School Daze

Well, after exactly 4 days of pre-school, i feel like i have no idea how the boys (save Aidan) really feel about school.  The first day, no one cried when i left, but they did look stunned and a little sad.  Day 2 - no one cried, but Gavin was like a Cling-on Monkey before I left and then gave his "sad face" look until i closed the door.  Day 3 - Aidan BAWLS as I am leaving (after staying an extra 10 minutes or so b/c he wants to sit on my lap during circle time). So much so that they called the nurse to check him for fever/illness because he was so (according to note) "not like himself" for the rest of the morning.  Day 4, began language class and while no tears, it was only after staying for the full language class (which i'm not so sure about) and their regular teacher  beginning circle time and songs that I was able to give kisses and promises to pick up after lunch and only got Gavin's sad face until he could no longer ignore the Wheels on the Bus song in progress. :)

Gavin spots me!

Well, this weekend, while making breakfast Aidan was in the kitchen with me - probably to get protection from his brother after getting whacked on the head with a car - Aidan says to me "Mom, I'm not happy at school."  I ask him to repeat it, and he does and then I ask him "Why aren't you happy at school?" and he says "Because I miss you."  well, I just about pulled him out of school then and there.  not really, but it was very sweet.  Especially b/c one day I know he will be MORTIFIED to admit he has a mother and will probably stop giving public hugs and kisses.  The thing is when I come and pick them up, they are usually yucking it up and appear to be having a ball at school.  While Brady is the reporter (no surprise there) with who was crying b/c they missed their mommy, who pooped on the floor and had to clean it up (true story - day 4), etc. Aidan and Gavin both talk about school and songs and teachers in a positive way as well.  Of course, depending on the day/time they have each asked if they can go to school on days when it isn't a school day.  The day school is to happen though, they are NOT down with it . .. so strange.

Day 3 of school (BAG)

I was told after the first day that Aidan was the best helper when it came to cleaning up.  I could have told her that, but I do think school has gotten the other two in gear quite a bit more.  Brady usually starts the song from class and Gavin will kind of sing along as you goad him into picking stuff up.  Aidan on the other hand has a PLAN for clean up and is already half-way through the toys when his brothers finally get around to picking up the first truck. I can't wait to see how these battles manifest themselves in the future.

This weekend, Curt went to Barcelona to see FCB play with FREE VIP TICKETS!  Now, of course it would have been SO MUCH FUN to go with him, but I'm not the one who needed a break.  Hands down, Curt does and I'm so glad he got to go.  IT's sunday night as I type this and he's due home in a couple of hours and I COULDN'T BE MORE READY, but I am still very glad he got to go.  Anyway, this weekend was the first time i have been able to get the boys to float without an adult touching them in the pool, EVER.  Jill and Justin kindly agreed to be my adults and with the aid of water wings and a noodle, everyone went hands free for long periods of time on Friday - AWESOME!  Gavin was probably the LEAST willing to let go of my hands to float and he spent the last half hour floating around int he deep end by himself just chilling and checking the world out (again, no surprise there).  Today when Tess came in, I took each of them individually to swim at the pool to reinforce this.  It was really great to get some one on one time and to see how each of them is SO different.

Aidan liked putting on my pants. 

Aidan pretty much jumped in and was IMMEDIATELY happy to be floating again.  He didn't even try to hang on to me and at one point, he was jumping from the top step of the ladder onto the noodle without me in front to catch him.  But he didn't really want to "go" any where.  Brady on the other hand immediately began trying to deflect and distract by talking me up as we were getting in the water.  This will be his MO.  When I FINALLY got him in (a time limit for us being there together worked) he would NOT let go of my hands(and he demanded the shallow end), so I drug him around the pool a bit and then took away one thumb for him to hold and then the other (even crossing into the deep end).  He immediately started laughing and then decided to kick his way ALL OVER the pool.  Literally, we probably did 4 laps all around the pool - the kid can kick.  (I think some of it are his feet - Aidan's are much smaller and more narrow).  Brady would NOT jump off of the ladder to his noodle, but he would sit on the ladder and hold the noodle pretty close and slide into the water.  baby steps. Gavin was willing to jump in to me but was like a MONKEY on my front.  I had to basically slip the noodle in between us and then remind him that my hand was holding his hand on the noodle for him to let go of my neck.  I did the same let go of one thumb, let go of the other, but he was still working to hold on to me as much as he could.  He finally relaxed and was happy tooling around the pool, but his kicks were getting him nowhere (really, have you seen his clodhoppers and his legs?!).  I mentioned how Aidan had jumped into his noodle from the top step of the ladder and Gavin was game for jumping in - FROM THE SIDE.  The kid does his FLYING LEAP into his noodle twice.  I think the sheer force of the jump and the subsequent quick dunk under water was enough for him, but he laughed the entire time.  I taught some doggy paddles with arms and we did some bubbles.  I"m really glad I could reinforce the stuff form the weekend.  Reason #437 to stay home (especially since we can't get them in swim lessons until January at the earliest! boo!)

Aidan asked me if I wanted to take a picture of them eating their popsicles.  too funny . . . (BAG)

While it was LOADS of fun to do this with them, it's pretty tiring for me (running back and forth to the house, getting people to stop crying b/c i'm leaving, the multiple showers, etc) and i was getting BAKED in the sun here.  I'm guessing this will be just once a week or so that I try to do this on my own with them.  Otherwise I will look like a leather handbag by the end of the season.  no thanks.

HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday boys! (GAB)

I can hardly believe how quickly the time has passed since my darling boys were born.  I’ve said it before, but having kids really is like holding up a mirror to yourself – you see the good and the bad and you can only hope to guide them away from the less desirable parts of yourself and to more fully live the good parts of yourself.

A little about the boys as they turn three years old.

Aidan James - now that's one HANDSOME man . ..

Aidan: You are such an easy-going, happy kid.  You are definitely our practical joker. You think it’s funny to sneak food off of our plates when we aren’t paying attention, to offer us something and then quickly take it back, to hide a car/truck under something and then act like you can’t find it.  You still LOVE carrying things around – as many as you possibly can.  You LOVE playing guitars – I can see that you could become a musician one day.   Thanks to lots of loving people in your life, we have gotten a lot of instruments for your birthday!  You are a GOOOOD eater – like crazy good.  You eat just about anything we serve and you often have second and third portions.  I have NO IDEA where you put it.  You have developed a weird thing about the seams in your socks – it can take 5 minutes to put one shoe on, but you are still by far our accessorized child – you love wearing your sunglasses, shoes, etc.  You are loving and funny and have some of the BEST facial expressions.  You are often the first to throw yourself into a new situation, and you genuinely love trying new things.  You have started saying that you are “a MAN” and when you wear a button down shirt a “HANDsome man”.  You have also really become interested in feelings and why people feel different ways. You seem to be able to go from playing on your own to playing with one or both of your brothers very easily.  While you may not always seem to be our most coordinated child, you do seem to enjoy physical challenges.  You love showing affection for others, especially animals.  I can still see you putting your arm around Gunther (The Carroll’s dog) this summer and saying softly to him “I love you Gunther".

Brady Allen - look at that smile - if only you could have heard his laughter too!

Brady: You are gregarious by nature, even though you are our most cautious child.  You may take your time to check out a new situation, but you absolutely LOVE interacting with new people and learning new things.  You put things together that I would never have thought about (like when I changed lanes this morning on the way to school and you asked me where the “other lane went”).  You are probably our most expressive child – both in your joy and sorrow, but you are also our most verbal child right now and you can talk about what made you happy or sad (or angry) and have already developed the ability to reason out what you can do differently if a situation happens to you again.  You are the most sensitive to discipline, so you have challenged me to find the best way to guide you when you do things like throw trucks or play too rough with your brothers.  You also let me know when you think I’m overreacting (how many times have you told me not to get mad?). I may not always agree with you, but you are good at making me check myself.  You have a delightful laugh that comes from deep in your soul and once you are comfortable in a situation, you are the spokesman of the group.  I can see this being a strength of your personality that may show up in your choice of work in the future. You like to try new things, but you must do it in your own sweet time.   You have been sleeping in a big boy bed for 3 months now, but you have begun asking about your crib.  This is just one example of you needing things to happen on your schedule.  I love that you still long for your crib, even though you are so big now.  Sometimes I long for the days when you and your brothers were in cribs (and not just b/c you can’t get out of bed!) - you are growing up too fast.

Gavin Dean - loves when his brothers wrestle with him!  And he is our Ferdinand the Bull child . . . (GA)

Gavin: You are probably the most outgoing in a new situation (like this summer when you greeted all 30 rows on the airplane as we boarded with a sweet “HELLO!” as though you had no idea someone would be sitting there), you are the most gentle, even though you are a physical POWERHOUSE and you play the most independently.  Your verbal skills have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few months.  You LOVE music.  You can memorize songs and melodies so quickly that it constantly surprises me.  You have become our most picky eater, but you are still our breakfast man.  I think your discovery of pork sausage this summer cemented that status for you. J  You have developed the MOST adorable sad face (bottom lip stuck all the way out and rubbing your eyes) when you haven’t gotten your way, or are sad about something just before you might cry.  Sometimes it’s a “fake” sad and you are working to see our reaction, other times you need the sweetest deepest snuggle we can provide. While you could play by yourself for hours, you absolutely LOVE your brothers and you giggles are infectious.  You want to know HOW things work-I could see you being someone who will create things one day. You still love reading and letters and numbers and colors. You also enjoy coloring so intensely – your scribbling is interesting, but I can’t wait until it becomes pictures to convey the things that you think about. You too are interested in why people feel a certain way – especially if it’s sad- and you have become the reciter in our family, sharing what happened in an earlier situation, over and over again. J

Working at the carwash, yeah . . ..  (GAB)

Gavin checks out the violin/guitar from grandma and grandpaV . . . awesome!

 At age 3, your stats are as follows:

Aidan – 36 inches high, 30 pounds, size 8.5 XW shoes

Brady – 37.5 inches high, 34 pounds, size 10 XW shoes (but somehow your feet aren’t as big as Gavin’s)

Gavin – ALMOST 37.5 inches high, 37 pounds, size 10 XW shoes

Curt and I were talking the other night and he mentioned that he couldn’t remember who walked last (for the record the order was Gavin, Brady, then Aidan for walking; for sitting up it was Gavin, Aidan, Brady and for crawling/getting around it was Aidan, Gavin Brady.  I have sort of a sick memory for that kind of stuff, but don’t ask me anything about bands and the songs they sing).  It amazed us both how quickly the time has passed but also how hard it is to remember all of these things that were so monumental in our lives at the time.  I only hope I have been able to document and remember all of these things that in the day to day are so important, but over the weeks and months are just blips on the screen.  They make up such interesting parts of each of the boys personalities (and how we respond to them), and yet they are fleeting.

Daddy's finally here! (GAB)

Can't get enough snuggles (A)

 A few funny stories:

Aidan REALLY loved his birthday gifts and celebrations this year.  I think he finally figured out that not everything he played with this summer was coming back with us, so as he would get a new toy from someone he would turn to me and say “Mom, can I bring this to Doha?”  He has also begun asking that at other people’s houses, luckily he takes no for an answer as he giggles – like he figured he may as well ask just in case I said yes. J During his b-day celebration in Iowa, I had given him a piece of red licorice off of his b-day cake and as he is chewing it he says to me “mom, what am I eating?” and I said “your b-day cake” and he chews for a little bit more and then says “no, what’s in my mouth?” so I tell him licorice.  It was clear he wanted to know what it was so he could ask for it in the future. J

Good thing Sadie is patient - the boys LOVED that she caught the water from their water guns! (GAB)

Oh, we know what to do with this! (Aidan blew all 3 candles out before his brothers were even at the table!) (BGA)

Aidan helps grandma V read about the Pirates ABCs

3 little pirates - and yes they all climbed up with minimal help. (ABG)

Car washing is fun on all levels (BGA)

Brady JUMPS!

While at my sister’s just before we came back to Doha, Brady was sitting on the couch with Aunt Pam and he says to me “Mom, I’m jealous when I take my socks off.” I realize he was referring to our book about feelings where we talk about being jealous and frustrated and the last time I had read it to them, I had asked them to think about times they felt each.  I said “You mean, you get frustrated when you take your socks off?” and he was like “yeah. I’m frustrated when I take my socks off”.  It still makes me laugh to myself. Brady also finally lost some of his fear around jumping to us when we are swimming.  He is now FULL ON JUMPING out to us and getting some major height when he jumps.  It is crazy how it went from him wanting to hold our hands when he “jumped” to looking like a cannonball . . ..

Gavin KICKS!

focus . . . I am SPEED (G)

 Gavin has begun taking his jumping to new heights, literally.  In Iowa, he began jumping off of a 3 foot high retaining wall in the back yard.  Since he was landing on grass and seemed to be OK as he went to higher and higher parts of the wall, I didn’t bother to stop him.  Apparently, when he was on the stairs (he also liked throwing things down to then go get and bring back up to throw down the stairs again) Grandpa K was watching him and had seen him jump from the 2^nd step up – something he has been doing since he was about 2 ½ at home.  Grandpa K says he looks and sees that Gavin is about SEVEN steps from the bottom and just JUMPS, landing on his head on the bottom step and giving himself rug burn on his forehead.  And he didn’t even cry.  He also has perfected the swan dive when he jumps off of the side of the pool.  It is amazing.

The boys LOVED chasing grandma and grandpa Ks cars when they would leave for work.  adorable (GB)

Summer Fun!

Just hanging on Cousin Gabe while we watch Cars (ABG)

Our first trip to the Iowa State Fair (mom's too!) (BAG)

Gavin really got into Little Hands on the Farm - he had NO PROBLEM milking that cow!

Brady sees a little chick moving around moments after hatching

nothing like riding around the State Fair in style (BAG)

The boys experienced rain this summer (BGA)

Gavin mows behind Grandpa

Gavin takes up rock climbing - those things were HARD to get your hands to grasp - i don't know how he did it!

We love Grandpa Ks yellow truck! (GA)

And Gavin loves the bumpy parts!

Kevin Carroll won!  I think this pic may have had something to do with it (GAB)

Helping mom finish the 5K (BGA)

Those may or may not be Grandpa Ks underwear around Aidan's neck

What is a treadmill for? . . .(G)

. . . Swinging of course! (B)

DUMP TRUCK BDAY CAKE! (GAB) and cousin Jadyn

Brady can't believe his luck . . .

Gavin tried everything on the cake

Aidan was just as enthusiastic.  Turning 3 rocks!

Grandpa V came to help us fly to TX!  Let's not throw his back out! (AB)

Aidan nearly had a stroke when he saw the guitars in the Austin baggage claim - this is his playing guitar face . . .

SAHM - Day 1

From July 4th parade (their first! G, A, B) - WHO gives out POPSICLES on a 90 degree day???  It was a sticky mess :)

Well, I feel like today was my first day of being a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) even though my last day or work was 22 June.  Curt left for Doha on Sunday and Peggy is off of work on Mondays, so I still wasn't completely on my own until today.  All in all it went well.  We had our first skype call with daddy after breakfast, then we went to a park to play and have a snack, then we came home to get out of the heat and humidity (it's not Doha hot, but it was pretty uncomfortable) and yes, they watched Cars.  To be fair, while we were in CO last week for cousin Jeff's wedding, they pretty much begged all week to watch ANYTHING and they didn't get to.  We had some lunch, they took deliciously long naps, then after nap they played in the sprinkler until grandma K got home.  All in all a really good day. 

As I was watching the boys run around the backyard, i kept thinking "wow, I don't have anything else I need to be doing or thinking about right now.  For a change i'm not trying to think through an issue at work, or feeling like I have a dozen emails to respond to, or minutes to type up from a meeting.  I get to just sit here and giggle at my kids shreiking as they run through the sprinkler.  This is awesome."  Then I got up to "be a monster" and chase them around the yard.  Now, i'm sure not every day will be this idyllic or easy.  I may even get stir crazy, but the fact that it definitely felt manageable and FUN was great.  And it is true, the boys are SO well-behaved when it is just one person there.  No one to play against the other. :)

Some other highlights of the wedding trip.  The boys got to spend some quality time with cousins Jadyn, Noah and Gabe, we saw some cliff dwellings (i.e. several hundred year old kids climbing equipment), went to see the Royal Gorge (way awesome!), saw Tom and Kyndra and Jordan and Hutson, saw Claire and Mike and Jackson, Charlie and Henry and not only did we walk the kids through a small part of the Garden of the Gods, but Curt and I had a little date night there on his last night in the US.  We did a short challenging hike which was fun to see if we still had any fitness for hiking left in us, climbed some rocks and got to sit and talk until the sun set.  And the of course went to get some homemade ice cream! :)  Why would ANYONE go to a baskin robbins if there is homemade ice cream within driving distance?  I mean really.

PS I apologize for there being no rhyme or reason with pics on this post.  It's being cranky and I wanted to get these up sooner rather than later. :)

Brady and Jadyn



Jadyn and Aidan at her b-day celebration



B, G, A and Hutson and Jordan Wilson and Tom & Kyndra's in CSprings - too fun!

A,G,B and Henry, Charlie and Jackson with mom and Claire in CSprings

Garden of the Gods the day dad had to fly back to Doha.  Brady wasn't very happy (B, A, G)

Gavin gets a good snuggle before dad has to leave

Aidan and Gavin were being so cute at dinner one night holding each others' hands.  Melts my heart . ..

Brady with Uncle Chad on the Royal Gorge incline railway - i think he's having fun, don't you? :)

In other news, Aidan's been cleared to go without his sling as of yesterday.  The Dr. said the bump that is scar tissue around the break will dissipate in 2-3 months and then there will be no outward sign of the break.  The other good thing is that he broke it in 2011, and not 40-60 years ago!  The nurse who checked him in told me this AWFUL story about how she broke hers about 60 years ago and how for 6 weeks straight she was TAPED in a figure eight on her body (to mobilize it) and she STILL remembers the Dr. ripping the tape (and her skin) off and then retaping her every few days.  I just want Aidan to know how fortunate he is that medicine and understanding of the body has advanced!  I will take him whining about the sling (which he only did the first day or two) over ripping tape off of my kids body for 6 weeks ANY TIME! :)

A local junk yard has "Tow-Mater'd" an old tow truck.  It was way cool (A, B, G)

Centrifugal Force: 1, Aidan's Clavicle: 0

Well, we have been on our vacation for just over 2 weeks, so we were bound to need a little more excitement in our lives, right?  This morning, Curt and I took the boys to the local park to play before it might rain.  They were running around and having a BLAST for a good half hour.  This park has one of those single post centrifugal force pieces with the small foot piece at the bottom.  Brady had asked Curt to spin him on it (slowly) and so he did a few times, and then of course held it still for Brady to be abel to get off. Aidan then decides he too wants a spin and I hear Curt say "Now let me know when you want to get off" as he begins to spin it (I was watching Gavin play with a pinwheel in one of the yards that butts up to the park), when all of a sudden I hear the "pain" cry.  Aidan is laying on the ground next to the equipment (torture device?) and is just SOBBING.  He is also FILTHY as he seems to have been flung off of it into the dirt and woodchips.  Curt tells me that after he told Aidan to let him know what happen, Aidan proceeded to just let go of the equipment. Physics is not on your side when this happens. So Curt and I are both giggling a little bit as we try to clean Aidan off and help him calm down.  Aidan then proceeds to sit in Curt's lap the ENTIRE rest of the time we are at the park (a good 30-45 minutes).  This is pretty unusual, even for Aidan, but we sort of chalked it up to it probably scared him/knocked the wind out of him. 

When we get him home he is still whimpering and wants to be held.  For the next 2 hours.  I'm starting to think we probably need to take him to see someone when I pick him up to put him in his booster for lunch. As my hand goes under his left arm pit, the poor kid COLLAPSES into tears and a scream of pain.  I try to calm him, and take him to the couch to do some light poking and prodding.  It is clear his collarbone is what hurts and it hurts bad.  I get him back in his seat for lunch (it's urgent, but not an emergency) let Curt know after lunch i'm going to take him somewhere and then get stuff together.  Since it's sunday afternoon, no walk in clinics are open (though I figured he'd need an x-ray anyway) so our good friend Julie Carroll, Aidan and I head for the ER.  We were seen by a nurse in about 5 minutes, the dr. about 30 mins after that, and had our xray completed within an hour and a half of arrival.  Aidan even got a good hour and a half nap sleeping on me (so yummy!). Not too shabby.  The Dr. was great and said Aidan has a "Green Stick" fracture.  The bone has "bent", but it's not a splintered break like an adult might get and isn't such that it needs to be reset.  That's the good news.  He also says kids this age tend to heal much faster than adults, so 6-8 weeks might not be how long before it's totally healed and he said he will feel noticeably better MUCH before that.  The bad news is, he DOES NOT like wearing the sling (it's basically meant to be a visual cue for him, us, his brothers to go easy on that arm) and if he falls again he could make it worse. 

We get home after our trip and Julie says her good byes and we explain the situation to Brady and Gavin and then Uncle Matt, Grandma and I take the boys to Culver's for some greasy, yummy fast food and ice cream!  I mean, it IS our first broken bone.  I only wish I could know it would be our last. :)  Curt and grandpa are actually in Iowa City looking at the top two houses Curt and I had viewed yesterday when we went house hunting, so we kept them apprised with updates.  They were jealous THEY didn't get to go to Culver's with us. :)

I will admit, in the past any time I have heard about kids this young getting a broken bone, I have always sort of wondered about it.  How could it REALLY happen to a kid unless they weren't being properly supervised, yaddahyaddahyaddah.  Well, I shall now dine on all of those accusatory thoughts. :) 

I'll update with some pictures of the boys on our summer adventures soon! :)