the sweetest thing

First, if you use google ready, you’ve got to check out the “next” feature.  It’s awesome!

The second thing is a story about Connor.  Last night, I went to the back to school parent night at C’s school.  His teacher was telling us all about the reward system that she uses in her classroom.  The kids earn fake pennies, which they can then trade in for nickels, dimes, and quarters, and then they can “buy” different prizes.  There are all different price ranges for the prizes.  Ms. C. was telling us how excited the kids are about this, and they were asking about $1 prizes, $1.50 prizes, and $2 prizes.   Connor proceeds to inform Ms. C and the class that it will be hard to earn $2.00 because they would need 200 pennies for that and there are only 169 days of school.   I was cracking up when Ms. C was telling us this story, because although she did not mention the child’s name, I know it was Connor.   I asked him about it this morning, specifically how he knew there were 169 days of school.  He said he remembered it from kindergarten, but actually there should be about 180 this year if there are no hurricanes.  The kid remembers everything about numbers!

Of course, getting him to remember to use the bathroom or put his dirty clothes in the basket is a whole different story…I need to attach some sort of number system to his responsibilities and I bet he would never forget.

Our summer officially came to an end today. Good thing, since Connor has declared it the “100% worst summer ever” every single day over the past week. His reasons include a sore neck from sleeping funny, a broken tire swing at the park, a scraped foot from tripping on the patio, and having to go to time out quite frequently over the last few weeks. Ay yi yi. I just don’t know where he get his dramatic tendencies from…

(and anyone who knows me in real life is laughing right now, because lets just say that apple didn’t fall far from the tree.)

Suffice it to say, we were all more than ready to get back into our school routine. Connor was pretty nervous about the new year until we went to meet the teacher yesterday. Once he met his sweet teacher, sat at his desk, and took in the classroom, he was feeling “1000% ready for first grade.” (He likes numbers. A lot.)

What he doesn’t like so much is the obligatory first day of school photo.

I had Logan take one of my baby big boy and I.  I like that he still has his early morning, tired eyes.  He did great waking up early, but he definitely didn’t wake up on his own.

And then we were off.  He didn’t even want me to walk him inside, little Mr. Independent!  But he let me.  And he let me give him a hug and a kiss in his classroom.  I’m not sure how many more years I’ll get away with that!

We found his desk, which he loves because it’s a real desk this year, not just a table.  First grade is big time.

Then he was off and working hard.

And then came my favorite part of the day.  One of the best things about school is I get a chance to miss him while he’s gone.  And that makes when he gets off the bus one of my favorite moments of each and every day.  I love this picture so much!  My happy, sweet, first grader.  You can see all over his face that he had a great day.

Here’s to many more great days, just like today.

Do you see it?
Connor lost his first tooth today! It’s been loose for quite some time, but today a chicken nugget did it in. We were at the park with friends when it all went down. There were tears and fears-it was quite the dramatic event! In typical Connor fashion, he was totally freaked out by the whole thing (because it’s new and different). Inside, I was freaking out too. I had to pull it…it was hanging on by the tiniest thread and it had to come out. I was dreading that horrendous root-popping sound, but thankfully it was so loose that didn’t happen.

Of course, now he is so excited that he lost a tooth. He can’t wait to show his friends and teachers at school tomorrow, and to see what the Tooth Fairy leaves him.

Isn’t he looking so grown up with his buzzed hair and missing tooth?! I can’t believe it.

The content is all the same, but Derek was so sweet to change my blog to wordpress, mainly so I can make a cool book of my blog using blurb.  Of course, a new blog template means a new look.  It’s nothing fancy, but it’s just the beginning.

Tee ball update: we had Connor’s first tee ball practice on Saturday morning.  I ended up sticking with the competitive league.  After talking with several friends who have boys just a few years older, I decided that probably at this level there isn’t much difference in the two leagues in the area.  As they get older, there is a big difference, but for tee ball, it’s very similar.  I am happy to report that Connor loved his first tee ball practice!  I am surprised because it’s such a skill intensive sport…the kids spent a lot of time at different stations learning the technique and skills for batting, catching, throwing, and fielding, and not so much time actually being active.  But Connor really loved it.  After practice, I asked what his favorite part was, and he listed every single thing, even catching a simple throw, which at the time had almost driven him to tears of frustration.  I still think that 3 hours of practice is a lot for a 5 year old, and I will not hesitate to leave early if we need to.  And we’ll see how he does as the season goes on.  They don’t even have their first game until the end of March!  But I’m really relieved that he doesn’t want to quit after one practice, and that all the other kids on his team seem like very normal 5 year olds (i.e. none of them could really catch the ball!)

I have some cute new pictures of the boys, but I’m too lazy to get them off my camera for now.  Maybe tomorrow.

I’ve decided it’s time to move Connor out of his crib and into a bed. You may be wondering why I didn’t do this before Logan was born. I had several reasons.

1.) I really thought Logan would be less than 3 months old when we moved. I figured I would want Logan in our room until then so he wouldn’t need the crib.
2.) I didn’t want to buy a toddler bed for Connor. I wanted to go straight to a twin size bed, seeing as he is a freakishly large two year old.
3.) I like the confinement the crib provides. Even though he is freakishly large, he has never ever tried to climb out of the crib, so I didn’t see the need to move him.

However, I started to think that maybe I did want to move Connor to a bed. For one thing, it’s not that great having Logan in our room. As soon as he’s sleeping longer at night I want to move him in with Connor. I also decided that I don’t want Connor to think he’s being kicked out of the only bed he’s ever known just so Logan can have it. And, I decided that it might be a little too much change to move to a totally different place and take Connor’s bed away from him. Because of space issues, I decided that a toddler bed was the way to go.

Last week I was at Baby Depot trying make a return. While I was waiting in line, my eyes fell upon this fire truck bed . I didn’t seriously considering buying it because I knew it would be too expensive. But I did think about how much Connor would love that bed. He absolutely loves fire trucks, or “fire bire bucks” as he often calls them. I left Baby Depot and didn’t give the fire truck bed any more thought.

Last night I was bored and playing around on the internet. I decided to peruse Craig’s List. For anyone who doesn’t know what Craig’s List is, it’s basically a classifieds site. I frequently look at the baby and child stuff that is for sale just to see if there is anything I can’t live without. I used to check it out almost every day, but it has been several months since I last looked. My pulse started to race a little bit when I saw “Fire Truck Toddler Bed” listed. My heart skipped a beat when I opened the link and saw the exact fire truck bed I had just seen at Baby Depot, but for half the price! With my fingers crossed, I emailed the seller to see if it was still available. I received a phone call this afternoon from the seller letting me know that it was in fact available. The ad didn’t say where the bed was located; it just said that she would deliver the bed. Although she had lots of interested buyers, we were her first choice because the bed is in storage in Pasadena. So tomorrow afternoon, a fire truck bed is going to be delivered to us.

I just love when things work out like this. I think it’s pretty cool that I checked Craig’s list on the very same day the bed was listed. I think it’s even cooler that in a region as huge a Los Angeles the bed is located less than ten minutes away. Not to mention that we are getting the bed for 50% off. I can’t wait to see Connor’s face when the fire truck bed gets here. Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow!

Look how strong my neck is!

Our little munchkin.

It only took a little bribing with jellybeans to get Connor to hold Logan.

I just love this picture of Connor and Logan. Can’t you see the brotherly love pouring out?

We’ve been home for 3 days now and it is going really well for the most part. Connor hasn’t had too many meltdowns and seems to be adjusting pretty well. He even likes to help us out by getting diapers, throwing away the dirty ones, and pushing Logan in the swing. But his favorite way to help is to give Logan his “duck” a.k.a. his pacifier. Connor will walk up to Logan and say “Logan have yellow duck.” and try to put it in his mouth. Of course, most of the time Logan is sleeping and doesn’t want his paci, but it’s still really cute!

Logan is adjusting really well to life in the real world. He is such a good baby so far. He pretty much just eats, sleeps, and poops. He isn’t very fussy at all. I’m not sure if he’s just sleepy from being born or if he’s just going to be laid back. I’m certainly hoping for the latter!

It’s really amazing to me when I think about how much our family has changed in just a matter of days. We are so lucky and so blessed to have these boys.