My Boys

Man, I am getting pretty lame at this blogging thing. Here is the latest!


CRUISE:

Bridges Preschool-
Cruise started his private school at Kids on the Move. This preschool is hands down the worlds best preschool! Honestly, it is amazing and Cruise just blossoms when he goes! His first day was Tuesday, the 7th. We showed up and wondered why no one else was there! Well, come to find out, it was "Cruise Day"! The teachers planned just for Cruise to be there so he could get used to them, the rooms, and the structure. He loved it.

Thursday the 9th was the official first day of school at Bridges. We were the first ones to arrive. The teachers were waiting with playdough. After the rest of the students showed up (all two of them), they cleaned up and had music time. Most of you know that music time is not exactly the easiest time for Cruise. The first song was a welcome song and Cruise cried and kept trying to run out of the room. But once they started singing the monkey song, the Wheels on the Bus, and 5 Little Speckled Frogs, he was the life of the party! He was trying to sing the words, kept getting up and dancing, and even died laughing during the monkey song.

After singing time, it was time to go to the gross motor room. The focus here was to try to get the kids to interact and play with each other. Cruise caught on after awhile and started following his peers around from activity to activity. He had a blast in the ball pit and the jump house! It was then time to put shoes back on and go back to the classroom.

It was then time for art! Each child's body was traced on a big piece of paper and then they were to decorate it. Cruise used sparkly glue, markers, and crayons. The teachers pulled out stickers and even sticky rhinestones. One of his teacher's, Ari, put a rhinestone on her bellybutton and said she was a troll...so of course Cruise lifted up his shirt and placed one on his bellybutton. It was pretty much hilarious.

After art, it was time for snack! They worked on raising their hands, self help skills, and asking for more. They were each given a little bowl of chocolate pudding, some animal crackers, and juice (which they poured themselves). Cruise dipped his animals in the pudding and ate them all! Then Laurie (the preschool director and one of the most amazing women I know) pulled out Nuk brushes to eat with their pudding. Cruise normally won't eat pudding due to its texture, but with the Nuk brush, of course he's gonna eat it!


After snack, they read a story and then it was time to go!

Since then, Cruise has been really enjoying school. They keep adding more and more kids, which is good, but a little tough for Cruise since that means more noise. This past week, they were doing the days of the week and one child was up at the board with the teacher counting the days. Cruise stood up, walked to the board, and began pointing and counting, "One, two, three, two, one, two" and then he saw a picture of a bee on the side and said, "bug, two, one..." We all died laughing, it was the most wonderful thing ever.

Public School-
Cruise also loves his public school as well. He likes LOVES riding the bus and even forgets to give me a kiss before climbing on. He always comes home happy and talkative. However, he has a tough time over the weekends because there is no school Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. On Sunday after I woke up, Cruise ran to the door, grabbed his back pack, handed it to me and said, "pack pack!" He ran to the door ready to leave for school. I had to explain to him that it was Sunday and that we didn't have school on Sunday. He did this Monday as well and was pretty upset and disappointed. I hope he always loves school like this.

Becoming Social-

Cruise has always wanted to be social, but hasn't initiated any type of social activity with peers since he was really little. Yesterday, we went to Noodles & Co. for dinner and of course, Cruise didn't sit. He was wandering around the restaurant and found two little boys playing Ring Around the Rosie. So Cruise grabbed one of the kids' hands to play with them. They wouldn't let him, but the fact that he tried, was AMAZING! Luckily, after awhile, the boys let him play chase with them. It was such a remarkable sight! It is amazing what school has done for Cruise.

Grandma and Grandpa Greer's House-
A couple Saturdays ago as I was getting out of the shower, Cruise brought me the picture of Grandma and Grandpa Greer's house. Dave was at work and had accidentally taken Jett's car seat with him; so essentially I was without transportation. So I called my dad and arranged for him to pick Cruise up. I got Cruise ready and explained that Grandpa was going to pick him up and take him to his house. Cruise then proceeded to say, "Gampa! Gampa!" It was the first time he's ever said Grandpa.

Words-
Here are Cruise's latest new words!!!
-Sawee (sorry)
-Oh no!
-ehpwane (airplane)
-I am Whitening! (I am Lighting!)
-I fwy! (I fly!)
-I'm Ironman!
-One, Two , Fwee
-bug
-No!
-Chet (Jett)
-Cwoose (Cruise)
-Up!
-chuck (truck)
-caw (car)
-bus
-Buzz
-mom
-juice
-twee (tree)
-pweese (please)
-hep (help)
-choose (shoes)
-oxs (socks)
-book
-owe

The Moon-
The other day I was trying to get Cruise into the car but he was distracted by something in the sky. He pointed up and said, "ball!" I looked up and saw that he was pointing to the moon. I said, "yes, it is round like a ball! That is called the moon!" It was the first time ever I think he noticed the moon.

Cruise's First Story-
Cruise told Daddy about how he caught a bug, and it was in his hand, and then he thought it was a bee, and he threw it, and then it started to fly. But this is what it sounded like from him:

"A bug...a bug...a bee...(then he pointed at his hand that was in a fist, and then acted like he was throwing what was in his hand)..and fwy (fly)! (and he waved his arms like he was flying)."

Cruise's River Run-
Cruise, Dad, and Jett all went for a bike ride the other day to UVU where they have a little river running through the campus. They stopped to rest and throw rocks in the river. Cruise was throwing rocks for awhile and seemed to be having fun and Dave was spending the time keeping Jett from crawling into the river. Cruise all of a sudden decided he wanted to step in the river. When he did, the current knocked him over and started dragging him down the stream (it was only about a foot deep, so he was able to keep his head above water). Dave had to pick up Jett really quick, run down the stream, into the river, to catch Cruise and his runaway flip-flops. Dave was able to catch both sandals and Cruise, all while still holding Jett. Cruise didn't freak out or anything...in fact he didn't mind much since he wanted to swim in it anyways.


JETT:
10 Months=Mess Maker-

I just can't believe that in 2 months my baby won't be a baby anymore. Jett turned 10 months old this week and even though he gets cuter every day, he is also getting to be quite mischievous and curious, which pretty much means more messes. He gets into everything he isn't supposed to...hmmmm...reminds me of another little boy around here. Ah, boys...it's why we can't have nice things.

Buh-Buh-
Jett has figured out how to open and close his hand and says, "buh-buh" while waving. When we do it back, he just giggles! It's so stinkin' cute!!! Click Here to view the video.

Climbing-
Yes, I have another climber! It must be because he sees his brother climb all over everything, so of course Jett has to try it! The other day I found him standing on top of a speaker and looking out the window. He loves to climb up the stairs and doesn't fall anymore, however, it still scares me. Jett also loves to climb up our little blue slide; he is SUPER fast, so I have to keep a close eye on him because he'll get to the top and then keep going. Jett also watches Cruise climb his rock wall and will stand at the bottom, grab the holds, and try to climb too.

GIMME FOOD!!!-

I just can't figure out how Jett is below weight. He eats, and eats, and eats, and eats some more! He will eat his food and then our food and then will take a bottle after. I don't know where he puts it. His favorite things to eat are things he steals from Cruise. Ah, the sibling rivalry begins. Cruise will set a sandwich down, or an apple, or a sippy and you can guarantee you'll see little Jett quickly crawling towards it ready to devour. I am just glad he isn't allergic to peanut butter.

A Little Cheese with that Whine-
Jett has begun the whining stage. Yay. He whines when we set him down, whines when we shut the front door, whines when we won't let him have our soda, whines when we remove him from Cruise's presence, whines when we close the door to the dishwasher, whines when we pretty much do anything other than give him our complete, undivided attention. So yeah, he whines a lot. But, I mean, c'mon...you can never stay mad at this face:

Standing-
Jett can now stand on his own, and even go from sitting to standing without holding onto anything, but when we try to get him to walk, he just plops down! Cruise was walking by this age, so it's kind of weird having a 10 month old who still is just crawling. But man can this kid crawl! You turn your back for a second and BAM! He's clear on the other side of the room getting into the next messy thing. But, hey, this may be my last baby so I'm not in any hurry to have him grow up.

Separation Anxiety-
Jett has begun crying when one of us leaves...even just the room he is in. But when we return, he gets the biggest, happiest, cookie face smile you've ever seen. Dave especially likes it because when he gets home from work, Jett is sure to give him a huge smile, a love slap and bite, and snuggles. Gotta love the love-bites.

Okay, there you have it. The latest. There just aren't enough hours in the day to blog anymore.

Finally Blogging

It's been awhile...things have gone into CRAZY mode (as if they weren't there already). Here's the latest:

Sundance Getaway
For Dave's graduation, my parents gave Dave and I a night at Sundance. Now, Dave and I haven't been on a "vacation"/been alone together for over 2 years, so this was probably the BEST GIFT we could ever get. My parents were so nice to watch the boys for us during the day and my sister Abby took care of them throughout the night. We left Friday around 2:30 and checked in. We asked if we could have our "regular" cabin: 2B. They were awesome and our wish was granted. My parents had given us a gift card for food, however, after much deliberation, we voted to get massages instead of the food. So this is what we had for dinner: It was totally worth the sacrifice. This was actually the only picture I have since right after I snapped this, the camera ran out of batteries. But after dinner, we drove down to the Foundry Grill and ordered dessert to go.

After enjoying our dessert, we decided to relax in our own private hot tub. It was raining out, but luckily the hot tub is covered by a deck, so we got to relax as it rained. We were sitting there chatting and then I said, "Do you hear music?" So we turned off the bubbles and heard a familiar song by Alan Jackson "Living on Love". There was a wedding going on, so we just relaxed and enjoyed the music. But after the song ended, we heard clapping and Alan began to talk! It was a live performance!!! Someone had hired Alan Jackson for their wedding! So we got a live concert from the comfort of our own private hot tub as it lightly rained. It was AWESOME.

The next morning, we ate cereal for breakfast, got ready, checked out, and headed to the Sundance Spa for our massages. There are no words to describe massages at Sundance. They are just close to heaven!


Courage Reins
Cruise started his class at Courage Reins Therapeutic Horse Riding Facility. He loves it! However, he was not super excited about having to leave. He probably could ride his horse all day. I don't blame him...I love riding horses.






The Tree House
The tree house is coming along! Dave put up the rope wall, and the two of us put together the bouldering wall. Technically you're supposed to use plywood, but because we are working on a budget, we got particle board and just doubled it. Then Dave screwed them onto some 2x4s. We then bought some heavy duty outdoor paint in gray, mixed it with sand, and rolled it on a few times so it has that nice rough feel. We had bought about 50 climbing holds for $50 from a guy off of KSL.com, but they weren't big enough and we just needed more. Climbing holds are SUPER expensive. So as I was shopping around for some, I got the idea to e-mail a local climbing hold seller, Atomik Climbing Holds, and tell them Cruise's story. I asked if there was a way we could get 10 bucket holds for a discounted price; maybe holds with defects or flaws. I got a response that I hadn't quite expected: they were going to send us some perfect one for free. When the box arrived, it blew my mind! 27 bucket holds! I am so grateful for such wonderful people and businesses willing to help out kids with special needs.



So now the wall is finished!!! Cruise LOVES it and climbs it every day.

We still need to put up the enclosure walls around the deck and a few other things, but we are getting there!


Dave's New Job
Dave got a job at Backyards Inc. here in Orem. It is more of a temporary job until he finds the ideal job for him that actually utilizes his degree, but until then, he'll be selling and sometimes constructing outdoor playground equipment. He's obviously had a lot of practice. I am super proud of him and think he will do an amazing job, because after all, he is Dave, and Dave is just amazing.


Cruise's First Day of Preschool

Cruise started Preschool this past Wednesday! Tuesday night I was getting his backpack ready, when I realized it was just too dang small. So at 10:00pm, I drove to Target to get him a backpack. Luckily, they were all on clearance (50% off) so I got him a Spiderman backpack, which he loves.

I had made him a Social Story about the bus coming to the house, picking him up, and dropping him off at school. I read it to him atleast 3x a day for 3 days, preparing him for everything new that would happen. The school told us to have Cruise ready for the bus at 8:45am. So we sat and waited...and waited...then it was 9:00 (school starts at 9:15)...and we waited...and waited...and then it was 9:21. I was a bit upset, but I put him in the car and drove him to school. When we got there, all the other kids were sitting on the rug, listening to the teacher. I asked, "Was the bus supposed to pick Cruise up?" And apparently there was a mix up. But needless to say, the whole morning was a bust since Cruise had been expecting the bus to pick him up. Cruise screamed a whole 20 minutes after I left him in his classroom.

After school, Dave decided to go to the school and make sure not only the bus picked Cruise up, but took him to the right house, so he followed the bus. The bus pulled up to the house and Cruise's face expressed more confusion and shock than ever. But not 5 minutes after the bus left, Cruise was pointing and naming everything! He was interacting with us so well and was just so happy! So I guess he enjoyed school.

Jett Says Mama!
Cruise's first word ever was Dada. And he didn't learn to say mom until about 6 months ago, so you can imagine my joy when my 9 month old child will say Mama instead of Dada. Here's the world's cutest baby saying "mama":

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