Cheekwood

This morning we took Carter to Lowe's to build a firetruck.



Rylan was super happy to get ahold of a hammer. I think Carter was just a few months older than Rylan when we started taking him to these workshops. I was constantly catching Rylan before he smacked himself in the face with the hammer.



After Lowe's we drove up to Cheekwood, a botanical garden and art museum. We bought an annual membership because they do a lot of neat events there and it's just a fun place to explore.

On Saturday mornings they have a program called Saturday AM where kids can do art projects for free. Today's project was making a train ...


Through the end of the year, the garden has a large model train exhibit. The boys loved it. Rylan was especially excited and hooted and pointed at all the trains.








After checking out the trains, we explored the gardens for a little bit until Brian's allergies got the better of him. We are really hoping these allergies end soon!

There is a random frame set up in the gardens to take your picture in ...



The Japanese Garden was really pretty ...




Carter liked watching the water cascade down this stream ...


Now that we have a membership, we'll probably be going back here a lot. There are a bunch of scarecrows set up in the gardens during October and they supposedly decorate a lot for Christmas.

The only negative of the place was that I found a tick on Rylan tonight when I was changing him into his pajamas. Luckily it was crawling on his chest and not attached yet. I thoroughly checked the boys from head to toe after that.

That's my Boy

On the way home from checking out the house this evening, Carter told us this ...

(Lay on couch, watch football)

Brian's response was "That's my boy!"

Two Little Apples

Carter loves music and dancing, but he's never really been good with singing songs. He's started singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and a song he's learned at school called "Two Little Apples".

This isn't the best video with Rylan screaming along, but it's the best I've gotten so far ...

Carter's version is:

Way in tree
Two apples looked down me
Shake that tree real hard
Apples fall
Yum Yum Good

The real version:

Way up high in a tree
Two little apples looked down at me
So I shook that tree just as hard as I could
And down came the apples
Yum, Yum Good!

Welcome Home Daddy!

Brian was in Arizona this week for work so Carter and I made him a banner this morning ...


Carter had lots of fun finding cool stickers in our stockpile.

Brian hadn't gotten to see all the amazing progress on our house this week so he was looking forward to seeing it tonight. When the boys and I went out last night, we didn't see many changes. The house wrap had been taped together to create a good seal. And the front porch was finished up (for now).

We were surprised tonight to see the shingles already on. Brian commented that this was obviously not our crew from back in Knoxville. It even rained this morning and they still got it all up in one day.



We also noticed that anywhere the plywood on the exterior walls had holes in it, wood scraps were nailed onto those spots from the inside.

Since there were two of us, Brian and I were able to venture up to the second floor one at a time. Carter was not happy at all about not getting to also go up there but it was impossible with the makeshift ladder nailed to the studs. There may have been several minutes of crying. Hopefully they build the stairs soon!

House Progress

The plywood for the roof got put up today. And some of the details (like over the office bay window) got built. It looks like the roof for the front porch also got started.


The screened porch roof got attached to the house ...


The framing for the fireplace was completed ...


This is a look up to the second floor and roof from where the stairs will be ...


These are the temporary stairs ...


I had the kids there by myself tonight. When Brian is there with me, maybe one of us will venture up to the second floor.

PDO Playdate

Today we had the first of two playdates I've planned with the kids in Carter's Parents Day Out program.

We were there first so my boys played on their own for awhile ...



It rained earlier this morning so it was really wet on the playground, but we still had two other kids show up. Nan brought Claire and Lisa brought Evan. Claire sat in a puddle one of the toys immediately after getting there but didn't seem to mind (Nan was literally wringing out how skirt).

The kids watched a train go by in the distance in the trees ...


And played together on the wobbly platform ...


But they spent most of the time playing independently. I got the chance to get to know their moms though. It's nice to know a little more about the kids in Carter's class.

On the way out, Carter and Evan stopped to play with a baseball they found on one of the fields.


We spent about two hours at the playground and it was still hard to convince Carter it was time to go. I think he had fun!

Dentist

It's been 6 months since Carter went to the dentist for the first time in Knoxville. So today we went to a new dentist here in Franklin. Since both boys are covered under our insurance, I went ahead and made an appointment for Rylan as well. It seems crazy to me to take a 15 month old to the dentist but since he's covered, why not?

The philosophy at this office was a little different than our last one. At the Knoxville office they didn't want to scare kids AT ALL. The slightest indication of uncomfortableness and they stopped whatever they were doing. At this new office, they didn't push it but they kept going even when Carter started whimpering and Rylan started fussing. I don't think it was too much, it was just different.

Carter watched Toy Story ...


The hygienist used the polisher to clean Carter's teeth. He did well but started getting a little antsy on the last few teeth.


The hygienist also flossed Carter's teeth. I've never tried to do this before. She said that because there's not much space in his mouth and his teeth are close together, we really need to floss to prevent cavities. We figured both our boys are going to have tiny mouths because both Brian and I had to have permanent molars pulled to make more room in our mouths.

The staining on Carter's teeth has gotten a million times better in the last 6 months since we've been using a Spinbrush, but there was still a little there. The dentist decided to use an ultrasonic pick that sprays water to clean it off. Carter wasn't a big fan of that. He did great though and only whimpered a little. He did tell me later that it hurt. Hopefully he's not scared of the dentist now.

Rylan, as usual, didn't really want to open his mouth. The hygienist tried to use a toothbrush to brush his teeth. She was able to get a few looks in his mouth and we discovered he's starting to get the same staining as Carter.


The dentist tried to get in Rylan's mouth too but after about 30 seconds, Rylan starting having real tears so he gave up.


Neither boy has any cavities. They both got a fluoride treatment "painted" on their teeth.

When they were done, the boys got to pick a toy out of the toy chest. It took a while for Carter to decide, but he finally chose a notepad with construction vehicles on the front. He colored in it while Rylan got his exam. Then he tried to put it back in the chest and pick out a new toy.

Carter even got a new shirt (i.e., free advertising) ...


I didn't absolutely love this office, but it wasn't bad. The dentist was friendly enough with the kids but he also didn't try to bond with them first and gain their trust before working on them. I haven't decided yet if we'll continue going there or find another office.

Framing

We didn't go to the lot last night because it rained all day yesterday. When we got there this evening though, it looked like the framing is about done!






There are stairs in the garage up to the first floor ...


But none up to the second floor yet ...


This is the family room with the fireplace framed by two large windows ...


And a picture from the family room to the kitchen with the guest bedroom (and Carter) behind it ...


There are double doors off the kitchen to the screen porch and deck ...


The roof to the screened porch is sitting behind the house ...


I'm amazed by how quickly the building is going right now!

Running

While Carter was in school today, Rylan and I went to storytime at the Brentwood Library and then for a run on the greenway.


It was amazing how much easier it was to run with the single jogger than the double. My pace over 3 miles was almost a minute faster per mile than a week ago while pushing both boys. I haven't been back to running for very long yet but I am trying to get in 2 to 3 runs per week right now.

This week Carter is working on the letter B at school.



The comment on his report about what he ate was, "He is always the last one eating :)." I've always thought he was a slow eater!

I've organized a playdate for tomorrow with some of the other kids in Carter's class. Hopefully the rain holds off and we're able to play at the park!

Water

Rylan has a few words down. Mama and dada. And water, sort of. He says it the same way Carter did when he was younger. It's something like "wahalawahala".

I haven't gotten Rylan recorded saying it, but here's Carter's "improved" version of the word water ...

Saturday night we went over to Jason and Dawn's house. They hosted dinner and then their next door neighbor played the movie Rio on the side of their house. The movie didn't start until 8 pm, but the boys did surprisingly well considering it was past their bedtime. Rylan fell asleep near the end of the movie and Carter made it all the way through.


We had a laid back day yesterday. After taking a long walk in the morning, we spent most of the day hanging out around the apartment and watching football. Carter is a big football fan lately.

Today it rained all day so we went over to Missy's house to play with Will and Luke. The boys had fun playing with lots of new toys and some familiar toys that are in storage right now.