School Days

Now that I'm a big boy I quit the babysitter and now I am going to preschool! I go to a place called Puka which is in a building painted like a big boat and lighthouse. It has a nice playground with monkey bars and bicycles to ride. I am in a class with a bunch of other 3-year-old boys. We only have 2 girls in our class. We spend the day playing, reading stories, having circle time, breakfast, snacks, and lunch. I even learned how to spell my name with a little help practicing with my Mama. T-H-O-M-A-S!! I can spell it flawlessly each time now. Everyone is always asking me how my day was and who my friends are, but I don't really feel like talking about it. From now on I'll just tell them to check my blog!

Keeping My Teeth Strong

I went with my Mama to the dentist last week. A dentist is a doctor for teeth. It started out with us waiting in a big room where they had books, blocks, and other things for me to play with. I thought that was pretty neat. Then the nice lady came and asked if I wanted to come back to have my teeth counted. I said yes and went back into a little room that had a little chair just my size. My Mom's appointment was first so I sat like a good boy and watched her get X-rays of her teeth. Then we looked at the picture of the X-ray and it looked really weird. The lady dentist person scraped and scrubbed at Mama's teeth while I watched and climbed around on the bottom of her chair. We counted how many teeth Mama had on the top and the bottom of her mouth. There were 14 on top and 14 on bottom. It was lucky because once I get past 14 when counting I get a little mixed up.

Finally it was my turn to sit in the cool chair. I sat right down and put on a special paper bib and some neat green sunglasses and let the lady move me up and down in the chair.

I thought that wasn't so bad so I decided I'd be a good boy and open my mouth like she asked so she could count my teeth.

Would you believe that I have 20 teeth! I was astonished. The lady said that I was being such a good boy that she would go ahead and clean my teeth up real nice until they were shining.

I sat still and opened and closed my mouth when she told me to. I also held onto "Mr. Thirsty."

He was a little spit sucking vacuum tube that I held in my mouth. Next she asked me what type of toothpaste I would like: raspberry, bubblegum, or mint. I told her that I already have Spiderman toothpaste at home. She was impressed and curious and inquired whether Spiderman toothpaste tasted like bubble gum. I told her (obviously) "No" but that it tastes like "very spicy sauce and like spiderwebs!" She didn't seem to have any idea what a spiderweb would taste like. Since Spiderman flavor wasn't a choice I picked raspberry bubblegum and it was pretty good. Then we looked in the mirror at what pretty teeth I have and told Dr. Mike to come have a look. He said my teeth were nice and then as a reward for being such a good boy he took me to get a new monster truck toy. The lady put some new toothpaste and a super cool silver Cars toothbrush into a little pouch for me to take home. Lucky for me because I was going that very night to stay at my Papa's house and now I could bring my new toothbrush with! I told Mom that I couldn't wait to show my friends "my very very shiny teeth and cool race car toothbrush." Cheese!

Where Does the Time Go?

I'll tell you what...I have been a busy boy! Taking care of my little brother is hard work!

In my free time I've also done a few other things. I've been to a county and a state fair, on my Papa's fast boat, to the Magic House, the Science Center, a Miners baseball game and a Cardinals game!

Me protecting Papa from the big dinosaur.

Flying a helicopter at the DuQuoin State Fair

Riding a jet ski

Giving money to a good luck monkey

Picking out my tractor

And I've still managed to find time to be silly :)

I Say the Darndest Things!

Sometimes I'm sweet, sometimes spicy - either way I get my point across! Here are some of my best and most honest quotes.

"I'm going to give you some chocolate milk because you're a good Mama. You get treats when you're a good Mom."

”Daddy, are you feeding Elliot with your breast-es?”

"Mama, can I pee on Elliot?"

‎"Elliot, if you stop crying I'll give you a treat.”

"I ate something off the floor and it was spicy."

‎"We need to put the hot in jail!"

"Mama, do me a favor - DON'T come in kitchen"

"I don't like babies. They're loud."

‎"The baby's crying. I think he wants to eat. Daddy, do you have nipples?"

"Elliot sure is growing into a big friend!"

I come up with more and more every day. Stay tuned!

My Month in Pictures

You know I've been having too much fun when I'm too busy to blog for a whole month. Also, baby Elliot has been taking up a lot of my time.

I've been busy spending my days with Mom and Dad. That's right... just plain "Mom" and "Dad." I figure if they think its okay to split my Mama & Daddy time with another kid then its okay for me to shorten their names accordingly. I am the BIG brother now after all.

So what has Thomas been up to you ask?

I have been keeping cool on these HOT summer days with lots of water play!

Me and Mom like to beat the heat by playing out in the back yard with the hose. One day she made me a water slide and I had a blast. The hose water is quite refreshing!

I have been spending my Sunday afternoons out on the lake on my Papa's 2 boats. He has a slow boat and a new fast boat. I like the slow boat because it is bigger so I can run around it and make lots of messes with crackers and snacks. But I also like the fast boat because it is FAST!! When I get a little older I am going to learn how to ski and get pulled on a fast tube.

I am pretty brave and am already doing some sweet jumps off the boat

Riding on a pull behind raft with my Dad

And even made friends with a butterfly who took a liking to me

Doing all that jumping and swimming sure makes me tired

I also practice my swimming skills in my Grandma's pool.

With my life jacket on I can swim as well as a dolphin...or a shark! I am also learning to swim at swim class without a jacket. But even with my superior swimming skills everyone keeps telling me over and over that I am never allowed to go in Grandma's pool alone!

Mom and Dad had a 30th birthday party (yikes they're old!) and I got to have some friends over. Here's "Manda" & Nate.

And Mom even let Elliot "go swimming" for the first time although he just sat there and got mad

When you're too busy to go inside to pee, the yard makes a great potty spot. Grandma doesn't appreciate it much, but who could stay mad at this face for long?

Me and Nate sure were tired after a long day of partying

A few other tidbits...

Mom and Dad took me to Big Truck Night which is basically just a bunch of super cool big trucks and tractors to play on and honk their horns. They gave us candy and pizza too but Mom and Dad were too slow and missed out on my free t-shirt this year. Bummer!

HONK!!(the horn)

HONK!! (Nate's nose)

4th of July was a blast (literally). We went to the "bouncy castle place" where they did fireworks on Saturday. I didn't want to bounce much though because the other big kids were being too wild! Then we went to another set of fireworks on Sunday. Mom and Dad made me leave early because I was fooling around and not paying attention to the fireworks anymore - what do they expect, it was my second set of fireworks in 2 days. Geez, can't a kid just misbehave with his buddy and get away with it sometimes?

My first experience with "sprinklers"

So as you can see I have been making the most of my summer as a big kid. I hope you enjoyed my pictures. I'll try to do better with posting but don't hold your breath (which is in direct contradiction with what they tell me in swim class)!

Big Boys Have More Fun

Today I'm here to tell you like it is, straight up. When baby Elliot first came along I admit I was a little jealous. Truthfully, wouldn't you be? However I have come to realize that it is much cooler to be a big strong boy than a boring little baby.

I can make silly faces

Elliot mostly just sleeps

I can get my own snacks. Mmmmm... Cheddar bunnies...

Elliot can't even take his own baths

I have a cool horse swing in the back yard thanks to my Grandma and Papa Long

Elliot's swing isn't nearly as cool

I can play outside

and get all wet with the hose

All the while Elliot sleeps

I can run around

and catch lightning bugs

Elliot can't even roll over!

I am even learning to roller skate!

He still can't roll over

But... (like me) he is pretty cute, and he is my brother

- so I guess I'll start teaching him a few things