James Says / Amelie Says

So far today, James has called me "Miss Mama" and his sister "Miss Amelie." Also, he was calling out for Sam (who I think was already at work) and he said, "Dada! Dada! Dada! ... Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! ... Dad! Dad! Dad! ... Sam! Sam! Saaaaaammm!"

I picked James up and said, "Wow, you're getting heavy." "That's because I growed," he answered

James wanted to plug in and unplug the bounce house. "Because I the birthday man," he said.

James wanted Sam and me to come outside to see a submarine that he drew for us. Sam asked him where the submarine would take us and James said, "It just a picture." 

James is categorically opposed to splitting a verb phrase. He regularly says things like, "Pick up them," and "Take off it!"

James said he was allergic to peanuts and I reminded him that he wasn't. "I'm allergic at school," he tells me. I guess we forgot to fill the teachers in that peanuts are fine! Oops!

~

In math, Amelie's class had three stations. One was doing blocks, one was doing dominoes, and one was writing numbers. Sam asked what the dominoes group did (thinking that she would explain how to play), but Amelie informed us that they built towers out of the dominoes ... which sounds suspiciously like the blocks group and perhaps also like they were not following instructions.

We asked Amelie if she was still the paper-passer-outer or if she had another job in Kindergarten now and she said she's in charge of the "pencil hospital." What's that? "I sharpen the pencils." 

We rented a bounce house for James's recent birthday party. Amelie climbed in, then stuck her head back out and pointed to the warning label printed on the side of the castle. "Now what are the rules?" she asked Nana Jana.

I was telling the kids who all was coming to the party. When I said Hattie was coming, Amelie said, "I love Hattie!" and then I said Ellie and Amelie said, "Ellie? I love Ellie!" 

We found a mystery bag of Sun Chips in the pantry that neither of us could remember buying at the store. Amelie called them our "long-lost chips."

I was making a baby blanket for my co-worker and it has a large turquoise stripe. Amelie came up to me and started patting it and exclaimed, "Turquoise! I LOVE turquoise!" Ha! I asked and she said she learned the word in Adventure Club. Sam told her that Grandma Mary also loves turquoise and she replied, "That's one thing we have in common." 

Sam told Amelie to clean up the blocks and stuff in the playroom, but when he looked in later, there were still toys scattered on the floor. "Those aren't blocks!" she protested & when he replied that she needed to clean up all of the things, she said, "Aw, man!" 

Grindstone Nature Area

We really enjoy Grindstone Nature Area. It's just a short drive from our house and the kids enjoy throwing rocks in the creek and running around and it's good exercise for the grownups.

Even though James doesn't look like he's having much fun here:

Rock climbing:

 Amelie gathered up all the red leaves - these were the first I'd seen so far this fall.

The bluffs:

James got tired of walking on the way back.

And Amelie got her shoes wet right at the end.

Doctor's Visit

James had his 3-year well child visit on Thursday. When I told him that's what we'd be doing Thursday morning, he immediately started fake-coughing and said, "I go to the doctor because I'm sick." 

For some reason, they didn't give us the printout with his height and weight and the three-year milestones, but I remember the basic stats.

Height: 2 feet, 11.75 inches, or about the 10th percentile
Weight: 30.6 pounds, or about the 50th percentile

The nurse originally measured him and she must have been counting some of his hair, because the dot on the height chart jumped way up to the 75th percentile, so Dr. Swofford re-measured and he was back at the 10th percentile as usual. An inch or two can make a big difference :)

Just make yourself at home, James: 

They already had flu shots, so James and Sam went ahead and got theirs. Sam went first and said he couldn't even feel it. James went next and said, "That didn't even hurt at all!" and amused the nurses.

Here are some things James is doing:

• Making up stories and songs (and sometimes jokes/fibs)
• Counting (up til 11 or 12 reliably, and then he starts skipping around and repeating)
• Trying to get dressed himself (undies are hard and he hasn't put a shirt on, but he has taken one off)
• Drawing people and other scribbles
• Writing his name!
• Climbing, jumping, throwing and kicking a ball
• Hopping on one foot
• Building towers of 6-8 blocks
• Cutting with scissors
• Pretending to read books
• Trying to do puzzles
• Says and recognizes rhyming words 
• Is possessive of toys and spaces, but will relent after just a minute if there's someone to share/play with
• Holds a grudge! Weeks later, he'll say things like, "Christian hit me," and make a sad face if I ask about his friends from school

I think three is going to be a fun age! Here is the link to his 2-year well child visit for comparison. 

Daycare Photos

James's teacher periodically sends me photos of his day. They made a car wash:

They're practicing milking a cow -- it's a rubber glove filled with water.

They were supposed to try to match the expression on the plate -- the email said "play dough emotions."

This one is great! Look at the plate & then how James tried to match it.

We're lucky to have such a good preschool available. 

Birthday Interview

I was not sure if James would cooperate with the birthday interview or not. His answers are fairly brief. 

1. How old are you? three
2. What is your favorite color? blue
3. What is your favorite toy? tractor. What tractor? at Ready Set Learn
4. What is your favorite game? hide and seek 
5. What is your favorite song? ABC's 
6. What is your favorite animal? A horse ... and giraffes 
7. What is your favorite book? dance book. What dance book? Barnyard Dance. 
8. What is your favorite movie? Jake and the Neverland pirates (Amelie was listening and she said, "That's an episode!" but I suppose James doesn't know the difference between a TV show and a movie.) 
9. What is your favorite thing to eat? noodles
10. Where is your favorite place to go? subway
11. Who is your best friend? Christian 
12. What is something you learned last year when you were 2? use a minky
13. What is something you'll learn now that you're 3? eat a cake
14. What is hard for you to do? Um, make a movie 
15. What is your favorite thing to do? Um, make a movie (I have no idea what he's talking about) 
16. What do you like about Mama? Nothing. Um, read a book 
17. What do you like about Dada? falling asleep
18. What do you like about Amelie? Noting. Nothing about my sister. 
19. What do you like about yourself? Um, I like mine arms
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Um, be a grown up. What kind of grown up? A big kid grown up. Do you know what kind of job  you want to do when you grow up? Drink soda. 

There you have it! Til next year ... 

Birthday Party

James turned three! We had a party with some friends over at our house. The kids played in the pebbles for a long time (even though there was a bounce house out front)!

This boat was a gift for Amelie's 2nd birthday. We've gotten a lot of good use out of it.

Bryce had so much fun in the rock box he didn't want to eat pizza.

At the very last minute, Sam had the idea to get a bounce house. For Amelie's 4th birthday, we went to Bonkers, but it was during the middle of the week and therefore not quite as bonkers. James had been angling to go Tiger Bounce, but Nana Jana was going to be up on Saturday and we thought it would be entirely too much stimulation to have a party there on the weekend. Anyway, the rental company had one bounce house left on Thursday.

They brought it Friday night and picked it up Sunday morning, and whoo boy did we get our money's worth out of it.

There was also a mini ball pit  - here's Ian :)

Ellie is in the tunnel.

The cousins in the bounce house.

The kids at the party took a brief intermission to all play with the Jake and the Neverland Pirates legos from Grandma Mary and Papaw.

Singing Happy Birthday to James:

Rice Crispy Treats

James eating his birthday cupcake (in the jacket from his sister's Halloween costume from 3 years ago).

For a two-week period each September, the kids are stairsteps. Here they are at ages 5, 4, 3, and 2. Ha!

Camping

We stayed at a yurt at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park over the long Labor Day weekend. It was like practice camping :)

I got a picture of the inside right before we left on Monday.

Here's our view from the front of the yurt.

View from the front of the yurt, take 2.

We had s'mores, which might have been the kids' favorite part. (Other than staying up late by the fire and not taking any baths.)

Visiting Bridal cave was probably my favorite part.

James carried a lantern on the cave tour.

This hiking trail ran along the edge of the lake around the campsite. You can see Amelie in the background of the picture, too.

James did some climbing.

This trail head was a little ways down the road from the campsite. Can you see the walking stick (insect)?

James picked up an actual walking stick to use on the path.

We went to Ha Ha Tonka to see the castle ruins.

Trapped in the dungeon. 

The castle ruins are in the background and James misbehaving in the front.

Our first trip camping was a success! We also went swimming each day at two different public beaches. One was rocky and close by the campsite and the other was sandy but a little farther away. We made bacon and eggs over the fire each morning, had sandwiches, chips, and fruit for lunch, and cooked out over the fire again for supper. Amelie and James roasted their own hotdogs (and marshmallows) one night. We might go back this fall for some cooler-weather camping, too - and if you noticed, there was a heater inside the yurt as well.