Playing and Sleeping

I got a new toy this week! I'm just now learning what toys are. I think they are bright and fun things to look at. Check out this cool contraption my mom put together for me.

I think I look good in it! There's this little mirror (you can see it behind my head below) and there's another baby in it. I smile and talk and talk to that baby - she is so cute!! It looks like she has a toy just like mine!

My mom loves to get me to smile. She keeps telling me I'm beautiful. I don't know what that means, but it makes her happy to say it, so that's fine with me.

After a bit of playing, I get pretty sleepy. I usually sleep in my bed, but sometimes I fall asleep right where I was hanging out with mom. Daisy likes to be near me. Sometimes she sniffs my ears, but in this picture she is falling asleep with me.

And of course, one of my favorite places to doze is on daddy's chest. I can tell it makes him happy too. He looks at me kinda funny sometimes, but mom acts like that's a good thing.

Next time I'll try to show you some pictures of me hanging out with my brother, mom, and maybe the cat - though she doesn't like to come near me! Now I'm feeling sleepy again. Night, night!

Helping Dad

Tuesday was the last prep day for teachers. Brice had some last-minute things to take care of at school, including assembling a new piece of furniture for his room. Here's a trivia fact about Brice - he absolutely does not like to assemble anything, especially furniture.

Sidebar: Ever heard the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercials? This one is spot on! Written for Brice!

So Cole and I set to putting the shelves together - and we had a ball! Again, evidence of our personalities. So here's the completed project:

Meanwhile, Naomi could be found close by, sleeping through the hammering!

And Dad could be found close by giving moral support and downing a Dr. Pepper.

To his credit, he actually put in most of the shelf pegs. Yea, Dad!

Now each student has a slot for their work and Dad was one step closer to having his room ready for the 1st day of school!

First Day of School!

Yes, today is the first day of school - August 11th. It's actually late compared to last year. It couldn't come soon enough for Cole though! He's been counting down the days and hours.

Monday was orientation and he got to meet his new teacher. He put his supplies away and got his desk ready while I filled out paperwork and dad chatted with the teacher. (Each of these tasks completely fit our personalities!)

He has two of his buddies in his class which made him even more anxious to get back in the groove. This morning he was up as soon as his alarm went off at 6:00 am - before we got up! Yes, he set his alarm himself the night before. He was ready pretty early and decided to just go outside and wait for the bus, in case it came early. Bless his heart, he waited for 15 minutes - the bus was actually right on time!

The afternoon report: It was a good day!

Cole thrives on structure and routine so he's settling in to his 5th grade life quite well. He's on the Safety Patrol so he got to open car doors in carpool this morning and direct kids in the halls lining up for bus loads in the afternoon.

I hope this enthusiasm lasts, but considering his goal was the Perfect Attendance award last year, I'm not too worried about his commitment to school!

6 Week Changes

Our little girl turned 7 weeks yesterday and the past week has held many changes. I understand why 6 weeks is considered a pivotal time.

First of all, to the delight of my heart, we've been getting more of these:

And thankfully we've also been getting more of these:

since she's doing more of this:

She started skipping a feeding in the middle of the night. She's sleeping 6-7 hours now! Yea!!

I went back to work last week - that was hard. But I'm only working 2 days a week now so it's not that bad. My mom and Brice's mom are keeping her those two days. My heroes!

And one more picture, cuz she's just so darn cute!

One of Cole's 1/2 Birthday presents was this cool wall decal of a basketball player - his favorite, Dirk Nowitski of the Dallas Mavericks. Here he is showing off his new wall decor.

Now all three of his favorite sports are represented in his room!

Soccer, Football, Basketball

Thanks, Aunt B, for the way cool addition. He was SO excited!

A Video to Make You Smile

This is a few weeks old, but still adorable! Notice how Brice captivates her when he's singing. Just precious!