Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Swim lessons!

Jameston has been a little timid in the pool the last few summers, and as his parents, we want him to know how to swim just in case! We have a neighborhood pool, and a friend of a friend was sweet enough to come out and give him give swim lessons. He's not a swimmer now by any means, but he now has some safety tips under his belt and a little more confidence in the water!
We loved Melinda and hope to have her as his instructor again next year!
She has four kiddos of her own, and Blake and Natalie became good buds (they are days apart in age :-)
We also were able to meet up at our mutual friend's house (they were ever-so-kind to open up their house and pool to us) for some of the lessons as well
She said Jameston was a great listener and quick learner!
We are hoping some of it sticks with him through the year. Of course he will need some refreshers next summer, but I am a little less of a worry-wort now with him in a pool!
Blake took two (very short, due to attention span) lessons from her as well. It went okay, although the pic below does not depitc that!

She said kids typically have the "hold your breath/nose" instinct until about age 2, so if you can get them familiar in the water before then, that is ideal. Good to know!


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Lake trip

We headed to Lake Grapevine with my dad and step-mom in July. They have a pontoon boat, so nothing crazy!
Crossing the dock!
We fed the ducks in the marina while waiting for them to pick us up
Holding Daddy's hand and saying "quack, quack!"

Blake wasn't sure about it at first...
Captain Jameston (with GG close behind)!
He loves his Pops!
Chillaxin'!
Blake finally livened up once we got in the water
And our oldest had a blast! Hoping we can go back again one last time before summer's end :-)



VBS

The boys and I were able to participate in VBS, Kingdom Rock, for the first time at our church in June. The kiddos are supposed to be 4, unless you are a teacher. And, since I was able to help teach for two days and because of awesome friends who took him on the other two days, Jameston was a first-time VBS-er!
 Jameston and his sweet friend, Emmie, singing the songs
 Our team of teachers! We had the second graders :-)
 Blake was in the nursery for the mornings while we were there
  Playing with his buddy, Hagen!
Hoping Jameston (and the rest of us) can participate again next year!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Guatemala 2013-Mission Post

Brett and I were blessed to be a part of our church's annual trip to Guatemala again this year. It was our fourth, and definitely not our last time. We love going for many reasons, and we hope to bring the boys with us some year!

Over four days of clinic, I probably saw 300 ears :-) It is the most exhausting but rewarding time!
This year I had the wonderful help of Teresa, who was in Guatemala for her first time. She was the best interpreter a girl could ask for! Seriously. Could not have done it without her!
Tested the young
and old.
 
Brett worked on the construction team and helped build a "house" for a large family (say 12-14 members). They cut, hauled

 dug
 hammered, etc. Brett loves stuff like this, because, as he says, you can see big changes happen quickly (something that doesn't happen much in his office job as a CPA :-)
 The line-up. ha!

 The whole gang (medical, children's ministry, and construction)
Already looking forward to our next trip to Guatemala!

Friday, August 2, 2013

Blake is 15 months old!


Our little water-boy turned 15-months-old on the 25th!
Height: 34.5 inches (>100%)
Weight:: 30.15 lbs. (>100%)

Um, he's still big! Now that he's walking, we are hoping he levels off a little :-) We have great arm muscles, that's for sure! He wears a size 6 shoe, size 24 months clothes, and size 5 diapers. Like I've told many, we may have a future linebacker in our house :-)


At this age, B is a great sleeper, usually sleeping 11-12 hours at night, and he is officially down to 1 nap a day rightafter lunch. At school he moved up to the toddler class, so he is actually napping on a napmat. Woah, I wasn't ready for that! Oh, and as a second child who was used to take morning naps in the car, he naps great in the car during long road trips. Phew!

So, as of Monday, he's a distance walker! He took his first steps on June 27th and has gradually built up to 10-15 steps before he topples over, and he's even changing directions now with ease. YAY!!
Oh, and he has just taken up the hobby of wanting to climb on EVERYTHING. Ah!

Here's a video of him walking, but you might want to turn it town, as we were at a LOUD bounce house when I recorded it :-)


Regarding food, his favorites are yogurt, toast, macaroni and cheese, Italian, beans, applesauce and crackers. He eats all veggies and fruits, but his favorites are nectarines, grapes, bananas, peas, avocado and carrots. He even likes melon, unlike some other guys in my house!


Blake successfully weaned at 13 months and has been down to sippies only ever since! He does take a paci for bed and when he is fussy (like right now, due to teething). Speaking of, he has 8 teeth in total (2 top molars) with the bottom two molars on their way (and a couple of laterals). This boy wants to feed himself and is very independent in that regards. So, he eats exclusively with silverware now; even though it's messy, it is fun to watch him :-)


Thanks to no ear infections since the Spring (Praise God!) his language has burgeoned! He has been saying a lot of babbling words, like mama, dada, yaya (for Jameston), uh-oh, bye-bye and some short, one-syllable words like dog, hi, ball, book, vroom (for cars), up, etc. Now, he is even saying some more complex words like doggie, baby, cracker, bubba, knock knock, and his attempts at "open" and  "bubbles" are oh so cute! He stills signs for "more" and "all done" when it comes to eating, and he is nodding "yes" a lot when we ask him questions. And he is just starting to learn body parts and knows where his eyes, nose, feet and hands are. My FAVORITE recent development is his saying "quack-quack" when we ask him what sound a duck makes. He also makes a quasi-fish face when we do. Hilarious!

Speaking of books, they are his newest and greatest obsession! No longer are the days of him just wanting to flip the pages. He can sit for a good bit and just look at them, and we actually finish several from cover to cover! 



He is a Dr. Seuss fan, as his go-to faves are "Go Dog Go," "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" and he loves this one about, what else, a duck! And he loves reading with his brother, that's for sure!


At this age, Blake:
  • Still loves to be outside! He's a boy, ain't he? :-)

  • Loves playing chase (just say "I'm gonna get you," and he smiles and darts the other way), patty cake, and peek-a-boo!

  • Cracks up for "This Little Piggy," I guess because he's ticklish on his toes

  • Has a favorite song: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and he wants to do the hand movements!

  • Favorite toys include tools, cars and balls!
  • Favorite non-toys: Daddy's glasses and laundry basket!
  • He, like big brother (and probably because of big brother) is obsessed with markers/crayons and he even stands and "draws" on the chalkboard and "colors" on coloring books for several minutes. Luckily, he puts the lids back on pretty well. 
Give a boy a trike, and...



I LOVE this age! So so fun to see his personality and interests really
coming out. Things I want to remember about Blake at 15-months are that
he:
  • Slaps his knee or stomps his foot when dancing, gives kisses/hugs, rests his head on any blanket or a rug when he's getting sleepy, loves his lovie/lamb blanket, cleans up toys well because of his love for nesting and stacking, and has the chunkiest/Pillsbury dough boy thighs. Ha! Oh, and he likes to tussle with Daddy and Jameston every night (it's their nightly routine). Love!

Just recently we had had to start timeouts because of Blake's desire to do something he's been told not to do...oh the joys of toddler-hood! He's been in time-out maybe three times, and stayed there two of those times.

The boys are the best brothers. They, most of the time, want the other around and get along well. I know there will be times, probably in the not-so-distant-future, where they will disagree, but we are enjoying this stage.



There's nothing like brotherly love witnessed between your own sons!

 


They are always up to some sort of shenanigans! One word he's learned from JW is "Ouwa."  And they like to be around each other even when they don't have to be :-) 
This past month, Blake got his first hair cut! He went from this messy mop-top


to a buzz-cut (and sporting a play-doh bracelet). Miss those curls :-( Hoping they come back!


Blake Everett is such a joy to be around! He is a laid-back dude who is always on the move! We love our Blake-a-roo!


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