Looking back at the year, the Seaton family had a busy 2008 with the boys both becoming full-fledged toddlers. While we were keeping our eye on the interesting presidential election and the Summer Olympics, we were also creating memories and experiencing several firsts for our family as well. We kicked off the year with both boys changing rooms at daycare. Connor moved to the 3-year old room and Brady got the opportunity to move to Connor's old room, the 2-year old room. Brady was experiencing some frustrations and boredom in the 1-year old room, so we asked that he be moved with the older kids (this has worked out great for his maturity and learning). We then celebrated Connor's 3rd birthday on January 11th, which was also the day he received his first set of glasses. Even with his glasses, we did continue his gymnastics for one more session through March (we didn't continue after that since he only participated with me and not the class).
Connor "uninterested" in potty training
February and March were interesting months with the various snow and ice storms we received that created various work and daycare conflicts. I remember a lot of sliding around and power outages during that time period. My dad had surgery that required him to take a mini-vacation for recovery (surprisingly, he did not go stir-crazy as quickly as I expected). We also lost my grandmother to cancer on February 14th after a year long battle. Grandma Betty put up a good fight and was able to make it to her 80th birthday a few months prior. She will be greatly missed and was loved by many.
Aunt Sandy, Grandma Betty, and my Dad
This year, Easter seemed to arrive very early. Mommy was sick with the flu for 3 days prior to Easter, so the outdoor Easter egg hunts were not as enjoyable for mommy. However, the boys enjoyed the Easter egg hunts even with the Easter snow flakes. One great thing that happened in March - Connor took an interest in potty-training and was fully potty-trained in less than a week! Most of that week, mommy was in DC at a conference, so I think Connor wanted to prove to me he could do it without me (hey-whatever works).
All 6 of the Grandkids on Easter
Weather finally started getting nicer...we celebrated Mother's Day with the expanded family (Aunt Julie and Marx were home from Canada) and the summer fun was beginning. There were outings to Angel Mounds with the grandparents, Mesker Park Zoo, Emtrac Train Museum, CMoe, trampoline fun at a graduation party, and a sprinkler bash at a friend's 5th birthday party. May was also vacation time...mommy and daddy went on a week long Baja cruise while the boys enjoyed spending time with the grandparents.
We continued the fun times in June...more CMoe trips, a Carnival at daddy's work, our first family outing to the drive-in theatre, Father's Day, and the celebration of Brady's 2nd birthday. It was official - we are now in the toddler stage for both boys!
Later that month, we had a Lynn family day at Scales lake which included all the siblings, their significant others, and all the kids. It was a really great day - we will have to have an annual Lynn outing like that every year.
I think July was the last hot "summer" month this year and it was a good thing we took advantage of it. We started off the month with a Road Trip to the French Lick Railway Museum and Joe Huber Farms in Starlight, IN. The boys had a blast and it is a road trip worth repeating. The remainder of the month, we had some nice weather for enjoying the 8 ft. pool we purchased and grill outs with family and friends. Connor was really enjoying the pool since he was also taking swim lessons at the YMCA with his daycare class.
At the end of August, we made a difficult decision to move Connor to Montessori Academy. He started at Montessori after Labor Day weekend with a somewhat difficult transition. I think he felt guilty for enjoying it knowing that his friends were still back at his old school. He quickly transitioned after the first couple weeks - we have really enjoyed seeing the progress he has been making and have no regrets about the move. We are looking forward to moving Brady to Montessori next year when he is 3 (and potty-trained).
In addition to Connor's changes, September was an eventful month for the entire family. We visited the new Amazonia exhibit at Mesker Park Zoo, we took our first trip to Holiday World with the boys, and we took a family vacation to St. Louis. The St. Louis vacation was jam-packed and the grandparents were able to join us for part of the vacation. Next year, we may venture a little further from home since the boys passed the first vacation test.
Fall was here before we knew it, so we decided it was time for some fall family fun. Our first adventure was to the Fall Festival to satisfy Connor's curiosity (couldn't avoid it any longer since Montessori really hyped their booth to the kids). We also ventured to Mayse Farm, Boo at the Zoo, costume parties at each of the boy's schools, and traditional Trick-or-Treating. Connor also got the chance to go on a couple field trips with his class to CMoe and Mayse Farm.
As you can probably guess, we fast forwarded through the remainder of the year with the birthday and holiday celebrations. We really enjoyed the opportunity to see so much of our family during this time. We have also really enjoyed watching the boys learn and grow so much this year and the opportunity to create new memories with them.
The boys love each other, look out for each other, and play great together. They have taken a great interest in computer games this year and have even moved on to Playhouse Disney online games. Connor is actually very good with a mouse and is required to do the “driving” of the mouse for Brady. Brady does lose his patience often with Connor's aggravating and will lash out. However, he has figured out to run defense position when he wants to keep a toy from Connor and he has also figured out how to aggravate Connor back by pointing out when Connor is in trouble and how he is the better child (“Connor’s not listening, I listen.”). Brady is very partial to his own bed, which we converted to a toddler bed in September. Sometimes we find Connor in there playing with him in the morning, which means longer sleep times for mommy and daddy. In the morning before school and before bedtime, they love to watch one of their favorite shows (Little Einstein, Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, or Higglytown Heroes). Connor has learned so much this year and seems to be very in-tune and observant of his surroundings and is very empathetic. Brady is talking in complete sentences now and says the most serious, common sense statements that are just hilarious! Their latest interest is trains and planes, so they spend several hours playing with their Geotrax trains and Little Einstein rocket.
We will be kicking off the new year with Brady changing rooms at daycare and looking forward to the celebration of Connor's 4th birthday. Connor is very excited about this birthday and makes a point to tell anyone he asks that he will be 4 on January 11th. We look forward to repeating several of the adventures and memories we created in 2008 and creating new family memories.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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