Lessons in US Geography

Peyton has a place mat with a map of the United States on it. He's really learning a lot about what the United States looks like, but it's becoming a little distracting when we want him to finish his meal! He can easily identify Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Georgia. For Georgia he says, "That's where the wedding was" and "It takes a long time to get there." Massachusetts is taking him a little longer to learn. He can locate where we live in Texas, and he can find the Nueces River, which is close to where Grandma and Grandpa live. At least several times during every meal, he points to a state and asks, "Who libs (lives) here?" Sometimes he'll point to the Gulf or an ocean and say, "Nobody libs on the water."

Peyton has also realized that he can "make letters on the compuper" (not a typo - that's how he says it). We open up a word document for him and he sits and types "names" (mostly his). He can almost get it just right; he's usually a letter short.

Reagan's News

Poor little Reagan has had a nasty cold since Monday morning. She is no longer running a fever, but is still congested. Peyton had a similar cold last week, but it wasn't nearly as bad. Reagan definitely is not her happy self these days! She cries every time she sneezes or coughs. She's been sleeping a lot more than usual, so, hopefully the extra rest will help her to get over it soon!

On another note, we have noticed that Reagan is using her left hand more than her right one. She uses her left hand to point, and she's been holding her fork or spoon with her left hand.

Dinosaur Camp and Other Notes

On Friday, Peyton wrapped up his week at Dinosaur Camp. He really had a fun time and made a friend Jacob (who he called Pikey for some reason). He told me, "I don't want to have a last day at Dinosaur Camp." He is pictured above with a few things he made - a dinosaur sock puppet, a painted plaster dinosaur, a dinosaur egg, and "fossil" imprints in clay. They also colored pictures of dinosaurs everyday and made a dinosaur bones picture out of macaroni.

Reagan threw her first real temper tantrum this week. I took something away from her and put it on the counter so she couldn't reach it. She immediately squeezed her eyes together, opened her mouth, and "fake cried" as loud as she could. It was definitely an "I am very mad" cry! She now knows good and well when she is doing something she is not supposed to do. She quickly does the offense and then goes running away as fast as she can. For example, she'll turn on the water in the garden tub in our bathroom and then will take off back into the living room, leaving the water going at full blast. She'll also tear off a little piece of toilet paper and then will take off into the closet and attempt to eat it.

We went to our neighborhood pool last night with some friends. Peyton still does not like to go into the "deep" water (he calls it the "down water"). He clings to us as tight as he can. He did, however, have a really good time playing a version of Duck, Duck, Goose with Will's little sister Lauren on the pool steps. Ironically, Peyton got really into watching Olympic swimming today. He even attempted to dive in the bathtub the way the swimmers were diving into the pool. Fortunately, he quickly realized a move like that wouldn't turn out so well in the bathtub.

We had dinner at Chili's tonight, and Reagan began using a fork to feed herself. She loves playing with utensiles, so Dustin started putting cinnamon apples on the end of a fork and then handing it to her. She did a really good job of getting it in her mouth. We splurgged on a chocolate moulten cake after dinner. As Peyton was shoveling his share (and then some) into his mouth, he said, "Reagan won't like this cake because it's too hot. It might burn her mouth." It's nice that he's starting to look out for his little sister ;)

Speaking of burns, Reagan almost burned her hands on the oven door this week as I was taking baked potatoes out of the oven. Fortunately, I think her hands just brushed again the door. She cried but not for very long. And her hands didn't appear red. She is so curious wheneven I'm working in the kitchen. She always was to see (and be a part of) what I'm doing.

Dustin made up a little chant for Reagan. He says "Miss Ti-ny, Miss Ba-by, Miss Rea-gan" in a sing-song voice. Peyton has picked it up and now "sings" it to Reagan too.

As Peyton was eating his afternoon snack one day this week, he commented, "My Daddy is the best Daddy in the whole world."

Last night Peyton said, "I want to go up to the moon. I want to fly up there." When I asked him what he would do on the moon, he said, "I will just sit on it." He also said that God needs to make the sky down low so he can touch it.

Peyton has told us that he wants an upstairs in our house. I told him that maybe our next house will have an upstairs. "And it will have an elevator, too, " he added. We were walking though the neighborhood last night and passed one of the two-story houses. He pointed to it and said, "That's our next house wight there."

On our way to church last Sunday, Peyton said, "We forgot to bring my Bible to church." (We have never had him take a Bible to church before. We don't know if someone in his class brings one or if he just sees us with our Bible.) Tonight we got out one of his Bibles and made sure his name was in it. We put it out on the table so we won't forget to take it church tomorrow.

We've started looking at Halloween costumes on-line and in maganizes. So far the only one Peyton is interested in at all is - can you guess? - Larry the Cucumber! He won't even discuss other options.

Grandma and Grandpa Need a House on Wheels

Tonight as I was putting Peyton to bed, he brought up Grandma and Grandpa's house. He said, "It takes a long time to get there." Then he said, "They need to move it by my house so it will take a short time to get there."

Reagan's 12 Month Check-up

Reagan got another great report from her 12 month check-up today. She weighs 21 lbs 5 oz (46 %) and is 28 3/4 inches tall (28%). She was her typical happy self for the doctor and nurses until it was time for shots! :( Fortunately, that was over with very quickly! In the exam room, the exam table is against the wall with mirror over it. Reagan stood on the table and put her face against the mirror for the longest time. She would squeal with excitement and try to give the mirror kisses! I don't know if she knew that she was looking at herself or if she thought it was another baby, but it was really cute to watch!

Peyton's Observations About the Weather

After 12 (at least) straight days of over 100 degree temperatures, Peyton said, "It's warm and hot outside."

Notes from Today

Peyton had a fever last night, so his missed his first day of Dinosaur Camp today. He also woke up this morning with his first sore and scratchy throat. His poor little voice sounded so pitful! As usual, his illness didn't slow him down too much! He and Reagan had such a good time together today that I'm not very disappointed about him missing a day of camp. They played side by side in the playroom for a really long time this morning - probably about a hour with no fussing at all! Then Peyton decided that he wanted to play elevator (the utility room). He would ask Reagan, "Want to wide the elevator wif me, Weagan?" She would follow him into the utility and they would "ride" with Elmo in the play shopping cart. Peyton finished his lunch before Reagan today and played for a while in the family room. After a few minutes he said, "I want Weagan to be all done wif lunch so she will come play wif me."

Reagan's new favorite thing to do is to rock in one of the two kid-size rocking chairs in front of our fireplace. She climbs up, turns around, sits down, puts her hands on the arm rests, and rocks gently back and forth. It's really sweet, and I'll try to get a video of it soon.

Golf

Peyton is becoming more and more interested in golf on tv these days. This afternoon, he wanted Daddy to make a "real golf hole" in the back yard, so Dustin dug a little hole for him to putt into. As Peyton was practicing his putting, he told Dustin, "One day people will watch me on the tv playing with the golf ball."