Summer Break: Week 3

We have had another fun week!! :) And this time... I am going to "show" you through pictures what we have been up to!  Zander loves playing in boxes.  I don't know why anyone buys toys for this kid.  When he sees we have a delivery.... he gets so excited!

We went to the zoo with two of Zander's favorite people... Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Boomer!  Zander loved the elephant and giraffe the best!  We went through the dinosaur exhibit and still to this day he will say "no dinosaurs".  He didn't want to go back through there and see all those big animals with HUGE teeth (he couldn't tell they weren't real). 

First time on the carousel... he had to do this TWICE! 

Trying Dipping Dots for the first time!  He couldn't understand the whole concept of using the spoon.... he preferred to grab the tasty dots with his tongue!

Such a big boy!  He loves spending time with his daddy (and matching him for the day!)

Zander didn't have a potty training accident all day (even though I brought 5 additional outfits just in case!)  We still have the occasional accident but I am so proud of the progress he has made!  I am hopeful he will be ready to start back to "school" in three short weeks!  After our eventful day, we loaded up the car and headed "back home" to visit with family and friends.  Zander slept most of the way there.

We ate breakfast with the Bakewells, and Grandpa Buzz helped Zander explore an old fire truck from Baton Rouge!

Then, we headed to the lake for the afternoon to spend time with some of our best friends!! Jacob and Zander are three weeks apart in age, and I think they are starting to figure out what this best friend thing is all about!  Liz and I are due four days apart with our second kids.  She is having a girl!  I am so excited to see what life looks like for both our families this time next year!

What more do you need?!  Food and friendship! ;)

We ate dinner with Grannie and GranDan before heading back home.  We had a very quick trip since Zack had to work on Sunday.

Zander loves Miss Ruby.... he asks about that cute puppy all the time!

Just hanging out around the house!

Got Burke a new bed... he loves it! :)

Outside "pool" and sprinkler time.... Zander asks about his pool daily!

I took Zander to see his first movie in the theater today.  We saw "How to Train Your Dragon 2" (even though we hadn't seen the first one).  We had a blast! The admission was $1 per person, and they had a snack pack (drink, popcorn and fruit snacks) for $4.25.  He made it through the whole movie (either sitting on my lap or in the seat beside me).  He would grab my arm and hold tight if there was a scary part (which basically was any time fire came from the dragon's mouth!)  We went to the bathroom a few times (to ensure no accidents) and he is still in the original outfit we left the house in this morning!  (Although... full disclaimer.... he did have a slight accident before we left the house..... kid is still working on his timing!)

Zander went with me to my monthly OB appointment this week.  He got to hear his brother's heartbeat for the first time (148 bpm).  He started to cry when hearing that noise (I will pretend they were tears of joy and anticipation for his brother's arrival!).  I still think hearing your child's heartbeat is one of the best sounds ever!  Equally exciting is being able to feel baby boy move around (which he is doing right now... must know I am talking about him).  His favorite time to be active is right before mommy's bedtime.  I will be 24 weeks on Sunday, and I believe we are starting the countdown/nesting in preparation of baby brother's arrival!  Zack moved the office into our guest room last night (making a guest room/ office combo) and picked up a crib we were given by one of my closest friends from work.  In the next few weeks, we hope to start working on moving furniture around so that Baby "Thunderbird" will have a proper place to stay on his first night home with us.  Stay tuned....

Summer Break: Week 2

I am having a blast with my little man, and he has been doing great in the potty training department!  We will go a few days without any accidents! However, there are definitely days where multiple accidents still occur.  We are still trying to figure it all out, and Zander is getting better at letting me know when he needs to go to the bathroom rather than me discovering it (after the fact!).  I tried to do a little "schoolwork" the other day.... Zander decided he had to line up his crayons in order before starting to color on the page (where does he get that from?!).  He is getting pretty good at recognizing a few colors (red, blue, green, orange, yellow, black and white--his favorite to say is YELLOW).... but he isn't quite consistent yet!  He can sometimes count to ten and sometimes he can't!  We are starting to learn the letters of the alphabet and words that start with each letter. We have a long way to go but the teacher in me can't help but take these moments we have together to do some academic work!  My favorite times of the day are when we can read a book together and he is starting to respond to questions I ask about the story..... it is so exciting to see what he has learned!

 Maybe a leftie?!

We celebrated the 4th with some friends (Sarah, Josh, Luke, Kelly and Chris--Bri and Seph were out of town).  We grilled out and checked out the fireworks.  Zander loved wearing his flag shirt all day!  He would point to it proudly.  As you can see from the family pictures, I am definitely growing by the day and as I type this we are quickly approaching 23 weeks with "Thunderbird".   

The various attempts at getting a family picture....Zander's "smile" cracks me up in the 2nd and 3rd pictures....

Zander was not crazy about the fireworks this year! He cried at first and after that he just wanted to be held (especially by Uncle Chris!)  He faced the opposite direction while the firework show was taking place.  Maybe next year?!

 Zander has enjoyed playing in his pool (even by helping fill it with water) and with his sprinkler.  We are enjoying staying cool on these hot days! Mommy even runs through the sprinkler some!

I took both cars to get inspected this week (since it is that time of year again!)  Zander did a great job both days entertaining himself with toys at the car place and by attempting to take "selfies" on mommy's phone.

Grammy and Grandpa Buzz came to visit and hang out for the day.  We enjoyed spending time with them and grabbing lunch with daddy and Aunt Lindsey.

Also this week, we have had playdates with several of my co-workers and their kids.  We played at the park for a couple hours one morning and the pool that afternoon.  We have also been back to music and movement at the library.  I am already looking forward to the next fun things we have planned....stay tuned!

Summer Break: Week 1

I love my job! One of the perks of my job is having six weeks off in the summertime with my little guy!  This kicks off the FIRST week of our mommy-son time together and our LAST summer of just the two of us!  Zander's little brother will be joining us next summer for all the fun!  The first day of my break I decided to start potty training Zander. I am happy to report that we are finding many successes with peeing (and pooping) in the potty.  I have a fun little song and dance I do whenever he is successful, and he has started to dance along with me after potty time.  To start out.... I loaded him up with Capri-suns (something he never drinks) and he had to go pee all day!! We went through 18 pairs of underwear the first day and I was just certain I had made a HUGE mistake.  But by the second day, we were down to five accidents (and the normal liquid intake).  Yesterday he didn't have an accident at all!  I keep taking him to the potty every 1 to 1.5 hours if we are at home and if we are out, we usually will stop at the potty at the beginning of the outing and before we leave to come home.  He still wears a diaper for naptime and bedtime (but I have been excited that he has had a few dry diapers after sleeping).  At first, I also bribed him with Ipad time to keep him sitting on the potty (see picture below).  Now, he is rather quick about doing his business.  The only tricky part still is making sure certain parts are pointed down in the toilet (if we are not at home) so mommy and Zander don't get a little "shower".  He is no longer using the little potty at home (but we will be keeping it in the car for any long road trips in the future!)  He likes to sit on the "big boy" potty with the little seat that fits on top (to ensure he doesn't fall in).   I am mainly documenting all this for round #2 since we will be doing this over again in a couple short years!  Enough about potty training (as I know it will be all-consuming for the next few weeks/months).... and more about our week!

Zack and I went to celebrate his aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday night.  I got to cuddle the newest family member, Lauren.  She is such a cutie!  My parents watched Zander (since we were in the middle of potty training) so we weren't distracted during the celebration.  They had fun hanging out in the backyard with Z... Grandpa Buzz is really helping him get his swing just right for the golf course. 

We have been able to get some extra cuddles this week.  We will play like crazy and take a couple short breaks on the couch to recover before we are on to the next adventure.

My roommate from college, Sam, came to visit with her two adorable kids!!  It was so much fun catching up and watching the three of them play together.  She took a couple pictures of her youngest, Penelope, holding Zander in his chair.  Zander just walked right over and sat on her lap! Too cute!

 Zander got his hair cut for the summer (see below)!

 We have played in our pool out back!

We picked some of the veggies from our garden... Zack has done an amazing job again this year with the vegetation!

Zander has helped me start organizing things so we can get the office ready to be turned into the nursery for baby #2.  He enjoyed putting on all my medals from previous races!

We hung out at the music and movement class at our public library.  He did so much better this year (more interactive) compared to last year.  I hope we can visit again soon!

Stay tuned to hear about week 2 and the rest of our summer adventures!....