Playdate with "Grace"

So we have these really, really nice friends from church. They have a little boy whose name is Nathan. Logan insists on calling him, "Grace". I've tried telling Logan that his name is Nathan- to which Logan replies, "No momma, Grace."
So a few weeks ago we met up with "Grace" and his mommy, Jenn at Suson Park for a playdate. The boys played on the playground while Tyson had a bottle. Then they fed the ducks, which they all seemed to like.

 Then we went to say hello to the animals. Here's farmer Logan with his cow! Just like his Grandpa!

We also walked around the lake at Suson-- until a HUGE goose with a HUGE tongue started hissing at us. It was seriously creepy and scary. So we ran away!!
It was kind of hot but since we met up in the morning, we left before it got too bad. Tyson was getting a little worn down by the end.

Oh yeah, and Logan fell into the water and got his pants all muddy. Not a great day to do that since we were going to Greg's work for family day after our playdate at the park. However, I had a clean pair of shorts for Logan since I know his tendancy to get dirty! It was a good thing I got him cleaned up because we ended up sitting with the owner of Aclara at lunch. Thank goodness the boys were well behaved!
Logan liked seeing where daddy worked. He really, really liked that they gave him lots of stickers, a bag full of toys, a balloon and cookies!! Tyson just liked going around the building and smiling at everybody!

All Aboard

We took the Grandma and Grandpa Bradley express to the St. Louis Mills Mall last week. Logan got to ride this train around the mall with Grandpa. It's actually really cool. The last time we were there , there was just a little train on tracks but this train drives around the mall and puffs out smoke.

Logan absolutely loved it. He has told me about "The mall." and "The choo choo train." several times.
Tyson got to shop with mommy and Grandma.

Logan got to play on the playground, go to Cabellas with Grandpa and look at the fish and the stuffed animals, eat noodles and orange chicken at the food court, and then ride the caurosel with Grandma.

It's a zoo around here!!

We went to the zoo with our cousins, Nick and Alex and Grandma and Grandpa Bradley. I've been to the St. Louis zoo probably a hundred times (no joke.) but this was my first trip to the Children's Zoo. My parents are zoo members so they graciously shared their passes with us! In fact, if I saw these pictures of the STL zoo, I would not even believe that was where they were taken!
We rode to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa. The big boys rode in the backseat.

I brought books about zoos for them to read. Nick was almost reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see?" by himself!!
It was a hot, hot day for the zoo so we enjoyed airconditioned buildings like this one in the Children's zoo.

This building allowed the kids up close glances at the animals. Here is Logan inside a tunnel looking at some Mearcats through the glass.

The zoo keepers also had animals like bunnies, guinea pigs, and the boys' favorites... snakes. The kids could pet all of the animals. (Nick kept trying to touch the snake's head. That's why Grandma is holding on to him in the picture- NO Fear!)

There was also a "tree house" that Logan liked climbing.

And a little kitchen area. Next to the kitchen, there was a "real" kitchen with a real chef. He was cutting up all the veggies to feed the animals and you could watch him.
They had a jeep to ride in the "Outback" and a tree kangaroo.

They really liked that building.  I liked it because it was cool!
The boys also liked playing in this farm area. Nick mostly just sang, "The Farmer in the Dell."

 Alex worked, and worked, and worked, and worked.

Seriously, the kid would have spent all day shoveling hay into wheelbarrows and wheeling it around the garden. I think the zoo should hire him.

Logan had fun playing farm, too!
Then we went to the children's zoo playground. There was a slide that went through the river otter's tank. It had glass sides so the kids could see the otters on the way down. Of course, Logan was so light, he flew super fast down it so he probably didn't see the otters.
We then brushed the goats. I liked this better than Grant's farm where you feed the goats and the goats go all CRAZY and attack to get food!!!!

Tyson liked riding around in his stroller and watching all the big boys do fun stuff.

We ended up our time at the zoo by meeting Julie and Hannah at the train and taking a train ride to cool off. Tyson liked the train-- except when we had to go through one long tunnel and the mom and little girl behind us screamed the whole time.

After the zoo we went to McDonald's and ate and cooled down.

The big boys played but Logan was too tired to play!

We had a fun, hot day!

Tyson's 6 month check up and a suprise check for Logan

I took Tyson for his six month check up today. He is doing well. He is 20 lbs. 12 oz. He is 28 3/4 inches long. He is 90th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. I knew he was a big boy! He IS wearing 12-18 month clothes. And he's as big (if not bigger) than his cousin, Jacob, who is 6 weeks older than him-- and um, Jacob, he's no small boy!!
Tyson was super sweet with all the nurses and only cried for a few minutes after his FIVE vaccinations. The doctor said we can start fruits and vegetables now (oh yeah, I already did that ;) and he can start on the cup and drink whole milk.
The crazy thing about the visit actually has to do with Logan. Since Sunday Logan has had a runny nose and a slight cough. The cough keeps getting worse but he doesn't have any fever and until today wasn't sick acting. Today he was really crabby and clingy but we had an exhausting weekend so I figured he had a cold + he was tired. While our doctor was examining Tyson, he heard Logan cough and said, "I want to listen to that cough." I said, "Oh, that was Logan not Tyson." He said, "I know. But I don't like the sound of that cough. It sounds like wheezing." So we got Logan up on the table and he listened. He actually gave me the stethascope and had me listen to. He showed me how Logan's ribs were heaving every time he tried to take a breath. Let me tell you, I felt like mother of the year, not even noticing that my child could hardly breathe!!! No wonder he was crabby. But Dr. Glines was very helpful and not judgemental :) Turns out Logan may be irriated by allergens like mold or pollen or something else and those allergens may be triggering asthma!!!
So Logan is going to go on albuterol and we're going to see if that helps. I don't know when/how they diagnose asthma but I have to check back with Dr. Glines on Thursday. I never thought I would have a child with asthma. I breastfeed for goodness sake! And I'm sure my child has never been in the same room with anyone who was smoking. Ever. But I DO have allergies to things like mold and pollen and have struggled with them a lot especially in my twenties. Supposedly that causes your child's chances of having asthma to go up.
Now I've been reading about asthma and hoping that my child doesn't have it because it kind of scares me. We're going to pick up his prescription as soon as he wakes up from his nap. The doctor said the coughing should stop when the wheezing gets under control. Now that I know what to listen for, I can hear the wheezing every time I hold him.
The worst part about this situation is that for the time being, Logan is not supposed to play outdoors.... until he stops wheezing and can go off the meds. We have to keep him in airconditioning. For a child who would willingly live outdoors this is going to be hard!!
Anyway, this post is rambly and I might go back and edit it later so it makes more sense but I wanted friends and family to pray for Logan that his breathing will get under control and we'll be able to determine what is going on and how to treat him. I am so thankful for our wonderful doctor, Dr. Glines, who in the midst of examining a baby and talking to a mother, and answering the questions of a nurse popping in, can ALSO hear my child cough a few times while he's playing in a corner of the room and take the time to attend to him as well!!

Happy Ways to Spend a Day

6 months old

Tyson is 6 months old today (actually yesterday, I forgot to publish yesterday because we were at the land)! Can you believe it? He's halfway to one! It is going SO fast. Sometimes I'd even have to say it is going too fast! He is such a good baby. He's super smiley and laid back. He wakes up in the morning with a sweet smile and he stays that way-- as long as you give him plenty to eat! He is a big boy. He's wearing 12 month clothes and some of them are too small for him! He's got chubby cheeks that are so kissable and rolly-poly legs. He's probably so roly-poly because he's such a good eater.

He started eating solid foods last month. So far he has had rice cereal, bananas, peaches, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and pears. I've been able to make almost all of his baby food-- and many of the vegetables have come right from Grandpa Bradley's garden. He has also started eating Cheerios. He can rake them with his open hand and occasionally gets a few in his mouth. He seems to enjoy trying to get them into his mouth. He also started on the cup and is doing amazing with it! It helps having a big brother to watch.

 He loves his brother Logan-- most of the time-- he doesn't like when Logan roars at him or when Logan uses him for a pillow. At least Logan warns him he says, "Tyson, pillow." and then lays on him. He likes to watch Logan play with his megablocks. Tyson also likes to bang the megablocks together and pick them up and drop them. He really likes toys and will sit and pull toys one at a time out of a container.

 He also loves books. He loves to hear me read stories to his brother. He likes nursery rhymes and songs. His favorite books to look at are books with pictures of other babies. He can sit up all by himself and on Friday started trying to scoot himself on his bottom backwards. I'm not ready for him to be mobile yet. When you hold him, he kicks his feet the entire time or trys to squirm away-- unless he is tired and then he is a very good cuddler. He is the perfect addition to our little family and we all love him so much! Happy half-birthday, buddy!

Funny Boy

Logan has been talking up a storm lately. Actually he never stops talking. He wakes up in the morning with this conversation:
Logan: Where Nick?
Momma: At home.
Logan: Where Alex?
Momma: On the moon?
Logan: No! At home. Where Jewie?
Momma: At Wal-mart?
Logan: NO! At home. Where Brian?
Momma: Don't you mean Ryan?
Logan: NO! Brian!
(He does have an Uncle Brian and an Uncle Ryan so it's confusing!)
Momma: I don't know. Where is Brian/Ryan?
Logan: At home.
I don't really know why we have to go through this every.single.morning. since he clearly knows the location of the entire Pruett family ,but we do!

He's been saying lots of funny stuff lately and I'm bound and determined to record at least some of it. In fact, I keep an index card handy and jot down what he says until I have time to put it on the blog. (My brain is feeble these days, I need a lot of help :)  But I like to remember things like this:

Logan (as we are passing McDonalds): Momma, I want fries.
Momma: No, not today. Some other day.
Logan: Tomorrow?
Momma: No, not tomorrow. Just some other day.
Logan: Tuesday?
I didn't even know he knew there WAS a Tuesday.

Logan also has imaginary conversations. Usually they are between him and imaginary daddy (while daddy is at work). It cracks me up to hear things like this coming from the living room:
Imaginary Daddy (aka. Logan): Nogan, go get me a soda.
Logan: O-tay, Daddy
(Runs into kitchen and gets a soda and takes it to the living room).
Logan: Here go, Daddy.
(Logan pretends to open soda complete with sound effects "Pop, fizzzzzz.")
Imaginary Daddy: Thank you, Nogan.

Logan is also exploring and noticing everything he sees. Today he found a picture of an old fashioned TV.

 Logan: Look, Momma, a be-bot (robot).

Greg's Projects

Greg always has a project, or several projects, going on at our house. His current projects are cleaning and staining the deck and making a compost area.
We have a large deck and he had to clean the entire thing. Also, it hadn't been cleaned most likely for at least 7 years. It changed color. He still has to clean it again and then waterproof it or stain it or something.

He has also been working on making a compost area for quite a long time.

He moved all of the railroad ties in the above picture down to his compost area and dug it out.

He invited his little brother, Brian, over and put him to work.

I'm not sure how much working they actually did. It looks to me like they are having a lot of fun.

And taking lots of breaks.

Ok, maybe Brian did work.

And more work.

And more work.

And Greg just played?

Oh, wait, he did some work too.

It looks great down there and is all ready for composting!

Bradley Family Camping Trip 7-4-10

We went camping with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley and the Pruetts on July 4th. We went to Perryville Campground or as we call it, "Camping on the Highway." It's a little private campground right off Highway 55 in Perryville, MO. You can see the highway from our cabin-- so it's not really the great outdoors but it's pretty perfect for camping with little ones. It's small, it has a playground, a pool, and a small lake. There are plenty of things for our kids to do, yet their little legs don't have to walk all over to do it.

We left after church on Sunday. We fed the kids and planned on them taking their afternoon naps on the way there. Not so much. Logan was too excited to sleep but too sleepy to be good. And Tyson got hungry halfway there. We attempted to stop at a rest area but it was closed. (As in torn up.gone. closed! )So we stopped at the next exit and saw a Catholic church and school. They had a playground (in a cemetary, no less). There was a sign that said "NO tresspassing" but the gate was open so we decided the catholics would be forgiving and gracious to some weary travelers and we played anyway! It was a fun playground. They had one new playset but everything else was all of the old school dangerous stuff, like a merry-go-round!! Logan got super hot so we let him drink a giant Sprite (that they gave us for FREE at McDonalds).

It was a national holiday, after all, and his doctor said he's allowed to partake in the sugary stuff on national holidays.
We got back on the road and even though the kids didn't sleep they did better after our stop. Logan even read a few books.

We got to the campsite at the same time as Grandma and Grandpa. We checked into a little camping cabin. It was a one room cabin with a double bed and a bunk bed. Of course, our cabin also had 2 pack 'n plays (that we brought-- along with an entire VAN LOAD of other kid/baby gear). Logan followed everybody around begging to go swimming while we unloaded. Finally we got our swim stuff on and started to the pool. Just as we were headed to the pool, Julie and Ryan got there with Nick and Alex. We all had fun playing in the pool.

It was Tyson's first time to go swimming. He wasn't sure he liked it. But everyone else there sure thought he was a cutie!

We got out of the pool when the kids started getting hungry. We went to the cabins and ate hamburgers and hotdogs. Grandpa had grilled them ahead of time and kept them in the crockpot so we had a nice dinner without anyone having to do the cooking! Tyson ate Cheerios instead of hotdogs!

 Logan had trouble reaching the table.. finally he decided to just sit on the table!

After dinner we fished and played. Our cabins were lake (pond) side.  All of the boys liked catching fish.

 Logan and Alex also loved digging in the dirt. Logan actually rolled around in the dirt.

Tyson sat on a blanket and played with toys.

I'm pretty sure Tyson never cried the whole time we were there. He loved it.
After fishing, we made a fire and roasted marshmellows.

Nick and Alex wouldn't eat the marshmallows. They just stuck them in the fire, burned them, and got another one. Grandma ended up with quite a large pile of burned marshmallows. Logan preferred to just eat marshmallows but he didn't want them cooked.
It wasn't quite dark yet so Grandma and Grandpa took the boys up to play on the playground and gave the parents a break. (Tyson was already asleep in the cabin). When it got dark, we got to watch a great fireworks show. Logan loved the fireworks. He even got to play with some sparklers at the campsite.

All the boys took showers and then went to bed. Logan stayed up until 9:30!! He has NEVER been up that late (well, I guess when he was a newborn he was up that late some but not in the last 1 1/2 years of his life!)
He and Tyson still woke up at 6:40, but they slept great all night in the cabin.
Logan sleeping in the cabin. (He was asleep the second his head hit the pillow1)

Tyson sleeping in the cabin.

We went out to breakfast at a really great bakery (I know, we were really "roughing it".)
Tyson took a nap in the cabin. And then "helped" mommy pack up. - notice the airconditioner (told you we were roughing it.)

The big boys played some more on the playground, and we all packed up, and headed home.

Both boys DID sleep on the way home. We were all fairly exhausted by the end of the trip.
I realized that once you have kids, you don't go on trips to get to relax. But you sure do get to see a lot of happy smiles on your little ones faces. And that makes up for the exhaustion you feel at the end!