Lane ALWAYS puts up a fight at bath time. He never wants to get in, but once he does, he loves it and then ALWAYS puts up a fight when it's time to get out! He especially loves bubble baths and would stay in there all day if I let him. I hadn't taken many pictures with my good camera lately, so I whipped it out the other day and got some pretty adorable shots of my little man in the tub.
A couple of weeks ago, Lane's Little Gym teacher Ms. Kate mentioned that he was probably ready to move up to the next class level. The "Funny Bugs" are ages 3-4 and do class all by themselves, with parents watching from the lobby. Even though Lane won't be 3 for a couple more months, Kate thought he was ready to try.
I started Little Gym with Lane when he was less than a year old and have loved it because it was a mommy and me class that we could do together. It makes me sad that he is big enough to go in alone now!!! Kate advised us to try the class before they officially enrolled him. I wasn't really sure how Lane would do. He is a huge momma's boy and still cries sometimes when I drop him off at school.
I talked a lot about it in the days before his first class, and was shocked when he didn't cry as he went through the doors to the gym. He fussed a little, and the teacher picked him up and carried him in, but he immediately sat with the group and was smiling ear to ear, cracking up at Mr. James within seconds of sitting down. It was fun watching him from behind the glass. I couldn't hear what was going on, but could see he was having a good time and following directions for the most part. He had a few times where he wandered off, giggling when the teacher had to come get him, but they said that was to be expected his first few times since the classes he had been going to encouraged "exploration." We have been to 2 Funny Bugs classes now, and he has done well both times! Ms. Kate said he has been doing GREAT for being a first timer.
Here are a few pictures and clips from his first 2 classes with Mr. James and Mr. Jose.
Soccer has also started back up. We signed Lane up for the winter session of Soccer Shots. He has the same coach, but has all new "teammates." He has been twice so far and has done SOOO much better than last season. Not sure what changed, but he is participating more, staying focused a lot better, and enjoying it more!
Muddy shoes!!! I'm sure I have years of this ahead of me!
Since I moved to Austin I have heard great things about a children's entertainment place called Gorgeous Millie. It is basically an indoor playroom full of fun toys for the kids and comfy seating and wifi for the parents. You can pay to become a member and go multiple times a week, and it's pretty pricey. I found a Living Social deal for a $10 drop in pass for 2 hours and I took Lane to see how it was.
It was decorated so cute and had so many toys for kids of all ages.
Riding a ladybug
Excited about the xylophone!
The first hour is "free play" and then the kids gather at a table for an art project. There is a "teacher" that leads the project and cleans up afterwards. This time it was just painting.
It was a really fun place!
Later that week Kyle got free tickets to the UT basketball game. His boss has season tickets with a suite, and frequently gives them to employees to use.
Our little Longhorn trying to show "hook em!"
Needs a little bit more practice!
The suite was really nice and it was good that Lane was able to get up and run around. He had fun, but cared mostly about chewing gum and eating the food.
While we were in DFW over the Christmas break we were happy to get to see some friends who we miss a lot! The first night we got there we went over to the Taylor's house for a Christmas party complete with a Chinese Gift Exchange. It was a good time and we were glad to see lots of our friends there.
Carrie, Tara, Me
Near the end of our stay we went to Dallas for dinner with the Bays'. We ate at one of their favorite restaurants, Terelli's. It was DELISH. We were brave and took Lane, and although we did have to break out his Leap Pad and headphones because he was wanting to be a little loud, he was really pretty good. We were able to have a long-ish dinner and then we went back to Josh and Carrie's for dessert. Lane had such a good time playing there and we ended up staying the night since it was getting late.
Josh put on this funny musical Santa hat for Lane.
Carrie helping Lane open his present from them. SO thoughtful!
A cool dinosaur puzzle!
Josh helping Lane put it together.
Lane's turn for the hat!
Love this picture of Carrie and Lane! So funny!
Thank you Josh and Carrie for such a fun night! And for the yummy cinnamon rolls the next morning. ;-)
Lane's vocabulary has been astoundingly impressive lately. He took a while to start talking, but when he did, it was like an explosion! He has been speaking in full, complete sentences for almost a year now, but lately it is like I am talking to a 5 year old! He impresses us daily with the things he says and does. As fun as this is, it means that one by one, some of his adorable little language mistakes are slipping away. I want to remember these forever!
"chick-a-fay" = Chick Fil A
"Old McDonald's" = Calls McDonald's this EVERY time!
"Bells on bob-o ring" = A familiar line from Jingle Bells -- (Bells on bobtail ring)
"Tickles" = He calls nipples this! haha
"Rinoculars" = Binoculars
"Sprinklers" = Sprinkles (like on cookies/cupcakes)
"Austin Adventures" = The place where Kyle works (AUSTIN VENTURES)
and my favorite---"subagetty" = spaghetti
And these aren't cutesy mistakes, but things I want to remember him saying and doing lately.
Anything that happened in the past, whether last year or last week was "Yesterday." He will say, "Yesterday, when I was at the Virgin Islands..." "Yesterday Santa brought me a train table..."
He uses the word terrible a lot. "Nap is terrible!" "This food is terrible!" "Cleaning up is terrible!"
If it is dark in his room he always says "I can't see a thing!"
The other morning at breakfast, out of nowhere he said "A bicycle has 2 wheels, a tricycle has 3 wheels, and a unicycle has only one wheel." He pronounced everything correctly and said it all so matter of fact. He said he learned that at school. I need to ask his teacher!
He will always ask for a certain restaurant or food and if I say no he says "But it's really yummy!" or "But they have really good food!"
This is not one I am proud of, but I do have to bite my lip from laughing every time he says it. If I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do he will respond with "Nnnn-ever!" It almost sounds dramatic, like he heard it on a superhero show or something!
Everything is a cause and effect for him. For example, I will say "I'm going to take those toys away if you aren't playing with them. And he will say "If you take those toys away, then I will GET them back!" Or the other day we were at AT&T getting my new phone and he kept running off. I finally told him that the workers might get him if he kept leaving me. He said "If that worker catches me I will KICK him down!" Sassy!
He can be so very sweet, especially to me. He frequently tells me "I love you, mommy." and "Mommy, I like you." He also says "You're my best girl" and "You're my best friend."
The other day Kyle was putting Lane into his carseat and he kept asking for the "hexagon thing." Kyle kept saying he didn't know what he was wanting. Finally, Lane pointed to the seat pocket in front of him and said "I want that paper with hexagons on it." Kyle reached in and pulled out the label from Lane's magna-doodle that had a faint gray honeycomb pattern on the background. Genius boy!
Anytime we ask Lane to do something he doesn't really want to he will say "First I need to _____." Most of the time it is something fairly unimportant he needs to do!
And the most impressive thing thus far is that he can add! I don't really know how it started, but if you tell him two numbers to add that are 5 or less, he can use is fingers and add correctly! He is right pretty much every time! Here's a short video showing off his number skills. (He gets it from his DAD!)
