Flanagan Clan

While I sit around the house waiting for something, anything to happen, the boys continue to grow and change. Here’s what they’ve been up to:

Patrick

Patrick just started VBS at Pilgrim Lutheran Church, which is where he attends preschool. I am amazed at the level of detail that has gone on with this VBS program! Not only do they have teeshirts and little plastic wristbands and a fully decorated sanctuary, but this VBS program, entitled “Crocodile Dock”, has things like a website where you could register your child for the program  and music videos of kids doing all the song motions to the music that goes along with the VBS theme, which they had playing on an overhead projector. It looks like a lot of work went into this VBS. Interestingly enough, I’ve heard that several other churches, including the Methodist church across the street, have or will also be using this same program.

Besides VBS, Patrick has spent a lot of time learning how to spell words. He loves asking me to spell a word for him and then spelling it himself on the fridge with his magnetic letters. He also loves to draw and color, and he’s getting really good at it. He’s a pretty good older brother, and will often help Sammy use the potty or put on his seat belt, and he’s also very good at letting me know if any of his brothers are up to trouble!

Sammy

Sammy is on the verge of turning 3! His birthday is next Friday and we’ll have a three year old!!! He’s been busy learning how to dress/undress himself, use the potty, and prepare for preschool. We’re not totally there with the potty training just yet, although he’s made a TON of progress just in the past three days. On Sunday he only had two small accidents and for the past three days he’s managed to poop only in the potty. I’m hoping this continues because I was starting to get worried about him, with September and the start of preschool just around the corner.

Lately, Sammy has become the trouble maker of the three. It’s funny how at different times we’ve seen different kids as being the most work. Lately, that honor has fallen on Sammy. He’s constantly getting into things and encouraging Ethan to get into things as well. I can’t say how many times I’ve found Sammy and Ethan playing in Liam’s room with the perfectly sterilized toys and pacifiers. The only way they could have gotten in is through Sammy opening the door, since Ethan isn’t quite there yet. It’s been very frustrating, and I’m hoping that Sammy will start obeying us better soon.

Ethan

Ethan is actually the kid that up until a month ago we considered the trouble maker, until Sammy took that honor. Lately Ethan has been a real joy! He’s not as whiny as he use to be, he’s become a lot more cuddly and smily, and he’s becoming a very cheerful little man. He still has his bad days and when he gets angry, he really gets angry! But overall Andrew and I feel like he’s improved a ton!

Ethan has shown himself to be quite clever at figuring things out. He’s been fine tuning his motor skills and sometimes it seems like he figures things out faster than Sammy. He is always copying the actions of his brothers. He likes to help put away his dishes, put the electrosol tab in the dish washer, and load clothes into the dryer. He also will help pick up toys, but usually as soon as he’s done he’ll knock them all out again! He also seems to be very interested in animals. Whenever we go somewhere or watch a show on TV where he can see an animal, he’ll get all excited, point at it, and make this cute really excited noise. Unfortunately, his love of animals also led him yesterday to gleefully carry a dead rat by its’ tail all around our backyard until I was able to get him to drop it . We’re not sure where the rat came from, but Andrew said it looked like a cat had recently mangled it and it crawled in our backyard to die. So, yeah, it was really gross and Ethan not only got a bath but a good covering of anti-bacterial gel as soon as we got him inside!

So, never a dull moment around here, and I’m hoping in a week from now we’ll be able to update on the status of yet another little Flanagan boy!