M's Haircut

Before

After

Puffles Comes For a Visit

At M's preschool, they have a special toy - Puffles - who visits each of the children in turn.  Two weeks ago it was M's turn!  He had a great time with Puffles. 

Long Overdue Update

I just realized it's been several months since I updated this blog.  Oops!  Time for a photo dump!  Here's the September highlight:

Mr N caught a fish bigger than Baby C!  She liked splashing it with water from the hose.

October Highlights:

Mr N caught another fish at the beginning of October.  Yay salmon!

The kids goofing around posing for pictures in some new pajamas.  

Miss E as Tinkerbell.

M as a ninja.

Baby C as a duckling.

 The night before Halloween Mr N & I went to a haunted house with our friends.  We dressed up because that is FUN.  That zombie's pretty creepy, huh.  I was a black widow and Mr N is a lumberjack.  Just in case you are especially obtuse and cannot tell.  :-)

Zoo

E, playing Barbies: We're driving to Mexico!  Here we are in Mexico!  (different voice) Wow, that was a short drive! (first voice) Well, we live in Africa, remember?

Here are some pics from when Mr N took E & M to the zoo.  They had so much fun!  Next year when Baby C doesn't nap quite so often we'll all be able to go.

 E is a bird, M is an egg.  

M's 4th Birthday

M requested an airplane cake.  I did my best.  He did not care how it looked - he loved it!  So did all the kids at his party.  This was his first friend party.  Four of his friends from church came to celebrate.

Here are three of M's friends.  One was too busy crying in the other room waiting for his mom to come back.  Haha  

They ran around and played for a while in the backyard.  Then we had cake & ice cream.  Then more playing.  Then presents & goody bags and everyone went home happy.  (The crying boy was fine once his mom returned to hang out.) The party was just an hour and there were no organized games.  M is the oldest of his friends so I just didn't think the little ones would be up to it.  They were perfectly content to run around.

The theme was chosen by M - airplane cake, volcano & dinosaur centerpiece & plates, and colorful decorations.  My children can never stick to one thing for a theme - they love to have a bit of this and that.

There is some video too, of the actual birthday song, and blowing out the candles and that.  I'll post it when I get around to uploading it.  Which may be never.

Finally

Guess who finally decided using the potty was not only doable, but awesome? M decided a couple days ago to stay dry all day (!) and use the toilet multiple times (!) and wear underwear all day!! So very happy about this. He tried things out two weeks ago, but apparently got discouraged after a couple of accidents. Two days ago he decided he was ready to try again and he is doing a great job. I am so happy and proud of him.

The pediatrician had recommended that we not even try anything this summer because he would probably regress after the baby arrives. I won't even care if that happens. He is guiding this and he seems pretty motivated to stay dry. I just ask him occasionally if he needs to go, but he seems to be quite aware of when he needs to use the toilet. He did wait until he was in his nighttime diaper to go #2, but eh, I don't care about that either!

With Miss E, she was probably ready 3-6 months before I was. With M, I was probably ready 6 months before he was! Ha ha I guess it's true that you just have to wait until they're ready, because this is really pain free so far.

M's Third Birthday

Recognize the cake? M wanted the same cake he had last year - a basketball. This year though he asked for chocolate cake with sprinkles on top.

For M's birthday, we went, per his request, to Chuck E Cheese, where both kids had a blast. (It wasn't as bad as Mr N or I expected, probably because we went on a weekday at 4:30.)

Then we came home for cake and presents. M got a booster set of big lego blocks and a hammer set. He loved them both. We are so happy to have M in our family! He is a sweet boy who loves to give hugs & kisses.

M's Obesession

M is obsessed with boats. Due to his father, he knows a fair amount about them. He often builds me boats out of big lego blocks, complete with kicker motors and trailers. It's awesome. Here is a picture of how he rigged together the bike & trike to be his truck and boat on a trailer. I love his happy, proud face!