Two and Half

I LOVE you but two and a half is a little annoying. You are at the repeating stage. You are repeating things about a hundred times in a row, it doesn't matter what my response is, you continue to repeat whatever it is you want. It is always things you want. "I want to go on a walk", "I want this, I want that" I can say "no", or "not now" or "yes" it does not matter, you repeat and repeat! I know this is a stage and either you repeat as a learning/practicing tool for your own language development or maybe you know that if you ask enough times in a row you will wear me down and I will give in just to stop the insanity!

You are at a new school and doing very well. I like the people and you seem to be getting along very very well. Every day when I pick you up you tell me how much you like it. You tell me you like your teachers and playing on the playground and you are excited about the crafts you bring home. It make me feel good about the care and learning you are getting. I just wish that you could remember how much you like it each morning when I drop you off. It has been three weeks now and every day you cry when I leave but are so excited and happy about the day when I pick you up!

I love you and love watching you grow!

Love your
Mama

July 2011

Well, so much to tell.

You have started at a new school. You are doing very well there, you still cry when I drop you off which breaks my heart, but I feel very good about the attention and care you get there! When i pick you up you are very excited to show me the craft you did or tell me about something else that happened that day.

Things you love right now:
1. Tigger-That is a constant favorite!
2. Match-box cars - You gather all your cars up and put them in a box or bag and carry them around, take them out and play with them, then up them back in the box or bag and carry them around some more!
3. Flashlights- This is an on and off again obsession.
4. My silver bracket. It has different colored stones on it and you like to wrap it around you leg and name off the colors.
5. We found a small green light-saber like Star Wars. You like to pretend fight with it.
6. We found a small green ball with blue bumps on it and a grey Rocket. That for whatever reason you are very attached to.
7. Indra has a old broken purple leash that you drag around. When we go on walks I hold one dog leash and you hold your purple one...both are attached to the dog.
8. You love Indra. You always care where she is and tell me where you think she should be. "I want Indra inside" I want to take a walk with Indra" Indra has to come on our walks with us or you pitch a fit!
9. Your favorite food lately has been Kellogg's fruit crisps. Its a thin,, crunchy pop tart like fruit filled bar with a light sprinkling of icing on top. you will eat two packages of them for breakfast!

You are talking so well and say very funny and interesting things. You are smart and cleaver and I love hearing what is going through your head!
Yesterday when we left to go to school you said "Jesus, thank you for a car that starts" (it is something you have heard me say many times, but I love that you remembered it.)

We talk to Jesus every day and I hope that you are soaking in that He is very important to us and that your heart is growing in a desire to know him more! I am trying to show you what he means to me and praying that he will call you to believe in Him for yourself one day!

Love
Mama

Weekend Goodness

We had a GREAT weekend. Grandma and Grandpa came over and you got to play with them all day! They brought you a truckload of sand...I mean a truckload. We refilled your sandbox and the horseshoe pits and then the best part of the day...We got a 8ft diameter 2.5 ft deep pool!!! Its the size of a hot tub, but it is perfect for you to jump, play and learn to swim in. It is big enough for me and your Papa to get in with you!

It was a great start to the summer and I am so looking forward to it!

Most of all I felt so blessed as I looked out the kitchen window last night and watched you and Papa in the pool and saw the joy in your eyes and the pride in your Paps face as the two of you played and he taught you how to swim! I know teaching you stuff like sports or activities, swimming, riding a bike etc. are the things your Pap looks forward to the most about being your Dad!

We love you so much. Our life is simple, but we are abounding in the lavished love of our Heavenly Father.

Oh, I forgot. Two milestones. 1. You counted to four all by yourself without prompting. 2. You pointed out and correctly named all the letters on the shirt your Papa was wearing. Unsolicited learning! I think you are so very smart!

Love,
Mama

May 25th

I have almost missed a whole month!

We took you on your first camping trip at the end of April. We went with our community group from church. The evenings were still cool so it was perfect for sunggling under blankets and sitting by the camp fire. You did amazingly well! In fact we ahd onginally planned to only stay one night, because I was sure you would need to come home. But you loved it and asked if we could stay the second night! You took a (very very) long hike with us and looked for caterpillars at our camp site and ate marshmellow, hotdogs, and poptarts all weekend long!

You are talking in two or three sentences at a time and saying the cutest phrases, like "Thank you so much" and "Oh! I don't know where it is." They sound cuter when you say them!

Our garden is growing a lot and you eat fresh broccoli right off the stalk! In the evenings when we water it you love to be sprayed by the hose and run around all wet shreiking with delight when every Pap sprays you!

These days are full of fun and learning and are so very enjoyable!

Love,
Your Mama

It begins

Well we have entered the dreaded phase that little boys go through where things start getting stuck in their ears and noses!

Let the record show it started at age two, with a pea.

We were eating dinner one night and you stuck one of your peas up your nose and you could not get it out. You ran around the kitchen saying "help me help me".

I'm sure it will be the first of many! May they all be that easy for me to get out!

Love you crazy kid!
Mama

"A Burn"

The first of many I'm afraid.
I am sorry if it leaves a scar, but here is how it happened.

Papa was preparing the garden and of course you wanted to help. You helped him push the till from the garage to the garden--you are remarkably strong. Anyway, Pap tilled a few rows and then took a break to clean off the wheels. You, who still wanted to help touched the till and burned your hand!!You were just too fast to stop you! I am very sorry I know it really hurt! It immediately blistered up and we treated it gave you ice cream and a soothing cold pack and let you watch TV!

You were very brave!

Love
Mama

New Favorites

You are on a flashlight kick. You want a flashlight at all times, in the car, house, yard, bed, I draw the line at tub!

You fall asleep in your big boy bed and when I come back to check on you, you have fallen asleep under your covers like a tent with your flashlight on.

The other day we bought you, I don't know what to call them, capsule animals? They are these sponge animals inside of dissolve-able capsules. When you put them in the tub they dissolve and the sponge animal is left.

You think they are so COOL! Once the animals are out of the capsule you identify them with the picture on the package and them carry them around for days until you loose them. It is a fun thing you and your Papa do at tub time.

Love
Mama

Milestone

This month marks a milestone for us. You can now get in your car seat and buckle the top snap! It is still a bribe fest to get you to stop playing all over the car and actually sit in your seat. But it is a sign of great things to come, independence and responsibility!

I am loving it!

Keeping up

Through out the month I jot down things you do or that happen so I can blog about it later.
This month you have done so much!

Your favorite place to go is Home Depot where you climb on the riding mowers and run through the plants and flowers.

We bought you a kite and took you to the park. It was a great day to fly a kite with a strong steady wind! You were so excited. We got the kite flying and handed you the string--it lasted all of 45 seconds before you let go and laughed hysterically as I ran recklessly to catch the string! This became the game which you repeated multiple times! I know, stop giving you the string. But that was the point of buying the kite and you kept asking for it and we would explain the point of a kite to you and you would say that you understood, then, oops there it goes again!

We have planted my first garden. You have been a big helper watering the plants with the hose.
We spend most of our evenings outside playing and watching the garden!

Your speach is getting so clear and you are talking in complete sentences and answering questions using your own thoughts! It is so exciting to see and hear who you are! There are somethings that you can't quite say. For example, my parents are Grandma and Grandpa to you. But you can't get the hang of Grandpa so you have started calling him "Campa" and we all LOVE it so much it just might stick. Your new phrase is "I see something" to which we respond, "What do you see?" Then you will tell us what you see . You use this very strategically to stall or to distract us or to get something you want, it usually works because it is so cute!

I love being your mom and we are having such fun raising you. Your personality and thoughts are starting to show and it is so exciting for us to learn the real you, the person you are becoming!

Love,
Your Momma

Months 25 and 26

So much is happening! Your Papa got hired full time after two years of unemployment and part-time freelance work!!! You and I have been sick almost a straight month of congestion, coughing, and snot!

You moved into the Toddler 2 class room at daycare then, we changed daycare. No more nanny cam for me which makes me sad, but the plus is that you now spend your days with a lady from our church who runs a daycare out of her home. It is much more as I would do things if I could be home with you and you are getting along wonderfully! She has a two year old who you are befriending and there are different children there some days too!

You stayed overnight with Grandma and Grandpa while your Papa and I took a weekend with our friends. When we got back, Grandma had taught you how to pray!!! So now we fold our hands bow our heads and talk to Jesus before meals and at bed time. (Thank you Grandma!)

You are still hitting when you don't get your way and you say "Bad Mama" when you are mad at me. Don't worry I AM putting a stop to that! You have totally hit the terrible twos and try my patients daily. Usually when you need to get dressed, put your shoes on, or get into your car seat. We were bribing you with DumDum suckers. But your were eating way to much sugar so we had to stop that too! Hope this phase passes soon.

We have gotten rid of the crib and moved you into the bottom bunk bed. Grandma and Grandpa bought you sheet with cars Mario brothers which your papa returned and replaced with star wars. Potty training has taken a back seat. You just aren't interested anymore. You will ask to go everyonce in a while and that is ok you will get it sooner or later!

You are doing some cute things though. Instead of saying "no" to things you have started saying "no way". All the time, it is cute. Your Papa is trying to teach you "No way dude."
You are saying "What happened?" at everything that happens, if you trip or fall, you look up and say "what happened?" You head a noise "what happened?" You drop something "what happened?"

You LOVE to go to Home Depot and play on the riding mowers. You ask for Home Depot all the time.

Lately the owls and tree frogs have been singing at night. Once you discovered about what was making the sounds you now love them. You will hear an owl and go looking for it telling me you want to catch it! Tree Frogs are purple in your world and you want to catch them to! You have a flashlight and love to shine it in dark spaces or under covers, but especially in people's faces!

We bought you water guns the other day and I truly enjoyed watching you and Papa chase each other around the backyard!

These are fun days, you are talking so much clearer and even though there are tantrums and out and out screaming fits it is fun to watch you grow!

We love you so much and enjoy what you bring to our family!

Love
Mama

Learning

I write so that you will know how much we love you, how fun you are, the funny things you do, the joy you bring, and the activities we did as a family. I also write to tell you the Truth, so that if we are not around or there comes a time when we as parents and child cannot seem to communicate with each other, this blog may touch you in ways that we can not and you will know the Truth! You have always been loved by us and by your Heavenly Father.

You have been blessed, no matter what you feel you don't have or has been taken from you or that is unfair. You are loved by a God who continues to love you, bless you, and pursue a relationship with you!

Life is hard because this life is not all about you or me or even our family. It is about God and lives that bring Him glory. Here are things that I will be teaching you as you grow. Some of these are hard for me to teach because they do not come easily with our human nature, many of them were hard lessons for me to learn. It would be easier to spoil you and keep you protected and do whatever you want to keep you happy, but that is not loving you fully.

Taking steps to be safe is important (always wear your helmet or seat belt. I don't care what your Papa says!) But living in fear of risk is not living fully. It is not trusting in a God with unlimited power and resources and unconditional love for you. God calls us to risk, at times our own possessions, dreams or personal safety to follow Him for His glory. (I know there will be times when you will not believe it, but His way is always better for you than leaving His way to follow your own way. Your way is for the moment, God's way is glorifying to him which is eternal. No matter what you must go through to follow what he has called you to, knowing and trusting and believing in Him more, is worth it!).

Going without money can feel like punishment or it can be seen as the "right" way to live. Neither is always the case. Be smart with your money. Be joyfully generous to those whom God calls and lays on your heart to be generous with. All money, resources, material things, health, and even cultural luxuries (clean running water) are owned and controlled by our God. Hold these things with open hands. Enjoy and be smart with that you have, when you have it. When you don't have as much do not fear or regret. God still controls all the money, resources of this world and he can provide for you even when you do not see a way!

In all things give thanks to God and seek to glorify Him where he has you with what he has given you! Be a testimony to the love and faithfulness of God no matter what your circumstances, rich, poor, working to get out of debt(hopefully we will teach you to avoid debt!), or anywhere in between.

There is so much to teach you from tying your shoes to loving your wife to being surrendered to Jesus Christ, this really can't be taught by us, it is a gift from the Holy Spirit, but it can be lived out before you as an example. This will be my job for the rest of my life!! This both petrifies me and fills me with so much purpose!

I love you, my son.

I still have much to learn so I will live transparent and at times we will learn together!
You are covered in prayer everyday and your Heavenly Father knows you, he made you for His purpose and loves you even more than I can!

Love,
Mama

24mths

Well its official, you are two.

You are getting so big and talking a lot! I say it once and you repeat. You have just started forming sentences. You still want me to be with you all the time and I have trouble getting anything done. You are very huggie and will randomly say "hug" and throw yourself at someone.

Lately everything "hurts" you say it all the time for any reason. "Chandler put your shirt on" "hurts". "Chandler, its time to put your socks and shoes on" "hurts". Usually a kiss will make it better, but I couldn't get you to wear shoes for two weeks straight. You have started kissing your own boo boos and say "butter" which is how it sounds when you say better.

The sweetest thing you do these days is stroking my face and saying "nice".

You are not getting in trouble as much at daycare and have stopped hitting and pushing your friends there. But when you do take a toy that is not yours or make another kid cry you immediately go up to them and say "sorry", it is very cute.

In the morning when you get up you whine and kick in your crib. When I come in to pick you up you gather Duke, Tigger, blue blanket, and brown blanket!!! Then I carry you and all your things to the couch to watch "Shaun the Sheep" and eat breakfast on the couch.

You are like your Papa in that texture matters so much to you. You only like the softest blankets. You scream every time I put jeans or corduroy pants on you. You will only wear stretchy PJ material. The other night you found a sateen pillow case and all evening you rubbed it on your belly and ended up sleeping in it like a sleeping bag (silky side inside of course).

I hope you know how loved you are and that your Papa and I have so much fun with you in our lives.

23 months

You will be 2 years next month! This is your second Christmas. I am so excited to go through the holiday season with you. To see you discover the joy and surprise and beauty of this season! I am trying to establish Christmas tradition now that we can share every year.

You and I made Christmas cookies this week. I cut the sugar cookies from the tube and you sprinkled green and red sugar on top of them! Maybe next year we will make homemade cookies.

It snowed this morning and you were very excited to be out in it. You thought it was so neat.

Your talking has improved and you know so many more words. I love hearing you say a new word for the first time. You are very very smart!

Both sides of the family are excited to see you this season!

On to daily things...

You are definitely going through a stage, whining is your thing now. I must admit it drives me batty sometimes. You will whimper like a puppy if I won't hold you or sit and watch "Shaun the Sheep" with you or I am busy cooking.

You hate tags in your shirts. You make us tear them out before you will let us put them on you.

You love to help Papa fix things. We have been painting the kitchen cabinets and replacing the hardware. You grab a tool and join right in!

Oh, Grandma gave you DVD's to teach you the letters of the alaphbet. You love watching them and are catching on so quickly. Did I mention that you are smart? You make the sounds that some of the letters make. Your favorite sound to make is "C" and "P". We have alaphebet magnets on the fridge and you move those around and make letter sounds.

I am so excited about the NEW Year. 2 will be a huge and wonderful year of learning and growing. I am so excited!!! We will start potty training and sleeping in a big boy bed!

You really are a joy to have around! I love you so much!

Love
Mama

22 months

So much has happened in this last month!

Here are a list of your accomplishments:
We stopped using the paci during the day! (now it is only for nap time and bed time)
You say all kinds of words, too many to type out.
You know your colors!!! You hold up crayons and tell or ask us the colors, you point to different colors on an old patch work quilt and say the colors!
You are starting to try using the potty ( no real success yet)
You remember all your relatives and adapt to new people playing with you much quicker.
We are able to explain things to you and you understand, which now is starting to help you alter your mood...sometimes.
I can get you to do things by asking you to "Help"
You are choosing your outfits.

We are just having so much fun with your growth!

Last month we visited a petting zoo! You had a great time! you got to feed the goats and lamas. You got to see a Tiger up close (through fencing). You saw monkeys, pigs, snakes, camels, bison, ponies, foxes, Kangaroos and more!

Auntie T came for a visit. You spend tons of time playing with her and loving on her. It warms my heart that you take to her so well when you don't see her very often. I know she loves you so much and wants to be a part of your life! We all spent the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's we saw the largest tree house (its in the Gensis book of World Records), Then we went to a ranch for a fall festival. You got to feed horses and ride them, you really likes seeing the horses. You and your Papa jumped and played in one of those inflatable bounce houses. It is the first time we could get you to get inside one.

What a full month! You are lovable and fun! you give kisses and hugs and laugh out loud. You make me so very happy. I think you are adorable and wonderful! Know that you are truly loved by me and your Papa and our families!

Love you
Mama

21 mths

You are twenty one months this week. That sound really close to 24 months! Which means you are almost 2!

You have been doing this for a while but I haven't wanted to write about it because I was secretly denying what it means. Everytime (yes, I really mean EVERY TIME) I sing you shake your head "No". It does not matter what I am singing. Rubber Duckie, a lulliby, amazing Grace or some country song. It doesn't matter if I sing it fast or slow or in English or Spanish (I know a few songs in Spanish-thanks to your Grandma and Aunt Suzie). I am not a great singer, but I am not that bad! I have no idea why. So there it is I have put it out there in black and white which makes it real! I have come to laugh about it and often I sing to you just to see you shake your head "no". Maybe that will become an effective from of punishment.

A glimpse of a miles stone has started. You are sitting on the potty! Twice you have actually potty-ed in the potty! So I am excited at the thought of you becoming potty trained. I know you really are not ready, but you totally get the concept!

Here are a few new words from this month.
Up
more
Hot
what's that?
Mama is very clear now
cold
Truck

Words said once-
Thank you
Please
fire truck
hello

I love being your mama!

Animals

You love animals! Of course our love our dog, Indra, but you also love all animals. Grandma gave you a place mat with all kinds of animals on it. As we eat you point to the animals and we tell you that they are. When you point to the lion or alligator you make the roar sound that that animal makes.

You love your Tigger! You carry him around most places you go. Usually with you blue blanket!

Duke is you bed time dog. He stays in your crib and at night you cuddle up with it and lay your head on top of him.

Namma gave you this doggie chair. It is you favorite place to sit, climb on or just plain old tackle! You love to put it on the couch and try and sit on it, but every once in a while the doggie chair wins and you get tossed to the floor.

Love
Mama

20 mths

I have almost missed your twentieth month post!

I have been working a lot this month and I think it takes a toll on you. You seem to know when I steel even one hour from our normal routine! Which makes you more fussy as you protest more and more each time I leave.

You have been doing so well in Daycare and getting better at being nice to your friends! We are still waiting for coherent speech from you. but you always get your point across. You have been loving bath time, you play with the bubbles and enjoy squeezing the faucet so that the water squirts all over. You also are really getting into brushing your teeth. You get your little stool and pull it up to the sink grab your tooth brush and brush (or chew on it). You also like to take Mom and Dads tooth brush and scrub the counters, or the stool or the door frame! You don't yet understand that some things are "clean" and should not touch "dirty" things. Oh, well it just increases our immune system!

You got your first tick, although I don't know how! We also confirmed that you are still allergic to Tomatoes--you got a whole body rash! so sorry!

You really love social stuff, and once you warm up to your surroundings you make your way around the room and climb, touch, or play with everyone in the room. We took you to a friends house to watch a football game. You had such a good time.

The first photo is of your new past time or drawling on the walls. Not my favorite talent of yours. But I do love your other new past time which is drumming! You love to take candle sticks and drum on stuff, tables, chairs, pretty much anything. I secretly hope you become a drummer, I always wanted to be a drummer, but I have no rhythm.

I love you always and you are the delight in our life!

Love your Mama.

19 months

This week you turn 19 months. It is starting to sink in the hugeness of parenting. As you are growing you are understanding so much and talking is just around the corner. The responsibility of teaching you about Christ and the daily follow through that it involves is over whelming as a parent. I know it is just living the example and taking the moments in life to enforce the foundations of the Christian faith. But your father and I want to do that well and there is such a burden in my heart for you to know Him! Know that your Papa and I are growing in our faith too. We are not perfect and at times loose our tempers with you. Please forgive us, we always regret it! In our weakness we can only point to Christ who is a perfect loving, teaching, and disciplining Father.

I have to admit I let you talk me into TV much too often and (thanks to your Papa) chocolate milk may be your first two syllable word! Each morning that there is time you and I and Indra go on a walk. We have started taking a different route where we pass by one yard with two huge Great Danes and then another yard with a big Rotweiler! I am nervous because I know if they wanted to they could clear that fence and not break stride. But not you, you love it and you love it even more when they get all worked up and bark! You love dogs. Your Papa takes you to the dog park, every once in a while, and you get to run free with all the doggies. You get licked, smelled, knocked over and barked at! But it does not bother you.

I can already see your charm coming out especially when the girls are around! You smile and they are smitten.

I want to teach you balance and perspective, wisdom and spontaneity, an understanding of compassion and generosity. I want to allow you to live out your own personality and discover your God given gifts. I want so much for you, but all I can do is love you and take each day at a time, using each opportunity to guide you as you grow.

Love,
Mama

A few extra things

Here are a few extra thing you do that I think are so cute! You have always loved the car. touching buttons, knobs, climbing over the seats. But lately you want to DRIVE. You climb in the drivers seat and ask me to put the keys in and turn it on so the radio plays. Once you have music you turn that steering wheel back and forth and every once in a while you move the shifter. You have seen Papa and Mama drive that way and you want to too! It is so fun to watch your understanding of objects, and concepts grow.

Last night you actually asked for a hair cut! We had been talking about cutting your blonde wispy hair for a few days. Last night before you would get in the tub you found Papa's clippers and brought them to him. Then you stood there and let him cut your hair! You were so patient and calm! The noise didn't frighten you, the clippers touching your head didn't bother you! You were such a big boy! Now you have a hair cut that makes you look so much older!

Sunday we went to a Fourth of July picnic. They had big inflatable rides, and cotton candy, snow-cones, cookies, and a live puppet show! You had such a great time. You watched intently the puppet show and clapped along with them, you (Papa and Mama) helped you slide down a huge tall inflatable slide and you ate junk food all afternoon! Then a band came on stage and the concert started! You ran right up front and danced and jumped to the music. We had a blast!

I am loving watching you grow up and seeing the new personality that comes out in you!

Love always,
Mama

18 mths

I can't belileve it is offically a year and a half. So much has happened! Recently you have been sick a lot since your started daycare. But inbetween illnesses you are giggling and exploritive! You babble more and more and I can tell when you are asking a question because you turn your hands up and shrug your shoulders. You love your Papa, he is tough on you but he also showers you with love and fun! I am you comfortor and your cheerleader one look from you and I melt!

Your Papa and Grandpa built a jungle gym for you in the back yard. It has a fort, a slide, a swing, and a sand box! You love climbing on it. The slide is a bit steep and you fly down it almost catching air! But you will grow into it!

We went swimming at Namma's you will not let us put any type of float device on you, but you love the water. You spent most of your time on the raft playing in the water on top of the raft and getting on and getting off the raft.

Your Auntie T came to visit you this month. You warmed up to her and the two of you played especially in the mornings. You swam together in the hot tub and played chase through the house.

I feel like the next coming months will bring so many changes. I can't wait to see what though changes will bring. I can see you becoming a little boy! I pray for you daily that you will be healthy, that we will be wise parents, that God provides for us and that you will come to trust in the Lord.

You are a joy and a challenge and your Papa and I love you!

Mama