I turned 35 Monday, which felt like a really important milestone. I feel like we've been celebrating for a while, and the celebrations will continue for at least the next week. About two weeks ago we went to a Sim Redmond Band concert at Buttonwood Grove winery near my parents' cottage. SRB played at our wedding and we try to make at least one concert a summer. They played an excellent show on an absolutely perfect night at a gorgeous place, and it was certainly a highlight of the summer for me.
Then Monday, on my actual birthday, I had a lovely day with the boys, including a beautiful and cool walk in the morning. Theo wanted to wear his Sleeping Beauty costume and Beckett was wearing his Superman shirt, as always.
That night we had a few friends over to celebrate with BBQ and cake. It was super-relaxed for me and I had a really wonderful time.
Today Beckett and I (and Reed eventually, but that's another story) returned to the orthopedic doctor to get his cast off and get another one put on. He was a great sport throughout and was very personable with everyone we met, which I think plumb tuckered him out because he passed out in the car on the way home and didn't wake up for at least 20 minutes after I parked the car in the driveway.
Anyway, this orthopedic practice would have kept this cast on for the full four weeks but because it was kind of disintegrating they decided to remove it and put on a water resistant cast for the remainder of the time, which will end up being about three weeks. But assuming everything is good on September 1, his cast will be off for Labor Day weekend and for the start of school the following week!
We had talked to Beck about how there would be a loud noise when the saw cut through his cast to remove it, so he was prepared, but I was kind of amazed at how gleeful he was to watch the whole process! He also loved picking out the color of his new cast (which I haven't taken a picture of!). He picked dark blue, like Superman. This new cast allows for his leg to be straighter and covers less of his thigh and feet. He also now has a cast shoe so he can walk around (though before the appointment today he started spontaneously walking around the house in the old, much more bent cast).
Two weeks ago I ran around town to find two of these Disney Planes bikes with propellers on the front. Beck took to the bike right away, after years of the strider bikes and pedaling their tricycles, and within just a few minutes was starting the bike up by pushing with his feet. I hadn't affixed Theo's training wheels as well and so he was a little tippier, but Grandpa Stu and Grandma Joanie made some adjustments the next time they went out and he's doing great now. Of course, Beck can't bike this month, so I'm hoping they'll be about even when the cast comes off.
A tub of baby toys came out of the basement and with it, the famous tutus. The boys gravitated to the ones they always used to wear--Theo, the pink and gray, and Beckett, the yellow. Theo did some vacuuming in his and has been wearing it on and off for several days. Beck refused to go biking (above) in anything except his yellow tutu (and nothing else). Auntie Tara's gifts just keep on giving!
Top: Theo (left) and Beckett (right) at three months
Bottom: Reed (and Beckett) at three months
I think Reed looks like a pretty good combination of both of them. Not as in, there are bad combinations, but he looks a little like each of them. Though I think his nose is a little broader than Theo's or Beckett's, which means Jeff's nose may live on yet in Reed. He makes expressions that remind me more of Theo but his eyes are more like Beckett's.
Their 11 week stats (we don't have 11 week stats for Reed, but will have a four-month visit breakdown on September 4):
Theo
12 pounds, up from 4 pounds, 13 ounces at birth! 34th
percentile for weight (up from the 0th percentile when he was four days
old);
height 22 inches, up from 17.5 at birth (but I think they
didn't measure him very well): 4th percentile, but still up from 0th
when four days old); and
head circumference 15.5 inches, up from 12.4 inches at birth: 17th percentile, up from 1st percentile at four days.
Beckett
weight 12 pounds, 10 ounces, up from 5 pounds, 15 ounces at
birth. 49th percentile for weight (up from 2nd percentile at 4 days);
height 23 inches, up from 19 inches at birth: 28th percentile, up from 27th percentile at 4 days; and
head circumference 15.6 inches, up from 14 at birth: 21st percentile, up from 7th percentile at 4 days.
Monday night our friend and neighbor Emily came over with her Sharpies and eminent skill to draw a Superman emblem on our Superman. These pictures don't do it justice but he was absolutely thrilled!
Then Tuesday Mama Sara (Preston's mama) brought over some awesome lap games and puzzles from Preston's collection that weren't getting much use. She also picked up Theo and took him to camp and had him over for lunch afterward, which meant me and Beck and Reed had some nice time together in the morning and early afternoon. Beck just kept going through all the games/puzzles/books and saying "this is awesome!" and "this is great!"
In the final days of July we met Ana and her sons James and John for a hot and sunny playdate at Green Lakes State Park. We had an awesome time digging in the sand with the digger and playing on the playground before hitting the lake. My boys were thrilled to be able to wear their puddlejumpers in the water and immediately swam right out into the lake. Theo swam out to the farthest buoys and was happy as a little clam, floating on his back and beaming back to me and waving. When he finally came in, shivering and shaking, we made up a signal that I could use if I needed to summon him in, since he was so far away he couldn't hear me. They are such happy little water babies, it's so fun to watch them in the water!
We had our annual Trumansburg playground meet-up with Louise Dugan and her daughter Charlotte. The boys and Charlotte had a great time playing together, though Charlotte was less keen on the spinning than the boys are. The teeter-totter was a big hit with everyone.
Grandpa Stu and the boys fishing. They caught some ungodly amount of gobi and sunfish.
