Kindergarten is Exhausting

Here's how I found Parker during his quiet time after school. Parker is LOVING Kindergarten and somehow it has turned him into a social butterfly. Imagine that! It's definitely wearing him out, though.

Animal Parade

Hello

"My neck is getting pretty strong!"

Brothers That Rest Together...

...stay together. Conway's love of "resting" has been pretty well documented here and here. In fact, several times a day Conway gets Teddy and Sleep Sack (yes, to Conway these are proper nouns) and finds a place to rest. It use to be sort of a silly activity, but these days he actually lays there somewhat calmly for quite a while. Sometimes he does this on his own and sometimes he invites someone else to join him. This time he insisted that he, Teddy, and Sleep Sack needed to rest with Monroe and his stuffed monkey. It was quite the little resting party/brother bonding time. :-) 

The Better To See You With, My Dear

Conway is now the proud wearer of glasses just like his big brother! Parker isn't so sure about them having matching glasses, but I think they both look super handsome.

Sibling Playtime

Nice Shot!

Parker had an audience for this sweet shot.

Conway Starts Preschool!

Conway is pretty excited to now be attending preschool at Little Red Wagon - the school he and I dropped Parker off at every week last year. He of course is not yet in the PreK classroom that Parker was in last year, but he walked in the door to Miss Patty's class that first day as if he really was the boss. One little girl was crying and Conway basically looked at her as if he couldn't understand why in the world anyone would be sad to go to school. Empathy might be a skill we work on with Conway this year. :-) When I picked him up he was full of smiles, but he did say, "I missed you and Papa" and he wanted to go home and "rest with Teddy and sleep sack." Love this little/big guy! 

Parker Starts Kindergarten!

Parker is now in Ms. Goodin's Kindergarten class at Coe Elementary School! He did great being dropped off on his first day and when I picked him up he was all smiles. He said he got sad and cried once because he missed us, but besides that he only had good things to say about the day. He has also mentioned on a number of occasions since starting school that "Blake is my best friend in the whole school", a type of phrase that I've never heard from him before. Somehow just a few days of Kindergarten have made Parker sound so much more grown up to me. I can't quite explain it. He is definitely exhausted by the end of the day, though. One day this week he was playing downstairs after school and when I went to check on him I found him asleep on the couch. He's growing up fast, but he'll always be our little Parker.

{Walking to school with Papa}

{Posing with Coe Cougar, the school mascot}

{Waving goodbye to his friend Brooke as they head into their respective classes}

{Conway rested on the couch after his big brother left for school}

{Enjoying an ice cream treat after school to celebrate this special day}

P.S. First Day of School - 2015

Monroe Is 3 Months Old

Monroe has reminded me that 2.5 to 3 months old is a wonderful age. He smiles basically any time you look at him and laughs a lot now too. In fact, his first laugh was with/at his Great Grandma Lois at her 90th birthday party. She smiled and said hi to him and out of the blue he burst into giggles. It was beautiful! Parker has figured out that Monroe's armpits are ticklish and he loves making him laugh by tickling him. Conway pretty much seems to think that touching Monroe while making funny sounds will tickle him and make him laugh - Not always too effective, but pretty cute to watch.

His eyes are always so big and bright and alert now. He seems to really love watching everything going on around him...and with too older brothers there is generally a lot going on. Monroe isn't yet reaching out and grabbing things on his own, but he does enjoy laying in his little play gym and looking at the toys hanging above him. He moves a lot and he seems fascinated that the toys start moving every time he bumps them. Monroe has also found his voice recently and he has a lot to say. He babbles at his toys and to us and even to himself it seems. It's quite fun to listen to...until he starts to voice his displeasure. The flip can switch pretty quickly sometimes.

His schedule is even more predictable than it was a month ago, which is really helpful with both Parker and Conway starting school. Here is his current schedule...  

8:00               wake, eat

9:30 - 11:30    sleep then eat

1:00 - 3:00      sleep then eat

4:30 - 6:00      sleep then eat

7:30                jammies, eat, sleep

10:30ish          dream feed, back to bed

And he's still waking on his own sometime between 3:30 and 6:30, eating, and then going back to sleep until 8ish. The one major change in Monroe's sleep is that he is no longer in our room at night. He has been napping in his own room for some time and now he's sleeping in there at night too. Yay!

Some things haven't changed, though. He still looks just like Parker as a baby. He still has lots of adorable baby rolls. And he's still super cute. Yep, he's a keeper!

P.S. Parker is 3 Months Old, Conway is 3 Months Old, Monroe is 2 Months Old,

Monroe is 1 Month Old

Labor Day in Chelan

We snuck in one last late summer trip to Chelan and it was short and sweet. Of course we partook in the usual activities, but we had new visitors with us on this trip. Uncle Damo is a Maison Rouge veteran, but Grandma Connie and Great Grandma Lois made the long drive in order to join us for their inaugural visit. The only thing that may have made the trip better would have been a longer stay for all of us. Our one full day there, though, was perfect: biking, pickle ball, and playground fun followed by pool time in the morning; lunch, naps, and a run for David mid-day; snacks on the porch and then beach time and hot-tubbing in the afternoon; a delicious dinner made by Uncle Damo that everyone (including the kids) couldn't get enough of and then s'mores in the evening; exhausted kids that fall asleep promptly after being tucked in and then drinks and good conversation for the adults. All in all, a perfect Chelan day. 

And here are the pics... 

{Monroe is not impressed with the selfie}

{Eating grapes off the vines surrounding our house}

{Look! A bug!}

{I sleep in a closet}

{Parker loves to push Uncle Damo into the pool}

{And of course Conway copied Parker by pushing in Grandma Connie}

{Family of five playing pickle ball. Can you spot the ball?}

{Ball collector}

{So cold!}