The Harvey Family: September {2017}

This month Brett:

talks about wanting a baby. I think it started when we were at the Burroughs for a football game and there was a baby there visiting. He keeps saying he wants one at our house and I told him he can either wait for the new baby across the street to be born (due in January) or he'll have to hold his baby doll that he got for his birthday. He gets his baby doll, Ben, and puts him down for naps and makes sure that everyone is really quiet so we don't wake up "baby Ben". Sorry kid, that's as close as you're getting to having a baby in this house!
loves Oatmeal for breakfast. He's been eating it for a while now but he has found a breakfast routine that he loves. It includes, a mozzarella cheese stick, a bowl of Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal, either applesauce or a strawberry fig bar, and of course a big cup of vanilla almond milk. He has to get everything set out in front of him before eating it (because he's a collector) Breakfast is definitely his biggest meal of the day. He is SUPER cranky until he gets his belly filled up in the morning.
makes all kinds of things with his straws and connectors. He is such a creative kid and he'll ask me to help him make all kinds of things, like crowns and septors so he can be a king. A lot of things he'll just make on his own like a ladder, or fire hose, or even lollipops and popsicles.
hasn't been taking naps on a regular schedule. Since we leave to pick up Blake at 3 from school and 2 on Wednesdays, he doesn't really have time to nap after he gets home from school and eats lunch. Most days he'll fall asleep when we get Blake and then maybe he'll transfer to the couch and sleep there while I'm getting dinner ready (which is not ideal because he needs more sleep and can't go to bed until later after a late nap). He does not do well when he isn't fully rested (probably because he has Gessner blood, haha).
started drawing real pictures and even wrote his name! Blake has always been into art so I'm not surprised when he sits down and makes art. When Brett started doing it too, I was surprised for sure. He has started drawing shapes and letters and pictures of real things! He sees all the things that Blake does and doesn't want to be outdone. Brett has even started writing his name on his own which totally caught me off guard!

This month Blake:

loved watching Odd Squad. For a while it seemed like the show was a bit too mature for him, but we saw one on PBS one day and Blake loved it. They do math and other science things that are right up his alley, so we ended up watching every episode of all the seasons on Amazon. As a bonus, it's one of those shows that is enjoyable for adults too because some of the humor is really quick. I think Blake learned a lot about number lines and basic arithmetic so he's more into math now.
loves school and is getting really good at writing all his numbers and letters. He even wrote a "number book". Each day in his class they have been practicing either an uppercase or lowercase letter (or sometimes both) and he's getting much more confident and fast with his writing. He still doesn't want to write stories on his own because he is worried that he won't spell things correctly (and since he reads so well, he knows if a word is spelled wrong).
likes to be a "jokester". I'm not sure if this started with school or some tv show but he likes to answer questions wrong (on purpose) and pause a second, then say JOKESTER! Or he'll hide something from you and say it, or hide himself and jump out and try and scare you.
has tried sharing a bed with Brett again. They've been doing better with going to bed at the same time, but it's mostly because Brett is so tired from not napping that he only has so much energy left to be annoying. If they could both sleep through the night with clear noses they'd probably be fine to stay there together. If one leaves because of nose issues, the other can't possibly sleep alone so then they both abandon their bed.
has been having a lot of nose bleeds. For a couple weeks, it was a nose bleed every day or every other day. The doctor said that it is really common this time of year up here and that once nose bleeds start happening, it takes a lot of work to get them all healed up (think of it as a cut inside your nose that has a scab but keeps getting ripped off before it has healed underneath). So we were told to have a humidifier while he sleeps, take allergy medicine regularly, and to keep the inside of the nose moist (we use Ayr gel before bed). If we keep on a strict routine, it seems to work. He's done much better since we've been keeping up with it.
got a new booster seat for the car. He's not even close to the weight limit but he is quickly approaching the height limit for his car seat. We found a booster seat with a really comfy looking leg rest but it ended up being the thing he disliked about it the most so we'll have to return it and keep looking.

Pics: (Very sad showing of pics this month, woops.)

These mums were so beautiful for a couple weeks.