Daddy's back!

• Daddy got back tonight.  Leyton was so excited to see him.  We had a busy evening before daddy made it home.  We made a quick trip to Taco Bell for a taco and some Spanish rice, took a bath, watched Nemo, made 4 dozen mini-cupcakes for both of this classes at school, and then partied when dad got home.
• When I picked Leyton up from school today, Michelle found me to tell me that Leyton had flooded the bathrooms this morning.  Apparently, Miss Michaela turned him loose to go poo-poo by himself in the big boy bathroom.  After he went, Miss Michaela peeked on him and asked him if he had wiped good.  Apparently, Leyton thought he hadn't done it well enough.  He came out of the bathroom, and a short while later, Miss Michelle said the entire floor was flooded with water and she found nearly half a roll of toilet paper wadded up in the toilet.  Oh my, Leyton.  We will have to work on using our squares more sparingly.  Geez!

Who passes up a cupcake?

• I swear that my child is the only one in the world who will pass up a cupcake. Leyton and I took a trip to the cupcake shop yesterday to pick up some goodies for mommy's work and to treat ourselves to a couple of cupcakes as well. The furthest Leyton managed to dive into the cupcake was no more than putting the fork into the icing and saying, "I don't want it." More for mommy, I guess!
• Leyton has had a good week at school. When I picked him up yesterday, I noticed that his cubby was no longer in Miss Michaela and Miss Michelle's room. I almost shed some tears. Somehow, the thought of him moving up into a big boy classroom made me kind of sad. It will be hard to leave his teachers, whom he has been with for a year now. He is super happy in Mr. Ray's class, though, as far as I can tell. He showed me his new cubby with all of his things moved over, and Miss Michaela said yesterday that Leyton walked all by himself over to Mr. Ray's classroom (which is on the total opposite side of the building). Our little man is becoming such a big boy! His official last day in Miss Michaela and Miss Michelle's room will be this Friday, although this entire week he has only been in the classroom with them until 10 a.m. and then with Mr. Ray's class the rest of the day. I am thinking this is going to be more of an adjustment for mommy than it is for Leyton - funny how that works!

Miss you daddy!

Mommy bought Leyton a new map to keep track of daddy's whereabouts. Leyton is getting pretty good at saying "Minnesota," and so now we are learning where exactly Minnesota is :) We got out our map first thing this morning and put a star sticker on Minnesota so that Leyton can see where daddy is. We miss you, daddy!

Mr. Ray's class!

Leyton continues to be such a big boy. His first visit to Mr. Ray's class was last Wednesday, and the school sent the top photo of this first visit. A new e-mail just popped up this morning with another photo of Leyton spending time in Mr. Ray's class. There is nothing better than receiving and seeing a picture of my little guy at school. I miss him!!!

The week in review.....

So, last week turned out to be a busy one. Scott was in North Carolina for work, and Leyton and I were holding down the fort at home. On Wednesday of this week, Leyton got to visit Mr. Ray's class for the very first time at school. He visited for only about an hour and a half, but he was able to eat lunch with Mr. Ray, and the school even sent me a picture of his first visit - which made mommy feel better. Miss Michaela and Miss Michelle said that Leyton did great during his visit. On Thursday, Leyton again visited Mr. Ray's class, and he is excited that Thea and Justin (friends from his old class) are in his new class. For Friday, Leyton spent most the entire day with Mr. Ray, and, as far as we can tell, he is enjoying his new surroundings. Daddy was back on Wednesday night, and Leyton was excited to see him. We bummed around last night and took it easy. Went to Spin Pizza for dinner and then came home. Mommy crashed and fell asleep even before Leyton did. It felt like a long week. Saturday is here, and we decided to pick up lunch and picnic at a location near the KC Air Show. We ventured to the top of the rooftop at KCUMB, joined LeAnn and her family, and watched the planes and jet soar through the air. I am not sure we saw the best part of the day, but it was fun to see a little bit of action in the sky. Something funny that happened this morning: Leyton picked up an empty paper towel roll, put his arm through it, and said he broke his arm like Papa. It was really cute! p.s. - for those of you who haven't heard, Scott somehow got bed bugs during his last trip to Minnesota. It looks just awful, but we have had many a laugh about it. He is about to jump down the throats of the hotel management. We'll see how far he gets!

Pictures of baby!

Friday was our 20-week ultrasound, and our chance to see the baby peanut again. Mom, dad and Marilyn came down for the big appointment and were able to share in the sneak peek. We all squeezed into the small exam room, and we waited for the screen to show us the tiny little body parts. (The pictures posted are of the feet; they were moving around like crazy!) The first thing Scott told the ultrasound technician was that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby; that we wanted to be surprised. She started the exam and was careful to tell us when images of the baby's bottom were going to appear on the screen so that we would know to look away. So, we did - we looked away when she warned us. The rest of the exam was spent looking at all of the baby's anatomy - everything from the tiny feet to the femurs, the flailing legs, and arms, the kidneys, the lips and everything else. All looked good! The baby weighed 241 grams, or approx. 8 ounces in weight. So tiny. The measurements and calculations from the ultrasound indicated a due date of one week later than what the doctor had estimated - January 11th. (Oh no, Leyton does not want to share his birthday!) The ultrasound technician, after dad asked her, admitted that she was able to tell the sex of the baby. She knows, but the rest of us will have to wait and see....We are excited for you, little one!

Lots to catch up on....

So, there are few things to catch everyone up to speed on...It was sort of a wild week with daddy gone, and mommy didn't have a ton of extra time to keep up the daily blog. Here is a recap! Leyton is still doing great with the potty training. Until yesterday, he had not a single accident at school, and they were all saying how well he was doing with it. It was the same in the evening after I picked him from school - he is really doing well about telling me before he has to go potty or poo-poo. His sticker poster is filling up, and I couldn't be more proud of my little man! Yesterday, when I picked him up from school, his teachers mentioned that he had an accident - but only because one of his friends was taking too long on the potty when Leyton had to go at the same time. Leyton couldn't hold it, and so he had an accident on the floor. Poor Leyton! Aside from the one accident, Leyton is doing good that his teachers talked with me this week about moving Leyton to the big boy classroom on Sept. 8th. This will be his official start date for full days in the new pre-school classroom, but during the weeks between now and then - he will be transitioning into the new environment and spending a couple hours each day with his new teacher and new friends. (Leyton was happy to hear that Thea, Lucy and Justin were in his new teacher's class.) Mr. Ray will be his new teacher, and we think this will be a great match. Sort of bittersweet to see him moving up and getting to be so much more independent. :) For the past couple of evenings, Leyton has been pretty rambunctious around the house. He is a dancing fool, and our favorite game right now is "football" with the balloons. He lines up all of the balloons, calls me onto the field (a.k.a our living room floor), says "ready?", and hen he yells "Go Cardinals - Go Elmo - Go Mommy. Game on!" This routine happens after every time-out, and the newest twist happened when he broke out into song and began singing "Take your legs off, take your legs off." I have no idea where he picked up this catch-phrase, but he is fairly certainly that if you sit down, yank on your ankle, you can take your legs off. It was one of the funniest things I have ever heard him say. Daddy came back home last night after spending the week in Minnesota. Leyton couldn't have been happier to see him - squealing for 5 minutes after he walked through the door. Things are back to semi-normal for the weekend, and Leyton is excited about it! This week at work has been a bit unusual. We have had an Influenza A outbreak (most likely Swine Flu - we don't find out officially until Monday), and the University has been taking all necessary precautions to advise students and to keep anyone with a fever away from campus. It has been quite interesting to see all of this unfold.

• Photo # 1 above: Leyton taking his legs off...
• Photo #2 above: Leyton's ow-ee from school this week. He took a tumble on the playground and skinned up his knee, elbow, and ankle.
• Photo #3 above: Leyton's favorite new accessory - his goggles. Can be worn while eating, playing and taking a bath.
• Photo #4 above: Leyton enunciating his favorite new command - "Mommy, look at me. Look at ME."
• Photo #5 above: This is what happens when mommy's face is behind the camera and Leyton wants her attention. "Mommy, put it down. Look at me."

This afternoon is our 20-week ultrasound appointment. Mom and dad and Marilyn are coming down to see baby #2, and we cannot wait! I hope there is lots of movement and good images! Keep you posted...

Just like daddy!

     Last night for dinner, Leyton and mommy were eating some cold veggie pizza (Leyton's version of eating it is to hand-pick off the veggies on the top and eat them one by one.  Olives and peppers are his favorites!)  I turned away for a few quick moments, and by the time I looked back, there it was......a pile of green onions.  In true Scott style, Leyton had picked off all of the tiny green onions pieces and put them to the side.  He said, "These are bads.  What are they?"  After I told him they were onions, he replied - "I don't like onion."  Go figure!  I thought Scott would get a bigger kick out of this than anyone.  I think they are the same person sometimes!

Accident-free!

     So, today was Leyton's first day at school with his big boy underwear.  Mommy admits that she was a little nervous - I stuffed his cube with four pairs of extra underwear, and three pairs of shorts for changing - just in case.  I made a phone call to his teachers this morning around 9:30 a.m. (since they were not yet at school when I dropped him off) to check in, and Michaela said that he had sat down on the potty at 9 a.m. and went right away - like a big boy.  Mommy was so proud.  I picked him up from school this afternoon and heard the best report ever - not a single accident the entire day!  I am hoping this is a good sign :)

     The picture above is for daddy.  We miss you, and I wanted you to have a picture of the nightly routine.  We can't wait until you are back!

Big Boy Underwear!

Leyton is such a big boy.  The potty training trial officially started this weekend, and Leyton is now wearing only big boy underwear.  After going commando and totally naked on Saturday, we have transitioned into the big boy Sesame Street underwear and are moving full speed ahead.  He has done great so far,  pottying almost a dozen times all by himself in the big boy potty and pooping four times.  Only a few accidents to speak of, but for the most part, he seems to be moving along fairly well.  Fingers crossed for his first time out of the house tomorrow and his first day back to school!!!