Just thought I would post some new pictures. Gentry's temper tantrums have really gotten better over the past couple of weeks. He is still testing us, but the full out tantrums have stopped. Gentry got to go to Papaw & Mom-B's house last Saturday to play and he was so excited!

I have to say. . . that looking at that smile makes me (temporarily) forget about all the fits. I feel so very blessed!

one more . . . .

His favorite thing to watch right now is what he calls "The cow mooobie" (BARNYARD)
We have to limit his intake. He will actually sit and watch the ENTIRE movie multiple times, if you let him. He got to watch a little bit of it tonight and I just thought he looked cute. . . he caught me with the camera though, and had to pose.

Sunday Best

My baby looked like such a little man today I had to share the pictures. He's growing up so quickly. . . he is now going to potty all on his own (he gets quite upset if you try to go with him). I had recently told Josh that I really wanted Gentry going to potty alone and able to get in and out of the car on his own before we tried for another baby. Much to my suprise, Gentry has all ready mastered both of these tasks. . . I now have to find a new goal ;)

Floffer Biscuit

So. . . . Gentry, Josh, Katie and I went to Red Lobster last night for dinner. Gentry enjoys looking at the bish (fish), dofins, and floffers (lobsters). Katie was enjoying getting Gentry to say each of those items and then she recieved her Lobster Bisque. Gentry kept asking what it was and finally Katie explained the name of her soup. Gentry replied (loudly) "FLOFFER BISCUIT?!?!?"

Here are some recent snap shots for your enjoyment.

Our gracious neighbor brought Gentry the "Gator" and small 4-wheeler that her son had outgrown. Needless to say, Gentry was completely ecstatic! He's ridden both toys until the batteries are completely dead. I'm glad we have the extra room that he can ride on.

As Gentry gets older he is learning to express his own personality (that's putting it EXTREMELY liberally). Basically, he's throwing temper tantrums and Josh and I are just trying to figure out what to do. What I think is most interesting though, is that through the entire time that he has been the worst at home, the ladies that keep him during the day always tell me what an angel he is. "If every child acted like Gentry we'd have it made," they would tell me in the afternoons. (Personally, I was starting to think they had inhaled too many markers. . . )

THEN IT HAPPENED - yesterday I arrive to pick up Gentry to a frazzled looking daycare operator who was glad to see me. I find out that my "little angel" not only bit 2 children but he also kicked and hit a little girl (the point needs to be made here that this particular little girl has a history of biting Gentry and other children). He had been punished and had not responded to any discipline all day, and had basically just given all the workers fits . . . ALL DAY.

Part of my sadistic personality was proud that they knew I wasn't lying, and then I also felt EXTREMELY sorry for them. I know what it's like when Gentry gets in his moods and I can't image what it was like having to protect other kids from this normally docile child.

Most importantly we (the adults) are learning how to deal with Gentry's personality. Any suggestions at this point are welcome ;)

Snuggle time

So, Josh and I have been really good, since the beginning, of putting Gentry in his bed and expecting him to go to sleep on his own. No co-sleeping (except for the one time when Gentry had RSV and Josh was out of town on work) and we haven't even rocked him since he was about 9 months. But, last night after bath Gentry laid down on the couch with me and watched the food network with me until he fell asleep. It was so nice. I know he isn't going to want to do this much longer and I just savoured the moment. At one point Josh tried to take Gentry to bed. . . . I think I growled at him.

I'm trying to remind myself that in-between the 2 year old temper tantrums that the sweet moments still exist and when I see them I've got to enjoy the moment. My baby has all ready turned into a little boy, and he's growing up so quickly.

Momma's little helper

So, a friend of mine made a comment today that she didn't see how I kept this blog so up-to-date. It made me feel bad because I keep chiding myself thinking I don't update enough. . . Cest la vie.

Gentry is officially into the "I wanna help" phase. Last night he asked if he could help cook. Unfortunately I was too busy helping him "help" that I didn't get any pictures. Well, lucky for me he wanted to "help" again tonight. So I was ready with the camera. . . .

We worked together to make Chicken Parmesean. First you have to grease the pan. . . .

Then you have to mix the parmesean and breadcrumbs.

That's about all he got to help with. I was a little paranoid about letting him work with ANY heat, sharp objects, or raw meat. He was a little dissappointed and got creative with what I would let him play with. . . .

8/8/07 - 8/12/07 Trip to Florida

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. We've all been running crazy with work and were gone to Florida for 5 days, as most of you know. We stopped on the way down to Florida in Adalusia, AL. Our friends Tim, Ashley, Caroline, & Luke live there. After a night at their house we made the final leg into Florida.

As we got closer to Merritt Island we figured out that the time was going to be too late to go to the beach once we reached our final destination. So we found a public beach just north of Daytona so that we could see how Gentry would react to seeing the ocean for the first time.

He was very excited about seeing the ocean. It was all he had talked about for days. . . .

He seemed a little dissapointed, however. I really don't think it was what he was expecting.

He was absolutely terrified of the water.

This became a reoccuring sight. We would all walk down toward the water and then Gentry would take off back toward the sand dunes, alone.

We finnally arrived in Merritt Island and were settled in for the night. The next morning we went back to Cocoa Beach with some of my family. We rented a beach umbrella which was one of the smartest things we did the whole vacation. Gentry and cousin Claire sat under the umbrella playing in, what Gentry calls, "big sand box" until the both had sand in every crevace on their body.

They played so well together! I was very proud of both of them. Also, as you can see in the picture, the wagon that Papaw and Mom-B gave Gentry for his birthday was very useful at the beach.

We played at the beach until it was lunch/nap time and then all headed back for lunch, naps and showers for a family dinner out.

At dinner that night Gentry got to meet his Noni (Great-Grandmother) for the first time. He was pretty grumpy since he didn't have a nap but everyone was understanding.

The next day we had breakfast with more family, packed up and went back to the beach for a little walking and then had lunch on the peir. After naps we went to visit Noni again. Gentry was bouncing off the walls but seemed to enjoy spending the time with Noni.

He gave kisses - and let Noni show him the propor way to show someone his age (he's been putting out all five fingers when he says "I'm two").

He also posed well for some pictures with Noni before leaving. I hate that the trip was so short. We really didn't get to spend as much time with everyone as we would like. There were also some family members and friends that we didn't get to see at all this trip.

This was really my first full family trip to Florida in 13 years (to the date) the last time I remember being there on a "family trip" was for my 16th birthday. It was really nice seeing everyone and Josh and I hope to be able to go back soon.

Gentry actually did pretty well on the drive home. We stopped over night in Valdosta, GA and were home before dinner on Sunday.