Summer Fun

We have been having a great summer. I can't believe June is already over. At the beginning of the summer, I sat down and made sort of a summer bucket list filled with fun activities to do throughout the summer. I wanted to be intentional in the way we spent our time and create some fun memories with my boys. We are trucking right along and crossing things off of our list.

Each Tuesday morning, Erica and I meet for a walk. Samuel usually naps in the stroller, and Nathan will ride and eat a snack while Erica and I walk and visit. We walk at a church/college campus that has a duck pond, so near the end of the walk, I let Nathan get out of the stroller and run around and feed the ducks. We all look forward to Tuesday mornings. I need to snap some pictures of Nathan feeding the ducks before the summer is over.

On Wednesdays, we go to Storytime at the library. I just love our Tulsa libraries. We take advantage of all the free programs they offer. They've really amped up Storytime for the summer and each week have lots of fun activities for the kiddos. Nathan's favorite was getting to dig for dinosaurs. We also always leave with a stack of books each visit. One of the activities on our summer list was to complete the library's summer reading program. It didn't take Nathan long to earn his prizes for reading 20 books and visiting the library four times. He got a coupon book, a medal and a prairie dog!

Another activity on our list was to go to a Driller's baseball game. We all had a great night, but with the splash pad and the playground, we didn't watch much baseball :)

Samuel slept through most of his first baseball game.

Nathan kept saying, "I drink water!" and then laughing. Sometimes boys are gross!

We've also been swimming. My parents' good friends have an awesome pool with a slide and diving board. Matt and Erica and my parents joined us for a fun evening of swimming. Nathan LOVES the water. He is fearless around it too. He played in his boat, jumped off the diving board, and went down the slide countless times. Going underwater didn't bother him a bit.

He told me his favorite part of swimming was getting his feet dirty in the grass and then cleaning them off in the water. Silly boy.

Last weekend, our city hosted a Blue Bell taste of summer event. For a small admission fee, we got to eat as much ice cream as we wanted.

They also had other fun activities for the kids. We passed on most of them because of the long lines, but we couldn't pass up a train ride!

Poor Samuel hung out in the stroller and didn't get any ice cream

We had a fun play date this week at Chloe's house. Nathan was so excited to play at her house. It was a fun morning to watch the kids play and love on the sweet new babies.

We read books, pushed strollers, played with balls, and ate snacks.

We are looking forward to all the fun July holds and crossing a few more things off our bucket list!

Comparisons

Ever since Samuel was born, so many people ask or comment about whether or not he looks like Nathan. I've never really thought they looked much alike, but some people will say that they think they look exactly like each other.  I snapped some pictures of Samuel the other day wearing the same onesie as Nathan did at about the same age, and I don't see much resemblance at all.  I certainly think they were/are both adorable babies though! Samuel just has his own look right now. I'm sure the red hair and chubbiness might make them look less alike than they really are. 

Nathan at 3 months:

Samuel at 3 months:

Three Months Old

Samuel, You are three months old. You continue to change daily and are still the sweetest baby! All of us love you so much. You have been the perfect addition to our little family.

Your brother still is crazy about you except when he gets frustrated while I'm feeding you, and he wants to play. He shares his toys with you and laughs so hard when he sees you "playing" with them. He gives you big hugs all the time. One morning I was holding both of you in my lap, Nathan reached over, gave you a hug and said, "I love you Samuel, big hug." My heart turned to mush.

You love your brother too and always keep your eye on him when he is in the room. He can calm you down when you're fussy just by looking at you and talking to you. You get a sparkle in your eye when he pays attention to you.

You always are grabbing something in your hands and usually sticking it in your mouth. I usually have a blanket or a burp cloth in your car seat, and you love to hold on to whatever is in there. You enjoy lying on your play mat grabbing and looking at all your toys. You'll play by yourself for a long time. You have a threshold though. You'll start to get fussy if you've been playing too long by yourself, and the moment we pick you up, you are all smiles. It's like you don't want us to forget about you and you just need some Mommy or Daddy time.

You eat about every 3 hours during the day for about 15-20 minutes and are getting a 2oz bottle after most feedings. You have your first real feeding between 6:30 and 7:00 and then eat every 3 hours. Your last feeding is between 9:30 and 10:00, and you go to bed right afterwards. You usually sleep until 4:00-5:00. You'll wake up and fuss, and I'll grab you and put you in bed with me. You'll nurse and doze off and on until you wake up for the day between 6:30 and 7:00. I wouldn't say you are sleeping through the night, but you're going a good stretch each night and you and I are both getting some good rest. You are still sleeping in our room in your pack and play, and I'm guessing you'll be there another month or so until you start sleeping longer.

You still doze after almost every feeding. The only "real" nap you take is after your 1:00 feeding. You usually sleep about 2 hours during that nap, which is amazing, because your brother sleeps at the same time. You two boys are awesome! That's the only structured nap you take. The rest of the day, you are usually in charge and let me know when you are tired and ready for a nap. Usually those naps are pretty short, about 20-30 minutes. We are on the go a lot in the mornings, so you doze in your car seat while we're out. You usually also fall asleep in the stroller during our evening, walk/jogs/playground trips.

You finally found your thumb about a week ago. I've caught you with it in your mouth several times since then. Sometimes you'll stick your whole fist in your mouth or a couple of fingers, whatever you can find at the time. You'll only take a paci when you're really sleepy, but you fall asleep so fast once you take it. You are still swaddled for your nap and nighttime sleep, so sucking your thumb isn't an option then :). I bet once we stop swaddling and you get a little older, you'll be a full time thumb sucker. Your daddy prefers you take a paci, but I don't think I'll mind too much. I've been dealing with cleaning paci's, finding them in the middle of the night, and worrying about taking them away from your brother for the last two years, so a thumb sucker doesn't sound too bad right now :).

We put you in the nursery at church for the first time at the end of May, and you do wonderfully in there. I go get you and nurse you during church, so I don't miss you too much. The workers always comment on what a laid back, sweet baby you are. They've had a shortage of babies in there recently, so they always get really excited when we drop you off!

I saw you roll over for the first time on 6-5-2013. You've done it a few times since then. You're not really a fan of tummy time, and now you have a way out of it :).

You are wearing 3 month and 3-6 month clothes and a size 2 diaper. You are long, so even some of your 3 month sleepers are getting too small because of your length. We don't go back to the doctor until your are 4 months old, so I don't have an exact weight for you, but I would guess you weigh about 13.5 lbs.

You are smiling all the time. We call your nose your "smile button" because touching with our finger almost always elicits a huge grin! You are blowing raspberries too and are so close to laughing out loud. You are so much fun!

Some people comment that they've never heard you cry. We've heard you cry for sure, but there's always a reason behind the fussing, usually tired or hungry or want to be held. You've outgrown some of the fussiness you had as a newborn, and are such a great, easy baby.

You talk and coo all the time, especially if someone is interacting with you. You and Grandaddy had some great conversations during Bible school week. Since you were born, I always thought you would be my quiet, introverted child, but now that you've found your voice, I'm not sure anymore. You may end up being more social than your brother. Either way, we will love you to pieces just as we do now!

Vacation Bible School Week

Nathan, Samuel and I spent last week in Weatherford with Granny and Grandadddy. Their church was having Vacation Bible School, so we decided to head down and spend the week playing and attending VBS. When I was little, I always spent Bible school week at Granny and Grandaddy's house. Usually, my cousins would come and stay too. Fun memories! So I thought about how special and fun it would be for Nathan to go to VBS and spend the week at Granny and Grandaddy's.

We headed to Weatherford Monday afternoon. (Nathan missed the first day, but we didn't want to be away from Daddy for too long).

Granny and Grandaddy had rounded up LOTS of toys for Nathan including a tricycle, tractor toy and wagon to play with outside and a ton of trains, cars, books and puzzles. She even pulled out some of Jeremy and my old toys for him to play with. That poor child didn't have any fun at all :).

He had a lot of fun at Bible school too. His classroom had a big Thomas the train and Percy the train that he spotted the first day I dropped him off. Everyday when I asked him what he did at Bible school, he said, "Play Thomas, Play Percy." Samuel and I went up most days to visit and let everyone at church have a chance to see Samuel. Granny and Grandaddy loved showing off their two great grandsons!

After Bible school and naps, we always had fun activities for the afternoon and evening. On Tuesday afternoon, we went to visit Aunt Kay and Uncle Wesley. Nathan found trains and golf clubs in Aunt Kay's basement and had fun playing.

Nathan and Grandaddy had been reading Nathan's firetruck book and playing with a toy firetruck throughout the week, so during Nathan's nap on Wednesday, Grandaddy ran down to the fire station and asked if we could come see the firetrucks. When Nathan woke up, we told him where we were going and he was so excited. He walked around and looked at all the trucks and even got to ride in the firetruck.

When we were getting ready to leave, one of the firemen asked if Nathan wanted a ride home! We never dreamed, they would take him for a ride. He rode with Grandaddy, and Samuel and I followed in our car. Nathan talked about riding the firetruck constantly that night (Grandaddy did too). Grandaddy kept saying how Nathan rode in a firetruck for the first time when he was 2 and Grandaddy rode the first time when he was 81. I don't think either of them will forget that experience.

Wednesday night, the church hosted a VBS family night with games and hot dogs. Granny was busy serving hot dogs, but Nathan and I got to play. They had a train in the parking lot. Nathan rode it five times and asked about it every time we went to the church.

Grandaddy read Nathan bedtime books and rocked him every night.

His chair got a workout with as much as he rocked Nathan and Samuel. Poor Samuel is going to have a tough time readjusting to life without Grandaddy. He hardly left Grandaddy's sight the whole week. Granny had to fight for a turn to hold him :). I love this picture of John Jacob and Samuel Jacob!

More fun at VBS:

Thursday afternoon, after naps, Nathan, Samuel and I went to visit Momoo for a couple of hours. My cousin Mindy and her new baby joined us too. It was fun visiting and playing with the babies.

No visit to Momoo's is complete without a piece of chocolate sheet cake. Nathan gobbled it up.

We went out to the walking trail a couple of times, so I could run. Nathan and Grandaddy went too. The first night, Grandaddy pulled Nathan in the wagon. When we had about a quarter of a mile left, I asked Nathan if he wanted to run. He got out of the wagon and ran the whole way. The next time we went, Grandaddy couldn't get him in the wagon at all, and he walked/ran/pushed the wagon the entire mile. Boys have so much energy. I don't know what I'm going to do when he's five.

Grandaddy picked Nathan up a little early from Bible school on Friday and took him to the park to play on the train. We had stopped for just a couple of minutes the night before, and Nathan did not want to leave which led to a typical two year old temper tantrum. Grandaddy felt so bad for him, he had to make sure Nathan got to play again before we left town.

We left Weatherford Friday after Bible school. Granny and Grandaddy had some errands to run in OKC, so we left at the same time and all stopped in OKC for lunch. My cousin Aaron recently opened a Chick Fil A in OKC, so we got to visit with him. His family came to see us while we were there too. It was fun to see them all, and we had a great lunch. Nathan loves his cousins. He met them for the first time at Christmas and seemed to remember them. He was especially fond of Grayson (she was the flower girl in my wedding), and gave her lots of kisses before we left. And Nathan loved playing in the play place. We couldn't even get him to come out for ice cream!

We had such a great week. I think Grandaddy almost cried when we said good bye. I asked Nathan if he wanted to go to Mommy's house as we were leaving, and he said, "Nope, Granny's house!" He also asked where Grandaddy went, and I told him he was with Granny. He said, "Grandaddy go Mommy's house!" It was a special week that none of us will forget.