The "pool".
After phase 1 of cleaning up the water.
Then off came the baseboards.
Since then, we have had gutters put on the front section of our house to move water away from that inset in the house and Chris and his Dad spent 3.5 long days out in the hot humid Florida heat putting in a drainage system that will move water from the spot where it all pools, to the backyard. They also pulled out a section of drywall and insulation and replaced it in Brett's room. Before poor Brett can get his room back we'll have to finish getting the walls back in order and put down new flooring. In the meantime, he is back in the master bedroom which isn't ideal but we're making due. Naps have been a mess to say the least, and his night sleep has regressed again which isn't very surprising.
The section of new drywall in Brett's room.
Underground pipe from the low point of the yard, extending to the backyard.
I'm standing at the bottom of the hill (a total of an ~80 foot run).
New gutters from the fence to the front of the house.
Since we've had to relocate so much stuff around the house (out of Brett's room) it has really gotten me on a kick to reorganize around the rest of the house as well. So far I've cleaned out and reorganized the kitchen pantry and cabinets (and moved most of the sippy cup stuff off the counters) which was a huge undertaking. It was amazing how old some of those food items were (they may or may not have been in my dorm room in college).
This month Brett:
- got another molar (top right). It's coming in very slowly but it started coming in soon after the one on the other side did.
- blows on the oven when I tell him it's hot. When I tell him that food is hot, he watches me blow on it before giving it to him so he figured out that you have to blow on hot things. I thought it was so cute that when I told him to back away from the hot oven he put his face up next to the window and blew on it.
- loves pouring from one cup to another and putting things in containers. Blake stayed in this stage for years it seemed so it's not surprising that Brett loves pouring and containers. We have a whole toy bin dedicated to cups and containers and random things with lids.
- has become extremely fussy when he wants things he can't have... which is mostly anything that Blake has.
- says hello (hurrah), makes the noise ladil-adil-adil, hurrah (ants go marching song), all done (used to sound more like night night with the emphasis on the first word), yes (sssss sound), and just shakes his head side to side for no. We haven't had a big break through in speech yet but he communicates a lot of what he wants with hand motions and grunting.
- will move things to climb on them. This one is frustrating but it's hard to not be impressed. He has always been a climber and now he's figured out how to get stepping stools to get where he wants to get. This is so scary because not much is off limits once he finds the right thing to climb on. He even started climbing on the DJ tables so I had to hide them in our closet. He actually moved it next to the kitchen table, climbed onto it, then onto the kitchen chair. Who knows where he would've ended up next had I not ended the fun there.
- likes the pipe cleaners and colander game. His hand eye coordination and patience is really impressive when he plays it. We turn the colander upside down and he has gotten pretty good at getting the pipe cleaners through the holes, even while holding the far end of it. He impresses us every day!
- blows his nose. This was slightly helpful the last time he got sick. He'll blow it a little bit and it's a little more productive than the snot sucker but not much. Sadly, now he wants a tissue every time I blow my nose and he'll hold it to his nose and blow this pathetic little blow then proceed to tear it into a hundred pieces like a puppy dog. He gets really mad when I won't give him tissues anymore.
- still pretends everything is a phone. It's mostly remote controls, real phones, and play phones at this point but he always holds them backward (buttons out) and he'll give you the blank stare like he's concentrating on what the person on the other line is saying, lol.
- is almost jumping. He really wants to imitate Blake on the jumping spot. He'll bend his knees and spring up onto his toes and lift his head so he's looking at the ceiling but doesn't quite leave the ground yet. He wants to do everything Blake does and he's getting really close. The jumping spot is the funniest thing to watch him on because he'll pretend he's jumping onto the pillows but then he'll just act like he's walking off a cliff and land face first in the pile of pillows. This has become a great indoor activity to use up energy.
- is still nursing and is showing no signs of slowing down. I was hoping to drop a feeding by now but he is almost going backward. He is losing interest in finger foods and if he gets near me or hugs me or sits in my lap he'll immediately start tugging on the neck of my shirt and grunting with this look on his face like he's dying of thirst and going to pass out from hunger. I don't know when he wants to nurse, if he's hungry or thirsty or both. If I try and distract him and give him some food or drink he will just fuss and kick and cry. Oiy. I'm having trouble getting him to eat meat or anything with much protein so I'm scared to wean him until we have that settled.
- points out dogs everywhere, even on tv. LOTS of pointing and grunting when he sees a dog. We watch the show Martha Speaks and he basically is pointing the whole time because Martha the dog is the main character. He'll stop for 2 seconds after I acknowledge that there is indeed a dog on tv and that they say "woof" and then the process repeats.
- started going down slides feet first. After studying his brother at MyGym, he was able to get it figured out and he is pretty careful about it which is comforting.
- has dropped to a single nap a day for the most part. He's been sleeping later in the mornings so he isn't tired until after lunch which is when his pm nap would be anyway. On the downside, his brother has been boycotting naps altogether some days and Brett doesn't sleep very long in his crib for naps. He likes the second half of his nap to be spent nursing and in my lap in the rocking chair. When he does take a morning nap it is in the car on our way somewhere. Since he has been displaced out of his bedroom, most afternoon naps are initiated in the car as well and he (and sometimes Blake) are transferred to their beds to continue their rest.
- started going up steps without holding onto anything. This child is so stable on his feet!
This month Blake:
- corrects me when I use "few" and "couple" wrong. We declared that a couple is 2 and a few is 3 so if we use those words and they mean something other than the decided upon values, he makes sure we correct ourselves. He is so literal... just like his mama.
- wants his lunch sandwiches cut into shapes. 4 squares got to be a little boring and even 4 long strips isn't fun enough these days so we started making shapes. I let him pick out a shape or letter or number or anything as long as it isn't too elaborate and I cut his sandwich into a fun shape for him. It makes lunch a little less monotonous.
- has this conversation with me quite often. Blake: (mumbling some nonsense too quiet for me to hear.) me: I don't know what you're saying. Blake: It means I don't know what I'm saying.
- says "the end" after finishing a story he's telling. Tells really long and involved stories about anything; sometimes they really happened, and sometimes they're something he dreamt about. I guess he realized that books say "the end" when they're over so he's started adding that to the end of his stories and it's so cute and funny.
- started painting inside the lines of coloring pictures. He doesn't really like coloring with crayons but he likes painting and using color pencils and markers sometimes and he's started showing that he can stay inside the lines. He still won't let me help him hold a pencil the right way so hopefully his teachers at school this year will have more luck.
- has been throwing and kicking and banging and hitting a lot. I'm not sure if he's just tired of being inside because it is so crazy hot outside all summer long or what. He just seems to have a lot of extra energy and the things he finds to entertain himself inside usually involve lots of noise or strength. We've had to enforce the "no underhand throwing" rule in the house because he'll just randomly throw things into the air and they'll land on all kinds of things. We've even had to worry about pictures coming off the wall.
- has been having daily bowel movements for the most part finally! We visited the doctor when we were having potty training trouble (he would go every couple minutes) and we were worried that he might have a UTI (he didn't) but she was concerned that any buildup in the bowels could make him feel like he had to go all the time. So things seem to be going much better on both fronts, woohoo!
- took the initiative to clean up a few times. We've started clean up time before bed since things have been getting out of hand around the house and he did it randomly in the middle of the day without being asked one time "just to surprise Daddy" which was super sweet.
- likes getting in the front seat of my car and playing with all the instrument panels. He started out by surprising me when we'd get in the ridiculously hot car and after not being able to get it to cool down he let me know that he had turned the temperature of the air all the way to the red. Now when Brett takes his nap in the car and we stop somewhere, Blake will climb into the front and mess with all the buttons, switches, levers and anything else I'll allow him to touch. He loves it but it stresses me out when he wants to push the pedals.
- loves getting a new pile of books from the library and then taking them to his room and "washing" them. I guess I told him he needed to wash his hands after our library trip one time because the books are dirty from so many people touching them, so he put together a cleaning system in his room for the books. It basically consists of 2 cardboard boxes that he throws all the books in; one is the washer, and one is the dryer. Once they're "clean" we can read them. We've been getting 20+ books each time we go to the library (which is a couple times a month) so there are always a lot of books that need cleaning. We keep one cubby set aside in his book shelf to keep all the library books. Once we read them, they go in a stack in the living room so we can easily find them the next time we head to the library.
- quotes: Stall tactic after the lights went out for bed. "I have a crusty in my nose and it isn't coming out. I need 2 people for this job." "Pretty pleeeeease" (in the sweetest/most pathetic voice ever).
- can count backward from 10.
- is doing well reading 3 letter words. He learned all the letter sounds from the Leap Frog videos he got from my sister's family for Christmas and he is great at sounding out short words with those certain letter sounds. We'll have to start moving to word recognition next, but for now he's gaining confidence and doing really well.
- entered the "I can do it myself phase" hard core and a lot of time he won't take no for an answer. He is really surprising me with what he can do by himself, like finally pulling up his own pants after going to the bathroom! He also buckles himself into his carseat which is really quite helpful when every second you can save out in this blistering heat is wonderful.
Pics:
Taking pictures like Mommy... sort of.
Caught you.
Digging outside in the "garden" together. I love Brett's little hand!
Blake doing so well staying inside the lines!
Since there is only one train, I guess we'll have to ride it together.
What a fun fort.
Blake loving on Brett.
And Brett has had enough of being trapped.
Sweet innocent Brett.
Sweet innocent Blake. (hahahaha)
The many silly faces of Blake.
Blake loves his brother so much. Most of the time Brett tolerates all the snuggles. It is so fun how much more they interact each month. It's either picture-worthy, or I'm playing police officer.
We needed a picture for Blake to take to school for his cubby. This is what we came up with.
Sticking out that tongue for concentration in true Harvey fashion.
Success!
The boys watching Grandad hard at work in the "dumb deck" (pool area).
Brett putting pipe cleaners in the colander.
Got it all the way in Mom!
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