Xander, Roman, and I had so much fun at the park this morning (we have a great park close to our house that’s shady and has playground equipment that’s just their size). We enjoyed playing with a fuzzy yellow caterpillar and going down the slides.
Category: Roman
Wagon Ride…
After we dropped Jonas and Xander off at preschool, Roman and I spent some quality time together outside. We went for a walk around our neighborhood trail and listened to music, birds singing, and airplanes flying overhead. He rode in the wagon some and walked around quite a bit, gathering up some of his favorite things to stash inside the wagon (like rocks, sticks, leaves, and acorns). I am so thankful for one on one time with my precious little Roman.
Letter Sound Toy Wash…
While I was pulling together pictures for Jonas and Xander’s All About Me projects at school, I realized that it has been a while since I’ve been intentional about planning fun learning activities for the boys. (I think the energy for it comes and goes in waves and lately I’ve been a little overwhelmed with our new fall routine and with the idea of trying to differentiate for three different stages and styles of learning…bless all of you homeschooling moms and teachers of every kind.) All of that to say, I thought I’d try to baby step back into it with this Letter Sounds Toy Wash that I saw on Pinterest (I’m loving my Activities for Kids board…it’s such a great way to collect and store links to ideas).
I ended up setting it up with two sets of sidewalk squares with the letters B, C, and D to try to give the big boys separate spaces to work in (I figured I’d put Roman near Jonas since Jonas doesn’t mind his toddler-ness quite as much as Xander does). They each had their own soap pump, washcloth, and bucket of water. Jonas and Xander both had fun running inside to find toys for their squares that started with a certain letter sound. They both also enjoyed being big brothers by finding toys for Roman to wash too. It’s always interesting how these sorts of activities morph…haha…but we all still had fun.
Table Time…
I finally found a set of tracing and cutting books for Xander (he’s totally into both right now) and a beginning math book for Jonas (he’s all about numbers lately). They were both completely engaged with them this morning at the kitchen table…and even Roman stayed in his seat (he is a tireless climber) for stickers and dot markers which are two of his current favorites. Yay for table time!!!
Jonas’ First Soccer Game…
Jonas had his very first soccer game this morning. He looked like such a big guy out there, running down the field…kicking the ball. He even got back in the game after getting kicked in the knee, playing defense…it took him a little while to shore himself up but he did it. I told him later that I was so proud of him for showing such good character by getting back in the game…having perseverance. He said, “Is that Spanish?” I laughed and said, “No…it’s English for hanging in there even when things are tough.” Yay for Jonas! Yay for perseverance! And yay for the patience and the heart of little people sports team coaches!
Eighteen Months…
In his eighteenth month, Roman is: verbally ALL OVER IT, saying things like “too” and “turn” and “share” in regards to his brothers , “yay” and “happy” when he’s having a good time, “nd” when his sippy cup is “empty” and “lahloh” for “water”, “now” like Mommy does when he’s all set after getting his hands and face cleaned up after a meal or after a diaper change and “hands” when he wants to wash his hands, “but” for “belly button”, and “breat” for “break” and “peat” for “peach”; delving into two and three word combinations like “Wow, fish bath!” when he saw the fish in the aquarium at the zoo and “Hi, fly fly!” when he saw a butterfly in the garden and “Go, GoGo!” when he cheers Jonas on at soccer games, “up high” and “down low” which is one of his favorite games right now, and my personal favorites…”GoGo” for “JoJo” and “ZanZan” for “XanMan”; doing a lot of pretend play; going down the stairs; taking one afternoon nap; wearing us out with his incessant climbing; and enjoying table time with stickers, dot markers, and play-doh.
Mascots…
The boys were SO cute at Jonas’ soccer practice tonight. Xander had fun using cones as hats, and Roman enjoyed being Jonas’ soccer ball roadie. Jonas ran some tight defense which was great fun to watch…go, JoJo…or as Roman would say…go, GoGo!
School Picnic…
We went to the boys’ school picnic tonight. They had a big time coloring on the paper covered picnic tables, playing soccer with Daddy, and rolling down a grassy hill with Jonas’ fun friend Keatyn (who was in his class last year). (Note to self…Roman and picnic tables don’t mix….notice the tired look on my face in the picture with him sitting on my lap. I saw a mom who had brought a booster seat and strapped it to the picnic table…she said she worried it was too much, which is probably what stopped me from bringing one, but it ended up being a stroke of brilliance for a more peaceful dinner for her family…next time I’ll trust my mommy gut.)
Xander’s First Day of Preschool…
Today was Xander’s first day of preschool! He was so funny about it all morning…”Mommy, I don’t want to go to preschool” then “I go to preschool two days” then “Mommy, I don’t want to go to preschool” then “Do they have snacks there?”…up and down (so clearly illustrative of anyone’s heart, if they’re honest, stepping out into a new situation). He got a little nervous when we started walking down the hallway, so we asked him to help us drop Jonas off first. Because it was the first day, Mrs. Cathy let us come in and get him settled. We helped him find his cubby, put away his backpack and lunchbox, and find his favorite toy from Get Acquainted Day (magnets). He puckered up when we said our goodbyes, but we got an email a short time later from the preschool director saying that he was doing great and busy painting. Roman and I stopped by the park on the way home and had so much fun playing…just him and me. It reminded me of not too long ago when Xander and I went to that same park after we said goodbye to Jonas on his first day of preschool. Time is a funny thing. I’m starting to sense a little bit of that speeding up thing that people keep telling me about that I’ve always had such a hard time believing. Now that I’m beginning (key word…beginning) to emerge from the survival mode fog, I’m seeing some truth in it…pretty sobering yet inspiring stuff.
Jonas’ First Day Back to Preschool…
Jonas smooth-sailed through his first morning back to preschool. After hugs and kisses at his classroom door, Xander, Roman, and I met a small group of moms and kids from our moms’ group at the park for a play date.
Visiting with MeMe and PaPa…
We went out to MeMe and PaPa’s this morning for a visit. The boys picked tomatoes with MeMe in the garden, chased the cat, played play-doh with PaPa and Aunt Jean, joshed around with Aunts Julie and Jeanne and Cousins Jordan and Dylan, and ate a lion’s share of the super yummy lunch MeMe made. Here are a few pictures of our Sunday fun…
Grand Ole Opry…
We were all SO excited to get to go to the Grand Ole Opry tonight. We loved watching Pops and Maw rehearse backstage. We also enjoyed joining them on stage with Jonas, Xander, and Roman. (Maw likes to walk all of the grand babies out onto the Opry stage to introduce them to the folks…I’m sure she introduced all of her babies there too…what a tradition!) It’s always magical to watch Pops and Maw sing, and it was such a delight to my heart to get to share that moment not only with Tom but with Jonas, Xander, and Roman too.
First Soccer Practice…
Jonas had his first soccer practice tonight. It was so fun suiting him up in his shin guards and cleats with his little brothers circled around him.
When he went into the backyard to test everything out before dinner, Xander wanted to take a turn not with just kicking the ball but with wearing the shin guards and cleats as well. We just so happened to have some extras in the closet from our sweet next door neighbors who have three older boys…everything was a little big but it did the trick.
Jonas was WORN out after practice but seemed to have fun with all of the different drills (his favorite of which seemed to be chasing his coach while holding a neon plastic square with a hole in the center in front of his face).
Xander and Roman were just free styling…rolling in the grass, climbing on camp chairs, hanging upside down from the bench, trying to move the cones in the field, drinking Jonas’ water, pushing buttons on the coach’s calculator clipboard…I mean all over. We had fun though!
In the Train Yard…
We stopped off at the train yard this afternoon for a quick look at the trains…look at those four handsome boys!!!
Happy Birthday, Maw!
We met Pops and Maw and Aunt Julie at the Cracker Barrel to celebrate Maw’s birthday today.
I was really proud of Jonas this morning when he asked if she had a birthday cake and if she didn’t if we could make her one…just him thinking outside of himself was huge. So, we did…we made her some gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and sparkly sprinkles, and she loved them.
I love this picture of Maw and Aunt Julie, and this is one of my favorite pictures of Pops and Roman. Happy day.
(Plastic) Magnifying Glass Fun…
Doobeedoobeedoo Inspector Roman…
Mud Soup…
We were out in the front yard this morning, just tootling around…Jonas and Xander were playing with bubbles, and I had set up the water table for Roman. Pretty soon after, Roman found a big clump of mud on the driveway and squished his hands in it and then proceeded to smear it on both sides of his face and all over his chest. I’m talking Native American warrior here. He climbed up into the water table because he’s not much for just standing around, so I decided to just rinse him off a little bit with the water. Then, Jonas and Xander started grabbing dirt and mulch and leaves and flower blooms and dropping them all in the water table, complete with neon plastic frogs and snakes and lizards…a wooden spoon and a few plastic shovels later…and what do you have?!? Mud soup. Some days you just have to go with it, right?
Seventeen Months…
At seventeen months, Roman is: having a language explosion (he pretty much echoes everything we say); delving into two word combos like “more book”, “brown bear”, “Pooh bear”, “good girl”, “uh-oh off”, and “high five”; adding a few more words like “plate”, “spoon”, “airplane”, and “hold”; becoming a tiny bit neater of an eater; eating like a big boy with a plate and a fork and a spoon (he’s still in his high chair with his tray because he houdinis his way out of booster seats); revving up the toddler attitude with whining and fits (they’re pretty cute on him, although I know they won’t be for long); bouncing back and forth between one and two naps (he’s so super flexible and easy to put to sleep); and being our resident Houdini (he spins his way out of grocery carts and booster seats) and mover/shaker (he is ALL over the place…climbing on chairs and tables, pushing chairs around so he can check out what’s going on in the kitchen and flip light switches on and off…holy cow…I’m going to have to baby proof up to the ceiling with this one).
Zoo Buddies…
We went to the zoo this morning with our sweet friends, The Dos. We’ve been trying to squeeze in as much playtime with them as possible before they move to Memphis in a few short weeks. Xander and Claire were born just a few days apart, and Samantha and Roman were born just a few months apart. Here are a few pictures of the cuteness…
At the Park…
The boys and I were a little stir crazy this morning, so we loaded up and went to the park. They are just all over the place, and it was great to get outside on such a beautiful morning (I can already feel hints of the fall weather coming…yay!!!) and let them burn off some of that little boy energy.
