Back to the books

Here I am in front of my school. Ready to learn!

Growing up. Sniff. Sniff.

I will hold it up high, like this!

Hi new friends. Ms. Chamberlain and Ms. Boone pictured. Ms. Milem, not pictured

Four. More four.

Statistics for the four-year-old:

HEALTHY! Praise God, we didn't go to the doctor between July 2013 and July 2014. And he's in full-time preschool. Miracles, y'all.

Height: 44.25" (98th percentile)

Weight: 39.2 lb. (72nd percentile)

So, long and lean. And yes, he has outgrown almost all of his summer shoes. We're in about an 11.5 now.
 

Discovering the simple beauty of a McD's sundae.

 

His eating has gotten pickier and pickier. He loves chicken and rice. He prefers raw veggies over cooked, and will eat broccoli, carrots, peas and anything with marinara sauce. He will also eat Thai curry and Mai Fun noodles like a champ, but will not touch a hamburger. His favorite is probably pizza or spaghetti or "cheesy noodles" (fettuccine alfredo). Loves chick-fil-A nuggets and any form of ice cream and chocolate.


Bedtime is a struggle. Astonishingly, when the lights go out, he is "STARVING!!!!!" (in a dramatic fashion)

Matching pajamas (same size, even) with cousin Micah.

"Mommy, my tummy is squishy. I'm STARVING."

"Ok, do you want a banana or applesauce?"

"Not that food, Mommy. I need cheese crackers..."

And on and on we go. He likes to have company when he falls asleep. Usually in the form of Mommy. No matter what we try, he says he scared of being in his room by himself. Extra lights, stories, special teddy bears, checking in every few minutes...sigh. It's been a long year or so with that. We're tired.

Google made a SWEET GIF of his candle-blowing at the party! (photos by mommy)

He recently began doing somersaults. Just flips right over. And climbing EVERYTHING. His favorite climbing apparatuses are sofas and dressers.

Shepard and cousin Madeleine enjoying the Fourth of July

His favorite toys are anything that he can involve someone else in. We've discovered the joys of a watergun recently. He likes all of his cars a lot. He really likes to paint or color or cut paper. He likes to build walls with his Gigi at the Lego table. He likes to play store, fashion show, light show (dancing around with glow sticks and light-up shoes), build-a-castle/house, and catch.

Squirtgun + tub o' water = happy

Favorite shows right now are "Sammy 2" (Turtle Tale 2), "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and "The Reef/Reef 2."

Favorite books are "Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site," "Knuffle Bunny" (1 & 2), "The Foot Book," "The Lorax," and "Llama Llama, Red Pajama."

Climbing

A conversation we just had: We talk about putting all our questions for the day into a "question box" so our brain(s) can rest and go to sleep. This is his side of the conversation with my um-hums and return questions omitted.
"My question box is tight, Mommy...It's very full of questions. And it has lots of buttons...My 'whys' are fragile...when you say 'I don't know,' they break...my 'whys' are made of green glass...and they're fragile...there are lots of buttons on my question box, and they are automatic." 

Mommy shed a few tears thinking about the beauty of all of that. I get so worn out from answering the non-stop flow of questions. But they are so precious to him. We asked him recently why he asks so many questions. "Because I need to know things I don't know yet." Well, when you put it that way...

Love and hugs. I love to watch you grow and learn. ~Mommy & Daddy

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

Shepard has officially finished his first year of preschool. I didn't take a cute picture on the front steps with him holding a cute chalkboard. We were doing good to get all the stuff together for water day. On this day, Mommy has to remember to bring a full change of clothes, get him there in water clothes and shoes, with sunscreen on every inch of his wiggling body, bring a towel and wrap two gifts and write cards for the grad assistants/teachers. So, no picture. I did snap these with my phone on that day, so there's that.

Shepard and Landon play in the water table. Landon has alternately been his very best friend and "not his friend" since day one. But mostly his very best friend. Except sometimes Landon says "me first" and isn't very nice, so Shepard goes and plays with Libba.

That's Shepard in the middle and the playground as water day commenced.

Lately, here's what we've been discussing. Cousin Madeleine asked him in the car the other day what he wanted to be when he grew up. He answered "a mommy." At first, my heart leapt, as I thought, "That's actually kind of sweet. He wants to be like me..." Then my brain took over, as I realized that was not his thought process at all.
Me: "Shepard, is that because you want to be in charge."
In the rearview mirror, he just nodded his head yes. Madeleine and I explained to him that he could be a parent AND something else. So he picked "Daddy, because I'm a boy and boys are daddies." So I asked him why. "Because I want to be in charge," he said.
So, that's him in a nutshell. He did say the other day that he wanted to be a Daddy and a teacher, just like his Daddy and teach at Daddy's school and live in his same house, and I could live with him forever and be the Mommy. When I asked him if there was a special girl that he wanted to live with, he said me. So, I'm actually good with that for now.

Being three and stuff

So many fun things going on in life right now. Shepard is increasingly verbal about EVERYTHING. He sorts out life out loud, as most kids his age do.

"Mommy, you have a normal car. If you hit that car in front of you, it will break."

"When I get bigger, I can drive too."
(Yes, but you have to take a very hard test, drive around with a teacher, learn what all the signs mean...and if you try to drive without doing all that, you can go to jail.) This actually happened in the car yesterday. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's qualified to drive a big car now, so I have to do everything in my power to keep him a little fearful of trying it.

I turned off the lamp in his room for night-night.  "How rude. I like it a little bit light. How rude."
He wasn't trying to be sassy. Once we adjusted the light to his liking (what do I care...just go to BED!), he said, "Now, that's just the way I like it."

"Mommy, that's a concrete truck. It pours out...and you can't walk on it because it's sparkly."

So, you see. Sometimes things make the best sense in his head, but if you hang around him long enough, you start to see where he's coming from and the connections he makes. It's like peeking into his brain, because he processes everything through questions and dialogue. I love it. I've made a promise to myself and to Jerod to answer every question. Always. Even when I'd rather just pull out a Jen Hatmaker and say "I don't know. ASK JESUS!" (She's my favorite. That's her blog link back there, but for good fun and frivolity; I like to see what she posts day-to-day on facebook.)

We started a new preschool program this week. He left behind the best day care we could have asked for (he's been there since he was 9 weeks old!), and has moved on to a program that's more structured and very close to my work. As a matter of fact, they were having a picnic on the lawn today; and I got to see him for a few minutes unobserved.

Here are his first day of preschool photos:

No more baby here. Sigh.

 

 

 Oh, and remind me to tell you about the time he called me on his hand (by dialing it like a phone...).

Three. The Movie.

It's epic-lengthed. Seriously. Way too long, but time is moving along so quickly that I don't want to skip anything and forget it. So, if you have 15 minutes to watch the sweetest little guy on the planet, here's your chance.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHEPARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We celebrated Shepard's third birthday on Saturday with a few (ok, 40 or so) of our friends and family. It was also a bit of a housewarming, as we've not really done that yet either. It was great fun. And a lovely, breezy June day (how often does THAT happen?).

(remember to click on the pictures to see them all larger)

Thank you to everyone who came, for all the gifts (which we'll have to dole out a few at a time!) and for being our friends.

Daddy shows Shepard how to make the hammock work. (pre-party set-up pajamas)

 

Yearbook

I don't scrapbook. Who has time for that these days? I'd rather jump down on the floor and play blocks or chase Shepard down the street on his bike. I do my scrapbooks online these days...I just completed our 2-year-old book:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Grandparents, you're getting a copy. Meanwhile, everyone can enjoy this one online. Click on the link, as the widget doesn't seem to be "widgeting."

Lessons from the Potty

We are about 80% potty-trained. Well, I should say Daddy and Mommy are 100% trained, and Shepard is 80% trained. He does almost all of his #1s and a fair amount of his #2s in the correct place at the correct time.
He was his usual strong-willed self throughout the process, and I'm sooo thankful for his preschool teachers who had lots of patience and helped us immensely with tips and tricks...and changed a LOT of wet/poopy underwear. There has been a ton of laundry at our house as well. But, it seems that the message has gotten through. Mostly through. There has been lots of candy and some big prizes and an entire weekend of watching Elmo's potty video over and and over and over and over...

Especially this little rap about the toilet paper factory. I might be able to do this from memory now:




Catchy, huh?

Here are a few tips that I should share, since they were no where in any book, online article or Elmo video.

1. Y'all. CROCS. Or any variation thereof. Sooo handy to clean and dry when accidents happen. Plus, he can take them off and put them on by himself. Just rinse those things off or even run them through the washer...but they made the accident-zone a much better place.

2. Move an entire clean-up and supply system to the bathroom. This might be a no-brainer for some of you, but I was unprepared for messy clean-up the first few times. In the drawer right next to the potty, we have: gloves, wipes, pull-ups, clean underwear, arm & hammer odor-shield bags and disinfecting/cleaning wipes and some potty-time books to read. Stock it daily. There is a reason I didn't do cloth diapers. But, I can say that my poop-tolerance is fairly high now. No gagging or screaming or crying.

3. Make toilet paper a line-item on your budget. Bless him. He just can't pull off two squares. He has to pull 11 and then swirl them around in the water. We're working on it. Until then, cha-ching! Compounded more when your puppy finds the long, dangling end of the paper on the ground and completely unwinds the roll before you find him. Yes, puppy. I need to post about that, don't I? We just believe in potty training and manner-training lots of creatures at once.

4. Some basics that we did that you can find in other resources: start talking about it early. We got several fun books (this and this) at the 2-year-old mark. Boys apparently take longer and start later. His school encouraged us to use ONLY underwear (no pull-ups) during waking hours so he could get used to the feeling of wet. Make it fun, and don't dwell on accidents. We used stickers and candy as rewards and he got to go pick out a "poopy prize" after he pooped in the potty the first time. Let them watch you, particularly see the same-sex parent (if possible) go to the bathroom to allay any fears and to help them see everything in action. We had to wait on him a little to actually let me put ON the underwear, but it was helpful that we had been talking about it and practicing a little for about 8 months.

I'm still cute when I covered in poop.

5. Elmo video and book are great. Be sure to look through the book and practice the songs before you bust it out with your kid, though. YOU are the singer...it's basically a back-up track with words printed. Be ready to sing the songs A LOT while he/she sits on the potty.

5. One thing I read AFTER we had transitioned to underwear (so too late for me) was to place the child on the potty while they were making a poop, even if they were wearing a diaper. It just made the association of sitting up there while doing that. Of course, I'm pretty sure Shepard would have balked at that and jumped down...but it's worth trying.

6. There is hope. As with every stage of development that seems to take FOREVER, I just tell myself, "well, I can assume he won't still be wearing a diaper or (insert baby behavior here) when he goes to college..." Now, instead of sending home three or four sets of wet/yucky clothes at the end of the day, I'm usually getting NONE or one. And I'm getting a raise to the tune of $30/month that we spent on diapers. #Winning.

Next up: nighttime training. He woke up dry this morning and tinkled first thing. So, who knows? Also, I have put a little portable potty in his room so he doesn't have to go wandering down the hall in the middle of the night. Anybody have some pull-ups coupons? Or good ideas?

Movin' on up...

We are soooo excited to be moving to a new house this weekend. We'll have twice the space as before and lots of nooks and crannies and wide open spaces for little man to play in. Here are a few shots of him at the new house as we visited and did some painting, etc. before moving.

Helping pick out some matching flooring

A big front porch is great for running

Hey, does that cute boy live here?

"Helping" Gigi

Lunch break!

Climb the ladder!

I did it!

What's this?

Cousins hangin' out

Pets

In addition to celebrating our little man's big day, we had a sad thing going on as well. Barley came home after his vacation with some health issues. Some things that had been going on a while finally came to a head, and Jerod felt that he needed to take Barley up to the emergency vet on Saturday. The news wasn't good, and Barley was in bad shape. We made the excruciating decision to let Barley go.

"Bee-bar" was a sweet golden bear, a faithful companion, and our fur-baby. Between losing Tink a few years ago, my parents' dog Jazzy in January and Barley over the weekend, we're ailing in the doggie department. They're such a part of your life. 

Tinkerbell and Barley...back in the day.

Shepard loved Barley as well. Barley was sooo patient with him. I'll have to sort through old videos and find some where they're together.

We also lost our flame angel fish on Monday. His name was Chuck Norris. He was lovely as well. Sigh. Happy and sad times all together.

Happy Birthday TWO you!

Practice run on the birthday cupcake. Apparently, he's allergic to lavendar icing. (Seriously)

We celebrated little man's birthday on Saturday with our family...on the HOTTEST day of the year by far. I think it was 104 at one point with a "feels like" of about 109. Everyone was so gracious and game to take turns sitting outside and coming in to cool off. Thanks to all the family---grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who helped us celebrate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHEPARD!

Sophie is festive in Uniqua mask and party blower.

SCOOTER! Thanks neighbors!

Actual birthday cupcake. #1

Icing goatee. And sweaty little head.

Kids + Cupcakes = Winning

Micah and Aidan compare cupcake notes.

Backyard fun.

Tyrone and Uniqua have a chat.

Water and Uncle Matt make everything better.

Woo hoo! Sprinkler.

Micah shows off his basketball skills.