I want to start by saying, I was initially concerned about Emmitt's safety. Once I heard his squeals of laughter, I knew he was fine and barked commands at Jesstine to be careful.
This is how you keep your brother from getting into your toy campout:
In Him,
The Hutchins Family
P.S. Remember that pesky tooth that was so hard to get a picture of? I FINALLY did it!
As my mother-in-love says, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
This boy is bound to be like his daddy! He already has his eye on the computer. Case in point, tonight while Stephen and Jesstine were at church, Emmitt and I were chilling a little before bath and bedtime (which is earlier than church lets out so we always skip out on church). He was getting a little mischevious, so I thought it was high time for me to interact with him. I don't allow him access to the computer very often (especially after he slobber logged my iPod touch a few months ago). Tonight he didn't have Jesstine to compete with, so I pulled THIS up on the computer. I just give him free reign with the keyboard until he hits something that takes him out of the window and he has a blast (each key he hits causes an animal and/or letter to pop up accompanied by a "boing" sound)! Well, he started to get a little wild and decided he was going to attempt to shut the computer. After telling him no and he still did it three times, I decided it was time to end the game. Good thing I did too as I noticed he had somehow removed the ALT key in his fun flailing. Here is a couple of pictures of Version 2.0 in action and a video of the aftermath of being kicked off the computer.
*Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting that Stephen throws fits, but I doubt that it was always easy for his mom to pull him away from video games or computer games at some point!
Also two more things before I sign off for this post. 1) Is the latest addition to our attempt at baby proofing. It has been a LIFE saver! Emmitt is getting VERY good at pulling himself up on just about anything now...including his new gate.
(So proud of himself!)
Second is that yesterday as we were on our way back home from Jesstine's epic haircut, we saw an unusual sight. Jesstine and I both thought it was cool! See for yourself (Ignore the power lines! We are used to seeing those!)
So I guess the moral of this post is, don't take the computer from a baby unless you are prepared for the aftermath!
Jesstine had her "Meet Your Teacher" night at school tonight. She IMMEDIATELY made a friend! I think she is off to a great year already. Unfortunately, I left the camera in the diaper bag in the car! At least I remembered to grab it!
Well, it has been a week chalk full of firsts! Today was one for Jesstine, but Emmitt accomplished another as well. His are more troublesome now though! I know they are all developmentally necessary, but he has become a PAIN to keep entertained without getting into trouble! Needless to say, I have purchased a second baby gate and will be purchasing a cover of sorts for his bed rail as well as lowering his bed...again! Tonight he got stuck standing up in his bed and threw both pacis out of the bed...instead of falling asleep! He is also cruising along the fireplace hearth which makes it imposible to keep toys up there any longer!
So on to the more important first for today. Jesstine hasn't really had a haircut....EVER! I have had the ends trimmed a few times (three at most). With school getting ready to start and her hair getting SO long it was hard to just let it hang and not put it up without repercussions (tangles are the bane of her existence at night). So I decided it was time to get a REAL haircut. Since it was on a whim, I couldn't make an appointment with my hair dresser at her house like normal. I just walked into the salon where she works and she still took care of us! It was FANTASTIC! So here is the before and after.
Her hair actually shrunk down to be shorter than shoulder length after it dried because she has a little bit of a curl to her hair. She was very happy with it (I think in part because she got a sucker and also because she thought it was more like Mommy's hair, she said so herself). Daddy was even pleased and I was most worried about his reaction because it was a bit shorter than I think he had hoped it would be.
I would be remiss if I didn't post a couple of photos from Uncle Jim's visit! For those of you who don't know, Jim is Stephen's uncle on his mom's side of the family! He ADORES my children...so much that he got on his hands and knees to play with Emmitt (who is named after Jim's dad nonetheless)....and said he felt it the next day! One is a photo of Jim's and Emmitt's matching hairlines (and I love how they are looking at each other). One is of Jim and Emmitt playing ball together. Another is a sweet moment between Daddy and Daughter at the piano. Pictures I will always cherish and had to share! Enjoy!
we have a tooth!!! Emmitt finally cut a tooth on Saturday! It is his lower, middle, left tooth (the one that first appeared and then disappeared for 5 months. I have tried and tried in vain to snap a picture, but it is just not working! It is just barely poking through. Enough to make him want to bite on his finger all of the time! He seemed in VERY good spirits most of Friday and all day Saturday! We thought that it was because he finally cut his tooth and he was feeling much better....Alas, that didn't last! Either he is trying to get sick again, had an off day or is back to cutting MORE teeth! At least we got glimpses of the happy baby! So, I leave you with my attempt at capturing the tooth moment....plus a few pictures from the park tonight plus a picture of Emmitt and his weekend buddy, Ian!
Doing some chin ups for Daddy!
Me trying out my mad camera skills some more...if only she had smiled!
Found a friend to play with!
LOVES to swing!
One of many failed attempts at tiny tooth picture taking!
Buddies for LIFE!!! (Ian played with Emmitt for 45 minutes in one sitting!! He truly loves his cousin! The feeling is VERY mutual as this was the look on Emmitt's face most of the time Ian was around!)
This morning, Emmitt started to actually crawl on his hands and knees. He seems to crawl for a few feet (5 at most) and then decide that it is still much faster to go on his belly. So, we are getting there. At least he is doing both now so we know he will learn to walk better!
This morning while Emmitt was taking a very short morning nap, Jesstine and I went outside! It was SO nice and cool! It had rained for quite a while, but just happened to stop as we wanted to go out. I suggested we go out anyway! Got some fairly decent pictures. I was dorking with the camera settings, but don't think it helped with anything. I can't seem to keep the setting on anything other than "CHILDREN" setting for a faster shutter speed with kids that move a LOT! You can see my attempt at that hopefully another time.
Singing In The Rain!
Also, my in-love's came to town tonight! Jesstine literally asked me about 20 times an hour when Aunt Jenni would be here! When they did arrive, they came bearing gifts...and hand-me-downs!!! I spent the evening sorting through them and putting them on hangers and in boxes (didn't have enough hangers for all of the pants and didn't know what else to do with the shoes until Emmitt can wear them).
I forgot to post last week that Emmitt not only can go from sitting to crawling, but to the other way around! I was so excited by this! I was even more excited two weeks prior to that when he went from sitting to crawling because I knew he often got stuck in a seated position and sat for a LONG time! When I say crawling, keep in mind, it is MOSTLY still the belly crawl. He gets on his hands and knees a LOT, but only moves forward a few motions before going to his tummy and crawling the old fashioned way.
Today, I was having a discussion with Grandmom. She wanted something for him to be able to practice pulling up within the confines of his "container" (ie. safety gate play pen). He doesn't have much of an opportunity at her house to safely pull up on things. Plus because cribs are made differently, it is harder to pull up on crib rails...although Jesstine seemed to do okay (note: Jesstine didn't start pulling up on things until 11 months and had been crawling for quite some time before that). I got home and let him loose. He crawled around for a little while here and there. Then he discovered the window ledge. I looked up to find him like this:
Afraid of what this holy terror would do to my blinds, but wanting him to pull up as much as he wanted, I raised the blinds and sat back down. Looked up a few minutes later to find this scene:
After quickly calling Grandmom to inform her we had nothing to worry about and that he had just pulled himself up to standing, I remembered the Incrediblock (to those in our family it is affectionately called the "Block Party).
And he took to it like a duck to water! Way to go little Joy Boy Jr.!
So what has the big 4 year-old been up to besides wrapping "presents" for Dumpty with facial tissues when she is supposed to be in bed napping????
As a result of some naptime issues (the above mentioned is the second of two incidents) all of Jesstine's traditional toys (because I never thought facial tissues to be toys) were placed in her "locked" closet and all of her books were removed and placed in a book case in the front room. I open her closet for her during the day so she can play with her toys. I went to help her clean up her room for bed and this is what I found:
What used to be a dress up pirate hook:
Looked like this:
Gotta admit....creative...and HILARIOUS!! Hubby and I had a great laugh!
I took the kiddos in today for their well visits with the doctor. It was a pleasant visit because there were NO shots involved! It was kinda nice! I think by the time Jesstine was nine months, she was wise to the fact that going to the doctor often meant shots and she would start to fuss when we would go back into the room. Emmitt didn't seem to notice anything! So glad he is still oblivious...not that it mattered since there were no shots! So, at 9 months, little Joy Boy Jr. weighed in at a whopping 20 lbs. 10 oz. (50th percentile) and was 29 inches long (75th percentile). Jesstine was a bit shocking! She actually lost weight but it all made sense when we found out that she gained an inch and a half in height since May! She weighs 33.5 lbs. (25th percentile) and was 41 inches tall! I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised because just about two weeks ago, I noticed that she her shoulders were above the slot that her straps on her car seat were currently threaded through. I had to change them the next day! It was just astounding how fast it happened! I checked her height almost exactly a month ago because her best friend went in for a well child visit and measured 39 inches. I checked Jesstine that same day and that was what she measured also! I guess that explains why her feet are all of the sudden bigger! She also outgrew almost all of her shoes this summer! Guess it is a good thing she has new ones to start the school year out with! That is another story for another post though! She starts school the week of Labor Day! I am excited for this year!
So, now for the 4 year pictures! We met with our friend Danita a few days before Jesstine turned 4. I gave you a sneak peek on her birthday post, but here are the ones that family members may beginning choosing from! If you want any of these pictures, just email me what number you want and what size you want. Just specify with the number in red before the hyphen. The long number after is just for me to make sure I order the correct one!
