Playing outside

The afternoon was spent outside. It is good for all of us to get out an enjoy the nice weather, even if we are all paying it in allergies.

Daddy was taking most of the photos, so I make sure I got a photo of him.

Nothing more fun than playing with bottles and rocks

Adele just loves pushing her truck around.

Grandma Elaine & Grandpa Wayne sent new books home with Daddy, so I have been reading a LOT to my little booklovers today.

I love hugs. *smile*

I just love this action shot as well as the giant grin on Walt's face.

Quick snack for my big boys

She was so excited playing with the flowers. She was a crack-up!

Remembering the excellent

To show how much they've grown physically. These photos are almost exactly 2 years apart.

Today was NOT a good day. In fact, I'd say today was an epic fail on both a parenting and more general level. It started with the fact that I'm on day 5 of my own with the kids. Then Gordon was up for hours last night and I woke mentally and physically exhausted. Patience? I had none.

This is what happens when kids don't nap. Spontaneous pillow & blanket party on the floor. They actually did this themselves.

The kids were too overtired to nap. By shower and bed time, it was meltdown city. Including Mom. I'm not proud of the way I handled things today, but I know a lot of it was simply being overwhelmed and exhausted. And I've vowed to do better tomorrow.

So now that's been established, I'm getting to the *real* point of this post. I'm taking a few minutes to celebrate the good that happened today and the ways my kids have grown.

Walter - This little man is talking SO much. He has everyones names down pat and is always calling for his brother and sister to come play with him.  He's also very social. He doesn't like to play alone, ever, and if one of the kids is playing with something, Walt wants in on it immediately. He's a complete snuggler and if we're watching a show, he's the one pressed against my side on the couch.  He's so quick to laugh and loves playing games with his Daddy in person and on FaceTime. And he's so coordinated. He sometimes scares me with the things he does and attempts without a care to the consequences because he just has so much coordination.

Walter wearing Mommy's new hat

Gordon - This little man (Or My Buddy, as he prefers to be called) decided on Friday he didn't want to wear diapers anymore. So he's been in underwear ever since. We've had a number of accidents and he hasn't gotten the hang of knowing when he needs to go, but overall he's doing fantastic.  Gordon has also taken a big leap (pun intended) with regards to steps and stairs. About a month ago, he decided to jump off a tiny step in the garden and since then he's been getting more and more confident going up and down steps. Yesterday I was watching him and noticed he didn't even hesitate, he just went up, turned around and came right back down the front porch.  Verbally, Gordon blows me away.  He's starting to tell me things that he did earlier. He's starting to describe thoughts in his mind.  And he's very able to clearly articulate most of his requests. Don't even get me started on how cute he is when he *reads* one of his books.

My buddy, Gordon

Adele - My baby girl is turning into such a mother bear.  When I go to pick her up at the creche, she immediately introduces me to the new baby (Thea) and the gals tell me that Adele's been very enamored with the baby.  When I get upset or overwhelmed, Adele's the one who comes over "Mama, it's okay" then she gives me a hug, pat on the back, and a kiss. She's very concerned when people are doing things they aren't supposed to or are upsetting to her and we hear a lot of "Stop it, Mama. Stop it, Walter, Stop it, Gordon." She also loves knowing where her brothers are. She & Walt could be off playing a game together, but if Gordon stays in the other room too long, she comes looking for him "Gordon, where are you? Whatcha doing?"

I was watching the last 10 minutes of Cars 2 when I let the kids out of their room. Adele immediately went and got their Lightning McQueen toy. Some people may scowl at the obvious marketing. I was just so excited to see her making the association that what she saw on television was the same/related to her toy.

This moment is the one I want to remember from this day

This just made my heart smile

 

Showing off new skills

With Jeff being out of town, I decided to take a few videos to send him. I got such good ones I thought I'd better do a blog post!

It was fun to see Gordon reading this book and acting it out, too.


I brought the drinks outside, turned around, and Adele decided she needed to climb up the stairs to pass them out to the boys.


Adele showing off her alphabet and puzzle skills! This just blew me away. She'd take apart and put together the whole puzzle, usually only needing help with 2-3 pieces.

Tall kids

Jeff's out of town for business and just left this morning. Luckily the kids woke in great moods and were in great form all day. One day down!

For fun I measured them tonight. I wish I had a scale to weigh them, too. But right now Gordon is 38" tall and Walter and Adele are 37" tall.

Winding down after a shower

The games we play

The kids just went through a bad round of illness. Walter and Adele ended up with chest infections. In fact, Walter got worse 24 hours after starting antibiotics, so they sent him to pediatrics at the regional hospital for a chest xray. The xray was clear so they tried giving him the nebulizer breathing treatment. That broke up the congestion enough to hear the wheeze in his breathing. He got 2 more breathing treatments and was sent home with steroids and an inhaler. The next morning he woke up with a more productive cough and a runny nose.  Gordon had his fourth round of tonsillitis.  The doctor said all the illness is trending the right way, though, with each round getting further apart. I'll just be happy when they can stay well for a few more weeks.

Attitudes, independence, and stubbornness are all showing themselves in full force these days.  The second Gordon or Adele touch a toy, it becomes "Walter's" and drama ensues.  Adele gets so frustrated when something doesn't go her way, she lets out blood-curling screams.  Gordon wants everything just-so and really hates when we transition off one activity for another.

However, the kids are able to occupy themselves and each other a lot more.  There's lots of times where they play or invent little games together.  Often when they wake from naps or are playing outside, they are calling out for each other. They've gone back to napping most days, but when they do boycott, the laughter and giggles coming from the room *almost* make up for the fact they aren't sleeping.


Walter and Adele came up with this new way to swing.  Gordon hasn't quite got the hang of it yet, but he keeps trying.


We've had a number of face plants because of this new way to play trucks, but probably worth it.

Lined up to ready, set, go

Spinning round & round & round

Up and down we go

Crossing rickety bridges is tough work

Gordon likes to lay down in the basket swing

Big girl Adele

I was sun-blind, so I didn't even see these amazing smiles until I got home

Kids!

Walt's game was to crawl through the tunnel to me, then I'd lift him up in the air and swing him to the ground. We did this at least ten times in a row.

First Gordon and Adele were pushing this around together, but then Gordon decided to sit down and let Adele spin him around

Killaloe playground

We took the kids out to breakfast then over to the playground in Killaloe. They had a blast and ran around almost non-stop.

The kids ran to this climber and the slide, first thing.

The boys had a blast taking turns on the slide

Gordon loves to swing

Gordon didn't last long, but Walt had me push him in this basket swing for ten+ minutes

All three doing 'up down' as they call it.

Adele likes the big-kid swings

Little girl

Gordon and Adele had a long discussion about whether this was a chicken or a rooster. They decided at the end on chicken, I think. It was hilarious to overhear.

The G-man

Walt preferred the car