Firsts

We continue to go to story time most Thursdays. The library received new toys for the kids. They have these raised play surfaces. One of them is for trains, another for Legos, and a third one for wooden sticks and circles. I was looking for books and Rubix got really quite. When I peeked around the corner he was inside the storage container smiling away. He is so cute! 

Rubix is almost entirely on dairy now. I still have him drinking Lactaid or lactose free milk. Since we have gone to full fat milk he is sleeping through the night 50% of the time. He is also eating by himself 75% or more of the time. He even manages to use a spoon! He is opposed with pumpkins right now. I really need to record his cute voice. 

He is also mastering his ball handling skills both with his hands and feet. Here is a cute video of him dribbling the ball at the park last week. 

 Phoenix started swinging on her own last week.  She finally got the lean and pumping down and now she is unstoppable. She wants to swing almost the entire time we are at the park. I love seeing it because I loved the swings so much when I was her age.

I spent 6 hours in Phoenix's classroom last Friday and I will do the same thing tomorrow. I am amazed at the dynamic of her class and a little disappointed that things aren't a little easier. I mentioned before there are 22 boys in her class and they have a couple who require extra needs. The entire class except the two boys had to go outside because of their behavioral issues. Luckily, the teacher improvised and they did circle time outside, but it was difficult for the kids to concentrate being outside. I plan on talking with the principle about providing some assistance so the teachers can teach and the kids who want to goof off can sit in the office. We will see what happens. I am looking forward to seeing how things go tomorrow. 

One year ago my mom planned for Shannon, her and I to spend a weekend together getting pampered in Calistoga. We didn't quite make it an entire weekend because of all our little ones, but we had an amazing 24 hours together. Here we are having a mud bath. Yes, weird, but we laughed so hard, it will be a great memory for years to come. 

After the mud bath we had massages and soaked in the mineral pool. We then headed back and got ready for dinner. We went to Healdsburg for dinner and had a delicious meal together. 

Shannon and I split a cucumber martini and the tapas we shared were scrumptious. 

I am so glad we were able to spend the time together. We plan on trying to spend a weekend together every year with each year bringing a new adventure!

Axel started flute lessons 1 month ago. He has had 4 lessons and now he can play Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb. He is catching on pretty quickly. I am excited that maybe we will be able to play a couple of Christmas carols together this year. I do hope he continues to enjoy it and plays for a few years atleast.

The fires are so sad. We have had unbelievable poor air quality and my heart feels so heavy for all of the thousands of people who have lost their homes and businesses. With the Las Vegas Massacre, the 4 hurricanes and the 2 earthquakes and now the fires I just keep praying that God's glory will shine through this all and that the hope of his name will carry people to trust in Him.

We have another event filled weekend, but have to wait and see if we will be able to do our outdoor adventures because of the air quality. Until next time....

Heat Wave! Rubix comes down with croup!

We have had another week of nearly ninety or ninety degree weather. The great thing about the heat wave this late in the year is that despite how hot it gets during the day it always cools off at night. The cool nights alone have been a blessing. 

Last Thursday I captured a few pictures of Rubix and Phoenix. Here is one of Rubix playing with the trains. I love this picture because I believe I have a similar picture of Axel and Phoenix doing the same thing.

 I love being a mom. That means if I am rolling out my legs, the kids need to play with the roller. It also means when I am hungry and eating something, they not only want the same thing, they want what I am eating. I think it is the greatest thing on earth to learn what it means to be selfless and I don't think I would have ever really learned what it meant without having children. Only through my wonderful kids have I had to give up what I am drinking, eating or wearing despite how thirsty, hungry, or cold I may have been. :)

 Last Friday we had family movie night. The kids are watching some Lego and friends movie. I absolutely loved their facial expressions so I had to capture a photo. Phoenix looks focused, Axel concerned and Rubix looks intrigued. Love it!

Rubix is so funny. On one hand he wants to be a big kid, but on the other hand he is still a big baby. He can feed himself, but often he wants to be held and fed, especially before bed. I love how much Rubix is in love with Daddy. All day long he asks where Daddy is when he is with me. "Daddy work", he now says back with me. :)

I am so pleased that all of the kids appear to love books. Rubix really wants to be doing what the big kids are doing, which includes sitting on his chair reading books. 

I love seeing the boys love on each other. Axel was trying to be helpful and read to Rubix, but Rubix really wanted to read his own book. It ended up with Axel telling him how silly he was and the two had a good laugh. 

 On Saturday we finally had the privilege to hike the flat 1.5 mile trail from Black Road to the lake that we went to earlier this summer. The entrance to the flat trail was flooded from all of the rains and it finally opened last month. It was a nice cool morning. Everyone was dressed appropriately except Axel. We have had to start learning lessons the hard way. I gave him two opportunities before leaving to grab warm clothes, but he choose to ignore . Instead he had to reap the consequence of being cold for nearly 40 minutes before the sun broke through and it warmed up enough to be comfortable without a sweatshirt.

Rubix did a great job of sitting in the stroller for the 40 minutes it took to get to the lake on the way out. Once we let him do some "hiking" at the lake he refused to get back in the stroller. Phoenix wasn't feeling well so she ended up using the stroller on the way back while I or Keith tried to keep Rubix walking or carried him when he stopped to admire the flowers, water and trees. 

 On Sunday, we enjoyed hanging out at the house and park. Like I mentioned last week, Phoenix has been very interested in learning. She is constantly wanting to practice her letters or writing. Here she wrote Go This Way with the chalk. I am very impressed at how neat her writing is and how she knows most of the letters by heart. The ones she isn't sure about I give a quick description and she is able to write it.

 Rubix is loving the scooter. He constantly wants to ride it. Keith and I just find it funny that he doesn't want to try to push it on his own, but waits for us to push him around. He is very demanding now and will tell you, "WANT", "GO"!

 I forgot to mention during the last post that Rubix has his front 8 teeth and his first year molars are progressing nicely. He recently slept through the night 3 nights in a row before coming down with a very bad case of croup. On Thursday he was a little less active, but still happy as you can see in the picture and video below. I really had no idea that he was sick. By Thursday night he could hardly breath. After holding him for 4 hours in the recliner to help him breath, Keith urged me to take him to the ER. I was a little hesitant because we had an appointment scheduled for him at 10 am, but I am really glad that we went. We left the house about 3:30 am and were blessed with no line. Rubix was receiving oral steroids and a breathing treatment of steroids within a couple of hours. His horribly loud and raspy breathing at rest finally calmed down as the significant inflammation in his trachea calmed down. He slept on me from 6 to 7 am and was finally released to go home at 9 am. Apparently, there can be a rebound inflammation after receiving steriods so they needed to monitor him for a few hours before releasing him. Last night was a bit rough, but he made it until 3:30 am in his crib before he had to be held the rest of the night. His cough sounds absolutely horrible, but Keith and I keep reminding each other that his breathing at rest is much better. I do hope that his cough completely resolves soon.

Here is a super cute video of Rubix climbing up the slide and sliding down. I am working on capturing a video of him jumping as he finally mastered his jump. He is loving all of his new skills. 

Yesterday was a bummer for Axel because he had a day off school. Instead of having fun adventures, he had to deal with me taking care of Rubix and running Rubix to and from appointments as we had a follow up with his pediatrician yesterday afternoon. 

I hope to also catch a video of Mr. Axel playing the flute. He is starting to become more consistent with making a sound. Today I taught him hot cross buns. I felt that he might be more motivated if he actually had a song to play instead of just notes. I do believe it worked, because he practiced for over half an hour and said he wants to practice tomorrow too. It would be awesome if he goes to his flute lesson on Monday able to play it. 

Axel Loses his 3rd tooth, Rubix gets stung by a bee and Pheeny's loves to learn!

Last Sunday after naptime we headed to mini golf. It was a beautiful day. Here are the three kiddos before heading to the first whole.

 And there off! Here are the kids at the first hole. We played surprisingly quickly despite how busy it was.

 Rubix was really into using the club to hit the ball, initally......until he realized he could throw the ball into the hole!

 Phoenix was pretty accurate and hit the ball well when she held the club correctly. She got 2 strokes at a couple of holes!

 Axel was Axel and tried at a couple of holes, otherwise he was just doing his own thing having fun.

 Axel's two front teeth have been loose since the beginning of June. He has been working on his top front right tooth for a couple of weeks as it was no longer painful to move around. Well, Sunday night while in bed he felt it get really loose. He yelled for us and he came out of bed and pulled it right off.

 He was really excited. The top left tooth is also loose. We will see how long it takes for it to come out. I think the bottom teeth were a couple of weeks apart so I wouldn't be surprised if Axel will be singing about his two front teeth for Halloween!

 Yesterday when I went to pick up Rubix from daycare he had a really fat bottom lip. Angela said that she saw he batting at his lip with his hands and she found a stinger in it and the bee flying next to him. She was able to get the stinger out and put ice on it. Apparently, he had a great day despite a fat lip and ate and slept like nothing was wrong.

 For as tough as he can be at times, Rubix does not like to be told that he can't do something, or have something taken away from him. Here is a picture of him upset that we took a big rock away from him as he was throwing it at Daddy's car. He often throws a little tantrum and rolls around on the floor and bangs his head against the floor. It is really cute, despite the way it sounds. I always ask him if he needs a hug or kiss and he stands up and gives me or whoever is around him a hug and kiss to comfort him.

 Phoenix is loving to learn! She wants to work on numbers and letters and she loves the old work books that Axel had, but didn't finish. Daddy and I are having so much fun playing/ teaching/ learning with her. Her favorite book is the Scholastic Kindergarten book that Gma Sonia and Gpa Bruce gave to Axel. She also likes the Kindergarten Brain Games.  I am looking forward to volunteering in Pheeny's classroom the first two Fridays in October.

Rubix is 18 months old!

Since Phoenix has started school, she often lets me do her hair. She was inspired by Gma Susan from a visit last year where she placed multiple pony tail holders in her hair. She remembered this and asked me to put 5 different hair bands, as she calls them, in her hair. 

 You may notice after her hair was done she decided that she needed to change her outfit. We were a little late to school, but luckily the first 30 minutes is play time before the academic portion starts so we don't have to rush to get there. This is a great transition for her because she actually cares how she is dressed and looks.

 It was a little lonely for Rubix and I after dropping Phoenix off at school on Sept. 1st. It was our first day with a 6 hour alone time together. We decided to go to the park. We had over 2 hours of fun before heading home for lunch and nap time. It works out a bit better as Phoenix gets out at 2:15 pm, instead of 1:15 pm like Axel did when he was in the program 4 years ago.

 We have had heat wave after heat wave. While Axel was at swim/ water polo practice a couple of Saturdays ago I took Phoenix and Rubix to Jack Fischer Park. The water structure turned on at 10 am because it was so hot out. Here is Mr. Rubix trying to drink the water again. He was such a bad influence as the other kids attempt the same thing once they see him doing it. I felt bad because initially I thought it was cute, but then had to manage to get him to stop trying to drink it! I can't imagine how unclean the water is that is coming out.

 We have been going to the pool in the afternoons to stay cool as well.

 Since after nap time it has been too hot to go outside for extended periods of time.

 Axel has been eating more and more. He is doing the meal plan at Harker and is eating his lunch every day. He has had chicken curry, tomato soup and grilled cheese, burritos, fish and chips, etc. We are so proud of him for trying and eating everything. The crazy thing is at home he is still eating a lot for dinner, even after eating a more wholesome meal for lunch, than the sandwich that he use to eat. And to top off eating a good dinner he then has a bowl of cereal every day right before bed. Here is the biggest bowl of cereal he has ever had. If you are wondering, yes, he consumed the entire bowl!

 On Saturdays we sometimes bring the kids to kids club. Axel was very proud of his creations below.

 The kids are growing up so quickly. Axel and Phoenix mostly take showers now. But Rubix, never wants to be left out. Usually, the kids take separate showers because they don't always get along, but this was one of those cute moments where Rubix was suppose to take a bath, but all three kids somehow ended up in the shower together having a blast while getting clean!

 On Sept. 7th, Axel had his first full dress day where he had to where pants and his sweater. It was for picture day! He looks very handsome. Luckily, the 90+ degree weather went away for a couple of days allowing the kids to handle wearing all of these clothes!

 Phoenix was begging to go to school all 5 days, however, after some explaining she is content on having a mommy day on Thursdays and sticking with the 3 days per week of school for now. She is such a hoot. "Mommy take a picture of me," is what she said for these three pictures.

 Rubix really wants to do everything the older kids are doing. Here is a cute picture of him with marker on his lips. I was preparing dinner and I could see him from the kitchen, although his back was turned to me. After a few minutes I thought he was just too quiet. I was pretty amused to see his face. Here I thought he was playing with the bracelets, but he somehow got a hold of the marker! Good thing it was non toxic!

 Here is another example of Rubix wanting to assimilate with older kids. He watches, learns and tries to replicate what she is doing. It is fun if he can do it, but he tends to get frustrated when he can't do what the older kids are doing.

 Phoenix is still a free spirit. I have trouble keeping her fully clothed inside the house. She can be such a charming and helpful big sister at times. Rubix sat down in the wagon and said go. She was more than happy to push him around although she struggled to make the turns around the house because Rubix is so heavy!

 I rarely get a picture of all three kiddos so I was happy to see them all working on something. Rubix is working hard at putting the cap on the marker.

 Daddy has been home for the past couple of weeks off and on throughout the day. He is working hard at finding the positive light in life as he rediscovers who he is. It has been a humbling process for him and it will take many more weeks and months for him to fully recover, but it is exciting to me to see such amazing growth in my partner, best friend and husband. We were lucky to have him around to walk Phoenix to school this past Friday. We took a detour on the way home to see the local horse. Rubix was very patient and waited until we got to the sidewalk to finally get out of the stroller and walk. This only lasted for a few minutes before I had to put him back in the stroller to keep him safe. I love how much he loves Daddy and loves to be on the move.

 Speaking of Rubix, he turned 18 months this past Friday as Auntie Shannon turned 40! Rubix can climb, run and is very close to jumping. He has an amazing vocabulary and says basketball, squirrel, play, park, mine, no, bat and many more words. He appears to be taking to dairy now and is able to process the protein. We are up to 8 oz of milk per day and a dairy item like a piece of cheese or yogurt! He is starting to feed himself and become more proficient at it, although he is often helped half way through each meals as he looses focus. He still wakes around 11 pm for milk, but otherwise sleeps from about 7:15 pm to just before 7 am each day. He still takes one nap that is 1.5 to 2.5 hours long. He weighs 25 lbs and is 33.5 inches tall. This puts him at 61%ile for weight and 85th%ile for height. He is so much fun to be around as he laughs and squeals with delight most of the day. He does get upset when something is taken from him and he is learning to ride a tricycle!

 He continues to love balls and wants to dunk or bat. He is now able to hold the bat with two hands and swing and hit a ball off a tee. He is pretty amazing!

 Axel went to his friends house for a sleepover and birthday party last night, while the 4 of us went over to a friends house for a BBQ. This morning after a bike ride we had fun playing with Rubix and Phoenix.

 It was really nice to take pictures as I haven't done so very much in the past couple of weeks.

 We are looking forward to the fall season and celebrated by purchasing our first sugar pie pumpkins, acorn and butternut squashes. I wouldn't be surprised if we made our first pumpkin pie in the next week or two!!!!

Happy almost fall!!!!