Transitions

Today was Denver’s first day “transitioning” to his new classroom. The goal is for him to spend half the day in his new class and half the day in his “old” class every day for a whole week to let him start to get used to the new kids, teachers and routine without completely submersing him and overwhelming him.

When he got to school this morning, they let him start the day out in his new class. His new teacher, Mrs. Alicia said that he did wonderfully. He seemed like he had always been in there – he played well with the other children and really enjoyed the new activities. When lunch time came, they let him stay and eat lunch with the older kids. They said he ate well (which is normally not a problem for our little man) and then they took him over to the younger class for nap time.

They said once he got next door, he had his eyebrows furrowed and the biggest frown on his face. He wasn’t happy to be back in the “little kid room”. He laid down and took his nap and as soon as he got up he said “bye” and went to the door. His teacher asked him if he wanted to go back next door and he said “yes”. They called the teacher and asked if he could come back over there and she said yes so he went back over and spent the rest of the day in his new room.

So, what is supposed to take a week pretty much took a day. I know they’ll continue the “transition” this week but I know my boy – he’s made up his mind – he’s a “big kid” now.

He’ll want to be a full time member of his new class from now on. It makes me so proud that he’s so confident and independent. I know that those are qualities that will benefit him in life and help him succeed at whatever he sets his mind to, but my goodness, where did my little boy go? It breaks my heart that his little life is flying by.

Everyone always says time flies when you have kids, and I could not agree more. Days turn into weeks that turn into months and then I blink and it’s been a year. I’m so excited about watching him grow and learn and explore but I just wish all of these transitions didn’t happen so fast!

Hot Dog Day

Denver has recently discovered Mickey Mouse and my how this child is in love. He thinks “Me Mouse” is pretty much the coolest thing ever. He loves watching the show and carrying around a little stuffed Donald his Aunt gave him. He likes trying to sing along to some of their songs and his most favorite part is the intro to the show when they call roll and he yells out everyone’s name. He has everyone down, except Pluto. He knows he’s the puppy, but he stumbles over his name. So, because of his love of all things Mickey, D and I decided to load up and take him to the mall to visit the Disney Store.

We were a little nervous because it was his nap time but we took a chance and we’re so glad we did. Denver was in awe of everything. Now, I just have to say – he is so my child – he was just as excited about the floor as anything else. For those of you that haven’t been, or been in a while – the floor is red and glittery. He kept reaching out of his stroller trying to touch it and he kept saying “ooh”. I love that kid! We made our way back to the Mickey Mouse stuff and he was waving his arms and saying “oh, oh Me Mouse” over and over. He was thrilled! It was so cute to watch him and see his excitement. We looked at every.single.Mickey.thing. It was fun though and strangely enough, when D asked him “do you want this” he would say no and give it back. Denver only picked up one thing he felt like he wanted, which was a Mickey Mouse figurine set with all of the characters. So, we were happy that he had fun and we didn’t break the bank!

After our stop we walked around the mall and looked around. D wanted to go into the Vitamin shop so I kept Denver with me and we stopped and got a real fruit smoothie and sat at a table where I let him play with his new Me Mouse. He was a happy camper and he loved the smoothie. He drank the whole thing himself! I went back to the little stand and asked what all they put in it and they said it was fresh strawberries, fresh watermelon, a Tablespoon of strawberry jam and a teaspoon of sugar.

I’m going to see if I can re-create it at home (and maybe I can hide some veggies in there too).

After our mall excursion we headed over to Fuddruckers for lunch. Denver ate a good lunch so we let him have a cookie afterward, which he loved. After we left, we ran errands and then stopped and got sno cones before we went home. Denver got the “Mickey Mouse” sno cone which had red, blue and green coloring (I have no clue what the flavors were) and he thought he was pretty much the coolest thing ever. We let him have it by himself, without our help and so he had it EVERYWHERE but he was having fun, so mom just went with the flow.

We got home and played outside and took Coco for a walk. Denver never stopped, he just kept running like a mad man. I guess he had some sugar to burn off! His little face was bright red and it was really hot out, so we headed back in to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.

D bathed him and then they watched Mickey while mom cooked supper. All in all, it was a hot dog day for all of us!

Moving Up!

I got this letter today when I picked up Denver.  So exciting, yet so sad (that he's growing up so fast) all at the same time!  I'm already dreading Monday. 

23 months

Here is a picture of you after a day at school.  Your teacher said you decided you didn't need a nap so by the time you got home, you were so worn out.  You propped up on the couch and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while mom cooked dinner.

-You wear 24 month clothes and 2T/3T pjs
-You wear a size 6 shoe
-Your favorite food is ketchup – you literally eat it by the spoonful. 
-Your most used word is “no”, but you talk a LOT and are very clear and easy to understand.
-You’ve recently really picked up on “hot” and “cold” and “high” and “low”. 
-You love to tell us what sounds animals make.
-You sleep really well.  You go to bed between 7:30-8 each night and usually wake between 8-8:30 in the morning.
-You still take a good nap – usually 1.5 to 2 hours each day.
-You love routine as much as your mom does.
-You LOVE to be outside.  You love the birds and the trees and just running around like a wild man.
-You love to play with your trucks, and you love to play ball.  You will say “ready” and toss the ball at someone (whether they are looking or not).
-You are very strong willed and we’ve had a lot of battles in the last month.  You have spent a lot of time in time out.
-You are very dramatic and over exaggerated. 
-You still love to be loved on but you don’t have time for it much anymore – you are very busy. 
-Every time you get in trouble, you will come up to me or your dad and say “hug” and nod your head yes.  It’s the cutest thing in the world. 
-You love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
-You are really starting to play with Coco and you love it when she chases you.
-Sadly enough, you love when we play “fetch” with you.  You’ll run after whatever we throw and yell “I got it”. 
-You can count to 5, which you’ve been doing for a while, but now you get it right every single time, without help.  You’re working on 5-10.  You’ve got 7-9 down but don’t always remember 6 or 10.
-When you hear the ABC song, you chime in and say all of the letters that you remember – which is increasing all of the time. 
-You refer to yourself in the third person a lot.  You say “Denver’s turn” or “Denver’s cake”.  It is so adorable.
-You have definitely become a little parrot and we have to be very careful about what we say in front of you. 

These last few months have been challenging.  We’ve had to discipline you more because you’re more active and opinionated and VERY strong willed, but you continue to be pretty much the sweetest child on the planet.  You are very caring and compassionate and you don’t like to see others upset. 
It is so fun watching you grow and learn and you are changing so much, literally every single day.  You are a happy and healthy boy and your mom and dad feel very blessed to have you in our lives. 

Darren's Birthday Lunch

Tomorrow is Darren's birthday so we decided to celebrate a day early as a whole family. 

Denver drove us down to La Porte.  Ok, so D had to adjust the straps in Denver's carseat so we let him "drive" while D fixed them.  Denver kept yelling "go", "go".  He was so thrilled.  He was turning the wheel back and forth and let me just tell you that we did not have a happy child when it was time for him to get into his carseat.  

After he calmed down, we headed for Target to get a movie to play in his dvd player on the way down to La Porte.  We made it through Target and mom got some stuff for dad's birthday and then we were off.

I had wanted to take D to the Monument Inn for such a long time, so we finally drove down there and thankfully, only had to wait about 5 minutes before we got a table.  We even got one by the window (there was only one available so we were excited to get it).  Denver was so excited to look out the window at the Houston Ship Channel and see all of the tug boats and barges passing by.

Denver loved the rolls and of course anything he could dip in ketchup.  He was so good during our lunch, and he hadn’t had a nap yet and we ate late so we were really proud of him.

Once we finished, while we were waiting on the check Denver started getting a little antsy so D decided to take him out to see the water while I waited for our waitress.  Once I got all of our to-go boxes and paid the tab, I headed out and saw this…

This just melts my heart.  I love these two boys more than anything and it makes me so happy to see them together and spending quality time together.  They adore each other like crazy, so it’s always fun to watch them.  D is such a great dad and Denver thinks he’s like the coolest guy ever so it was super sweet.

Needless to say, D had a great birthday lunch.

Big Brother/Little Brother

I found these pajamas today at Target and just had to get them.  Aren't they cute?  I can't wait to put the boys in coordinating clothes. 


They'll probably hate me, but I bet they'll look cute for all of my pictures! 

Splash Day

Today was Splash Day at Denver's school.  They started them last Friday but he missed it because he was visiting grandparents.  So we got him all ready in his swim clothes and D got him to school to realize that they had missed the allotted time for his class.

His teacher couldn't bear to let him miss it to they talked to the teacher in the next class and asked if he could join them for their time and she said of course.  Thankfully, he has some wonderful teachers.  They said he had a BLAST.  He kept yelling "water, water".


After he came in, his teacher sent me this picture.  You can just tell how happy he was, which just makes me smile.  Next Friday is teacher in-service and then hopefully, they'll pick back up with it.  I know one little person that would be especially happy!

Trickster

Denver is all about doing tricks to make people laugh.  He loves to run and "fall down" or throw himself down and say "whoa Denver" or "oh no Denver". 



Tonight, he was determined to try to stand on his head. 



Apparently, trying it on the floor isn't nearly as fun as standing on the couch to do it.  This kid loves being a trickster!

It's a...

BOY!

The Darren Fountain Family is proud (and excited) to announce that we are having another boy.  His name is Decker Gibbons Fountain and we have about 24 more weeks until we can meet him. 

Road Trip!

I have to head to Dallas today because I'll be working out of our Dallas office while I train some people on a new technology we're starting to introduce to our field.  I decided to take my sweet boy with me and stop off in Ft. Worth so he could visit his Memaw for a couple of days while I'm working.  

We ate lunch with dad then packed up and headed out.


Denver made sure he had all of this "goodies" - cup, book, truck, paci and he was a happy kid.


Being the smart mama that I am, I planned to leave a little after he normally takes a nap so that at least part of the way there, mama could have some peace.  About 10 minutes on the road, I turn around and see this.  

Wish us luck on the rest of our road trip!