Deer Hunt

Justin and his Dad went on the deer hunt in October. They took Devan with them. He is only four years old, and loved every minute of it! I think he needed a little "boy time". These are some cute pictures of him enjoying his time with Daddy & Grandpa.

Birthday pics

3 years and counting...

I'm sorry, I don't have any pictures of Devan's birthday right now. I took pictures, but I can't find my camera right now, so I'll have to post them later. Anyway, on with my promised blog about Devan's birthday.

So, Labor Day weekend has come and gone. Devan turned 3 and all I can think about is; my goodness, he's going to be starting school in just 2 more years. I can't believe he's 3, but I guess it had to happen. If I'm such a wreck about 3 years, how am I going to be when he's 4 or 5?

Anyway, we took him camping at Sand Hollow. We were there from Friday through Monday. Four days of playing in the dirt, and swimming in the water. I know it 's kinda cheating, but we "camped" in the RV section. My mother-in-law had her camp trailer out there with full hook-ups. The kids watched movies, we had an A/C to cool them down so they would take naps, and we were about 20 yards from a hot shower and clean restrooms with flush toilets. I know I was raised knowing how to "camp", but that doesn't mean I have to pass up a chance to make it easy on myself. We still slept in a tent, all four of us, Justin, Devan, KeLee and I.

Devan had a small Birthday party, but we made sure he celebrated all weekend. He got a couple new outfits, a couple little trucks with trailers that he and JJ destroyed before we even left, and he got a semi-truck that has storage in the trailer for I think it's 24 hotwheels and 2 small semi's. He thought that was pretty neat, until he got home and found out the best presents were waiting for him there. Grammy and Grandpa got him a Little Tykes work bench so that he can work like Daddy. It came with a hammer, screw driver, wrench, drill, table saw, vise, 2 nails, 2 screws and of course the tool bench. The next day, he got another surprise! A package from Grandma! He opened it up, threw all of the excess packaging material on the floor, and screamed with delight when he saw the Leap Frog Treehouse toy. He somehow knew to push on the picture of Lilly and started singing the ABC's along with her. I thought it was neat because I didn't think he had remembered his ABC's that well. He has figured out more things that that toy will do, than I had ever imagined it could. He also got a new pen for this Leap Pad and a back pack to put it in. The neat thing is the back pack holds the books and cartridges too. He liked the back pack so much, I had to beg him to take his regular back pack to preschool instead of that one. I didn't want the kids to fight over his Leap Pad. So, all in all, I think Devan had a pretty good 3rd birthday.

There does seem to be a downside to his turning three, however. He has had serious potty-training setbacks to where he had been refusing to even sit on the potty when he's asked to. He was doing great, and then all of the sudden, nothing but poop in his underwear and pee on the ground. I don't know what to do, but I gave him a week of wearing a diaper, (which he hates) and am going to try the underwear again tomorrow. Along with the potty-training problems, he has also begun having social issues. He is having terrible temper-tantrums and being quite violent when he doesn't get his way. I heard from his preschool teacher that he got upset with his cousin the other day and beat him up pretty good, and when the teacher tried to stop him, he attacked her too. Also, his babysitter told me that the other day, he had asked her to get him a drink of water, and while she was getting it, he stopped the movie that they were watching and took it out of the DVD player. Just taking it out would have been OK, but when she came out of the kitchen to give him his drink and find out why the movie wasn't playing, he put the DVD into his mouth and bit it right in half! I don't know what I'm going to do about his attitude, but I'm going to have to do something. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be glad to hear it. Anyway, I've been rattling on now for long enough. I had better get my chores done so I can go to bed. Good night everyone.

Update

Okay, so I guess I need to update a little. Yes, Justin made it home late Saturday night. We took the boat out on Quail Lake Sunday. We didn't take KeLee because she wasn't feeling well, butDevan enjoyed it as usual.

The big news is that Devan started his first day of pre-school today. He got a name tag and they gave him a book to practice writing his name in and they learned about the letter "N". He brought home a finger painting that he did in yellow and green paint, a letter "N" that he glued noodles onto, and a paper that he had practiced writing "N" and "n" on. He had a great time and he says that he is excited to go back on Thursday. Oh yeah, he also gets to be the first one to bring home "the Me bag". I am supposed to help Devan fill it with things about him. Things like a special toy or book, family pictures, artwork, etc. Pretty much anything I can find that tells something about Devan. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. The picture is of him "signing in" when he got there. The green thing on his shirt is his name tag and the scribbles in the book are how he signed his name. Not bad for a beginner. As you can tell, he was already having a good time. See the grin? I was able to leave work today to bring him to pre-school and to pick him up to bring him back to the babysitter's house, but usually the babysitter will be doing it. I feel so bad. I wish I could do it everytime. I guess I'll have to get used to it; he will be starting kindergarten in about 2 years.

This is Devan at my sister-in-law's wedding. Isn't he handsome!

This is KeLee during the wedding as well. I know she doesn't look enthused, but she's still cute!

This is KeLee & Devan playing in the water at SandHollow during Memorial Day weekend. They had a lot of fun pushing the trucks into the water.

5 days and counting...

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday! That's five diaperless days for Devan. He'll be 3 in just a matter of weeks and is well on his way to being potty trained. He's going all day without an accident and all night too. He wakes up & often has an accident before he gets to the toilet, but it's not in his bed. I'm so excited, I'll post more about it later.

Pre-school

It's hard to believe, but Devan will be 3 in just less than a month. He begins Pre-school on Aug. 22. He won't be 3 until about a week and 1/2 later, but they're letting him start early. We even got my nephew, J.J., into it as well. He doesn't turn 3 until December, but they are willing to let him try it. The pre-school is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 11:30am. I would like to continue doing it myself, but between work, homework, and chores, I don't have enough time while he's awake to do much. He would really benefit from learning around other kids as well. I know he'll have fun and I just hope he will stop playing long enough to benefit from the program. I'll post more later to let you know how his first week goes.