And Bingo was his name-o!

So we have put together a list of names.

In alphabetical order:

Bryce (yuck, but Travis likes it so it's here.)

Carson

Carter

Elliot

Ian 

Miles

Oliver

Owen

And last but far from least, Travairius.

So far for me, Carson and Carter are my second string and Bryce is benched for the season...but the others are up for grabs.

Nothing to see here

Alex has started a new thing when he wants to do something he knows he's not supposed to...he actually tells me to look the other way. Or, taking it one step further, he will physically try to push my face to force me to look in a different direction.  Like if I'm not looking directly at him I won't know he's doing something naughty.  Child, I have known you long enough to know you are pretty much ALWAYS doing something naughty...I don't need clear line of sight to determine that shit.

A boy and his best-disgruntled-old-annoyed-fine I'll sit here for a split second-dog friend.

The Man with One Red Shoe

Alex came home from his first day of 4K missing a glove and a shoe.  He wears his snow boots to and from 4K and puts his shoes in his backpack.  Well, he supposed to put his shoes in his backpack.  Wednesday, only one made it.  And when I asked him where he other shoe was, he replied, "Hmmmm....that miiiiiiight be at my school."

And that was the most I could get out of him about his day both days.  Every time I have asked him to tell about what he did at 4K, even when I was asking about their field trip to a pet store, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "I dunno."

School has aged him already.

First Report

He has been done with his first day of 4K for less than an hour, and we already got an email from his school.  I am trying so hard not to cry at my desk right now...

Dear Jackie & Travis,

Alex had a wonderful first day today!! He did a great job following our routine, and he even participated a lot at group times! He completely melted my heart when we went to center time and about five minutes in he said “4K is even funner than I thought!”.  How adorable is he!?

Sincerely,

Ms.Kristin & Ms.Tiffany J

Big day.

It's a big day for us today.  It's Alex's first day of 4K.  AND I had my 20 week ultrasound today.  Apparently we are really diggin' on smashing big moments into teeny tiny time frames.

First things first.  Alex's first day.  He was so excited this morning.  He was like a little Mary Katherine Gallgher...every time someone would greet him this morning, he would roll his arms up in his shirt, start uncontrollably hopping, and announce, "I'm going to 4K!"  He has been patient beyond my wildest expectations while anticipating this day.  And it's finally here.  I cannot believe it.

And then there's the other one...Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the first "photo" of Travairius Robert Julius:

The "Travairius" part of the name is my dad's current name for the 2nd beast child...preeeeeetty sure it's not going to stick.  The Robert part is though.  Now we just have to come up with a first name.  It only took us until Alex was three days old to name him, so I figure we have some time.  He has the appropriate number of all the different parts and was squirming all over in there the whole time.  So, he's already a spitting image of his brother.  Heaven help me.

But Mom...

The arguing.  Oh my goodness the arguing.  I cannot take it.  Everything out of mouth, Alex argues it.  And it isn't just normal things like when it's bedtime or that he needs to finish his food.  He argued with me today about what the side of a yogurt container said.  I read it and told him it said it was 0% fat.  He immediately told me, "No.  That's not what it says.  It says it costs zero bucks."  Well, ya got the zero part of that right there kiddo...but until you hone your reading skills, I suggest you don't tell me I am wrong.

Every time he argues with me, it's the same routine.  I say something, he says the opposite, I tell him to please not argue with me, he puts his hands out in front of himself in a "stop" position, closes his eyes because he clearly can't stand to actually see my stupidity, tilts his head back a little and says, "But Mom, but Mom, but Mom."

Oh!  And back to that yogurt.  We were in the store and he picked out a strawberry banana yogurt.  Before he put it in the cart, I reminded him that he doesn't like that flavor.  Not shockingly, he retorted that he does now in fact like strawberry banana, and that he is "used to it now."  So, instead of perpetuating the Grand Cycle of Argue, I let him get the stupid yogurt.  Everyone see where this is headed?  Yep.  He was home from school today and at snack time he was all excited to have, you guessed it, strawberry banana yogurt.  He took one bite and with his hand on his head in disbelief, he said, "Ooooohhhh...whoops!  I forgot I actually don't like this flavor."  Really?  I cannot believe that.  It's almost like I told you that and you refused to believe me!  Weird!

The other morning, I was trying to get us out the door on time.  It's a whopping 4 minutes to day care since we moved so you would think this wouldn't be a challenge.  But it is.  We are not morning people us Juliuses.  Anywho, we were all on schedule until I asked Alex to put on his shoes.  That was when the argument about his ability to put on his own shoes began.  And that spiraled into four other things I apparently knew nothing about.  Whatever, I finally got him in the car, but I was not a happy lady.  Alex asked me what was wrong and I told him I was upset that we were late because he spent so much time arguing with me.  And with that he was quiet.  Until we had to wait to turn off of our road.  There were a lot of cars coming and he piped up with, "Mom, all these cars are going to make us late late late."  And that's when I decided to argue.  I like to think of it as clarification, but let's not split hairs.  So I told him, we were not late because of the cars, we were late because of the constant disagreeing. Once again silence from the back seat.  About 1/4 of a mile down the road, I hear it.  "But Mom...this truck in front of us is going reeeeeally slow and that is going to make us late."

And when I told him that if he didn't stop arguing with me, I swore I was going to lose my mind?   "You're not supposed to swear, Mom."  Geez, I'm surprised you didn't know that.