New Pet, Swim Lessons resumed, and Stroller Fun

We went to return a duplicate toy that Grant got for his birthday finally.  It was at the Learning Express store and I told him that he could get whatever he wanted that was in the same price range.  He saw the frogs (yes they are alive) on the checkout counter and that was it!  That is all he wanted so we now have 2 pet frogs.  The store said they are very low maintenance so we shall see.  They have to be fed only 2 times a week which has already been an issue.  Grant wants to feed them everyday.  The kids fight over who gets to sit closest and neither of them wants the other to touch the tank.  I am hoping the novelty wears down a little soon.

Sloan is getting more teeth so now she has 13 or maybe 14.  She will bite me when I try to look so I have to be careful, ha.  She now understands how to negotiate which is pretty funny.  If she wants something and I need her to do something else, I can say "if you sit down, I will get you the frogs" and she will promptly sit down.  It has come in handy for many things.  Grant is officially "brother" to her.  That is all she will call him.  She now says "mommy at home" when I come in from work and runs over to give me a hug.  Her vocabulary continues to grow and shock us daily.  She says "brush teeth" now in the bathtub since she sees Grant brushing his teeth.  She has a toothbrush and will brush her teeth and then try to spit like Grant.  It is so funny to watch.  She tries to copy everything he does, good and bad!

Grant has started swim lessons again.  His first lesson was this past weekend and he did great.  He is doing one on one lessons this time.  He took his back float off for the second half and was starting to get the hang of it.  The goal is to be swimming by the end of summer so we shall see.

Just when you think your child would NEVER do something......IT HAPPENS!  This weekend we are all in the house and Grant runs over all of the sudden screaming and holding his nose.  He was sticking his finger up his nose and freaking out so we couldn't understand what he was saying.  I honestly thought he had a bugger and then it started bleeding since that has happened before.  But he was acting different.  I immediately pulled his finger out of his nose and said what is wrong and calmed him down.  He looked up and I saw something yellow in his nose.  He had gotten Reese's Pieces after swim class and shoved one up his nose!  I held the other nostril shut and said blow really hard.......and it shot out across the room!  Thank goodness he didn't get it up there too far.  His nose was bleeding too.  He said he was just playing and then it got stuck.  We had a nice little conversation about not sticking things in your nose or ears!  It scared him so I don't think he will be doing that again.

Our new pet frogs!

Swim class 

Some stroller fun!  They had a blast taking turns pushing each other around the house. 

Week with Papa Bill and CC

Grant and Sloan got to spend a week at Papa Bill and CC's house while Luke and I took an adult only vacation (we went to Mexico with friends and it was great)!  They had a great time up there and I think Grant would have stayed longer if we would have let him.  Sloan came home saying "Papa Bill" all the time.  The first few days home, she woke up saying "papa bill gone bye bye"....I think she was in withdrawal, ha ha.  She is now speaking in a lot of 4 word sentences which is shocking.  Her favorite right now is when she pulls you over to the couch and says "sit down, read book" and hands you a book. 

Grant started summer camp this week.  He goes Monday to Friday from 9am to 12pm for six different weeks throughout the summer.  I can't remember if I put this in here already but Grant passed his hearing and vision tests with flying colors during his physical.  He is going to start swim lessons again this weekend. 

Balloon art with Papa Bill

Water guns with Papa Bill 

Chilling out on the back of the couch 

Sloan and Michael hanging out......they both look so thrilled, lol 

Sloan and Papa Bill 

She refuses to sleep in the car for me but this is what happens with CC 

Looking at the cat 

Balloon Hat! 

Playing with my old toy which was solid wood back in those days 

Papa Bill and Sloan playing when they got back to our house 

Memorial Day Fun and a Mystery finally solved!

We had a fun Memorial Day weekend at home!  We went to the park and the pool a few times.  Grant loves feeding the ducks and Sloan would have loved to grab and squeeze a duck....so I had to hold her while she threw bread at them.  These ducks can be aggressive when you are holding food and they even hiss at you when you aren't fast enough throwing it!

We also solved a mystery with Grant.  He has been telling us for the past week that he wanted to go and eat at "Fish and Bones".  We had no clue where he was talking about.  He said it was near his school and they had fish that he could eat.  None of it made any sense to us but he was getting frustrated that we had no clue what he was talking about.  Then, I took the kids to Target this past weekend.  On the way there, Grant suddenly screamed "There's Fish and Bones mommy" and I was ecstatic and turned quick to see what this place was........wait for it......wait for it........Captain D's!  Their logo is a big fish made of bones and there is another one near his school.  I started laughing and was thrilled to have solved the mystery!  He demanded that he wanted to eat there but it was only 9am.  We took him there to get lunch that day and he got a kids meal (piece of fish, fries and hush puppies).  He took like 3 bites of the fish and said he was done!  I could have predicted that one.  I had never actually been there before and I don't think we will be going back but I must say they have really good hush puppies....even Luke agreed and he doesn't really like fast food at all.

Sloan is now cutting some top molars and her vocabulary continues to amaze us.  She can repeat almost any word you say and enunciate it nearly perfect.  Grant now hides from her and then says "I see you" and jumps out.  So now she says "I see you!".  Play Doh and Crayon are still favorite words.  She knows all of her body parts and will follow simple directions like "go put the diaper in the bin" and she will take it, open the diaper champ, put it in there and close it back.  Then she will open it again and say "all gone gone, buy buy diaper".  She and Grant roll balls to each other and she will say "catch" and throw it at him.  They both continue to fight over who gets to walk Mason.  Sloan will say "get leash, walk Mason"  but it she doesn't say Ws well, so it sounds more like "alk".  Sloan started calling Grant "brother" this week and it's pretty funny.  She tries to say Grant sometimes but it isn't very clear.

Grant goes for his 4 year check up tomorrow so I will have his stats soon.

Feeding the ducks

Sliding with a serious face 

She spotted more ducks down by the lake 

Having fun with the sand table 

This is what happens when she gets hold of the stickers 

Loving some pool time 

We have to beg Grant to hold his crayons the right way.  Sloan just does it on her own and we don't know how or why.  She will pick it up and adjust it to the exact position.  She seems very right handed too. 

She loves to color 

Playing ball 



Grant's 4th Birthday Party, Blue Mouth again and First visit to the pool

Grant had his 4th Birthday party with all of his friends this past weekend.  The theme was Transformers!  It was at the park where there is a big playground and huge sand volley ball court that is treated like a sandbox by the kids.  The wind was blowing pretty hard so the candles wouldn't stay lit but we were grateful to have good weather.  It was supposed to rain and we got sooooo lucky!  Everyone ate cake and pizza and had a great time!

Sloan loves blue suckers and grant loves red suckers!  So they each have colored mouths to match their suckers and the blue is just awful!

Grant has been begging to go to the pool.  The community pool is right behind our building so he can see it from our deck.  We got our suits on yesterday and went down there.  The water was pretty chilly but Grant got right in.  I only got halfway and decided to only go further if I had to and I didn't...thank goodness!  I am going to get Grant back in swim lessons in a couple of weeks and probably start Sloan too.  She is a bit more hesitant with the pool then he was at her age so it should be interesting.

Sloan was dying to get in the sand with everyone but then HATED her bare feet touching sand!  She screamed and wanted to be picked up.

Getting ready for cake! 

Fun on the slides 

Red and Blue Mouths! 

Walking her dog 

Getting ready for the pool.  She walks on her tip toes a lot when she doesn't have shoes on.  It looks painful but she is pretty good at it.

Pool time! 



Grant turns 4, Preschool Graduation and a Carseat swap!

Grant is now 4 years old!  His birthday this year has turned into a 2+ week event.  His "unbirthday" at school, gifts from family over the past week, his real birthday at home and his party this coming weekend with his friends.  Whew, I am exhausted from all the festivities, lol!  

This week, Grant had his end of year party at school and preschool graduation!  I can't believe he has already finished a year of preschool.  It really went by fast and he loves it so much.  We have put him in the church's preschool summer camps this summer which are very similar to what they do during the year.  He will be in 4 year old preschool next year and go 4 days a week.  The graduation was really cute.  All of the kids sang "He's got the whole world in his hands" and Grant sang much louder than the rest of the kids.  The parents got a kick out of that and we were laughing.  Let's just say that we don't have genes that can carry a tune unfortunately, ha ha.  He has great confidence though!

On the way to school this morning, Grant told me "I can drive you around and I will take Sloanie too but I will drive very careful". I replied "not yet but one day" and he said "yep, one day I will".  These random thoughts are plentiful but I just need a recorder all day to capture them all.  He also pointed at a car and said "that is what I want to drive when I get bigger".  I look over and it is a brand new 7 series BMW.....he has excellent taste and I guess I should be relieved that it wasn't some clunker, ha.  I did ask him why he liked that car so much.  He said "because mommy, it's super shiny!".  The word "super" is a favorite of his right now.

We have made a car seat change!  Now that Grant is 4, he can use a booster seat, yay!  So, he now sits in a booster seat with a regular seat belt and we moved Sloan to his car seat.  The backseat is much roomier now I must say.  They both really like their new seats too.

End of year party at school.  All the boys fishing in a pool outside

 Sloan in her new carseat

Grant in his new booster seat 

On his actual birthday, we had cupcakes to celebrate 

Sloan being goofy with sunglasses 

A new hat! 

Singing at preschool graduation 

You can tell in this one that he is really into it! 



Grant's Unbirthday, Eating Out and other fun stuff

Grant celebrated his "Unbirthday" at school last week.  The end of year party was already planned on his actual birthday so they celebrated his big day early.  He got to be the leader that day too.  This means that he gets to hand out the napkins for snack, pick different activities they do during the day and stand at the front of the line when they leave the room.  I got to visit the class for this event during snack time.  He got to pick a special treat to take into class and he chose donuts!  He ate one for breakfast and for snack, ha ha.  The whole Unbirthday concept has confused him a little though.  I told him that tomorrow was his birthday and he said "my unbirthday?".  I had to explain that it was the real deal this time. 

Sloan now says "move!" when she wants you out of the way.  She screams "mommy" really loudly whenever she wants help.  We aren't so sure she really understands that I am mommy but rather uses it to get anyone's attention that will listen.  She has started calling all lights..."flashlights" and I don't know why exactly.  I keep correcting her but it isn't sticking yet.  She now tries to say "1, 2, 3" but mainly gets the 2,3 part.  She also sings along with one of her toys that sings ABC's.....it isn't clear but it's really cute to listen to.  Grant has taught Sloan to say "hop, hop, hop" and she tried to jump but just bends her knees up and down.  He also has her saying "spin, spin, spin" and she will spin around multiple times until she falls down from being dizzy.  She made it around 5 times the other night....crazy.  Cheese is one of her favorite foods right now.  She really likes to dip chips in the cheese at restaurants too.  Grant LOVES sour cream and Sloan screamed for some at the Mexican restaurant.  So I got her a plate of sour cream too and oddly enough, she loves it too!  She can pretty much tell you exactly what she wants these days and watch out if she doesn't get her way.  She is feisty and fun all wrapped up in a cute little package!

Who do you think is in charge in this picture? LOL

 Sour cream!

 Cool pizza place where the tables are chalkboards....they also had TVs at every table!  We will be going back again soon!

 Unbirthday at school!

 Handing out napkins for snack time

 Donuts for Grant's Unbirthday!