Old Soul...

This one just has the look of an old soul. Sometimes I look at him and think

"Are you 80, or just 18 months???"

He's a tease and a lot of fun--when he's NOT throwing a

fit or a tantrum. He can be super sweet and is very curious. He's a climber...we're just waiting for him to fall off something and get seriously hurt (since the head-first fall from the rocking chair didn't seem to phase him too much, I'm a little worried about what WILL actually hurt him!) He adores his brothers and gets really excited when they come home from school. He's definitely just under 18 months old; but sometimes, when you look into his little blue eyes, you get a glimpse of an old man in a tiny body.

We Have A Problem...

...And to my knowledge, it has NOTHING to do with the boys!

The hinges just popped off (one at a time-thankfully because the first one went while the oven was HOT). Now, I've been patiently waiting for the repair man to call us back saying the new hinges have come in so I can use my oven again...it's been almost a week...still waiting...

Baby Mullet, No More...

Due to the increasing number of random old ladies at the grocery store saying "What an adorable little girl!"--despite Peewee-pint being enrobed entirely in BLUE-the inevitable finally happened: Peewee-pint got a haircut. It was kind of a sad day for Daddy and I. We had grown fond of the affectionately termed "baby mullet". His light colored locks were curling very nicely at his shirt collar-but when it was wet---

OH BOY--the true dimensions of the white-trash hairstyle became evident! The photos don't do the wet hair any justice...it was getting LONG!

We took him to a "kid hair cutting establishment", complete with fun shaped salon chairs, and little TV screens in front of every station for the little ones to watch; with the hopes of them getting completely engulfed in their show to forget about the follicle massacre going on around them. Unfortunately for us, Peewee-pint isn't quite that interested in TV yet. We managed to keep him in the taxi shaped chair for the entire cut-but just barely. Daddy and I are still getting used to the new look. I like it, but I also miss running my fingers through the 6 inches of hair on the back of his head that's now gone. At least he had enough hair to cut; Half-pint was a full 14 months OLDER than Peewee-pint is now before he got his locks chopped!

That's an AWESOME cowlick on the right-side of the nape of his neck-it makes me CRAZY! (Although, Quarter-pint takes the cake for cowlicks-his head is full of them!)

Half-pint Celebrates...

My baby had ANOTHER birthday...I can't believe he's 7!

Half-pint had a wonderful birthday-with solid celebrations for about 3 weeks. Daddy took him out to dinner and to a Denver Nuggets game about a week before the big day; then he got to open a few presents on the morning of the big day (before he went to school); later I volunteered in his class and brought in lunch from Wendy's-and joined him in the cafeteria. I also left chocolate donuts with sprinkles @ school so he could celebrate with all his friends in his class. That evening, we had a family party @ Chuck E. Cheese. He got to open MORE presents with the rest of the family (Momma's side this time) the weekend after his birthday; and a LEGO friend party a couple of weeks later. Whew...it was A LOT of celebrations! We all had a great time--especially Half-pint!

Half-pint has really grown this past year. He's grown a few inches and gained about 6 pounds. He's lost nearly a mouthful of teeth as well. He's enjoying school (especially recess, P.E., and math). He works REALLY hard on his school work-even the stuff that's hard-he has an amazing work ethic for a 1st grader! It's becoming more and more apparent that his brain works in terms of math and patterns. He is very detailed oriented and has an amazing ability to recall those details.

Half-pint is a fun -loving kid. One of his current favorite activities (besides the Wii) is turning on the Lego radio he got for his birthday and having a "dance party" with his brothers. Half-pint has some GOOOD moves! (Do to all the Just Dance games with Aunt C5!) He also loves to play soccer and enjoys golf. He's doing well with his swim lessons too. Half-pint loves to tease and laugh. He's always cracking jokes and giggling. He's smile is always adorable (and always changing due to the missing teeth).

Half-pint is a great big brother to both Quarter-pint and Peewee-pint. He adores them both and is a super helper. He likes to "show Peewee-pint the ropes" and explain anything he can to him. He's typically willing to help me around the house-especially unloading the dishwasher or cleaning the glass table top.

Half-pint keeps things interesting around here with his flair for the dramatic (especially when he's hurt). Even Quarter-pint knows how to deal with the drama, coaching Half-pint with: "Take a deep breath-in through your nose and our through your mouth".

Despite the drama, Half-pint is sweet, energetic, compassionate, self-reliant, kind, happy, helpful, funny, hard working, loving, quick witted, entertaining, creative, resourceful and so much more...

We LOVE you and are so grateful you are in our family!!! Happy Birthday Half-pint!!!

New Tricks...

Peewee-pint learned a new trick just in time for Christmas.

Check out the videos to see...

(Ignore the Christmas after-math all over the floor!)

(Did you notice the end of the second video??? That's a new trick too!)

Brothers Taking Care of One Another...

Tonight, I was on bed-time duty alone. The two older boys played together nicely and quietly while I put Peewee-pint to bed (he was exhausted-falling asleep in his highchair at dinner-TWICE). Then, per our agreement, the boys nicely cleaned up their toys before finishing the bed-time routine. After we said prayers and both were tucked in, Quarter-pint said he needed a story so he could fall asleep. I agreed to read one book (of my choosing) if they both stayed lying down in their beds. Half-pint quickly grabbed a book and hid it under his covers because he wanted to read it to me (I should have taken him up on it), and Quarter-pint fussed about the book I choose. That's when things turned south, and Quarter-pint ended up bashing me (albeit accidentally-the darn kid can't sit still to save his life) in the face with his hard head. I abruptly left their room, tossing the book to the floor and retreated to my room for a much needed Mommy-time-out to cool down. I could hear Quarter-pint crying from his room-but only for a minute or two. Then, I began to hear voices-talking instead of crying. When I peeked into the boys' room, I was surprised to see both boys side-by-side on the floor, with their backs to the wall; Half-pint reading to Quarter-pint-using the night-light for illumination. I turned up the overhead light a little and told them to keep reading for a few minutes and then get back into bed.

What a sweet, kind gesture-brother to brother!

Peewee-pint Looks BAD...

Yesterday morning, I noticed some spots on Peewee-pint, and as the day progressed, so did the number of spots. By early afternoon, I knew I needed to have him checked out by our favorite pediatrician. After a quick look, a diagnosis of hives-caused by an allergic reaction to the antibiotic he was almost finished with, for the most recent ear infection. The Dr warned me he would look worse before he looked better-and that the welts would spread to his face. He told me "don't freak out...most parents freak out when the welts cover the face and then start to look like little bruises." He was right on both counts (getting worse before better and many, many more spreading to his face, neck and head). Today he looks much worse than he did when I took him in yesterday...and I'm not sure this is the worst of it yet...no bruise looking spots...so far. I'm not freaking out...but only because he warned me and I knew to expect it to get worse...otherwise I probably would be freaking out.

Amazingly, Peewee-pint has been really happy the past couple of days-the horrible looking welts don't seem to bother him-until we take his clothes off-then he starts to itch. A little benadryl takes care of the itching to make him more comfortable (and a little sleepy).