Alex is 8!

My little boy is getting so big! I remember when we found out we were having a boy. My first thought was "What do you do with a boy?" because we only had girls in our family. Alex has taught me what you do with boys:

• wrestle with them
• try to convince them that you actually know what you are talking about and how they don't know everything
• feed them
• remind them over and over to brush their teeth
• freeze/sweat at soccer games
• spend hours outside playing with balls, riding bikes
• remind him that soccer isn't an inside game
• remind them to wash their hands!!!
• give them a hug and kiss when they skin their knees
• convince them that burping and farting are NOT funny

For his present this year, we decided to give him something he has been wanting for 2 years. We are taking him to the Great Wolf Lodge for a night. It is an indoor water park that is only 5 minutes from our house. I'll post pictures when we get back.

Instead of the traditional birthday cake, we had a chocolate fountain. We had a lot of fun dipping strawberries, cake, marshmallows, pretzels...

It has been a joy to be Alex's mom!

Tweetsie Railroad

We took a day trip to Tweetsie Railroad, a western amusement park build especially for kids. We had a blast. I can't wait until Lindsay can ride more rides. She loved the trains and riding in the cars the best. Watch out world, Alex is at the wheel!

We learned our lesson from the Tilt-a-Whirl. Lindsay does not like twirling around and around. She loved it at first, but it got going too fast and she started signing "all done". I couldn't make it be "all done" so she buried her head in my arm and waited for it to be over. She ran right to Dan when we got off and attached herself to him. She swatted at me when I told her I was sorry and tried to hold her. She eventually forgave me.

Alex is getting old enough to start riding the "big kid" rides. He loved this one even though it made his cheeks hurt.

Lindsay loved riding the train. We are practicing making the "toot toot" sound--always working on those speech skills!

First Day of School '10

I sent two big kids off to school this year. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

Lindsay started at her preschool on Monday. She'll receive all her therapies at the school during the day. She absolutely loves it. She runs into school and doesn't want to leave at the end of the day. At first, we thought we'd be putting her on the bus to and from school, but we decided to enroll her in the before/after school care. It is offered only to Cabarrus Co. School employees so we lucked out!

Alex started school on Wednesday. He is now attending the school in which I work. I've missed being in the same school so it is really nice to see him now and then during the day walking down the hall with his class. He is adjusting well and making friends.

Georgia Aquarium

We took a quick trip down to Atlanta to visit the aquarium. We all loved it.
Lindsay was especially fascinated by the fish.

Lindsay was asleep by the end. She didn't sleep well while in the hotel. She woke up at 2:00 a.m. and only slept on and off until 6:30. Dan and I took shifts wrestling her into the bed. She got to sleep on the way home!

Escape Artist

Recently Lindsay has found another way around those

pesky gates. For awhile she kept getting stuck in the

"moat" between the half wall and the couch but she

learned that if she really kicked her leg up and over, she

could reach the other side. We have since moved the

gate to another location, but she now has access to

the kitchen.

YIKES!

You thought I was sleeping.

Lindsay has been a very difficult napper this

summer. 3 days after school ended, Lindsay

decided that she was going to stop taking naps.

This was not an option.

I had to remove all her toys from her room and

she still found things to "play" with.

Who would have thought that socks and

paper were so much fun?

So everytime I put her to bed, she would immediately

empty her sock drawer and another drawer that had

some birthday cards.

I ended up sitting in her room until she fell asleep

which could take anywhere from 10-45 min.

This is what her room looked like before I started

sitting with her.

That was hard work! Look how exhausted she is.

Little Prankster

One evening, I had to go out to do some errands so I stopped at CVS to pick something up. I was standing in line patiently waiting for my turn to check out, when a woman approached me from behind and asked if I had any children. I thought it was a little odd, but I answered yes. She told me that she thought one of them was probably playing a trick on me and pointed to my bottom. I looked back and peeled a sticker off my shorts. Sure enough, I had a "Wow" sticker right on my back side. I told her that surely my son wouldn't have done something like that.

By the time I reached the car, I started to have second thoughts so I called home and asked to speak to Alex. I asked him about the sticker and he started laughing right away. He told me that he got it at tennis camp and had put it on my bottom while I was walking up the stairs to put Lindsay to bed. That was 5 hours ago! I had been wearing that sticker for most of the day. I was impressed that he went all day waiting for me to find it. Now that's patience!