two trains and a kitty

Phoebe got to celebrate her first Halloween this year! She was a kitty cat. This is her trying out her costume a few days before.

The boy insisted on being trains this year. Lewis has been obsessed with Thomas and so Owen agreed to be Gordon (the Express). We looked at the "real" costumes at the store and online and they were kind of ugly, to be honest. My sister, Beth Reitmeyer (aka "Aunt Beth") assured us that she could whip up some good costumes.......and we were rather shocked when she showed up with these:

It wasn't really all that shocking because she never does anything half-heartedly. They are pretty amazing! The boys LOVED them. This was the first year we didn't have to fight to get them to put on their costumes.

On Saturday, we went to a local "Trunk of Treats" event.


It was kind of a combination of trunk-or-treating and a fall festival. There were little games to play at each car. The boys got really into it. Lewis got to hook this snake for some candy.

Phoebe was good as gold and enjoyed hanging out in the stroller.

Then tonight we went trick or treating on the square, as is our tradition.

We started at Spencer's. Matt did a great job handing out the candy.

The kids got a good haul! Lewis did his best to ravage each location for tootsie rolls, oddly enough, even for him. Phoebe even got some candy that we are hoping she will share with her parents. We took a few pics on the porch when we got home.


There was not a lot of cooperation.

We'll leave you with a picture of our pumpkin. This year we let the boys draw the face on and then we carved it out. It turned out pretty good for their first attempt.

Phoebe on video

Here are a couple Phoebe videos....one in the exersaucer:



And one jumping:

Hello, friends!

Owen sings constantly these days. He comes home from preschool singing songs, and has learned a ton at AWANA too. This particular song is one he sings most often, and is a greeting song they do at school. Since Lewis was in the same class last year, he knows the song too, but has never sung along until tonight. This is very typical for him, to hear people singing a song, or hear it playing and then go in his room and plunk it out on the piano with little effort.

bikes 'n trikes

Not too long ago (we are catching up A BIT with the blog), Grandparents Shepherd were visiting and determined that Lewis had to have a real big boy bike. So, we took the bike fund and found Lewis a reasonable bike with training wheels, and got the necessary helmet to go along with it.

Lewis was pretty excited and seemed to take to it immediately.

Owen was a bit frustrated that he didn't get a bike too, but has learned to actually ride the tricycle and not just pull it around. He does like to borrow Lewis' helmet when he's at school.

Lewis has fallen a couple of times, and so some days he is not that confident of a rider, but overall he is doing pretty good!

sibs

These pictures are about a month old, but it was our first attempt to try and get all three kids in one shot together.

Phoebe's 4+ month stats

We had Phoebe's 4 month appointment today, but she'll be 5 months in a week, so it seems kind of late. However, her stats are up to date (percentiles to the day compared to others)....and they are:

Height: 25.5" (70th perc.)
Weight: 16 lbs., 7 oz. (82nd)
Head: 42.5 cm (90th)

So she's big, essentially! We knew that already because she's heavy and roly poly. She's doing great as far as eye contact, trying to roll (she's rolled both belly to back and back to belly a few times, but is inconsistent) and her head control is excellent.

We passed on vaccines again today. We might let her get one shot next month. I dread that decision, honestly! Otherwise, it appears she is on target. She is definitely trying to get a tooth as well. Drooling constantly and I can feel it under the gum. Will it recede or pop out? Time will tell. Phoebe is enjoying her bumbo seat, her new jumper we got for $5 on consignment and her exersaucer. She likes to be vertical and able to look around. She is also sleeping well. Generally at least 8 hrs, often 10-11 in a row.

potty training owen

When Lewis headed back to school, we took the opportunity to potty train Owen with one less child around. We wanted Owen to be potty trained before he went to preschool, but with vacations and activities through the summer, there never seemed to be a prime opportunity until the week before school started.

Using an intense method (that we used with Lewis as shown by our behavior analyst), we spent a couple of days basically on the potty giving Owen lots of juice and taking him potty using a timer, and putting him in underwear from the beginning. He caught on quite well, and when he was successful he got to play with this "special toy."

When he had an accident, we put the toy away. The amazing thing about this method is that the child doesn't have to have all the "ready-ness" signs. Owen seemed to have NO concept of what it meant to go potty. He had NEVER gone pee in the potty before we started. He watched a video while sitting on the potty that first morning and accidentally went and we went crazy reinforcing what he had done. From there he started figuring out control and within a few days he was virtually accident-free as far as staying dry was concerned. Now we are a month in, and he still is not requesting to go on his own, unless we are out places. He almost always wants to go in a public place. At home, we really have to watch the clock and take him at least every hour.

In the solid waste category, Owen had a bit more trouble. He didn't want to do it, and seemed terrified of it, even after having a couple of successful trips to the potty. We used some books including "Everyone Poops," "A Potty for Me" and "Where's the Poop?" to help him get more comfortable with the whole idea of it. Popsicles became a big reinforcer, along with an app on my phone called "Wood Puzzle." We also had to remove his lovey toys that he sleeps with when he went in his pants or pull-up at naptime. If he went in the potty, he earned back his toys. We also used kiddie laxatives to make it easier for him to go.....but now after a month of potty training, we are over the hump and he is doing great letting us know when he needs to go. He is going at other places, with babysitters and we are thrilled! And he is very proud of himself.

Daddy sent this picture to show Owen how proud he was after one of Owen's first successful potty trips.

back to school

On August 4, 2011, Lewis started kindergarten! This is him coming out that first day with a picture of a car on his head (because he's a car-rider). He seemed to have a good day, and has been enjoying it so far. He is in a cluster with first and second graders, so that he has different teachers for reading and math and his kindergarten teacher covers writing. He also gets to visit many other special classes like computers, art, music and even Chinese.

Lewis was kind of surprised to see his old friend, Mr. Patrick, back to help out as his instructional assistant. It's pretty convenient to have someone who already knows Lewis helping him through each day. He's also made some "friends" and allows other kids to give hugs or sit with him at lunch.

This boy, Jeremiah, had been helping Lewis reach the soap when he needed to wash hands. We were sad that he transferred to another school a couple weeks ago. Lewis still says, "Jeremiah is at a new school," here or there. Lewis has already been to a friend's birthday party, and we have run into classmates at the fountain recently too. Lewis doesn't tell us much about what is going on at school, but he seems to like it and they all seem to like him too, which is a huge relief for us.

Owen started preschool on August 15, 2011. He had been riding in the van, dropping Lewis off for over a week and was getting frustrated that he couldn't go.

Here is Mrs. Brandy showing him his cubby. He was a little sad that first day, but has gone willingly and sings songs from school and tells me random facts or things his teachers said. Most of it doesn't make lots of sense out of context, but I like that he tries to communicate about his day. He has been a bit of a bear when he does come home, but overall it is going really well, and we know that he is in great hands at PBC.

Phoebe 3 month pics

These pics are from way back when Phoebe hit 3 months old!



She was enjoying belly time in short spurts.

And during bathtime.

And with a host of friends.

lake trip 2011

Justin's family takes a trip to the lake every year (for the last several anyway!) and this year we returned to Center Hill Lake in Tennessee. Here's the highlights in pictures.

Phoebe got to know all the aunts, uncles and cousins, including Shari. She seemed to like them all pretty well.

The boys enjoyed a lot of time on the boat and swimming in the lake. Lewis had a great time, while Owen was running high or low at all times. He missed his nap just about every day because all 5 of us were sleeping in one room and we wanted him to go to sleep quickly instead of his usual concert of preschool hits (with "Firework" thrown in) for a good hour. It worked in that regard, but his attitude was affected negatively at times when he got tired.

Owen's grumpy look.

He also loves the cousins and was excited Olivia came on the boat some.

The boys rode up front with Aunt Jeanne.

Back at the lake house, Grandma had some quality time with Phoebe.

The boys sat on the tube/raft thing.

Justin and Owen relaxing on the porch swing.

Phoebe and Owen.
Our view from the lake. It was lovely, but so hot!! We had a great time. It was nice to get away from reality for a while.

Phoebe starts to play

These photos were imported on July 15th! Shows how behind I am. Phoebe was chunking up a bit (notice her legs!) and starting to show interest in the dangling toys in her pink box.

VBS

We are playing catch up from the summer, starting back in mid July. We took the boys to a short VBS sponsored by the Church on Main. The boys had a great time and recognized some staff from school which made it seem more familiar! The playground was a big hit, including this funny see-saw.


The second night they had the kids act out the nativity story. Lewis agreed to play the part of a wise man. He got to take a gift to baby Jesus.

After Owen saw Lewis dressed up, he decided to participate the next time and got to be Joseph.

They were an antsy bunch, but loved the songs, costumes and crafts.

the pledge

This morning at breakfast, Owen started saying something that soundly oddly familiar. I realized he must be learning the Pledge of Allegiance at school and had him do it again. It needs work, but absolutely cracked me up. Check it out!

boys' stats

Well.....this is not a very exciting post, but our boys are growing, so we wanted to update the stats. Lewis started school last week, and Owen starts next week, so it has been a whirlwind. We were crazy and threw potty training Owen into the schedule this week to make things extra interesting!

More on all of the above later! Here's the latest:

Lewis, age 5:
Weight: 37 lbs.
Height: 40.5"

Owen, age 3:
Weight: 33.5 lbs.
Height: 38.5"

They are really close in size actually. Lewis is still in the 20th percentile which was good news. I'm always afraid he'll drop way down, but he is gaining at a steady pace. Owen is way up there percentile-wise, and doing great. He is even catching onto the potty thing pretty quick, which he should at age 3! He's going on a fairly strict timer still, but keeping dry pants pretty well. Here's hoping having those two in school will give me a bit more time to update the blog.