Daddy & Paxton

September Facebook Posts

September 2

Gavin: "I DON"T WANT TO WEAR A UNDIES TODAY! I WANT MY DIAPER!
Me: "Gavin, you're a big boy now. You're going to wear undies."
Gavin: "I don't want to be a big boy! I want a diaper!"
Me: "Why?"Gavin: "Because den I don't have to get up every five seconds."

He's totally right. It can be quite annoying at times.

September 3

As I'm walking into their room this morning.
Me: "Why don't you guys ever snuggle together?"
Gavin: "I do!"Vivian: "Yuck! I don't like him!"
Me: "Vivian, that's not very nice."
Vivian: "I don't wanna snuggle! He stinks in da morning!"

Typical.

September 5

As he was searching through his underwear drawer this morning, Gavin saw a pair of red undies with white stripes. He immediately yelled, "These undies are like Uncle Tony's shirt from da beach. I wanna look like Uncle Tony today. I gonna wear these."

September 9
Me: "Gavin, how did you get in the kitchen?"
Gavin: "Um... I dunno."
Me: "Was the gate or the door open?"
Gavin: "No."
Me: "Then how did you get in?"
Gavin: "I climbed over the gate."
Me: "What? I didn't know you could do that?"
Gavin: "I do it a lot. So Daddy can't find me."
Me: "Oh. Can you get back out?"
Gavin: "Yep. Den, you never knowed I was in."

September 12
Gavin: "Mom! I have to poop!"
Me: "Okay, let's run to the potty!"Gavin: (once we get to the bathroom) "I want to stand."Me: "You can't stand to poop."Gavin: "But I stand to pee! I want to stand to poop, too."

Me: "Gavin, you just can't. Now sit down before you poop yourself."Gavin: "Why?"Me: "Please Gavin, just sit!"

Gavin: "Why?"Me: "Because you can't stand up and poop."
Gavin: "I think I can. Can I try?"

I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do with this kid.

September 15

Wes: "If you're not good, I'll tell Aunt Brandy and Aunt Stephie to not come over."

V: "Don't say that bull shit, Dad!" 

September 17

V: " I don't like all these boys."

Me: "Don't worry. Aunt Brandy has a girl and she'll be big enough to play with soon. And Aunt Stephie will probably have another baby and it might be a girl."
V: "I gonna have a girl."
Me: "Oh really? When?"
V: "In 20 minutes. When I done with lunch."

If only it were that easy.

September 29

The amount of crying in this house this morning is absolutely unbelievable. and none of it has come from the 4-month-old.

Just Pax

He's a Puzzle-Addict

Gavin is a puzzle-addict. He's really enjoys doing them and he's actually really good at putting them together. Yes, the boy who seemingly has a very short attention span, constantly switching from one activity to another, loves sitting completely still (for 20 to 40 minutes at times) and figuring out how pieces of cardboard fit together to make a picture. It's one of his all-time favorite things to do.

Vivian tries to copy her brother and do puzzles with him, but she just doesn't get it. No matter how hard she tries, he always finishes his puzzle before her and sometimes completes two puzzles before she finishes one. Vivian understands the purpose of a puzzle, but she still shoves together two pieces that don't belong, banging them with her fist into place. Gavin gets very frustrated by Vivian's blatant disregard for puzzle etiquette and will reprimand her when she doesn't do it correctly. He then tries to teach her the correct way. Well, you know how that plays out. Vivian yells at him to leave her alone or she'll hit him, because as you know, she's the boss.

We've even started redirecting Gavin's energy (when he's disobeying us or clearly too wound up to function) by having him take a "puzzle break." And it seems to be working. One of us will notice that he's about to go off the deep end and we'll say, "Gavin, let's take a puzzle break." His face will usually light up, bringing him back to reality and away from a total meltdown, and he'll run to the "puzzle box" to pick out one of his favorites.

So while Vivian is a bit more physically coordinated than Gavin, he definitely beats her in the cognitive skills area (at least with puzzles, anyway).

Car Graveyard

The other day, Gavin and Vivian spent a good hour lining up their cars and sending them "off da cliff" into a big pile. They had SO MUCH fun doing this. And we had SO MUCH fun watching them.

Pax's 4 Month Check Up

Yesterday, Paxton Marshall had his 4 month check up at the doctor. Here are his stats:

• Weight: 19lbs 4oz (95th percentile)
• Length: 27 inches (98th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 17 inches (90th percentile)

Yes, he's a big boy. He comfortably fits in 9-12 month clothes. Gavin and Vivian didn't make it to 19lbs until around 8 months of age (they were both a tad over 20lbs at their 9 month check up). Paxton is four months old. At this rate, he'll be well over 20lbs by his 9 month check up!

Oh yeah, Pax slept for 8 hours straight last night! He's only ever slept 6 hours straight in the past. He's such a good little baby. 

"Look what I can do, Mom!"

 

She's a Gymnast

Vivian is a gymnast. Or at least she thinks she is. Several times a day (probably between 20 and 40), Vivian is asking us to look at her ability to do something. Sometimes, it's something small like balancing on one leg and sometimes it's a bit more serious, like getting Wes to flip her in the air. As long as it's something a gymnast would do, she's interested. She loves flipping, jumping, balancing, running, leaping, and rolling. And she especially loves to have other people watch her do it.

In these videos, Vivian is showing me how she can do a summersalt. She's been able to do it for some time now, but she had been practicing a lot on this particular day.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gavin is not as talented as Vivian in the acrobatic department. But, he tries; sort of because he wants to know how to do it, but mostly because Vivian is getting attention for doing it.

The Twins' Gallery Wall

As Paxton's nursery got more and more adorable, I began to feel guilty that Gavin and Vivian's current bedroom was lacking, well, everything. When we switched rooms (G & V were sleeping in the bigger of the two rooms up until 7 or 8 weeks ago when I decided that Paxton should have their bedroom), Gavin and Vivian's new bedroom had nothing on the walls, had two twin mattresses on a rug on the floor, and a dresser with a ton of books on it in the corner. It was very plain. 

So I started looking for ideas to spruce up their bedroom a little. One of the projects I came across on Pinterest caught my eye immediately.

Supplies:

• Spray adhesive (free for me because Wes had some, but usually less than $4 at the store)
• Printables from the Internet (you can find free ones, which is what I did, or buy some from Etsy or somewhere else)
• 100lb+ card stock paper (less than $4 at Walmart)
• A set of canvases (I got a pack of 10 for $17.97 at Walmart)

Total Cost: $22!

Step One: Find a bunch of free printables online and print them on at least 100lb card stock paper.

Step Two: Cut printables to size (leaving a very small gap around the edge of the canvas) and spray the back of the printable.

Step Three: Spray the back of the canvas.

Step Four: Adhere the printable to the canvas and press down.

Step Five: Hang on wall (I used Command Wall Strips- they make everything so easy!)

 

 

Voila! Not bad for $22!

Canvas Tape Art

When Steph and Brandy were here last weekend, Wes took all three kiddos (G, V, & C) to the park so we could have some quiet crafting time. Prior to last weekend, we had some online FB talks about what to make. Pinterest was consulted and we decided to make some canvas tape artwork (well, Steph and I decided to do the tape art and Bran made some canvases with stenciled letters on them). 

I found a four pack of square canvases and painted them shades of grey.

And then I hung them in our master bedroom.

Steph made two canvases.

And when she got home, Steph bought two more canvases to make a nice little tape canvas trio above her and her husband's bed. So cute!

Brandy made two canvases for her kiddos, Carter and Lea. The "L" is dark purple on a light purple background and the "C" (which Brandy claims needs fixing) is dark blue on a light blue background.

You know I love crafting, but I really love doing it with my girls.

Paxton is 4 Months Old

Today, our little Paxton is FOUR months old. Unlike with the twins (it felt like the first 6 months with G & V dragged on for-ev-er!), the last four months have really flown by. 

What have we learned about our little nugget? Well, he's a relatively predictable, easy-going, happy kid. He likes going on walks, riding in his car walker, jumping in his doorway jumper, and interacting with people. He's very responsive and demands attention (by meowing like a cat) if you look away from him. He also likes to be held and carried from room to room. He doesn't cry very often (it's actually kind of weird), and so far, he only mildly likes pacifiers and he would much rather nurse than drink from a bottle. Paxton eats (either a "full meal" or just a snack) between 5 and 7 times in a 24 hour period and he sleeps in his crib or in his swing for daytime naps and with us (me and Wes) at night. He has two favorite toys: a soft elephant rattle and a light-up star that blinks different colors when it's shaken. He smiles and giggles at all four of us, but especially at Wes when he tickles him. We don't know how much he weighs (his 4-month check up is next week), but we'll keep you posted.

I really wanted to figure out some creative photo shoot idea with all kinds of adorable photo props and a cute outfit to celebrate his 4 month birthday, but he's so damn handsome and I'm so damn lazy that I figured a simple photo shoot at the park would suffice. Below are my favorite pics from his 4 month photo shoot!

 Happy four month birthday, Pax! You really are the best baby ever!