Clayton is TWO MONTHS!

Clayton is two months.  I really cannot believe it, and it makes me sad that time has passed SO quickly-even though I have been making every attempt to enjoy every little thing with Clayton.  I am so thankful that the transition to four kids has been so easy!  Really everything has gone so smoothly that there is nothing in these first two months that I am glad is over.  Clayton is an easy baby, which I really appreciate!  This will be the last of our weekly updates on Clayton, from here we will go to monthly updates until he's two. 
At two months Clayton nurses every three hours during the day.  In the evening he does a couple closer together feedings which then get him to do a 4 (a couple of times even 5!) hour stretch at night!  Then back to the every 3 hour feedings.  He is great about going right back to sleep after he eats which is so nice for me to be able to go right back to bed during the night!  Clayton still sleeps in his bassinet at night in our room and will continue to do so for a while. 
A good eater and a good sleeper makes for a happy baby, and that he is!  During the day Clayton has longer awake periods now which are great to squeeze in extra cuddles!  He doesn't dislike tummy time, so we do plenty of that!  This has helped with his head control which seems to be improving daily.  He now prefers to be held up right rather than horizontal so that he can turn his head and look around.  Clayton also has started trying to reach up and touch the toys that hang from the tops of his bouncy seat and back-time-gym.  One evening he even managed to swat down the orange giraffe on his bouncy seat!
Having three older siblings has made Clayton a busy newborn!  Recent outings Clayton has been on include Dawson's field day at school, Dawson's kindergarten program, Dawson's birthday party, Gym Bugs, to Vonore to eat lunch with Daddy for the first time, to the strawberry patch (although I'm not sure this one counts since his Lolly was kind to go with us and hold him in the car), Carter's preschool orientation, and for a walk in the park!  He's one busy baby!  Honestly though, he's so good it's easy to take him everywhere!  He rarely fusses or cries.  We (obviously) still keep him with us at church and in Sunday School, and he's perfectly content being held and looking around or sleeping. 
Clayton has changed so much in these two months.  He has gotten much bigger.  He now weighs 13 pounds and 14 ounces (wow!) and is 23.5 long.  Obviously none of his newborn things fit him at this size, and he's wearing 3months and 0-3 months clothing.  At his 2 month checkup this morning Dr. Collins  said he is obviously having no problems eating since he is gaining weight so well and he seems like a very happy and content baby!  He also had to get shots.  He tolerated these great though!  He will not go back to the doctor until he is 4 months old. 
A few other things I want to remember about this stage...
-Clayton LOVES a bath!  As soon as he goes in the water he's all smiles and talking.
-He's started "talking" a lot more...and louder.  We've heard a lot of "a-goo"'s and various other sound combinations as he has found his voice.  It's so sweet!
-Clayton's siblings are so awesome with him.  They get just as excited as John and I do when Clayton smiles or talks!  They've also noticed on their own that Clayton has a sweet new baby smell, and I regularly catch Carter and Nora Kate smelling the top of his head and commenting on how good he smells.  This melts me heart! Clayton's one lucky boy to have siblings that LOVE him so much!  There has still been no jealousy toward Clayton, unless you count Nora Kate being jealous that someone else is getting to hold him! Hah!

Sweet baby Clayton, we love you so much!!

Happy baby

(look at the shape of Nora Kate and Clayton's mouths! the same!)

So none of Nora Kate's actions in these pictures were instructed.  These are all just things she does on her own with Clayton it's so sweet.

Nora Kate is constantly snuggling Clayton...

Kissing Clayton

And constantly about an inch from his face trying to get him to look at just her.

She loves her baby brother so much!

Tummy time

Whew, tummy time wears him out every time! ;)

Dawson is SEVEN

Dawson is SEVEN!  When he was born in 2009 at 7 pounds 13 ounces, it was hard to imagine him as a seven year old (and I was probably too sleep-deprived to try to imagine him at this age!).  If I had, I would have never guessed a seven year old could be so fun!
At age seven Dawson sometimes seems like such a big kid now that he's going to school and has his own friends.  Then there are other sweet, tender moments like when he needs his Mommy that I realize he's still my little boy too! 
School...Dawson has absolutely LOVED being in kindergarten, and I'm happy he's adapted so well.  He has made friends with LOTS of kids at school this year.  When I go to eat lunch with him I love to see him interacting with these school friends.  He has also really liked his teacher this year which has most definitely helped the transition from preschool to kindergarten go smoothly!  Dawson has done well in school and learned a TON!  He impressed me with how quickly he learned his sight and slide words this year and what a great reader he has become!  It's amazing how much he learned in just one school year.  Dawson had homework every night Monday through Thursday and really enjoyed having homework!  He also regularly talks about how he enjoys Writer's Workshop at school. 
Sports...Not only has Dawson enjoyed school this year, he has played both basketball and baseball this year.  He says these are his two favorite sports to play.  We are in the middle of baseball season now, and he's enjoying it. 
"When I Grow Up"...Dawson still regularly talks about being a farmer when he grows up, and he plans what animals, color barn, and crops he will have. 
Outings...Dawson likes to be on the go all the time.  If we don't have plans he will come up with things for us to do!  This has always been his personality (so much like John)!  His favorite requests lately of things to do include fishing, golfing, and Dollywood. 
Family Life...At seven Dawson is a GREAT big brother to everyone!  He understands that the others are younger than him, and he is usually really good about showing or teaching them things and snuggling and holding Clayton!  Dawson has a special relationship with Carter, Nora Kate, and Clayton.  It's interesting to me to see how he treats each one differently and how they each have a different relationship with their big brother.  I won't say that it's all always perfect, there are the days where people "mess up" his big kid things, like Lego sets, etc.  But for the most part, he's patient with them!
Sleep...During the school year Dawson went to bed at 7:30 and got up at 6:40.  When school is out he stays up later until 8 or 8:30 and gets up at 7:30.  Then he has to nap on Sunday afternoons when everyone else in our house naps.  I love that we have started this Sunday quiet and rest time in our house!  He sleeps in a twin bed in his room he shares with Carter.  The boys have started on this kick of talking about bunk beds for the past couple of months, but thankfully we have managed to distract them from this idea for the time being.  They do love sharing rooms though!!  Dawson even recently asked if Clayton could sleep in their room!  Sweet big brother!
Chores...We have started giving Dawson more chores this year than before.  His daily chores include making his bed, putting all his clothes in the hamper, sweeping the kitchen floor after dinner, getting the mail, and cleaning the kids bathroom counter and sink each night.  He has done great with all these chores!  He's a great helper!
Dawson seems and acts so big at seven!  He's such a sweet, fun, smart big boy!  We love him so much!

An Interview with SEVEN Year Old Dawson

When Dawson turned three I started the tradition of doing a yearly "interview" with him.  He thinks this is pretty neat to sit in a chair and have me ask him questions and write down all his answers.  It's fun to see how some answers change and others stay the same from year to year.  He's really growing up! Here are the same questions I ask every year and their responses from my blue-eyed seven year old!

1. What is your favorite color?  every color...blue, orange, red, green.
2. What is your favorite toy? LEGOS!

3. What is your favorite fruit?  grapes, strawberries, apples

4. What is your favorite tv show?  Curious George

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Mac n Cheese

6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?  Golf Shirts and khaki or blue shorts

7. What is your favorite game?  Candy Land
8. What is your favorite snack? Yogurt
9. What is your favorite animal?  Tiger, monkey, and our lizard Slinky
10. What is your favorite song? Pete Squirrel

 11. What is your favorite book? Clark the Shark

12. Who is your best friend?  Carson, Evan, Alexa, Tipton, Jamiah

13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the playset or on the Gator!

15. What is your favorite drink? juice, sprite, or lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Panda
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Biscuits, and remember sometimes you make cinnamon rolls and strudels...I like those too!

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Candy and Water (HAHA!)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A farmer and a strawberry picker

And for the sake of comparison, here are his past years interviews...

AGE SIX

1. What is your favorite color?  Orange and blue
2. What is your favorite toy? Outside:my bike! And inside: my workshop!

3. What is your favorite fruit?  Grapes and pineapple
4. What is your favorite tv show?  Curious George
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Grilled cheese!
6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?  My short sleeve button down and my pants with a belt and a hat and my workin’ shoes.
7. What is your favorite game? HedBanz and I Spy
8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish and candy
9. What is your favorite animal?  A dog and river otter
10. What is your favorite song? Ain’t No Bugs On Me

 11. What is your favorite book? Every book and the Eye Spy book.
12. Who is your best friend?  Carson, Colt, Charlie, Bailey, Evan, Rowan.

13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit Loops

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Pick up the yard and stuff and do yard chores
15. What is your favorite drink? lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Halloween and Christmas and Valentines

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Panda
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Biscuits

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  CANDY!!  And s’mores that you get from the fire not that you make inside…I like to burn them to make them taste better
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A farmer I’ll have all kinds of things like tractors, dog, and stuff like all vegitables and apples.  And I hope my squirrels won’t eat my apples!  And a lot of cows, goats, chickens, and pigs!  And 2 cats and 3 dogs

BELOW Shows his answers at ages 5, 4, and 3:

1. What is your favorite color? at 5 years old: BLACK, BUT I WILL SWITCH TO ANOTHER COLOR SOON
at 4 years old: Green
at 3 years old: Green
2. What is your favorite toy? at 5 years old:MY JOHN DEERE GATOR 
at 4 years old: My Gator, Mower, Trailer, Campfire (we had a fire in the firepit the previous night and he calls this campfire), and my horse hospital-a new birthday gift. 
at 3 years old: My trailer and my John Deere!!
3. What is your favorite fruit? at 5 years old:GRAPES-BOTH COLOR GRAPES!
at 4 years old: Red and green apples
at 3 years old: strawberry
4. What is your favorite tv show? at 5 years old:BANANAS IN PAJAMAS and BUSYTOWN MYSTERIES
at 4 years old:Word World!!!
at 3 years old: I don't know!
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? at 5 years old:GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH
at 4 years old:Macaroni and Cheese
at 3 years old: Chicken Salad
6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear? at 5 years old:SHORT SLEEVES AND SHORTS
at 4 years old: My Ninja Turtle Shirt from Target (we purchased this the day before), shorts NOT PANTS, I really like khaki and white shorts the best!
at 3 years old: Gym Shorts, boat shoes, bow ties (hopefully he doesn't want to wear these three together!)
7. What is your favorite game? at 5 years old:CANDY LAND
at 4 years old: Candy Land and playing Temple Run on Mommy's Phone
at 3 years old: playing ROWDY with Daddy (laughing!)
8. What is your favorite snack? at 5 years old:GOLDFISH and PIRATES BOOTY
at 4 years old:Goldfish
at 3 years old: Suckers!
9. What is your favorite animal? at 5 years old:ELEPHANT
at 4 years old: Kittycat
at 3 years old: owl
10. What is your favorite song? at 5 years old:JINGLE BELLS
at 4 years old:Wagon Wheel
at 3 years old: Veggie Tales
11. What is your favorite book? at 5 years old:MR POPPERS PENGUINS
at 4 years old:The Cat in the Hat and Charlotte's Web
at 3 years old: The Three Little Pigs by Dr. Seuss (any book title he talks about right now, he always says it's by Dr. Seuss)
12. Who is your best friend? at 5 years old:BAILEY!  SHE'S MY FRIEND AND SHE'S A GIRL! 
at 4 years old:Wait a second, Mommy, I'm trying to tell you something about working in the yard and you asked me another question!  -proceeds to tell me about how he needs to mow the grass, then answers the question:  Colt, Charlie, Carter, and some more like all the ones that were at my party
at 3 years old: Charlie Gibson, Daddy, and Jude
13. What is your favorite cereal? at 5 years old:CHEERIOS
at 4 years old:Lucky Charms
at 3 years old: I don't know!
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? at 5 years old:RIDE MY GATOR, PLAY IN MY NEW PLAYHOUSE, AND WORK IN THE YARD, AND PLAY IN THE POOL 
at 4 years old:Swing and ride the John Deere Gator
at 3 years old: Ride mine John Deere and chase the birdies
15. What is your favorite drink? at 5 years old:APPLE JUICE and THOSE KOOLAID SQUEEZES I GET AT THE GAS STATION SOMETIMES
at 4 years old:Apple juice
at 3 years old: Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? at 5 years old: CHRISTMAS! I LOVE ADVENT GIFTS!!!!! AND I LOVE CHRISTMAS TREES!
at 4 years old: Christmas!  Hey, do you think Charlie the Elf will hid in our house again at the next Christmas?
at 3 years old: I don't know!
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? at 5 years old:TIG THE TIGER, PANDA, AND TIP TOP THE GIRAFFE
at 4 years old:Panda
at 3 years old: Panda! Panda Doggie and Panda Turtle and BBB (big brown blanket)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? at 5 years old:SAUSAGE IN A BISCUIT
at 4 years old:Cereal
at 3 years old: Biscuit with the butter not melted (??)
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  at 5 years old:MEAT MUFFINS (this is what Carter and Dawson started calling the mini-meatloaves I've been making lately from turkey and oatmeal-I am so glad they like these because they're healthy-and easy!)
at 4 years old:Corn (?!)
at 3 years old: Mac and Cheese
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? at 5 years old:A FARMER!
at 4 years old: I'm going to be a farmer!
at 3 years old: Bentley!

Dawson's 7th Birthday Party

This year for Dawson's birthday we gave him several choices of party locations other than our backyard.  We figured since he had never had a party anywhere other than our house he would pick one of those choices, but in the end he asked specifically if we could have a Lego themed party, in our backyard, with an inflatable, a piñata, and cake and ice cream...this was totally doable, so he got those requests!  This year Dawson's birthday actually fell on a Saturday which worked out perfectly for his party.  He has 19 other kids in his class at school and wanted to invite them all, so we did...along with his other friends from outside of school.  The weather was perfect for being outside-not too hot at all!

Dawson was thrilled to have LOTS of friends be able to come to his party.  I think I've got everyone one this list:  Lolly, Pop, Nana, Grandad, Daddy, Mommy, Carter, Nora Kate, Clayton, Carson, Harper, Jessica, Casey, David, Sarah, Alexa, Connor, William, Bailey, Tanya, Kyle, Jack, Ella, Brynn, Braia, Jillian, Carolyn, Skylar, Andrea, Freddie, Charlie, Olivia, Colt, Nora, Charlie T., Violet, Dylan, and Abigail.  Lots of friends to help celebrate!  

Happy 7th Birthday, Dawson!

Our big 7 year old!

Everyone had fun in the inflatable!

Playing corn hole.

Lego themed party with Lego shirt!

Since we had lots of friends, it was the perfect time to pull out the parachute!

A real party animal right here! Haha! Clayton relaxing during Dawson's party!

Dawson had requested a game, so we played pin the head on the Lego man!

The kids enjoyed this!

The end product of the game!  It was hard to tell who won!

The Lego man cake I made for Dawson's birthday.

Pinata as requested by the birthday boy!

Ready to hit the piñata!

Dawson opening gifts after the party!

Here's the invitation we sent out.

For the blog, I covered our address with the white box.

Dawson was so excited about the Lego invitations.

Dawson had a great birthday, and we are so thankful for all of Dawson's friends and our friends who came to help us celebrate our sweet boy turning SEVEN!