the new normal!

Welcome back, May May! Steven, Sammy and Amaya were very excited to welcome Megan back from maternity leave. Sammy was practically jumping out of his skin. It was really cute. And, so quickly, they’ve adapted and understand that Megan comes in the morning and Rosie comes in the afternoon.

Megan dove right in. SSA spent time tracing their names, playing alphabet bingo and working on correlating numbers and quantities. I love it!

Happy kids!

Monday was Steven’s first day using the potty at least twice/day and he had success! He finished and ran to Sammy and Amaya to tell them that he peed on the potty! He could hear the pee go in the toilet! 🙂 So stinking cute. We’re so proud of him.

(I can’t believe how much Steven looks like Sammy in this picture. I think it’s because of the angle of his face. It looks more narrow than usual. But every time I see this photo I do a quick double take.)

Back in January, we told the kids we’d get them a globe for their birthday. It never happened but Steven saw the image of the globe in his dollhouse and said, “We were going to get one of these for our party!” It just so happened someone at work was getting rid of a globe and gave it to me. What a hit! The kids love seeing where they live and looking for where Nana and Papa live. (All over the world, is their answer.) Sammy is insistent he wants to live in China “next time”.

As you can see, it’s still business as usual with Rosie and three 3 year olds!

Rosie also taught the kids an amazing new trick this week. The preschool flip!

SSA are getting more and more interested in helping and in doing things themselves. This week on the list was buttering the bread for their grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m also working on letting them get themselves dressed. That one is hard for me if they’re not pushing for it because it takes so much loooooonger. But I know it’s worth it in the long run.

On Thursday, Megan took Steven, Sammy and Amaya to “Cookies with a Cop” at the Novi library. The police officer read a story book and then the got to eat cookies and meet him in person. So much fun! Another friend was there with her 3 year old triplets and mentioned to me how well behaved SSA were. That was really nice to hear!

Sammy cried when it came time to meet the police officer but Steven and Amaya jumped in for their photo op.

Everyone got new backpacks for school because, starting Tuesday, Sammy is joining Amaya at SWIM LESSONS and it will make it easier to take towels and bathing suits with them. Everyone got to pick out their own.

Sammy specifically requested a cow backpack. He’s a happy Bubba.

He also asked for a cow towel but they were all for infants so he went for his 2nd choice – Mickey Mouse – and it’s adorable.

Saturday afternoon, Jason’s friend came over with his 2 year old daughter for a play date. Such a nice afternoon!

Saturday night, around 3am, I woke up to Steven in hysterics. He thought his crib was covered in “mocos” (snot) but it was blood from a bloody nose. It was all over his stuff and he was inconsolable so I took him to bed with me. It’s so, so rare that we sleep with the kids. I can count on one hand the # of times it’s happened and it’s always been when there was a stomach bug. Steven was so sweet cuddled up with me in bed. He held my hand and played with my fingers and we cuddled all night. It was worth every lost minute of sleep. <3 <3 <3

In the morning I realized I probably should have cleaned his face a little better before bed.

Today Sammy and I went to the JCC’s Mom2Mom sale together. 2nd year running and a lot easier this year! We saw the school director there and he burst into tears when he saw her. 🙁 He was totally caught off guard and afraid I was leaving him. Poor Bubba. He rebounded quickly, though!

New hat for summer!

Showing his apple.

Making faces. 🙂

Potty selfie! He went in the car before we left and, sure enough, on the ride home he said he had to go again. He’s so new at all of this that I pulled over in a parking lot for another potty break. Diapers were so much easier.

Brothers! These two. The other night Steven was upset at bedtime and Sammy said, “Don’t worry, Steven. I’m here.”

They’re also getting physical! Tonight was wresting and laughing and wresting and laughing (until Sammy his head on the crib and then it was all over). Brothers. <3

Steven this week!

He’s an astronaut!

Still an astronaut!

Be prepared for a lot of Steven potty selfies. I really can’t help myself. He’s trying so hard, sitting on the potty every day, and still working on making the magic happen regularly.