Thanks to Italy, I’m nice and behind again 🙂 It was worth it though!!! Now that I’m back to blogging about my favorite topic (duh, my kids!) I’m sure I’ll catch up quickly 😉
Here’s everything Kye had going on during May!
Artist: Autumn had mentioned during the school year that Kye really loved art. I’ve been trying to incorporate that more at home. Zach and I are both not really into artsy stuff so it’s difficult for me. I’m thankful Mom bought him his easel as it makes it MUCH easier! Just bust out some paints and let him go to town!!! This painting he wanted to make for Grandpa. We saved it and mailed it to him with his Father’s Day present 🙂
He takes his art very seriously and will tell me each thing he is painting
He gets so into it that I have to stop him before it becomes a HUGE blob of paint!
Another way I’ve been letting Kye get those creative juices flowing is with play dough. I don’t remember myself being a HUGE play dough person? I put this set on his birthday wishlist and, no joke, he got FIVE of them. We kept two b/c I figured it’d be handy to have when Brittlynn is old enough to use it too. His favorite thing to make right now is snakes. I haven’t figured out a way to keep the colors from mixing other than only to allow him to use one color at a time? I learned that lesson too late though so now our red and purple buckets are a combo color of redpurple.
Belt: Up until now Kye has always outgrown his clothes in girth before length. He’s been able to wear the same shorts and pants forever. Like no joke. This is his third summer wearing some of his shorts. For the first time he has started outgrowing his pants in length before they are too tight around his waist. He’s hit a growth spurt (which is semi-frustrating b/c I bought all these 2T sizes at the spring kids sales and now he really needs a 3T in all of his shirts!!!) and we had to buy him his first belt! Daddy had to poke an extra hole in it to make it small enough but it works and he feel like a “big boy” when he wears it to church 🙂 When Zach put it on him for the first time he cut the little tag off of it and Kye started carrying it around with him everywhere calling it his “list.” You can see a video of his list here. It was pretty annoying…until it got left at Aligatu on Mother’s Day 😉
Treats: We all know our society is FAT and I really believe a LOT of that has to do with our children and the pure junk we are constantly feeding them. I’m nowhere close to being a health nut, but I try to limit the things that my kids eat. Kye doesn’t even know what the term “soda” means nor has he ever tasted sweet tea or chocolate milk. Why introduce it to him? I try to limit sweets as well but it’s TOUGH. I feel like now that he’s in school he comes home with candy in his book bag on a regular basis and it aggravates me. He knows what candy is and he’ll walk in the door from school begging to eat whatever he has that day. So I let him. I don’t think it’s fair to deprive him of things either, it’s about finding a balance.
Here’s his first ever ring pop!
He helped me make these for Robyn’s Baby Shower so he got to eat one at the end!
He and Daddy also made Jello for the first time ever this month!
Hiding: Kye really, really enjoys hiding. He likes small spaces (unlike his mama) and enjoys making lots of “tents” and “towers” as he calls them. He spends a good chunk of time doing this and I’m always proud of myself when I’m able to make a cool fort for him to play in. It makes me look forward to when Brittlynn is old enough to play with him! He often wants us to all hide together but then he spend the entire time fixing the tent and getting everything just right. He will whisper the entire time we play!
Hiding…
Peek-a-Boo!
Back to hiding
Awesome tent I made for him in his bedroom 😉
Here’s a video of Kye in his tent
A tent wouldn’t be complete without a flashlight right?
Outside: The weather has been SUPER wacky this year. Our pool took FOREVER (like I’m writing this in JULY and it’s just now warm enough to legit swim) to warm up and it has rained a ton. It’s tough to find time to play outside now that I have Brittlynn. Thankfully Zach typically gets home from work around 5ish each night and he can take Kye outside while Brittlynn naps and I cook dinner (what will I do when Brittlynn drops that evening nap?!?!). He is still obsessed with swinging on the playground and I’m so thankful we have it!
We have a bird feeder by our kitchen window and they are messy eaters so a lot of the seeds fall on the ground below the feeder. One day Zach noticed that corn was growing under the feeder! He thought it’d be fun to replant it in the back corner of our yard and just see what happened. He and Kye also planted the sunflowers Kye gave me at Mom’s Day. They go out to water it almost daily.
Play: I am SO thankful I worked so hard with Kye from a young age at playing on his own. He does not need anyone or anything to entertain him. I love sitting back and watching him in his world of play. His ability to play on his own has been a huge blessing with Brittlynn’s arrival. I can’t sit and play with him often so it’s vital that he can entertain himself!
We’ve pulled back out his Little People, they are so fun!
Sharing Britt’s phone
Enjoying his Toy Story choo choo set
Lining up ALL of his cars
This McDonald’s megaphone was a favorite for a few days…I think it conveniently “got lost”
Trapping all the animals in his pirate jail
He likes to pretend that he has babies too. I don’t think it’s wrong or girly to play pretend games like these, I always make sure to say that he’s the daddy in the game and I think playing “house” will help make him a good daddy someday!!! These are both Britt’s toys (technically the seahorse was Kye’s as a baby but now it’s hers) and he “shares” with her. The seahorse is a boy and is named “Zach” (which makes Zach so happy that Kye wants to name his son after him haha). The mermaid is a girl and is named…Isis! Of course 🙂
Found a seat in Britt’s room to read his babies a story (here’s a video)
He enjoys “sharing” Brittlynn’s toys…and was seen quite often this month wearing one baby mitten and carrying around her purse haha.
He does 45 min of roomtime a day, where he goes upstairs in the playroom all by himself for the time period I select and plays with his toys. He enjoys this time and his new trend is to have food “cooked” for me for when the timer goes off. We always eat together before cleaning up and going downstairs. He loves for us to drink “coffee” with our meals 🙂
Often when Brittlynn takes her naps Kye and I will play a game. He LOVES to play games and his favorite right now is the matching Cars game his Auntie Katie got him for his birthday 🙂 I don’t turn the cards over yet..so it’s a quick and simple game but I know it’s important to keep things age appropriate. I’m thinking soon he’ll be ready for the legit game but I don’t want him to get frustrated either! He has really been enjoying his Red Rover game that Mom got him for Christmas…it’s great for learning colors! Here’s a video of him getting the colors right!
Bites: Remember a looong time ago Kye had that random reaction to a bug bite and I took him to the dr??? Well he’s for sure allergic to ant bites. That’s exactly what it was then. I know this because it happened to him again! We were out at the playground and he told me he smushed an ant and that is foot hurt. Sure enough the ant must have bitten him before he killed it and a huge bite swelled up. Whenever mosquitoes bite me I have the same reaction. I gave him some antihistamine and put some cortisone cream on it and it cleared up! Good to know to avoid ants though!
(it’s on his right foot…you can click the pic to make it bigger)
Playing with Brittlynn: Kye has loved Brittlynn from Day 1 but it’s SO awesome that she’s starting to enjoy him back 🙂 Here’s some pictures of them together from May (and yes, I’m going to post the same ones again on her monthly post…)
Here’s a video of them together in the pack and play
Yes, that’s my shoe he’s playing with!
He’s telling her all about the color pink 😉
This video shows Kye kissing on Britt and her cracking up about it
This video shows how interactions between Kye and Britt typically go…he looses interest quickly!
Here’s a video of Kye tickling his sister
Kye is CONSTANTLY “working” and I love how now Brittlynn is able to “work” with him. I told him she is his secretary and is screening his calls for him 😉
More about Kye this month:
- While he loves to swim…he does not do so well with bending down into the water to pick up things. We have several diving rings and I FINALLY taught him how to bend down on the steps and pick them up. I was SO proud of him because he does not give up. He truly enjoys accomplishing things on his own without help and is always so proud of himself when he can do it! I took this video when we showed Daddy his new skills 🙂
- He started saying “Sleep safely” and “make sure the dogs don’t bark” when I tucked him in at night and naps
- One day I was in a funk and asked him to hug me and told him Mommy was just having a bad day. He rocked me and sang both “you are my sunshine” and “I’ll love you forever” SO sweet!!!
- When we tell him to do something he started to say “but but but” which we, obviously, worked on and has stopped 😉
- Kye ALWAYS talks about going to get chickfila and donuts. I mentioned this to him and said that it would be his perfect day. He quickly added “and Kailyn too”
- Speaking of Kailyn…Zach and Kye were looking at Kye’s class picture and Zach asked him who was the prettiest girl in his class. He said “Kailyn, duh”
- Favorites: color is pink and red, letter is “e”, book is Cornelius P Mud Are You Ready for Baby (especially the part about the baby being able to eat pizza)
- Jesus has become his reason behind doing things or not doing them. I told him to clean up and he said “Jesus told me not to clean up.” We talk a lot about how Jesus is the ultimate boss and how Mommy and Daddy follow him and then we do what he tells us and Kye has to do what we tell him. I think he’s figured out that if Jesus says something then we have to listen to Him. Nice try kid! He has also said “God told me I need to get a snack after nap” and “Jesus said I need TWO snacks”
- We had a few rough days where Kye actually hit me out of anger when he didn’t get his way. I learned the BEST way to handle him is to give him space to cool off. When he’s in trouble I tell him to go sit in the red chair in his room until we can talk about it. It works 100% of the time. I am the SAME way so I understand that feeling. I don’t like being pushed or backed into a corner. If I’m mad, give me time and space to cool off then I can think and talk about it rationally. I will lash out and say/do things I regret in the heat of the moment…so I think Kye is that same way and I try to respect that about him. It’s unfair to expect him to be able to communicate calmly in the heat of the moment. If he’s upset, he needs to be allowed to get those emotions out in private so he can better handle a discussion with me about it.
- Bossiness has also been an issue we’re dealing with. I have to ask a lot “who is the boss?” because he tends to tell me rather than ask. I, too, was a boss growing up (maybe it’s a first born thing???) so I understand where he is coming from with this too and I hope this trait will help him to be a good leader someday, in the proper setting. This is probably the #1 issue we have with Kye now (I’m writing this in July and it’s still something we are working on).
- We were in the car talking one day and I asked him what he thinks Daddy does for his job. He said “He builds my playground and the storage shed.” I asked the same thing about me and he said “I can’t tell you, it’s a secret.”
- We have also talked about how someday we’ll have another baby in our house and get to go to the hospital again to get it. I asked him what that baby will be named and he said “Isis”
- Whenever Britt is upset he’ll say “cockadoodledo!” super loud in her face!?!?!
- Our house alarm accidentally went off one night and he slept right through it! Must be a deep sleeper!
- Like his mama, he REALLY likes to know the agenda for the day. He’s always asking “what are we gonna do today?”
- Whenever he tells stories they always have to do with cars, trees, crashes and houses falling down
- He’s started to say “just kidding”
- When asked how old he is he’ll say “I’m three! I’m getting big!”
- I like to play with Brittlynn by saying “I’m gonna get that baby” and tickling her. Kye cannot stand it and anytime I say it he will RACE to her and grab her to protect her from me
- If we wake him up he is pretty grouchy, he really needs to wake up on his own to be in his best mood
- My favorite thing ever! Whenever I tuck him in I say “I love you” and he says “I love you too” then I say “I love you more” and he finishes by saying “I love you most” It’s from Tangled and I LOVE IT.
- He is SUPER anal about things being put back where they belong, especially in his room. He wants everything just right before falling asleep (ocd much?)
- While he still likes all of his “friends” (pillow, blanket, monkey and Smyrna the bear) he has become especially attached to Monkey and has started to carry him around the house all the time with him and constantly asks if he can bring him places with us (answer is always NO).
- He eats all of his meal and then drinks when he’s done eating, I do the same thing!
- I always try to get Britt to say “mama” and Kye will look at her and try to get her to say “Kye Kye”
- The night before we left for Italy we had a family night and on our way Kye randomly said “I had such a great day today Mommy.” It was such a wonderful thing to hear and I think God just knew I needed to hear that before leaving for so long. 🙂
Kye is a TRUE JOY. He makes my heart happy and I love watching him, listening to him, and loving on him 🙂
I’m going to try to do more videos like this one where I ask him questions and such. I think it’s nice to capture his voice and his answers on video rather than just write them down…I also wanted to capture his COUNTRY accent! I swear we must live in the SOUTH 🙂
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oh man, that bug bite is AWFUL!
There is way to much going on to remember all my comments but the bug bite is pretty gnarly. That's exactly what it looks like when I get mosquito bites. They HURT