BUILDING BL(ayl)OCKS: Family Party Time

Our September started off with a bang! The Pollocks, Klaire, Stanton, and Piper arrived Thursday evening on August 28th. The boys were so excited to go to the airport and play around the house as soon as we got back. We did have to drive through a downpour on our way home from the airport which was a little scary. I went slow, Klaire played cool, calm, and collected, and we made it fine. The highlight was the beautiful rainbows and Hugh kept asking the rest of the week where they went and he wanted them to come back. The kids eventually settled down for bedtime and we all hit the hay.

Friday we went on an early morning walk because everyone was up early, excited to play and be together! The Pollock's decided to join us for school drop off, until Hugh tried to sit in the stroller by Piper. Piper wanted NOTHING to do with him being close by. Stanton started on foot running down the street towards school and tripped, so he started falling apart too. In all their happiness, we left for school. Jay was zooming along on his scooter and hit a patch of rocks as he turned into the alley. His scooter stopped and he flew, landing in the pile of rocks, mud, and water. I think he thought the mud was blood, because he panicked. I did my best to wipe him up with the blanket in the bottom of the stroller, but he refused to get back on the scooter and we slowly made our way to school with him and Hugh riding in the double. It was a good thing I took the double, I don't know how we would have gotten anywhere. We arrived at school with Jay still in tears. I went inside with him, and he sat on my lap crying for at least twenty minutes. We offered a bandaid, Shelby and Katie offered to take him to class, and all he wanted to do was to go home. We eventually caved and let him come home since he was advocating so hard for himself, saying, "I feel sad, I want to go home with Mama!" Katie and Shelby came home with us and we enjoyed the rest of the morning with cousins. Katey and Hope joined us and we tried out a new park in the neighborhood. It was nice to have Shelby and Katie there to help coach Jay in some cousin interactions and both Jay and Hugh took great naps. Friday evening, we headed up to Longmont to enjoy adult dinner out. Matthew had to work and sadly didn't join us. I hate when work takes my Friday evenings with him, it brings an extra sadness. Betty Jane watched our boys for us at their house, and Kylee watched the Pollock's at the Merrill house. Jack, Lindsay, Katey, Jason, Klaire, and I went to a restaurant called Collision Brewery. Jack ordered super yummy fried cauliflower and mushrooms to share with everyone. I got a delicious bison burger! Very good. That night, the boys and I slept over at Jack and Lindsay's house. The boys were so excited to go to sleep, however, it took them a while. I should have just gotten ready for bed and gone to sleep with them. They had a couple "I love you most" competitions, which is very cute. They take turns saying, "Hugh, I love you most....Jay, I love you most." Or, they would simply just want to say hello. They did wake up a couple times in the night, but mostly went back to sleep. Jay was awake from about 4-5, and I was very grateful he went back to sleep after that spurt.

The park was so new, we had to break the zipties off the swings. This is Hope trying with Katey.

Hope and Hugh still fit in the swing together

Piper, Hope, Hugh, and Stanton

Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast with cousins and then hit the park with everyone. We went to a new park in Longmont and had a great time! Kylee tagged along with Jay most of the morning, which was a huge help. He is a mover at parks, and she climbed with him and followed him wherever he wanted to go. Hugh loves to adventure too, but the distance he covers is usually a lot smaller. We had fun with everyone there and enjoyed naptime at Jack's house. The boys were being very quiet before naps and I snuck down to see what they were doing. Roxy had gotten down one of Allen's lego creations and was demonstrating the functionality of the toy and talking to the boys. It was really sweet. I was again grateful the boys went down okay for sleep and soon after they woke up the Merrill's and Pollock's came over to Jack's. All the cousins played and played. Jay and Hugh are the rogue children who don't really watch movies, so when the movie night started, we did bath time and enjoyed pizza with a movie sprinkled in randomly. We hit the road about when the movie finished.

Roxy and Hugh

Hugh enjoying riding the bug

Hugh

Jay loved the cave and wanted everyone to come in with him.

Jay's climbing skills are so good and it's fun to watch him conquer new parks!

Abby and Jay running around the spinning circle, Katey helping Jay.

Aunt Klaire pushing Piper and Jay, one with each hand. That's skill!

Kids playing in the field.

Roxy talking to Jay and Hugh about the legos

Movie time!

Sunday was fifth Sunday, so Matthew and I got to attend second hour together. We never get to attend together, so it was a special treat for us. Busy season Sunday's involve a long naptime and just enjoying the day together. We went to the Merrill's for dinner that evening, and we all gathered again. Jay did a little bit better at playing with cousins during this visit, maybe because he had so many other toys and entertainment. We are grateful for cousins who try to include him and play in a way he can play. Cousin time is hard for him, and sometimes makes it hard for the rest of us.

Monday was another fun filled day! Can you tell we made the most of every moment while Klaire was in town? We hit a splashpad in the morning that was new for everyone. The pictures made it look HUGE and it was much smaller than planned. Shortly after we arrived, Jay needed to go potty and no other family was there yet. We tried to use the restrooms onsite, but they were locked. As soon as Katey's carload arrived, Jay and I loaded up to find a bathroom. The first gas station we stopped at didn't have a restroom, I didn't know that was a thing. We finally found one at the second stop, but we had to have a key from the cashier to use it. After all the hassle, Jay just went pee, which was so frustrating! I've been trying to teach him to be able to pee anywhere (meaning standing) and he hasn't caught on yet. It was frustrating for me. We finally made it back to the splashpad and enjoyed it for the remainder of our time. We at lunch and enjoyed splashing. Kylee again helped me track down Jay and Katey took a couple turns too. These outings wouldn't be possible without some help! After we had our time at the park, we enjoyed games, a movie during naptime, and BBQ. Matthew came up for a couple minutes during dinner to grab food, but other than that missed all the festivities of Labor Day with work. I enjoyed having Klaire stay the night again. Nighttime gave us some time to actually visit after the kids were in bed.

Hugh, Kylee, and Jay

Betty and Jay - Betty noticed Jay was alone on this blanket and joined him, she's so sweet.

Stanton, Piper, Klaire, and Jay - waving goodbye to the crew.

Tuesday was finally a regular day. We woke up, went for a walk, and took Jay to school. While Jay was at school, we hit the park. Stanton, Piper, and Hugh enjoyed climbing and toddling around the park together. We picked up Jay from school and followed that with massage therapy and I had a meeting with his Occupational Therapist. All the kids were antsy after dinner, so we did a short walk around the neighborhood, stopping at the purple park. They all enjoyed playing and could have played for much longer!

Stanton, Piper, Hugh, and Aunt Klaire

Aunt Klaire pushing Hugh and Jay and Piper on the swings, Stanton is on the slide

Wednesday was Klaire's last day, time flew while she was here! The Merrill's joined us at the splashpad in Fort Lupton and we had a great time playing. The weather was really nice and we enjoyed being outside. Jay usually gets some decompression time after school, but we welcomed him home to crazy town. This offset him for the whole day, in addition to Shelby missing school because of a flat tire. I tried all my tricks to help him reset but it was a ROUGH day. He couldn't find his center, and it made it really hard for everyone. Katey and her kids stayed through naptime, and Klaire and I enjoyed the afternoon playing outside in the backyard. We had popsicles and swinging time outside to pass the time until dinner. I took her back to the airport about the same time Matthew put the boys to bed. She had a couple delays with baggage when arriving home, but made it safely back to Curtis!

Thursday and Friday blurred together. Thursday I had an ultrasound to check baby's growth at 36 weeks. They are guessing he's about 8 pounds already! The tech had a great time taking photos of the baby so we came out with a whole roll! Hugh and I hit a new park on the way home, which was fun. Friday we got to enjoy Family Lunch with Jay at school. He isn't really hungry for lunch at 10:50, so he didn't eat much, but it was fun to visit the school anyways.

Hugh in the tunnel

Hugh climbing!

Hugh refused to drop the ball and climb, and somehow, he did it.

Look at that scary caterpillar!

Saturday was finally a day that felt calm again. The boys and I tried a couple new parks in Brighton. The first one was closed, the second one was way too busy, and the third one was just right. We were the only ones there, no exits, stuff to dig in, fun climbing stuff, and swings. The boys did really well and it was nice to just have the three of us at a park again. Of course, we missed Dad, but he was busy working, as usual this time of year. I went to a movie birthday party that evening where all the treats were gluten free. It was awesome to have a party with yummy food that I could eat!

Jay

Hugh

Jay and Hugh resting in the nest at the park

Jay and Hugh at snack time

These swings are fun, plus, I only have to push one swing and they both go

If one of them does it, the other one has to try

I'll finish the post with a couple highlights on the boys and call it good. Hugh is most recently into asking, "Are you happy?" anytime you seem slightly unhappy. If you say no, he will ask, "are you trying?" Most often it's very cute and does help me reframe my mindset of the situation. Other times, it's not so cute. He also will now say, "I have a question" - and most often he will follow up with a question! Sometimes it'll be a statement about what he is doing, but it's sometimes a question. He's starting to create more with our magnetic tiles, and loves to pretend play.

"I made a star!" - Hugh

Hugh checking on my foot with the play doctor set

Jay is engaging more in two way conversations. It's amazing, he doesn't just repeat what we say, but comes up with his own dialogue. I have had success getting him to share about what he's done at school or during the day. He loves his table time at school with Mr. Anderson and always comes home with a smiley face drawn on both hands. I am sure he asks Mr. Anderson for "both." That's a term he's learned recently, so when given two options, he will often say both. And, his key phrase is "not yet" often pronounced as "no yet." Jay also loves to pull weeds, find mushrooms, and do anything Dad does.

Jay with his bowl of weeds

Sunrises on a walk, and this vest is awesome!

Both boys love to help cook in the kitchen, I think mainly to lick whatever bowl or spatula we are using. They've eaten all of my garden peas as soon as they are picked, and it's been fun to share with them. They love to copy each other and mimic, which is most of the time really great. Copying is a peer is a huge milestone for Jay, and it starts with those he is closest with, which is Hugh.