Sesame Street Live

With grandpa and grandma before the show

the show

they were playing during intermission

watching the show

excited about the show

Carter and Camden got a special treat last weekend. The Scribner's took the boys to sesame street live! Camden loves to name all the characters even though he has never watched the show in his life. He loves to read books about elmo and his friends so I think he was really excited about going. Al and Karen said they had a good time and Camden talked non-stop through the whole thing, except the last 15minutes when he feel asleep. Carter liked it, and really love the balloon and toy they got to bring home. They were two lucky little boys. Thank you Al and Karen for taking the boys. They loved it!

Callan is 5 months

Wow! he is almost half way to a year! I feel like he is changing the least of the kids, even though he is probably changing the most. He is just so laid back (for the most part) that he just lays around an snuggles and just seems like my little newborn. But he has hit some major milestones. He rolled over on January 23rd and he tried his first solid food on February 11th. I gave him some rice cereal mixed with breast milk and he is the first of all my kids to *love* it. He could not get enough. I am not at all excited about making baby food but I think he will be a huge fan of solid food. We will probably start slow, since I am lazy and don't want to make it, but I have a feeling he will like whatever we give. He has started to sit up a little bit and is strengthening his upper body. In general he is pretty lazy and doesn't want to have to do too much. I think it will still be a while before he sits on his own, but I think he likes the view and hopefully that will be motivation for him. He got to get out and go for a walk on Sunday and he loved sitting up in the stroller and being able to see everything going on around him. He is sleeping about the same. He has gone the last few nights from 7pm to 4:30 or 5am. I am still ok with this but would love it to be pushed to 6 or 7. I am just grateful for him not waking up anytime before 4. There were nights where he just woke up and cried at 1 or 3. I know things are going to change again, but I have enjoyed my sleep the last few nights. Naps are still hit and miss. He usually goes 2 hours and then needs a nap and that nap lasts around 40 minutes. Then depending on the day he will take a longer afternoon nap. We have also found that this boy is super ticklish. if you tickle him under his chin, or blow raspberries on him, he will give you a big belly laugh. I tried to catch it on tape but he was all giggled out.

overdue update

he wore this hat all day, even for nap.

look at all that baby chub!

the boys playing

one of the million times during the day he asks to hold his brother

ornery little fellas

sweet baby

having fun while Carter is at preschool

I don't know why I wait so long in between posts to do a general update but here are some of the new things the kids have been doing.
Callan rolled over for the first time from front to back on January 23. Although he doesn't do it a whole lot, he now can. He has also rolled from back to front as well but usually accidentally. This last month he has really become a good observer. He loves being able to be upright and watching what is going on around him. He *loves* his jumper but only when the other boys are around him playing. He likes to be upright most of the time so he can see what is going on. This also means lots of distraction while eating, which is not a lot of fun for me.
Camden is moving swiftly into the terrible twos. Defiant, stubborn, moody, and easily frustrated is how I would describe him 50% of the time. This boys wants what he wants, and can't always say what that is. This leads to tears that last a really long time. He can be so sweet and nice and smile, and the next second he is upset about something. I said last time that he doesn't like it when his food *falls apart* or his socks and shoes are not on at the same time. Now if you ask him to go get in the car he refuses unless you are holding his hand or holding him. (I usually just place him in the garage and he eventually gets into his seat) He has gotten really clingy lately. After nap he wants you to hold him (for a while) or when we are in public places ie; church, bible study, or preschool. I don't know what this sudden need to be with us is, but it makes it hard to do the things I need to do. I still believe that his vocabulary grows daily. He has started to say things like "up please mommy" or "can i have that daddy". He is putting the persons name with what he wants. He has a new found love of curious george. His favorite book is Curious George and the pizza and his second favorite is Curious George makes pancakes. I do not think a day has gone by that I have not read them. He will answer the questions in the book and finish some of the phrases. He still copies and does anything that Carter tells him to do. They even play well together for extended periods at times. Camden's new favorite game is to point at someone and say "you're grandpa" and then you say "no, you're grandpa" and he laughs hysterically.
Carter has also been going through a weird phase lately. He is usually pretty out going or maybe I should say willing to do most things. Lately if he is doing something that we are not doing like swimming or sunday school, he will cry right before he has to go. Nothing big, just 10-30 seconds of tears and then he is smiling and having fun. It is just not like him and we don't know why he is doing it. He says he just wants to be with us. I don't know why, we are not that fun. Every time I look at him I start to see a big boy, who is growing up right before our eyes. I realize more and more each day that he takes in EVERYTHING we say and do. This leads me to him doing something I am not fond of. He now does a dramatic "ARGGGGGG!" and lets out a big sigh when you ask him to do something he doesn't like. He even throws his head back. So I was getting a bit irritated by this the other day, and then I got upset at something and found myself saying "ARGGGGG!" and then mumbling something under my breath. So I ate my humble pie this week when I realized he was getting it from me. Nothing like your kids pointing out all of your flaws! He is ready for the spring and ready to play outside. This boy was born for the outdoors. He was excited this week at preschool because he got to wear his jammies on pajama day. This was the highlight of his week and he can't wait to do it again. He is always asking me to do crafts and color. That is his favorite thing to do inside. Although he is a good kid and really does try to please. He has been a bit of a handful lately, really trying to push his boundaries.

Saving grace

With their new alarm clock

If I remember correctly, I have posted several times about how our two oldest tend to have an early internal alarm clock. On the weekends this is the worst quality to have but during the week it makes it easy to get up and ready for preschool or MOPS. Anyway Carter took it to a new extreme on some days getting up at a quarter till six! He would get up to go to the bathroom and bring his brother with him. Even though the sun wasn't up, they were ready to start their day. We were not. Despite putting them back to bed, they would talk and play loudly in their room which left a grumpy mom and dad. So Chad looking to getting a child's alarm clock. After some research he found this one "teach me time alarm clock". It has been our saving grace. It worked better than we thought! What you do is set the clock for the time you want them to get up. When it reaches that time the clock glows green. So we told the kids that if they wake up and the clock is not green then they can't get up. It didn't even take one night. Carter loves it and loves having the control to get up when it turns green. Now if he gets up to go the bathroom you hear him say to Camden, "we have to go back to our room the light is not green yet". They get back into bed and stay pretty quiet. We have a theory that they just sit and stare at it until it turns green. The second it turns green you hear Carter say "Camden, it's green! we can get up!" Then they come into our room and announce that it is green. It is pretty cute. It really has worked well for us. Worth the money!

How do you pass the time on cold winter days?

have fun in the jumper

play in a box house

take a warm nap

be creative with boxesbe cute for the camera

have some tummy time

pass out while playing

wrestle with your brother

help wash the kitchen table

take another nap

play dress up

be a super herolet your animals try out the bouncy seat

wear shoes that are too big

have friends over for lunch

have a play date (and pretend to be a girl)

play on the floor

push your baby brother in the laundry basket

That is what we do at the Scribner house to pass our time. (There were *a lot* of pajama days in there)

Movie Night

A few weeks ago we had a movie night with our neighbors Emma and Jackson. The whole family came over and we watched Toy Story 3 and had snacks. The kids were super excited and did pretty well. They did get up to play about half way through the movie though. The kids are used to playing so much that they wanted to play instead of watching the movie. But Carter talked non-stop about it the next day and how he wants to do that again sometime soon. It was fun, especially all the kids in their cute jammies!

The back view of them watching the movie

watching and enjoying a snack

After the movie

Crafts/"Activities"

coloring

camden's picture

baby Callan observing during play-doh time

playing play-doh

making a snake

they BEGGED me to finger paint...

it started off well

then camden went to itch his face...

and it was all over from there...

independent reading

Carter has been crazy about doing "activities" lately. This is what they call them at preschool and he asks me numerous times a day to do them. It ranges from coloring, play-doh, painting, to cutting things up or independent reading. Most of these things require supervision and set up on my part but since the kids love doing them I try and let them as often as my patience will allow. Here are some of the things we have been up too.

Camden's mini birthday

Camden got to go with dad to pick out his birthday doughnut

playing nicely

Cam's birthday cake

cookie grandma karen made

eating cake

I forgot to post pictures of Camden's 2nd birthday. So here they are! We will have the big celebration in June.

Camden is 2!

Another big thing happened at our house last Saturday and that is that Camden turned 2! We are going to have a party for him in June but we did do a mini celebration. I made a cake and grandma Karen brought over a big cookie (my favorite). We also ordered pizza for dinner and just had a fun relaxing day. I am amazed that he is two. He still seems like my baby. I don't know where the time went. I also had his doctor appointment with Callans and he was 26lbs which is the 24th percentile so he is moving up. (he was in the 9th) he is moving down in height and was 331/2 inches which is the 25th percentile. His head was 19inches which puts him in the 38th percentile. He did not have to have any shots which made him very happy and everything turned out well for him too. He seems to be on track and doing well. Some of his favorite things at two are: Foods- he is picky and I can't think of a favorite, maybe cheese. He also likes anything sweet. He is eating his veggies these days which makes us very happy. Unfortunately he also has a very sensitive gag reflex and this causes him to throw up if he eats something that he doesn't like, or if it happens to be a stringy food. Thank goodness it doesn't happen that often but often enough that we don't like it. Toys- he loves toy story characters (mainly because Carter loves them) he also loves little people, curious george, and naming sesame street characters (even though we have never watched it). Books- he LOVES curious george, especially Curious George and the pizza, which we read at least two times a day. He loves reading and loves to point out all the things he knows on the page. Quirks- he has to have his shoes and socks on, or bare feet. He insists on wearing a hat in the winter. It bothers him when things fall out of what he is eating. Such as when the meat falls out of the taco or when the meat and cheese come out of his sandwich. He gets frustrated when eating and the food doesn't stay on his fork. He *loves* his blanket(s). He likes to have several. He will say before nap and bedtime "puppy blankie" over and over until he has the desired amount of puppies and blankies in the bed. He is still taking a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and goes to bed at 7-7:30 and gets up around 6. He will still fall asleep in the car if the car ride is longer than 10 minutes (yes, he is tired and needs more sleep). He loves being a part of what the big kids are doing and will do anything that Carter tells him.
Happy Birthday my sweet Camden Parker!

4 months

this is him sucking his thumb

Mr. Callan Reed turned 4 months last Thursday. I took him to his appointment the other day and he was 16lbs 6ounces which put him in the 75th percentile. So he is slimming down a bit. He was 26.5 inches long and that put him in the 91st percentile for height. His head was 16.5 inches which is the 36th percentile. I can't believe how much he is growing. I put him in a 6-9 month outfit the other day and it fit him good. He had a great check up and the doctor is pleased with how he is doing. He is got a bunch of shots again (the same as last time that caused a high fever) so we stayed on top of the tylenol and that seemed to help. He did have a little fever but it was way better than the last time. The doctor thinks it is the DTaP that is causing the problem. Anyway in other Callan news he is rolling onto his side a lot now and we feel it won't be long until he rolls over. He is still drooling and has found a new love for his thumb or any of his fingers for that matter. He sucks on them at time and also chews on them. I really hope this does not mean teeth in the near future. He has also perfected his nursing, and can eat in about 5-7 minutes. He seems to empty me, so I hope that is a good thing and not a bad thing. SLEEP. What can I ever say about sleep. He is doing ok, but things change like nobody's business over her. Just when I think we are in a good spot he changes things up. But we did knock out the 10pm feed and now I pump then. He goes from 7pm till about 4-5am. Not too shabby. On really good days he will stretch that out till 6am. But on bad days he wakes up for no reason several times a night and I don't know why. He is not hungry. Sometimes he is just awake. This makes for a cranky mom. I just keep hoping he will adjust and stay sleeping well at night. We are still swaddling him but I think it is time to give that up and maybe his hands will help soothe him, or annoy him. He is however taking pretty good naps at least the afternoon nap is going well (knock on wood). He *usually* sleeps from 1 to 4 or somewhere about there. He does have weird days but I try not to think about those. He is a happy baby and still loves his jumpers and watching his brothers play. He gets more and more distracted when eating because he is excited about what is going on around him. He loves to be held and cuddle, and he is starting to love toys.