Palmer's First Haircut

Thanks Nana for making Palmer's first haircut a success! 

Savoring Summer

Last Thursday, the car thermometer said 108 degrees, but we ventured out to make some family memories at the food trucks!  We really enjoy it and are trying to savor the last bits of summer.  As an added bonus, our favorite trucks were set to be there so we didn't want to miss it! 

 Thumbs up for his Yumbii taco! 

 Thumbs up from Raleigh too! He loves the Viet-Nomie truck! 

Palmer was content with his cheese quesadilla and fries! 

 Time to dance to the music! 

 Chalk Time! 

Say Cheese!

 Cookie Time! 

He ate every last bite! 

Once a teacher....

....always a teacher...or something like that.  

I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember.  "Playing school" was always my favorite activity growing up.  I was blessed to teach kindergarten before Beau came home and now I'm blessed to "play school" with him.  

Here's a little peak at a few things we've enjoyed recently 

 Drawing Rainbows...still not sure if he is a lefty or righty

 Name race tracks! 

 Showing me he got a little stick glue on his finger! Speaking of stick glue, he is very meticulous.  He will roll it down and put the lid on between every single piece he glues.  While I admire his attention to detail, I imagine I would be telling him to work a little faster if he was one of 25 in a kindergarten class.  Ha! 

 

He was able to independently recognize and sequence numbers 1-10.  He was not able to cut the pieces out, so we'll keep working on our cutting skills.  He says it hurts his hands, so I think we need to have some fun with clay and strengthen those cute little fingers.

 Beau's favorite book right now is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, so we enjoyed a name activity based on that.  Beau wrote his name independently.  I helped with the 4.

 Beau is really into rainbows right now, so we did some tissue paper art!  Once again, he is very careful with liquid glue.  If I tell him, "just a dot will do" he will use the tiniest dot you have every seen.  I usually have to tell him to add more!  I can only imagine that Palmer will be the exact opposite and will happily use half a bottle of glue on one art project!  Love seeing their different personalities!  

Color Collages!  Beau did the finding and sorting, but I did the cutting.  He was so pumped we found the Pirate Booty man in a red shirt!   

 

Not sure why this one loaded upside down, but Beau had a great time with this activity.  He has definitely not mastered 1-to-1 correspondence, but he had fun practicing with this number book! Do a Dot markers rock! 

Vroom! Vroom!

Beau at Four

I recently posted an update on Palmer, and I want to do the same for Beau!  He is at such a fun age and I don't want to forget all about his personality at this age!

4 Year Stats 

Weight (TBD)

Height (TBD)

Beau brings so much joy into our lives and home.  He is developing a sense of humor and sometimes we have no idea where he comes up with the stuff he says!  In the last couple of weeks, he has started saying, "booyah."  I honestly don't think Raleigh and I say that so I have no idea where he heard it.  He also likes to answer his own question.  For example, if he asks for something that he knows he may or may not be allowed to do, he will end the question by saying (in a high pitched voice) "sure" or "of course."  It's pretty funny.  So he might say, "Can I take teddy to the park? Of course?"  And he is hoping I will say of course. :) The other funny thing he has started saying is "BRB" as in, be right back.  I really don't think we say that, but apparently we do but I don't know where else he would have picked it up! 

He also uses the word "commercial" when he actually means "cartoon."  We do correct him, but it is pretty cute.  

His language has really taken off so it is fun to be able to have a conversation.  While he is technically still about a year (or a wee bit more) behind according to the charts, he has made tons of progress.  I would say that I can understand 90% of what he says.  He has some articulation errors that are persistent, but it is improving.  (ex. he says roop instead of room) (says kour instead of four) (kresh instead of fresh)  His syntax is improving as well, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.  (ex. He might say, "I have lot fun." instead of "I have a lot of fun.")

Beau adores Palmer and the feeling is mutual.  They definitely occasionally argue over toys, etc, but just typical brother stuff.  Beau loves watching Palmer's monitor when Palmer is sleeping and can't wait to run to his room when he wakes up.  

Beau loves singing and he likes when we listen to music during meal times.  I recently heard him walking around the house singing "my lighthouse, my lighthouse."  It took me a few minutes to put it together, but he was singing My Lighthouse by Rend Collective.  We've heard it on the radio a few times and I guess it stuck.  

One of his favorite activities right now is playing pretend drive through/restaurant.  He loves to ask for your order and pretend to cook it.  He always charges "eight nine" dollars.  Hilarious. 

He also loves to build with his duplo legos, color with his markers, and play outside! He and Palmer love pretending at the play kitchen and they can occupy themselves a long time with this activity.

His favorite shows are Thomas the Train, Daniel Tiger, and Paw Patrol.    

He still likes sticking pretty close to mom and dad, so during church he still sits with us.  He is happy to drop Palmer off at Sunday school, but has no interest in going himself.  Luckily, he is really good at sitting though a service without too much problem.  He loves the singing and enjoys looking through his Bible during the preaching.  I'd love for him to start going to Sunday school because I know he is like a little sponge right now, and he would have the opportunity to learn more about Jesus in age appropriate lessons.  When the time feels right, I think I'll try to go with him a few Sundays and see if he warms up to the teacher and classmates. 

Beau's hair and nails still grow so fast!  He really could use a hair cut twice a month.  For now he still doesn't love haircuts, so luckily my mom cuts his hair.  

Beau is a sensitive soul and I love his caring heart.  I hope Raleigh and I nurture this and help him channel it for good!  

I get asked pretty regularly, sometimes daily, where Beau is going to preschool.  This is a totally normal question since he is four and most of his peers are in pre-k this year.  For a wide variety of reasons, I am blessed to say that Beau is going to preschool at home this year. ;)  It just feels right.  Once you start the "school train" it is a long ride!  Raleigh and I are taking it one year at a time,  and for this year it just feels right to have him home.  Since I was a kindergarten teacher before becoming a mom, I feel pretty confident I can cover the academics.  He has already gotten in the routine of us doing "school" and absolutely loves it.  Who wouldn't love their mom's undivided attention?!?  For now we do "school" during Palmer's morning nap.  I know Palmer won't take two naps forever, so we'll just cross that scheduling issue when it happens.  Also, I know introducing a newborn into the mix in November will add a little extra complexity, but we are going to give it our best shot.  Everything for a season, right?! One step at a time. :) 

I am planning to start My Father's World after Labor Day.  I know I could pull together a pretty comprehensive pre-k program with all of my kindergarten materials, but the truth is that it will save me a lot of time to use a program that is already laid out.  I can still supplement as needed and make the program work for us.  It is pre-k after all, so most of all I want to develop a love of learning and help him discover his interests.  The phonics component of MFW is a bit slow, which may turn out to be just fine.  If not, I can beef that up a bit.  Beau knows all of his letters and sounds, but hasn't quite been able to make the developmental leap to put the sounds together to make words.  He does however love names, and so we are really spending some time on that right now.  Also, it is a good way to focus on other stills (such as tracing, cutting, stickers, following multi-step directions) while using an activity (names) that is motivating for him.  (ex. We've been doing a lot with letter stickers because he can't quite peel stickers off a page yet.  The letters make it motivating even though he is really working on fine motor skills.  Or matching lowercase letter clothespins to a piece of cardboard with the capital letters.  The clothespins are hard for him to manipulate, but the letters are engaging and something he can easily master.)  Beau can orally count to 30, but has not grasped onto one-to-one correspondence yet, so that's another area we can work on this year.  Like I said, one step at a time.  We have the freedom of flexibility since he is only four, and not legally required to be in school yet.  My main goal will be to make learning fun! 

Beau's favorite foods right now are chick-fil-a, any meat that Raleigh grills, grapes, deli ham, french fries, mac and cheese, pasta (which he calls noo noos...aka noodles), blueberries, scrambled eggs, and fried rice.  There are plenty more, but these come to mind quickly.  

Here is a funny food story...Beau now expects a happy meal after church every Sunday.  We've been going to the early service (9:30) and I try to give the boys a decent breakfast before we go.  But they are both "hungry" after church...so hungry they are on the verge of angry.  So once, we stopped at McDonald's for happy meals.  Well, it doesn't take long for Beau to form a habit and now he likes the routine of happy meals after church.  It could be worse, I guess.  Actually I remember as a little girl, we used to drive through Arby's after church.  Looking back, I'm sure I was starving (just like my boys are) and my parents just figured it was easier to drive through somewhere than risk a meltdown while trying to pull lunch together at home.

We love you so much Beau!  You add so much joy to our our lives!

Here are a few pictures and videos from today!

When you poop in the potty, you earn a trip to CFA at 9:00am! Proud of you Beau! 

Peek-a-Boo! 

He chose a milkshake and lemonade! 

 Thanks Aunt Angie for the new word puzzles! What a fun surprise! 

Working hard to trace his letters! 

Playing restaurant/store with Palmer!

Enjoying his new puzzles!

Palmer at 15 Months

Today was Palmer's 15 month check-up so I thought it would be fun to do a little update!  There are so many little details I want to remember and I know I'll forget if I don't record them!

15 Month Stats 

Weight: 21.2 pounds (21%)

Length: 30.88 inches (26%) 

Palmer is at such a fun and busy stage!  He is truly a toddler and loves to explore everything.  He loves to climb, but often climbs on something but has no idea how to get down. 

Another activity Palmer really enjoys right now is taking objects in and out of a container or bag.  He also loves to play outside and has no fear climbing up the stairs on the swing set.  He is a little bit naughty with crayons and will color on any surface.  This is just so funny to me because Beau would have never dared color on anything other than paper.  He's been allowed to independently use crayons and markers for a very long time.  I love how different their personalities are.  

We've been taking a lot of walks (when it's not too hot) and Palmer loves riding in the stroller.  

His favorite finger play game is Itsy Bitsy Spider and he tries to mimic the motions.  His favorite book is My Friends by Tara Gomi.   His favorite toy is anything that Beau has!  Little brother likes to copy everything that Beau does. 

Just this month, Palmer dropped his bottle and is only using his sippy cup.  We did a lot of traveling this summer, so we were in no hurry to totally get rid of the bottle until we were back and home and on somewhat of a normal routine.  He always wants sippy cup of milk immediately when he walked up, just like his big brother.  He also has started climbing onto the side of his high chair when he is hungry or he will find his snack cup and bring it to me.  Speaking of snack cups, the munchkin one is the best one we've found.  

In the last two weeks or so, Palmer has started using a plate and fork more consistently.  Prior to this, he would immediately dump the food off his plate or swipe the plate completely off the high chair.  I guess he is maturing a little.  He does have a bad habit of playing a game where he says "all done" and tries to hand you his plate.  But if you actually take the plate, he wants it back and isn't actually finished eating.  

As far as foods go, Palmer will pretty much eat anything.  I still cut his grapes in half or in fourths, although I'm not sure that this is totally necessary.  He loves pasta, peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, grilled barbecue chicken, beans, mac and cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, blueberries, pineapple, scrambled eggs, etc.

Palmer is quite expressive (aka loud) and Raleigh says we should really start working on inside voices.  His words at 15 months are uh oh, mil (milk),  all done, wawa (water), mama, dada, diaper (although it mostly sounds like dada) and dis (this).  

He is mostly wearing size 12-18 month shorts and 18-24 month tops.  Although some things he wears are straight 12 months and others are 24 months.  Since he wears a lot of hand me downs, the sizing is a little more all over the place.  

Palmer is still taking two naps a day, which I know won't last forever.  It is definitely a blessing for now because Beau and I use the morning nap time to do "school."  He usually naps at 9:00 and 1:00, or some variation of that.  Both boys go to bed at 7:00 and that schedule seems to be working well for us.  

Palmer's lovie is his sleep sack.  He still sleeps in his sleep sack for naps and bedtime and he loves carrying it around during the day.

Just for fun, here's a link to Beau's 15 month update!

Palmer, you are full of life and bring so much joy to our lives!  You are a blessing to us and we love you very much!  

Here are a few pictures from today! 

 brotherly love!