Roberts Family Blog

Hi all!  Whew - after a whirlwind three weeks of family visiting, we are finally on our own again.  It feels good to get back into the routine, but it was so wonderful to have our relatives in town.  After my brother left, my aunt and uncle arrived the next day on their way home from a big trip to Europe.  They were tired, but rallied to enjoy the kids and we all had such a good time.  So my Uncle Rick and Aunt Susan are quite the pair, and have always been a huge part of my life.  Uncle Rick, my mom's brother, has always been the quintessential "teaser" of the family, egging you on and giving you a good-natured hard time always.  When I was little he used to live in LA and he would make me ride a boys bike along the boardwalk at the beach, and to add insult to injury, he would make me honk the horn to draw added attention - which was mortifying to an 8 year old   He always called things by funny names, and to this day I remember calling the pool, the "pooel", and I will forever and ever equate my Uncle with his idols (and personal friends) the Beach Boys   So that's a little background!  It's not surprising that my Uncle is just as much of a character with my own children, and my Aunt Susan is equally as playful and fun.  In a way, they both have a very childlike spirit about them, which the kids were both drawn to.   Here are some photos from their visit.

Hayden and Aunt Susan had a funny game going where they would "taste" the various dinosaurs in the collection and then say "yucky yucky yucky".  I'm fairly certain Susan did not realize the ability my little boy has to carry out a joke for a very long time.  I'm pretty sure she was very sick of "tasting" dinosaurs by the end of her trip!  What a good sport

Uncle Rick bouncing Hayden on his knee and singing the song that my grandpa used to sing to us.  Keeping the traditions alive!

Although I think it's a bit too early to put up the majority of our Christmas decorations, I decided to let Hayden pick out the ornaments for two small trees for the boys' bedrooms.  He helped me decorate them and I think they turned out so cute!  Hayden is so proud of his tree and loves to turn it on first thing in the morning.  I think Piercy likes his too

Piercey also had his first experience in the swing at the park this weekend.  How cute!  He even got to share the swing with his lady friend Hannah and I'm pretty sure this was one of the highlights of my week!

And although Mr. Pierce cannot (or will not) roll on his own, his has mastered sitting completely.  He is also using a sippy cup with water now.  Growing up before my eyes!  AND, drumroll please....Pierce has his two bottom teeth!  He's been a bit fussy but I'm so proud of him for handling it with such good humor.  I can't wait for a few more weeks when they come in enough to really notice them.

Brotherly love....

Puppy love....

Sports team overload - Broncos AND Badgers

So this weekend will be quiet, and then next week we head to Denver to see our family there and celebrate an early Thanksgiving!  Hayden talks EVERY day about how he is going on an airplane to Colorado and I can't wait to fulfill his wish.  It's going to be exciting, and wonderful to see our family there, and all the boys' cousins.

For my dad's birthday, we decided to surprise him with tickets to see the Cowboys play in their new stadium this past Sunday.  He would never buy expensive tickets like that for himself, but we knew he would love it, so it seemed like the perfect way to get him to the game!  Then Linda, our extremely generous good friend, decided that if we were going to go, we might as well GO BIG, and got us a limo to shuttle us to and from the game, and supplemented our nosebleed (but perfectly adequate) seats, with four additional 50 yard line club level seats (amazing).  So really it was a dream day for all of us!  The surprise went off without a hitch, and we found ourselves toasting with mimosas, in the limo, at 10 am, on our way to the game!  My dad was thrilled, the Cowboys won, we drank a lot of champagne, the kids were great with their babysitter, and all in all it was awesome.  Now though we are totally spoiled and will require limos and 50 yard line seats whenever we go to a game   A big thank you to Linda who was the brains behind the whole event and really made the day a day to remember for all of us, my dad especially.  We love you!

All the boys - standing on the grass next to our limo parking spot - the definition of door to door service!  Notice the stadium in the immediate background.

All the ladies decked out in the matching Cowboys t-shirts Linda bought for us all.

Nate and I in front of our limo - so cool

The Cowboys take the field amid the famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and flames - wowee!

TOUCHDOWN!!  That HD big screen is ridiculous!

The view from our seats in the upper bowl - even though we were high we could still see so well - it was actually a great perspective!

What a fabulous day!

Hey everyone!  Be prepared to hunker down for a long read.  Much updating to do.  Our life continues to be eventful and busy as the holiday season approaches, and every day I'm so thankful to all the friends and family who brighten every day and make our lives so much happier for their presence.

I'll start with two weekends ago, which is where I left off!  We took the boys to the airshow in Fort Worth, with the special goal of seeing the Blue Angels perform their show.  I have learned to anticipate that Hayden will potentially melt-down in strange situations where there are a lot of people (or a stadium - thankfully none at the airshow), so I was prepared to deal with some fear.  Well.....before we even parked the car, he was saying "go home, go bye bye", etc.  Nate and I decided we were going to push for this because we knew he would like it in the end, because he LOVES anything to do with airplanes.  The whole way walking into the gates he was negotiating with me, going so far as to tell me if we went home he'd take a nap!  That's when I knew he was serious   Anyway, we got into the airshow and there were TONS of people, and a fighter jet was flying overhead complete with a sonic boom - LOUD is an understatement.  Even I was a little scared!  Well Hayden pretty much shut-down, asked to go in the stroller, and pulled the blanket right over his head to go to sleep!  Poor kiddo slept for about an hour and when he woke up he slowly got into better spirits.  He finally agreed to walk with me to get some sno cones, and conveniently that is when they switched it up from a quiet stunt plane to another loud fighter jet, of course!  Every time it flew near Hayden would ask me to cover his ears and he would bury his head in my shoulder, and then when it flew away he'd crane his neck everywhere looking for it and asking "mommy where did plane go?".  That's when I figured out that he was enjoying it.  Finally it was time for the Blue Angels and Nate put Hayden up on his shoulders with his big earphones on to dull the noise.  Holy amazement.  What talented pilots and what a great show!  Totally worth it.  Hayden was a tiny bit scared, but there were no tears, and he stayed up on Nate's shoulders the whole 30 minutes or so.  It was truly a display I will never forget.  And even if I was in danger of forgetting, little Hayden will never let me - ha!  Every day we talk about the Blue Angels now, and how they are "really really loud, and really really fast" and they "do loops".  He constantly asks me to look at "pictures Blue Angels" on my computer.  He went from scared to obsessed in one 30 minute show   Here are some pictures from the day, complete with little Pierce asleep in the stroller with his earplugs in - what a cutie.

The very next day we had the pleasure of picking my brother up at the airport from London for a 10 day visit!  Of course Hayden kept asking if "uncle jeffrey's plane do loops"?  I told him I sincerely hoped not!  It was so cute at the arrivals area at DFW.  Hayden remembered Uncle Jeff from his visit 3 months ago, and was ready to run up and give him a big hug when the gates opened from customs.  Well Hayden saw Uncle Jeffrey and literally this little boy got down into a crouch on the floor, covered his eyes, jumped back up, ran around in like 3 circles with a huge smile on his face, and then ran to give him a hug.  Hands down one of the top 10 cutest moments of his life.  Pure excitement - he could not contain himself!  Our visit with Jeff has been so much fun and they've surely bonded.  One of the highlights was a trip to the zoo last Friday.  Of course after the airshow debacle, I was sort of sure he would be scared, but just when you think you have them figured out, they surprise you!  He was THRILLED and not even a bit scared.  We strolled through the whole zoo, saw every animal, the whole time with our tour guide Hayden running out ahead of us and telling us what animal he saw, and usually what sound they make too!  The funniest part was that the rhino was a triceratops   And Pierce even got into the fun at the aquarium section.  It was a beautiful day, and so wonderful to see my little boy, who is sometimes so scared, just enjoying an event with such unbridled enthusiasm and joy.

And how can we forget Halloween!  Last year Hayden was a spider and was wearing a cast, and was decidedly afraid of all things Halloween related.  This year was a much greater success.  His dino costume was a huge hit, and once he figured out that trick-or-treat involved getting "treats" in his Backyardigans candy bag, he was sold!  What a fun day.  A few of Hayden's friends came over with their parents and we did the whole trick-or-treat thing for an hour or so, then came back to our house for a big BBQ and let the kids play off their sugar high.  We've even parlayed the whole Halloween candy experience into an effective potty training tool!  He gets a skittle every time he uses his potty chair and it's working wonders.  We've just had to ramp up the teeth brushing regime, but it's worth it   And what can I even say about our Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pierce?!?  I mean do they come any cuter?  Of course I am biased, but our littlest man just hung out in the wagon, enjoying the other kids in their costumes, and occasionally chewing on his buddy, Jake's, Mickey Mouse ear.  All with a huge Pierce smile.  We have a funny running joke about Pierce.  Lately everyone will be talking about something Hayden related or family related, and we will suddenly stop and say "but THAT baby", emphasis on the "that" and it's just so funny.  "But THAT baby" is so beautiful, or sweet, or funny, or substitute any favorable adjective, and it's like the constant refrain of the day.  We are still waiting for a roll, but "THAT" baby is so darn cute and fuzzy it's not even funny

I feel like life is a non-stop adventure these days!  I know most of you don't define adventure as playdates, festivals, and family visiting from out of town, but that is pretty much the extent of excitement in our family right now!  We are savoring the small things.  And enjoying every minute of it.

The adventure started last weekend with the arrival of both our good friend from California, Lisa, as well as my grandparents from Wisconsin.  The weekend was packed with dinners out (which were moderately successful and fun given the fact that we have 2 kids), a trip to the pumpkin patch, and a day at the Dallas Arboretum, one of my very favorite places in this city.  Hayden was a total joy and had so much fun exploring the great outdoors now that it is finally sunny and pretty out again.  The train at the pumpkin patch was a highlight as usual, and he loved the froggie fountains at the Arboretum.  We met a couple of my friends and their kids there, and the boys were hilarious.  We were having a picnic on this big grassy knoll with huge old oaktrees, and suddenly one of the boys discovered a squirrel running between trees.  Well let me tell you, I have never seen 3 sets of eyes light up so bright, and 3 sets of toddler feet go running as fast as they could after this squirrel!  It was so so funny, and so sweet to see their pure joy at something as simple as running barefoot in the grass, chasing a little squirrel

Hayden LOVED having his grandparents here for the week (and of course Pierce did too but he was less vocal about it).  The last night that they were here we had them over for dinner, and once we were all seated at our little dining room table, Hayden looked around and said "Everyone's here!" and then asked for a juice and looked at us all and said "cheers!" while raising his cup up.  Soooooo cute.  He knew it was a party.  We miss them already.....and we feel so blessed that our boys get to have them in their lives.

This weekend we had a Halloween party for the kids at a friend's house.  How fun!  All the kiddos were dressed up, and the babies were especially precious.  We lined them all up on a blanket to try for a photo op, but of course you can never get 5 babies to all be happy and look at the camera at the same time, esoecially when they are dressed up in ridiculous costumes.  But it was fun to try.  The older kids were wild and pumped full of sugar, which made for a loud and crazy afternoon.  Hayden was very agreeable about putting on his dinosaur costume, and perhaps the bribery with cookies and cupcakes helped

Today we are off to the airshow which is a once of year event and it is SO COOL!  Last year Hayden got tired early and we had to leave before the best part, which are the Blue Angels.  So today we are going to be sure to watch them and I'm pumped.  Nate of course is thrilled - I think this is his favorite day of year!  I'll leave you all with some random photos of the boys from this week:

Hey all!  Well today we had the much anticipated evaluation by Early Childhood Intervention.  If you'll recall, Hayden's pediatrician was concerned about his pronounciation at his 2 yr appointment, so we went ahead and scheduled a consult.  Today two nice ladies from the program came out; one to concentrate on his speech and cognition, and one on his gross and fine motor skills, as well as his social and emotional development.

I was a little bit nervous about the whole deal because as a mother you want to believe that you are giving your child the best start, and I did not want to hear that something as important as speech was going to be a struggle for him.  But at the same time I knew we needed the evaluation so we could get him extra help if necessary.  The appointment was actually really fun for Hayden!  I had told him two friends were going to be coming over to play, and play they did!  They brought puzzles, blocks, and crayons, and had him perform various tasks with them.  For instance, the therapist stacked the blocks in a particular pattern and asked Hayden to do the same with his - and shockingly he did!  She also asked him to give her three blocks, and to stack the blocks in a tower (and then he kept knocking them over and yelling WIPEOUT).  He was very good at all those tasks and I'm thinking I need to get him some blocks to play with!  They also asked him about colors, shapes, letters and numbers, which he knows pretty well.  A lot of the evaluation was simple questions directed at me, about his various behaviors.  For example, does he ask for help (yes), does he know his last name (no), does he express emotions as in telling you he is happy / sad / mad etc (yes), does he say please and thank you when prompted (yes), does he show concern when Pierce is crying (yes), can he dress himself (no), does he asked questions (yes!!) and so on.  He sang for them, and colored, and basically showed off like the little entertainer that he is!

They were able to give us their assessment right away and it turns out he is doing well in all categories!  They basically score them in a way that correlates to an age in months.  He is 26 months and here is how he scored:

Cognition - 35+ months

Self Help / Adaptive - 30+ months

Communication - 28 months

Gross / Fine Motor - 27 months

Social Emotional - 35+ months

The speech therapist actually told us she wouldn't touch him with a 30 foot pole and that he is doing great with his speech and communication.  Some of the things they recommended working on were learning how to dress himself, learning his last name, and being able to draw simple lines and patterns that we show him first.  But overall they passed him with flying colors and he does not qualify for their services.

I'm thrilled I got him evaluated because I now know what his strengths and weaknesses are and what kinds of things we can work on going forward.  They gave me a helpful little matrix about which sounds he should be able to form at various ages.  For instance now he should be saying p,b,m etc, whereas the f sound isn't expected until they are 3.  So it was very informative and also very reassuring that he is so well rounded and on target!

With that great evaluation this morning we are on our way to a great weekend ahead.  We have a good friend from California coming to visit, and the boys' great grandparents are also coming from Wisconsin.  Busy busy!  I hope the dreary weather lifts so we can enjoy some outings to the pumpkin patch and the Dallas Arboretum.  Good bye for now!

Seriously.....once again another sun-free week has passed!  I do not remember the past two Octobers being so rainy in Texas, although Nate claims that October is the second rainiest month on average, so I guess it's not unusual.  But it is unpleasant!  At first I was enjoying the rain and cooler temps after such a hot and sunny summer, but now I'm ready for the beautiful crisp, clear, mild days that fall brings here in the south.  Sigh.

Well let's see what is there to update on this week.  First of all, "little" PJ went to his six month check-up this morning and we have new stats!  He is a whopping 20 lbs 2 oz and 27 1/2 inches long.  This puts him in the 75-90th percentile, which is actually down from the 95th percentile he was in at 4 months.  So his growth is leveling out but my goodness he still is a plump little guy.  And rosy and soft as a peach I might add.  Dr. Kelkar proclaimed him "perfect" once again and he was super brave for his shots - barely even crying!  She told me it's time to move into a big boy carseat so I am currently shopping for one of those.  I can't believe how fast time is flying with baby #2.

In other PJ news, I finally let him cry it out last night which was just horrific.  He has been waking up every 2 to 3 hours lately and it's very draining.  Nate has been picking up one feeding, but  it's still hard, and I don't want Pierce to develop bad sleep habits.  So we made the decision to let him cry during his first wake-up of the night, at about 10:30 pm.  Well I am such a softie, and I literally almost had a panic attack.  I was having a hard time breathing I was so upset.  I know this must seem so strange to most people, but honestly when he cries, every fiber in my body longs to go to him and soothe him, but my brain tells me "NO you have to do this because it's better for everyone in the long run".  It's like a battle of instinct VS reason.  All in all he cried for about 45 minutes, and I spent about half of that time outside in the rain trying not to hear!  He eventually drifted into a very peaceful sleep, and stayed asleep until 2 am.  I am perfectly fine with him going from 8 pm to 2 am.  Most babies respond really quickly to this method - so the first night or two are very hard and then it rapidly gets better.  I am proud of myself for (barely) getting through it and he is his usual smiley, happy self this morning so I obviously didn't scar him for life!  He'll be happier and healthier getting 6+ hours of sleep in a row instead of spurts of 2 or 3 like he has been doing.  But it was just really really traumatic for me!  Thank God Nate is so supportive and strong in situations like this.  If he hadn't been there Pierce would have been in my arms within minutes and he would probably be waking up in the middle of the night until he's a teenager!

Well Hayden continues to make Nate and I roll on the floor with laughter on a regular basis.  Like most toddlers, Hayden is a picky eater and last night he decided not to eat dinner.  After sitting there for awhile he told me he wanted to put his dinner in the trash.  Well I just laughed inwardly and kind of ignored him.  Soon after he comes walking into the living room with his plate full of food in his hand and walks to the door to the garage where our big garbage can is.  With one hand he starts to open the door, and says perfectly seriously, "mommy, Hayden put dinner in the trash"!   It was so funny!  He was sure throwing it away would solve the problem

Anyway, here are some pics of my boys enjoying some new toys - a cool cardboard house that Miss Sue, our friend, gave Hayden for his birthday.  It is "Hayden's House" and he LOVES it and spends at least 3 hours a day in there.  He always asks for Pierce to come in too which is so sweet.  We also started using the Leapfrog computer that Mammaw got him for Christmas last year and it's fabulous.  He can play a few of the easier games and it's really helping me learn his letters.  Once again, Pierce is right  there with his big brother, whom he thinks is just the best.

Hey everyone.  We are starting a new week, one which is decidedly fall-like; from the trip to the Pumpkin Patch, to the Packers playing Monday Night Football, to the lighting of our fireplace for the first time.  I LOVE this time of year!  We had a wonderful week full of good family fun, starting with Friday going for a nice long walk on the nature trail followed by a good romp in the park and watching turtles in the pond.  Hayden was able to walk along with us for the first time, instead of riding in the stroller, and it was just really cool.  He is getting to be such a little boy.

On Saturday we headed out to the Texas State Fair with high hopes of a fabulous evening of livestock viewing and fried food eating.  Well as any of you Texans know, the Fairgrounds are dominated by the Cotton Bowl, where some major football games are played.  Unfortunately Hayden has a literally paralyzing fear of stadiums, so the minute he saw that stadium, he just flipped out.  He was shaking and crying and refusing to let us put him down.  We kept trying to reassure him that everything would be alright and that we weren't going to watch the game, however he didn't trust us.  Even bribing him with cotton candy did NOTHING to calm his fears!  Finally we made it to the livestock buildings and he immediately calmed down out of sight of the stadium, and he really loved the bunnies.  He also enjoyed a corndog and some french fries, and danced to some live music.  It was funny because the singer was singing "besame mucho" in Spanish, and Hayden looked at me with confusion on his face and said "not Dora??" because the only exposure he has to Spanish is via a television program called Dora the Explorer.  It was pretty funny!  Unfortunately the night turned sour again after he asked to watch "pigs running fast" (grammy had prepped him for the events at the State Fair), and we took him into a small arena to watch the pig racing.  Not a good idea.  Freak out #2 of the night.  So we quickly moved onto the cow barn, which he loved, and then called it a night.  The icing on the cake was the fireworks show on the way out, which he acted like he didn't like, but then couldn't stop talking about.  Poor kiddo just has some funky phobias!  But we'll work through them!  I have to remind myself that he is only two and the world is full of strange and curious things that he doesn't have the capacity to understand quite yet.  Here are some photos of my babies enjoying the fair:

Our Sunday was super fun with the Cowboys playing Nate's hometown Broncos.  Pierce was squeezed into a MUCH too small Broncos outfit to help support the team, however Hayden doesn't own any Broncos gear so instead he wore his Cowboys jersey which is so flippin cute that I'd probably dress him in it every day anyway!  We had some friends over, and Hayden's good little friend, Colin, also wore his Romo jersey and you've never seen two cuter boys in your life!  It was a wild scene here for the game, with 4 toddler boys running around like crazy and 3 infants, plus all the adults, but I couldn't have been happier!  And Nate couldn't have been happier since the Broncos pulled off the victory!  I just love football Sundays, and I'm so greatful for all the great friends we have made here in Texas who can share these days with us, and look forward to many more this fall.  Again, some photos:

One last event to post about - the Pumpkin Farm!  We have the BEST pumpkin farm about 3 minutes from our house.  We have been watching them slowly set things up for the past few weeks and Hayden has been repeatedly asking to go there.  So today we arranged an outing with my moms group and headed out, despite it being VERY muddy from a weekend of rain.  Mud didn't stop us!  Or more specifically it didn't stop Hayden.  Although he asked to be picked up at every big puddle, which he called "rivers".  He was so pleased to have "crossed the river mommy!".  I mean we are talking tiny puddles....but whatever it was cute   We got to ride a train around the grounds, then we hopped off and ran through a maze of hay, bounded in a bouncy house, rolled around some big pumpkins and just all around had a great time!  Little Pierce was just a bundle of fuzzy plumpness and sweetness in the baby bjorn, and once again he got to flirt with his girlfriend Hannah, who was looking unbearably cute in a little pumpkin beret.  Love all these kids!  Anyway, here are some photos.  Undoubtedly we will be back at the pumpkin patch several more times this month!

Today for the first time, Pierce participated in a playdate!  We have a "moms of two" playgroup that meets once a week so the toddlers can play and the moms can share tips, advice and stories about life with two little ones.  So far the littlest ones of the group have mainly stuck to hanging out in various contraptions like the swing, the bouncy chair, and the jumperoo.  Well finally they are getting old enough where they are starting to enjoy the interactions with each other and it is absolutely precious!  Today Pierce sat on the floor with a couple of the other little girls in the playgroup - Miss Hannah and Miss Brooke - who are both too cute for words.  Hannah and Pierce kept smiling at each other and grabbing for each other's chubby cheeks and their little arms would wave up and down in excitement.  They were totally aware of each other and 100% enjoying each other's company.  I loved seeing Pierce have fun with new friends!  Below are some photos of him with his lovely friends   Leave it to him to be a ladies man

For months now Nathan and I have been working on Hayden's manners.  We always gently remind him to say "please" and "thank you", and to cover his mouth when he coughs or sneezes.   Although we still have to prompt him most of the time, he has over the course of the past few weeks become Mr. Manners   It started last weekend when we went to my parent's house for dinner.  When we leave I always give my mom and dad a hug and thank them for dinner.  Well Hayden must have witnessed this often enough to mimic me, because as were leaving, and before I could say a word, he said from his carseat "bye bye Grammy, thank you dinner", in exactly those words!  I almost died with pride.  How adorable!  Then I was driving to run errands with him yesterday, and after I sneezed he immediately stopping singing "Dora" long enough to say "Bless you mommy!".  Loved it.  He also has started saying "sorry mommy" whenever he does something that he thinks I might not like (which he learned from time-outs: we always make him say he's sorry and hug us before he can walk away - Thank you Super Nanny!) .  For instance yesterday he ran into me with his tricycle and told me he was sorry.  Too cute.

Hayden is starting to converse with us in full on sentances lately, which I definitely credit to his grammy.  She is the only person I know who will literally sit with him for probably an hour and just talk to him like he is an adult, and ask him questions, and point out things around him, and tell him about things we are going to do together in the future.  The other morning the newscaster was at the State Fair and Grammy told him all about it, and all he can talk about to me ever since is going to the fair where he is going to "see cows and touch mommy and baby ducks' (presumably in the petting zoo).  He has also been getting up really early lately, before the sun even comes up, so Grammy has been trying to teach him about light and dark.  The other morning he woke up and came into my room just as the sun rising.  He stood beside my bed with his adorable fuzzy bedhead and told me, in these exact words, "sun come out, Hayden wake up, darking out, Hayden go to bed".  A few other funny Hayden words that I want to write down before I forget; "rainbone" for rainbow, and "lebben" for eleven.

PJ is simply adorable as usual.  He can sit up really well on his own now, although he still has absolutely no inclination to roll.  I think he could if he tried, because he's very strong, but I guess there isn't a will to do it!  He has such a little personality now as he matures, and he's always "talking" to us with these little grunts and high pitched squeaks - very verbal!  His laughter is coming more and more easily lately, which we all just love.  He's such a little blessing   Here are some photos of the boys from this week.

PJ and Hayden at 51/2 months old in the duck bath - they look like brothers!  PJ just has a little bit more to love

I just wanted to quick separately post these matching photos of the boys at 5 1/2 months old in the same outfit, playing with the same toy.  You can definitely tell they are brothers!