The Pool

Our pool liner was old and we knew the day was coming when we would have to replace it....well that day came.  While we were in Michigan, on vacation, the pool started loosing water quickly and we realized that we had a pretty big tear/leak somewhere.  

It has been a slow process.  The pool store did a good job with the liner, but they were not in a great hurry to get the job complete.

We let the pool go once we knew we needed a new liner - we had to wait a week for the new liner to come in- so our pool turned into an algae swamp.

They emptied the pool and then ripped out the liner.  They had to treat some algae that grew behind the old liner and secure some seams.





New liner!  Alex loved swimming in the pool while it was filling up because the pool was shallow so he could touch. 

Thankfully with this heat we never had to wait for the water to warm up - it was 84 degrees right away and we could start swimming immediately.

Randomness

 Here are a few things we have been up to the this past week....

Seriously- he looks like a one year old on this thing!  Brodie would put his foot on the pedal and it would go and it would scare him and then he was quite unsure about being on it anymore.  I love the picture where he looks like his is pointing at me...

 















 A little wrestling - Eric was playing with Brodie on the floor and Alex didn't want to miss out on any of the action...

 The other morning Alex wanted Brodie to watch "monkey" with him in the morning.  Sweet boys!  Alex obviously couldn't tear his eyes away from the tv to look at the camera ;). 

 Alex's new favorite thing to play with me is "dinosaurs".  It pretty much goes like this... the dinosaurs are in a cave and Alex and "the boys" (little people) go for a walk in the woods and they see tracks and then they follow the tracks to the cave and use the flashlight to see what is in the cave.  Then he runs and hides in his own cave (blanket) from whatever he discovered.  I usually have to be a boy or a dinosaur or whatever was hiding in the cave- usually a skunk or big dinosaur.  Really it is hours of fun for everyone ;). 

Alex had his 3 year old Well Check today.
     Weight - 33 lbs (50th percentile)
     Height - 39 1/4 inches - (90th percentile)
     Blood Pressure - 103/68

Alex was very shy with the doctor.  Dr. C was asking Alex a lot of questions and here is how it went....
Dr. C - "Alex how old are you?"
Alex - "Three"
Dr. C - "Did you have a birthday cake"
Alex - "Crocodile" - (starting to look down)
Dr. C - "Did you blow out all the candles"
Alex - "yes" - (completely looking away now)
Dr. C - "Do you like to drink milk?"
Alex - "yes" - (barely audible and is off the chair walking toward me)
Dr. C - "Do you like to eat cheese?"
Alex - starts to climb up my body.....

Dr. C continued to ask questions about what he ate, being potty trained, riding bikes, sleeping in a big boy bed, etc.  I had to coax Alex's head out of my shoulder and push him to look at Dr. C and answer and we pretty much got one word answers the whole time.  I have never seen him so shy.  Later when I asked him why he didn't want to talk to the doctor he said he was scared.

Thankfully he is doing great!  He is developing well and a healthy little boy!

Alex - age 3

Here is what Alex is up to as a three year old...

*Alex still loves his "taggies".  He is a little bit of a tag snob - they have to be silky and smooth - but he doesn't care what they are on - toys, washclothes, clothes, etc.  When he is tired, he will find them.  He likes to rub them against his nose.

*We love to check on Alex before we go to bed because we never know what we will find.  He still falls asleep in various positions all over his bed and he likes to put his pillows or big pillow pets on top of himself so we usually find him buried under stuff.  I asked him one time why he did this and he said, "so I can't see the monsters".

*Alex typically goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until around 6:30-7:00.  He still takes an afternoon nap and usually sleeps for 1 1/2- 2 hours.  We are fortunate that he goes down really well - he plays hard and crashed hard!

*He loves his morning routine of getting up and watching an episode of "monkey" (Curious George) and having cereal (dry in a cup) and milk on the couch.

*He is very independent and wants to do everything himself.  He picks out his own clothes (yikes!) and dresses himself.  He has to get his own snacks out of the pantry and put them in his snack cup.  He has started to help me make his pb&j sandwiches at lunch.  He wants to wash his own hands, but isn't very thorough yet - so this is usually a battle.  And everything else that he can he wants to do his way and by himself!

*Alex has a little OCD in him and thrives on routines and doing things the same way.  One little quirk - he likes to take a bite of the frozen bread before I put it in the toaster for pb&j sandwiches. 

*Alex is currently very into playing Hide and Seek and is actually quite good at it. 

*Alex is a very physical child - always wants to be wrestling or cuddling or pretty much in your space/ bubble.  He struggles with going and playing by himself/entertaining himself when we are inside.
"Mommy play with me" is heard throughout the day.

*Alex loves outside, but does not enjoy the Alabama heat!  He will complain that it is too sunny out.
He LOVES the swimming pool and is a lot more independent in the pool this year.  He loves to catch toys and bugs with his new net.

*He loves golf and wants to do everything just like Eric when it comes to golf - wear golf shoes, use a golf glove, hit the same clubs when they practice at night, etc.

*Alex is all boy - he loves to wrestle, play in mud/dirt, play with bugs, etc.   He got a lot of bug equipment for his birthday and will play with a bug for 15 minutes or more - putting it in the bug cage, letting it out and re-catching it, etc.  He likes dinosaurs, alligators, snakes, etc. 

*Alex loves to cuddle and read books.  Sometimes when Brodie is sleeping Alex will just pick a big pile of books and want me to read to him for a half hour or more.  Love doing this with him!

*Whenever Eric and I talk, Alex wants to be part of the conversation and he will ask - "Momma what did Daddy say?" or "What are you guys talking about?"

*Alex does not like it if I am upset with him and anytime I get mad or frustrated with him, he will ask me "Momma, you happy?" and if I say yes he will say, "smiley face" and I have to smile and show him I am happy.  If I say I am sad or mad because he wasn't being a good listener or he hurt Brodie, etc. - he will give me hugs and kisses, promise to be a good listener or do something "nice" and then ask if I am happy now. 

*Alex cracks me up daily with what he says and the conversations that we have.  I am amused and amazed at how his little mind works!

*Alex is a sweet boy - he truly has a good heart and can be such a sweet and loving boy, but we are definitely going through the Terrible Twos/Threes.  He pushes the limits and is working on staking his independence that is for sure.  And he inherited a stubborn streak from one of us!  We say "use your words" several times a day as we work on him talking to us about what he wants/why he is upset instead of just getting upset/crying.  We definitely pray daily for patience and wisdom as we trial and error through this stage!

Happy Birthday to Alex!

Happy Birthday Alex Jon!  How is it possible that you are three years old already????

We had a pretty low key birthday celebration today.  Alex already had two parties while we were in Michigan and since we have to get a new pool liner - having friends to the pool was out too (more on that later).

Eric took Alex to the driving range this morning for his birthday.

We celebrated later with cake and presents....
The big hit - a new hybrid golf club...

 
Here's a little clip - he just couldn't believe it was really his ;)....

 Dinosaur face...

 Cake....I let Alex choose which kind of cake he wanted.  I showed him a lot of different pictures and he really wanted a crocodile cake.  He and Eric have been watching the Crocodile Hunter on tv so he is very into crocodiles right now.... His poor #3 broke....

Apparently Alex was under the impression that he would be able to eat the whole crocodile cake himself...but after being forced to choose what part he would like to eat he picked the eyes (of course he did because they were pretty much all frosting :)). 

 Happy Birthday Alex Jon!  We love you. 

 I am working on a post of Alex at age three - to be posted soon...

Interview with our 3 year old

I borrowed this idea from several friend's blogs as well as Pinterest, etc.  The idea is to ask your child a series of questions every year on their birthday, starting when they are three.  I thought it was a fun idea, so I interviewed Alex this week.  He was a little unsure about the whole process at first and I got a lot of one word answers, but here are his answers - word for word...

What is your favorite color?  pink

Who is your best friend?  Kasjen and Evan

What is your favorite movie?  Monsters (referring to Monsters Inc.)

What is your favorite snack?  goldfish

What is your favorite drink?  red pop (referring to Izze that Grandma gave him in MI)

What is your favorite thing to wear?  golf shirt (referring to Nike sleeveless shirt)

What is your favorite toy?  Buzz Lightyear

What is your favorite book?  My new dinosaur book (referring to library book)

What is your favorite song?  dirt road (referring to Jason Aldean song)

What is something you like to say?  Buzz lightyear to the rescue

What is something you like to do with Brodie?  tickle him

Where do you like to play?  play room

Who loves you?  Daddy and Momma

What is your favorite thing to do outside?  go swimming

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A policeman and I want to give people tickets

What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  taggies

I am sure a lot of these answers would be different if I were to ask him again next week - but there you have it from the mouth of a three year old.  

7 Months Old

Brodie is 7 months old!

Brodie continues to be a happy sweet baby.  Eric says daily that Brodie is seriously the happiest baby he has ever seen.  Brodie does love his daddy and his face lights up the minute he sees Eric.

Brodie is enjoying eating baby food.  So far he likes everything except green beans.  And he will not eat them.  If I give him a bite he will grimace and then open his mouth until they fall out - he refuses to swallow them. We have had a problem with the vegetables making him really gassy and had some fussy nights as a result.

Brodie is quite content to sit up and play.  He likes to play with Alex's toys the best - the doctor kit is his current favorite - he explores each item until he has emptied the whole kit.

He still doesn't really enjoy being on his stomach so isn't close to crawling yet.  

Brodie still loves outside.  He is very content to go for walks or just hang out in his stroller.  He likes splashing in the pool and will play pretty happily on the stairs for awhile.

He has two bottom teeth.

Brodie is a good napper and takes two naps a day and one is usually at least 2-3 hours long.  He is getting much better at nights since we have been back from vacation, but is still usually waking between 4-5 wanting to eat and is pretty determined that he IS going to eat :).  Last night he didn't make a peep until 5:30 and then ate at 6:00 - so there is hope ;).

Brodie has a high pitched scream that lets us know that he is happy and excited or frustrated about something or pretty much likes to do it all day long.

He is becoming a little bit of a Momma's Boy - if he sees me come into a room he will fuss until I pick him up and lately he fusses when I get out of his sight. 

4th of July

We had some friends over on the 4th for a pool party.  The pool was full of kids and Alex loved having all of his "friends" over for the day. 
 
The kids loved all jumping off the diving board in a row - the trick was having them wait long enough to not jump and drown the child that just jumped :).


 




 

Alex helped me shop for the party and picked out ice cream cones to have with his friends.  He was so excited - he had to pass them out to everyone...




 


A fun and HOT day at the pool.  Brodie loved just sitting on the top step and splashing in the water and playing with toys. 

Thanks Kelly for taking and sharing the pics!