He did it!

Tyson earned his Blue Ribbon tonight at swim lessons, just one lesson behind his big sister! We are so proud of our little floaters!

Speaking of floating... here is a picture of Riley practicing her Blue Ribbon-worthy floating after getting a chance to go down the slide!

Arranged Marriage

Cooper meeting his future wife, Halzie, for the very first time!

It's all figure out, Cooper will be marrying Halzie, Riley will marry her brother Hayden, and Tyson will marry their sister Kylee. (All of this according to Kylee!) It will be nice to have only one set of in-laws to worry about!

Blue Ribbon Girl!

Tonight at swim lessons, Riley earned her Blue Ribbon- and a cool t-shirt!

By Swimbabes standards, Riley earned a Blue Ribbon tonight by sitting on the edge of the pool, jumping into the water, and turning onto her back to float- and boy can she float well! We are so proud of how far she has come in the few weeks since starting lessons! We're hoping Tyson isn't too far behind in getting his Blue Ribbon... maybe Wednesday night!

A few photos

Cooper had a great time trying out the Bumbo for the first time today, he was smiling and talking up a storm!

Our handsome little man, Tyson, enjoying some playtime in the bathtub!

Riley "needed" her sunglasses at bedtime because the nightlight was "too bright"... this is how we found her a couple of hours later!

"Much room!"

"Lay right here Tyson, there is much room!"
I truly enjoy watching the kids playing together. If Cooper is anywhere on the floor in the playroom, the kids want to be there too! Sibling love is so much fun!

More funny things from Riley

I know I've been writing a lot lately about the funny things Riley and Tyson say and do, but my plan is to make a book out of my first year's blog entries and I want to capture as many memories of their cuteness as possible! They both talk so much and have so many fun things to say. Here are just a few from today!

This morning I was trying to sneak a muffin in for breakfast while feeding Cooper. Riley came in the room, took one look at the muffin and said:

"Mommy, I try some. It's probably berry yummy!"

While playing with mega blocks with Tyson, he got up and ran across the room saying, "Come here, Riley!" Her response:

"Hold on a minute. Can't you see I'm busy!" (something I must have said sometime... how sad!)

I asked Riley what she wanted for lunch today and she said peanut butter and jelly and I told her we were out of bread, so we would have to have something else. She walked away and came back a couple of minutes later:

Riley: "Mommy, don't talk at me that way, it makes me berry sad."
Me: "What did I say to make you sad?"
Riley: "Saying we hab no bread. It makes me berry sad."
I had to explain that I wasn't saying we had no bread to be mean, I just needed to go to the store and buy some later. I think she understood...

That smile

"Tyson Guy Thames!"

"Riley Ann!"

Unfortunately, I have fallen right into the parental stereotype of using first, middle, and sometimes last names on the kids when they have gotten into or done something they know they're not suppose to. Where does this come from? Like they're really going to listen to me more because I've used more names or something. Well, yesterday after Riley spent her much needed nap/quiet time playing rather than sleeping, she was in rare form. Acting out, whining, and blatantly not listening to me... very frustrating. I was trying to stay cool about it, until she tried to climb into Cooper's little vibrating chair as I was trying to put him in it at the same time...

Me: "Riley Ann Thames!"
Riley: "Mommy Ann Thames!" *
*Complete with a smart-alecky smile/smirk, just daring me to do something about it... Ooh, I hate that smile!

Sadly, my very first thought was, "Well, that is my middle name...", followed by Riley being put into timeout for talking back to Mommy... She's not even 3 yet and I already see trouble in the years to come, wrapped up in that little smile.

Words according to Riley

As Riley's 3rd birthday approaches, we are noticing how much more she is learning everyday- her little mind just amazes us! One thing I will miss about our little girl growing up is the cute way she pronounces some of her words. Here are some of my favorites:

little: "litter"
bedroom: "dread-room"
swimming pool: "swimming cool"
pull-up: "crool-up"
playroom: "pray-room"
kitchen: "titchen"
bathrobe: "rowboat"
van: "ban"
macaroni: "macanoni"
accident: "ass-i-dent"
T.V.: "T.B."
pretty dress: "pitty dressed"
three: "tree"
banana: "mana"
oatmeal: "meal-meal"
downstairs: "down-stores"
pretend: "tend"
forgot: "got"
good idea: "dia"
money: "many"
number: "mumber"

Other fun phrases:
"Mommy, you doing my hair done?"
"One, two, three, nine, seven, eight, nine, seven..." (we're working on the order)
"It's okay mommy, it was an ass-i-dent."
"Mommy, what are you doing?"
"What are you doing Mommy?"

What a difference a year makes...

Same huge grin, same big heart, maybe a little more of a temper, and definitely more teeth! I just love this kid and he makes us smile daily. I still can't believe our big guy is turning 2 in less than a month!

Tyson, January 2008

December, 2008

Growing boy

Cooper at 10 weeks old

Yesterday was Cooper's 2 month well-baby appointment and he's doing great! He'd weighed in at 12 lbs 1oz (50th percentile) and has grown to 24 1/2 inches long (90th percentile)! We will also be attending his second Swimbabes session tomorrow night and he seems to really like the water so far.

A big finish...

Riley is a wonderful big sister to Tyson and Cooper. When she's not fighting over toys with Tyson they actually play really well together, making "tend" (pretend) food and building towers with Legos. Whenever Cooper is crying, she instantly breaks into "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (with "little" sounding more like "litter"), in order to calm him down. When he actually stops crying while she's singing, she gets really excited and says, "I did it! I calmed Cooper down!" I have been trying to catch her singing on video for a while, but she usually clams up when the camera comes out... until today! I think she got the little "bow" she does at the end from "Little Einsteins"...



*A little side story to go along with this video... According to my mom, when I was about Riley's age, someone complimented me on my beautiful, thick, brown hair. My response: "I know!" It was at that moment that my mom realized she'd probably been complimenting me a little too much. I suppose I'm learning a similar message after filming this video today... :)

Smiles

I was finally able to capture a great big smile on camera!

Seeing this little guy smiling up at me makes my heart happy... I don't know how else to describe it. It's the same feeling I had when Riley and Tyson were infants, just beginning to smile and coo and laugh. When I see his smile and hear him "talking" to me, something he does quite often now, I can just tell he knows how much we love him. Definitely one of the best feelings in the world. My heart has been bursting with joy this week, realizing how lucky I am to have three incredible children and such an amazing husband.

I couldn't resist posting this photo too...

New Year's at noon

The Portland Children's Museum holds a countdown to the New Year at noon on New Year's Eve. A creative idea considering most kids don't make it to midnight to partake in the real countdown and celebrating that follows. We had our carpets cleaned that morning and needed something to do outside the house, so off to the Children's Museum we went...

Radio Disney was the entertainment in the main lobby area, they had face painting, a hat making station, and all the regular activities open as well. There is a special Bob the Builder exhibit up right now, which is what caught our kids' attention most. They enjoyed "driving" some of the construction vehicles and dig in the "dirt" with trucks and wheelbarrows. Riley and Tyson enjoyed the Bob the Builder area so much, that we actually missed the noon countdown- but it was still a fun way to spend some quality time with our children!

Cutest little construction worker I've ever seen...

Tyson is pretty obsessed with driving... so he was in heaven!
They had fun filling the wheelbarrow and the trucks with the rubber dirt

* I'm actually thinking that would be a fun party idea. Throw a little New Year's party for the kids and countdown at noon... all the benefits of a great New Year's celebration, without the cranky kids who are up past their bedtime! Hmm... maybe next year!

Swimbabes

Last year for Christmas, Grandma Doris gave Riley and Tyson swim lessons through a program called Swimbabes (swimbabes.net). The focus is on infant/toddler swim survival skills, so eventually the kids can learn to jump in the water fully clothed and turn to their backs to float for at least 5 minutes. The course the kids are in right now start at the basics and will teach them to turn and float on their backs for a 10 second count, in case they ever fall or walk into water over their heads. We'll take them two nights a week (Mon. and Wed.) for the next four weeks and hopefully be able to continue on with lessons beyond that.

When we attended the initial safety seminar on Saturday, we brought Cooper along rather than getting a babysitter. He just sat quietly in his carrier next to the pool, but the instructor commented that he was at the perfect age for the program... It was actually amazing to watch video of such young babies swimming and floating on their backs with their head above water. I suppose they lived in water until they were born, so it would seem more natural to them. They had openings for the infant course on Wednesday, a half an hour after the kids' class, so we signed Cooper up! I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be great for him- I can already tell it's going to be wonderful for Riley and Tyson! They both did really well tonight. The one drawback to the program is there are no cameras allowed while the kids are doing the lesson, only on the "Blue Ribbon Day" when they achieve the goal of turning over on their own in the water and floating independently for 10 seconds. So, hopefullly I'll have a few "Blue Ribbon" photos to post in the near future!