Preschool Talk

Today, Lee and I had this conversation about preschool, which starts next week.

Lee "Mommy, what are you going to do while I'm at preschool?"
Me "Well, I'll do lots of things. I'll clean the house, run errands, and then I'll pick you up."
Lee "Will you play games withabout me?"
Me "Of course not. Why would you think that?"
Lee "Well, you'll be here all alone with all my toys, and I thought you might play with them."
Me "I would never play with your toys without you. You're my favorite playmate."
Lee "Will you just not do anything while I'm gone?"
Me "Like what?"
Lee "Nothing fun. I don't want you to have any fun while I'm gone."
Me "Okay. Cleaning house isn't that fun anyway, so I promise not to have fun without you."
Lee "Will you just not clean the house? I want you to just sit on the couch and wait for it to be time to come and get me. Okay?"
Me " Then I would have to clean while you're here, and I wouldn't have time to spend with you. Wouldn't you rather play games when you get home and have fun?"
Lee "No. Maybe you should just get a job at Holy Cross. Then I'll know you're not having fun without me."
Me "I would love to spend the day with you at Holy Cross, but that's what Mrs. Angie and Mrs. Connie are there for. They're going to teach you so many new things. When I pick you up, you can tell me all about them."
Lee "See if you just get a job there, you'll already know what I've learned, and I won't have to spend all day telling you."

He has an answer for everything!

Lee the Monkey

Lee has always been a climber. He loves to climb anything, anywhere, and anytime! If you've ever seen him at the park, you know what I mean. He loves to climb everything there. His newest favorite thing to climb is a tree. My grandmother has encouraged this love lately, and the higher he goes, the more she likes it. We went to an engagement party for Matt's cousin on Saturday, and there were lots of fun things for Lee to climb there.

He was asking this horse if she wanted to be petted. It was so funny. He kept saying, "Lower your head if you want to be petted. C'mon down here, and I'll pet you, girl."

Randomness

If you're not a grandparent or aunt, you might want to quit reading here, because I'm going to be brag on my boy in this post. I can't help it.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we have been stuck at home for a couple of days, so it has gotten pretty funny around here. Cabin fever was creeping in, and I think we're both delirious. I'll start with some funnies that he told me.

I told Lee that his Halloween costume would be here soon, and I couldn't wait to see him in it. It seems like choosing the costume is half the fun for Lee, so he started telling me what he wants to be next year. He said he wants to be a "Brave" baseball player. I asked him what number he would be, and he said, "77.1, because that's my favorite baseball number."

We ventured out for smoothies from Jack Jones, and we didn't get dolled up for our quick trip. On the way there, he started giggling and said my hair was wild. I'll admit that I didn't straighten it, but I did brush it and tame it as best I could. I asked him where it was wild, and he said "A little all over but mostly on top." I thought it looked fine. As we got out of the car, I told him his hair was pretty wild too, and he said, "I didn't brush my hair, so it's supposed to be wild. You brushed your hair, so it's supposed to be pretty."

I ordered Lee a dress shirt earlier in the week to specifically go with a sweater vest he already had. It came in the mail, and I showed it to him for approval, without mentioning the vest. He said he loved the shirt and grabbed the packing slip from the package. I stood there waiting to see what he was looking for, and he finally said, "Oh great! It says right here, no sweater vest allowed with this shirt."

We were eating lunch the other day, and he said completely out of the blue, "I know what Paw (my dad)needs." I couldn't wait to hear the answer, but there was no way I would have guessed what he was about to say. He said, "He needs a wife and 2 kids. You help Daddy with his laundry, and Paw needs a wife to do his laundry." I reminded him that Joe and I are his kids, and he said that he needs new kids to live there to play with all his toys. This conversation went on and on, and he finally said, "I think it's so cool that you are Paw's kid and are a Mommy too." I told him that Paw used to be married to Mawmaw when I was a little girl, and he said, "What was Paw Paw (my stepdad) doing then?" I decided to change the subject. Sometimes he's too smart for his own good.

We have been doing lots of activities while being confined. I haven't done a great job of working on numbers with Lee, so I was completely shocked at how good he was in his workbook. We went over numbers 1-10, writing the word and then matching it with the number. After about 10 minutes, he wrote all the words himself and recognized the words when I surprised him with a quiz. Today, we were playing a matching game that used to take about 30 minutes to play. I'll admit that I used to help him with his matches quite a bit, but today he needed no help. He had the most amazing memory and beat me 21 matches to my 12! At the end of the game, I asked him to count his cards. I expected him to stop at 20 and ask for help, but he counted all the way to 42 with only one mistake. The mistake was when he finished 29, he said "20-10." Precious! He has never counted that high before, and I was just amazed at him. He has also wanted to make cards for everyone this week. Yesterday, he was working on one by himself, and I looked over at it, and he had written, "I love you Gracie." It was all over the card and not in a line, but I was so shocked!

Finally the last interesting thing he has done this week is kick his eating into overdrive. He has eaten double the amounts he normally eats. On Tuesday, he ate 4 nuggets and most of his fries at McD's, and a couple hours later, he asked for a grilled cheese for a "snack." I made it thinking he would eat half of it. There was only a small part of the crust left. Tonight, he ate 4 whole pieces of pizza! I cut a regular size piece of pizza in half, so it's more manageable for him to hold. I could barely finish one piece of my own before he was asking for another. He ate every bite. A week ago, he would eat about 1 1/2 small frozen pancakes for breakfast. Suddenly this week, he is eating 3 and sometimes eating a breakfast bar or yogurt with them. I wonder if he's having a growth spurt.

Catching Up

Since I've had a stomach bug this week, I have gotten behind on our blog. I'm proud to say that not only do I feel much better, Lee did not get it. (I'm knocking on wood.) Here is a recap of our week.

On Friday, we headed to the first Patriot Football game of the season. I didn't take my camera, because I knew it would be very crowded. I was right. Even though we have reserved seats, we could barely move. This county LOVES their Patriots! The game was exciting from start to finish, and the Pats pulled out a win 20-18. Lee was pretty quiet throughout the game and seemed to be taking it all in. Of course, he was still recovering from our eventful afternoon. We couldn't get him to choose a new favorite player to replace Marsalis Teague. I'm not sure that's even possible. What a great guy! We have seen his picture in the paper this week and have read about him a couple of times in AP reports. He is really making waves in Knoxville, and we are anxiously waiting to watch him play.

These next pictures are out of order. These are from Sunday. While we were at Nam and Pa's, Lee wanted to go across the monkey bars, and did it all by himself for the first time. He did it over and over until he was completely exhausted. I just stood there with my mouth open and waiting to make our second emergency trip to the doctor. He did great and was so excited with his new accomplishment.
It was pretty windy earlier in the day, so we took kites. Lee had more fun just running with it behind him though. Matt thought to grab the camera and take some pictures! I was so proud to see them when we got home.

On Saturday, we went to the carnival at the fair. There wasn't a lot for Lee to do, but he enjoyed himself for a couple of hours riding the same rides over and over.

I took too many pictures of them on the Ferris wheel, because I couldn't believe Matt was riding it and they looked so darn cute up there!

I kept changing locations, and they would smile so big every time they came around and spotted me.

Matt was a little green after riding the carousel.

This ride has a funny story. First of all, Lee loved it, because he went up in the air by himself. What was so funny was the carnival worker told me if I wanted him buckled to "do it myself." Then the ride appeared not to start, so the worker was pushing it around. Matt and I couldn't believe we put our baby on it. Lee was all smiles and had no idea what was going on around him.

This was the favorite ride of the day. He rode it a few times and each time wanted to spin faster and faster. He has no fear.

On Monday, we met our playgroup friends at the park. Ava Kate also spent the day with us, so it was tons of fun for Lee. Since I was chasing two 4 year olds, I didn't take my camera. Ava Kate's birthday is in October, and she was telling Lee that she would soon be 5. He asked if she was having a party, and she said yes and that he was invited. Last year, he was the only boy at her party. Neither of them cared a bit. He adores her and wants to do whatever she does. Anyway, he asked what kind of party she was having, and she said she was having a sleepover and then going bowling. Lee got SO excited and came running to me and said he was going to AK's sleepover! She was pretty proud too. I feel quite sure this is not what her mom has in mind, so hopefully they will both forget about it before her birthday gets here. I have giggled over and over thinking about him being the only boy at her sleepover. I'm picturing painted nails and hair bows.

Tuesday was a big day for Lee. We went to a play date at his preschool. It was just a short visit for the kids to visit their classroom and get an idea what it will be like. Lee was pretty shy when we first got there. He found his cubby with a prize in there and quickly moved on to different play stations located around the room. There was a spot that was every little boy's dream. There was a train table, helicopters, cars, etc. We had to drag Lee and Paul away from there. We met Paul and Subo for lunch and more playtime at McDonalds. In his prize bag was his preschool shirt. He wanted to put it on as soon as we got home. I didn't care that he wore it around the house, but when it was time for soccer practice, he didn't want to take it off. I just knew he would ruin it the very first day he wore it, but he was surprisingly clean after practice. I have put it out of sight until school starts. He did a wonderful job at soccer practice this week. He was listening to the coaches and seemed to be learning some of the rules. Of course there were a few times that I looked up to see him doing cartwheels in the middle of the field, but he always bounced right back into the action. It is going to be so funny to watch them play in a game next week. I can't wait.

Wednesday is when the stomach bug attacked me, so we stayed home. That's not to say that there weren't some hilarious moments to document, but that's another post.

Our First Emergency Doctor's Visit

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just hope this is our first and last trip! We had to make an emergency run to the doctor today. Luckily, Lee's doctor is in a clinic that provides emergency/after hours care. It is so much easier than going to the ER. Here is how it all happened. Lee and I had gotten our hair cut, and while I was visiting with Cindy, Lee was playing on a child sized plastic chair next to us. He crashed out of it, and it fell over on him. He started crying immediately and said his arm hurt. He was pointing to his wrist, which he was easily moving. I looked at it and wiggled it and assured him it was fine. The chair is so light that I didn't think there was any way it hurt him. Later, we decided that his weight was still on the chair when it fell on him. Anywyay, he started dancing, and the crying turned to wailing. Just then, I flipped his arm over and saw something poking out. Cindy and I tried to decide whether it was a bone, but we quickly decided that it was bad. It was dark purple and was as big as a gum ball and was sticking out of his arm. He was still wailing, so she told me to head to the emergency clinic. I called Matt on the way and asked him to meet us there. I didn't think Lee's doctor would be there so late in the day on a Friday afternoon, but thank goodness, he was. Lee was crying to the receptionist, "I want Dr. Whitby!!" It was pitiful. She assured him she would get him. On the way to the room, Lee said he needed to go to the bathroom. Once we got in there, he quit crying and became very lethargic and started throwing up. This made him very pale with purple circles forming around his eyes. By the time we saw the nurse, she was more concerned about him than his arm. She quickly got Dr. Whitby, who had us lay him down on the table with his feet in the air. He examined his arm and like us, thought it was broken. He ordered x-rays to confirm. After 10 minutes or so, Lee started to get some color back and was feeling a little better. So we went for x-rays that showed no broken bones. Dr. Whitby decided that the chair must have broken some blood vessels and caused the knot. He had mobility in his hand and was moving his arm fine, so we were sent on our way.
This was taken about 2 hours after the fall and looks much better.

Nothing perks a boy up like a milk shake and cartoons! Now he says he's ready for some Big Red Football!

Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Frogs....check!
Snails....check!

Puppy Dog Tails....check!

That's what little boys....and Katie are made of.

These kids were on a mission to fill their bug catcher to the top!

Then it was time for a popsicle break. Each kid wanted 2 popsicles to see what color their mouths would turn after the second one. Katie started with green, and then after her yellow one, her mouth was still mainly green.

Alex chose 2 yellow popsicles, and his mouth turned green!

Lee had green, then yellow, and his mouth was blue, but his tongue was still mostly green.

As a kid, when I picked flowers/weeds for my mom, I pulled them up by their roots. Guess who does the same thing.

A Big Day for Lee

This week is fair week in Henry County. We always look forward to going to the carnival and seeing what everyone has entered in the arts, crafts food, etc. Every year I plan to enter several categories, but I seem to always get too busy around this time to finish my projects. I have always enjoyed entering pictures I have taken of Lee and make it a priority to at least enter those. This year we could only enter 3 categories, and we chose the 3-4 year old category, farm scene and outdoor photos. I entered a picture of Lee fishing in the farm scene category, and it didn't win a ribbon.

This picture was in the 3-4 year old category and won 2nd place!
This picture was in the outdoor category and won first place. Lee also won Most Photogenic Boy! He was very excited to see the ribbons attached to his pictures.

Tonight at church, I sat next to one of Lee's choir teachers during Bible Study. After it was over, I asked if Lee was a good boy during choir, and he said yes. Then he told me that each kid was given a page to color, and that Lee did a great job coloring. He went on and on about how impressed he was with Lee's skills. I thanked him and told him that I would be fine with it if Lee decided to become an artist instead of an athlete when he got older. Knowing how much he loves sports, I knew he'd get a kick out of that. He just laughed and said that he could surely do both. Maybe he's right.

Soccer Kickoff

It's official....I'm a soccer mom! I am so excited that Lee gets to participate in the 4 & 5 year old soccer league. Tonight was the first night of practice. An hour before practice was scheduled to start, we had a thunderstorm with very heavy rain. We live about 5 minutes from the park, so I assumed we would not have practice. Lee took the news well and kept on playing without missing a beat. About 15 minutes before practice was to start, the sun came out and the rain stopped. So I called Lee's coach, and she said that the fields were soggy but she thought we could practice. So we hurriedly got dressed and headed to the park. It was a soggy mess, but the boys loved it.

Of course we made time for a quick picture before practice.
Lee is getting a "stop" with his foot. He had to be reminded a couple times not to use his hands.

He's taking a little break between drills. So cute!

I know I'm very biased, but I think he is an excellent kicker. Of course, I've told him over and over if he ever wants to play football, he will only be allowed to be the kicker. So he's been practicing.

Here is another great kick. I think he is actually better at running and kicking the ball, rather than just standing still to kick.

Last kick!

WHEW! All that running and kicking takes a lot out of a little fellow! He drank a 20 ounce bottle of water during and after practice. He said he had fun and wants to go back again soon. We have 3 practices before our first game. It is so, so cute to watch. He has a fun team and coaches who work really well with this age. He really responded to them and their instructions. I can't wait to see what he learns next week.

Now He's Ready....

Lee's Big Orange jersey came in the mail today, and he could hardly wait to try it on. He said next time he wears it, he might want to put his shoulder pads on under it. Now we're officially ready for some football!

Preschool Registration and more

We went to register Lee for Holy Cross Catholic Preschool this week and for parent orientation. I was so excited to hear from his teachers, learn his schedule, and see his sweet classroom. We knew almost every one of his 25 classmates, so that was comforting to me. The kids get to go back in 2 weeks to see their room and meet their teachers. I can't wait to see what Lee thinks about it. He officially starts the week after Labor Day. He has been so excited about it and asking tons of questions. I asked him what he wanted to learn the most, and he said to tell time and to tie his shoes. He has been "practicing" his tying on his shorts or other people's shoes, but since he doesn't currently have any shoes that tie, it's a hard thing to teach him. He'll have to have cleats for soccer, so maybe we can work on tying those. I can't wait to see what else he learns and how much he is going to grow in preschool. I already love his teachers, and I know it won't be long before he does too.

Soccer practice starts next week. Lee loves his uniform and getting all his gear on. Now, if he actually likes playing soccer remains to be seen. None of us knows anything about soccer, so we're all learning as we go. I think it will be lots of fun, and we'll see if it's something he is good at or will want to play in the future. One thing is for sure, there will plenty of cute pictures taken along the way!

Lee was having trouble going to sleep, and he came running into the living room to me. He started playing, and I tried to send him back to bed. He gave me a pitiful look and said, "I can't go back to bed right now, Mommy. I'm too fascinated."

This is gross but funny. He has had a runny nose the past few days, and today we were in the car when he asked for a tissue. I said I didn't have one, but we were almost home. He said, "That's okay. I'll try not to lick." I quickly turned around, expecting a mess, but he was fine.

Speaking of the runny nose, we were playing at the Tusas the other day, when Subo and I noticed the boys were being too quiet in the other room. She went to investigate and found Paul using the bathroom, with Lee in there entertaining him. After they came out, Paul told her that Lee used his toothbrush. When she asked Lee about it, he said, "But I didn't use any toothpaste!" Paul has had a runny nose this week, so Subo said Lee would have it soon. And he did. Aren't they funny?

Yesterday Lee asked to watch a certain cartoon, and I told him it wasn't on then. He said, "Can't you DVR it?" We've only had DVR a week, and he's hooked! There was a movie coming on the Disney Channel that he wanted me to record, since it was coming on while we were going to be gone. I told him that I would have to look and see what time it started. He said, "Oh it's at 8, 7 central." Sure enough, the commercial came on shortly, and that's exactly what time it said.

Life on Gate 3 Road

Something is always going on in our neighborhood, and most of the time, it's something hilarious! Nothing has come close to being as funny as the scene at our house last night. I was turning into our driveway and noticed something coming toward me. I wondered if it was a go-cart. As I pulled into our garage, I saw it coming up our driveway. When I got out of the car, I started laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. I did quit laughing long enough to say "Stay. Right. There." I ran inside to get Lee, Matt and my camera. Luckily they laughed as hard as me when they saw Jason's latest antic. It's called "Coffield's Grocery Getter." I asked how he got in there, and he said he had to stand on a milk crate to get in and had to pull up beside the milk crate again to get out. It had a huge (& loud) motor on it that made it fly. It was funny enough to see him sitting in it, but to see him zooming down our driveway and then down his, was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I told Matt that he needed a helmet!
The cart has a gas pedal and brake and a little steering gear. It is something to see. I have to throw in that Jason did not make this. He inherited it from an uncle in Ohio. I think Uncle Jimmy would be proud!

Birthday Bash

Our niece, Brylie, turned 3 last weekend and had a huge swimming party-birthday bash at her grandmother's pool.
Here is my Sister-in-law with her sisters, mom, and grandmother, along with her nieces and nephews.

The reason the birthday bash was so huge is because all 3 of these kids share a birthday(August 8th), and they shared their party this year. What makes it so special is that their moms are sisters! From left to right is Sharia (with Reece-1), Shonda (with Charlea Beth-5) and my sister in law, Shayanne (with Brylie-3). I think that is so neat that they share a birthday and that they are all the second children in their families.

Guess who loves a swimming party?

Brylie got a Leapster for her birthday!

Here is the birthday girl!

I don't know who is funnier jumping off the diving board, Lee or Brylie.

See what I mean?

Lee and the grandparents

Being cool with Daddy

We can't forget Gracie. Just because it wasn't her special day, doesn't mean she wasn't ready to pose and show out! She's always ready for her close-up! She couldn't wait to tell me that her first cheerleading competition is coming up in Nashville. I don't know if my nerves can handle another year of watching her flip and climb and compete!