Signing, Thumb Sucking, & Soccer

I was really looking forward to doing sign language with Adam since it went so well with Owen.  In fact, it was a life-saver with Owen.  He was a late talker and I don't know what we would have done without it!  I was getting a little discouraged because Adam was not picking up on the signs as quickly as I thought he would/should.  It seemed like it took forever for him to just grasp "more".  Then, I realized I probably started signing with Owen later than I did with Adam.  All of a sudden Adam has really started using his signs.  He has mastered "more", "milk", and "help".  We are working on "eat".  I also plan to teach him "tired", "hurt". and "finished".  It's cute to see Owen doing the signs with Adam.

Yesterday Adam came into the kitchen and did his "help" sign so I followed him into the living room where he pointed to the TV cabinet.  He obviously wanted it opened.  Then he pointed to the TV, which he wanted me to turn on.  Normally I don't turn it on much during the day, but I just had to since he went to all that trouble to do his sign and show me what he wanted.  I am hoping that signing will help minimize his tantrums (in fact, I think it already has helped!).

I'm not sure how many more I will teach him.  I feel like he can tell us all of the important things in just a few signs.  He definitely understands almost everything we say.  If I tell him we are going to go downstairs to play he will walk right over to the gate at the top of the steps.  If I tell him we are going to go up to take a bath he starts going up the steps right away.
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Today Owen had his second dentist appointment.  During his first appointment, about 6 months ago, he let the dentist count his teeth, but that's all he would let him do.  This appointment went MUCH better.

 He let the doctor count his teeth, check for cavities, and do a fluoride treatment!   He was so cooperative.  The minute he walked into the exam room he held his mouth open and wouldn't close it.  At one point, when I was talking to the dentist, I had to tell him it was ok to close his mouth and give it a rest.   haha!

We really need to help Owen stop sucking his thumb.  I sucked mine till about 6th grade (very embarrassing, I know), so I hate making him stop, however I noticed his top teeth are starting to get messed up from it.  I was one of the lucky few that sucked my thumb, but never had braces.  Dr. S showed me a picture of what Owen's teeth could look like if he does not stop by age 7.  It was horrifying to say the least.  We make him keep his blankie in his bed and that has helped some.  Any time he is near his blankie his thumb goes right into his mouth.  He can't help it.  It's almost funny to watch him try not to suck it, but he can't.

Dr. S suggested putting socks over his hands at night.  If he does not stop in a year or two he will have to have some special apparatus which will make him stop.  That would not be fun for any of us I am sure.  Anyway, it was a good appointment and Owen left with a brand new toothbrush, an airplane, a "No Cavity Club" sticker, and a little green lizard which is his new favorite toy.

Tonight was Owen's second soccer practice.  If you read my post from last week, soccer did not go well at all.  Owen had a lot of anxiety and cried for most of the practice.  We had a long talk with him after last practice, but then let it go and did not bring it up again.  Mike took him to the Y over the weekend to play around on the field a little bit and show him where his practice would be if it was raining out.  Tonight's practice was so much better.  He was happy, interacting with the other kids, and seemed to be having a really good time.  I even went out on the field at one point to tell him he was doing a good job and he wanted me to go back and "stand with daddy on the sidelines".  I'm so glad it went better tonight.  We were prepared to let him sit out and watch if that's what made him feel comfortable, but luckily he joined right in.

And lastly... my Zumba instructor asked if we would spread the word about her class.  I have been taking classes with Kristy since November and I love it.  I am sure I look really stupid.  In fact, I won't stand in front of the mirrors because I don't even want to watch myself.  But, it is a REALLY good workout.  She has a good group of people that go now, but it is tight.  She is moving so she can fit a lot more people into her classes.  Check it out if you are in the area!

Catch Up

To help me remember what we've been up to lately I went through my camera.

This is a picture I took from Owen's first soccer practice.  Mike is still in his work clothes since he came straight from work.  Tyler and Owen are happily passing the ball back and forth.  This picture was  taken pre-meltdown.  

I bought my boys matching shirts and dressed them alike on Thursday :)

Friday I took the boys to the mall.  They have lots of cool racecars on display.  We also enjoyed an Aunt Annies soft pretzel and then the boys sat on some rides.  

 

It's kinda funny, but they both have no idea that if you put quarters in these rides they will actually move or make noise!  

 

They think they are there just to sit on and pretend and get your picture taken :)

In fact, both boys took turns pushing the button and they were happy as can be doing that.

I figure what they don't know won't hurt them, right?  haha!  My sister can't believe I don't put money in and she said she's going to bring a bag of quarters and take Owen to the mall and show him how the rides are supposed to go.  She's going to blow my cover!

And here's just a picture of a happy Adam looking up at me.  What a sweetie.

On Friday, Owen's friend Aiden came over to play for a little while and then Mike and I got to go out to dinner while Finny stayed with the boys.  We went to our favorite restaurant and had a really nice time.

Saturday we went over to our friend's house to roast hotdogs and eat marshmallows.  Owen had a great time playing with T. 

 There was a mud puddle and the kids had a blast driving their trucks through it.  We had to take Owen's pants and boots off before he could even get into the truck to go home. 

Unfortunately the dial on my camera was on the wrong setting so these pictures got a little dark.

Just three boys playing in the mud :)

 Owen's foot is completely covered in mud in this picture.

And tonight, I upgraded the rice container to a much larger one and Owen loved it.  He played in it for a very long time.

And that's about it!

Easter Outfits

For the past several years we have gone to the beach over Easter break.  It's a nice time of year to get away, the beaches are not yet crowded, and we also took that time to visit Paige and her family.  Owen definitely has his fair share of egg hunts before Easter day rolls around so he's not missing out on much, however I am always a little sad that we don't get to dress up and go to church.  I have lots of fond memories of pretty Easter dresses, hats, and white gloves when I was a little girl :)  This year Easter is really late, so it should be warmer than usual.  And now I have two boys to dress up.  Double the fun! I really should be cleaning my closet instead of shopping for Easter outfits.  However, I think we will be home this year for Easter so I am really excited to get the boys cute outfits.  I know my time for "dressing them up" is very short.   I need to take advantage of it while I can.  Another blogger shared the Etsy shop "The Laughing Giraffe".  I checked it out and the clothes are adorable!  I've never bought anything from an Etsy shop, but I may just have to because I have already dressed our entire family and my sister's unborn daughter (disclaimer...she is NOT pregnant).  ok.  Here it is...

Adam's outfit- with his initials monogrammed :)

Owen's tie- in green to match Adam's outfit :) 
He's probably wear this with a white collared shirt and maybe even a navy blue sport coat.  How adorable!

For Beth's daughter that she doesn't have, but if she did, I'd want her to wear this...

Mike's tie.  He's not a fan of family dress-ups so I don't think I'll get him one, but if I did, it would be in green...

My dress... in green with a white cardigan.  Not buying this either.  Just pretending (although I really like it)!

Wouldn't we all look so nice?

Wordy Wednesday

Yesterday Owen had his first soccer practice.  We were very hesitant to have him start any organized sport, but felt like he was ready since he LOVES soccer and plays almost every day in our yard and all over our small house.  He was so excited and he talked about it constantly.  He could not WAIT for soccer practice.  We could have signed him up last year, but we knew he was too young.  He probably would have cried and wanted us to be out on the field with him.  Well this year I thought he would be ready.  He has really grown up and being that he is almost 4, I figured he could handle it and would probably really like it.  But I was wrong.  He cried.  A lot.  And would not participate unless I was right there with him holding his hand.  Granted, it was outside (which we were not prepared for), and there were about 50 three, four, and five year olds running all over the place with one coach, but still.  I think he saw the crowd, mixed with a new place he's never been before and got very anxious.  Part of me wanted to take him home (which he wanted) and try again next year.  I don't want him to feel pressured to do sports, but he was the one that told me I should sign him up.  So, Mike and I decided that we are not going to let him quit.  We had a long talk with him and told him that he is going to finish his "season" and if after that if he never wants to play soccer again, that's fine, but he will not quit.  Same thing goes with anything else he signs up for... piano, guitar, hockey, baseball, whatever.  If he chooses to do it, he will finish it out.  The one exception is swimming, that is not a choice.  If he is going to go to the pool all summer long he must learn to swim.  No choice there.  It's a life skill in my opinion.

So we all loaded into the truck, had a little talk and Owen decided he wanted to give it another try.  So while daddy and Adam stayed warm in the truck, I took Owen back to the field and he did pretty well for the last 12 minutes of soccer practice.  We are going to give it another try again next week and hopefully by the end of the season he is well adjusted and loving soccer.  We'll see.  

This same thing seems to happen at birthday parties too.  He goes, all his friends are there playing, and he cries and clings to us.  It's no fun for any of us.  We leave feeling angry at him, but sad for him at the same time.  It's obvious he doesn't want to feel anxious, but he does.  Mike said he is ready to start crashing some kids' birthday parties just so Owen can "practice" not crying and acting normal.  Mike and I also feel like we are partly to blame for his anxiousness.  All week long we have been talking about soccer and getting him all pumped up.  Maybe we should not have brought it up and acted like it was no biggy and just told him a few hours before that he had soccer.  He seems to be the kind of kid that needs to talk about things before they happen, but we are going to try a different approach.  We are not talking about soccer until a few hours before we leave (although he keeps bringing it up and says he can't wait for next week... ugh!).  I have all of Owen's birthday party invitations filled out.  He told me who he wanted to invite, where he wanted to have it, and what theme he wanted.  Part of me wants to just save the money and invite two friends (instead of 18) because I have a feeling the same thing could happen at his own party.  But we are going to try it.  We are not talking about it and the day of his party we are going to act like it's no big deal and just show up and let him play with his friends and not make a big fuss about it.    

Oh, parenthood.  The joys and the struggles.  And this is just the beginning. And I know I am not supposed to start a sentence with "And", but I don't care today.

After the whole soccer fiasco, I found out that a girl I went to college with that was also in my sorority died from cancer.  She was so sweet.  It broke my heart and I am still really sad about it.  She has a two year old little girl and I can't imagine what she is going through right now.  It made me think of this article that was in the news a few years back.  So scary.  I am definitely smothering Adam and Owen with even more hugs and kisses than I normally do in one day.

To end this depressing post on a positive note...

On Monday, Owen read his first book from start to finish all by himself.  I was so proud and made a big fuss about it.  The book is called, "I Went Walking" and he got it as a baby gift from the Hassingers.  It's very repetitive and the pictures alone tell the story, so he wasn't actually reading the words, just memorizing and looking at the pictures for clues.  But still... it's a step (a very important one) towards independent reading and actually reading words.  I was a very proud mama and almost even cried.

Sledding 2011

I am tired of winter and very ready for spring. I "springified" by blog because I couldn't stand seeing those snowflakes anymore. However, I found this video that I made as a practice before I made Adam's one year video. Hopefully this is the last time I see snow until next winter :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Busy Weekend

I had a very busy, but very fun weekend.  I spent Friday night finishing up the onesies I was making for Marybeth's baby shower which was on Saturday.  She is having twins (one boy, one girl).  I made each baby three onesies.  My sewing machine was not cooperating so I had to wait until my mom came over to fix it that night until I could finish and I'm not sure if I was rushing or what, but my sewing was kind of all over the place.  It looked like I had had a few too many while sewing.  Oh well... from a distance they look cute.

On Saturday I drove to Bethlehem to meet Katie at her house and then we drove together to Marybeth's baby shower in Palmerton.  We had such a nice time.  One of our friends from college that we don't get to see often made the trip down for MB's shower.  It was great to catch up and reminisce about our crazy college days.  I think I had both of my friends almost convinced that it was the PERFECT time for them to get pregnant!  haha!!

Marybeth got sooooo many gifts and diapers.  I remember how wonderful it was to go home and go through all my new baby gifts, wash the little outfits in Dreft, and organize the nursery.  Now all she needs are those two sweet babies!  I can't wait to meet them.  Good Lord I can't imagine having twins, but it seems a LOT of people I know or know of are having twins these days.  There must be something in the water. I know MB's mom can't wait for her grandbabies to arrive. 

Marybeth and her mom (aka- Granny Annie)

This morning (Sunday) all four of us went to church.  Usually Mike and I take turns going with Owen and we go to church while he goes to Sunday school, but Mr. Adam is now transitioning to one nap a day so all four of us were able to go.  It was a really good service/message.  Probably the best one in the 4 1/2 years we've been going to this church.  It was all about worrying... something I am, unfortunately, very good at doing.  Adam did pretty well in the nursery too.  He got fussy and tired towards the end and Mike picked him up and stayed with him.

After church we went to a 1st birthday celebration for Samantha! Here's the cute birthday girl.

Owen and Ella took charge and opened one of Samantha's birthday presents.  Once they realized what was inside the box (clothes) they dropped everything and headed off somewhere else to play.

Adam giving "I I's" to Sam.  I think these two could pass for being brother and sister!

Sam digging into her ice cream cake. She didn't seem to mind the cold ice cream one bit. Her mama doesn't mess around with ordinary cakes!

3/4 of our munchkins (Adam was headed home for a nap at this point).

What a nice weekend!

Camping

Mike and Owen decided to put up the tent and "camp out" in our basement the other night.  Owen was BEYOND excited!  I love that it doesn't take much to make this boy happy.  He seems to enjoy the simple things in life. 

He got out his handy dandy construction helmet and helped daddy set up the tent.

They had fun reading stories with flashlights.

Owen slept so well in the tent.  Even though we had an air mattress set up for him to sleep on, he slept between the mattress and the side of the tent in Mike's comfy sleeping bag.  He was very warm and cozy and since it was darker in the basement than in his room, he slept in longer than usual.  The next night I had the privilege of "camping out" with my little buddy.  I loved every minute of it :)

Birthday Month

We have so many birthdays this month!  My dad, aunt, uncle, grandpa, cousin, and Adam all share February birthdays. Oh, and I almost forgot... my sister's boyfriend, Eric, has a birthday this month too! Last night we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday (which was Sunday) and my grandpa's 89th birthday (which is today).  I made chicken pot pie for dinner.  After dinner we sang "Happy Birthday" and had cake (Owen's favorite part). 

 

It was simple, but I know it meant a lot to Papa Doc.

He said his birthday wish is that we are all there celebrating with him on his birthday again next year.  His mom lived to be 101.  I think part of him would like to be in the "Centenarian Club" too!

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet Talker

Tonight Owen was eating apples with caramel dip when he said to me....

"Mommy, you know the only thing that's better than this dip?"

"What?" I said.

He replied, "You."

Melt my heart.