Flash Back Friday

Donna & I, 10-ish years ago

Dropping Off The Pup Pups

We are getting ready to head off on a 2 week vacation! I'm pretty excited to see my family in TN & to see Donna's family in NY! 

Donna has to put in some long days in order to leave work for 2 weeks, so I decided to go ahead & take Haddie, Eason & Murphee down to my dads a couple days early & get a little grandma & grandpa time in for the boys.

He who serves spaghetti, gives the bath ;)

The boys woke 2 hours early on Wednesday, so they got a little early morning outdoor playtime at Grandma & Grandpa's

Kellan in his element, DIRT!

I also visited with a couple friends & had an awesome play date at a new indoor playground in Orlando!

A fun & fast slide!

Caden branching out & trying new things, lol... Not so much

I'm pretty pitiful when it comes to leaving our pets though, I cried when telling them goodbye today & tried to explain that we would be back for them. PITIFUL! I know! 

Lord help me when the day comes that I have to leave the boys overnight!

Shaving Cream

A few days ago we had a little fun playing with shaving cream in the water table instead of water. 

It's a fun sensory activity we hadn't tried yet & the boys loved it! I hid some plastic lizards in the bottom & encouraged the boys to find them. They found a few but decided coating their bodies in shaving cream was more interesting.

Caden, Kellan & Garren

Garren & Kellan

Kellan of course! LOL...

Caden, Garren & Kellan

Garren

Caden

Kellan & Garren

Flash Back Friday

My little helmet heads :)

Just Say No...

...to eating chalk!!!

Garren thought that last bit of blue chalk looked tasty but he was quickly proven wrong!

Super Staaar...

Kellan was my grocery assistant this weekend. He grabbed my glasses off of my head as we left the house, wore them in the van & then all the way through the store. He is for sure my little super star!!!

Pool Fun

I finally decided to brave the pool on my own with the boys.

It's just too hot to be outside without being in the water so the park (tennis court) has been out of the question. The pool is obviously fenced & a small enough area that if (when) they decide to wander they are still within my sight.

The boys have their puddle jumpers so I don't worry too much about them falling in & sinking but I don't my eye off any of them for a second. They have mostly liked playing with the fountain shooting out of the edge of the pool & sitting on the steps splashing. Garren has been braving the open water & has started to swim on his own a bit. Caden & Kellan have ventured into the water on their own but Caden isn't super comfortable not being able to feel the bottom & Kellan gets frustrated when he get where he wants to go quick enough. They all love jumping in from the edge but only if I'm right there to catch them.

It's fun playing & watching them venture into the water on their own & its nice to be able to get out of the house for a little bit & not have to pack up & travel someplace.

NO MORE DROPS?!?!!!

Garren is officially done with his antibiotic eye drops, thank goodness!!!

He hated every second of having to have them & his eye finally seems better, it took longer than I had thought it would.

The boys now all have allergies/summer colds, something of the sort :( 

They are feverish & lethargic at times but mostly just whiny with sneezing, runny noses & coughs.

27 Months...

I quit doing monthly updates but figure every 3 months is good for now.

As I've already written about, Caden & Kellan will be starting speech therapy... Soon??? I'm just waiting for the therapist to call to schedule them. There was a question about their hearing & that it could have been affecting their speech but we that ruled out. It's basically just a result of being premature, if its the worst thing we have to deal with, we'll take it! 

Even though delayed the boys are really starting to talk more. I love that Garren can tell us what he wants to eat or do! Caden & Kellan are getting there... The other day while we were outside playing at the water table Caden handed me a bucket & said "need mo wawa" as he signed water. I was SO excited, it was the first time he said a number of words together aside from choo choo train. :) they are both starting to say things randomly, names of animals or objects, food they want & even juice or milk or water. I really think therapy will get them caught up quickly.

I did things kind of backwards & taught the boys colors, shapes & letters before animals & objects but they've learned lots of animals now & their sounds. Sometimes we even get an animal imitation like the elephant's trunk or a monkey scratching his sides as he makes the monkey sound, lol... My favorite though is when they sign the animal name too. They have learned some farm animals, pets & reptiles.

The boys have graduated from Baby Signing Time to Signing Time videos now, although Kellan still asks for Baby Signing Time by signing & singing "baby, baby, baby signing time" 

Cutest. Thing. Ever! 

So we do still watch those too but we've gotten a few of the Signing Time videos for them to help with the alphabet, colors & animals. Caden can not only identify pretty much every written letter, he can also identify most signed letters! I was pretty impressed with that :)

The boys have become pretty independent now, they really want to dress themselves, which they can't quite do yet. They absolutely refuse to let me spoon feed them or give them a bite anymore, even if its off my plate. So I'm stretching my patience & sitting back to watch them make a mess & finger paint with quite a few foods, primarily yogurt & oatmeal. They really want to walk everywhere we go now & protest quite a bit if they have to sit in a cart or the wagon but they do not listen well enough yet to be able to walk in stores or crowds. They've also been obsessed with brush their teeth & washing their hands themselves.

Their favorite place to be right now is "outside!" They love playing at their water table, blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, swimming, hiking, playing at the beach or in the dirt & at the playground. It's been pretty hot though the past month or so, so we mostly stick to water activities.

It is fun watching them turn into little people & I'm looking forward to their speech getting better & better!