Pipe Cleaners and Pony Beads

For the last few weeks I have been thinking about new activities Charlie can do. He seems to get bored with his toys really fast and I have been having trouble keeping him entertained and occupied. He is almost three, so I decided to start working on some dexterity skills.

This morning we tried my first idea—pony beads and pipe cleaners. I sat the boys at the table and showed them how to string the beads on. The pipe cleaners are fuzzy enough so the beads will not fall off. Charlie knows his colors well, so this activity re-enforced colors and worked on counting. I didn’t think Noah would be able to get the beads on, but he surprised us and enjoyed counting to three over and over again and got a good introduction to colors.

An added bonus: they sat for 15 minutes playing with the beads.

I will have to start spending more time looking for activities that they can do at this age. They both enjoyed the challenge and were so proud of themselves once they got the hang of it!

Adventures in Potty Training

Today is the first day of intense potty training with Charlie. After reading lots of different articles, I was prepared for Charlie not wanting to sit on the potty, fears on falling in, and not wanting to flush or wash his hands. Charlie (being Charlie) presented me with a whole different set of issues.

We started the day off well. Charlie loved sitting on the potty and was so excited that he got to flush. He was able to tell us when he wanted to go. The issue is that he loves the potty. All he wants to do is sit on it. He talks to his pee. He waves bye-bye to it. He even hugs the toilet. He threw a pretty good tantrum when we made him get out of the bathroom and drink something so he could go some more.

I am interested to see what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully he hasn’t lost his enthusiasm.

Visitors!

Last month we have been busy with visitors!! Sam’s parents came down at the end of September, then Jen and Leah came down, then Corie and Henry came down this past week. The boys had so much fun seeing and meeting new people!!

Sam’s parents spent most of their trip house hunting. They seemed to have made their minds up that they want to continue retirement down here…and I can’t blame them. No snow AND getting to hang out with the Handsome Haag boys? Sounds like a good deal to me. Sam and I are just excited to have two more people around that love the boys. Wish them luck with selling their house in Michigan!

Charlie and Noah loved playing with Leah and Jen. They had never spent much time playing with a little girl before but Leah seemed to keep them in line well. It was also so much fun for me to see my sister again! I hope that they will make the move to Georgia someday. I can dream. I think my boys would have a ball playing with the whole Cox Cutie bunch!! (And I would totally love to play with girls! I love my boys, but a tea party every once in a while would be nice, too!)

I just dropped Corie and Henry off at the airport this morning. I hadn’t seen Corie in about six years, and that was way before we were even thinking about babies. It was so much fun catching up with her and giggling about the “good old days” of high school. It was also the only visit that I took pictures of (sorry Marla and Jen!) Corie and I decided she would have to visit me again soon, six years is WAY too long.

Henry is such a cutie! I tried to get Corie to leave him, but she insisted that his grandparents and daddy would miss him.

My boys taught Henry some new tricks, like how to move chairs to better get what you want in high places.

Charlie also decided to showcase some of his new tricks….

Like this face.

And this cool pot holder trick.

And, of course, Maddie LOVED Henry, too.

And Noah? He still hides from the camera.

Our next visitors are not scheduled to come until December….but Charlie told me this morning he can’t wait to play with Mickey and Gigi. (Well, maybe not, but he did tell me: “I’m all clean Mama”, “I colored it purple and green”, and he has SO MUCH to say about his blue Buzz Lightyear shirt. I am truly amazed at the rate his vocabulary is expanding and his ability to use sentences!)

Charlie’s First Bloody Nose…and his love of Buzz

Yesterday Charlie and Noah were playing a chasing game. Basically, Charlie will run after Noah roaring, and then Noah will chase after Charlie yelling “NOAH!!!!!! NOAH!!!!” They can do this for hours. This time, the game was cut short when Charlie ran into the wall and gave himself a bloody nose. The sight of blood makes me queasy, so I gave Charlie lots of hugs while Sam and Maddie cleaned Charlie up and took pictures to commemorate the moment.

In the pictures, you might notice Charlie’s shirt. From the pictures I post on Facebook it may look like I never change Charlie’s clothes. Charlie LOVES his blue Buzz pajama shirt. When I put him down for a name he will dig through all of his dresser drawers until he finds it, then will put it on. Sometimes he will just randomly bring it to me and ask for help putting it on. When we change his diaper, he will cling to it and declare it “MY shirt”. Luckily, we have two sets of the pajama set this shirt came in so I try to have one in the laundry while he is wearing the other.

Hello again, Terrible Twos…We Meet Again so Soon.

I think it is official: my sweet baby Noah is history. In his place I have an independent and extremely goofy toddler, with a strong need to be mischievous. We call him the Wo-wa Monster.

Today I was doing dishes. Not ten feet away from me, Noah managed to get a red marker and color all over himself and the couch.

The damage.

Caught.

More damage.

What being told ‘No” does to the Wo-wa monster.

Noah the Eater

We have joked, pretty much ever since he came home, about how much Noah likes to eat. He has always had a healthy appetite and has always been able to put more food away than his older brother.

Today the boys were being cute at lunch time so I got out the camera. Charlie had already decided lunch was “eww, yucky” (as he put it) and made faces for the camera. Noah just kept on eating. It is such a perfect example of their little personalities.

The annoying flash from the camera won’t stop him.

Attacks from Charlie are just a minor annoyance.

Charlie’s antics don’t even faze him.

He just keeps eating…

…and eating…

...and eating.

Don’t tell Sam my car is a MESS!

I had to run to Valdosta this afternoon, and the boys were GREAT. It is a long trip for them to just be strapped into the car seat, so I decided I would be a cool mom and get them an ice cream for the ride home. ..yeah, wrong choice.

I couldn’t really see what they were doing back there, but they seemed happy so I didn’t worry about it. Then we got home. WHAT A MESS. Charlie saw Madison had come over, so he got out of his car seat before I could get a picture of him and his mess. Noah was the worst. He didn’t eat his ice cream…he used it as lotion.

During the bath that was mandatory when we got home I discovered the sprinkles stained their skin. I am not sure if it is all ice cream sprinkles that do this or only the ones Bruster’s serves, but it is something I will be much more careful about in the future!

Lesson learned. The boys will not be trusted with ice cream in the car for another couple of years!

Why Does Noah Cover his Eyes?

Oh, Mr. Noah



I am so sorry you hate the flash on the camera!

Charlie Makes a Fashion Statement

Charlie “helped” me do dishes tonight and got his shirt soaked. I told him to go get a new shirt, and he came back with a shirt that he has never worn and is still too big for him. It was the first time he has ever picked out his own shirt. He was so excited to put it on! He then disappeared back in his room, and I found him trying to put his blue plaid shorts on.

A Trip to the Park

I didn’t know Adel had a park when I moved here. Jen didn’t know it either until I told her about it the other day. I took these pictures this morning to show off the equipment to Jen in hope that she will move here and we can take our kids to the park together!!