Flagstaff

I am one week through a two week trial in Flagstaff, Arizona. So last Tuesday morning I drove the 2 1/2 hours up there. Rather than drive back and forth everyday, I am staying in a nice apartment over one of the partner's houses in Flagstaff.  Gary stayed with Thor and Sabre until Wednesday night. Then he drove Thor up for Thursday and Friday while Sabre stayed with friends. Gary would keep Thor during the day while I was in trial and meet me for lunch so I could feed Thor and we could eat lunch together. This is us at Diablo Burger, a famous burger joint in downtown Flagstaff. They had the best fries!

Rather than hurry down Friday after court, we stayed the night and hung around Flagstaff sightseeing on Saturday. We checked out the trains downtown.

And we checked out the visitors center.

Thor was interested in watching the trains going by (you can just see the box cars through the trees in the picture above). We also went to an Indian festival and watched dancers (but I didn't take pictures because I wasn't sure they would appreciate that). It was really nice to walk around in 75 degree weather in September! It was a perfect day with my two boys.

Thor at 3 months

Being a mom is wonderful. My little boy is so sweet. Just look at him snuggle with me.

At three months, Thor has managed to say "Ma" (even if only once) and to sit up in his Bumbo and activity center (although not on his own). He hates tummy time still unless it's on a floating mat in the pool. He laughs and talks and chews on his hands alot. He looks at me with beautiful brown eyes and I melt.

Thor's Swimming

We've been practicing Thor's swimming skills every time we get in the pool. Today, Gary was home and available to video tape it. This first video is Thor going under the water on the count of three.

This next video is Thor floating on his back. At first he tries to kick his legs but towards the end of the song, he relaxes and holds still. Of course, that's when Gary turned off the camera--right when Thor held still enough to float on his own!

Today was the first day that his sunglasses fit his head. He's such an easy going baby that he didn't even shake his head around when I put them on. It took him a minute to understand that he could see better with them on. Now he doesn't like to have them off. Now he's cool like daddy!

We only swam for about 30 minutes, but like usual, he crashed as soon as we got out of the water. We have so much fun with him!

Thor's Activity Center

Thor is afraid of the singing birds on his activity center. They sing and talk and buzz if you pull on them. For some reason, instead of being entertained by it, Thor is petrified by their noise. He screams and stiffens up until you pick him up. So when I prop him up in the activity center, I have to turn the seat around so his back is to them and let him play with the other toys. Then he's fine. See?

Talking to Mom

So I finally have some videos of Thor talking that are short enough to post here. They are pretty grainy and not high quality, but his laughs and squeals are so cute I had to include them. He is just barely 3 months here.

 

Thor's bath

Thor loves his bath time. Anything to do with water is a good time. Sometimes dad helps with his bath, like in these pictures.

He' starting to be too long for the sink, even our huge sink. Pretty soon I'll have to break out the baby bath tub so he can kick his legs.

Labor Day Swimming

Yep, you heard it right all you folks in cold regions. We are still swimming strong in Arizona. The pool is like bath water this time of the year. We figure that we have another month of swimming outside. Then Thor will start swimming lessons at Gold Medal Swim School with Jenn.

So Jenn came over to see what a good little swimmer he is. We wore him out! Then we let him rest on the pool float. He had never done that before and wasn't very impressed with it. But he was a good sport for pictures.

We took his hat off under the umbrella. He needs to wear it so his little head won't get sunburned. Looking at these next few pictures, I am shocked at how much he looks like my baby pictures.

Thor loves being in the pool. Jenn was very impressed with how comfortable he was. He will be a great student!

My Boys

Gary is magical getting Thor to sleep. When Thor is fussy in the mornings, I give him to Gary and the two of them are snoring away before I finish getting ready.

They are so cute!

The Thinker

Now that Thor learned to sit in the Bumbo, he has been loving life. He sits in it while I do dishes or eat or put on makeup. Most of the time he stares off into space just thinking (or watching the fan spin around).

And sometimes he holds fascinating conversations with us.

Occasionally he plays with his toys.

What did I ever do without a Bumbo?! It's the one baby item we can't live without.

Tummy Time

Thor does not care for tummy time very much. Every time we put him on his tummy to play he buries his head in his hands and screams until we pick him up. Then we broke out the surfer tummy time mat--a mat shaped like a surf board with a little pillow right below a pocket full of water with plastic fish floating in it. I can't say he loves tummy time, but he does tolerate it now--especially if his favorite sister is talking to him while he does it. He tolerates tummy time on his garden patch mat too.

Sabre's AIMS Scores

In Arizona, every high school student must pass the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) Test to graduate. The kids take it every year to see their progress. Last spring Sabre received her reading/grammar scores and they were pretty good. But this week she received her math and science grades, and WOW! She exceeded expectations--the highest score on the test--in all categories! She is in AP Calculus this year, too, and she has a 99.0 in it. She also has over 100% in Chemistry because she did extra credit as well as getting the highest scores on her tests. She has worked much harder this year and the end of last for her grades and it shows. I'm very proud of her!