Jumpin' on the Bed

It took a week, but the big boy bed is a success!  He goes right to sleep for naps and at night and won't get out until one of us comes to get him!  Yay!  Of course he would rather jump on it when friends are over!

PCB Part II

 Plaqying in the sand with Dad!

 Playing with Mommy!

 Hilarious!

 I LOVE this man!

                                   Dad HAD to get fireworks of course!

 My little lifeguard!

I could eat him up!

And this is what happens after a day at the beach!  Precious!

PCB

We are at the beach and having a blast.  I basically got a total of 10 days off this entire summer.  I am not complaining just not a lot of time to getaway.  Jason convinced me to take a beach trip, so here we are.  Some wonderful friends of my parents (and ours too) let us use their wonderful condo in Panama City.  This is our second family vacation since Declan was 3 months old.  This is where we went on that vacation too.  It has been pretty relaxing (as much as it can be with a 2 year old).  We have played in the pool, on the beach, in the sand, and eating lots of seafood.  It is just wehat I needed before the hectic school year starts on Monday.  I'm glad I listened to Jason, he knew we both needed this!

 Picnic in the mornings

 Sharing with Scout :)

Foggy! Oops!

 Loves the pool now!

 My boys!

Puddle Jumper.  This floatie was a life saver.  Declan has been "swimming" around the pool now.  He loves to put it on and to have his freedom.  Love this thing!!!

Trial Run

Declan went to school for a "trial" run the day we left for the beach.  We walked into his new classroom and he jumped out of my arms and ran up to the other boys in the class and started playing.  I left the room to put up some of his stuff and sign some paperwork and then went back and told hi, goodbye.  He ran back to me and said "I hold you," and jumped back into my arms.  I told him to have a great day with his friends at school and I would be back.  He said "okay, Mommy" and I left the room. What a relief!  I now had 3 1/2 hours to anxiously wait and see how he did.

I had to work a little and run a few errands before we left for the beach, so I kept myself busy.  I went to get him a little early.  I had to know how he did.  When I walked in he was sitting at the table eating lunch, drinking out of a cup without a lid with his friends smiling and laughing with the teacher sitting next to him.  I met his teacher and LOVED her!  She asked if I had been potty training because he went right in and went to the bathroom.  What?!  So great!  So, we will definitely be switching to pull-ups soon.  He went again while I was there and stood up on a little stool and washed his hands.  It was so cute to see him already in a little routine.  She said that he cried for maybe 3 minutes and that was it.  Transitioned great.  Music to my ears.  As we left, he ran and gave Ms. Ashley a hug and told his friends goodbye.

We got in the car and I asked him if he had a good day and if he liked it and he said, "New school, new friends, I happy."  I cannot make this up, people!  It went that well.  I'm so happy and definitely less anxious about Monday when he starts his full days.  Happy Declan=Happy Mommy!!!

Hanging Out!

Declan is very good at having independent playtime when we are at home.  When it gets quiet, that is when I get worried...

 What a mess!  Pulled out all of his toys and made himself comfortable in his toy cart.

Silly boy!!!

Birthday Girls!

We celebrated my sister (35th) and grandmother's bday (87th) (July 21st).  Mo;, Declan and I went to visit Grandmama and brought her a cake and then we headed to meet Staci and Big Kara for lunch!  I was happy that I got to see both of them on their special day! 

One More Month...

And Declan will be 2!  I can't even believe it.  I feel like he is so grown up already.  What is he up to these days???  He is doing very well in his big boy bed.  We have to lay with him until he falls asleep, and then he will make it through the night...sometimes.  If he does get up, he stays in his bed and calls for us.  We still don't have the bed rail, but I think he will a little more safe and secure once we do.  My mom came over and we decorated his room.  It looks "so cute," as Declan would say. 

 Almost 2...

 Cheese:-)

Eating a Cars gummy...what else?

He is into the movie Cars these days and Lightning McQueen, Thomas the Train, and the Fresh Beat Band.  He loves to color, put things together and take them apart and play with tools.  He loves to dance and listen to music.  I'm amazed when he sings all of the words to a song!  He says his prayers at night and it might be one of my favorite things he does.  He loves to watch baseball and yell "strike em' out!"  He is not eating that well.  If he had his choice he would eat gummies and yogurt covered raisins for every meal.  He is definitely a juice boy, but will drink milk too.  Some of my favorite things he does and says...he opens the door for me and says "here you go mommy, go ahead."  Such a gentleman already:-)  My mom taught him to say "you've got to be kidding me," hilarious!  The other day he was pushing his blanket down the slide and he said..."uh oh night night, you okay?"  "I kiss it."  I uv you."  Think he has heard that before?  He says "I hold you," when he wants to be held.  I'm sure there are a ton more, but hearing him talk and having a conversation with him is so fun.  He is also back to hitting ONLY me of course, if he is told "no."  I'm hoping that will go away...again.

I made a decision on a daycare for him and feel very good and at peace with my decision.  The facility, teachers, and directors seem wonderful.  His little pottery barn monogrammed book bag came in the mail yesterday and I about lost it.  I'm so excited for him, but so nervous about the change.  I will be taking him for a half day the week before I go back to work.   It is hard to believe that he only has 2 more weeks with Jeanne and then he will be at school...and so will I?!  Someone please tell me where the summer went?  I'm hoping when I see my summer school check it will make it all worth the hard work!

Different Kind Of Parties...

Times sure have changed!  We seem to be celebrating and going to little kids bday parties rather than our friends' bday party.  It is definitely all about the little ones now.  I am so okay with that and love getting together with everyone to celebrate and watch all of the kids interact.  My friends, the Gogo's (Gogolinski) little girl Cori turned 2 last week.  She is absolutely gorgeous and she and Declan are definitely two peas in a pod.  Lots of hugging and smooching going on.  It was so fun to celebrate Cori's big day and meet their new precious baby girl, Abbie.  What a cute family they are and so much fun!  I never did get a picture of Cori and Declan together, but here are a few cute ones.

Big Boy Bed!

Declan is just shy of  2 years old, but we forced him out of his crib last night.  He is now sleeping in a twin bed.  He loved helping build it and jumping on it, but was not to sure about it when it came to actually sleeping in it.  I had to lay with him to get him to fall asleep (he usually falls asleep immediately).  He woke up around 12:00 and Jason got him back to sleep, but he was up around 6:00 this morning.  Not too bad for day 1!  Wish us luck!

 Notice the futon in case he falls out.  They did not have safety rails at the Target or Walmart near us.  Weird.  I will be ordering one today, but this will have to do in the meantime.