Ight Ere

Currently, Ben is very keen on telling you where to place items. When I bring his usual morning waffle over to the table for breakfast, he'll tell me to put it "ight ere" and point to the exact location he wants the plate placed. When he wants you to come sit beside him, he'll pat the spot next to him and say, "Ight ere, Mommy. Ight ere."

I guess he has realized that as a third child, he needs to be direct to get his voice heard!

Lost Tooth!

Well, we did not know that Hayes had a loose tooth, but H lost his first tooth last night. I think I'm still in shock, and I'm pretty sure he is too. We have not talked about him losing teeth or even started to check for loose teeth in his mouth. It just seems early. ** I've since talked to the dentist who said that they noted at his last appointment in February that his front two bottom teeth were loose.

How did it happen? Last night, Grandmommy and Granddaddy came by to take the kids out for a pizza dinner. (Thomas is traveling all week and I was grateful for the break!) It has been reported that Hayes bit into a hard piece of pizza crust. A second or two later, he blurted out to the table, "I think I lost a tooth!" He said he almost swallowed it, but luckily caught it before it went down. On the way home from the restaurant, Hayes lost track of it for a brief period because it was so tiny. We decided to help the tooth fairy out by placing it in a Ziploc bag so that she could easily find it under his pillow.

Before falling asleep, E and H made a plan that when the first one woke up this morning, he/she would wake the other before they checked under Hayes's pillow together. This morning, E woke up first and immediately went into Hayes's room to get him up. Under his pillow, they found $5, which is a little high, but the fairy must have felt generous since it was a first tooth.

What is Scary to an Almost Two-Year-Old?

Last night while reading to Ben, we came to a page in the book with a picture of a skeleton. Ben said to me, "Dat, Mommy? Dat?" He wanted to know what it was, and I told him that it was a skeleton. His response? "Scary, Mommy! Scary, Mommy!" and he quickly pulled my body closer to his for comfort.

Isn't it interesting how quickly the little ones pick up on what is frightening. Maybe it is from looking at all of his brother's Scooby Doo books?!

Introducing Bon Jovi at an Early Age

Can you guess what Hayes is doing? This weekend, I loaned him Bon Jovi's new CD, and H raced to his room to listen to it. A few minutes later, he came back downstairs and gave the CD back to me, telling me that he did not want it because it did not have "Livin' on a Prayer" or "You Give Love a Bad Name" on it. (It turns out that he sat in his room and kept fast forwarding the CD until he either heard one of these two songs or the CD ended. Unfortunately for him, the CD ended first.)

I then told him that his dad had Bon Jovi's Greatest Hits somewhere in the house and so the search began. Thomas eventually found it, and Hayes has spent most of the time since in his room, on his bed, with his CD player blaring Bon Jovi.He screams at the top of his lungs:
"Shot through the heart and you're to blame
Darlin' you give love a bad name!"

He makes his daddy proud!

Preschool Days

One of the Preschool's traditions is for each class above the age of two to have a musical performance called "Preschool Days" near the end of the school year. It is such a big deal that the teachers share the date of the program with the parents at the beginning of the school year in September with the hopes that at least one parent attends the show in the spring.

Today was Hayes's Preschool Days. He was lucky in that he had both parents AND his local grandparents in attendance. I think he was pretty excited to have an audience! He and his classmates sang a few songs such as, "Georgia on My Mind," "Backward Bill," "She'll be Driving to Atlanta When She Comes," "Oh, What a Miracle!" and "It's Fun to be 4."Once they were done with the singing, the children moved on to show us their dance moves. They danced first to the Russian dance in the Nutcracker, then to some jazz music, and on to some country before they finished with some rock-n-roll.

Once they finished dancing as a class, each child ventured out into the audience and picked someone to dance with them. Who did Hayes pick? Granddaddy! The two of them danced to some rock-n-roll briefly before Hayes nearly wore Granddaddy out! I could not get a good picture of them because Granddaddy and Hayes kept moving all over the dance floor.

Hayes reports that "Backward Bill" was his favorite song, that he wasn't nervous and that he had a good time singing and dancing. We had a good time, too, being entertained by Hayes and his class.

Rockin' with Ben

As the third child, Ben spends quite a bit of time in the car with Mom. We listen to A LOT of music. With older siblings who are very interested in popular music, Ben has picked up on the songs his siblings like. What does he do to show that he is into the music? He pumps his right arm to the beat, as if he's rocking with the band. He'll do it when he hears the "Black Peas," "Gaga," or really any song that he sees his mom bopping to. Last week, we were into Bon Jovi since Dad and I went to the concert here in town. Ben pumped his arm with gusto to some of Bon Jovi's greatest hits. When I see his arm go up with the music, I say to him, "Go Ben, Go Ben," and he gives me a big grin. If he is holding Doggie, he'll bob Doggie up and down and say to me, "Go Doggie!" just to make sure I've noticed Doggie's dancing. It brings a smile to my face each and every time!

Lemonade Stand

Thank heavens for neighbors who think like we do! Eleanor had been begging me all week to have a lemonade stand in the front yard. (I had bought some lemonade at the grocery store last weekend, and I think when she sees it in the fridge every day, her entrepreneurial side starts thinking!) I had been holding her off to this weekend because this past week was non-stop busy.

Well, today was going to be the day she could have her lemonade stand. We got home from church, changed into some play clothes and looked outside our windows to see our next door neighbors already selling lemonade and brownies roadside! At first, she was upset because I told her that she could not start-up a competing business. Then, I suggested that she go into business with the neighbors. She liked that idea so off she and Hayes went to help Barnett and John sell lemonade. Thank you Gibson boys, for doing all of the work involved in getting the lemonade stand up and running, and then letting E and H join in the fun!

Fun Run

Saturday morning was Eleanor's school's annual Fun Run. The participating kids run a mile loop around the neighborhood behind the main campus. The organizers pace out the runners by grade and by gender, starting with the fifth grade boys and ending with kindergartner girls (and a parent who is allowed to run with them.) Last year, we missed the Fun Run, but Eleanor was eager to participate this year. Little did we know that our participation would end with such success! She was the second first grade girl to finish the race and was awarded a trophy on the podium post-race.
I had such low expectations for the event that I did not even bring my camera and left the boys at home, so I am grateful to the first place finisher Gwyn's (seen here with E) mom for taking these pictures and sharing them with me.After hearing about E's successful run, Dad vowed to bring the boys next year to cheer Eleanor on. Way to go, E!

H's Free Throw Routine

Dad has taught Hayes a free throw routine so that he can look like the players in the NCAA tournament that he can't stop talking about. Daily, self-driven Hayes works hard on his free throws and has nearly perfected the pre- free throw routine.

First, he dribbles the ball three times. Then, he spins/flips it once and tries to keep it under control. Oops! Next, he takes a super-deep breath. Then, he shoots and SWISH!

Getting Close to the Terrible Twos

Can't you tell? This is becoming a familiar sight, unfortunately. Boy, does Ben have an independent streak!

Outdoors

When we are in Florida, we spend the majority of our time outside. The weather has been beautiful so the kids have been eager to be outdoors.

Think we are having a good time?

Airboating

Yesterday, we took E and H on their first airboat ride. Thomas and I had not been on one since his first ever visit to Florida in 1997! We were excited to hunt for some gators, but both Eleanor and Hayes were not so sure about what they were getting into.

It was a busy day at Camp Holly so we had to wait a while for our turn on the boat. To pass the time, the camp had some great bean bag tossing games set-up in the back, so Dad and Hayes played the entire time we waited. E and I preferred observing from the shaded sidelines to tossing in the hot sun. Hayes ended up winning 5-4 on his last throw. It sure was an intense game!

When it was our turn to load up on an airboat, we were ready to see natural Florida. I think Eleanor preferred the scenery to the wildlife we ended up seeing. She got squeamish any time we came close to one of these guys. Can you blame her?Dad and Hayes enjoyed their perspective from the back of the boat, as Hayes sat right next to the driver and felt like he was the king of the world. At one point, after taking a break on an island, Hayes fell deep into the boat as he was trying to get back to his seat. The captain rushed to pull him out, and we were sure Hayes would start screaming. Instead, he immediately hopped to and solely stated, "It didn't even hurt!" The captain responded with the perfect response for Hayes right now when he said, "It didn't hurt because you are TOUGH!" If there was any doubt as to how much Hayes liked the ride, that comment by the captain sealed the deal. What four-year-old does not like to be called tough?

Morning Fishing Expedition

One thing Thomas wanted to do while here in Florida was to take the kids fishing. On Monday, he ran them to the local Wal-Mart and bought both E and H poles. (E's was a Barbie pole and H got a Spiderman pole.) He then spent the morning untangling their lines teaching them how to cast in Mimi and Papa's cul-de-sac. I think Eleanor caught most of her casts on the scenic flora and fauna surrounding the yard. She did not get frustrated though, and kept trying to perfect her motion as did Hayes. At one point, Dad was holding a fishing clinic in the cul-de-sac and then decided that he might be a little rusty too and took some practice casts himself. Towards the end of the practice round, when he was nearing his wits end, Dad decided to inject some humor by getting "caught" by Hayes. At least he got a smile out of Ben!

Tuesday morning, Dad, E and H were out of the house by 8:30 to head to a local pier near one of our causeways. Mimi, Ben and I caught up with them a little later. E seemed really into it, but I think Hayes's attention had waned especially since there had been very little action. Right before I was began to head home, Thomas reeled in a little ladyfish. Here he is with a friendly fellow fisherman to whom Ben kept saying, "Ho, Ho, Ho."and then with Eleanor.
In the end, E almost reeled in another fish, but it pulled away before she could get it out of the water. Hayes was truly proud of himself for catching a piece of seaweed.

Both kids have asked to give it another go later this week so we'll see if they have better luck next time.