Taking It Cheesy ... Crazy Tales of Alex & Spencer
Seriously … how did they get so big?
 This big boy loves helping me in the kitchen. He’s currently waiting for his bagel to toast so he can spread it with cream cheese. Yummy! |
 This big boy helped Daddy carry several moving boxes into the house. I about fell over when I opened the door – he looked 2 years older than when he left for Lowes! |
Alex is still having a blast in 4K! Ms. Sarah and Ms. Niki are wonderful and have already taught him so much! I think Alex most enjoys learning new games … Duck, Duck, Goose, Musical Chairs, and Red Light, Green Light are some of his favorites. He and his friends start impromptu games of Duck, Duck, Goose on the playground … I even played last week! Spencer and I went in to read books to the class last week. We both had a blast! Spencer had so much fun that he gets mad if I don’t get him out of the car when we get to school to get Alex. He thinks he should be playing on the playground too! Tomorrow, I start helping out during center time. Spencer will stay with our baby-sitter and I’ll spend 30 minutes at school on Tuesdays. I am so EXCITED!
Ms. Sarah and Ms. Niki try to take a lot of pictures during the school day. They share these pictures on their classroom blog at the end of the week. It has been wonderful! I love seeing Alex in action as a fly on the wall. Here are some of the pictures:
 Another favorite activity - chasing Ryder (who always pushes the lawn mower). |
 I’m guessing this is an important boys only meeting? |
 Apple prints during “A” week. Alex had paint everywhere when I picked him up! |
 Alex and friends working on the light table. |
 Another “A” week activity … making an “A” into an apple. |
 Identifying numbers with his (gulp) “girl friend”. She runs fast like he does! |
 Practicing his name. |
 Alex won this musical “freeze” game. He was so proud! |
 Alex’s “B” week show and share … a Batman mask! |
Today was Spencer’s 2 year well check. My baby is getting old! This was the first time I didn’t take the stroller into the doctor’s office, so that’s a big milestone in itself! Both boys walked on their own to the exam room, read the books and magazines by their chairs, then colored with the little books I brought for them. I was a proud mommy! When Dr. Webb came in, he asked Alex to be his helper. Spencer smiled and let him check him out. I smiled when he said there were no shots this visit. Woo hoo!
So … here are Spencer’s 2 Year Stats! Once again, he and Alex are so close!
Height: 35 inches … 75 %ile (grew 1.5 in since Jan) Alex was 35 inches, too!
Weight: 32 lbs, 3 oz … 90 %ile (gained 32 lbs since Jan) Alex was only 27 lbs
Head: 51 cm … 95 %ile (grew 1.5 cm since Jan) no measurements on Alex at 2
 My good boy! |
 My other good boy! |
 Alex, 2 years old. |  Spencer, 2 years old. |
Spencer’s semester at The Little Gym wrapped up with a small “show” day. Guests were invited to come in to the gym (usually they sit outside a viewing window) and participate in the class. We had tons of fun with Daddy, Alex, Papa, and Grandma. I thought each child was going to receive a certificate … but they actually each were awarded a trophy. Spencer was so proud and in awe!
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 Spencer, Miss Brittany, and his friend Griffin. |
Spencer’s semester at The Little Gym is almost over! We have three more classes, one of which will be a “show”. I have no idea how Miss Brittney will put together a show with these little guys … it will definitely be interesting! Spencer has really grown in leaps and bounds in this class. We’ve even attended a few bigger/older classes as make-ups and I’m relieved to say he’s no longer scared. This class has been great to teach him that it’s okay to play across the room from Mommy and how to interact with other little kids. I’m so proud of his willingness to try new skills with Miss Brittney, especially since two months ago he would just tell her, “no!”
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We’ve spent the last few weekends getting our yard ready for our garden projects. We moved more stone around to fix some flooding/mud issues, put down new mulch, and planted new plants in our old garden area. Last year’s gardens didn’t get enough sun and/or blocked my view of the yard from the kitchen window. We also had a bit of a delay in garden planning last year (remember the month of hand-foot-mouth … yuck), so we didn’t quite accomplish what we had set out to do. So, to make up for it, we decided to start all our plants from seed and to make use of our huge backyard. My parents brought up their tiller and we tilled almost 200 ft where the playground used to be. The boys had a blast helping and were actually useful helpers! Now we just need the rain to stop, our yard to dry out, and maybe we can start planting!
 Alex helped me plant our tomato and pepper seeds in this mini-greenhouse. |
 Alex and Papa jumping over the freshly tilled rows. |
 Alex was a big helper and raked the new soil in with the old. |
 I found Spencer’s sand rake and he jumped right in to help as well. |
 He’s always looking for an opportunity to be like his big brother! |
Shopping at IKEA a few weeks ago reminded us that Alex’s big boy bed can be lofted. Alex started begging us to raise up his bed, so we did! Well, Tim and Alex did while I was out running errands. He loves it, hasn’t fallen out of it, and shows everyone who visits his “new bed” as soon as they walk into the house. That same day, I hung all of Alex’s tshirts in his closet. He had recently taken an interest in picking out his clothes, so he was super excited! He probably changes shirts 2-3 times a day, just for the fun of it. His pajamas don’t usually match these days, but I tell him I get to pick out his shorts/pants so he can match when we leave the house. :-)
 We love the reading “cave” underneath! Family book time before bed is really fun! |
 Peeking under his canopy to say goodnight. Alex ended up requesting we take down the canopy a few nights later because he couldn’t see his stars nightlight on the ceiling. I actually like it better without it! |
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Late is better than never, right? Spencer’s 15 month well child check was last week. It was so nice to take him in while Alex was in preschool! It always seems like one of the boys ends up sick after a well child check, so it helpful to just have one child to keep an eye on! Spencer did very well and only had to get 2 shots. He was so NOT happy about those shots, though. Ugh!
Spencer is a very rambunctious toddler! He thrives on negative attention and knows when he’s doing something naughty, but does it anyway. It definitely seems like we have to keep more of an eye on him, but maybe that’s because this house is much larger and has so much more stuff than the house in Wilmington. While he is a handful, he also loves to be helpful. He always helps me pick up, stopping every few minutes to clap for himself. He is also very chatty! He says, “dog, dada, mama, ball, truck, more, door, thank you, please, shoe, ish (goldfish)” and probably a few more I can think of right now. Our nonverbal communication is going really well, too! He points to what he wants, or tries to pull or push me in the direction he needs me to go. Definitely gets his points across! He still holds his own with Alex – and they are fast becoming best friends.
Here are Spencer’s 15 month stats!
Height: 32.5 inches … 90 %ile (grew 2.5 inches since July) Alex was 31 inches
Weight: 25 lbs, 6 oz … 83 %ile (gained almost 2 lbs) Alex was 25 lb, 8 oz
Head: 48.3 cm … 86 %ile (stayed about the same) Alex was 49.25 cm
Here are Alex and Spencer at 15 months:
 Alex, 15 months |  Spencer, 15 months |
It’s so amazing how different they look!
Preschool Orientation was Tuesday and Alex’s first day of preschool is September 2nd! Tim and I really enjoyed the orientation. The kids played outside with one teacher (Miss Sharon), while the director/Alex’s teacher (Miss Barrie) walked us through some information for the school year. She also explained the kids’ first homework assignment! They have to decorate a cut-out of a kid and will talk about it during the first few weeks of school. Alex was so excited to buy some supplies that he asked to decorate his “guy” while Spencer was napping and even spent over an hour on it! That is unheard of!
 Such a serious face! He’s just getting started with his stickers and new markers. |
 Alex decided to create a construction site. The dump truck, diggers, grabber, driller, and rollers are all working to put a pipe underground. The only influence I had on this side was convincing him to include his name. |
 He still had more stickers, so he decided to turn the guy over and make some roads. Then his dump truck got stuck in the mud and needed the tow truck to pull it out. Then the tow truck got stuck and they needed the fork lift, bulldozer, and digger to help them get out. It was so much fun watching this little mind work. |
 It cracks Tim and me up that Alex picked this folder. He knows this is Spiderman, but doesn’t know the first thing about him. He’s just been obsessed since he was given a Spiderman sticker at the doctor’s office! |
Alex went to summer camp at his new preschool July 28-31 for 3 hours a day. I won’t lie – I was really nervous about this day coming! I even called his teacher, unsure about whether it was a good idea to send him to summer camp (4 days straight, 3 hours a day) when he hadn’t even officially started preschool. Miss Barrie gave me a “mommy pep-talk” and assured me he would be fine … and she was right! I think it helped that Miss Barrie ran straight to him when I brought him to the playground and gave him a huge hug, telling him, “Alex, I am so glad you are here! Let me show you the water table.” He didn’t even look back at me! Good thing, because I barely made it back to my car before busting into tears. Spencer and I drove across the street to Starbucks and enjoyed a coffee and yogurt after I collected myself.
I’m so proud of my big boy! He woke up each morning, anxious to go to school and excited to see his teachers. He learned all about water in camp – he seemed to enjoy the books and experiments the most. It was kind of hard asking a 3.5 year old all the details of his day, so we love that all the teachers at his school send emails to tell about the day. We are all so excited for him to start preschool in September (he will go Tuesday and Thursday mornings).
 My backpack is heavy! |
 On the way to school the first day, Alex asked where I would be. I told him I would be shopping across the street. His response – “Ok, I just need to know where you are because I love you.” I LOVE that boy. |
 Showing me his boat (they learned they had to wrap it in foil for it to float). |
 Reading his new “congrats for finishing your first week of school” book. |
Alex picked out a back-pack online a few weeks ago and was so excited for it to come in the mail! He wore it around all day and kept showing me the “surprises” he had inside. Can you believe he goes to his first summer camp (at his future preschool) the last week of July? I can’t either! Even crazier than that … we have preschool Orientation the last week of August and his first day of school is … September 2nd!! We’ve even already gotten mail from his teacher and a supply list! Slow down, summer!
We enrolled Alex in a summer gymnastics class to help him get used to the idea of a class without me at his side. I don’t leave The Little Gym, but I stay outside the glassed-in gym and watch. Alex was a little teary-eyed when I told him I couldn’t go in, but he warmed up to the teachers and had a lot of fun! I think he’s nervous about going back in tomorrow, but the teachers are genius and have a fun transportation themed class planned. I’m so proud of my big boy!
 Warming up during the welcome song |
 Riding the jumper as it inflates |
 Walking the balance beam and “scooping ice cream” with his feet. (Class was carnival themed) |
 Jumping down |
 It’s hard to see through the reflection, but he is hanging from the low bar. He was very proud of this! |
 Singing good-bye |
 Spencer snacking and watching the show. |
