HE'S HERE!!!

 

My brother is FINALLY here! He arrived last Monday, July 22nd in the evening. His name is Gates Hudson Piantanida, and I've nicknamed him Lightening. He was 7lbs 10oz and 20" long. He's super tiny and I really, really love him.

Before my mom went to the hospital to deliver, we all played a round of golf in the morning. I've been told they did this on the day I arrived as well, so I guess it's become sort of a tradition. My mom beat my dad (again), so I guess that too, has become a tradition! Though I should probably note that my grandpa crushed them both, so really, he's the one we were impressed by. I received a nice, long lecture before this round of golf about NEVER stepping on the golf cart's gas pedal (see a previous post "Gas Pedal" for more explanation). This time I followed the rules and we had a great day.

The best surprise - besides Gates, of course - was that my Uncle Rick had a last-minute business trip to DC and flew in for Gates' birth. My mom had no idea he was coming and she just kept saying, "This is the BEST surprise EVER!" He was in town for like 24 hours and the only bummer, no one took a picture of him. My mom was delivering the baby so she says it wasn't her responsibility - dad, grandma, grandpa... one of you goofed.

My grandma and grandpa flew into town for Gates' arrival and I got to spend a bunch of time with them too. We went to the pool, got Slurpees, played with my new Stomp Rocket (my dad made it fly over our house, over our backyard, and onto the neighbor's roof), raced cars, went to the park, and ate lots of popsicles.

At the hospital, Gates left me a present each day. He's definitely related to me because we have the same good taste in toys - he likes cars also! He gave me a race track with a loop-dee-loop. This was awesome in my mom's hospital room. We hooked it up to a chair and if the cars had enough speed they would shoot through the ring of fire at the end of the track, leap onto the floor, rocket under my mom's door, across the hospital hallway, and under the door of the patient across the hall - so cool! Apparently I was the only one who thought this was cool so a garbage can barrier was set up to block any more cars from escaping the room. But several nurses still walked in to a speeding car shooting across the room - they loved it.

Gates sleeps and eats a lot...a WHOLE lot. In fact, we went to his one week appointment at the doctor's today and he has gained a pound since Thursday - A POUND! The doctor asked my mom what she was feeding him - which I thought was a funny question because baby's only drink milk, doesn't the doctor know that?!?! My mom and dad have told friends that they will "keep him" because he's sleeping 4-5 hours at a time so they only get woken up once a night to feed him; I didn't know they could return him.

While Gates is a bit too small to play with me, he's a good sport about me playing on him. I drive my cars around his head and up his legs. I've rolled the ball to him a few times but he just looks at it. And I showed him how to walk on my monster stilts - my mom said he needs to walk first before he can try out the stilts. My mom keeps finding the toys I leave next to Gates in his crib, on his stomach, and hidden under his blankets.

 

We've have several awesome visitors who've brought us dinner and gifts for Gates AND me (who knew becoming a big brother was a gift-worthy occasion!). My dad says we're eating like a king - kings must be really fat, eat the most delicious food, and get lots of treats - I love it. My buddy Dru came over for a slip n' slide play date as well as my cousins. My parents keep thanking people who help "tire me out," I guess I've been a bit excitable since Gates arrived. My mom asked me, "What's better, Christmas or getting a new baby?" "Getting a new baby!" was my reply, of course. So every second of every day has been like Christmas for me this past week - it's awesome.

I've taken on a bit more responsibility since my little brother arrived. I am the official "dirty diaper assistant" in our house - this job was totally my idea and I love it. Feel free to ask me about the job's details, I am happy to discuss my skills. I also feed the baby and loudly announce when a bottle is half empty and yell, "Time to burp!" Lastly, I have deemed myself as the one in charge of checking on the baby when he naps. I run at full speed into his room, fling open his door, check he's still sleeping, and yell to my parents, "Yep, he's still asleep!" Oddly, Gates often wakes up right after I check on him - he must want to play with me.

PeeWees

We just finished a year of PeeWees. What's PeeWees you ask? Well, it's our own, homemade mini preschool. Me and three of my buddies were too young for preschool last year but our parents thought we still needed to participate in some type of learning program, so they created PeeWees.

For two hours, one day a week, we got together at one of our homes and learned new stuff, all centered on a children's book. So our moms would pick a favorite children's book and then link open play, counting, a snack, an activity, and an art project to the contents of the book. We LOVED it.

We also took a field trip every month that was tied to one of the books. http://discomom.blogspot.com/2013/02/peewee-field-trip-metro-and-bonus.html , http://discomom.blogspot.com/2013/02/peewee-field-trip-car-wash.html , http://discomom.blogspot.com/2012/09/peewees-field-trip-apple-picking.html

Here we are dressed up like the dog in "If You Give a Dog a Donut" - I loved my Solo cup wrist bands!
 

My friend Poppy's mom has blogged about several of the books and activities - check out these links:
http://discomom.blogspot.com/2013/02/peewees-i-knew-you-couldtrainstop-week-2.html
http://discomom.blogspot.com/2013/05/peewees-chicka-chicka-boom-boom-week-1.html
http://discomom.blogspot.com/2012/11/peewees-run-turkey-run.html
http://discomom.blogspot.com/2013/02/peewees-i-knew-you-could-week-1.html
http://discomom.blogspot.com/2013/02/peewees-corduroy-week-1.html

The pictures tell the story of PeeWees better than anything else - isn't it obvious what an awesome time it was?

Prepping for Baby

God is adding someone to our family and I can't wait to meet 'em. We don't know if our new baby will be a boy or a girl yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be a boy - that's what I've been saying since we got the news.

People keep asking if I'm excited. I think this is a funny question. If you know me, you know I love an audience. So giving me a sibling is like the best present ever - a captive audience! I have been helping with all of the baby preparations including picking out the rocker - I tested several at the store (which definitely got the sales person's attention) and let my folks know which one was the best ride. I helped my dad build new shelves for the baby's closet...

We even attended a siblings class at the hospital this past week. I went into a hospital room and got to push all of the buttons on the bed to see how high it would go. I held a pretend baby and changed it's diaper. And then they took us to the nursery and we got to see REAL babies. They rolled them right up to our window and we got to just look at them. I kept saying "Look! Look! Real babies!"

I've definitely learned that babies take a LONG time to get here. I think

we're around 10 naps until this baby arrives. I know that once my grandma and grandpa arrive, it will be soon, so I keep asking when we're going to the airport to pick them up. I've also learned that babies make your mom's stomach REALLY big and can make her fall off her bike so she doesn't ride her bike right now. Being a big brother seems like it's a pretty big deal. I'm definitely up for the responsibility. The other day I took my ladder into the babies room and launched myself into the crib. I told my mom I wanted to make sure I could get in there by myself in the middle of the night in case the baby was crying. I'm sure having the baby IN the crib won't be much of an obstacle to avoid.

 



Fried Computer = Catch up Post

Our computer got fried in a power outage - even with a surge protector - so we've been delinquent in posting. But my parents got a new computer a few days ago and are starting to figure it out...starting to. So this is our first attempt at a new post and I can tell you, downloading, editing, and moving the pictures for this post has been a herculean operation - so please be patient.

June and July have been packed with fun. June marked the end of my first soccer season. I had a blast, learned a lot, and even earned a Slurpee the last game because I didn't tackle a single person (THIS was a big deal!).

Father's Day was great. My dad and I wore our matching sear sucker suits to church and I gave him my gift, a 12 pound, black painted, pet rock. It's awesome.

 We had an "East Coast Family" picnic with "the family" from my mom's old Georgetown house. They talk about how crazy their house use to be, but now they just sit at the picnic table and chat while us kids go crazy.

I scored a triple-track slip n' slide (I think because my dad really wanted it). But when we got it home, he read on the directions that there was a 120 pound limit...bummer for him...but not for me!

 Next up was the 4th of July! Every year our neighborhood goes nuts for the 4th of July and this year was no different. We decorated my buddy Dru's truck. Our theme was "Wet, White, and Blue." We hoped in the back and shot water guns at all of the parade watchers. We had an awesome turn out at our house - 30+ friends came to cheer us on as we rode by - so cool!

 My mom's office gave her tickets to the National's baseball game. We sat right on the 3rd baseline just a few rows up from the field. The seats were amazing. The weather, well, it was 95 degrees in the shade. Luckily I brought a squirt bottle and sprayed everyone in front and behind us - they loved it. The people behind us even bought me popcorn! This is a picture of me as the National's hit a grand slam - yahoo! They won the game 11-7.

I attended my first in-theatre movie. My mom and I went to Monsters University. I ate the entire bag of popcorn myself and wasn't scared once in the show. My biggest challenge was trying not to be swallowed by my chair - I sat like a clam for most of the show. 

 We planned a pool party with my friends last week but thunderstorms showed up right about the time we were suppose to start playing in the water. Instead of cancelling, we switched it into a rainy day creek walk. All of us headed down to our creek and took turns throwing rocks into the creek. And surprisingly, no one got conked in the head with a rock. I guess we're getting better at our aim!

 

Summer is flying by but there are so many more exciting things ahead. Another post will be up shortly. Fingers crossed this new computer is nice to my folks.