Calling All Superheroes!

This past weekend we celebrated Connor and Cooper's birthdays. Connor picked superheroes - go figure! So, I put my thinking cap on and had so much fun planning it! I'll tell ya, planning a birthday party is a lot of work - but to see how much fun the kids are having makes every late night and missed nap (on my end) worth it. 

On the menu:
- homemade wings -- Bat Wings
- pigs in a blanket -- Robin Roll-ups
- cheeto balls -- Fire Balls
- goldfish (plain flavor) -- Aquaman Fish
- cheese cubes with pretzel sticks in them -- Thor Hammers
- cucumber slices -- Captain America Shields
- carrot sticks -- Hawkeye's Arrows
- strawberry and pineapple fruit skewers -- Ironman Power Food
- green grapes -- Green Lantern's Gem Stones
- green "ocean water" -- Hulk Punch
- water -- Invisible Water
- sweet tea -- Elastici"tea"

We also had some activities and games planned. When the kids first arrived, they were given a cape (yellow, red, or blue) and picked a mask. They colored their mask while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. After everyone arrived, we jumped right on in with our first activity. I drew some webs on poster boards and put villains on them. Each kid was given a can of silly string and they had to act like Spiderman and shoot the evil villains. It was a little difficult for some of the kids to spray, so parents had to help out a little bit with this one. But, it looked as if the kids were having a "blast!" ;) Then we went on and ate since it was around 11:30. Once everyone was finishing up we were on to the next thing. This one was Connor's favorite. I took six empty puff containers (thanks, Cooper!) and put more villain faces on them. We stacked them up and the kids took the Thor hammer and threw it at them to knock it down. This was funny to watch because some of the kids (*cough* Connor *cough*) kept missing and the hammer was going all sorts of ways. Most of the kids swung it like a bat which was not nearly as dangerous, but whatever they wanted to do. Good thing we did this outside! The next game was "Pin the star on the Captain America shield." I painted a Captain America shield on a poster board and printed each kid out a star with their name on it. We used Connor's Captain America mask and a lovey (thanks, Maddie!) to cover up their eyes. The kids tried to put the star in the middle of the blue circle. It was so fun to watch them. Most of the kids put the star in the blue circle -- they told me they couldn't see!! The last activity that I planned was a Hulk Smash. I saved up a bunch of boxes and my mom graciously spray painted them red and gray. We (well, Cameron, Sam, and Emma :) ) stacked up the boxes really tall and the kids put on Connor's hulk gloves and mask and knocked the boxes down. I really think the kids liked this one the best. It was so much fun to see them look like the Hulk and smash all those boxes down. The gloves even talk so that added to it. Oh, by the way, Cooper pretty much slept this entire time -- it's his party and he'll nap if he wants to?

Then we moved along to cake. I woke Cooper up for this, but it turns out he didn't care too much once I put that cake down in front of him. Connor was sweet enough to blow out Cooper's candle for him, and then Cooper got to smash his cake. I wasn't even sure I was going to have time to make him a smash cake, but I'm glad I did. Every one else had cupcakes! Then it was time for presents. The boys are so spoiled! Connor had to take everything out right then and there. Whatever we told him he couldn't open then, has already been opened and played with. He got a lo of superhero toys, books, and outside and quiet time activities. Cooper got a lot of clothes (yay for park clothes!) and toys. He has really enjoyed the toys, and I've really enjoyed the clothes!

We want to thank everyone who came to the party! We truly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to spend with us celebrating our two boys. Connor is still talking about how much fun he had with all of his friends!

I don't have many pictures from the party - because we were too busy partying! So, I've added what I have and some pictures of the activities that I took after I made them. Terrible mom, I know.

These are the spiderwebs and Captain America shield I made. We hammered the webs onto two trees outside and the kids went nuts with the silly string - the trees are so festive with their yellow, red, and blue silly string!

A picture of the banner I made for the boys. I love how it turned out!

Some pictures of the boys before the party - clearly Cooper has the "annoy my big brother" down :)

Mr. Personality

Finally a good one

Connor wanted one with Maddie too

Food table

My mom spray painted these boxes black and I put the windows on them with construction paper. It was pretty tedious, but it turned out "super" cute ;)

Drink table

Each kid got a cup with their name on it

Right when the kids began coloring their masks

One of the tables outside

I think they were having a little heart-to-heart here

Looking at his (terribly executed) Captain America shield cake

He said that we were "hurting his ears" when we sang to him -- gotta love a 4 year old

Satisfied with how well he blew the candles out

Not really sure what to do with this

But he's starting to get a little curious

And finally the first little taste

"Hmmm. That's pretty good"

"Can I have some more please?"

The telephone booth I made out of a box

The shield after the stars were put on. The kids did pretty good!!

The Thor Hammer throw game -- two of the villains faces were blasted off (job well done!!)

Cooper's 11 month post

Well, we are a little over a week away from his 1st birthday and I'm just now sitting down to write this (whoops!!). Cooper is 11 months old and we can't believe how fast this year has been. He is now over 23 pounds (yikes!!) which puts him in the 84th percentile - we all had the flu and this was his weight on the 10th.

Besides having the flu for a few days, he is as healthy as a horse. He loves to eat - especially snack (I mean, who are his parents again?!?). He doesn't really have a favorite food, he just really loves to eat. I've transitioned him to all milk just recently. I ran out of formula, and I was NOT buying anymore, so I mixed his milk with some of the breastmilk I had found in my freezer (seriously thought I had used it all). But now he is on all milk. He had a little trouble with it at first, but he's doing much better with it now.

He is still sleeping the 12 hours at night - with the occasional night of waking up searching for a paci or needing some water. Naps are going great - he still takes 2. The morning nap is around an hour and the afternoon nap is anywhere from 2-4 hours. His shorter nap tends to be on the weekend when dad's home. The kids are so excited that he's home that they get a little rowdy. But for the most part, sleep is still going well.

He has four teeth now (I can't remember if I've put that in previous months or not). His fourth tooth popped in right as we all got the flu - so around Connor's birthday. So he now has his two bottom teeth and now his two front teeth. He has the two on either side of his top teeth coming in- the left one especially. They've been giving him a little bit of a hard time but it's nothing some motrin can't handle.

He now has a few more words. The short list is: dada, uh-oh, hey, and "guh" for cup. I've heard a "mama" a time or two but never anything consistent. If you ask him to say "mama" he still just screams "ahhhhhh!!" He thinks it's quite comical -- I, however, don't find it as funny.

His absolute favorite thing to do is to pull to standing, let go, balance for a second or 30, and then fall down on his bottom. The kid finds it so hilarious. He laughs so much when he does it. He's taken a step a couple of times, but he's more interested in the falling down on his bottom part more than anything. Kid is nuts!!!

He also LOVES to play with/annoy his big brother and sister. It makes my heart swell so much to see them all interact with each other. Connor likes to make up what he's saying with his baby babble. Maddie just likes to hug and kiss him - sometimes a little too much. Every time she comes into the room that he's in I hear her say, "Hiiiiiiiii boyyyyyy!!" It's as if he hasn't been named yet- ha!

Cooper also crawls super fast. It's amazing how quick he is. I forgot how fast they can go. He loves to push a ball or truck or anything that rolls down the hall and crawl after it. It's almost as if he's playing fetch with himself? I don't know. Like I said earlier, kid is nuts!!

He is so full of personality and life. I always thought Connor and Maddie had such fun personalities, but Cooper takes the cake. He's rarely ever fussy and if he is, he's either hungry or sleepy (we all get that way). He loves to play and to be snuggled. He's terrible about laying down in the bed with me in the mornings - he crawls and stands up all over us. So when he's up, I'm up too. But,  he finds so much joy in the littlest things. It makes you take a step back and realize that they aren't going to be this little and innocent for long, so I'm soaking it all in while he can't talk back :)


Below are some pictures we took of him -- super late, but better late than never :)

Connor's 4 year post

I cannot believe my baby is 4 years old already. The waterworks were in full force on his birthday, as they have been every birthday. Connor is the happiest and most appreciative (most of the time) little boy. He's a whole 31 lbs 12.8oz which puts him in the 14th percentile, and 3 feet 2 inches which is the 8th percentile. He might be on the smaller side, but he's as healthy as can be.

He is not a fan of eating. If he could eat grilled cheese and donuts everyday, he would be a happy (and probably fat) boy. But, mean mom and dad don't let him eat those everyday so most of the time he just grazes on small snacks throughout the day. His BMI is in the 44th percentile so he's not calorie deprived. I've been so worried about him not eating, but the pediatrician said that his body just may not need all the extra calories. So, if she's not worried about it, then I guess I shouldn't be either.

He still is taking his nap in the afternoon. I'm trying to cut it down a little bit because he is having a hard time going to bed at night. We are lucky if he is asleep before 9:15. Most of the time it's 9:30-10 before he's asleep. So I'm trying to cut his nap down to 2-2 1/2 hours. If it's any shorter than that, he would be better off not having a nap at all. If it's any longer, we're looking at a super late bedtime. Which isn't bad on non-school nights, but I don't really want him out of routine to make school nights easier.

Since he's started K3, he has been behaving so much better at home. Before, he wouldn't be willing to do anything I would ask - he would always end up in time-out for not listening or not doing what I asked. Now, he's so much nicer about following directions. He doesn't do it all the time, because he is 4 years old, but about 90% of the time he follows directions.

He is also so smart! I can't believe what a difference K3 has made. We mainly put him in it for the socialization and to give myself a little bit of a break (selfish - I know). Before K3 he could recognize number 1-9 and the alphabet. Now he is writing the letters and numbers, and can recognize numbers 0-19! He loves to write his name. When we went to his well check-up, he showed Dr. B how to write his name in the air. He is so proud! He likes to point out letters on signs when we are walking outside or driving around. He also is so excited to show us how he can write the letter of the week. Side note for parents - sidewalk chalk is perfect for this! We are constantly outside writing numbers and letters. I think his favorite number to write is 2. He thinks it's so funny and gets so excited when he does it right.

He also knows the days of the week and the months of the year. I'm no teacher, so I'm not sure what's supposed to be taught when, but I was so impressed when he came home singing his little songs. He sings the days of the week to the theme from the Addam's family. He does the "Macarena" to the months of the year. Hearing him sing them and doing his little macarena dance makes my little heart swell. I am so glad we chose this year to start putting him in preschool. I wouldn't change it for anything.

Connor is into all things superheroes right now. He loves the Avengers and DC Comics. I think Batman is probably his absolute favorite superhero, but he loves them all (Captain America, Ironman, Spiderman, War Machine, etc). The list goes on and on and on. He also knows pretty much every villain out there. To help him follow directions, we ask him if he is going to be a superhero or a villain. We say "villains make bad decisions and end up in time-out." He usually picks superhero, but some of the time he says "I just want to be Connor" - haha!! It's really helped him out by thinking that way. Every kid is different and responds differently, but using this comparison for him has really been clicking.

He is such a smart kid that won't let you forget anything (which is good and bad). He has such a big heart and we are looking forward to seeing what this year holds for us!

Here's a picture of the birthday boy before he left for school. He was so excited to be able to spend his birthday with his friends.