Cinco

I guess I am willing to admit that Sloane is officially no longer a newborn (and probably hasn't been for a while.) She is getting to be such a girl! She sits up all by herself now, and it is definitely her preferred position to be in. She has started eating solids, including rice cereal, applesauce, and pears. Sloane also has been getting her two bottom teeth. Teething has not been very much fun for her or us. Sloane started of the summer pretty much sleeping through the night and has regressed to waking up several time throughout the night. We are teaching her to sleep in her crib,which she will do for a few hours every night. The other battle we are having right now is getting baby girl to take a bottle. Right now it's not going so well, and I am panicking a little bit that she will starve when she starts daycare.
Sloane is such a sweet little girl who always has a smile for a stranger. She loves to play and to be the center of attention. She has started playing with Finn and loves to beat up on him, in her own little way. She will grab at him and pull his hair. Finn better watch out in a few years! I can't even about school starting in a few weeks. I love being at home with Sloane and Finn


Fourth of July


Sloane always tries to feed herself


Sloane and Finn dressed like cows at Chick-Fil-

Finny Finn Finn

I feel like I have only been writing posts about Sloane lately, so I wanted to catch you guys up with what is going on with the little man in my life.

1. Finn just finished swim lessons and graduated to a level 2 dolphin. He was such a good listener during his lessons and is almost completely swimming by himself.

Here is Finn swimming:



And here he is getting his certificate. He is more interested in the cookie than his acheivement.



2. Finn is going through a very bashful stage. He is very shy when meeting new people and it is like pulling teeth getting him to talk to adults.

3. Finn is starting to like big boy shows like "Superhero squad" and "Phinneas and Ferb." It makes me sad so I try and get him to watch little kids shows like "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and "Handy Manny" whenever I can.

4. Finn loves his baby sister. He calls her Sloaney and loves trying to make her laugh. Sloane is fascinated by her brother and loves watching him. Finn is jealous that Sloane has an "I love my mommy" and "I love my Daddy" shirt but no "I love my brother" shirt. Everytime we go to Target he makes me look for one. I may have to make her one.

5. Finn has two new favorite song "OMG (oh my Gosh")by Usher and the theme song from Beverly Hills Cop. Very electic taste.

6. Finn is working on learning to read. He know most of his phonics and is working on sounding out three letter words. We do "Letter of the Week" lessons to keep him occupied this summer. Here he is golf ball painting for the letter G.



7. Finn has started liking vegetables. He especially loves broccoli and green beans and will eat them before anything else on his plate. Rick is astounded that his son loves veggies so much. I really hope he isn't a picky eater like Rick and I are. Every week, I have him try a new food that starts with our letter for the week. He liked the green bell pepper for G, but hated hummus on our H week.

8. Finn has been loving riding his bike and scooter around the neighborhood. He looks so cute in his little helmet riding around. He has also been loving wrestling around with his buddy Aidan. Hereis a picture of them wrestling at their little sleepover.



9. We are about to start decorating Finn's room. After much deliberation, Finn has finally decided on a pirate theme. I'm glad because it won't be too much of a switch from his surfer themed room.

10. Finn has decided he no longer wants to be a "doggy doctor" when he grows up and instead wants to be a lifeguard. A very noble profession indeed, but a significant pay cut.

I'm having so much fun hanging out with my little boy this summer. I'm amazed at what a sweet and funny kid he is.

Fun in Florida

We just got back from a fun family trip to Florida. We went with my mom and Doyle to Ponte Vedre Beach Florida. We stayed in a condo on the Sawgrass Country Club, across the street from the condo my grandma owned for years. I have many memories on that same beach when I was little and wanted to share it with Finn and Sloane.

It was both Finn and Sloane's first plane ride. I was a little nervous to see how Sloane would do, but she actually did pretty well for a four month old. Finn loved flying and was a perfect little gentleman. He was very excited to get his own pack of gum to chew to prevent his ears from popping that he promptly swallowed.

Finn loved going on to the beach and body surfing. Rick tried surfing for the first time. He was able to get up once and is eager to try it again. We did the beach, the pool, did some alligator viewing up close and personal, ate lots of great food, and visited family. My Great Uncle Jack, Great Aunt Peggy and their son Charlie live in the same community.

Finn's favorite part was getting to go to Disney World. Rick and Finn went by themselves for one day. I was sad not to be able to go with them, but there was no way that Sloane would make the three hour car ride there and back. They had a blast. Finn loved seeing the castle and his favorite ride was the teacup ride. I'm glad that Finn got to go while he was little and hope to be able to take Sloane too when she is four.

It was a great time with family and I can't wait to go back!

Four Months old

Bowhead

Daddy's Little girl

Finn and Sloane in their matching "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" shirts.

Sloane with my Grandma on our trip to Dallas.

Little girl is already four months old! Sloane is becoming so much fun. She is a very smiley little girl and always charms strangers with a sweet smile and then will bashfully turn her head. Since I have been home from work Sloane has become such a mama's girl. She wants me and only me to hold her at all times, even when she is sleeping. It is very flattering but not the best habit to start right before she starts daycare in August.

Sloane can roll over completely and she is constantly grabbing things to put in her mouth. We think she might be teething already, but it seems a little early. Sloane LOVES watching her older brother play. He is very entertaining to her. Sloane already has a bunny lovey that she is attached to, but she won't take a pacifier like Finn would.

Sloane had her 4 month appointment yesterday. She is in the 75th percentile for her length, 95th for her head size, and she is off the charts for her weight. I did not know it was possible to be off the charts for your growth percentiles, but apparently Sloane is. Rick asked , "Does that make her the fattest baby in the world?" No, it doesn't and I'm not sure how it works. She is a chunk for sure, especially her thighs. Adorable!

Vacation Bible School

Finn, Sloane, and I had Vacation Bible School last week. Finn had his first "real" Vacation Bible School class and I was one of his teachers. He went last year, but you are considered just to be part of the childcare program until you are four. Sloane was in the nursery for the first three days of the week. She didn't quite make it all week. She decided it would be a good week to give up bottles and not want anyone else to hold her. Poor thing! I left her with Rick the last two days. I enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with Finn (and 16 other four year olds). Finn's best bud, Aidan, was in our class as well. I think they had a really good time learning bible stories, singing and dancing to songs, doing arts and crafts, and playing. Finn and Aidan hung out together the whole time and watched out for each other. It was pretty cute. Finn even cried when the class bully said something mean to Aidan. Solidarity!

They had a performance of all the songs (with dancing). I had to get on stage and help wrangle the kids. Finn got a case of stage fright and just stood there the whole time, except for his one favorite move. There is one part of a song where everyone is supposed to whip their head back and forth and Finn snapped his head like he MEANT IT! Best move of the night! I asked Rick afterwards if he saw Finn and he said that he saw a statue that looked like Finn.

Here is a pic of me, Finn, and Sloane on crazy hair day. I've got pigtails, Finn had twilight hair, and Sloane was sporting a faux-hawk.

Bubble girl

Sloane's first experience with bubbles. Everytime I would blow them she would get so surprised then start giggling. Too cute!

A Boy and his bike

Finn finally has a real bike! My dad came in town this weekend to visit and treated Finn to his first real bike. Finn had a little tiny toddler bike with a handle for a while, but when we moved to our new neighborhood he started eyeing all of the other little boys riding around on their big boy bikes. Finn's baby bike stopped making appearances, so we felt it was time for the real deal. It is an Iron Man bike, who Finn has been obsessed with lately. No, we don't let him watch the movie. Finn has been testing out his new bike with the training wheels on, of course. I'm not sure what age most kids take off their training wheels, but maybe Finn will get the hang of it soon.