Big Storytime

We met Missy and Heather and their kids (minus Hannah who is in a summer camp) at the Downtown Nashville Library this morning for storytime.

Carter was so excited to go there.  He had to tell Missy and Heather when he saw them that he was going to "big storytime" (we refer to the Downtown Library as the big library).

While we were there, we turned in our summer reading logs.  The boys each got a ticket to a Nashville Sounds game (our minor league baseball team), a free admission for one of several venues of their choice, and a free book.

They each got a nice hardcover book.

Brian pointed out to me tonight that the books are from Taylor Swift :)

Missy and Heather headed out after storytime, but the boys and I stuck around for Kid Kraft.  Today they made frogs.

I had to help some with cutting, but the boys did a good job gluing and decorating their paper bags.

I tried to get the boys to stand together with their frogs so I could take a picture, but Rylan was having none of it.  Carter decided he should have his picture with this big, scary head (you can turn the crank by Carter's head to make its eyes spin around).

Then he had to sit in a bunch of chairs that he said were giving him hugs.

Water Fun

It is hot here right now - in the 90s everyday and no rain to cool it off.

After naps, I took the boys outside and got out a bunch of our water toys.  We haven't done this much yet this year but there is still plenty of warm weather to come.

Carter filled the pool and I think he got bored - it wasn't very full.

I put a chair next to the pool and put my feet in to cool off too!

Rylan got in the pool some but he doesn't like to get in and out on his own so he spent more time at the water table.

Carter decided to jump (belly flop) into the pool like the boys do into their ball pit.  This is Carter coming up from the belly flop - he said it didn't hurt.

Rocks

When our deck and screened porch were built, they didn't do anything under the deck to the graded ground.  It looked sloppy to us and the grass and weeds were starting to spread under there.  They were a pain to weed whack and were getting unreachable.

So we decided to put rocks under the deck and screen porch like we had done at our last house.  The deck was a lot higher there though (you could almost stand unright under it on one side).  Because everything is a lot lower at this house (and a lot bigger) we decided to only put rocks about 6 feet deep instead of under the entire area.  It would have been extremely difficult to spread rocks that far and a lot more expensive.

Last weekend we (mostly me while Brian worked on another project) installed black plastic edging around the screened porch and deck.  Then last week I pinned down landscape fabric.

 

This weekend we went to Beasley's Yard just south of Spring Hill (about 20-30 minutes from our house) to check out their rocks.  Someone Brian works with recommended them for rocks and mulch and we were very impressed.  They have everything and at a really reasonable price.

We decided on the 2" Autumn Sunset rocks and scheduled them to be delivered at 8 am this morning.  Brian took the morning off from work so that we could get all the rocks moved to our yard.  Two cubic yards was $218.50 and delivery was $100.  This was a lot cheaper than the other places we checked out.

Carter and I watched the dump truck dump out the stones in the alley beside our house.

The boys couldn't wait to get outside and "help" us.  We asked them to collect the stray rocks and add them to the pile here - they did a pretty good job.

Carter actually did help a lot.  He was an extremely hard worker.  I was actually a little worried about him because he was dripping sweat off his face and really flushed!

Carter started by helping Brian fill the wheelbarrow (which Brian would dump along the edge of the screened porch or deck and then I would spread the rocks with a rake).

Carter eventually remembered that he has a wheelbarrow too and started filling it himself and bringing me rocks (and dumping them for me).

Rylan tried to help a little but he mostly played on his own and got in the way :)

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to move and spread 2 cubic yards of rocks.  We are sore and tired but very happy with the results.

The rocks are really dirty right now but as they get rained on, they should be a nice mixture of brown, red, and gray.  Here is a section I wetted to see how they will eventually look.

We have several other projects planned for the yard that we hope to get to soon (including adding the black plastic edging around three beds in the front, building 3 berms in the backyard where we'll add trees and shrubs in the fall, seal the aggregate pad that the a/c and heating units sit on, add lighting to the deck, replace a few bushes in the front yard, and possibly move one of the large maples in our front yard over several feet - I'm sure there is more I'm just not thinking of right now).

Computer

In the car yesterday, Carter told me he needed to work on his computer ...

Rylan

It's been way too long since I did a post about all the little things Rylan does right now.  He's almost 2 (on June 28th) and has changed so much over the last few months.

Rylan copies Carter all the time.  He watches Carter so intently and then does exactly what he does.  Carter will drive me nuts sometimes because he does something he's not supposed to do (like climb into a clothing rack at a store) and then Rylan has to copy him.  Carter can be bossy sometimes and tell Rylan what to do and Rylan will do it (sometimes).  He really looks up to his big brother as someone to learn from!

Rylan had some major "stranger danger" for quite awhile. He has finally gotten over it in the last couple of weeks (though it's not like he trusts everyone yet).  Whenever a stranger would say anything to him or look at him and smile, he would look towards the floor, get a pouty look, and close his eyes.  He was silly though because once we walked away (such as from a cashier), he'd look up and smile (and sometimes even wave or say bye).  He's suddenly though a lot more outgoing.  When we are outside on the screened porch, both Rylan and Carter will yell "hi" to anyone that is walking by (especially all the kids).  When in the yard, Rylan will even give the older girls a high five.

Especially when Carter was at school or still napping, Rylan can play all by himself for at least an hour.  I can be in my bedroom getting ready or folding laundry or something and Rylan can play in the playroom alone forever.  It's so much fun to peek in on him when he doesn't notice you and watch him play with his construction trucks and guys and cars.

Rylan talks a lot.  He says lots of phrases and sentences.  I don't remember how much Carter was talking at this point, but I think Rylan does speak more and have a lot more words.  I think Rylan is also a little clearer with his pronunciation than Carter was at this point.  Hopefully he won't have the speech issues that Carter does!

Rylan is getting his 2-year-old molars.  I can feel 3 of the 4 coming in.  Carter's didn't seem to bother him but I think Rylan's have been.  He was waking up a few times a night and crying for five minutes or so before falling back to sleep.  I started giving him Motrin before bed about a week ago and that seemed to help.  He made it through the last few nights without any so hopefully they aren't hurting so much anymore.

Our bedtime routine is still the same.  We brush teeth, do bath (not every night), get pajamas on, read three books (all 4 of us together), then Brian takes Carter to his room and I take Rylan to his room.  I put Rylan in his crib and sing two songs (Hush Little Baby and The Farmer in the Dell).  Then I tell Rylan I love him and good night and leave.  Now he always screams for me and cries for a bit.  Sometimes it's for just a minute and other times it seems like forever (15 minutes or more).  I hate this even more than when he was little because he seems to old to be crying at bedtime anymore.  And he didn't for a long time.  He does the same thing at nap.  He often settles down quicker at nap and will talk to himself for a bit and then cry a bit and back and forth until he falls asleep.

Rylan has been getting up way too early lately.  He usually wakes up around 5:30 am and I have to get him around 5:45 am before he wakes up Carter with his screaming of "Mama!".  Carter usually doesn't make it much longer (around 6 am).

We turned around Rylan's carseat when we went to Disney and have left it forward-facing.  It's definitely easier to figure out what he needs now and keep him awake when I don't want him to take a nap in the car.  Rylan still loves to dance in the car.  I think he may be into music even more so than Carter.

Rylan's still only interested in listening to the books I read about half the time.  He's definitely still better than a few months ago though.

Rylan is a picky eater like Carter, but unlike Carter, he LOVES pasta and rice.  This is something I've never been able to get Carter to eat (other than a little mac and cheese a few times).  Currently Rylan is a bit obsessed with cheese.  I usually buy those single serve cheese sticks.  He'll ask for one between meals and then another and another.  So far I've always cut him off at three.  His banana obsession is waning a little finally though they are still his favorite fruit.

I may have to do a part 2 to this post because I'm sure there is a lot in forgetting!

Mr. Rich, The Science Guy

After a very disappointing Pre-School Music Class at the Brentwood Library yesterday morning, we went to an awesome program at the Main Williamson County Library in the afternoon.  The music class lasted only about 15 minutes and a third of the class was spent doing a good morning song saying each child's name.  I had talked to the librarian that does storytime the day before and she said they hired someone with a music background to do the class this year instead of her doing it.  I think they made a bad decision.  We may give the class one more chance later in the summer, but I'm not sure they'll still be having it by then.

Anyway, the afternoon program we did was with Mr. Rich, The Science Guy.  The boys were a little younger than the target age group, but they paid attention and got into it.

The first set of experiments were about electricity using a Tesla coil.  My favorite (which you can barely see in this photo) was when Mr. Rich made the fourth kid's light up shoes glow (Mr. Rich is holding the Tesla coil to the light bulb and the four kids are holding hands).

There were several experiments using dry ice.  I'm not sure what Mr. Rich added to the dry ice here, but it made these cool bubbles that some of the kids (including Carter) got put on their heads!

It melted away after about a minute ...

Then there were some experiments with pressure and dry ice.

Rylan did not like the loud pops!

At the end of the program, the kids got to do a little experiment that made something similar to Silly Putty.  We decided to go check out some books and turn in our summer reading logs and then get back in line at the end.  It worked out perfectly.

We were the last people to do the experiment.  There were cups with some white paste and a drop of food coloring in them.  The kids had to mix this first.  Once it was mixed, someone would add a little borax in water and then let the kids stir the mixture again to produce the Silly Putty.  We got through the first mixing and I was helping Carter stir in his borax when the librarians yelled, "No!"  Apparently Rylan decided to taste his glue and food coloring mixture.  Mr. Rich was there to assure everyone that there was nothing toxic and he was fine (though he did have green lips for a bit).

Carter was very proud of his Silly Putty.

Rylan was a little traumatized by everyone yelling "No" at him, but he got over by the time we got into the car and wanted to hold his Silly Putty and stare at it for awhile.

For completing the Williamson County Library summer reading program, the boys each got water bottles, some restaurant coupons, and a paperback book.  We got "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Goodnight Moon", two books we actually didn't have.

Carter told me we already have "Goodnight Moon", though I had to correct him and tell him we actually have "Goodnight Goon", a parody of the original book.

After the library program, we picked Brian up from work and headed over to Cheekwood for Family Night Out.  This week they had "The World of Mother Goose" presented by the Nashville Public Library Puppet Truck.

I had packed a picnic and we got there about half an hour before the program was to start.  It was crowded though already and they weren't using very good microphones so the kids couldn't see or hear anything from where we had set up.  We ended up moving up front to the side of the stage area so the kids could at least hear and see some.

The boys were very happy to have Brian with us!

We stuck around for a little bit afterwards and showed Brian the treehouses.  We also discovered this huge snapping turtle in one of the ponds.  I remembered this morning that Claire (who works at Cheekwood) had told us last week that someone had released turtles into the pond without permission.  I'm guessing this was one of the turtles she was talking about!

The boys got to practice a little swinging under one of the treehouses and then we headed home.  It was a lot warmer than the week before and we were ready to cool off (or at least Brian and I were).

Next week is a band again which is much more fun for the kids!

Picnic in the Neighborhood

I took the boys over to the pond in the nature preserve in our neighborhood for a picnic today.  I've been meaning to go over there for awhile now and walk around the pond but just finally got around to it.  They recently installed steps down to the pond and did some more landscaping so it's looking really nice now.

Carter wanted to ride his balance bike there but made it only about a third of the way.  I had the double BOB so he rode in that the rest of the way and the bike rode on top of the sunshades.

The boys sat for about 2 minutes to eat and then were off to play.

Carter asked me to take his picture in front of the water (he still doesn't pronounce water correctly and Rylan says it almost the same way he does).

Then he said he wanted me to take his picture while he made some silly faces.

The boys favorite thing to do was to throw rocks into the water.  They probably raised the water level a few inches :)

It's hard to see, but there were hundreds of frogs at the edge of the water (if you zoom in this picture, you can probably see some of the frogs).  Next time I'll bring my zoom lens and get some better pictures of the frogs.  The boys loved running along the edge of the pond and making all the frogs either jump into the water or dive under if they were already in.

Rylan loved throwing rocks as much as Carter.

Blowing on a dandelion ...

The boys picked tons of flowers (weeds) and gave them all to me :)

We stayed about an hour until Carter had a potty accident.  He hadn't gone in about 4 hours so it was expected.  I knew right before that he needed to go but he told me that he didn't so I let him be.  He's doing great though and still hasn't had an accident when we've been out in public (only around the house).

Brentwood Library Storytime

We stopped by the Brentwood Library this morning for storytime and were pleasantly surprised when Lauren showed up with Sophie and Blake.  This was there first time there.  I think Carter was showing off for Sophie because he was HYPER.  All the kids had a blast though and I'm glad the redheads got to see one another!

Once when Sophie sat down next to Carter, she apparently wasn't close enough because he had to pull her closer.  Those two shared lots of hugs and Sophie copied everything that Carter did.