Oh the Joys of Being the Mother of Boys

Hayden learned a new trick this week. He is now literally climbing the walls.

Here is a shot of his dismount

Safe landing!

Jake has found his new favorite thing-trying to splash all the water out of the tub.

(The water isn't dirty, that's just the shadows of the drops)

Putting an unframed canvas painting in a bathroom was a bad plan. I guess it looks more homemade with the water stains.

The Lovely Noises Toddlers Make

When did my baby turn into a pterodactyl? Listen to the noises he makes when he gets to the other side of the chair.

Dogsitting

We are watching my sister's dogs while she and her family are out of town this week. They are well behaved dogs, but we were concerned about how they would get along with Jake. Toddlers can be pretty hard on dogs. They all couldn't be happier though. Jake loves two more doggy mouths to feed and the dogs think goldfish crackers are awesome. So it worked out well. Jake took his blanket and thumb to try out the doggy bed.

Here is Hayden trying to make the dogs attack him (my sister's dogs are the two farthest from the camera).

Jake loves playing anything that Hayden is playing so he just sat on the bed and screamed at the dogs. I don't think Jake's smile could get any cheesier.

Here are the dogs. Rocky is in front and the little one is Tiki. My dog, Bandit, is in the back. He's just doing what he always does-watch the other dogs and try to figure out how to play. He's such an only child. He doesn't have too many skills on how to play with others.

They go home tomorrow and I know all of my boys will be sad. We have had a great time with them, except for the Rocky running away thing. Sorry about that guys. But he's back! We'd love to have them anytime.

Book, Thumb and Blanket

A good book, his favorite blanket and his thumb add up to a good time for Jake. We just put Hayden's old table and chairs in Jake's room and he is already taking advantage of it. My kids are just too cute......

Second Grade Update

It is the second day of the second week of second grade for Hayden today. So it's time for an update. I assume he likes it because when I ask how his day was he responds with, "Good." The parents had a meeting with the teacher last Friday to get an overview of the class. I thought I was going to last until at least fifth grade before I couldn't help Hayden with his homework anymore, but no, it hit this year. What is dot math? Open number lines? I have to learn math again. I didn't do so well the first time either so this should be great.

They have a class pet named Bugsy who gets to travel to one of our homes each weekend. I believe Bugsy is a guinea pig (I'm not familiar with rodents but I do know he's way too big to be a hamster). Hayden is very excited about this, but all I keep thinking about is keeping Jake from getting to him. I doubt that would end well.

We are having an adjustment period with the homework. Every teacher is different so we have to learn the new routine, but we're getting it. I'm looking forward to being the mom of a second grader all year long. I feel like a veteran now.

Walking Isn't Something I Do Well

First of all, I don't know why my first picture won't stop downloading sideways, but check out that wheel. Hayden and I decided it would be a good idea to walk to school today. First obstacle, the good stroller was in Daddy's car and he was all the way in Utah County. Second obstacle, we were running a bit late for the walk to school(takes about 20 minutes). Third obstacle, the sprinklers were on all around the walking paths so we had to go a slightly longer way. So why did we do it anyway? Good question. I sure don't have an answer for that one.

I was trying to move quickly and I stepped on those sad little stroller wheels a few times with my super stride. The wheel looked crazy and Hayden became concerned. Then we were almost to the doors when I fell on my face and lost control of the stroller. *sigh* Luckily, we were late so not very many people saw it, but I did drop my phone as I fell. Poor Jake was okay and Hayden ran inside (poor thing hates being late). On the way home, as I was in the crosswalk with the crossing guard, that wheel finally flew off.

So I stuck the wheel over the handle and kept going. I forgot about the sprinklers as I chose my path home. Check out Jake's wet hair. I'm lucky that Jake is a pretty sturdy kid and we made it home in one piece. So now I'm sweaty, with a scraped knee, a scratched phone and a broken stroller. Good Morning!!?!

Second Grade

Today is the first day of second grade for Hayden. The first day of school is hard for me every year. I worry that he won't have everything he needs, that he will hate his teacher, that he won't like where he's sitting. Hayden, on the other hand, was fine. He wasn't worried that he didn't know how to pronounce his teachers name, or that he didn't know for sure where his classroom was. Kindergarten and first grade were easier for me because they have that little introductory period before they jump right into school. You get to meet the teacher and have a little orientation first. By second grade they figure you've got it down so they just mail you a teachers name and the date for the first day and off you go. So I'm sitting in my quiet house (baby's nap time) worrying about him. It was kind of sad for me to watch him line up with his other classmates and walk into the school, following their new teacher. I watched until I couldn't see his backpack anymore and left with Brandon, holding Jake. I'm sure he'll love it and maybe by next week I'll love it too.