10 (and a half) months old

Josh turned 10 months old while we were in Boston.  We immediately turned around and left on our whirlwind house hunting trip the following week, so his 10 month post got 'postponed' until school started.
Here's what our 10 month old is up to:

Wears 12-18 month clothes.

Size 4 diapers.

Has 8 teeth.

Pulls to standing all the time and walks the perimeters he can grab hold of.

Sticks his tongue out in concentration. 

Likes to make a tongue clicking noise.

Prefers to be held over anything still (strollers, crawling, etc.)

Sometimes holds his hands up  and says "uh!" for "all done" in his high chair.

He is still so squishy and sweet and we love every minute of our baby! 

First day of school

This summer flew by for us!  I can't believe it's over.  I reluctantly sent three kids off to school today.

McKinley started 4th grade in Mrs. Swords class.  She was busy yesterday prepping everyone's school supplies and outfits.  She was still wide awake at 10:30 from all her excitement.

Sawyer and Hayden get to ride the morning bus together.  We have tried to ingrain in Sawyer that he needs to take care of his little brother.  We'll see how it goes.

Sawyer loves this shirt, so I caved and let him wear it the first day of school.  He'd wear it everyday if he could.  He started 2nd grade with Ms. Malat.  He said he was excited for school, but he only talked about the bus ride and trading Pokemon on the bus.

Hayden did not want to go to school.  He did not want to ride the bus.  He didn't even take any Pokemon.  I followed the bus over to the school to help him find his way and hopefully ease his anxiety.  He starts kindergarten with Ms. Corcoran.  The kindergarten teachers wait outside at the buses to meet all of their class and walk in together. 

I'm convinced they send these kids to school much too young!  He's tiny!  I hope he has the best day!

Last day of Boston

On Thursday, after baby's nap, we took the subway to the aquarium.

Right out of our stop we spotted this street sign and building, so we had to get some pictures.

The New England Aquarium is one of my favorite aquariums I've been to. 

This big structure in the middle is a tank with a walkway that spirals up from the first floor to the top of the tank on the third floor.  It's full of giant fish, a giant sea turtle, sharks, stingrays, and tons of fish.

Josh cried most of the time in his stroller.  He was not happy unless I was holding him.

After the aquarium we went to Quincy Market which is right by Fanueil Hall.  We all got ice cream at Sprinkles, and the boys got a soft Pretzel.  McKinley and I saved our lunch appetites for later at Wagamama near the hotel.

Then we took the subway back to the hotel.  Kent was done with work for the day, so we put Josh down for his nap in the hotel room while Kent read a book.  I took the other three to swim.

We woke baby up around 7:15 and headed out to dinner.  During our 30 minute dinner wait time, we took a stroll around here.  It was a beautiful night.

Boston Children's Museum

We started early this morning.  5:30 early.  Thanks Josh.  He got a nap from 8-10.  Then we got ready and headed out to the Boston Children's Museum.  I got a "science" museum pass this winter and it's good for different museums all over the U.S.!  We hopped on the subway, and walked a few blocks, and got in for free.

The kids loved it!

 Climbing this enormous climbing structure.  Sawyer is just left of Hayden, and McKinley is crawling in front of Hayden.

The kids powering a fan up higher.  Little did they know they were learning and exercising today!

Little Miss Muscles hoisted herself to the top.  Sawyer made it himself too.  Hayden needed my help.  It was tougher than it looked.

Leaving the Museum FOUR hours later!  I wanted to go to the Boston Tea Party Museum in the background, but the tour lasts one hour and the little guy in front was pretty much done.  Maybe Friday.

Outside of the subway station.  This was my proof for the future that I can do hard things:  Four small kids on the subway, in a new city, all by myself?  Yep, I can do that!

Swimming

Today was a nice laid back day at the hotel.  Josh got a nap in the morning (while the others hung out peacefully).  Then swimming in the hotel pool for a couple hours.  Josh actually liked it this time, but only if I was holding him and no one else.  Then another nap for Josh while the kids hung out quietly and I read a book.  It was a miracle!  We finished up with dinner with Kent.

Sometimes we need Josh out of the way in this small hotel room, so we stick him in the playpen.  The kids like to sneak up on him and surprise him into his fits of laughter.  He was being a silly baby and squishing his face against the playpen.  I only caught it in a small part of its funny-ness.

Copley Square and Boston Common

Monday:

While Kent headed to work, we swam in the pool, stocked up on some groceries, ate lunch, and then headed out.

Our destination today was Boston Common.  On the way we stopped at Copley Square where some kids were playing in the fountain.  It's a hot, humid day so the kids got in too.  I really didn't want all of their clothes wet...but that was too much to ask.

After the fountain at Copley Square, we meandered through the Public Gardens.  We bought some cold treats and enjoyed the wildlife (squirrels and pigeons).

We eventually made it to Boston Common.  The kids rode the merry-go-round and then splashed around in Frog Pond.  Then back to the hotel to meet up with Kent for dinner. 

The sunset view of the Charles River was beautiful tonight.

Room with a view

Kent has to work in Boston this week, and since the kids are still out of school we decided to mooch along.  Work pays for a much nicer view than we ever pay out of our pockets.  I'm usually staring at the parking lot in a shady part of town in hotels.  This time the view is much nicer!  We're excited to have a week in Boston!

The Charles River.   Boston is such a beautiful city.

7 years old

Sawyer's birthday food requests for the day were:

Breakfast: Strawberries

Lunch: Strawberries with nutella, and pretzels

Dinner: Crepes

I fully intended for it to happen too.  But we had last minute art camp at our house today so Kent took him to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.  For dinner we're getting Outback.

Oh and his birthday cake request is jell-o cake (Not jell-o poke cake.  Just "see through" jell-o shaped like a cake) with a chocolate Sawyer trapped inside.

I have no idea where he came up with that.

We're off to Boston tomorrow though so I told him I'd put the vile concoction together when we got back.  I'll definitely post a picture of that!

What a funny little boy!

I am loving the front tooth missing.  He looks just like the spunky little boy he is!  It suits him.

What is your favorite color?  black and blue

What is your favorite thing to eat?   ice cream

What is your favorite thing to do?    play video games

What is your favorite toy?    Pokemon and video games

What is your favorite book?   Pokemon

Where is one place you want to travel to?   I don't know.

What do you want to be when you grow up?   (shrug) A regular person

What will be the funnest thing about being 7 years old?   trading Pokemon

 

 

Happy birthday Sawyer!

Art Camp

This week McKinley has been going to an Art Camp organized by another mom in the ward.  It is every day from 9:30-12:30 and we each take a turn hosting the day.  It has been lots of fun for her! 



Art camp day painting by the Goodwives River in Darien, CT next to Elizabeth.

 Today was our turn since we are going to be out of town for the next two weeks and then school starts. 
I taught them about using warm and cool colors on the color wheel.  They did a self-portrait, then an acrylic water-drip painting, lunch of pizza muffins, flowers using pastels, sunprints, and finished off decorating owl cupcakes.  It actually worked out perfectly to have it on a Saturday so Kent could take the boys off to do something out of the way. 

The sunprints were my favorite today.

We feed ourselves

He loves to be sitting at the table where the kids are.  He eats whatever we are having, although for some reason our plates look tastier than his.  He smacks his little lips if he sees someone drinking from their glass.  He seems to make a complete mess of his body after every meal or snack no matter how benign the food appears to be.  Granola?  Animal crackers?  Disasters.  There's no wiping up to get clean.  We are washing off in the sink or tub nearly every time.

He is the sweetiest!

Our weekend

This Saturday Kent took Hayden and had a "Daddy/Hayden outing".  He's been needing a little manly time lately.  They got Pokemon at Target, some sports equipment, and then fun and food at Chuck E. Cheese. 

That night we grabbed some subway and had a picnic at the kids school park.  They had a lot of fun swinging, riding bikes, and playing a little sports before it got too dark and baby got too cranky.

Sawyer's bike is a little too small for him.  He still refuses to take off his training wheels though.  He'll be in for a shock when he gets his birthday present this year!  It's time buddy!

Hayden's tiny indoor legs had some trouble on the gentle uphill climb.  So he got off and pushed his bike and chased it instead.

Bubbers was very interested in grabbing handfuls of grass and eating it.  But there are a lot of poisons on grass for ticks, so I had to put a stop to it.  We left around 8:30.  He was a very tired little baby!

Our week so far

I haven't been very faithful about posting what we've been up to.  This week we did a couple fun things, and many ordinary things. 
I finally used my Summer Free Bowling coupons for the kids on Tuesday.  Sawyer bowled a 93 and squeaked by Hayden's 92.  He had a lot of help from McKinley, who bowled a whopping 69.  She helps others better than herself I guess.  Then Sawyer stuck around for the second frame of bowling while the other two wasted quarters in the arcade on "the claw".  McKinley was soooo sure she could win the iPhone! 

We seem to visit the library at least once or twice a week to get a new movie and some video games.  Oh, books too!  The kids are doing the summer reading incentive program at the library.  This week they had a wolf program for kids 5 and up (but baby got to squeak in too).  McKinley and Sawyer did great and were really interested.  Hayden was a little scared (although I did tell him that wolves gobble up naughty children) and didn't hold still the entire time.  I hope he holds still better in kindergarten (in 4 weeks)!

Book

I just finished reading The Penderwicks this week.  I almost picked it up last Easter for McKinley, but as I didn't really know if it was something she would enjoy I passed.  Earlier this year our library had it on the sale rack for $3!  So I snatched it.

It is a charming story about 4 sisters and their summer vacation in Massachusetts.

It reminded me of Little Women blended with Jem and Scout.  I wish it would fast forward a little, like Little Women, so I could find out how they all end up as adults (and if a certain little boy makes a reappearance years down the road).