him fast. He came up crying and screaming, but no choking or sputtering. He rebounded quickly and even jumped off the side into the pool again.
He especially liked using the water canon in water fights. He had his kick boards as shields whenever anyone else had a canon, but in this photo he has both. Here he is hiding behind a shield. If he started getting hit he'd have a fit he was getting sprayed, but he sure did like spraying everyone else!
Here's Gus cruising with all his pool toys collected around him. We used the pool every day, sometimes twice a day. It was definitely a huge positive point to have our own pool in our yard. Much nicer than sharing with strangers! The pool guy came twice to vacuum and deal with the chemicals, so all we did was skim it and adjust the temp.
Reese potty trained beginning the Saturday prior to vacation. This was a little worrisome to me. He wore a diaper in the car "just in case" on the way there, but he didn't end up needing it! He went before we left, then again at Mimi's, then at Burger King with Daddy. He perfected standing to pee while we were there too. Before vacation he was pooping with no problem, but while there I think he was holding it back. He only went Monday and Friday---in the grass. Both times we were playing in the pool when all of a sudden he got the "poop stance" on the deck. In our rush to get out and to the potty we whipped of his swimsuit and out fell the poop. Then he just finished on the lawn. It was pretty funny...and gross. Since home he woke up with poop in his diaper once (he is wearing a diaper to bed with instructions to get up and use the potty if he needs to, but the diaper is there in case he doesn't wake up. I don't think this has caused any confusion.) and once he went to the potty without telling anyone and went in his underwear---GROSS!!! I am hoping he'll get back into a normal habit and get it in the pot! He had only one pee accident on vacation. I found him on the potty with pee in the toilet, but also soaked into his underwear and shorts. I think that was being too engrossed in what he was doing to get there in time. But he got his pants off on his own and some of his pee in the pot with no assistance! I am really proud of his potty accomplishments! Waiting until he decided he wanted to do it was the way to go!!
Getting ready to go......We loaded up the Thule on Friday night and the back of Nitro. We took WAY too much stuff. Saturday morning we packed our toiletries after our showers and filled an enormous cooler...and a big tub trug with non-perishables. We actually took off about 10:30am. Kyle's parents and grandparents drove behind us...we hit starbucks on the way to my mom's. Granddad bought the boys cookies. At my mom's we cleaned up the cookie mess Gus made and then he threw up. of course I had extra pants but no short in the car so he went shirtless. We headed to the pet lodge to drop off Tara...let me just say the cat room is REVOLTING. There were a million other cats so it did not smell good. Anyway...finally on the road!!! We arrived in Lake Chelan, Washington about 5pm-ish. This is where we stayed. We unloaded and assigned rooms. 3 little rooms on the top floor (with a/c) went to Kyle's parents, my mom and step-dad and the Nix parents-the other family that went with us. The main floor had one bedroom (with a/c) that Kyle's grandparents took---they pulled the old age card so they could avoid the stairs! Downstairs was a room with a queen bed and a crib, so we took that and blew up a twin air mattress for Reese. We got the double high style...very comfy. The big downstairs room had 2 twins and 2 futons for my brothers, the Nix girls and Travis' girlfriend Amy. Note I did not say there was a/c.....UGH it was HOT. I am totally acclimated to Washington weather apparently because I was roasting!!! Thankfully we had an in-ground pool we used every day! Once we settled in we had our first dinner---burgers and dogs on the grill. We almost never do hot dogs at home but I must say a ball park beef frank on the grill is yummy! What did we actually do....come back for more tomorrow! I just wanted to let you know we made it and I am still living!
My friend, Tara, (who does not blog) that I have known since 2nd grade just had a baby in July. She decorated with a turtle theme in her nursery. I finally mailed off her baby quilt yesterday. Here is Reese posing with it...wearing his IronMan glove.
Here's a close up:
I sure hope he likes it! Baby Trent is a super cutie, so hopefully I'll get a photo of him with his quilt that I can post for you.
We are taking it slow and easy!! I think we've spread the letter B out over 2 1/2 weeks!! But Reese definitely is getting it! We were watching Word World today. They asked what makes the "buh" sound? They were looking for "the letter B" which he did not say but he shouted Buzz! Butterfly! so I think he got the point these are B words! Hooray! Somehow it doesn't really seem to be making his speech therapy words any easier, but he's at least chattering away now...I just can't decipher a lot of it. I intended to have Reese color the letter B first but when I asked if he wanted to color he responded by excitedly exclaiming "dot dot dot!" and making a frantic jabbing motion...so we started with the Do-A-Dot letter B and b instead. You can see them drying in the high chair in the background after he moved on to other art.
Reese colored in his B with several different shades of blue crayon. I had to cut it out before he finished because he was concentrating his coloring on the part that was to be cut away for some reason. The he glued on his B words. These are from the Letter B set I bought from Me & Marie Learning. (She's having Saturday sales, so go sign up for the newsletter.) B has lots of frequently used words for kid stuff, so I think he really got that these words all start with the same sound right away. With "A" I think he saw no rhyme or reason to the words I was giving him.
Reese loves the do-a-dot markers so we used these to make a coffee filter butterfly. I got this idea from a blog, but when I went back to look at how they did it I couldn't figure out where I had seen it?! Of course now I see it! I found it referenced here under butterfly crafts, but here are the actual instructions.
Reese practiced writing in the lines. We haven't really been practicing this, but the last time he did this months ago he did not even grasp the concept of what I was asking of him, so I was shocked that he totally got it and stayed in the lines this time!
Then he practiced cutting. These printables are from Me & Marie's Brown Bear, Brown Bear story unit. Reese really likes this story. It is the first book he's ever told me what is coming next. Finally the light bulb!!! Okay so maybe not exactly what's next...he is very excited about the blue horse and always chooses blue horse. But it's progress!
We had Bug shaped Eating Right pasta at lunch. Reese was really into the concept and both he and Gus ate it. Normally Reese won't touch colored pasta...he picks out the normal colored ones and leaves the rest. But flavor wise I wasn't too excited. We normally get Safeway Organics whole wheat pastas and I think the flavor is much better. But for the fun factor the bugs were great. I took a close up but I couldn't get focused correctly so you'll just have to trust me that the pasta looks like bugs. The brown lumps are cut up meatballs because Reese won't eat if there's no meat!
Reese used clothes pins (still finding it difficult to pinch open because he can't remember to hold it at the end) to choose which is the letter B or b. He gets it right every time, so really we are using this to work out the pincher muscles. (This is also from Me and Marie's Letter B pack).
He worked on the letter sort separating uppercase from lowercase. The only one he missed was a very scrolly font. So we worked on remembering to count the bumps to decide if it's upper or lower. I don't think he really will remember...he seemed a little confused about the idea.
Whenever the camera is out he wants to hold up his project and say "cheese!" You can see his little laptop in the background. He likes to sit between Mommy and Daddy on the couch to do his laptop. It is too cute. It has several setting, one of which is saying the letters and sounds they make and a sample word.
Since the sheep says "Baa" we made a cotton ball sheep. Reese loved the regular glue instead of the stick, probably because I never let him use this kind. The sheep picture is from the Me and Marie Brown Bear pack.
We made a foam Bumble Bee ever so slightly modified from Totally Tots. I ran out of wax paper so our wings were black construction paper. I am thinking they photograph a sample made by a much bigger kid or even an adult. Take a look at their letter crafts...super cute, but way more coordinated looking than ours!
After I cut this B out of the foam I realized this would be the perfect time to use those scissors from Stampin Up. I think it would be a little less ragged.
Reese very halfheartedly worked on a Letter B and b "puzzle"...not sure if he was not understanding it or just didn't like it.
We used play-doh mats to form the letter out of blue play doh. Reese thought this was very cool! We also made hand print butterlies. We used Crayola washable kid's paint. It is not really fingerpaint, but it washes super well and he loved it! (In the backgrorund you can see his potty chart...woo hoo...he's doing great!)
It is very hard for me to let him glue it all himself...I want it placed just so, but I held back and he did a pretty good job!
We hang all his completed projects on his bedroom door. When Daddy gets home from work Reese eagerly shows him everything he did. We also started a sticker reward sheet "Obey Right Away" to work on FIRST time listening and doing as he's told. I found this idea on a blog. The mom is a psychologist and was using this with her preschooler successfully...I have no idea who it was now. I didn't think to keep a link to the idea.
We also did the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree like we did here, but I never took a photo. Gus has discovered the magnet letters are tasty so I keep finding the A and B scattered around. I'm disappointed we never got to this you tube video for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. But we'll do it for C. I found it on this blog...go to photo #19 and read the blurb...she linked to me! It's kind of exciting...my first link. Maybe by the time we're through with this I'll have made up some of my own ideas to share.
These are the letter B books we read:
I am linking to Tot School, go check it out for other people's awesome ideas! So I'm also going to link to Preschool Corner, even though she probably has all the same readers!! When we go on vacation next week and there will be 4 grandparents and 2 great grandparents around I may actually have a chance to look through what EVERYONE is doing instead of only looking a couple of links.
Gus just discovered Tootsie Pops...he knew it was for eating but didn't get the wrapper off.
Daddy did take the wrapper off and let him eat some. Then he started crawling and dragging it on the floor. This makes for some sticky carpet and I was afraid he'd jab it into his throat, so I took away before he got to the tootsie part. I'm linking up to Sweet Shot Tuesday at My 3 Boybarians. There are lots of great shots you should take a look.
woo hoo! Last week before vacation!!! The last week has been hectic! Kyle ended up working both Saturday (8hr) and Sunday (12hr) for overtime. Not ideal for getting ready before vacation and my Mary Kay party on Wednesday...but excellent for the paycheck so we'll be able to do a little more stuff on vacation.
So this week we are eating:
stuffed peppers (and peas for the boys since they won't eat the pepper)
Reese has owned underwear for ages. He has even worn it a time or two. Last month I decided to start potty training. It was a retched fiasco. After he sat on the potty chair sobbing "no stickers! no stickers!" (you know, the enticing reward) I said forget it and we stopped. Everyday I've asked if he wanted to put on underwear and pee in the potty. He'd say "No! No underwear, diaper" So....whatever. Diapers are really so much easier. We can come and go as we please and not deal with public restrooms. If not for all the judgment...he is almost 3 1/2 after all...I'd probably not bother to press him and just let him say "Hey everyone else uses the potty I think I should too." Except he may be 8 before he could make that sentence.I should let you know we've been upping the ante on rewards. I bought all the Toy Story 3 matchbox cars and thought they could be a good incentive (wrong) and Kyle has been buying Marvel Super Squad figures left and right. I said the boy has way too much it's ridiculous! Let's save them. So Kyle put them in a row on top of the dvd case as a potty incentive. Last week Reese had a very painful, big "BM" that was stuck and he was screaming--not just crying--so I put him on the potty to see if that position helped it come out better. So I'm hugging him, he's crying and struggling, "it" is halfway out and he starts going on about "bad guy, blah blah blah, bad guy, bad guy." I assume he's talking about something he can hear on the tv. But no! The poop drops and he is like a shot off the toilet racing to point at his super squad toys asking for his prize! Ha ha! Since it was so painful for him I went ahead and let him pick...the bad guy, Abomination (you know, from Hulk). But then he says no to underwear. The next day he came and told me he had to poop, he was successful, I was so excited I gave him a toy...again refused the underwear. he made zero attempts to pee and the following days No toilet attempts (he got the guys he wanted apparently). So today I asked as usual "Do you want to wear underwear and pee on the potty?" Today Reese answered "Yes!" So we did, he didn't go, but he had no accidents, finally about 2 hours later he peed. I was very excited. I hung up an Elmo potty chart while he washed his hands and then he added a sticker. I said 3 stickers = prize. 10 minutes later he peed again! 15 minutes later he got the stool and elmo potty insert (goes on the normal toilet), pulled down his own pants and started grunting. I figured nothing would happen...I mean you can't really force pee and he went twice. The next thing I know he's all excited to tell me about his poop! So he got a toy. Then he went on to pee and poop the rest of the day!!! We shall see what tomorrow brings. Too bad he didn't do this yesterday...it could have been a "Finer Thing Friday." Woo Hoo! Apparently waiting until he was good and ready was the way to go! The no nagging, no constant asking do you have to go, no forcing him to chug extra fluid, laid back let him take the lead path to potty training really is a Finer Thing!
Gus finally had his 12 month well baby appointment today...our doctor's office rescheduled us TWICE. So he was really 12 months and 26 days. He weighed 18 pounds 8 ounces...2nd percentile. He is 30 inches long...45th percentile. So...a skinny minnie!!
He seems so porky to us, but compared to everyone else apparently he is not. He hit all the milestones he was supposed to. I can't locate Reese's 12 month data, but at 11 months he weighed 16 pounds 11 ounces. I don't know why I can't find his 12 month well baby info, but I have 11 month stats...seems weird. I know he was negative 3rd-5th percentile though. Gus is such a big boy (even if the medical world thinks he's skinny)! He is growing so fast, really standing well on his own, thinking about taking a step, crawling like a rocket to get whatever he's after, happy to rough house with his brother. He really likes to share toys with the cat. He likes to sit in Daddy's spot on the couch. He plays in his crib when he wakes up for a bit until he's ready to join us for the hub bub of the day. He loves the dish washer! He's starting to play with his own toys more (previously he just wanted whatever Reese played with.) He is such a sweet boy. He likes to snuggle and cuddle and be right in the mix of everything.
I know I already posted this photo, but I just found a new blog Life With My 3 Boybarians who hosts "Sweet Shot Tuesday." I really wanted to participate and show off my favorite shot of the week.Gus so excited at the new snack he discovered digging in the goldfish box.
Gus is all for stealing daddy's snacks. Kyle was having some goldfish crackers and Gus just helped himself. "Look at mom taking my picture!" "OOOO I'm getting some good stuff!" He's really working at it here. It is just so funny seeing his little arm all the way into the big container digging around for crackers. He's pretty satisfied with his treasure, so happy to eat big boy snacks.
On Friday Grandma took us up to Sequim to the Lavender Festival. It was overcast and chilly which turned out to be perfect. By the end of the day it got hot and sunny. I realized there was no way we could've made it nearly as long in a heat wave.Reese ran through the lavender He tried out the giant old John Deere. He smelled lots of lavender. He ran through more fields... and smelled more flowers. There were tons of vendors and lots to buy. We ended up getting fudge and a metalwork sun to hang on the house...I'll show you a photo of that when we get it hung up. The boys did really well. About 2:45 pm (he started at 9) after $8 worth of fudge and no nap Reese finally started getting crazy. He did settle back down, so overall he did great!
Kyle and I got married March 17, 2006 in Vegas. We had Reese 11 weeks early on February 16, 2007. This blog is all about our juicy scoop. Blog#2 RECIPES: With an eye towards organization I will post my recipes here to eliminate the recipe cards that inevitably stack up in a variety of locations around the kitchen.
He spent quite a bit of time running in the sandtraps. That's Kyle's dad in the upper right. Granddad and Gigi went first. They were on the speed golfing plan so after these first couple of holes they were way ahead of us. There they are way off in the distance in this photo below with Reese running on the green. In the distance is the new "The Lake House at Chelan." We took the tour of the model. It's sort of a time share. They sell each unit in 4 blocks so you get 13 weeks a year. It is very fancy and we like it a lot, but I think once a year every other year is plenty for us. Also it's quite expensive.
Reese did enjoy playing with the flag.
He finally decided to try to putt...of course it's during Daddy's turn and he's off to the side of the green.
Gus enjoyed himself even though he was stuck in the stroller and it was a million degrees.
At one point Reese tossed his ball in the trash and announced he was all done! We were only about halfway.
He found a gimpy bird to chase around the course. I don't know why this bird hopped around on one foot to escape for quite awhile--it flew just fine when it decided it had had enough of being chased.
Mimi, Uncle Travis, Uncle Dylan, Amy and Amanda brought up the rear. Then we packed it in before we all dies of heat stroke. I believe we hit the pool shortly after this.
We found these cool chairs that have two waterguns built in! Tubing goes through the chair into the water providing and endless supply of ammunition!
Gus floated around in his floaty ring that has a mesh seat. He really enjoyed the pool. Reese got into it once too and then turned sideways to kick and paddle after me. That made him tip over. Luckily about 10 minutes prior I had reminded him to close his mouth and nose if he went underwater by mistake. We were able to get to him fast. He came up crying and screaming, but no choking or sputtering. He rebounded quickly and even jumped off the side into the pool again.
He especially liked using the water canon in water fights. He had his kick boards as shields whenever anyone else had a canon, but in this photo he has both. 
Here he is hiding behind a shield. If he started getting hit he'd have a fit he was getting sprayed, but he sure did like spraying everyone else!
Here's Gus cruising with all his pool toys collected around him.
We loaded up the Thule on Friday night and the back of Nitro. We took WAY too much stuff. Saturday morning we packed our toiletries after our showers and filled an enormous cooler...and a big tub trug with non-perishables. We actually took off about 10:30am. Kyle's parents and grandparents drove behind us...we hit starbucks on the way to my mom's. Granddad bought the boys cookies. At my mom's we cleaned up the cookie mess Gus made and then he threw up. of course I had extra pants but no short in the car so he went shirtless. We headed to the pet lodge to drop off Tara...let me just say the cat room is REVOLTING. There were a million other cats so it did not smell good. Anyway...finally on the road!!! 
We arrived in Lake Chelan, Washington about 5pm-ish. This is where we stayed. We unloaded and assigned rooms. 3 little rooms on the top floor (with a/c) went to Kyle's parents, my mom and step-dad and the Nix parents-the other family that went with us. The main floor had one bedroom (with a/c) that Kyle's grandparents took---they pulled the old age card so they could avoid the stairs! Downstairs was a room with a queen bed and a crib, so we took that and blew up a twin air mattress for Reese. We got the double high style...very comfy. The big downstairs room had 2 twins and 2 futons for my brothers, the Nix girls and Travis' girlfriend Amy. Note I did not say there was a/c.....UGH it was HOT. I am totally acclimated to Washington weather apparently because I was roasting!!! Thankfully we had an in-ground pool we used every day!
Once we settled in we had our first dinner---burgers and dogs on the grill. We almost never do hot dogs at home but I must say a ball park beef frank on the grill is yummy!
Here's a close up:
I sure hope he likes it! Baby Trent is a super cutie, so hopefully I'll get a photo of him with his quilt that I can post for you.
Reese is 3 years 5 months (3y 2m corrected)
Reese colored in his B with several different shades of blue crayon. I had to cut it out before he finished because he was concentrating his coloring on the part that was to be cut away for some reason. The he glued on his B words. These are from the Letter B set I bought from Me & Marie Learning. (She's having Saturday sales, so go sign up for the newsletter.) B has lots of frequently used words for kid stuff, so I think he really got that these words all start with the same sound right away. With "A" I think he saw no rhyme or reason to the words I was giving him.
Reese loves the do-a-dot markers so we used these to make a coffee filter butterfly. I got this idea from a blog, but when I went back to look at how they did it I couldn't figure out where I had seen it?! Of course now I see it! I found it referenced here under butterfly crafts, but here are the actual instructions.
Reese practiced writing in the lines. We haven't really been practicing this, but the last time he did this months ago he did not even grasp the concept of what I was asking of him, so I was shocked that he totally got it and stayed in the lines this time!
Then he practiced cutting. These printables are from Me & Marie's Brown Bear, Brown Bear story unit. Reese really likes this story. It is the first book he's ever told me what is coming next. Finally the light bulb!!! Okay so maybe not exactly what's next...he is very excited about the blue horse and always chooses blue horse. But it's progress!
We had Bug shaped Eating Right pasta at lunch. Reese was really into the concept and both he and Gus ate it. Normally Reese won't touch colored pasta...he picks out the normal colored ones and leaves the rest. But flavor wise I wasn't too excited. We normally get Safeway Organics whole wheat pastas and I think the flavor is much better. But for the fun factor the bugs were great. I took a close up but I couldn't get focused correctly so you'll just have to trust me that the pasta looks like bugs. The brown lumps are cut up meatballs because Reese won't eat if there's no meat!
He worked on the letter sort separating uppercase from lowercase. The only one he missed was a very scrolly font. So we worked on remembering to count the bumps to decide if it's upper or lower. I don't think he really will remember...he seemed a little confused about the idea.
We also made hand print butterlies. We used Crayola washable kid's paint. It is not really fingerpaint, but it washes super well and he loved it! (In the backgrorund you can see his potty chart...woo hoo...he's doing great!)
It is very hard for me to let him glue it all himself...I want it placed just so, but I held back and he did a pretty good job!
woo hoo! Last week before vacation!!! The last week has been hectic! Kyle ended up working both Saturday (8hr) and Sunday (12hr) for overtime. Not ideal for getting ready before vacation and my Mary Kay party on Wednesday...but excellent for the paycheck so we'll be able to do a little more stuff on vacation.
I should let you know we've been upping the ante on rewards. I bought all the Toy Story 3 matchbox cars and thought they could be a good incentive (wrong) and Kyle has been buying Marvel Super Squad figures left and right. I said the boy has way too much it's ridiculous! Let's save them. So Kyle put them in a row on top of the dvd case as a potty incentive.
He seems so porky to us, but compared to everyone else apparently he is not. He hit all the milestones he was supposed to. I can't locate Reese's 12 month data, but at 11 months he weighed 16 pounds 11 ounces. I don't know why I can't find his 12 month well baby info, but I have 11 month stats...seems weird. I know he was negative 3rd-5th percentile though.
Gus is such a big boy (even if the medical world thinks he's skinny)! He is growing so fast, really standing well on his own, thinking about taking a step, crawling like a rocket to get whatever he's after, happy to rough house with his brother. He really likes to share toys with the cat. He likes to sit in Daddy's spot on the couch. He plays in his crib when he wakes up for a bit until he's ready to join us for the hub bub of the day. He loves the dish washer! He's starting to play with his own toys more (previously he just wanted whatever Reese played with.)
Gus so excited at the new snack he discovered digging in the goldfish box.
"Look at mom taking my picture!"
"OOOO I'm getting some good stuff!"
He's really working at it here. It is just so funny seeing his little arm all the way into the big container digging around for crackers.
He's pretty satisfied with his treasure, so happy to eat big boy snacks.
Reese ran through the lavender
He tried out the giant old John Deere.
He smelled lots of lavender.
He ran through more fields...
and smelled more flowers.
There were tons of vendors and lots to buy. We ended up getting fudge and a metalwork sun to hang on the house...I'll show you a photo of that when we get it hung up. The boys did really well. About 2:45 pm (he started at 9) after $8 worth of fudge and no nap Reese finally started getting crazy. He did settle back down, so overall he did great!
