Mr. Smiley Noodle Pants

He is 9.5 months old here.

Bob was entertaining him for me, and he started piling these beanie babies all over him.  

Roman loves to use his feet for things that usually one's hands are employed for.  Since very early on, long before he even batted at toys with his hands he was using his feet in this bouncy seat to kick the toys to make them make sounds.  He is now still using his feet, often with his hands, to grab toys, try to hold his bottle, and even to clap!

He has gotten so much more smiley in the last month!  

I found this piano at the second hand children's store, and it has truly been a huge hit!  He has learned how to play the notes and even to change the mode at the top with a sliding bar.

His love of music is so great that it really helped him on his hearing test.  They were watching how he responded to sound and so they used music.  He was sucking on a pacifier because it was nap time when the test began.  Every time they'd play the music in his ear, he'd pause sucking until the music stopped.  He's still not totally cleared of trips to the audiologist because he is still borderline on his hearing.  We'll be heading back when he turns a year for another check up, but first back to the ENT to make sure that one tube isn't partially blocked with ear wax.  Sigh.

 

The Socrates Award Winner

 Genevieve got the Socrates Award at the end of last school year for her "sense of wonder" in all classes.  Their classical school does not give many awards, only a handful per grade.  I am so proud of her Great Heart and all she does in school!

The Snake Farm

I have been trying to go on a field trip to the Snake Farm for years and it never works out.  I finally just bit the bullet and planned a last minute trip there with some friends (back in May), and I am so glad I did.  I almost feel like it was better than Sea World which I know sounds crazy.  It was definitely better than the zoo.  It's not a flashy place with rides and food, but you can see the animals up close, and they have a bunch of programs and accessible staff to answer questions.  They have way more than just snakes.  That is just how they started out.

Here's a white lion cub playing with a ball right behind the boys

The roosters and chickens are just walking around free.

The Snake Program with a Burmese Python. 

Hands on experiences!

You can feed the bison.  Drew was too afraid to get their slobber on him, so he didn't do this successfully.  He was trying to throw it to them, but it would fall where they couldn't reach it so I had to put a stop to that.

They were very slobbery!  Look at that tongue! You had to put it right on their tongue.

Someone got braver.

These goats were feisty!  If you had a bag of food, they were just plain uncivilized!  They surrounded me and got their horns all stuck on my legs.  Then they had the audacity to try and eat my dress.  I literally had to tie it up before they destroyed it.  

 It was shady and comfortable, and Roman did great there.  It is pricey, but they don't have a ton of things to make you spend more money once you are in.  We'll definitely be coming back here!

Sea World, Lunar Eclipse, and a Puzzle Expert

We had a chance to get free passes to Sea World on a Sunday back in June.  We weren't able to get there until late (1pm,) and so it ended up being a fairly short visit because Roman had a complete melt down like I've never seen before or since.  We had to leave after the 5pm show since he didn't take water well back then and he was getting dehydrated.  It was a hot day and although I didn't even have him wear his helmet, there was little chance of keeping him cool.  Mostly, Brian took the adventurous kids on rides and I tried to find shady or cool spots to hang out with the less adventurous (and the too short for rides) crew.

Overall, I was disappointed in how few shows they have nowadays and how short they have made them.  I am not a rides kinds girl.  I want to see the dolphins and the whales!

That's the rest of my family cooling off after a very long wait in line.

The Lunar Eclipse was visible from our cul-de-sac.  We had the best view across the street from our house on the sidewalk.  We just laid down and enjoyed watching the eclipse in action.

Mimi came and started a puzzle, but didn't finish it before she headed back home.  Judah sat and worked so hard for most of the day and finished it all in one day.  He and Genevieve are my biggest puzzle doers.

Judah was reading a book to Roman to help him practice sitting.  Seems like Roman decided to recline instead.