A weekend of firsts!

Memorial Day weekend presented its share of "firsts"  for Leyton.  We spent the weekend in St. Joe with the Grandmas and Papas, and we had a very busy very exciting time.  Among his "firsts" was:

• Jumping into the big swimming pool and into daddy's arms
• Bouncing around on a trampoline with Grandma at next-door neighbor Jamie's house
• Enjoying a crazy pizza party with the cousins
• Playing with the Grable girls
• Riding in a big-boy Jeep while Ethan drove Leyton all around Lovers Lane, cruising to the girls house down the street
• Watching Geoff digging for treasures in the St. Joe sewers
• Mini-golfing at Coolcrest
• Trying out a root-beer float after a round of mini-golf

It was a great weekend!!!  Leyton can't wait to go back, and he loved visiting with everyone.  (We missed you, Adam and Tina!)

     Leyton is now back to school and getting into the normal routine again.  Scott came home yesterday and said that Leyton's teachers commented that he was always the "helper" of the class, and the one who would help the substitutes out by showing them where the toys and snacks were and by helping with the daily routine.  They said he is a great helper!  Mommy was so proud.

Baby chicks

     So, daddy made it back from Dallas late on Tuesday night, and Leyton was thrilled to see him when he woke up on Wednesday morning.  All is right with the world again.  When I picked Leyton up from school on Tuesday, though, his teachers told me that he had been having a rough morning.  They said he had been very angry, throwing fits, and not acting very cooperative (very unlike him for school behavior - that seems to be pretty much run of the mill at home, but not at school).  

     Scott picked him yesterday from school, and Miss Michaela said that he had a good day.  Life is good again!

     So, the excitement at Leyton's school is the new baby chicks.  Union Hill has a new incubator in the classroom, and more than a dozen chicken eggs came to the school early this week.  All but one has hatched, and they are the cutest things in the world.  It is so fun for the kids to watch them hatch and to see them inside the big box eating and moving about.  They are the cutest things ever!

Daddy's in Dallas

     Daddy left for Dallas tonight, but Leyton has weathered the separation better than usual.  We had a fun evening outside playing with Jack and Charlie, watering flowers, playing kickball with Tiger, and moving dirt.  We had some SpongeBob macaroni & cheese for dinner, and then we were back outside for some more fun.  We watched a little Shrek tonight after we came back inside for the last time, and we read Henry & Mudge and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  

     We miss you, daddy; and, we can't wait to have you back home!   (p.s. In case anyone was wondering, the bike in the bottom picture is not Leyton's new ride.  Daddy's friend Alex left it at our house while they are in Dallas, and Leyton doesn't seem to mind it being parked in the drive-way, either!)

Two Cranes and a pot of flowers

     I dealt with two cranes today.  It must have been a full moon or something in the water, but the boys were a little temperamental today.

     Leyton only slept for an hour during his nap, and when I got back home from the garden/nursery - he was awake and ready to play.   We had a busy afternoon outside:  planted three shrubs on the side of the house and potted and planted lots of flowers.  Leyton helped plant one small pot of flowers, but he was best at moving dirt from one place in the driveway to another and finding worms.  He was also very good at watering the plants after we had them planted.  He kept saying, "I helping, mommy."  He is a very good little helper!

New Bubble Machine!

     Daddy bought Leyton a new bubble machine at Target this morning!  Take a look.

Playing with CHARLIE!

    Leyton had a ball again tonight in Charlie's backyard.  It is amazing how old junk in someone else's backyard is so interesting.  Charlie and Leyton both spent some time raking the grass - super fun!  Leyton had his 46th melt-down of the day when he had to come back inside at 7:30...

Leyton's foot boo-boo

     When I got home from work this evening, Leyton told me that he had a boo-boo.  I asked him where the boo-boo was, and he told me on his foot and that he had a bandaid.  He has been a bit OCD about the boo-boo this evening.  Keeps taking his shoes and socks off and on to show us, peels the bandaid off then tries to stick it back on.  He is really worried about this boo-boo, and the funny thing is that is the smallest scratch we have ever seen.  A little melodramatic, maybe?!?!  Yes, but we already knew that!

a new addition to the garden!

    Leyton helped daddy plant a blackberry bush in our garden last night.  Both boys had their shovels in hand and were working hard to get it in the ground.  Leyton can't wait to see the blackberries grow!

Mother's Day

     I had the best Mother's Day of all!  I woke up this morning to the sweetest little boy ever, and the gift that he made and gave to me was amazing.  Leyton handed over an orchid in a hand-made painted clay pot.  The pot said "Happy Mother's Day 2009" and had handprints and also some creative brush strokes.  It was the greatest gift I could have ever gotten.

     We met both Grandma's and Grandpa's and Wee Wee for brunch this morning at Lidia's.  The food was delicious, and Leyton loved seeing everyone.  Bread was the first course, and Leyton loved the lightning bolts.  Then came the antipasto, and Leyton picked out all the grapes from the fruit tray.  His favorite entree was a basil-pesto pasta that he shared with daddy.  He capped it all off with a couple of small bite-size pieces of chocolate espresso cake.  Yum!  There was a fountain right outside the restaurant that Leyton had seen on the way in, and so he was itching to go and check it out.  Wee Wee and Papa took him out to the fountain, and by the time the rest of us had all made it down, he was bent over with his head under the running water.  He was soaked on the top of his head!  It was quite a busy morning, and so Leyton was passed out in the backseat of the car by the time we made it back home.

     Shortly after nap time, we were outside and planting our new garden.  I had hoped that Leyton would enjoy helping us plant the vegetables, but the neighbor boys next door were much more attractive.  We lost Leyton to the swing-set across the fence, but we still managed to get the garden finished.  We planted four bell pepper plants, two cucumber plants, two cherry tomato plants, and zucchini.  We barricaded them with chicken wire to keep the bunnies out, and the rain came just in time to give them a good drink this evening.

     It was a great Mother's Day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!

Typewriter Mania

     Leyton has been busy with his typewriter.  Papa found a $2 blue-light special typewriter at the "Bluffs garage sale" in Parkville today and bought it for Leyton.  He has always been drawn to the typewriter at Reading Reptile, and even better -  the typewriter we found at the Parkville garage sale actually works.  We set it up on Leyton's desk, and he has been busy at work today.  I left him alone with the typewriter for the two minutes it takes me to get downstairs and throw in a load of laundry, and when I came back up - Leyton had somehow managed to pull the ribbon from the typewriter, wrap it around his neck, and at least 4 feet of ribbon was pulled out of the machine.  He was all tangled and entwined in the typewriter ribbon, and he couldn't get himself out of the mess.  Luckily, daddy came to the rescue and fixed it.  We are tying back to normal now.

     Tonight we went for a short bike ride, visited the Waldo fountain, and made strawberry shortcake.  Leyton wouldn't take even one bite.  What is wrong with that boy?!?!?!

Muffins with Mom!

     Leyton's classroom at UHDS hosted a "Muffins with Mom" breakfast this morning in honor of Mother's Day.  All the moms were invited to come to the class between 8 and 9 a.m. for some delicious muffins and yummy juice.  Leyton and I picked out the perfect blueberry muffin and shared :)  We sat next to Sarah and Christopher and Christopher's mom.  Leyton stole the show!   After we ate our muffin, we played some on the slide in his classroom and then it was time for mommy to leave to go back to work.  As I said good-bye, Leyton brought me a single rose.  It was the sweetest thing ever, and he looked like such a big boy.  It was the highlight of my week!

     Today after school, Leyton played over at Jack and Charlie's and then Charlie came over to ride Leyton's bike and play in the rocks.  The boys are pretty cute together; they look out the windows and doors and try to see each other.  Charlie's mom, Annie, said that her boys talk about Leyton all the time and also about the "big kid named Scott!"

     "Papa" sent Leyton a special package in the mail.  It was a hand-made book about the Magic House in St. Louis with a bunch of pictures of Ethan and one of the family from their last weekend in St. Louis.  Leyton enjoyed seeing Ethan with all the Magic House attractions.

     Leyton also talked with Wee Wee tonight.  He asked to call her, and he struck up quite the conversations.  He walked around in circles with the phone on his shoulder talking to Wee.  It sounded like a serious conversation.

     We just went night-night!  We are ready for Friday to be here!!!

Fun in the Sun!

     Leyton played outside at Jack and Charlie's again this evening.  We did some serious swinging, and then Leyton walked around our own backyard with a pen and paper taking notes.  It was some serious note-taking going on.

     After dinner, a Hershey's chocolate candy bar was the dessert choice of the night.  Leyton stuffed a few squares in his mouth, developed quite a "mustache," and daddy started calling him Dirty Sanchez." (picture above)

     After bath-time, we read and sang the "Old McDonald had a farm..." book tonight, and Leyton does very good at singing it and making the animals noises.

     Tomorrow morning is "Muffins with Moms" at his school, and I can hardly wait for it.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

     Leyton celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a night out on the town.  We went out for a Mexican dinner and ended up at Cantina del Ray, just a few blocks West of our house.  Leyton ate almost an entire bowl of chips with salsa (he loves dipping in salsa!), he ordered a 'dilla which he didn't touch (because they smother the top in cheese), ate some Spanish rice, and finished it all off with an ice cold cup of lemonade.  He did very good!  (Oh, and Leyton took one of the spoons from the restaurant with him; refused to give it up on the way out the door!)

Catching up after a busy weekend.

     So, Leyton had a busy weekend.  We played outside almost all day Saturday and Sunday, moved landscaping rocks and put down mulch, and most exciting of all -  hunted for worms in the back yard.  We found a ton, and Leyton finally hit a milestone......he is no longer afraid to touch the worms!  In fact, he was digging them out by the handful and squeezing them.  It was so much fun to watch him; what a "boy"!  

     Leyton got a haircut this weekend, too.  Daddy trimmed it up, and he looks awesome.  After the haircut Sunday morning, we spent  some time at Costco eating pizza at 10:30 in the morning and then played over at Jack and Charlie's on the swingset.  Leyton had a chance to meet new baby Hila, and she was so tiny.  Leyton was amused for about 5 seconds, until he caught his eye on the swing and ran off to play.

     The one funny thing I did this weekend was watch the KC Roller Warriors for a Roller Derby bout at Municipal Aud.  It was part of a student function, and I have never experienced anything like it.  I would equate the crowd to that at a bowling alley (with maybe fewer teeth), and 24-oz. cans of Bud Light.  We sat on the floor next to the ring, and it was a quite a sight.  There was some fierce shoving and physical aggression.  They were some rough women!

    BACK TO LEYTON - his newest phrase : "Settle down."  It was so funny - but tonight - when we were outside playing in the backyard, Tiger was barking at the neighbors' dogs, and Leyton shouted, "Tiger, settle down." 

     TIGER had his one-year check-up with Dr. Reed tonight.  Daddy took him and brought back the following report:  Tiger was overweight by three pounds.  Moderate tartar build-up.  His eyes are starting to milk over, and his left ear has an infection.  Ear drops to be given twice daily for one week.  So sad.  Tiger is a broken mess right now.  He is sleeping soundly next to me, though, and he seems very content :) 

Mermaid.....

     Leyton woke up one morning last week as a mermaid - half boy, half-sweatpants!  Take a look.  I couldn't resist sharing, and it was hilarious as he realized that he could not separate his legs.....

     I will post more updates this evening from our busy weekend...