Summer is here! (May 31-June 6)

Pics and Update from May 31-June6

Summer has begun and with it all sorts of fun things for the boys. Another bday party for cousin David, this time with aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

We also hit up a new splashpad this week,

Jacob had a birthday party at the bounce house place,

and the boys and I took a trip to Brenham with some friends to take a tour of the Blue Bell plant and play at the Blue Bell pool. The whole day was fun and tiring. We all took great, long naps that day!

In some ways, I'm happy for summer, and in a few ways, I'm not. I like not having a set schedule most days, enjoying new experiences with the boys, and having lots of pool time, but I don't like the crowds at the gym, stores, and everywhere it seems. It has also gotten hot very fast - mid 90s most days, so lots of water play around here.

Jacob is still swimming great and loving it.

I actually attempted to work with Luke on identifying his letters a bit this week (well, as much as he would tolerate) and I realized he no longer knows the 8-10 letters he knew just a few weeks ago (thankfully he still knows about 5 consistently.) I have been slacking with practicing with him - my fault! Jacob knew all his upper case letters by this age, and some of the lowercase ones too...so I can't help but feel guilty for not giving Luke the same opportunities.

Here are the pictures from the week.

Lasts and Firsts (May 24-30)

Pics and update from May24-30

This was a week of lasts and firsts. Jacob's 2nd and final week of swim lessons was this week. After really figuring out the concept of breathing and swimming on his own last week, he didn't learn a whole lot new this week, just added confidence.

He also had his last day of preschool for the year. Though he had a rough start to the year with his class, he had a great final few months and was really doing great. He learned a lot and has really grown up a lot.

An ice cream party ended the year, so that helped make it less sad.

This week was also Jacob and Luke's first time fishing. Daddy took them to a friend's property with his boys to fish. They had so much fun. Too bad they didn't have a camera (here are a couple of pictures taken with the friend's camera.)

Mixed in the weekend were 2 birthday parties and a Memorial Day party. Busy boys.

We also finally convinced Jacob to give up the Pull Ups at night. He's been dry for months but he was not ready to give them up until now.

Here are the pictures from the week.

Go-Go-Go (May 17-23)

Pics and update from May 17-23

Last week had some very busy days mixed in with some lazy, stay at home ones. Jacob had his first week of swim lessons,

t-ball practice,

his school program,

t-ball pictures

and game,

cousin David's birthday party,

plus his last soccer practice/game and some fun play time at the neighborhood pool.

Lucky Luke, got to tag along for all the fun. He is definitely getting harder and harder to control and keep happy just sitting on the sidelines.

He did have a birthday party to attend without big brother, so that was a fun time for him.

We did make sure to slow down and take some time for a movie and popcorn though!

I can also now report that Jacob can swim! He has been able to jump in and swim/kick to David or me for a year now, but never would do it for anyone else, and hadn't figured out the breathing or treading water part. Thankfully, he has figured out both and LOVES to 'swim' on his own. He's not 100% water safe, but he's getting there quickly.

Luke finally has started calling Jacob "Ja-dup or Ja-jup" instead of just "Dup" Kind of a sad change as he loses a little bit more of his baby talk, but also sweet to hear him call his big brother's name.

Here are the rest of the pictures for the week.

Finally! Playing Independently (May 10-16)

Pics and update from May 10-16

After a fun, busy trip, we spent this week getting back on schedule, playing at home, and resting.

This marked a really big week for me, in that Luke has finally started playing independently AND with Jacob from time to time. I still have to referee fights over cars and trains and who had what first but it has been a great step...one I've been waiting for.

And what does Luke play with when he's on his own - cars and trains. He's now into lining them up, just like big brother. Both boys go through phases of playing with trains for days on end, but then will put them up for a week or 2, but the cars are always around and being played with.

We went to the first of many summer birthday parties this week and the boys had fun riding the train they had.

And checking out the crawfish.

Several of our friends had summer babies, so we'll be partying a lot.

Luke has grown over 1.5 inches in the last month. He's up to 33.5 inches. Both boys have stayed relatively well lately, hopefully it will continue.

Here are the rest of the pictures from the week.

Last Day of School and a Look Back

Today was Jacob's last day of preschool for the 2009-2010 school year. Though it is hard to spell out the 'academic' skills he learned over the year, I can definitely see a change in him. Not only physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and academically. His language and comprehension skills have improved as has his general "common sense." He has also matured - as much as a little boy 2 months shy of his 4th birthday can. :)

First day of school: he was 3 years, 1.5 months, 34 lbs and 38.5" tall

Last day of school he is 3 years, 10 months, 37.5 lbs and 40.5"
Before Jacob left for his first day, Luke gave Jacob a hug.
So, of course, he had to do the same thing on the last day:

Next year, I'll have 2 of them going to preschool together. A "practice" picture for next year:
In September:

In May:

T-ball

Who knows what sport will end up being Jacob's favorite, but for now, he's pretty happy with t-ball.