Thomas Now

 An brief update on what Thomas is into and up to now...

Thomas is non-stop energy!  There is never a dull moment at the house as his favorite activities are playing cars, painting/coloring (even on the windows with the appropriate crayons!), and singing/dancing.  He's quite creative in his drawing, usually coming up with cool scenes to draw, like the ocean or airplanes.  He is also a very imaginative singer!  Thomas will sing about anything and everything, making his own tune and words as he goes and occasionally using his guitar or piano to assist.  It's so much fun to watch.  Some song topics include Tess, Jack and Olivia's goggles, painting, driving... it goes on and on!  He also still really likes, probably prefers, to be outside.  I think he can swing contentedly for 20 minutes at a time.  Of course, he has his "money tree" in the backyard that he visits daily so that he's "rich!" (I have no idea where the idea of a money tree, or even his obsession with money came from), and there is always a ride in the cozy coupe, wagon, or tractor to check out things on the farm.  He always likes a trip to the playground to slide on the big slides and climb even the more difficult rope ladders.  We've been lucky this summer to have Paul, Brittany, and Eustace move to Abbeville, and have spent a lot of play time with them as well.  One more favorite, playing with Tess!

As for boring things like eating and sleeping, Thomas is doing wonderful on both fronts!  He certainly has his picky eater moments but for the most part, won't pass on food.  His favorites now are pasta of any kind, pizza, fruit, and any kind of snack food you put in front of him.  He eats like his parents for sure.  He's sleeping from around 8:30pm -7am, with about a 2 hour nap during the day.  He likes sleep as much as I do.

Other random things...  Thomas is trying so hard to learn his colors.  He seems to know them perfectly one day, then the next day he'll just yell out various/incorrect colors all day long.  It's a process I guess.  He's also picking up on the alphabet and numbers, which I think is just amazing.  Currently, if you ask Thomas how old he is, he reliably answers "6" - time really has flown by!  He has built up a very large vocabulary and easily puts together phrases/sentences - probably his two favorite ways to begin include "I can" and "I need" and he's even picking up on common, redundant phrasing like "soaking wet" and "freezing cold".  You just never know what words he'll remember and use - it is constantly impressing me and reminding me to watch what I say!  He's one smart little boy.

Sharing snack

Did I mention that he loves marshmallows?

Summer Fun

Thomas has been officially out of school since June and enjoying his summer immensely!  We've been fortunate to have taken 2 beach trips since then, one to Litchfield and a second to Cherry Grove with the whole Gorney family.  Needless to say, Thomas loves the beach more every time we visit.  He gets braver about getting in the waves and running farther from mom and dad, as well!  That keeps Trey and I on our toes, much different from the days we spent laying on beach towels reading.  He is certainly entertaining though and it's so much fun just to watch him having so much fun. 

Our Litchfield trip was in conjunction with a conference that Trey attended along with Robert Martin, so we were able to enjoy the company of Robert, Casey, and baby Emma at the beach!  By the time we left I think all Thomas could talk about was Casey.  We had a great time playing on the beach and even got to visit the kids water park at the resort.  The Gorney family beach trip was wonderful as well!  Thomas had fun playing with cousins, Jack and Olivia ("Libby").  He and Jack spent hours playing cars and trains, chasing each other through the house, and rough-housing.  It's really nice to see that they get along so well - hopefully that will continue!  Since we've been home, Thomas has been talking and singing about the two of them constantly, very sweet!  On the last night of vacation, we went to the Cherry Grove pavilion where the kids were able to ride a few good rides before a storm blew in.

Naked Thomas after a day on the beach.  Tasteful, huh?

First roller coaster ride!

He flew a helicopter!

 Other fun summer events - playing in the sprinkler and kiddie pool, a visit to the zoo with Brittany, Eustace, and Aunt Katie, and trips to the lake for some water time.   

Looking at the elephants

They both loved the reptile building

 

Here we go again!

 Our new family addition is due in January 2013!

 

Catching up!

Once again, I've fallen far behind in updating T's blog.  Thomas is into absolutely everything right now and keeping me busier than I ever imagined!  Going back to March, we took a great trip to the beach with Trey's parents.  The weather was nice enough that T got to enjoy the beach for a bit, digging in the sand and looking for cool shells.  We also took a trip to the aquarium - T really enjoyed the giant fish that he could climb into and slide out of via the tongue.  He did try to touch both a stingray and horseshoe crab as well!  I think Thomas' favorite activity was riding the golf cart.  He was asking for rides the minute he woke up in the morning until he went to bed at night.  He does love anything with wheels on it!

Have you ever seen a cooler kid?

Check out his expression - one of our favorites!

Backwards down the slide - you can't ever be too careful!

That brings us to Easter.  Thomas had a good Easter, celebrating both at school and at home.  While at school, Thomas participated in an Easter egg hunt, a hat parade, and had a great party with his buddies.  I will admit that prior to this egg hunt, I let T practice hunting eggs at home - not because I thought he needed to find the most eggs, but because I didn't want him frustrated and upset at school, not knowing exactly what was going on during the hunt.  I will say there were some kids who had no clue what to do and they kind of missed out on the fun.  The hat parade was interesting...  I had never heard of such a thing until this so was really unsure of how to decorate a "bonnet" for Thomas.  In the end, I went with old faithful - Clemson.  I transformed a hat using orange ribbon, some foam, construction paper, and stickers.  Take a look at the pictures below.  Thomas wasn't too sure about the parade itself, especially when he saw me sitting in the room watching but he really did love wearing that hat.  As for the party, it was a pretty typical preschool affair - cupcakes (i made!), fruit, yogurt, juice - and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Here at home, Thomas got to check out his Easter basket first thing in the morning and hunted eggs outside later in the day.  We didn't hide his basket, as is tradition in my family, simply because I didn't think he'd understand what to look for.  In his basket were books, a tool box, and some assorted food items (rice krispie eggs, "carrots" made of goldfish...).  We went to church, during which Thomas sat quietly for most of the mass eating a rice krispie egg.  Afterwards, I made my first Easter dinner (Trey, Linda Ann, and Thomas were guinea pigs!) of ham, mashed potato casserole, green bean casserole, and peach cobbler.  It was a good celebration!

Cute outfit passed down from Jack!

And finally, to wrap up this post, I have a few pictures of the start of our veggie garden and Thomas riding Bella, the mini horse.

He's a natural!

Stay tuned for more updates!