Naptime and "Aahhh. Mimis"

Last weekend, Dustin and I were debating who was going to put Reagan in bed for her nap. So we jokingly asked Peyton to do Reagan's nap routine. Surprisingly, he agreed, and, more surprisingly, so did Reagan. He took her by the hand and walked her into her room. The two of them climbed into her rocker, and Peyton took out a book. Then he asked Mommy and Daddy to leave and close the door. We played along and stood outside the door to listen. Peyton "read" the book to her and then said, "Okay, time to get in bed." We hear shuffling. Then we hear the lamp click off. Peyton walks out of the room and shuts the door. For several minutes, not a sound came from her room. My curiosity got the best of me and I tried to sneak a peak in the room. Reagan was in her crib! Of course, she looked up when she heard the door opening and insisted that I come rock her. I think she really would have gone to sleep if I had not gone in there! I have seen her climb into her crib by herself before, so I think she did that. Of course, it would not surprise me if Peyton gave her a little boost! :) Tonight she wanted "Peyton read" at bedtime, but Peyton was "unavailable" and she had to settle for Mommy.

Reagan has found a new way to manipulate Mommy and Daddy at bedtime. If Dustin starts her bedtime routine, she insists, "Mommy read! Mommy read!" If I start her bedtime routine, she screams, "Daddy read! Daddy read!" So now, we just decide who will be putting her in bed and then the other one goes to tell her its bedtime.

In an earlier blog, I wrote that Peyton has been "burbing" on purpose and then saying "'scuse me." Now Reagan has picked up on that game. She says "Aahhhh" in a rough voice and then "Mimis" (her version of "excuse me"). If you didn't know what she was doing, you wouldn't understand her. Yesterday, we were at the pediatrician's to get flu vaccines. Another mom in the waiting room started talking to Reagan saying things like, "What a cute little girl! You are just a doll! I love your pretty curly hair!" This went on for a few seconds. Reagan finally looked at the woman and went (in a broken voice), "Aaahhhhh. Mimis."

Updates

After one week of school, we have all settled into our new weekday routines. The kids are still enjoying school and learning a lot! Reagan actually took a nap on her napmat today for the first time! She has brought home a few cute craft projects. Peyton's class has started working on "star" words (high frequency words). He has brought home short beginning reader books the last two days. It's so awesome to listen to him read them! For the first time, he is really starting to pay close attention to the text and not just the pictures. His class has a behavior chart with 5 colors (gold, pink, green, orange, teal). The students begin the day with a name clip on green. They can either move up to pink or gold for having a great day, or they move their clip down to orange or teal for needing to make better choices. Today Peyton got to move his clip up to pink! He was very proud of himself and we are very proud of him! He still doesn't like circle time very much because "I have to sit still and be quiet and listen."

Peyton had a follow-up visit with his surgeon on Monday. His "boo-boo" has healed nicely, and no more visits are necessary!

Reagan's enunciation is improving every day. Today she pointed to a picture of Peyton and said, "Peyton" very clearly. Yesterday Dustin stepped between her and the TV and she said, "Get out of the way!" She likes to watch "Alby Cake" (Strawberry Shortcake) and Care Bears. Whenever we start to laugh about something she says, "Sssooo funny!"

If the rain ever stops, I will have Peyton's soccer news to blog about. We haven't been about to play outside in about 10 days! The swing set is looking very lonely!

Peyton and Reagan Meet Elmo

For some free family fun today, we took the kids to meet Elmo at a My Gym open house. Peyton was excited - not as excited as he was to meet Bob & Larry - but he still looked forward to the event! He kept wanting to know if Elmo was going to talk to him. Reagan actually reacted better to Elmo than she did to Bob & Larry. She let a My Gym employee hold her and then set her in Elmo's lap. After the picture, Reagan even gave Elmo a kiss on the nose and then blew him kisses as we walked away. We spent the next hour playing on all the fun gym equipment - trampolines, slides, a ball pit, rock wall, uneven bars, balance beam, and tons of things to climb on. More pics in Fall 09.

The First Day of School

Peyton and Reagan are officially back in school! Peyton more than ready to get out the door this morning! We took Reagan to her classroom first. She did great until she realized Mommy was leaving. Then, as Peyton puts it, "she started screaming her head off!". The end of the day report was that she settled down quickly and was very chatty all day. Apparently, she loves school so much that she didn't want to miss any of it and therefore didn't take a nap today!

Peyton got to ride the elevator upstairs to his classroom. As we were walking hand in hand down the hall, he slowed down a bit and said, "Mommy, I'm a little scared." But as soon as we got to the door, he went right on in and started checking the place out. The lego table caught his attention immediately! He has 10 kids in his class total, 4 others were in his class last year. He also had a great first day! On the way home from school, I asked him what he favorite part of TK was. "The tunnel legos." And his least favorite part... "circle time".

Mommy's first official day of school is tomorrow.

Reagan's First Days of Preschool

2008 - Age 1, Kids' Day Out (CCBC)

2009 - Age 2, Kids' Day Out (CCBC)

Peyton's First Days of Preschool

2005 - Age 1, Crosspoint Mother's Day Out

2006 - Age 2, Kid Care Kids' Day Out (CCBC)

2007 - Age 3, Kids' Day Out (CCBC)

2008 - Age 4, Preschool (CCBC)

2009 - Age 5, Transitional Kindergarten (CCBC)

Grandparents' Visit and Peyton's First Trip to the Hospital

Grandma and Grandpa came in last Friday evening to spend the weekend with us. Friday was also their 44th wedding anniversary. We met them at the Outback and enjoyed a yummy dinner, and then we came home and had anniversary cake!

On Saturday, we spent a lazy morning at home. That afternoon we took Grandpa to the Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine to get some new hunting and work boots. The kids had a blast there looking at the huge indoor aquarium (with catfish bigger than Reagan!) and the indoor stream complete with bridge. After dinner at Cracker Barrel, we headed home.

Peyton had a very restless night that night, and ended up in our bed at 2 am - not to sleep another wink the whole night. He was on antibiotics for an insect bite which had gotten infected. By Sunday morning, the abscess looked horrible and Peyton started running a slight temperature, so we decided that he needed to go to the ER. Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa were able to stay at home with Reagan.

At the ER, the doctor immediately determined that the abscess needed to be surgically drained, a process usually done on adults with mild sedation. However, this procedure is usually done on kids when they are under complete anesthesia. They decided to start an IV for antibiotics and fluids. That was the worst part of the entire experience. It took 3 nurses and four tries before someone was finally able to get the needle into his little arm. By the final try, 5 adults were having to hold him down. Not fun times at all. Peyton recovered from that trauma pretty quickly when he learned he was going to get to ride in a wheelchair to go upstairs. They admitted us into a hospital room to make Peyton as comfortable as possible. Grandpa made a trip up to the ER to bring Peyton his beloved animals and blue dots blanket.

We spent most of the day just hanging out in the hospital room. At some point, Peyton said, "This is not a fun day!" Peyton watched movies, and told everyone who entered the room, "Don't give me sharp things!" Fortunately, no one else had to. Peyton's pediatrician was on-call that day, so he was able to come in a see Peyton. He was finally taken into surgery late in the afternoon.

The surgery only lasted about 15 minutes. He was away from us for only about 30 minutes in all - and he was already asleep when they had to roll him into surgery. We were able to be in the recovery room before he woke up. Peyton came out of the anesthesia really well. He was alert and talking coherently within a minute of opening his eyes.

We went back to our room for a few hours so Peyton could be monitored. He got to eat a popsicle, grilled chese sandwich and a brownie. We finally got to leave the hospital around 10 pm - 12 hours after arriving!

Peyton was a great patient! He cooperated well, even though he wasn't always sure of what was going on. He loved the bed in the hospital room - we almost wore it out going up and down and up and down. Apparently, the entire experience didn't traumatize him too much - he has played "hospital" with his animals all day today!

Reagan spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa, and had so much fun, she probably didn't even realize the rest of her family wasn't at home!

Today was Grandpa's birthday! We spent the morning at home, recovering from the hospital stay the day before! We had lunch at The Great Outdoors and then came home for ice cream cake! Unfortunatly, Grandma and Grandpa had leave after that to catch their flight.

To make up for Peyton's trip to the hospital yesterday, we took him and Reagan to Chuck E Cheese tonight. They both had a blast, and the trip to the hospital is an ancient memory!

Comments of the Week

Reagan: "I gowen to Target." (after putting on her sandals)
Mommy: "What are you going to get at Target?"
Reagan: "I gonna get horseeee!"

Peyton: "Do spiders help Spider Man make his webs?"

Mommy: "Reagan, you need to learn how to use the potty."
Reagan: "Noooo..... I don't."

Peyton: "Is love a really big like?"

Peyton: "What do people say 'Good night' to other people? And what happens if you don't sleep tight?"

Peyton (to Reagan): "I don't drink caffeine. Caffeine makes you stay up all night and have nightmares, so I don't drink it. Do you understand?"
Reagan: "Nooooo..... I don't."

Peyton: "I want to have whiskers on my chin. I want to look like Daddy."