I finished the last thing on my spring break/pre-baby to do list! Leon's birthday video. Check it out.
Showing posts with label Leon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leon. Show all posts
Leon's Birthday Photography
The day before I had planned to take Leon's birthday pictures he came inside with a huge red mark on his nose. He didn't know where it came from and my best guess is that it was a trampoline burn. I knew it wasn't ideal for pictures so we waited a couple weeks and took them over the weekend.
I never know how pictures are going to go, but these went pretty smoothly. It was cold outside so I had him run from place to place to keep warm. He was in a pretty good mood so getting him to smile wasn't hard. There were a few times he wanted to be done and got grumpy so I just reminded him that if he did nice smiles that we could be done fast. It only took about a half an hour. Sometimes when I take pictures of my kids we all come home grumpy, but not this time.
Leon is so sweet and happy. He is full of personality but is more mild of a child. In his classes he seems to pay attention and follow the directions, he is pretty quiet but will answer the questions if asked. I've noticed he isn't as busy and doesn't engage or play with the other kids as much as he does at home. I think he is a little hesitant with other kids, but not a ton.
At home is not afraid to stand up for himself with the other kids. I can tell he gets upset sometimes because he can't do everything his older siblings can but he tries hard and I don't think that will hold him back at all. If anything he will catch up to them in most areas before he knows it. He is so much taller than both the girls were at this age I'm sure he will be bigger than them before too long.
Occasionally he gets a time out, it rarely ever happens, but when it does it is probably because he is whining at me instead of doing what I asked him to do. When he does get a time out he is devastated. You would think sitting on the stairs for three minutes was the end of the world.
Leon is pretty athletic. He loves to run around and do things that get him moving. This rainy winter has made things a little hard for him because I can tell he is in a much better mood when he has time to be outside and active. He loves riding his bike, playing with balls, jumping on the trampoline, or anything people will play with him outside.
Leon is also very good at entertaining himself. I think it is because he is the fourth child but he is awesome playing alone! It has been great because while the girls go to school all day and Tucker and I are homeschooling he has no problem playing with his toys or in his room without us. I love that about him!
Leon gets scared easy. I'm not sure why but he seems to think movies are more scary than the rest of my kids did. He will hide his face or just leave the room because shows are too scary that none of my other kids had problems with at his age. It probably wouldn't come up that often except that he has an older brother who always wants to watch Ninjago and that is scary for Leon.
I love that Leon has blonde hair and blue eyes like me. The red hair on the other kids is great too, but it is nice to have one child that when I take to the store everyone doesn't ask me about his hair. Leon knows that he has different hair than the other kids but it doesn't seem to bother him. Sometimes I wonder, like when we go somewhere and a stranger is talking about the other kids hair, Leon just stands their quietly. He seems fine about it.
Leon isn't thrilled about talking to strangers. If people want to talk to him he will often smile and sometimes hide behind me. He won't usually respond to people until he is comfortable with them, at that takes a little bit of time.
Leon has big hands and feet. I know that sounds random but when I look at them I'm always amazed at how thick they look. When he was younger his feet were too tall to fit in many shoes. I think he is going to grow up to be the biggest of all my children. Plus he holds hands hard, not nearly as delicately as the girls do.
Sometimes he says things that are just so funny and seem to come out of nowhere. The other day bob was making cookies and was jokingly saying that he wasn't going to share the cookies. Leon jokingly told me, "If dad doesn't let me eat cookies then I will... I will... break his window. hahahaha." I have no idea what window he was talking about or where he got that idea but it was funny. He is definitly not the destructive type so we weren't worried about it at all.
I love Leon so much!
Leon's Birthday
Leon was so excited for his birthday this year! For weeks he was asking how much longer for his birthday. He also was telling me all the things he wanted to do. Most of them very very easy and things we did for kids on past birthdays. He was very specific about how we were to decorate his door when he woke up. He wanted the door completely blocked so he had to punch through it (we covered it in wrapping paper). He also wanted to get a special birthday chair to sit in at the table. For that all I do is put a blanket over the chair and the kids love it. We also blew up balloons and put up a few streamers. Four-year-olds are easy to please.
We had waffles for breakfast at his request.
It was Sunday so we pretty much just got ready for church and did our regular thing.
That afternoon Leon opened presents. He really wanted a bow and arrow, but other than that we didn't get many ideas out of him. So we did get a bow and arrow and he loved it. I took the kids to the store and they each picked out something small for him.
The guitar was also a huge hit.
We had waffles for breakfast at his request.
That night we sang and did cake and ice cream. I was surprised that he choose the pink cake mix, but it was what he wanted.
Happy Birthday Leon! I was about to take nice birthday pictures for him but he got a big mark on his nose so that is going to have to wait a couple weeks.
Homeschool Co-op
We joined a homeschool co-op! Once a week after I take the girls to public school Tucker, Leon, and I drive to co-op. Last week we had our first day and the boys loved it!
They learned about the letter A.
He made a caterpillar after reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Leon's third class was in the gym where I think they played and did more PE type stuff. I was a little sad to miss it but it was time for me to go to Tucker's class.
Tucker was on his own for most of the day and did great! He first had civics class, then watercolors, next was lunch, and lastly Hotwheels. Because I went to the younger kids lunch with Leon, Tucker was even on his own for lunch. It really was like a real school day for him. But almost more like a middle school because he had to switch classrooms and teachers throughout the day. I was the TA for his hotwheels class so basically I got to sit in and be the second adult to help out. He loved it and said it was his favorite class of the day. He also told me he made a friend. Just during the class that I saw him in I was really impressed with the way he behaved and let the other kids go first for things. They had to work together as a team and I think it was good for them.
Leon had 3 hour long preschool classes and one hour lunch where he had plenty of time ti play in the gym with the other kids. He was nervous and I need to stick around to help out anyway so I sat with Leon for his first two classes. It was amazing how much he opened up after that. I was able to send him to his third class alone just fine.
It was funny to me how excited the boys were to go. The night before they got to make their school lunches and this was probably the best part for them.
They thought it was exciting to pack a lunch like Penelope and Scarlett have been doing every day. I think Tucker missed that from his homeschool days, and Leon has been enviously watching the older kids pack Capri Suns and puddings in their lunches for a while now.
We got home and had about 30 minutes before I needed to leave to pick up the girls from school. It took up my entire day and wasn't that much fun for me, but we are going to stick with it for a while. I think I'll enjoy it more as I get to know the other parents.
Batman Sweater
I have to post about this sweater because Leon loves it soo much! He usually will only wear pajamas because they are more comfortable but now he wants to wear this every day. Whenever we go somewhere he insists on showing everyone. He said,"I love it better than my others because it is so soft." It is true, this sweater is not only made out of a thick fleece it is very soft.
Of course it doesn't hurt that he loves batman. The site has so many different prints there is something for everyone. Check them out here at GabbyGooseberry.com
Of course it doesn't hurt that he loves batman. The site has so many different prints there is something for everyone. Check them out here at GabbyGooseberry.com
More at Grandmas house
While in Puyallup we had time to walk to my old elementary school and play on the playground. My parents still have the wagon from when I was a kid so my dad pulled three kids the entire way there, back, and around the block. They wouldn't have it any other way.
The playground is not the same from when I was a kid, but I'm sure that is a good thing. They had fun and Scarlett was mesmerized by the "gold" slide.
Then after conference we did Leon's birthday party. We already had one at home but we wanted to do another one at grandmas house. Leon love's balls so Bob and I stayed up the night before making a ball cake for Leon. It was a berry cake with actually berries in it and a white chocolate cream cheese frosting. I thought it was pretty good. I was just a little sad that Leon didn't enjoy it. He was feeling pretty sick at this point and did not get excited at all for the cake.
We didn't even do candles because I didn't want him spitting all over the cake. I did cut him a slice though and he took one excited bite before he realized he didn't feel good and pushed it away.
While walking around I found these boots with plants in them outside one of the classroom doors. I guess one of the teachers was feeling creative.
Leon perked up a bit for presents. If I can get him distracted enough he does ok for a few minutes before he goes back to just quietly sitting.
I'm not sure what Leon has but he hasn't thrown up or had a fever since Sunday morning but he just sits on the couch all day and won't eat. He has been drinking lots of water so I'm not as worried and every once in a while I can get him to eat a cracker or jelly bean, but that is about it. He has no energy and looks miserable. Two days ago he even asked to go to bed twice, and cried until I took him to his crib. It is really sad. Yesterday he seemed a tiny bit better because he ate some dry cereal and played outside for about 20 minutes, I'm hoping today he feels better.
Leon's Prayers
Leon is so funny when we all fold our arms and say prayers. Instead of folding his arms he trys to close his eyes by covering them with his hands. None of my other kids did this and I think it is hilarious. I saw him watching the other kids fold their arms in nursery and trying it so i thought I'd better hurry and get a picture of him covering his eyes for prayers before he stops doing it.
Go here and check out the 4th picture down. It is the same exact face as when she was 18 months old. She didn't want me to take her picture then either.
Scarlett always used to fold her arms up over her face. These kids crack me up! Leon started out actually covering his eyes but I think he realized he couldn't see so now he just puts his hands to his face and doesn't actually even cover his eyes.
Go here to see how Penelope used to squeeze her eyes shut.
I took these next pictures before church. We were actually ready a minute early and I thought they looked cute in their new suspenders. I can't wait for 11 o'clock church!
Scarlett didn't want to do the picture. This is the face we get a lot when she doesn't want to do something.
indoor play time
We've had some pretty rainy and gloomy weather lately so I took the kids to the mall's indoor play area. They loved it, and I think I'm going to try to go more.
I really liked Leon's outfit so I stood him up on this thing so he had to hold still for a picture. I think he was a little scared to be up there and not to happy with me. Isn't that the best shirt though? And his skinny jeans are even cuter in the back! I love hand-me-downs.
Sleep Sack
Leon recently started waking up a couple times at night for no apparent reason. The only thing I could think of was that it is getting colder outside and so he is getting cold. He never keeps the blankets on so it made perfect sense. So he got this adorable Merino Kids sleep sack. And so far we love it! He completely stopped waking up in the middle of the night and he loves it.
It's like his own little sleeping bag. He really thinks he is so funny with it on.
I love all the baby swaddles but this is our first time trying on on a toddler. I wasn't sure if he would get upset when he can't walk very well but he doesn't mind at all, he thinks it is funny. I went with the 2t-4t size because I wanted him to wear it for a long time. As you can see in the picture it is big on him but the extra material doesn't bother him at all. I'm considering putting Penelope and Scarlett in one too because they never keep the blankets on.
I feel better at night knowing that Leon isn't in his crib cold and not able to tell me. They make such cute and practical parenting things these days, I am lucky to be a mom.
Peanut Butter Leon
Just as Scarlett starts to slowly grow out of her destructive phase Leon steps up to fill the role.
Of course it is peanut butter. I think we go through two of those jars a week, sometimes three.
This reminded me of a time when my brothers tricked me into making a big mess with the peanut butter. They had me digging into it with my hands doing almost the same exact thing. Then we took pictures. I have no idea why, I was young, but I do remember my mom wasn't happy when she got home.