Checkups & Monster Trucks

Last Tuesday Josh & I went to parent-teacher conference at Ethan's school. As always, Ethan is progressing very well!  We are so proud of him. His teacher said that his conduct is always wonderful and that he's always quick to help others.  Ethan is reading at a 4th-5th grade level and he's only in 2nd grade!  Since they were having conferences all day, the school was closed.  Of course, Ethan was THRILLED to get another day out of school and his excitement was doubled when he found out that his dad had taken the day off to spend with us.  We just hung out at home, played  a board game called Last Word, and watched another old movie that Ethan had never seen...Rookie of the Year.  That evening we stopped by school for the conference and then headed up to BG for Ethan's baseball lesson.  Fun Tuesday!

On Thursday I took Landen to the pediatrician for his 3 year checkup.  He is 37 months old and weighs 44.5 pounds!  He is 41.5 inches tall and is above the 95th percentile for both height and weight.  We just don't have small children.  Ethan has always been a big boy but I think Landen may outgrow him!  The doctor said that he looks great and is growing/developing perfectly.  He knew how to do everything that they asked except for pedaling a tricycle (we haven't tried since September since it's been chilly out)  and he isn't potty trained.  BUT the pediatrician did say not to stress about him not being potty trained yet.  He has three boys and none of them were potty trained before 3 years old.  That took a little of the pressure off.  Landen has some interest in using the potty but it comes and goes.  He can do the other things they asked like count to three and name at least 3 shapes no problem.  He labels a square, circle, heart, star, and rectangle by their name but he calls a triangle a tent, an oval an egg, and a crescent a moon....oh, and of course an octagon is a stop sign! After his checkup we went to the grocery store where he told everyone he saw about his dump truck sticker that he got at the doctor for being a good boy.  Once we got home he was ready to relax and play.  I grabbed my phone and got a picture (a blurry one) of him with his safety goggles on his head just working away with his tools...

Back in November Josh had bought tickets to take the boys to Monster Jam in Louisville.  The show was this past Saturday.  So, after Ethan finished up his Super Saturday class at WKU, we stopped by Cheddar's for some lunch and then made the 2 hour drive to Louisville.  Since the show didn't start until 7:30pm we figured it would be bedtime before it ended so we decided to just get a hotel and stay the night.  Once we got checked in at the hotel we headed to Freedom Hall for the show.  Ethan LOVED it!

Landen wasn't so sure...

He eventually warmed up to the action and ended up having a great time!  He just didn't like when the trucks revved up their engines to take off and in his defense...it WAS loud.  We all wore ear protection the entire time.  The trucks were cool!  We had taken my brother many years ago but I barely remember the show from way back then.  The boy's favorites were Scooby Doo and Grave Digger.  

While the monster trucks were taking a break and getting ready for the "free style", these robotic looking, fire breathing, transformer things came out.  

                                                     This may have been Ethan's favorite part!!!  

           Once we got back to the hotel the boys wanted to take a picture and show off their Monster Jam loot...

On Sunday after sleeping in (mental note: black out shades = boys sleeping late), we ate pop-tarts for breakfast and played Mario Monopoly.  Once Ethan beat Josh and I badly at Monopoly we got ready and checked out of the hotel.  We let the boys choose something to do before we headed home and they chose Chuck E. Cheese.  Besides me driving them crazy about not touching their faces for fear of catching flu germs (we germ-x'd as SOON as we got back to the truck)....we had a BLAST playing games and watching Landen climb and slide.  We got home early in the evening and caught up on American Idol from the DVR together while resting up.  Perfect ending to a perfect weekend!