Daddy's Surprise

So while the boys and I were out of town, Daddy was busy. Here is the surprise the kids got in the backyard when they came home:

Creed's Turn to Ride the Tractor

If you have been a long time follower of this blog, you know that this is the tractor Grandpa said he needed to scrape the 12 inches of annual snow from the neighborhood street. We all know it gets more time outside of the garage when the grandkids come than any other time. I don't know, maybe they take it out once in a while to go to the local Dairy Queen. Small town, Oklahoma is a nice place to visit.

Meeting the Great-Grandparents

This past week, West and I took Creed to meet the great-grandparents. He was smiling for this picture, but I acted too slow with the camera. As with all toddlers you have about 5 seconds to hold them before they start wiggling.

Lay one on your great-grandmommy Shirley.
Learning a little golf from Papa John.

How to Make a Big Kid, Bigger

Whipped cream straight from the can should do the trick!

Relax, those of you of my generation who grew up on cold hot dogs and Little Debbie Snack cakes and who, now, won't stand for anything but organic food and bottled water for their children. We don't feed him whipped cream regularly.

(that brings up a good blog entry though . . . what I think about organic foods . . . . . )

Trouble at School Today

Today, West got in trouble at school. He wrestled a little boy down to the ground and in doing so, poked him in the eye.

Why?

Because the little boy had taken a toy from a little girl.

The teacher said that West cried his head off when he was caught, but quickly dried up his tears and was anxious to tell the teacher that the boy had taken the girl's toy and he was trying to help her.

Now I'm not approving of my son's response exactly, but I hope and pray that this is the first of many times that West defends those who have been wronged and metaphorically speaking, wrestles down anyone or anything that is unjust and unkind.

I was more proud of my son than disappointed. It's nice to hear that he is seeing the world from someone else's perspective than just his own.

Two Boys and Strawberry Fields

We went strawberry picking today with some friends. I was expecting my two boys to run rampant through the field eating and squashing berries and pulling up plants. That is what they do in my newly planted garden now, so I laid down the ground rules:
1. Only pick the red ones (Detail Demanding West clarified this to mean there could be
a tiny bit of white)
2. Careful not to pull the plants or leaves
3. Only eat a few
4. Don't step on the plants.
Okay, we got it. No problems, the boys did wonderfully, until . . . . .
I realized that I forgot one very important rule to be clarified for Creed. Rule #5. Don't eat the stems. How many could he have eaten?? Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

In this picture, it is hard to see, but there is a little leaf sticking out of his mouth.Popsicle Happy!Ice Cream Happy! Son, you have a little . . . .uh, a bit of something on your face.
West's attempt to get Creed to look at the camera.
West backing off when Creed bellows at him. I know bellow is more of a term used for a walrus, but that is how Creed sounds often. (He loves the ugly noise game in the car:)Success! They are both looking at the camera. Smiles are a lower priority.
West's box of berries
Creed's mouthful of berries

Creed Update

Creed is adjusting wonderfully to his new family. He has been home for just over 8 weeks and Matt and I stand amazed that it has only been this long. The Lord is blessing our socks off with the transition of this child!

He is doing really well connecting with just Matt and me mostly. Sometimes he gets a little too cozy with strangers, but it is not over the top. He is really getting along well with West and West enjoys his company as well. A couple more months and West will really have a great playmate.

Creed eats well and sleeps incredibly well. This past week he has really been working on his language skills. He tries to copy words we say often. Some of his favorite words are "zizard" (lizard), "mo" (more), "Da" (Daddy), "wawa" (wagon), "bo" (book), and "nigh nigh" (night night).

He also has been loving to read books. He'll drop everything at a chance to sit close and read a book.

He does like to push the boundaries a little more than we are use to. One time instructions are not the norm anymore and working around the rules is often. For example, he likes to play with the night light and pull it out of its socket. We've told him dozens of times "NO". So the other day, I spied him approach the night light, look over his shoulder a couple of times, and then he stuck out his already poochy tummy so his TUMMY would touch the night light. Boundary pusher!

Thank you for all your continued prayers and following our family.

Summer Time Fun in April

Today was a warm day, so we brought out the popsicles and sprinkler. Creed is starting to get the hang of getting his picture taken. I think I got more good pictures of Creed looking at the camera than all the weeks combined.

Creed plops his bowl on his head for a hat. All the drips of a blackberry banana yogurt popsicle on an 88 degree day on his head. Can you see the farmer tan on this boy already? I had no idea Russians tanned so well. I thought West was a fluke, but that Siberian skin can tan.