more from the party!

"No Mom, that's not frosting on my lip. Daddy wouldn't give me frosting. I don't know what you're talking about. That's not frosting on Daddy's finger either. And that's not a suspicious look on his face. Why you always accusin' us of stuff?"
Gotta love the big slobbery open-mouth kisses. They really are the best!!!! (But why did it taste like cake frosting? Eric? Do you know?) ;)

My crazy-haired boy LOVED Annamaria - not that I didn't think he would. . .but he's so funny around other people right now, but he totally loved her, and didn't freak out when she tried to hold him. They are forever friends!

party time!!!

A few weeks ago we celebrated our sweet pal Addie's 6th birthday at the park. Angie timed it for when Annamaria and the girly girls where visiting, so we had a full playgroup reunion, and it was so nice to be together for a few days!!! We ate BBQ, the kids ran around like crazies, the grownups got to catch up, and the weather cooperated better than we expected! Hooray!

the king cool dude of the party!
all our playgroup kiddos, except Baby Mason (who really isn't a baby anymore) and Baby Tanner (who IS still a baby, and don't you forget it!!!!!)

sweet miss Ava (who is of course not a baby anymore, nor is she even a toddler anymore! ACKK!!) She was super interested in Tanner, and she wanted to know about all the things he can do, and eat, and said "I used to do that when I was a baby too, right?" So sweet!

Mr. B and his pal, Alexander. The only two big boys of the group. Sometimes they just have to go play bad-guys or do boy stuff to get away from the girls and all their princess games!

More pictures coming tomorrow. . ..

cruisin'

This one is on his way to bein' a cruiser. he's been pulling up on the furniture for a month or two, but he is finally starting to figure out that if he moves his feet, he can get around. he's not doing it much yet, but we definitely see him starting!!!! (and yes, i know - it's allllll over after that! only a matter of time until he figures out he can move his feet NOT holding on to anything, and then i have a walker on my hands!)

This one is also becoming deadset on getting into Lego Jail. Lego Jail is the corner of our living room all tucked away with baby gates, which contains the coffee table (that we moved out of Tanner's way a while ago) and all of Bryce's Legos. It's Bryce's safe haven away from all things baby. And Tanner is NOT going to stand for it much longer.

This one is sleeping a bit better, at least for half the night. It's not unusual for him to now sleep until about 2:30-3:00am. Which is glorious. . .. but after that, he's up every half hour to every hour, and then up for the day between 5:45-6:15. But hopefully we're making progress.

This one also LOVES feeding himself. (But that's a picture and story for the next blog post.)

adventures in basketball, water, and space

Last Saturday we went to do some work at church, and Bryce played his own little version of basketball. All was well and good until I had to rescue the makeshift basketball from the hoop! He made two whole baskets though, (both of which got stuck) so he felt pretty proud!

Tanner was his faithful sideline coach, fan, and cheerleader.

The swimming lessons are continuing on, and we are slowly making progress. The boy who would NOT put his head under water, is suddenly a big fan of it. . .. after his last lesson, he just kept dunking his head over and over again just for the heck of it! Wahoooo!!!! But with each step, there's a new fear to conquer, so we are hoping today he will take another step and make a little progress. Today we are taking seashells to put on the pool steps, because the money, although motivating, is a little tough for him to pick up. We think seashells will be easier to grab. I am hoping they are going to work on some floating, kicking, paddling. . .some sort of MOVING along with the going-under-water part. He has three more lessons scheduled right now, but we may have to add a couple more.

And tomorrow he is signed up for a morning long camp day at The Little Gym. Each week they have a themed camp during the summer. Tomorrow Bryce will join in for Space Week! It's been almost a whole YEAR since he's been there for classes, which is hard to believe! He is really excited. . .I hope he won't fuss when it's time for me to leave him there!!! We're also hoping to sign Tanner up for class in the fall. (We were thinking it might be a WONDERFUL birthday gift, if anyone is interested!! ;)

swimming lessons. . .sort of.

Bryce had his first swimming lesson yesterday, (to continue . . or start over, from the progress he made last summer) but swimming is sort of an overstatement. Really, yesterday was a lesson in willingness to put one's head in the water (sort of a precursor to all things SWIMMING.) It was amusing and frustrating to watch Bryce shaking his head "no" at his swim coach . . .the poor guy was coming up with every game he could think of, to lure our sweet boy allllll the way in the water. He who LOVES the pool, and LOVES the water, does NOT want anyone telling him to put his head under water. (Although he told his swim coach repeatedly, that he has done some of those same things before.. .. with Daddy.)

We go back on Friday, and I am hoping that Bryce will get more comfortable with his teacher, Zach, and will be more willing to try some new things. I think we will try scattering some money on the lower steps . . .the kid is crazy about coins, so if he knows he gets to KEEP the coins, I am pretty sure he will put any body part necessary UNDER the water to get them!!!

the place to be!

The red wagon (which has now been in the middle of our kitchen for a week) is the place to be these days. We took the boys for a walk a week or so ago, and it landed in the kitchen when we returned. And there - it has stayed. Mainly because Tanner seems to REALLY love sitting there!!! We keep intending to go walking again, but the rain, hot weather, or late dinner keeps getting in the way. But that hasn't stopped the boys - they sit in the wagon every day - right in the middle of the kitchen :)

Tanner's 9 month checkup!

Mr. Tanner checked out just fine at the doctor's office this morning! Bryce was a WONDERFUL and sweet big brother, talking to Tanner and helping him feel better after being poked and prodded. He only had one shot, and a toe prick to check hemoglobin. He did great for both. He didn't even cry for the toe prick, and only cried for a minute after his shot.

Here's the stats:
weight - 23 lb, 6 oz (90th percentile)
length - 29 inches (75th percentile)

We're officially (well, I think) ditching the pacifier, and cracking down on the bedtime routine some more. According to the doctor, Tanner is "the man. He is a big dude, and he can sleep through the night." Sooooo, now we just have to convince TANNER that "he is the man, a big dude", and totally capable of sleeping through the night (and without his paci!) It made me giggle when Dr. Connolly called Tanner a big dude, because he came to see us in the hospital after Tanner was born, and called him a big dude way back then!!! :)

Speaking of THE MAN, he is waking up from his nap (an hour long nap - and without his paci! WOOHOOO!!!). . .. I better go rescue him!!
XOXO

water boys!

It seemed like our trip to Orlando was NEVER going to get here! We were SO looking forward to playing at the Gaylord Palms Resort, helping my mom with her booth at Scrapbook Expo, and probably most of all. . . .playing in the POOL!!!! You might remember us talking about THE POOL last year. (You can check out last year's post HERE) It has a giant slide, (Bryce had a love/hate relationship with it last year) and it's zero entry, so its PERFECT for our new little swimmer, Tanner. This year was a whole new ballgame. . . .Bryce LOVED the slide. He and Eric went down together, but believe it or not, by the end of it, Bryce was going down BY HIMSELF, and just barely holding on to Eric when he landed in the water. (The water is pretty shallow. Very kid friendly!) Bryce was even putting his head under the water and blowing bubbles, all things that it normally takes MAJOR persuading to do. (Hopefully he will still feel motivated in a few weeks when swimming lessons start!!!)

More pictures to come! (As always!)

Tomorrow Tanner has his 9 month old checkup. . .I'll be back to report on his stats tomorrow!

XOXO