Can't really help him with these subjects

 I am totally losing the fight to make my children Historians. Anderson does request, "another president story" every single night as he stalls bedtime, but for the most part, I think his future lies in P.E., Science and Math at this point.

He is ALWAYS talking about numbers.

"Bobble, let's count by 2 to 100." "Let's count to 1000" "What number is higher than infinity?"  "How old is Max going to be when I am 346?" "Is 7000 plus 11,000-18,000?" It is pretty awesome when he is watching basketball and says something like, "They are losing by 10." or "score 3 more to tie it up." He is seriously learning to add and subtract on his own by watching sports. I was not prepared for this stage, but I am digging it. (Except when it is ALL of the time and then it is sort of annoying. Just being honest. I am not really a number person.)

And, then there is Science, which I think all kids probably like because they are just curious.  He loves his Science kit from Nicole and I have found random "experiments" that he can do with stuff we have around the house. I love that he is so curious and interested in experimenting. I guess this is like boy crafting?

A great Science experiment site

Kiwi Crate Science ideas

 2 ingredients-water + cornstarch= mind blown.

This was a fun one where we looked at the effect of different liquids on teeth by putting eggs in them and then studying them. He wanted to do coke, water, milk & banana juice.*

*this is not a real thing, but I had a bag of the really ripe bananas that were $1 at Ingles, so I let him go for it. Plus, isn't that the point of science? To just sort of believe in things that are not real?**

**or, is that magic? Am I confusing magic and science?

Note-these are things from over the past month or so, we are not hard core Bill Nyeing in one day around here.

A break, for sure.

I love my job SO much for one week in spring because I am off work completely. No athletic events, no random meetings, no showing up for a few hours to do stuff. There is, of course, the curse of being an educator (any job?), which means I had to work on things over the week, but I.was.at.home. (and the park, museum, in Bristol, etc)

Honestly, we mostly just played at home and did not rush out of our house before 7am at all the entire week. I ran a lot of errands, caught up on cleaning and started reading a book for the first time in forever. It was nice. 

 Park visit with some friends & everyone logically tried to stay on the same slide.

 We saw Sunny for the first time in forever and had such a fun visit making green cookies,

 and digging random stuff up in the yard.

I love this age where he is actually interested in doing to kid activities on the menu. 

A visit to Bop at IHOP.

I will never tire of my dad being the balloon man at IHOP. This might be my greatest life accomplishment. (I contributed nothing, but still consider it mine)

 St. Patrick's Day was made for Anderson. True story. He said, "I bet they made it green because they know I love green."

We had to make a leprechaun trap as part of Anderson's school "assignment". I had never heard of such a thing, but managed to figure it out with random supplies. He wanted to write, "Leprechaun, this is not a trap" and  use lucky charms as bait. It turned out adorable, I think. I am mostly grateful that he did not really care to see if there was an actual leprechaun in it. He approached this with the same skepticism  that he had about our Elf and for that, I am grateful. 

 I love a theme, a holiday and using food coloring in milk. And, these boys. I also love them.

GG has quite the spread for these boys at her house! Max is in heaven with this ball popper thing.

 We went to a kids' museum called The Muse (weird...it used to be The Discovery Center, but now they are trying to be fancy).

 Max is OBSESSED with balls at this point in life, so poor Noni had to hang out on the floor chasing them around with him.

Y'all, these brothers.

My FAVORITE part of "them" is in the car. The first thing Max always does is look over for Anderson. It breaks my heart a little when Anderson is not in his seat, but when he is, all is perfect. We are starting to enter the phase where they annoy each other just as much as they are sweet and snuggly, but one little precious interaction trumps the annoyingness of Anderson constantly being a drawbridge and not letting Max through, which results in lots of screaming.

Speaking of, watch this video and then you will see what I am talking about with the brother situation. Max trying to dribble, getting upset when he misses, shooting the ball into the "basket"....trying to be Anderson. Precious. This is why we play ball in the house

 We made a 24 hour trip to visit the cousins! There is always a new* toy to take home when we go to Bobble Cole's house.

*Consignment Sale Season

The obsession continues. Basketball is his favorite right now, for sure. 

 Reese is SO awesome. She is this perfect little petite thing (think of a constantly grinning, waving at her audience, toddler gymnast) and she is obsessed with  people! Especially Sissa and Baby Ma. Really, Baby Ma trumps me, but let's pretend that I rank, too. You can't tell, but she is trying to hug him and he is trying to push her away. And, so it begins...

 A (free*) visit to Chuck E Cheese was a lot of fun, but somehow resulted in crying in the car. So, Nicole had to take turns consoling them. It was hard to do because she was really focused on thinking how much she is going to miss this.

*Somehow it keeps getting more free.

 They do LOVE each other, but they have intense personalities. And, they are 4.

 I tried to run away as often as possible and leave Bobble Cole with all 4 children.

 We celebrated Lily's birthday and she really is the greatest receiver of gifts. Her enthusiasm and appreciation will make you want to bring her something every visit.

 Dying. Reese kept trying to feed Max this baby bottle (he was ready for it) and at one point was chasing him around with a diaper. I think I was the most disappointed when she did not actually change him.

Nicole has to drive a million hours a day, which is not fun at all,  but she does live in the middle of all of these cities (3, but it seems like more), so there are always fun things to do. We went to the Y* and busted up an old people water aerobics class with our loud, splashing 4 year olds.

*It was more like an amusement park. It is HUGE!

My fear of walking.

I have these irrational fears that sometimes control my life: bad yogurt, random things appearing in toilets, Max walking. 

At least I used to place Max walking as irrational, but now I realize I am totally justified in having that fear. 

Flashback: Within a 4 week time span, Anderson started walking, turned 1, developed a staph infection on his leg, decided he was no longer interested in eating and something else....what was it....Oh, right. HE STARTED PATCHING. 

I have reasoned that I am not actually afraid of walking, but to me, all that I know from the walking point forward is a really, really rough path. 

This fear is starting to be a subconscious presence in my life. As Max keeps aging, the truth that he inevitably is going to be 11 months old becomes more and more real. That symmetrical month is when Anderson started patching and "The Hardest Time Of My Life" began, so it is only fitting that I live in fear of the known. I am actually sort of curious about the unknown world, which is a non patching toddler. Will it be the resort vacation that I always dreamed of when Anderson was tiny? Or, will Max's inevitable ability to make it past every barrier, closed door and toilet lock to play in his favorite fountain trump all perspective and make me just as exhausted?

I am curious. I will, of course, keep you posted ;)

His new found obsession with a random pair of rubber gloves has turned him into a doctor quite often. Yesterday, he told me that my eye was broken and I had to wear this bandaid to make it better.

"How will covering my eye make it better? How does this bandaid work?" I asked him

"It just does, Bobble."

"What if it hurts when I take it off?  You put it on my eyelashes."

"It will hurt, but just for a minute. And, I will be here, so it will be ok."

MARCHing into some pretty nice times.

 Whenever I read any of those Facebook posts about "How to raise a boy" or "Things that will make you feel guilty one day about parenting", the only thing I think I get right is the idea to let boys be boys. There is no doubt that we allow (and encourage) Anderson to play in the dirt/mud/whatever while wearing a football jersey & binoculars.

 Because it was nice for the first time in his life a few weeks ago, Max was content to just chill in the stroller. I love his chubby thighs.

 I mean, this cannot be my real life. One day I will eat him up.

(Just had a flash of "Please don't go, I'll eat you up, I love you so!"

Anderson made this at school one day. It has his name, a tree and in light blue, "BOBBE". He left out the L because he wanted to make it shorter so it would fit. When I asked him who told him how to spell my name *(thinking his teachers probably thought he was crazy), he said, "My brain told me." How great is this kid??

*My name is not really Bobble. Or, maybe it is.

 In one of the greatest miracles ever, my college friends & I pull off a reunion once a year. Despite the fact that we live in 6 different cities and have a million kids and intense jobs between all of us, we manage to find a night to get together to catch up and eat. Mostly eat.

 Emily, Nicole & I ordered the exact same thing and did not even realized it until our food arrived. It is proof that our crazy text message conversations have made us even closer.

 Delta 3 Delta Tri! It truly is so great to see them every year and realize we have been friends for 15 years! Plus, I spent the night in a hotel, eating dinner while having adult conversation and talking to Nicole during the drive, so there were some added benefits, as well.

 Clare makes having 2 kids look easy.

We had another "inclement weather" day at the beginning of the month, so we made the most of it by having lunch with these guys. You know, because Max doesn't see them that often.

 Who is impressed that I got all 3 of them to sit in the same pic?

Old school recycling.

A video that shows a glimpse into why it might be dangerous to have 2 boys

A video of Anderson swimming from about a month ago

Sports: I did not realize it started so early.

By "it", I mean the hard core, gender ingrained obsession with sports. ALL SPORTS. Anderson has literally lost his mind and his favorite thing in the world is to play, talk about or watch sports. (*Mostly play) These are pics from the last few months; I am just now getting them together on here.

*which surprises no one

As I told Nicole, "You know when Lily crafted for the first time and you saw your future flash before your eyes and suddenly everything in her past made sense? That is Anderson with sports."




snow basketball

basketball in the house

He has been taking swim lessons at the Y for a few weeks. (thanks, Noni)  He has done AMAZING! He can actually swim short distances! I realize this should not be a surprise because they are, after all, swim lessons. But, I am still super shocked and proud of him!

Maybe a time out? An injury? I am not sure. Whenever we do something he doesn't like (you know, score) he accuses us of "badmanship".

The Olympics got us. We played hockey for HOURS with pieces of his teeball thing and a ball. He was truly obsessed. Then GG gave him a little hockey stick and it became even more intense. We are still playing multiple times a day.

Many, many basketball games that I had to work.* Anderson was in HEAVEN when he was able to go to games and actually watched them! He has learned so much about addition from basketball and he actually understands some of the calls/plays. There is nothing more hilarious than hearing him yelling at the players. "If you miss the layup, at least get the rebound!"

*I use the term "work" loosely here.

It is all he ever wants to do.*

*Gabbi has since eaten that ball.

Funny stories:

Anderson was playing football with the beaters from the mixer (we might not cook, but we have imagination) and I asked who was playing. He said, "The United States is playing the Georgia Bulldogs." I told him they wouldn't play each other because GA is in the USA and he said, "Bobble. Auburn is in Alabama & they play each other." He was so exasperated with me and actually very logical. It made me nervous about his teenage years.

Basketball at Bobble Cole's. I got a really hilarious video of him & Lily playing but YouTube won't cooperate. Lily made a scoreboard and was talking about how Strawberry Shortcake was not sharing the basketball with OrangeCake and they had to learn a lesson and take turns. The entire time she was talking Anderson was running around yelling, "You got it, Lily! Take the shot."

In a move that surprises nobody, my parents have a basketball goal in their house. And....so does GG. Y'all I am serious when I say my children are living an unrealistic childhood.

Currently, he is OBSESSED WITH BASKETBALL! We don't actually have a goal at our house,  but he just dribbles everywhere and makes goals out of chairs, the bed, whatever he can find. I feel like GG  & Noni might ban him from their houses for awhile until this obsession passes.

A little tee ball practice with Jpa and Max as the spectators.

 Speaking of teeball, the morning of his first practice, he would not take his bag off for anything, including breakfast. In his defense, the bag is pretty cool. We had such a fun time picking out his stuff. I have a feeling this is just a slippery slope for the rest of his life.

 He took the whole thing very seriously. Brandon took him to his first practice at the field and we all went to the second one in the gym. These practices are literally all he has talked about for days. (And basketball. A lot of basketball talk, too)

 We also did a little class at the Y where kids do random gymnastic things, running around and even a little yoga. Hilarious. I mean, I don't actually work out, much less do yoga, so watching my 4 year old do it cracks me up.

Watching Tennessee basketball. I mean, he actually watches it. And, the most precious part is he lays just like Brandon does with his hand on his fists. I am surrounded by different sizes of the same person.

Mr-10 months

Multiple times every day, I look at this picture because it is my new background on my phone. And, every, single time it makes my heart smile. 

If nothing wonderful ever happens to me again, but I get to keep this perfect little piece of sunshine, I think I will be ok. 

Max with his future girlfriend, Kennadee! This girl is the newest Futcher and I cannot believe this is her first pic on here. Why am I so behind? She is tiny and adorable and I am so excited about watching her grow up. I am not allowing the Futchers to ever move away from us.

First Ashes! He was not really well behaved during Mass, but it was 6pm and he had a sinus infection*, so I think God will forgive him.

*NOT an ear infection!! WOO HOO!! We have (knock on every piece of wood you can find) made it almost a month without an ear infection.

Little belly button peeking out. I also took some with my camera but have not loaded them on here, so you might have to come back for those.


MAX at 10 months :

He is such a person and wants to do everything/be everywhere with Anderson. Since all Anderson wants to do is play basketball, that means that is all he wants to do. He plays with his little goal and will try to make everything a basket, just like his older brother.

He has basically been sick in some fashion for the past 5 months, which I am trying to blame for his terrible sleeping habits. He has not slept though the night as many months as he is old. The ENT did say his ears were clear on Wed, but he had a sinus infection that made him scream almost more than he did with his ears. Again, this does not bother me that much as I had Anderson first and wrote off sleeping prior to Max's arrival.

He HYSTERICALLY laughs at Brandon, Anderson, his grandparents and me. It is really almost a cackle. It is also quite addictive.

Losing interest in baby food. He will down a baby food pouch, though.

Developing an unhealthy relationship with his monkey lovey. It is dangerous for our future selves, I think.

Cruises everywhere and gets very angry if there is not another piece of furniture close by for him to grab onto.

His hair is more blond that it was a few months ago. It is also starting to get out of control around his ears and is always in his eyes. So.much.hair.

I say this every month, but I cannot believe he is mine. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that my life will always be perfect as long as he is in it. I am beyond madly in love with him.