Britton had a swim meet Saturday, and we just got his official results back today. He swam the 25 meter freestyle and got fifth place for his age group. More importantly, he improved his time by 6 seconds! He also swam the 25 meter breaststroke. It was his first time swimming that stroke in a meet, so we were really happy that he swam the stroke correctly and didn't get a DQ (dis-qualified). Not only did he not get a DQ, he placed second for his age group! This was the biggest swim meet Britton has participated in so far. In fact, we thought we'd be at the meet for about an hour, and it ended up being three hours before Britton was able to swim his two events. We spent three hours for him to swim a total of about 65 seconds. What a morning! Boston and Britton were both very patient considering what a long ordeal it was waiting for Britton's swim events. The video isn't fantastic because I was video-taping with one hand and holding a screaming baby in the other hand. The next swim meet is scheduled in two weeks, but Richard will be in St. George, and I haven't decided yet whether I'm up to doing another swim meet by myself with Britton and Boston. We shall see.

Our little baby Boston is now two months old! I tried to take a cute picture of him all day, but he was having a fussy day, one of the very few he's had his whole life. Maybe it was the chili I ate the night before. Anyway, he's getting bigger, weighing in at just under twelve pounds. He can sleep about six hours straight at night. He is starting to love sucking on his hands more than sucking on the binky. He can hold his head steady and strong, and he especially loves standing up on a lap. So far he's been healthy, but we're kinda keeping him as isolated as we practically can, due to the swine flu running rampantly through our neighborhood. Hard to believe how much he's grown and changed in just the last month.

He finally did it! Boston made us wait eight long weeks, but yesterday we got our first official grin! Over the past few days he's made a few little attempts at smiling, but we were never too sure if he was smiling on purpose. Yesterday, though, he looked right at me and gave me a great big smile! He also smiled for Richard and later for Brandon and Britton. It's amazing how much a baby's smile can make your whole day better!

Brandon had his first jazz band/symphonic band concert of the year last night. As a senior, he gets lots of opportunities to solo. Brandon felt like this performance wasn't his best, but we thought he sounded fantastic. So did Boston! Boston sat through the whole concert without one little fuss...until the band stopped playing music. So go ahead and watch the video. It will only take 44 seconds of your time!

What the Heck?

Britton never sits normally! He always has to have his feet and legs in strange contortions. Today I caught him on the floor like this:

Funny kid!

Boston's First Portraits

Boston went to Kiddie Kandids two weeks ago for his first portraits. We were anxious to get his pictures done before he outgrew his little blessing outfit! All of our boys have had their pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids at this age, and it is remarkable to see how much they resemble each other, especially since they had the same backgrounds and poses! It took us two weeks to get these pictures posted because we had sent some to Grandma and Grandpa in Georgia, and we wanted them to see the pictures before posting online. In the two weeks since these pictures were taken, Boston's cheeks have gotten just a little chubbier...all the better for kisses! Boston is seven weeks old, and he's so close to smiling for us. Today he gave a big grin to the ceiling fan (why do babies love ceiling fans so much?) and to the footballs on the wallpaper next to his changing table. Guess that shows where I rank as compared to football! I'm used to it, though. After all, I have four boys!

Marathon Man

Richard did it again! He ran the St. George Marathon yesterday and finished with a new PR (Personal Record). He finished the race with a time of 2:49:21. He finished in eighth place for his age division and 50th overall (out of about 7000 runners!). This was after he had just finished setting a PR in the Logan Marathon two weeks ago! He ran that race in 2:53, so he finished four minutes faster. Richard is one fast runner!

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In addition to placing in the St. George Marathon, Richard also completed the 2009 Grand Slam. The Grand Slam is a series of four marathons that he ran during the year, and his total times for all four races were compared with the total times of all the other competitors who ran the Grand Slam series. Richard came in SECOND PLACE overall in that competition! We are sure proud of our Marathon Man. Now maybe he can give those legs a little rest.

In other news, our little baby Boston is seven weeks old today. Last night he slept in his own room for the first time AND he slept from 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.! I guess I can truly say that he can sleep through the night now. Throughout this week he's been sleeping a little longer every night. I have to admit, though, that I woke up at 4:30 a.m. in a panic because I hadn't heard him all night. We are definitely fortunate to have such a good baby who knows how to sleep, but it's sort of sad, too. Everytime he reaches one of these little milestones it is a reminder of how fast he is growing and changing.

Great News!