Kings Dominion

Over Labor Day weekend, we decided to take a day trip to Kings Dominion!  In the past, Dan and Tyler had gone alone, or we had all traveled to Richmond, but Brady and I had hung out with my friend Vanessa and her kids for the day.  Vanessa was out of town over Labor Day, and we thought Brady was old enough to experience an amusement park.  Since he was asleep when we arrived though, I dropped Dan and Tyler off so they could enjoy the whole day at the park.  Brady and I drove a bit more so he could sleep, stopped for lunch, and did a little shopping, before going to the park at around 3.  Brady and I spent about four hours in the park.  We went on an airplane ride, swings, and one other ride.  I think he liked the games the best!  Tyler and Dan went on many fun rides together, and we loved walking around the park together toward the end of our stay.  Brady started to get really tired, so we headed to the car at around 7.  He fell asleep the second he was in his car seat!

This was Tyler's pouty face when he found out that Brady had played multiple games.  He said, "I only got to play one game."  We explained to him that Brady only got to go on three rides, while Tyler got to go on many more than that!

You just knew Brady's ice cream cone was going to end up falling all over him!  Thankfully I made it over to a trash can in time, but a lady who passed us yelled, "Ma'am!  His cone!  It's going to fall!"  He looked like he had a little ice cream goatee and managed to even get ice cream on his hat!

Tyler's first homework assignment in third grade was to perform different random acts of kindness throughout the long weekend.  He decided to drop a dollar near the entrance of the park, along with a note letting the person who found the dollar to know that they could keep it!  Brady and I actually experienced a random act of kindness at the park as well.  We waited in a very long line for food (thankfully inside with the air conditioning running!)  When we reached the woman working the cash register, I asked how she was doing, and she said that I was the first person who had asked her how she was doing all day.  (It was 5 pm and you can only imagine how many people she had interacted with that day.)  She gave us our $21 lunch for free!

Tyler was so excited to see this butterfly land on Brady's stroller.  It stayed there for quite awhile!

Brady loved this game so much!!

A Brady Update

We are amazed by the progress Brady has made since starting speech over the summer, and then preschool in August!  He now goes to speech twice a week and school three times a week, and he has become quite chatty at home, which we love!  Unfortunately, every time he starts "talking" really clearly, and I run to get my camera or phone to take a video, he tends to go silent.  I am determined to get better videos eventually!  We know he can say, "mama", "no", and "hi".  Recently he said, "hat", "hey", "horse", "car" and "hush".  Here are the words he has been saying consistently, over and over again...

Ty Ty (for his big brother, Tyler, which warms our heart!)

"ouse" for "house" (while playing with his toy house)

"us" for "bus" (when he sees a picture of a bus in one of his books)

"all" for "ball" (when he throws a ball)

out (especially when we park at Target!)

dada (we know he can say mama too but he hasn't said it in a while!)

ow (when he gets an ouchie...so sad!)

ice (for popsicle or a picture of an ice cream truck)

ush for "push" (before he pushes the button in his book)

We are trying to transition him to taking shorter naps, with the hope that eventually, he won't take naps at all anymore, and he'll have a consistent bedtime. Some days this works out fine, and others, not so much!  We want him going to sleep earlier at night so that he isn't too tired at preschool!  On speech days, he will take a car nap, but on other days it can be difficult to get him to go to sleep.  I'm hoping with the cooler weather coming, I can take him out in the stroller to help him fall asleep.  One day this week he was up after preschool (and cranky!) from noon until almost nine and I had him on my own for eight of those hours.  It was rough!  He wanted to go outside over and over again, to play with the mulch, the recycle bin, and the trash can (and to spy on the neighbors!)  He continues to be a wild climber.  I keep rearranging the furniture in hopes of preventing him from climbing.  We now have two locks on each baby gate, three locks on the deck door, and both chains and locks on the two doors on the first floor that lead outside.  My dad even had to move the button that opens the garage door, because Brady discovered that he was finally tall enough to do it himself!  

He is so cute walking home from school with his backpack on, then sitting and taking off his shoes and socks.  He has started to hang up his backpack on the laundry door, which is so adorable!  He still likes to watch Sing and Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, and we are loving all of the hugs he is giving us, and (for me) the pats on the head!  The other day we were returning home from speech, and he saw my mom walking towards us.  He took off running and jumped into her arms, and it was so, so cute to see.  He has always been a major cuddle bug, but lately he is so much more affectionate with his loved ones!  I love when he runs over to me when he is done with his speech session, and when he sees me after preschool.  Dan still handles the preschool drop off, which works out well!  I think that Brady's favorite part of every day is when Daddy gets home from work, and he gets to sit with him in the mustang!  :-)

We can't believe that in less than three months, he will be four years old!

Brady recently had a playdate with his friends, Milton & Ella!  Seeing him with friends makes me SO happy!

Brady has been clapping for himself, which is SO cute!!

Is he saying, "us" for "bus" in this next two videos?

Is he saying "car"?  Brady's speech teacher thought she heard him say "car" during his session this past week!

He was saying, "ice" a lot this summer!  He would say it when eating his popsicles or when he saw a picture of an ice cream truck!

The First Day of School

We were very excited for Tyler to have his first day of third grade, and for Brady to have his first day of preschool!  We were nervous for Brady, though, because he had never spent such a long time with people he didn't know, and we knew he would be upset.  It wasn't a perfect day, but thankfully everything went better than I expected.  I was up way too early, and Brady was too.  When I knew he probably wanted to go back to sleep, it was time to leave for school.  His teachers said he did cry a bit, and then he fell asleep, but he didn't cry or sleep as long as we expected.  When I picked him up four hours later, he was happy, and I was so excited to see him.  We played at home for a bit, made a Starbucks run, then he was ready for a nap.  Then it was time to pick up Tyler, who had a great first day of third grade!  :-)

Both boys did a great job posing for their first day of school photos, and I just love the photo of them on our front step!  (Brady definitely looked a little confused about what was going on!)  Seeing them both walking to school with Dan with their backpacks on, was so cute.  :-)