Cody's 1st Day of Preschool

Cody started preschool this year at our church and loves it!  It took him a little bit to figure out the difference between church and school since they are all in the same place.  However, he loves his teachers, Mrs. Carey and Mrs. Shannon and runs right in to his classroom each morning (except the two weeks his molar's were coming in)! He is there from 9am to 2pm and has a full morning consisting of table activites, outside play, music/chapel, snack time, are, centers, circle time, lunch time and rest time.  It's a busy morning!  We are pleased that Cody will lay on his nap mat and sleep.  We enjoy hearing about his day and seeing the craft he brings home!

 He was actually happy and excited to be going to school until he saw the teacher's kids playing on the play ground and I wouldn't let him go play....thus, the sad face. Now he doesn't care when we see them because it knows it will soon be his turn to go outside!

 Cody: Age 2 years 4 months

Since Jason works at the church he gets to enjoy picking Cody up with me! He usually has meetings in the mornings but we look forward to going to get Cody together in the afternoons.

Friday's = Trash Pick Up Day = Garbage Trucks!

Cody is still crazy over garbage trucks!   They tend to go in the car with us and sometimes even in his bed with him....until he falls asleep.  He has 6 of them....and loves them all! He loves to watch garbage trucks on youtube and Toy Story 3 is a new favorite once he realized there was a garbage truck in that! He has collected what he calls "trash" from odds and ends around the house and is always filling up his trash cans and emptying them in the garbage trucks.

This is his other favorite garbage truck (a birthday gift from Mary after constantly playing with Ty's), his trash cans and his trash collection!

Friday's are so exciting because the garbage/recycling trucks come down our alley 4 times.  When he hears them coming we run out back and watch them! If we are lucky enough to be in the car and have time we will actually follow the trucks around the neighborhood. The smile it brings to his face is worth every minute! He loves to help get the trash cans ready on Friday mornings. One day he ran back inside and came back out and in all seriousness put his little toy cans next to our big ones! I couldn't resist taking a picture!

Train Ride

Cody and I went to Grapevine Mills mall for a quick outing and we were filled with excitment that there was a train in the mall that we could ride! He did his happy dance and said "please, please, mommy" over and over. The train went all around the mall and Cody could not have been happier!

We both sat in this little train car!  We rode it twice and had fun together. It's a good thing this mall is not close to our house or I'd be broke taking him on train rides!

Evidence of our Summer Play Group

This picture makes me happy...and laugh!  We definately enjoyed our summer play dates with Mary and Jennie...and their kids.  One day we lined up their crocs and Mary took a picture.  Someday we will look back and remember when their shoes were this little and we sat around as moms talking about motherhood!

Summer isover and school has started up and schedules have changed!  We will always make time for each other...it's just less frequent than it was this summer!

(The only kiddo not represented by a pair of crocs is baby Kiley)

Rec Center Water Park

We joined the rec center for the summer to be able to go and use the pool and water park.  Cody didn't seem to enjoy the swimming pool this summer but he loved the kid area and water slide. I think he liked the freedom of being in control and not having to be helped in the "big" pool.  He wasn't afraid to go down the slides and by the middle of the summer I was more confident letting me go by himself if it wasn't crowded.  We went several times as a family, a couple times just me and Cody and many times with Mary and her kids (with a trip to Cici's pizza for dinner afterwards).  What a fun summer place to go!

Here he is greeting Ty! He gets excited when he passes Ty in the water.

Ready, set, go! He loved this water slide and always had a big smile the whole way!

Charlie was Cody's favorite at the water park.  She will do the slides with him and follow him around...which always makes his day.  Every time we drive by the rec he says "play with Charlie, put on bathing suit".  They have fun together and she looks out for him.

He masters climbing this rope the first day we were there! Again, Cody and Charlie are never too far apart.

Sweet Joy! She likes to stick close to Mary or have snacks on the side but will casually wander around in the water or find a spot to play in.

Splash Park

We spent many of our summer days outside in the water!  Cody loved going to the splash park...especially on days we met Jennie and Mary and their kids. Sarah also took him all the time so he got his does of outside fun this summer! There were two splash parks we would alternate for variety.

No playdate is complete without Mary handing out fun candy! Here he is learning how to eat fun dip.

The few minutes a day he sits still...

Cody relaxes in our bed every night before he gets in his own bed. This started on our trip to Alaska and has continued since.  He drinks his milk and watches a video on the iPad.  This is routine now and if we don't stick to the routine he reminds us.  He is snuggled here anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes depending on the night.  This particular night there would be no relaxing until all his gabage trucks were on the bed with him.

He also loves his blue chair and sits in it to watch TV.  This is usually how he starts his day or takes a break from playing.  He doesn't sit too long but does prop up his feet a few times a day!  His paci is still a must when he's tired.  We are trying to put it up during the day and eventually ween him totally but for now it's his comfort "thing".