Last weekend was a fun and busy weekend for us. On Saturday morning, we joined the YMCA near our house, and that afternoon we went to Noah's 2nd birthday party. {Noah is one of Fenn's classmates.} And then on Sunday, we spent about 3 hours at the Y pool. At the birthday party, they had a bounce house, a slip 'n slide, and a backyard playground set complete with a curved slide. As you can see in the photos, Fenn had a blast on the slip 'n slide with Noah and Mary Frances (another classmate). The boy does love the water! Anytime... anywhere! Since Fenn really didn't know how to get a running start and dive onto the slide, his daddy had to help him slide. But believe me, he always went willingly.
I wanted to take a few minutes and write about some of the things Fenn is doing and saying now. I'm going to have to stop doing this soon because he is learning new things so fast that I can't keep up anymore. Or I guess I'll just have to hit the highlights going forward. I have actually had a little list going for a few weeks now where I'll jot down things he does or says as a reminder to myself. His vocabulary has virtually exploded overnight. He can identify so many things correctly now. You may or may not be able to understand him, but if you know what he's talking about, you can tell he's using the correct word for it. Here's a little sample of what he's saying now:
:: apple sauce {ap poo SCHLAAUUH}. Notice the emphasis on 'sauce'. I believe apple sauce is his first two-word combination. And right now, apple sauce seems to be one of his favorite things to eat. In fact, his first three-word combination is "more apple sauce". Thank goodness they have different flavored ones now (strawberry, blueberry, etc.). They're all yummy! 
:: sunscreen {shuh schwee}. He recognizes the bottle, calls it by name, and willingly comes to you to let you put some on him because he knows it means he's going outside to play. Smart kid!
:: yes {YAAAAHH}. Think swedish accent {I'm Inga from Sweden.}. It's hysterical! He'll also nod his head in an exaggerated manner when saying yes.
:: Elmo {uhhl MO}. He used to put an 'm' on the front and it came out more like 'meuhl MO', so I think it's kind of neat that he has corrected himself.
:: amen {AHHHH mah}. This is so sweet. We have a little book of bedtime prayers we read every night. Each page has a short story and then a corresponding prayer on the opposite page. When we're done, he says "AHHHH mah!".
:: Ashley {ash LEE}. Ashley is one of his teachers at school. When he says her name, it actually sounds pretty darned close to the way it should sound. His other teachers are Nicole and Heather. He'll say 'cole' for Nicole, but he won't say Heather yet.
:: vacuum cleaner {awn MOWah}. OK... that's not really correct. He knows what a lawn mower is, but when he sees a vacuum cleaner (which isn't often around this house!), he calls it a lawn mower. He's not really that far off! They are kind of similar when you think about it.
:: A few more words are please {spheez} (or something like that), tree {chwee}, up {op}, and help {hep}.
And here are a few things he's doing now that I think are cute. Heck, I'm his mommy, so I think everything he does is cute. Well... almost everything! I'm not real fond of when he decides to sit down at the bottom of the steps at school (and not get up) when I have Boone in his car seat, 2 diaper bags, and am having to hold Fenn's hand because I don't want him to get away from me in the parking lot. If I put anything down, I'll have to let go of Fenn in order to pick them back up!
:: To come home after picking the boys up at school, I have to drive down Kingston Pike. {For those who don't live here, it's kind of the main road that takes you almost anywhere you need to go in our part of Knoxville.} I usually turn off of Kingston Pike the first chance I get to avoid the afternoon traffic and cut across our neighborhood. But when I start to turn, Fenn starts saying "Noooooo... Nooooo". I can't figure out why he's saying that. Maybe he just likes staying on the main road so he can watch all the cars going by. Who knows???
:: A few weeks ago he started grabbing our hand and pulling us to wherever he wanted us to go with him. I just think that's one of the sweetest things ever!
:: We think he might be left-handed. Right now he is favoring his left hand, but we know he could change at anytime over the next couple of years. Or maybe he'll be ambidextrous like his mommy.
:: He is doing a pretty good job eating with a spoon and fork. He can usually get at least something to his mouth before dumping the food. He has a tendency to turn the spoon or fork sideways right before he gets it to his mouth. But he is improving! That apple sauce is slippery!
:: Another thing... when he's eating, he'll sometimes stuff his mouth if he really likes something (i.e., cheese, crackers, pasta pickups). And then he'll ask for more. I'll tell him to chew it up and swallow first, then he can have more. He'll do this little exaggerated chewing motion where he bobs his head up and down. Then he'll open his mouth and let you see that it is empty.
:: After a bath, we'll put him up on the changing table and put lotion on him before getting him dressed in his PJs. He likes to have a little lotion in his hand. The only problem is that instead of rubbing it in, he'll eat it. And then he'll ask for more!
:: He can match several colors. He has a puzzle that has pieces shaped like music notes, and each 'note' is a different color. The hole in the puzzle where each piece should go has the same color. He can put the pieces back in place. But he can also point to some of the colors when you ask him to do so. Distinguishing between red and pink is a little difficult, though. But he knows green, blue, and yellow... and sometimes even gets red and orange correct.
:: And I saved the best for last. Several weeks ago, we started putting him in "time out" whenever he acts out and/or does something we've told him not to do. He gets one warning, and one warning only! We're not going to be those kind of parents who keep making threats over and over and over ("If you do that one more time, you're going to time out.") and never actually follow through. Sorry if you're one of those parents. But we're just not playing that game. The first time we did it, he knew exactly what to do so we assumed he had already been in time out at school. I have to say he is so cute when he is in time out. We have a hard time keeping ourselves from laughing. He'll sit there and be completely quiet. And he'll even look straight at the wall (we have his stool in a corner and make him face the corner). Every once in a while, he'll turn around and look at us. But he doesn't say anything. He just waits until we tell him that time out is over. One time, he put himself in time out after hearing us say the word. I think we had just told him he was going to time out if he did something again. I guess he knew he'd slip up and do it again, so he might as well go ahead and get the time out over with. We had to tell him he had not done anything wrong and didn't have to sit in time out.
I sure do love that child!
I wanted to take a few minutes and write about some of the things Fenn is doing and saying now. I'm going to have to stop doing this soon because he is learning new things so fast that I can't keep up anymore. Or I guess I'll just have to hit the highlights going forward. I have actually had a little list going for a few weeks now where I'll jot down things he does or says as a reminder to myself. His vocabulary has virtually exploded overnight. He can identify so many things correctly now. You may or may not be able to understand him, but if you know what he's talking about, you can tell he's using the correct word for it. Here's a little sample of what he's saying now::: apple sauce {ap poo SCHLAAUUH}. Notice the emphasis on 'sauce'. I believe apple sauce is his first two-word combination. And right now, apple sauce seems to be one of his favorite things to eat. In fact, his first three-word combination is "more apple sauce". Thank goodness they have different flavored ones now (strawberry, blueberry, etc.). They're all yummy! :: sunscreen {shuh schwee}. He recognizes the bottle, calls it by name, and willingly comes to you to let you put some on him because he knows it means he's going outside to play. Smart kid!:: yes {YAAAAHH}. Think swedish accent {I'm Inga from Sweden.}. It's hysterical! He'll also nod his head in an exaggerated manner when saying yes.
:: Elmo {uhhl MO}. He used to put an 'm' on the front and it came out more like 'meuhl MO', so I think it's kind of neat that he has corrected himself.:: amen {AHHHH mah}. This is so sweet. We have a little book of bedtime prayers we read every night. Each page has a short story and then a corresponding prayer on the opposite page. When we're done, he says "AHHHH mah!".
:: Ashley {ash LEE}. Ashley is one of his teachers at school. When he says her name, it actually sounds pretty darned close to the way it should sound. His other teachers are Nicole and Heather. He'll say 'cole' for Nicole, but he won't say Heather yet.:: vacuum cleaner {awn MOWah}. OK... that's not really correct. He knows what a lawn mower is, but when he sees a vacuum cleaner (which isn't often around this house!), he calls it a lawn mower. He's not really that far off! They are kind of similar when you think about it.
:: A few more words are please {spheez} (or something like that), tree {chwee}, up {op}, and help {hep}.And here are a few things he's doing now that I think are cute. Heck, I'm his mommy, so I think everything he does is cute. Well... almost everything! I'm not real fond of when he decides to sit down at the bottom of the steps at school (and not get up) when I have Boone in his car seat, 2 diaper bags, and am having to hold Fenn's hand because I don't want him to get away from me in the parking lot. If I put anything down, I'll have to let go of Fenn in order to pick them back up!
:: To come home after picking the boys up at school, I have to drive down Kingston Pike. {For those who don't live here, it's kind of the main road that takes you almost anywhere you need to go in our part of Knoxville.} I usually turn off of Kingston Pike the first chance I get to avoid the afternoon traffic and cut across our neighborhood. But when I start to turn, Fenn starts saying "Noooooo... Nooooo". I can't figure out why he's saying that. Maybe he just likes staying on the main road so he can watch all the cars going by. Who knows???:: A few weeks ago he started grabbing our hand and pulling us to wherever he wanted us to go with him. I just think that's one of the sweetest things ever!
:: We think he might be left-handed. Right now he is favoring his left hand, but we know he could change at anytime over the next couple of years. Or maybe he'll be ambidextrous like his mommy.:: He is doing a pretty good job eating with a spoon and fork. He can usually get at least something to his mouth before dumping the food. He has a tendency to turn the spoon or fork sideways right before he gets it to his mouth. But he is improving! That apple sauce is slippery!
:: Another thing... when he's eating, he'll sometimes stuff his mouth if he really likes something (i.e., cheese, crackers, pasta pickups). And then he'll ask for more. I'll tell him to chew it up and swallow first, then he can have more. He'll do this little exaggerated chewing motion where he bobs his head up and down. Then he'll open his mouth and let you see that it is empty.:: After a bath, we'll put him up on the changing table and put lotion on him before getting him dressed in his PJs. He likes to have a little lotion in his hand. The only problem is that instead of rubbing it in, he'll eat it. And then he'll ask for more!
:: He can match several colors. He has a puzzle that has pieces shaped like music notes, and each 'note' is a different color. The hole in the puzzle where each piece should go has the same color. He can put the pieces back in place. But he can also point to some of the colors when you ask him to do so. Distinguishing between red and pink is a little difficult, though. But he knows green, blue, and yellow... and sometimes even gets red and orange correct.:: And I saved the best for last. Several weeks ago, we started putting him in "time out" whenever he acts out and/or does something we've told him not to do. He gets one warning, and one warning only! We're not going to be those kind of parents who keep making threats over and over and over ("If you do that one more time, you're going to time out.") and never actually follow through. Sorry if you're one of those parents. But we're just not playing that game. The first time we did it, he knew exactly what to do so we assumed he had already been in time out at school. I have to say he is so cute when he is in time out. We have a hard time keeping ourselves from laughing. He'll sit there and be completely quiet. And he'll even look straight at the wall (we have his stool in a corner and make him face the corner). Every once in a while, he'll turn around and look at us. But he doesn't say anything. He just waits until we tell him that time out is over. One time, he put himself in time out after hearing us say the word. I think we had just told him he was going to time out if he did something again. I guess he knew he'd slip up and do it again, so he might as well go ahead and get the time out over with. We had to tell him he had not done anything wrong and didn't have to sit in time out.I sure do love that child!
They arrived on Friday afternoon and we just hung out around the house and enjoyed a great dinner that evening. Everyone had a chance to hold Boone, including the girls. Sydney was the first one to hold him (because she had been saying that's the way it had to be ever since Boone was born). {That's actually Piper holding Boone in the photo above.} It only took Fenn about 5 - 10 minutes to warm up to everyone. He was so cute hugging the girls.
After all the hugs and kisses, the three of them played non-stop until dinnertime. Basically, Fenn ran around the house and the girls followed him. He seemed to be totally amused by this.
And he even demonstrated his new trick... retrieving weighted rings off the bottom of the pool. He learned to do this in his last swim lesson. Of course, he can't swim yet, so his dad has to take him down. But he knows to grab the rings off the bottom... and even grabbed two rings at the same time.
Boone enjoyed going to the pool, too. Even though he didn't get in the water, he still got decked out in his new swimsuit.
Late that afternoon, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's for an early dinner. Dan came up with the idea to go earlier in the week. And he was soooo excited about going... he kept talking about it all week. I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't as great as he was thinking it would be. But the important thing is that Fenn had a good time. He rode some of the kiddie rides, including this one with Mr. Chuck E. Cheese himself. {It takes a photo while you're riding.}
He even played skee ball. Yes, that's my son cheating at skee ball!
One of Fenn's favorite things was the little basketball game. I think he mostly just liked watching the balls come out at the bottom whenever you started another game. We ended the evening with the photo sketch machine {see first photo at the top of this post and also below photo of Piper & Fenn}.
Over the weekend, I got some more photos of Boone smiling. He has the sweetest little smile, I think. We had a good weekend. Mommy and Daddy had an adult night out. Dan's office had a cookout at his partner's home on Saturday. Fenn's teacher, Miss Ashley, came over to babysit. It was nice getting out and enjoying some adult conversation. The cookout was planned as a "kid free" event so that everyone could just enjoy the night without having to chase our kids around. 
Also over the weekend, we were able to successfully get Boone down for the night between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. a couple of nights. That was a first. Normally, we would feed him around that time and he would still demand to be held and would stay awake. But this time we were able to put him in his crib for a few hours until the next feeding. And that allowed us to have a couple of hours to ourselves before turning in for the night. We're a long way from Boone sleeping completely through the night without needing to be fed, but this is a great first step. We still have to feed him around 10:30 p.m., then again around 2:00 a.m., and then again between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. 
They took all the kids into a fenced-in play area where the zoo was setting up. All the kids sat down to wait. I stayed outside the fence for a few minutes taking pictures. Fenn kept looking back at me the whole time, while all the other kids were watching the pony rides being set up. One time, he stood up, pointed at me, and yelled "MA ma!" (emphasis on the first 'ma').
He finally sat in Miss Ashley's lap and stopped paying so much attention to what I was doing. He loves his Miss Ashley! We have even used her to babysit a couple of times.It's great because you don't worry as much since she already knows him so well (knows his moods, what he likes to eat, etc.).
It's funny, Fenn's class is made up mostly of girls (Ella Kate, Anabelle, Mary Frances, Sydney, Kassidy, Charlotte, Lily, and Ariyanna). And there are only two other boys (Noah and Fulton).
They got to ride the ponies first. Fenn got right on and started bouncing up and down, rocking back and forth, like he does on his Radio Flyer pony. But then he suddenly decided he was done and wanted off... before the ponies started moving. Then he wouldn't get back on. I finally had to force him to get back on, and once the ponies started moving, he was fine. He loved it. Not sure what was up with that!
After the pony ride, they went into the corral with the baby animals (a calf, a goat, a couple of sheep, and a turtle). They even got to feed the animals. One little girl actually fell down and landed in goat poop. They took her inside and put her in the utility sink to hose her off! And yes, it was THAT bad! I wish I'd had my camera, but had already put it away and was getting ready to leave.
Funny story... Our labor and delivery nurse, Leigh, told us to be sure and say something about Dr. Cottam's t-shirt. Apparently, she had bought a t-shirt that she thought represented "being green"... you know, environmentally friendly. Well it turns out the image on the front of the t-shirt was actually a marijuana leaf! She had not even realized what it was until she got to work that day and some people pointed it out. So after that, she kept trying to cover it up. When she came in our room to get things started, we (of course) commented on her t-shirt and all had a good laugh about it.
She told me it was a good thing we stopped by when we did because she was leaving a few days later to go out to Los Angeles with her teenage son for three months. To make a long story short, it seems he got noticed by a talent scout a while back and had already been out once to meet with some people from Disney. They had asked him to come back this summer to meet with more talent agents, Disney representatives, etc. So be on the lookout for him. His name is Adam Peterson. Who knows what will happen... he may just end up being in a Disney production in the future. I have no idea what he looks like, but I'll be looking for his name. 
Dan decided to demonstrate the zip line.
And Boone watched in amazement.
Backing up a bit, Boone's pediatrician detected a heart murmur at his 3-week check up the week before (June 3rd). No big deal... murmurs usually go away on their own. But she still scheduled him for an EKG the following week (on Thursday morning, June 11th) just to rule out any possible problems. Earlier last week (on Monday), Fenn was sent home from daycare with red dots on his tongue. Apparently, a few kids had been diagnosed the previous week with hand, foot, and mouth disease which is highly contagious. So we took Fenn to the doctor that day, but the doctor said he had some other kind of virus. Nothing you can do... just let it run its course. Fenn ran a temperature for a couple of days and then was fine. But by the time we knew Fenn was sick, Boone had already been exposed to the virus. On Thursday morning we took Boone for the EKG. We were told we would probably get the results the next day (after the cardiologist looked at the scans). Afterward, I was home with Boone and Dan had gone to work. Boone felt warm to me, so I took his temperature and it was 101.7.... high enough to call the doctor. I called and they got me in a couple of hours later. Because of Boone's age (under a month), they don't take chances with infants and immediately arranged for Boone to be admitted to Children's Hospital. Standard procedure is to run all kinds of tests (bloodwork, spinal fluid, etc.), give them IV fluids and antibiotics, and monitor them for a couple of days. {NOTE: We were under the impression we'd only be in the hospital for a couple of nights.} The first series of tests looked pretty good and pretty much pointed toward the same virus Fenn had. (The bloodwork would be repeated each morning after this.)
So..... The third night turned in to a fourth night because the neutrophil count had not come up enough on Sunday morning. On Monday morning, the neutrophil count was up to 400. The magic number is 500, though, so we had to stay a fifth night. On Tuesday morning the neutrophil count was up to 800. We finally got to go home. The whole thing was exhausting to all of us. Dan and I continued to alternate who stayed at home with Fenn and who stayed at the hospital with Boone over all 5 nights. We didn't want either of them to have to be without either parent for too long. One of the most difficult things to me was having Boone hooked up to the IV. It made it very difficult to hold him and love on him because you were always concerned about bending the line and cutting off flow of the IV fluids and antibiotics, or just concerned about hurting him. Thankfully, on Monday morning he was done with the antibiotics and didn't need the IV fluids, so they unhooked him from everything. At least the last day, we could snuggle with him. 
