September fun!

The past week has been nothing but fun.

The big thing last weekend was we went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Dad’s company rented out the whole park, so we had a chance to enjoy the rides without waiting in the usual long lines. It was hot, hot, hot – too hot to take Turner along, more on that later – and because of our drought they turned the splash pad off, so we had a shorter day than we expected. But we rode almost all the rides we wanted and had a blast anyway.

We liked all the rides so much, every time Mom and Dad asked us what our favorite rides were, we gave them a different answer. We rode the ferris wheel, airplanes, fruit salad, cars, a train, swings, and a school bus. I really liked the characters who were walking around, but Hazel was scared of them.

Last night was the start of Rosh Hashanah. Uncle Chuck and Aunt Kim came into town to visit. They came over o our new house and brought me and Hazel some great presents.  They gave me a spy set and Hazel a toy doggy that walks and barks.  We both loved our presents.  We had some apples and honey at the house and then went to Chuy's for dinner.  It was delicious.  It was great to see Uncle Chuck and Aunt Kim, and Hazel kept asking "Where's Uncle Chuck?" after they left.

We’re too little to sit through a whole day of services, so this morning we did something fun together as a family instead. We took the train downtown and went to the Children’s Museum. Right now, they have a fantastic dinosaur exhibit. It’s better for kids our age than the other exhibits they’ve had since we joined. Hazel sat on a triceratops and a troodon. She also really liked the bog walk and looking for fossils in the Big Dig. I liked the peg board at the front of the museum, the kitchen area and coloring.

We took the train back home for some lunch and a quick rest, then headed back downtown (this time in our boring old car) for children’s services at our synagogue. We were all pretty calm and afterward, enjoyed snacks and some time out on the playground.

Our day didn’t stop there! We next headed to a daycare that’s been hosting some fun free parties in our neighborhood the past few weeks. Tonight they had barbeque, a bounce house, face painting and live music. I had a mustache painted on my face and Hazel’s mug was painted so she looked like a cat. She really liked jumping in the bounce house – they had to kick her out so they could close it down. The best thing though, was just playing on their amazing playground. Mom and Dad waited as long as they could to take us home for bed, but they had to literally drag us out of there kicking and screaming.

Turner’s been pretty busy having fun in his own way. He’s growing more hair and his two bottom teeth are really close to coming through his gums. Tuesday he started popping up on his hands and knees, like he’s going to crawl. Once he’s up, he rocks back and forth.

When we went to Six Flags, he stayed in Austin for his own little adventure. He stayed with our neighbors in the morning, then with one of our friends at her house in the afternoon. They all said he was angelic and he smiled at Mom all night long once we came home.

For photos of some of our fun and a visit to the playground last weekend, click here.

Turner at 6 Months

Turner had his six month checkup today. The doctor was impressed with how much he's moving around and asked Mom if the house is babyproofed. She said he's on track with everything else. Turner is now a whopping 15 lbs 4oz (20th percentile), 25.75 inches tall (30th percentile), and his head is 42.3cm (35th percentile).

Turner didn't like being at the doctor's much. He would rather have been napping and cried a lot. The doctor thought his cry was pretty funny because he blows raspberries when he cries.

See the Turner's growth chart on the right side of the blog.

A funny conversation

Post from Mom:

Hazel was sitting in the learning tower with a plastic toy in her hand, making a whimpering noise. Mitch walked over asked why she was crying. She said, "I don't want to eat this chicken cheese." Mitch said, "Is that because it's hot or spicy?" Now Hazel's yelling, "It's too spicy! It's too spicy!"

Ha, ha!

The day Hazel got ahold of Mom's hat and glasses

Every day, we make Mom and Dad laugh. Here are some funny things we said and did this week.

I can read like a second or third grader, and today I was helping Mom cook when I came across a funny word, "balsamic vinegar." All day long, Hazel and I yelled "balsamic vinegar" and cracked up. Mom and Dad are even laughing about it now, and when they need to distract me from trouble, they just yell it and we all laugh our heads off.

Aunt Lauren's wedding really made an impression on Hazel. The other morning, Hazel went up to Mom and said, "I'm getting married, Mom." Mom said, "Oh yeah? To whom?" and Hazel said, "To Mitch." Then she chased me around and in the bossiest voice imaginable, yelled, "Get married to me, Mitch! Get married to me, Mitch!"

One night last week, Mom and Dad put me to bed and later I went downstairs and told them, "I got all the sleep I wanted last night."

Turner's eating it up

Aside from his first big trip, which went great, Turner’s had a big month.

Turner’s really been teething – he’s been chewing on everything he can grab, even his feet -- so Thursday night, we gave him something new to put in his mouth. Rice cereal! It didn’t look or smell like much, but he seemed to think it was all right. Some of the time he opened his mouth like a pro for the spoon, and the rest of the time, Mom and Dad had to compete with his thumb to get the food in there. It’s a pretty exciting big step!

He’s also really interacting with everyone and is paying attention to everything. He’s been staring at his mobile as well as brightly colored animals and shapes on his play mats and sheets, has paid attention when we read books, and watches people more than he used to.

Turner’s also more mobile. He now rolls both ways and scoots himself, almost crawling. He can get pretty far pretty fast and when he’s in his crib, he scoots until he wedges his head in the corner. Then he screams until Mom helps him out.

He’s becoming more interested in the Jumperoo and he is sleeping better – he gave up his swing and just sleeps in his crib now.

Turner must have grown a lot the past month too. He’s in the next size in both his clothes and diapers!

Here are some of Turner’s funny stories from the past few weeks:

One night, Mom was putting us all to bed, and Hazel, Turner and I were sitting on my bed reading one of my favorite books, How Do Dinosaurs Laugh Out Loud. Hazel and I were cracking up and then Turner really started laughing too. Hazel kept making a funny noise and laughing at him, and he just laughed and laughed at her. Mom said he never laughed so hard at anything before. It was really cute.

A day or two later, we went to Ikea. Mom loaded us into the car, then tried to nurse Turner. He ate for a while, then kept staring at something intently, totally transfixed. Mom looked up and noticed he was starting at some flags in front of the store that were blowing in the wind. Turner doesn’t ask for much, so we gave him some more time to watch them before we went home.

Turner has been as sweet and snuggly as ever, and it’s really fun watching him grow up! We can’t wait until he can really play with us!

Congratulations Aunt Lauren!

What a trip!  We just came back from a really fun week in Pennsylvania.  We were there for Aunt Lauren's wedding.  So much happened.

Mom and Dad had been telling us all about the trip for a few weeks, so we were ready.  It started Thursday morning, when we woke up early and went to the airport.  It had been a while since Hazel and I had been on an airplane, and Turner had never been on an airplane before.  Mom and Dad were a little nervous, but they didn't need to be - we all did great.  We went through security without any problems, and even got on the plane without any complaints.  Mom packed plenty of toys and food to keep us busy on the plane.  Hazel and I looked out the window a few times just to see the clouds, but overall, we weren't too impressed with flying in the sky.

Children's Museum in the
Chicago Airport

We had a long layover in Chicago, but that turned out great.  There is a Children's Museum in the Chicago airport that has an airplane, helicopter, and other fun things to do.  Hazel and I loved running around.  It made our layover fly by.

When we got to Pennsylvania, we rented a giant minivan.  It was a Kia Sedona.  Mom says it is her dream car, but Dad isn't ready to buy another car right now.  The Kia was a great car for the week though.  One big surprise was all the water in Pennsylvania.  Its been raining so much that it actually flooded there.  That's a pretty big change from Austin, where we haven't had rain for months and things are so dry, everything is catching on fire.  It was neat seeing everything so green.  Mom was shocked when she saw how high the river was next to the airport, and especially when she saw parts of some buildings underneath the water!  Unfortunately, all of that flooding got Grandma and Grandpa's house too, so we had to stay in a nearby hotel.  That was quite an adventure on its own.  Before going to the hotel, we stopped at Mom's favorite place to eat, the Tropical Treat.  It was very yummy.  We had cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, and ice cream.  Then we headed over to the hotel.

Hazel moving some cargo around
at the Chicago Airport

When we first got to the hotel, they had warm cookies for us.  That was a great start.  Unfortunately, it turned out that they only have cookies during the week, so that was the only night we had them.  The rest of the trip, Hazel and I kept asking why the hotel didn't have cookies on the weekend.  Mom and Dad did not have a very good answer; we all think the Holiday Inn needs to change their nonsensical cookie policy.  We had two rooms at the hotel, and as soon as we got there, Mom and Dad gave us all baths.  Unfortunately, Mom and Dad messed up, and we wound up getting locked out of the room that contained all of our stuff, including all our clothes and diapers -- even Turner's.  The hotel staff and some other guests were extremely nice and they went to work to get the room back open.  It took them over an hour though, and all that time, all three of us kids were naked and running around the hotel screaming.  It was quite a first night.  After we got the room unlocked, we all went to bed.  Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to say goodnight to us too.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream at Bruster's

The next day we enjoyed the delicious breakfast buffet at the hotel.  It was yummy.  Hazel and I liked the rainbow cheerios the best.  Mom and Dad let us eat a lot of sugar on this trip as a means of positive motivation. After breakfast, we headed over to Grandma's house.  They have a big dog named Bruiser.  We spent most of Friday running errands and staying out of the way to help with the wedding.  Mom and Dad took us to Bruster's for ice cream.  I read the menu myself and decisively chose peanut butter ice cream.  Hazel fell asleep, so she didn't get any.  Our last errand was picking up Grandma B.  It was nice to see her again.

Hazel watching out for Bruiser

Friday night we all went out to a rehearsal dinner.  Mom and Dad thought it was pretty funny during grace when Hazel yelled, "What's that guy doing?"  She finally stopped yelling, "Why?" and covered her eyes when Mom told her he was saying a prayer like Shabbat. I gave Uncle Ryan a giant hug at the end of the night.  I was pretty happy for him.

Saturday was Aunt Lauren's wedding.  During the morning, while Mom was getting her hair done, Uncle Ben and Dad took Hazel and me back to the Tropical Treat.  Hazel got a peanut butter milkshake and I got a chocolate one.  We also got some cheeseburgers and fries.  While we were waiting, I told Dad that a lady outside the car looked like Mom.  Dad told me that it wasn't Mom and asked me if she looked like Mom. I told him it did look like her.  Then he looked and saw that it was Mom after all.  Grandma sent her away from the wedding prep to get milkshakes for the ladies.  Mom and Dad were pretty impressed that I spotted her across the parking lot, through rows of cars.

Hanging with Uncle Daniel

The wedding was in the evening in Grandma and Grandpa's yard under a huge tent.  I wore a cute monkey suit, and Hazel wore a really pretty white dress.  Hazel was a flower girl for the wedding, and she did great.  Everyone liked it when she threw all of the flower petals on the ground.  However, whenever she and Mommy practiced throwing the flowers, they always picked them up again.  So, during the wedding, Hazel tried to pick the flower petals up again and got kind of upset when she had to walk down the aisle instead!  Lucky for her, she was standing next to Grandma during the wedding and was able to sleep in her lap the rest of the time. The wedding ceremony was very nice and they had a great party afterwards.  Hazel and I danced a lot.  Hazel especially loved the glowsticks they passed out.  She just ran around, waving the glowsticks, chasing another little girl. I found a wagon to play with and told Mom, "I'm wagonning."

Sad to go home

Sunday was a bit more relaxed.  We hung around Grandma and Grandpa's house eating pie and playing with my cousin Mianna.  Our favorite place to play was in the rain.  It was pretty neat to jump around in all of that water.  It was sad when we left on Monday.  We said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Lauren, Uncle Ryan, and all of the rest of our cousins and relatives.  Hopefully, they'll come visit us in Austin soon.

One more trip to the Chicago Airport
Children's Museum

We came back home on Monday, making sure to spend more time in the Children's Museum in the Chicago airport. Once again, we all did great on the plane.  We're all back into our regular routines now.

Tonight, after Mom put me to bed, I got up and came downstairs.  When Mom asked why I was up, I said, "I got all the sleep I wanted last night."

We didn't take a whole of pictures this week since there was a professional photographer around, but here are the photos we did take.

Back to school!

My One-Eyed Jack funny face,
which cracks Mom up every time

The end of our summer was great. We were able to go to a great new splash park a few times, thanks to our neighbor, who stayed with Turner since he can’t go out in the heat and sun. We can’t wait until next year – when we can all go, we’ll be able to go more often. Mom’s so excited she got all of our swimsuits already!

We were also busy going to lots of birthday parties. We hit Pump it Up a few more times, went to a party at a pool at a downtown park, and I went to a party at Gymboree (Hazel was sick, so she couldn’t go). It’s been really fun.

 

Pigtails!

Hazel found a new way to wear her hair – pigtails! She looks really cute and likes looking at herself in the mirror when Mom puts her hair up, but they usually don’t stay that way very long!

This summer, I went to Hazel’s school, Leaps n Bounds, a couple mornings a week, the same time Hazel goes. She really loves it there, and her teachers really love her too. In fact, last week they decided she is so ahead of the game, they are putting her up in the three-year-old classroom already. They said they are doing this because she is so good at talking, knows all her colors and is using the potty.

Anyway, I didn’t really like it there because I like a smaller class and I never got used to it because I didn't go that often. I preferred the place where I went every day last school year. Since we moved, I can’t go there anymore, but I can instead go to the school behind our house. I was pretty excited because we played on the playground all summer, so I was familiar with it. But we were all kind of nervous about the change.

We met my new teachers August 22 and my first day at my new school was August 23. It is pretty different from my old school. My really big classroom is inside the school and I start a couple hours later than I did last year. I stay an hour longer, so I am there for four hours instead of three. Instead of coming to the classroom to drop me off and pick me up, we meet my teacher at the school entrance, since Mom isn’t allowed to walk through the school when it’s in session.

It’s been really cool living so close to the school. Since we’re so close, we haven’t been late once (quite a feat for Mom, who is perpetually late). Mom picks me up in the middle of Hazel’s nap, and because our gate is right by the school’s side door, my teacher’s going to start sending me home that way so Mom won’t have to wake Hazel up to leave home. Yeah, we’re really that close. It’s going to be especially great when it gets really cold this winter or if it ever rains again.

Some of our new neighbors,
in our front yard

My teachers are amazing. We really love and miss my teachers from last year, and these teachers seem just as wonderful. They’ve already said a lot of great things about me – how smart, cute and nice I am. And we think they’re great too. They got me over the hump with potty training, so we’re pretty grateful to them for that too. They’re putting up with Mom’s interrogations and they are very accommodating.

This week, we studied bears and the letter B. Next week is “All about me” and the letter M.

I am excited to be off to a great start!

It's in the can, man

Our special potty seat

Hazel and I have been hard at work lately learning to use the potty.


Hazel’s been using the toilet for a while now. She’s very enthusiastic about it but is not very consistent. When she goes, she gets an M&M. The first time she pooped, she was so excited, she told my teachers when they dropped me off at school.

I, on the other hand, have been very resistant to the idea of even sitting on the potty or wearing underwear for a long time.

Two weeks ago, we had a breakthrough. Dad was in California and I asked Mom if I could sleep in her bed. She said yes, if I peed in the potty. So I tried! I sat there for 10 minutes but nothing came out. Mom gave me an M&M for trying. After months of watching Hazel eat M&Ms, I was happy to finally get one myself.

The next morning, I really didn’t want to go to Leaps n Bounds, Hazel’s school, where I went a couple mornings each week this summer. Mom told me if I tried the potty and wore underwear, I could stay home with her. So I did!

The next six days, I wore my underwear and tried the potty but couldn’t make anything happen. It was kind of a mess. I was pretty anxious about doing it. Last Tuesday I started my new school (more in our next post) and my teachers started working with me on it.

I like the toilets there. They are little and low to the ground, so I can just stand there and go, and Wednesday I went for them there! My teacher let me play with her iPad and gave me some M&Ms. I asked her lots of questions about the toilet paper dispenser, including whether the handyman fixed it, whether he had tools, and if they were loud. She could tell I had a lot of experience working with contractors over the summer.

The next day I used the toilet again -- four times at school, then went when I came home by standing on a stool in front of the toilet.

In addition to M&Ms, my reward for all this has been trips to Yogurtland. We are keeping them in business, between the two of us (Hazel got a few trips for pooping in the potty). Mom says it's her new favorite place on Earth -- even better than Amy's Ice Cream -- so she is happy about it too.

Since then, I have been peeing in the toilet a lot. No poop yet, which is messy and sort of frustrating. Mom thinks I am anxious about it, the same way I was anxious about using the toilet to pee. I have lots of exciting presents waiting for me when I finally do it.

Since all this started, Hazel's been saying she also wants to stand up to pee.

The final frontier will be staying dry all night long. Hopefully Hazel and I will be out of diapers soon! It’ll probably be a while before Turner gets to this point.