The Tooth Fairy

Brodey was determined that his first loose tooth would fall out on it's own and he would not let me pull the thing, even though it was barely hanging on. Yesterday morning he came running into our room at 6am upset because his tooth had fallen out in the middle of the night and he was sure he had swallowed it. Then he threw up. Seriously.
Jeff (super daddy) did his best to look for the tooth in the toilet but didn't find it. I later found it on the floor by Brodey's bed.. but way to go daddy!! Took one for the team for sure.
Anyhow... here he is holding his tooth. It seems like that tooth just came in and now it's already out! I may have cried...

Later in the day Brodey and I had this conversation about the Tooth Fairy:

Brodey: "I wonder what she looks like"
Me: "I bet she's reeeaaallyyy pretty"
Brodey: "Yeah! Like you sometimes!"
Me: "Sometimes?"
Brodey: "Yeah... like when you are going somewhere special"

This is Jeff's most favorite thing Brodey has said yet. Little stinker.
(Jeff and I went out last weekend and while waiting for the babysitter Brodey grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the bathroom saying "You HAVE to see this mom!!" and pointing in the mirror "You look GOOD huh mom!!??"... guess everyday mom isn't looking so good! ha!

Here he is this morning... the Tooth Fairy left him $1.35!

Brodey, the big kid

Few special things about our big Brodey:

He learned to swim last summer but could only swim short distances and mostly under water. Last week we went to a friends pool and all the big boys were swimming without floats and Brodey wanted to also. It's not too big of a pool, but there is no shallow end at all and I was nervous. I let him anyway and he did so great! Suddenly he can swim a pretty good distance above water, tread water, and even float on his back! All without formal swim lessons. He has no fear of jumping off the diving board and does not need to hold his nose. Way to go Brodey!

Brock must have an incredibly large bladder because he can drink glass after glass of water before bed and be dry in the morning without getting up in the middle of the night. Brodey on the other hand can't have anything to drink after 6pm and we still have to wake him up to potty around 10 or 11 when we go to bed to avoid wet sheets. The other night I took him to potty and he was still very much asleep. So asleep that he stood in the bathroom, took off ALL his clothes, and then STEPPED into the toilet. I must have been asleep too because I stood there watching him and didn't think to stop him until he almost had both feet in. The next night he left the bathroom and walked into Lyla's room and tried to crawl into her crib. Middle of the night potty runs are so entertaining to me.

He has his very first loose tooth! So weird. Bottom front. I can't believe he's old enough for that.

He is also riding his bike without training wheels. We haven't been very good about teaching him, so I was really surprised when he broke out a wrench the other day and removed the training wheels BY HIMSELF and then hopped on it and rode down the driveway. I literally stood there with my mouth open speechless. What is more shocking... his wrenching using abilities or bike riding skills??

In just two weeks we'll be sending him to kindergarten. Not that he needs it... he's obviously already a genius. Too bad it's the law.. I'd much rather keep him around here to shock and amaze me with all his smartness.

5 Year Well Check.

WOW. Not fun. I remember when I took Brodey to his 2 month well check for his first round of shots... I thought it was the worst thing ever. The nurse told me then, "if you think this is bad... wait until he's five.. way worse." I didn't believe her then, but she was absolutely right. He handled the 3 shots and finger prick at his four year well check like a champ so I thought we were good to go for this year. Not the case. He seems to have developed a fear of needles sometime between this year and last. He did SO GREAT the whole appointment, doing everything the doctor asked him too... knew his opposites, wrote his name, drew a picture, passed the eye exam with 20/30 vision in both eyes... then the nurse came in with the shots. I had to hold him down (and we're not talking about simply holding his hands back, I practically had to lay on him) while he SCREAMED (so much so that Brock and Lyla got scared and started screaming too) and thrashed around. Wow. It was so exhausting I had to sit down afterward. The nurse says to me: "it's okay mom! Just think, you only have to go through this three more times!" Yikes. I think we'll be bringing daddy to five year well checks from now on.
Anyhow... Brodey weighs 40 lbs (50th percentile... only a three pound gain from last year.. which she said is absolutely perfect.) and he is 43 inches tall (50th percentile again).

Update on Brodey's swimming...

Brodey has improved SO MUCH this summer! I can't believe that it was only a few months ago we had to beg him to jump off the side of the pool with his life jacket on AND NOW he's jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side all by himself!!! With no life jacket!! We are so proud. He can also tread water and swim with his head up almost all the way across the pool. He has been so brave and has improved so much.... such a little fish!

Sorry for no picture.... I always forget my camera!

Swimming!

A friend invited us over last week to swim in their neighborhood pool... I noticed another kid the same age as Brodey swimming all over the place with NO LIFE JACKET and wondered if Brodey could do the same. Later that same day we went over to Gramma's house and thought we would give swimming a try. I took his life jacket off and....... he swam like a fish!! No instruction needed! I was so surprised!! He can hold his breath for a really long time and could even jump off the side. He can't quite tread water yet though so we are keeping him in the shallow end until he figures that out. Which I'm sure will be soon... he's such a fast learner!! We are so proud of him!!

TA-DA!! (that's for you Putt-Putt!)