Briley is 10!

One major benefit of working from home is that I'm here when school is out and/or daycare is closed. 

The school teachers had a meeting on a Wednesday, which also happened to be Briley's birthday. School was out, and we were lucky enough to get Bri for the day. The four of us took off early to Springfield for a day of fun. 

Bass Pro recently renovated and re-opened Wonders of Wildlife and we had not made it yet despite awesome reviews from everyone who had been. We started there and though we only did the aquarium side, it did not disappoint. 

The boys enjoyed this room. They have tables for kids to color a paper fish/squid/octopus/etc and then a nice worker will scan their image to magically show up as a real fish on the wall. Look closely, they all have their names. 

Here is their original papers. 

We went to Incredible Pizza for lunch and more fun. It is 1000x better than Chuck E Cheese! No coins/tokens to keep track of, but a card to swipe and wear around their wrist on a bungee bracelet instead. We only had to add money to our cards 1 time! And believe me, with these 3 it goes fast. I'm surprised the cards didn't melt from constant swiping. 

It was a busy day, but a lot of fun! I could have used a couple more hands to keep up with them but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. 

Monthly Update

It’s turkey season! Griffin loves being down at the farmhouse during the evenings, hanging with all the hunters, and playing with Briley when he’s there. Cooper is loved by all and gets his typical “that is the happiest baby I’ve ever seen” comments. Soon everyone will be gone and we’ll be getting them in bed at a decent hour again. I don’t know if Drew will have time to take me hunting this year, but I thought I’d throw back to 2013 when Griffin was much smaller and lighter (although it killed me to lift him and the turkey like this!).

I’ll have to get serious next year so that Cooper can have a photo of the same pose. I’m pretty sure Drew can come through with a gobbler, but I may have to use his bird in my picture if I can’t make it happen again! Maybe the boys can do the opposite with me in 20 years. Ha!

Our bath water is working overtime with 2 dirty boys in the tub together now! Griffin loves helping “wash” Cooper. He actually is pretty handy to have around. 

 

Duke is adjusting well to Cotton and will finally acknowledge him. I think he enjoys having a playmate, especially because his playmate is being crate trained while he still gets to sleep on our bed! He knows he ranks higher.

Cooper is way ahead of Griffin in the speech department. In the last month he’s started saying, “Ma ma”! I knew it wasn’t just wishful thinking when Drew mentioned it. Griffin’s first word was “Da da”, so I’m enjoying this. I think he’s realizing it gets a quicker response from me and totally melts my heart to hear it. In the last week, I know I’ve heard a couple “Da da”s from him too. Maybe he will be a much faster talker than his big brother?

He’s also getting much more mobile. Nothing is safe that is in arm’s reach, and I’ve seen a push-up position a couple times. He’s just starting to get those little legs going.

Still on the agenda……moving to the crib. The rock-n-play is working wonderfully and grants us full nights of sleep but he is going to outgrow it sooner or later. I’m still concerned that laying flat right after his last bottle is not going to work out well with his acid reflux.

One other major development is 2 more teeth! He’s two front on top are making their way in. I don’t know who had the major gap in our families (my mom somewhat), but Cooper is definitely making them proud. Maybe it’s the way the teeth are working in, but they sure seem to be a mile apart! They are barely visible here.

 

Griffin and I have gotten some quality time together this week because Drew was on his annual trip to Chicago. Bedtime routine is usually done with Daddy, so I’ve enjoyed the snuggles I’ve gotten and reading books with him.

His bedroom seems to stay a lot cleaner since Cotton has come along. Legos are one of the puppy’s favorite things to find and chew, so Griffin does a great job keeping his room picked up nowadays!

The daycare had their annual benefit a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, Griffin was not the star of the show this year! His friend Kaelyn was, and you’ll see why in the video:

For the sake of posting in the correct month, this month's photos will be taken/added this weekend..........stay tuned.

And here they are: