Overcoming Sickness

I'm beginning to think that getting back to normal after being sick is worse than actually being sick. When I'm talking about sick, I mean sick for days, not a random day bug or low fever. Jman caught the croup and ran 103 fever for three days and the cough is still going. He was not acting like himself until 7 days later. So when he's sick he can eat anything he wants because at least he's eating. He watched a LOT of TV because its the only thing that keeps him happy. And it's the only way I can get him to rest. Because even while sick he wants to run around. He played on the iPad a lot too. He was taking multiple naps a day and still crashing by 7. He even fell asleep on the couch. This has NEVER happened. 

So he was really sick. Thank goodness Reedster stayed healthy. I never want to see croup again. Even once the fever passed I thought we were better but he still felt awful. Couldn't do much without getting exhausted. So we spent 7 days, 7 long days watching TV and whatever to keep him happy and hope he would feel better. That's a long to be stuck at home. We were ready to be out and have some fun, breathe some fresh air, see people. You think the worst is over. 

And then you try to go back to normal. Back to limited TV, which is 2 shows a day, maybe a movie and usually no iPad.  Back to eating regular meals. Holy cow it's a nightmare. So many fits happen. So much whining and crying! I want to play iPad. No. I want to play iPad. NO. I WANT TO PLAY IPAD! NOOOO! I want to watch doggie show. No. I want to watch doggie show! No. I WANT TO WATCH DOGGIE SHOW! NO!!  You get the picture? This occurred for everything. Snacks, meals, TV, toys, prayers before meals. You name it. After a couple days I got tired of it, he was feeling fine and he was just doing it to be ugly. So it needed to end. And it finally did. 

He eats like he should. Doesn't ask for TV much and hasn't asked for iPad since Sunday. But there's one thing that he keeps refusing. A bed time story! He was so sick he literally was crashing every night and I didn't read to him. And now every night he refuses a book. I still read one last night and he cried the whole time. Who cries because of a bedtime story? I was determined to read it while he cried. Because no bedtime story? Breaks my heart. So I'm still fighting that battle. 

I have come to the conclusion having a sick kiddo really stinks. Recovering from sick kiddo. Nightmare!

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Three Months of Baby Joy

The Reedster is 3 months old today. It seems like yesterday I was counting the days to see his sweet face. Its amazing how wonderful babies are. Granted you probably will not find this post or my ramblings about my baby as sweet as I do.  Because honestly, only my own babies make me feel this way. I love being a mommy. I love being a mommy to boys! (So no, i'm not going to try for that girl now, that question irritates me)

 Reedster is so precious. He is so easy going. He is so cute. He is another perfect little boy. I walk in his room and he lights up with a big smile. He is beginning to recognize and respond to people. Which is nice, we're past the you're a weirdo look, ok maybe not always. He is grabbing for things. He has found his hands. He is chewing on those hands like crazy. Which probably means, teething. He can lift his head up. He loves to be snuggled. He laughs! Its the sweetest sound. His eyes get bluer and bluer each day. He absolutely LOVES Jman. I mean who doesn't. He's one awesome kid. Jman is around and he lights up, smiling and laughing. I love the bond already forming between them. He is growing faster than Jman did. Ahhh another tall boy on our hands. Life with two is fun and exhausting.

Here are a few favorite pictures from the month.

Love my brother

I don't always smile

Why must there be tummy time? why?

And the monthly photo shoot :)

Momma I fell over.

Of course I have a hat

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Colors of the Rainbow

Jman and I made some color bottles together. Ok I made bottles he worked on his fine motor skills and dropped the wrong color bead into every bottle. But that's ok, in our house Jman is allowed to help with anything and everything. So it was a chance to talk more about colors and I guided him to add beads to only one bottle while I sorted. Sometimes he would help put them in the right one. 

I took mini bottles and filled them with whatever of that color I had- beads, pompoms, pipe cleaners, blocks. The teacher stash went to good use! Filled them water and glued the top. 

These are just to have around to talk about colors. He likes to look at them and name the color. We already know most colors through our normal explorations. These are just something different to practice them. 

But then he did something on his own that impressed me. He found some paint chip cards I have and he started to match the card to the color. He would say "where's blue? Oh there it is."  He initiated it all on his own. Now it's a game we play everyday. Smart boy I have. 

In our home, the goal is to learn through play. He's learned most colors by just mentioning them as we do things, pointing them out, same with shapes. Whenever we explore or just playing we talk about what we see and describe it. Now he is counting on his own, counting objects and adding in his head. Just from playing. It's so important the practice of play. Children should be learning through play as long as they possibly can. So we are going to embrace this time for as long as we can and let the whole world be our classroom. 

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Superhero Camp

First off all you single parents, spouses who travel parents, or deployed spouse parents, you guys ROCK! I don't know how you do it all, all the time. Kevin was gone 6 days and I am running on no sleep, house is a mess, haven't cooked and laundry is everywhere. Kudos to you. You are my new hero!

Daddy was gone Sunday to Friday so we had Superhero Camp to entertain Jman. It was also survival camp for mommy. Basically we were trying to do different fun things to occupy us while daddy was gone. 

Sunday J helped daddy pack by stashing cars in his suitcase. You never know his conference was probably really boring and J wanted him to have something to do.

Jman started Sunday School! He walked right in ready to play. He's had a rough few weeks in the nursery since Reedster was born. He seemed to really enjoy it. I asked him what he did and he showed me his book and said "Thank You God". Pretty significant lesson that we all need to remember. 

That evening we made homemade popcorn (the best kind) and watched the classic Lion King! I've been trying to get him to watch if for months knowing he would love it, but he always refused it. Well he finally did and LOVED it. We put blankets and pillows down and watched in style. Reedster hung out as usual. 

Monday we went to a play date and had fun with our friends Aubrey, Ethan, Haley, Lily, Carson, and Raelynn! Lots of fun, so much fun he refused to nap. Boo!! Luckily it felt wonderful outside so we played from about 3-6 outside! Makes up for all the scorching, melting heat days we missed outside. Mommy made scented sand paint and we redecorated the deck. It was a mixture of flour, water, koolaid,and sand. Creating a textured washable paint that smelled yummy!

Reedster chilled inside laughing. 

We had some pool time and made a huge bubble pool. 

We then made our own homemade pizzas. 

Tuesday we went to CFA for breakfast and went birthday present shopping at Target. 

When we got home mommy made flubber.  Jman was NOT impressed and refused to touch it. Alright cross that off the sensory list. 

J was getting a little cranky probably because he didn't nap Monday so we made the cure all pillow pit. 

After naps we went to my parents to have dinner. Pappaw, Jman, Reedster, Indy, Scooter and me all had fun on the trampoline. Well we all sat while J jumped and bounced us. 

And then it happened. Something I've never experienced. The bee sting. After trying to keep my dog from eating the bee it landed on J and stung him. That was a cry I have never heard or want to hear again. Then it was an ordeal to all get off the trampoline including the silly dogs. I have never been stung and had no idea what to do. Of course 5 minutes later Jman was fine and running around like usual. We had a yummy dinner, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and macaroni. All homemade and my favorite made by my mom. Or maybe Dumplins is. It's a close second! 

Wednesday we had Reedster's check up. Big boy is 24 inches 13.5 lbs, bigger than Jman at 2 months! Couldn't believe it. She went on and on how impressed she is. She couldn't believe he already laughs! I told her we make happy babies. And she said the best compliment we could get "That shows you have a happy and calm home." That felt so nice. That's what I hope for a happy, loving home. 

He's so tall. 

Of course there were shots making it a rough evening and following day. But at least he had superhero band aids!

Jman napped on the long way home which meant he did not take a usual nap at home. Boo!

So we had an impromptu play date with Amy! Thanks friend for letting us play. 

Thursday we had another play date with Lily! Then we went to lunch with "cookie" I mean Grace! We bought her a pizookie the best dessert in the world, for her birthday. 

And guess what Jman did NOT nap again!! Ahh. So we watched Dumbo, such a sad movie. 

While he watched it I whipped up some cloud dough. I wish I had made more. Jman pretty much squealed when he saw it. So he had a blast playing with the dough and tractors. Reedster was pretty fussy so he chilled with us. 

I think he likes it!

Reedster had a rough night. 

Friday we had a play date at Pee Wee Bees, with the usual crew. :) 

Mommy had fun jumping with Jman. Sadly though I'm not as recovered from my surgery as I thought and really feeling it today. Daddy wasn't getting home until almost bedtime so we went back to pee wees after nap and closed the place down. 

Daddy came home and Jman said "Daddy that was a long day at work!" Such a clever little guy. 

I love my boys to the moon and back but I am wiped out! So superhero camp sometimes was fun and sometimes it made us cranky. We certainly missed our daddy and really appreciate him when he's here. Momma is off duty this weekend!

Babe the trash needs to be taken out and bottles washed. :)

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Play and Learn

Did you know you can try Gymboree Play  and Learn for free? Yep! I always get a "coupon" when I shop there for one free class. But you don't need a coupon they offer a free class no matter what. We took advantage of that today (yesterday) I don't what it is, I'm rocking a really cute superhero. I wanted something different to do this week and I've wanted to see what this program is. So we finally signed up for our a free class!

I've wanted to put Jman in something. Last spring we did a ten week music program with Treehouse Music Together.  At first I didn't know what I thought of it, but by the end Jman was really enjoying it and he still sings the songs. Usually without any prompting from me or with the CD playing he starts singing and doing the motions. So I would do the program again. He has been amazing with Reedster. Better than I could imagine, so we try to make sure to do things with just him or geared just for him. So I thought I would try Gymboree.

After trying the demo class, I was quite impressed. I wasn't sure what the program entailed. Was it just climbing fun? Nope its not. So I signed him up today!

Reasons I liked Gymboree

1. Each age level focuses on an age appropriate skill. J's age group is focusing on logical thinking, meaning they are relating things to the real world. The teacher in me was quite excited, because this is HUGE. Something a lot of kids have trouble with. I already constantly relate things to the real world in everything we do.

2. The teacher introduced the class for the day with a book! Hello teacher in me again, got excited. She read them a short book and the rest of the class was using the gym as a place to reenact the book with pretend play. Jman is suddenly very into pretend play at home, so this was great. He jumped right in and pretended the different equipment was things in the story.

3. Very age appropriate. She didn't have absurd expectations. They had free time to play. She read a book, then as she went to get the next supply, they could explore, they would do her activity and then have time to explore again. Everything was about a minute or two before she changed activities. This kept J interested and he didn't constantly run off to play. Which impressed me since this was all brand new to him. He listened to her, followed directions and had fun.

4. The staff was super nice. Welcome you in and immediately started to get to know you and your child. They were not pushy to sign us up but answered all my questions. The teacher was great with the kids. They talked to me while I stayed an extra 15 minutes to feed Reedster. They were really nice.

5. They offer open gym time 4 times a week to just come play on top of weekly class.

6. It was fun! Pictures say it all.
 

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