Summer Bucket List 2012 - An Animal We've Never Seen

Bucket List #18 - An Animal We've Never Seen

This weekend the boys saw an animal they've never seen. Well, okay. Maybe it was a bug, but it was still something they've never seen, so I'm counting it. :-) The boys got to see a green ladybug!*

Look, ma! It's crawling on me!

Isn't it cute?

Today we got to learn a little bit more about ladybugs, too:

Did you know that ladybugs are also known as "lady beetles" or "lady birds?"

Did you know that ladybugs come in many colors like pink, yellow, white, orange and black?*

Did you know that ladybug babies are called larva?

Did you know that ladybugs are considered a useful insect because it eats garden pests like aphids?

Did you know that people thought that the number of spots on a ladybug's back indicated its age? Actually, the number of spots only tells the type of species it is and not its age.

Did you know that ladybugs can have toxic effects on some animals? (Thankfully not to humans.)  Ladybugs have a foul odor and their bright colors also help prevent other animals from eating them.

Did you know that ladybugs can live up to 9+ months?

Did you know that ladybugs play dead (by rolling on their backs, pulling their legs up, and typically release a small amount of blood from their legs--EW!) to protect themselves?

Did you know that some species of ladybugs have white spots instead of black ones and that their spots fade with age?

We learned a lot! (Oh bless you, Google. I heart your endless banks of knowledge.)

~~~

*What we found was likely not a ladybug but instead a cucumber beetle. I figured that the boys would pick up on the fact that our info didn't say that ladybugs are green, but they didn't. The boys think it was a ladybug, which is a common misconception, so for now we are just rolling with it. :-)

Notes to Self: My 3 Boys on July 1, 2012

The boys' personalities have just blossomed lately, and it has become clear that each boy has his own unique way of taking on the world. This is daddy's take on his three sons...

~~~

Jason - "El Presidente"

Negotiator,
Politician,
Smooth talker,
Able to present the truth in the most positive light if needed.

Shawn - "The Little Dictator"

Blunt,
Fiery,
But still considers himself a man of the people,
He does not mix words when it comes down to what he thinks would be best.

Jack - "The Last Emperor" (aka The Golden Child)

Wields a Power that he does not yet fully understand. But with the proper guidance and council, he will one day be capable of ruling an Empire of his own.

15 Months Old

15 months old

Weight: 15 month appointment on Thursday. I'll update then.

Length: 15 month appointment on Thursday. I'll update then.

Wearing: size 5 Huggies diapers (with the overnight diapers at bedtime), 18 month pants, 24 month shirts (I can get him to wear 18 month onesies, but the neck is getting pretty low now). He is able to comfortably wear size 24 sleepers.

Feedings: Jack drinks 25 ounces of milk a day. We continue to work on transitioning him to table food. Waffles and fruit are still big in his book.

Favorites: Jack still loves to throw balls and chase them around the house. He also still loves to go into the big boys' room and play on their beds. He enjoys reading his books, especially his book about babies. (The same book with the sad baby that used to make Shawn cry!)

Least Favorites: Not getting his way.

Issues: Houston, Jack finally has all of his teeth! Yeah! No if we could just get him to stop eating all of his books and toys, we'd be set.

Personality: Jack has been pretty snuggly of late. He still gets the 'tude out when things don't go his way, though.

Areas to work on: Jack still has yet to walk. He is doing all the precursors to walking, but still hasn't ventured out on his own.

New Things: Jack is now into building and destroying block towers. It's pretty funny to watch.

Randomness: Jack has a new lovey to play with. He likes to snuggle it close at bed time. Of course, his lovey is the first thing he throws out of the bed in the mornings, too. :)

~~~

Some things Jack is expected to do: (milestones for fifteen months)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

• Plays with ball - Yes.
• Uses three words regularly - Well, if I include signing, then yes.
• Walks backward - Nope

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

• Scribbles with a crayon - Give him a crayon?!!? Why would I want to do that?
• Runs - Nope.
• Adopts "no" as his favorite word - Not yet. Thankfully. He does have a pretty aggressive head shake, though.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

• "Helps" around the house - If by "help" you mean make a mess everywhere he goes, then yes. Somehow, I don't think that is what they mean, though. So I guess the answer is no. Ahem.
• Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh" - No, but we don't do that, so why would he?

~~~


Jack's two month stats are here.
Jack's three month stats are here.
Jack's four month stats are here.
Jack's five month stats are here.
Jack's six month stats are here.
Jack's seventh month stats are here.
Jack's eighth month stats are here.
Jack's nine month stats are here.
Jack's ten month stats are here.
Jack's eleven month stats are here.
Jack's birthday celebration is here.
Jack's twelve month stats are here.
Jack's thirteen month stats are here.
Jack's fourteen month stats are here.

  

I Love It When They Have Fun Together

Tonight, Jason fought the tub, and the tub won. He is now the not so happy owner of a bloodied, fat lip. Here's hoping it looks a whole lot better tomorrow.

Because the tub drama pushed me over the threshhold of thinking that I might be a little tired to my head screaming for a pillow like NOW, tonight's offering is a few pictures I took of a sweet moment between the big boys several weeks back.

I had just finished giving Jack his lunch and took him to go change his diaper. When I returned to the kitchen, I found these two like this. I have no idea what happened to get them in this position, but they both were laughing and having fun together.

I love it when they're like this. I hope they always have the kind of relationship where they like to be around each other.

**I try to remind myself that they do like each other every time I have to go break up a screaming/hitting/crying match between them! Oh these boys keep me on my toes!

More Silly Boys

Silly boys before bed...

Hm. Maybe this one should have been the Mostly Wordless Wednesday Post--because, you know...it's most wordless.

Ahem.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday - Silly Boy

Hm. Let me try something...

Ugh! They won't stay!

Help me, momma!

I got it!

Help me do it again!



Go ahead, tell me. I look awesome, don't I?
This is so funny, momma!

Wait a minute...

Now you do it, momma!

He was having so much fun trying to get that rattle around his eyes like glasses. He'd do it, and then make me do it. He thought it was so funny, he was practically rolling on the floor.

Such a silly boy!

Science Experiement - Summer Bucket List #13

We did our first Bucket List activity, lucky number 13. Jason, Jack, and I headed out back to do a science experiment! (Shawn was pretty "meh" about our activity, so he stayed inside and played with his blocks.)

A few weeks ago, a teacher at work gave me a solar energy activity pack. I brought it home and put it on the table.

Where it sat.

One afternoon, Jason saw the box and was immediately intriguged because of the warning label he saw on the side. (Leave it to my kid to be drawn to a warning label instead of seeing it as, you know, a sign of DANGER.) I told him it was a science experiment and that we couldn't do it then. It was marked for kids 8 or older, so I was actually considering putting it up for a while before we tried it.

He wasn't happy of course, because he wanted to see what it was right then. And then he asked me just about every. single. day. since. then. if we could open the box.

Finally, I decided what the heck so I said yes. I figured the worst that could happen was that he'd get bored quickly and lose interest. Best case scenario was he'd learn a little about solar energy.

He was over the moon!

He had so much fun watching what happened when we did different things. He could hardly wait to tell daddy all about when he got home, too.

~~~

The box had a solar panel, the connection cables, and a few dodads to hook to it. I'll let Jason tell you the rest. :-)

(Jack helped us in our experimentation. You'll see he was orally testing to see if plastic containers also conducted solar energy. He was sad to find the answer was no. lol)