Beau is 15 Months Old

Beau is a whopping 15 months old, and what a super little guy he is!  This month he suffered from PeriOrbital Sinusitis, which was really yucky in his poor eyes.  He didn't let it slow him down one bit!  Beau is a quick learner and can pick up on most anything.  He really watches everything that Lincoln does and tries to mimic him.  (That's not always a good thing!!!)  Here are Beau's stats:

Weight - 26 lbs 13 oz - 75th % - There aren't many foods that Beau doesn't like . . . I can only think of hot dogs and homemade chocolate chip cookies.  (And seriously, who doesn't like hot dogs and homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Note: I make wonderful homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Lincoln and Kevin have eaten at least two dozen this week!)  Beau's actually slimmed down a bit this month; he's really a mover and runs everywhere. 

Height - 32 in - 75% - No worries here. 

Head - 90% - I only throw this one in the update after we've had a checkup because they always measure.  I think I was surprised that his head was so big.  (We always knew Linc had a giant head, but I guess it seemed big because he was on the skinnier side.)  It looks pretty proportionate to me!  He really has a lot of brains to hold in that head, so I guess that's why it is so big!

Fun stuff - Beau has added a few new words this month, and it seems like he's really getting into communicating.  Sometimes it's complete gibberish, but he's really confident in what he saying.  Animal sounds are popular right now: dog - aff, aff; cat - neow; duck - cack, cack; cow - mmmm; lion - waaar.  Even Linc gets into the animal sounds game.  He quizzes Beau during car rides!  Beau is quite the little helper and enjoys some small errands I send him on.  He's great at delivering things to people in other rooms, great at putting things in their spot, happy to carry the laundry basket and also to put the laundry in the drawers.  Whatever Lincoln is doing is definitely what Beau wants to be doing.  We're working hard to learn to better take turns and share, and I think there is some improvement.  When Beau was a "baby" (as if he's not still now!), I always made Linc surrender the toy to give to a crying Beau.  No more!  Beau can understand the concept of taking/waiting turns, so no more special treatment. 

Beau is just the best 15 month old ever!  He loves to have fun, is a little dramatic at times, and can melt your heart in a second.  That sounds like the perfect little Beau to me!

School Boys

Look at these little school boys!  Kevin picked them up today, and they insisted on wearing their backpacks as they walked to the car.  I love it!  There was lots of learning going on today.  I heard all about Linc's letter study and the visit they got from a real school bus.  Beau is getting so good at the songs they are learning.  He is loves to do the motions and "sing" along to The Wheels on the Bus and can get up to "F" when singing the alphabet song.  That's pretty good for 15 months, if you ask me!!!

On a separate note, there will be no photos of the boys when it's a Mommy pick up day.  Those days are VERY different from this photo.  Linc and Beau are fighting over who Mommy should carry to the car, and they both completely refuse to carry or wear their backpacks.  Apparently Daddies do a few things better after all . . .

Popsicle Time

The weather is heating up, and that means one thing . . . Popsicle time is here!  Lincoln loves popsicles, although we don't keep them in our freezer much.  Well, this summer is changing that!!  He really debated over which box to buy at the store, and I really mean it took several minutes.  He finally picked one box because it had a balloon on it (as opposed to the box with a star on it or the box with Dora the Explorer on it).  Daddy was thrilled with his selection because the flavors were (supposed to be) like Airheads candy flavors.  We headed outside to enjoy our cool treats.  Linc loved his blue one, Daddy loved his red one, and Beau got to try a green one.  (I totally gave him green because I thought it wouldn't show much when he dribbled on his green shirt!  Hey, that's what happens when you can't voice your opinion yet!)  Well, Beau was quickly won over to Team Popsicle.  I was happy to clean up two sticky boys after they enjoyed their fun snack. 

We'll work on our box of popsicles this week, then dive into a watermelon next week.  Did anyone know that I was this totally relaxed and not driven crazy by messy/sticky kids kind of Mom???  I surely didn't know that about myself!  Live it up, boys . . . I don't know how long this chillness will last!

Laid Back Saturday . . . Not So Much!

My plan was to have a laid back Saturday, but we were totally busy instead!  The boys were pretty fun and in (mostly) great spirits today.  We started our morning with a walk around the block and hit up the lemonade stand at the corner.  Linc was so excited about ordering and paying.  Kevin asked how much they were charging for lemonade these days, and I responded that lemonade is the one and only inflation-proof commodity -- it's still only 25 cents per cup!  That's how much I was charging in 1985!

 Baseball practice was next, and Linc was knocking balls out of the park today!  He has really enjoyed moving up to the next level, and the activities and drills are more challenging.  He loves Coach Justin, and even ran up to give him a hug as we were leaving today.  Beau joined us and got to play in an empty batting cage.  He loved getting to play ball too! 

 Nap time was next, followed by a trip to the pool!  Our neighborhood pool is great, and we had so much fun splashing and swimming.  Nana made the boys motorboats like Linc uses at swim school, and they worked out great.  Linc sped around the pool in his motorboat, and Beau got a little independence in his.  Linc and Nana did some serious swimming today.  I bet his little legs are tired tonight!   

 We had to take a break for snacks, of course.  Blueberries and peanut butter crackers hit the spot!  Swimming sure takes a lot of energy.  

 Today was Beau's first real swimming experience.  I put him in the pool a couple of times last summer, but he was too little to do anything.  He was a little cautious at first, which I'm totally ok with.  (I'll take a cautious kid over a daredevil any day!)  He sat on my lap at the edge, and we kicked our feet for a few minutes.  His hesitation faded quickly, and I was chasing him all over the baby pool before I knew it.  He loved playing with the pool toys, loved stomping around in the water, and loved splashing.  I love how much Beau embraces everything.  He's totally full throttle into every activity.  If Linc can hold on to the wall and kick his feet, Beau has to do it too.  If Linc can swim in his motorboat, Beau has to try too.   

 So our first swim outing of the summer went splendidly - I think we'll be hanging out at the pool quite a bit this summer.  I might have packed up our entire house in the giant swim bag, but you can't be too prepared, right?  Toys, towels, change of clothes, swim diapers, two sunscreens, drinks, snacks, wipes, sunglasses, and maybe a few bricks by the weight of that bag! 

After a yummy dinner with Nana and Pops, we went back home to chill for the rest of our evening.  Beau's teacher at school stopped by for a quick visit, and the boys were in heaven.  Well, Lincoln was in heaven.  He loves Ms. Jennifer and couldn't stop checking the door to see if she had arrived yet.  Beau was a little confused.  He loves Ms. Jennifer too but couldn't figure out if seeing her meant that Mommy was leaving.  He gave her a hug, but kept looking back and forth from me to her.  Since Nana and Pops are so convenient (and willing), they always babysit the boys for us.  We've only had one babysitter before (Ms. Jennifer) and that was back in 2010 when she was Linc's teacher and I was pregnant with Beau.  Perhaps we should invite her over more often!

There's no better way to end a Saturday night than under an Elmo umbrella fort.  Yep, we're still into forts.  They can be created with almost anything if you just use your imagination.  Thanks to big brother Lincoln for letting Beau hang out in his super cool Elmo fort.  We have a really light agenda for Sunday, so I'm hoping for a laid back day . . . Busy or relaxed, I'm just glad for the fun and laughs. 

Getting Better and Playing Pretend

Beau's illness (PeriOrbital Sinusitis) isn't slowing him down at all!  His little eyes are soooo much better.  He has almost no more redness or swelling.  Occasionally he has a little goop, but the medicine really seems to be clearing this up!  The boys had their bi-weekly Nana/Pops day today, and everyone had lots of fun with lots of pretend play.  I heard they made a fort (or two or three), played doctor on all of the animals, played cooking with all of the food, worked tons of puzzles, and read lots of books.  We continued our pretend play this evening.  Beau loves to empty out the bake ware drawer in the kitchen, and tonight Lincoln decided to take advantage of the items strewn all over the kitchen.  Those two ran off the the playroom with their stolen goods with squeals of delight.  Mostly there was a lot of banging on the table . . . everyone loves to be loud! 

 This is so fun!!!  If you bang hard enough, stuff on the table crashes to the floor.  (Oh, and the security alarm goes off too!  Either we have a sensitive noise setting, or we were being extremely loud!)

 That crazy loud alarm doesn't stop them . . . more fun!!!

At one point in our pretend play, Lincoln decided we were making hot chocolate in the heart cupcake molds.  We had to carry it around very carefully so it wouldn't spill.  We had to watch it get hot and cook.  We were finally able to slurp it.  Beau was totally into the pretend play.  Even though he couldn't understand what we were saying, he really got excited to participate.  He really does mimic everything Lincoln does, and Linc doesn't even know he is looked up to so much.  It's fun to be brothers!

Poor Baby Blue Eyes

My last post on Saturday was full of fun and mentioned a little eye trouble for Beau (a few busted blood vessels) that would heal on their own and posed no trouble.  Fast forward 29 hours or so from that doctor visit, and things become very different.  Beau's eyes began spewing tons of goop on Sunday evening.  He had no other symptoms so we guessed that the pink eye fairy had come for a visit.  We had some leftover Vigamox (liquid gold in pink eye circles!) from the last time Linc had it, so I wrangled a few drops into Beau's eyes before bed.  He awoke with two red, swollen, and completely-matted-shut baby blue eyes.  I got all of the dried goop out and made an appointment to see Dr. K again right away.  Daddy and Beau headed off to the doctor, and after a really long wait got the diagnosis . . . PeriOrbital Sinusitis.  My first instructions upon receiving this information was to NOT look it up on the internet.  I have obeyed that order so far.  Dr. K said the internet only shows the worst case scenarios and is only going to scare us.  We got Beau to the doctor right away and started treatment within 11 hours of the first goop-spotting, so we're on the get-well track quickly!  PeriOrbital Sinusitis means that he picked up a little cold virus over the last few days and instead of it settling in his sinuses or chest, it moved up to his orbital (eye) glands and turned into a bacterial infection.  He has not run a fever or been fussy/sickly/unhappy at all.  He ate a huge lunch after the appointment today, took all of his medicine like a big boy, and had a nice long afternoon nap.    

 Lincoln went to preschool like normal today, but he was really concerned about Beau this morning.  I think Beau enjoyed being the center of attention for most of the day, but he did miss his big brother.  He asked for "Bubba" and pointed to Linc's room several times.  (By the way, I'm not sure I'm on board with "Bubba", but it's all he can say right now.)  Everyone needed fire hats and loved wearing them!

 Even though Lincoln insisted on wearing his fire hat backwards, he really wanted to make sure Beau's hat was on correctly.  They were really having fun with the hats!

 Beau's eyes really improved in the few hours after the first dose of antibiotic, but they still look so sad.  At least the goop has stopped!  He's still not bothered at all, and doesn't seem to notice that he is "sick"!!

After a yummy dinner, Lincoln heard that a monster was on the loose in our house.  The boys ran to hid by Beau's crib.  They were being so loud with their laughing and squealing, anyone could have found these "hiding" boys! 

Silly Beau was loving the brother time tonight.  Sure, they got into a few fights and had several sharing issues.  Beau was definitely the happiest when big brother Lincoln was nearby to join the fun.  No monsters ever appeared, but we all had a lot of fun!  Hiding behind the crib eventually turned into a game of Peek A Boo. 

I am so thankful that we live so close to a great doctor and fast pharmacy so that we can begin to heal our little Beau.  I can't stand for either of my boys to feel bad for a single second . . . the good news here is that Beau feels great!  

Busy Saturday

Beau and I started off our Saturday morning with a visit to Dr. K's office.  The inside of his left eye was extremely red and veign-y, so we wanted to get it checked out.  (You can't see it at all in this picture, but I promise it looked scary.)  It really didn't look like pinkeye at all . . . thankful for that!  It turns out there are just a few busted blood vessels, and he will heal completely in a couple of weeks without any drops or drugs.  Beau was so good and so silly while we were there.  The wait in line at Whataburger afterwards was a completely different story.  The boys usually get to have chicken and french fries from Whataburger on Saturdays, and it took forever.  I think Beau was really arguing with himself if the yummy lunch would be worth the wait.  Don't worry - - it was totally worth the wait!  He gobbled it up.   

 While Daddy and Lincoln were at baseball practice, Beau got to help clean out Mommy's closet.  Good thing he loved it.  I have four boxes full of stuff for the women's shelter, including 10 pairs of jeans, 11 pairs of slacks, 7 pairs of khaki's, and on and on.  My closet is so bare . . . I think I need to go shopping!  Beau was a great helper.  I handed him each piece of clothing and he delivered it to the basket.  Then as I sorted, he made messes.  Perfect match!

 Lincoln and Daddy pulled a fast one on us this afternoon.  We were expecting them home after baseball practice to share our Whataburger, but Linc convinced Daddy that they should have a lunch date at the Firehouse Subs.  The sandwiches are super yummy, Linc loves their lemonade, and he even gets a fire hat! 

 After much needed naps, the boys had appointments for short summer haircuts.  They were both so good and sat really still while Ms. Gerri sheared their locks.  They always look so much older and more kid-like after a haircut. 

We ended the night with a little fun with Nana and Pops and a dinner date for Mommy and Daddy.  I hope Sunday is as fun and productive as Saturday was.  We have church, brunch, and maybe a special visitor in the evening.  As always, stay tuned for more updates!

Water Balloons!

I happened to pass the junky toy section in the grocery store today and decided to see if there was anything worth our time.  Oh, yes there was . . . I found a box of water balloons!  I even upgraded to the $3 box because it had a cone-like filler to make the process of filling them up so much easier.  (I also discovered after I had filled up the first one that I had no idea how to tie a balloon - Mom's learn on the fly though, and I am an expert now!)  I had to do a lot of explaining to Lincoln about the purpose/fun of water balloons.  He's never seen one and kept telling me that we should put air in them and let them go up in the air.  We filled up our bucket and got ready to bust some balloons.  Once we got outside, they were ready to give it a try!  Everyone got the hang of it really quickly, and our bucket was rapidly depleting!

 At first Linc would just toss them on the sidewalk and be disappointed that they didn't bust.  I convinced him to thrown them baseball-style, and he really got the hang of it!

One of Linc's pitches might have exploded near Beau, but Beau was so excited about the splash!  He squealed with delight!

 Lincoln did a lot of squealing, too.  I think after each bust, he screamed out with joy!  Our bucket of water balloons emptied too soon, so we headed back inside to fill up for our second round.  This is great!!!

Beau was loving it even thought he couldn't throw the balloons hard enough to bust them.  If he dropped them at the right spot to roll to the edge of the sidewalk, they caught the edge and busted.  Look at this face!!!

After emptying our second bucket, we called it quits.  I'm glad they are cheap because the bang for the buck goes pretty quickly!  I think we may spend a lot of time with water balloons this summer.  Perhaps a few of those moments may include Lincoln putting his head in the empty bucket . . . fun, right?!?!



Bedtime Sweeties

I couldn't resist taking a picture of my two sweeties while reading our bedtime stories tonight.  They are so grown up to bathe together, but they are taking it to a whole new level to read bedtime books together.  We start in Lincoln's room for two books.  Beau used to only be mildly interested so it was just Linc and me in the chair.  Sometimes he got his own book and sat in the little chair next to us and pretended to read.  All of a sudden he's decided that he wants in on the action with his big brother.  Linc was a little confused at first but welcomed Beau to the nightly ritual.  I sat on the floor and read them Lincoln's two current favorite books, God's Way (Nana found it in storage-one of Kevin's favorite books when he was a little tot) and Biscuit Christmas.  (We seriously have no holiday boundaries around here - we watched the Valentine's Day Charlie Brown special this weekend!)  Beau and I tuck Linc in then go have a bit of milk and a special Beau and Mommy book in his room.  He picks No No Yes Yes every night, and it is one of the cutest books ever.  (Ally introduced us to this one, and I've given it as a baby gift several times.)  I love happy and clean kiddos, and these two are just the best!  Happy sleep everyone!

Splashing

On this warm Saturday afternoon, we decided to hang out in the water.  Our summer pool spot is still a few days away from opening (they remodeled and are in the final stages), so we got out our little splash pool and hit the backyard.  I was sure that Beau would really take to the water - I was wrong!!!  He was terrified of the water shooting up from the sides of the pool.  If Lincoln even came near him while splashing, Beau would erupt in a fit of tears. 

 Big brother Lincoln stepped up and helped Beau get over his fears.  A few minutes of being silly showed Beau that it was OK to relax. 

 Whew!  This is much better now that it's not scary! 

 Our splash time was pretty long . . . almost an hour.  That's pretty long for a 1 and 3 year old.  By the end, Linc was literally swinging from the beams.  He would stand at the edge of the water, jump to grab the swing set beam, and swing like a monkey.  He loved it! 

 Linc took a water break to climb a bit.  Beau was looking so tortured below.  I have to be honest and say there was a little "Na Na Na Boo Boo, you can't get me" from Linc.  I told him that was not nice to tease Beau. 

 Beau totally knew what Linc's next move would be, so he ran to the bottom of the slide to wait on Linc to come down.  He loves to "get" him as he whizzes by! 

Other than the fact that I absolutely hate dirty, wet or muddy children, we all had fun.  I hosed them both down before we went inside.  Then we immediately took sink baths to further de-grime!  Rest assured ... the splash pool is drained, completely cleaned and ready for our next afternoon outing.  I'm not sure when I'll be up for another round of afternoon of mud, but it will probably happen sooner than later.  I'm thinking it's gonna be one hot and muddy summer . . .