New Pictures of Nathan

Phew. What a busy week/weekend we have had! It was full of appointments and activities for all the kiddos. Lots going on, here's the low-down.

Nathan went for his 4 month check up this week. He is 12lbs, 2oz. which is 5th% for his age, and 25th% for his age in height (I cant remember how long he was). The doctor said he has a really small palate (in the mouth) and will likely have a similiar issue with his teeth as Evan (buck). But, other than that he is doing wonderfully. Cant ask for better than wonderful:)

We spent alot of time at my parent's house this week/weekend because my Nana is staying with my mom for awhile. Its nice for the kids to be over in my parent's big backyard running around outdoors, something they cant do at our house!

Justin is wrapping up all his winter/Spring classes until next Fall. He has his last gymnastics class this weekend and his last piano class. Soon softball starts, which will keep us quite busy on the weekends with games and practices during the week. Evan is continuing with both soccer and gymnastics through the Spring/Summer though, since he isnt old enough for the town organized teams yet.

The boys are looking forward to Easter next weekend and an egg hunt at their Nana and Pa's house. And of course, a visit from the Easter bunny.

Justin Comparison

Justin at 4 months old.

Updates On The Boys

Justin lost another tooth! Thats a total of two teeth lost now! He actually pulled the second one out himself and was very proud of himself. The other adult tooth is right there in his mouth though.

Evan had his 4 year doctor appointment. He is 39 1/2 inches tall and 36 lbs. He got two vaccines but was quite brave and undramatic about the whole thing. Evan started soccer class last week and loves it.

Nathan is 4 months old! He is 12 1/2 lbs now. He has laughed a few times in the past week, I love the sound of baby laughs. He has been using his new exersaucer (borrowed from my friend Lauren in my mom's group - THANK YOU LAUREN). The boys love to play with him while he is in it because he is upright and at a nice level for them to interact with him. He has his 4 month appointment tomorrow - and his own vaccines to get. :(

Conversation with Justin

Justin: Mom*, my mind is like a movie theatre, I can close my eyes and watch anything I want.
Me: Thats called your imagination, isnt it cool? You can make up anything you want in your mind.
Justin: I think Ill just close my eyes and watch my imagination now, talk to you soon.

*Justin has stopped referring to G and I as mommy and daddy, and now calls us mom and dad. Im a little sad over this big boy change the past week. I was hoping it was a one-day change but it seems like it has stuck. SOB.

Conversations with Evan

Today I asked Evan: "What are you going to tell the doctor when she asks how old you are?"
He answered: "Five".
I tell him: "She is going to know you aren't telling the truth".
He says: "I want to be five".
I tell him: "You can say you are five minus one".
He thinks about it a minute and says, "Ill tell her Im six minus one".
Riiight....

Rub-a-dub-dub

Two boys in the tub. Evan and Nathan took their first bath together tonight! Evan LOVED having his brother to play with in the tub and help wash. Evan is such a wonderful big brother. He is so kind and gentle and loving. Im so glad he got the opportunity to be a big brother and share his love in such a wonderful way with Nathan. Justin is a sophisticated 6 year old who showers and doesnt "play" in the tub anymore, so it made the play time with Nathan in the tub even more special for Evan who is usually alone. Although after he saw how much fun Nathan and Evan had Justin asked to take a bath with them next time! Can you imagine three boys in one tub?!?

Letterboxing

Im always looking for ideas of ways to get us out of the house as a family and enjoy nature and do it all inexpensively. My girlfriend told me about Letterboxing a year or more ago, and with the pregnancy and summer trips, we never got around to trying it until now. Letterboxing is like going on a scavenger hunt to find a hidden box with a stamp in it. Its TONS of fun. We found two letter boxes and went on a really nice long hike in the woods.

CUTENESS

The shirt speaks for itself!

School Work

I can't say enough good things about Justin's kindergarten program that he is in this year. The quality of the teaching is just phenomenal. The work that Justin has been bringing home is just so advanced for Kindergarten. Time, subtraction, addition and reading. The other day he was doing WORD PROBLEMS! Justin has just been thriving in his class this year. Its more than we could have ever hoped for. Here are some of his recent papers - mommy bragging moment:)

Cuteness

Loving all of Nathan's cute facial expressions lately.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

The Leprechaun traps were made and set yesterday and the boys were rewarded with a little bag of candy each for their efforts! Here are some pictures of the boys creating their traps at my parent's house yesterday evening. So much fun! This is the first year Evan has set a trap of his own. This is Justin's third year, and each year the traps get more and more complex and creative.

Baby Talk

BUMBO

Starting out sitting upright and happy.

Still happy but leaning a bit. He's a bit concerned now, his head is getting heavy.
And his head one the battle against his neck...

The bumbo seat (not to be confused with the Bjorn carrier or the Boppy pillow), was one of our favorite baby gear items when Evan was little (I dont think they made it when Justin was a baby). We bathed Evan in it from age 4 months and up until nearly a year. Sat the seat right into the tub or sink and it made for a less slippery baby to handle and wash. Evan also sat in it to watch Justin play and hang out with me. It allowed him to be upright and off the back of his head (obviously that was important in his case before we got his helmet). I dug it out and sat Nathan in it today. He is almost ready for it. He can sit in it for 5 minutes or so before his little neck gets tired of supporting that big head of his (BIG brains!) and then he starts leaning forward or sideways. I think its good practice for him though, to strengthen up his muscles. Here are some cute pictures of him trying it out.

Play Time!

Nathan has starting batting at things and being more interactive as of late. Here are a couple cute pictures of him playing.

Happy 4th Birthday Evan!

Evan decided this year he wanted a pirate themed birthday celebration. My mom put her mad cake skills to work and came up with a pirate treasure cake for Evan, complete with candy pirate booty. Needless to say he was thrilled. There were ring pops, candy necklaces, jewels and gold nuggets inside the cake.

Evan cutting his cake after removal of all the candy.

Everyone dressed as a pirate.

Even Nathan got in on the action.

Mommy pirate.

Pa pirate.
Nana pirate.

Evan got a few special presents for his birthday.

The next day we went to the SEE Science Museum in Manchester NH with our long time friends Susan, Dan and their two boys Tyler and Brayden. The SEE Science museum has lots of fantastic hands on exhibits for the kids to explore. Justin had fun solving some of the brain teaser puzzles. He is so good at hands on puzzles.

They have a giant Lego exhibit there, to include a really large Statue of Liberty made solely out of Legos. Justin was VERY impressed!!!

They have a reproduction made out completely of Legos of downtown Manchester when it was a mill city. Its amazing.

And they have a giant table full of Legos to play with, which is where Justin spent ALOT of time, he loves Legos!

Then we went on to the Dinosaur exhibit, where the rest of the kids were very excited, but, Justin was really scared. Here he is hiding from the giant TRex which he said was "always looking at him".

Eventually I convinced him to face his fears of the moving dinosaurs, and he did, although, I dont know how much he enjoyed the whole experience.

Evan, Brayden and Tyler LOVED the dinosaurs.

After the museum, everyone came back to our house for pizza and to play for the afternoon. The boys had a big Bakugan battle - which was really cute!

What a wonderful weekend we had!!!