Stick a Fork in Me. I'm done.

For the past week I've felt a little like I've been operating a small catering business out of my kitchen. As you know we were working on freezer meals for which I volunteered to make two of the meals all by myself. We also hosted 2 BBQs over the weekend and Danielle's Samoan friend and her family over for dessert last night. So in the past week I have made the following in mass quantities, not including regularly served meals:

15 lbs of Cafe Rio Pork (along with the dressing, rice, and all of the trimmings)
4 quarts of Mango Chicken
6 Quiches
8 trays of Enchiladas
5 batches of Goulash (thats 5 times Mom's recipe)
1 9X13 pan of funeral potatoes
2 9X13 pans of panipopo (Samoan sweet rolls)

I also went to the grocery store and Costco a total of 5 times. Good thing I now have a freezer full of meals because I am tired of cooking and dishes!

(I'll include the recipes for some of these in a later post)

Drama

I really hope that Tyler is never for some reason interviewed by DCFS. I fear for the things he may say that would give the wrong impression. I think you know me well enough to know that I don't abuse my children and try to not even raise my voice when I'm disciplining. These are direct quotes from Tyler over the last week:

"I don't like it when you say those bad words to me." (Bad words to him are whenever I tell him no)
"Please don't drop me down the stairs, Mom." (I was taking him by the arm and leading him downstairs to his room for a time out)
"It makes me sad when you scream at me." (I had been telling him strongly, but not loudly that he needed to find something to eat that wasn't a peanut butter sandwich)



(These photos don't have anything to do with the post but were just funny photos I had on my phone)

Vanity

Anya really doesn't have much interest in other babies her age, but she loves looking at herself! She's loved the mirror for a long time, but today I had a big picture of her up on the tv screen. Anya kept looking up at the tv and smiling at the photo.

Mr. Independent

Bryce has entered a new phrase of independence lately. He's very observant of whatever Tyler's doing and wants to help with puzzles, playing with cars, trains, etc. Even when he's eating he wants to eat what Tyler's eating and in the same way. Example: I served both of them a quesadilla yesterday for lunch. I cut Tyler's into triangles and broke Bryce's into little pieces. Bryce wouldn't eat his until his quesadilla was in a triangle too. He's also insisting on using a fork and having his food in a bowl. He has a small meltdown if he's not given it to him like this. Its messy but I guess its good practice. I even caught him trying to put Tyler's shoes on this morning.

Four Months

We're into four months now. Whew! So Brandon and I were quite pleased with ourselves for "training" Anya to sleep through the night and she was even starting to take a very reliable long morning nap. Dealing with a three month old was easy as pie...until she started teething. Now we're back to square one. Anya's been reminding us that she still possesses that impressive set of lungs and is not opposed to exercising them on an hourly basis between 1 and 4 am. She went in for her four month appointment today and it was both reassuring and not so reassuring to hear that this is all perfectly normal.

In my vast four months experience as a parent, I keep re-learning exactly one thing: it's not about me. Anya's pretty much learning and growing and adjusting to life on her own. We've got good days and bad days and I'm just kind of along for the ride.

These days, Anya loves...

--Being outside. The end-all-be-all cure for whatever ails her. Luckily, we live someplace where she can spend most of her days outside.

--Chomping down on anything and everything. Particularly blankets, pacifiers and Sophie.

--Dancing with her dad. Anya loves it when Brandon grabs her arms/legs and moves them to the beat.

--The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

--Hearing her own shrieks and giggles.

--Doing little baby crunches with her head and shoulders.

--Standing (with the least amount of support possible). She's already showing a little independent spirit.

--Splashing around in the bathtub.

--Anything with a face.


Anya does not like

--Aching gums.

--Being bored.

Teaching Tyler Scripture Stories

The other night I was telling Tyler about Captain Moroni and the title of liberty. He always wants to hear the stories in the gospel art book that include someone with a sword or who look like they're in battle. I told him the story and then reviewed it to see if he was listening.

(Pointing to the picture)
"Now who's this?"
"Captain Moroni"
"Whats the flag called?"
"The tifle of liberfy" (close enough)
"And what does the title of liberty say?"
"We're supposed to fight with our families"

Gotta work on those prepositions.....

Bryce's Babblings

I'm not sure if Bryce has just taken a significant step in his verbal development this week or if I just wasn't paying as much attention before but he's at least attempting to say quite a few words now.

Mama and Dada are now consistent and purposeful.

Na na (for night night) is becoming more consistent and in fact a few times when he's really over due for a nap and over tired he'll crawl down the hall to me crying and saying "na na. na na." Over and over again. As if to say "Put me to bed already Mom!" Joking around last night - We put Tyler in Bryce's bed and then left the room and Bryce let out a big "Na Na!" to Tyler on the way out.

He's also started to say "Bu" for book whenever its story time and today we were reading the story "Where is Spot?" and every time I pointed out the doggie he'd say "Da" for dog.

I also think I caught a "Ba" today for ball too. I remember Tyler started out this way too only saying the first sound of each word. But I think if I keep reinforcing and listening for it - it'll come.

FYI - I also got him to take a few steps holding on to the couch yesterday and today he really likes taking some rather drunken like steps while holding onto a miniature stroller we have.

Dinner Time Melt down

The other night at dinner (where many of Tyler's end of the day - I'm over tired - meltdowns occur) we were trying to enforce his eating a significant portion of his dinner before he could make any other requests for dinner (i.e. toast and a banana, his usual staples).

Tyler was quite distraught over this. It started to get kind of comical to me when he said through huge tears and gasps "Stop saying those bad words to me Mom. I don't want to eat my dinner. But I LOVE my toast and banana."

Yeah had to feel for the kid. I guess, chicken, brown rice and vegetables didn't look all that appetizing but holding my ground has paid off in subsequent meal times.

BTW - There was no swearing in our house that night the bad words he was referring to were "No, Tyler you may not have toast and bananas until you eat your dinner."

Tyler in Action

This is a video of Tyler showing off some of his "fighting moves." He got this nerf sword for his birthday from Jonny and Richelle. Ben has the same one and they love to have sword fights together.

Getting into trouble and Being Goofy

While I am glad that Bryce has finally become mobile and entertains himself for the most part these days. It also means he's curious about and into EVERYTHING.

Example A: I leave the room for 2 minutes to assist Tyler in a potty break and Bryce has pulled out almost the entire box of kleenex.

He also makes some of the goofiest faces. He managed to get this Kleenex on his head all by himself and it stayed there for awhile. I love the face too.

Sorry its been so long

I need to add something to your blog. I guess lately I've just wanted to add things to my own blog to share with everyone. Here's a recent funny Tyler comment for you though:
 
After being in time-put for not coming to the dinner table:

Tyler said "You made me sad, Mom."

His child therapist father then pipes in "Did Mom make you sad or did you choose to be sad Tyler?"

Giggling now "My shoes aren't sad Dad."

A therapeutic concept a little advanced for a three year old to grasp.

Our New Place

When my own parenting comes back to me

After taking a toy away from Tyler that he had just taken from Bryce "Can I tell you something? You said 'We don't take toys away from people.'"

Walking into the room while Tyler is watching The Lion King. "This movie isn't for you, Mom. Its too scary for you. Its only for me."

My personal favorite during FHE last week: We were talking about Samuel the Lamanite and explaining that he was a prophet like President Monson and he was trying to teach people how they can be happy just like President Monson. Then Tyler says "Yeah Mom needs to listen to the prophet so she can be happy and not get mad at me." (Ouch..)

The Curiosity of a Three year old

"Can we talk to Jesus on Skype?"

"Whats inhale?"

"What are bones?"

"But dogs eat bones?"

"Does Bryce have bones?"

"Do we have bones in our bum?"

"Does Bryce have bones in his bum?"

Tyler's Slang

"Casin' Up" - meaning to pack a suitcase for a trip. Example: I'm just casin up for St. George, Mom.

"Lawning" - meaning the act of mowing the lawn. Example: I'm just lawning Bryce's room right now.

1st Cake

Although it wasn't Bryce's birthday he just looked really cute eating this tiny piece of cake we gave him. He's really moving along with eating most finger foods, although his hand eye coordination isn't good enough to feed himself yet.

Welcome Baby Anya!

Your newest grandchild needs a post. Although I know you've been with her 24/7 lately. I'll have to talk to Sarah about how she can post on here once she has some time to.

Feeling Better

Although we still have lots of runny noses and kleenex around our house I would say we're all feeling better. We stayed home from church so we wouldn't infect more people though. Tyler and I were trying to teach Bryce to crawl today. You can tell he really wants to be able to follow Tyler around. He gets really excited like he's just going to start going, but it turns into more of a beached whale move than anything that will propel him forward. Maybe if we lived in water he'd be a great swimmer. Anyway. I put Bryce in Tyler's tent to play with him today and he loved it. He loves being with Tyler and playing with Tyler's stuff. He's some cute pictures of it.

Being the Little brother

Bryce is pretty good at putting up with Tyler antics. I'm sure when he has more skills to fight back that will change though. Tyler put his firemen hat on Bryce on Sunday. Bryce actually thought it was funny for a little while and was beaming and giggling.



When I tried to turn it around to take a picture he started to cry though.


Tyler likes to carry around this back pack during the day now. Its something a neighbor gave to us and it fits Tyler just right. I noticed it was pretty heavy today and opened it up to see what he was stashing inside. This is what I found: all of Bryce's favorite toys...coincidence? I think not.

Castles

Tyler has gotten really good at building castles with his blocks lately. He built the top one today after lunch with some "new" blocks Megan dropped off for him. (She brought by some blocks and puzzles her kids had gotten too old for.) And the one below he built in his "office" while he was supposed to be in time out the other morning. He's pretty good at grouping things and stacking them and he's showing more creativity too.

Comment of the Day

Andy and I went to the temple this afternoon while Paula watched the boys. When Tyler saw us leave in our Sunday clothes he asked "Are you going to church?" and we said "No we're going to the temple." After we picked up the boys I suggested to Andy we drive past the temple so Tyler knows what it is and can picture it when we tell him we're going to the temple (Andy suggested we should probably have a picture on the wall too). As we drove past the Provo temple I told him to look at the very top and he could see a statue of the Angel Moroni. Andy then said "Someday when you're older you can go to the temple too." Tyler was kind of half asleep at this point but he looked very seriously at the Angel Moroni and said "I don't think I can reach that high." I guess we'll have to have more lessons about the temple in Family Home Evening.

Tyler Comments

(Pictured above)
We found the hat and gloves in his closet yesterday when I was cleaning it out. Andy bought Tara a pair of nice biking gloves this summer but they ended up being way too small. Luckily they fit Tyler just right. He calls them his racing gloves and hat. He kept telling me yesterday he needed to go out and buy a red race car at the store to match his gloves and hat. He told me he had money. I asked him how much it was going to cost and he said $3. Andy said "Why don't we buy two!"

Other recent Tyler comments:
His friend Lily came over to play today and at lunch when discussing what they were going to do after lunch Tyler said "Lets pick our nose." I don't know how many friends he's going to keep with comments like those.

When we were at Tara's this week Bella kept trying to get under Tyler's skin by telling him he wasn't allowed to have a banana even though I'd already given him one or telling him he was a "baby sister." Tyler was almost in tears over this for some reason and kept saying "Mom, Bella's calling me a baby sister." Obviously Bella was getting the reaction she was looking for. I told him "Tyler she's just teasing you. Brush it off. Go play." So Tyler stop crying pretended to brush some imaginary something off his face and shoulders and then walked away to go play. Hey, whatever works.

Thank You

Tyler was excited to put his pillow case on this morning. Hopefully he'll have pleasant dreams of trains today during his nap. Bryce was fascinated by the clouds on his blanket and played on it for awhile this morning. They look great. Thanks again.

Funny Story

The other night Tyler woke up at 2 in the morning and needed to go potty. Andy took him into the bathroom, helped him out of his jammies and waited til he peed. Then they put his diaper and jammies back on. As Tyler went to flush the toilet, Andy said Tyler all of a sudden put his hand over his face, started to cry and said "I didn't wipe." They had to take everything off again so Tyler could wipe before he went off to bed again. Its hard to remember so many steps when you're 2.

Is this Kid cute or what?

Think he's a winner? Help me choose which photo to submit for the Beautiful Baby Contest. Maybe I'm exploiting his good looks but I checked out the other photos and thought Bryce is cuter than 95% of those babies and we got nothing to loose. Capturing the cuteness in one photo is the hardest part. My favorites go from the bottom up. The top ones I wouldn't submit. His over exaggerated smile was just really cute. Go to parenting.com to look at the other contestants in the photo contest. I think he's got a shot in comparison. The ethnic kids may have a hand up but among the caucasian blue eyed blond hair babies he's definitely in the top percentile. But of course I have some bias as his mother.

Memories of Kitty

I heard something funny on the radio on my way to Tara's the other day that made me think of Kitty. Some study had been done on cat behavior and what some of their "antics" really mean. They said that when a cat brings you a dead animal they've killed it doesn't mean they're bringing you a present. Cats do this to their young and they're actually saying "You're a terrible hunter and you need to start killing your own food. Let me bring you something I've killed to show you." All this time we thought Kitty was giving us presents when actually he was embarrassed by what terrible hunters we were.

P.S. You need to start posting comments. I check for your comments everyday and you've never written one!

A Flair for the Dramatic

Lately I've seen more of a flair for the dramatic in Tyler. Maybe its just the age.
I often catch him "practicing" sad and distraught faces in the mirror in the bathroom.
When I need for him to leave a room and I take him by the arm to lead him out he will usually throw himself to the ground as soon as we've left the room to make it look like I've just thrown his whole body to the ground like a stray dog. Sometimes he'll even say "Don't push me!"
When I'm babysitting Bella and she has to spend some time in time out Tyler will say "I don't want her to go in Time out - I love her!."
When we were around his cousins this weekend and his actions warranted a time out he would often walk away from his cousins yelling "No! Don't! She's my best friend! Don't take me away!"
We're not really sure where he's getting these lines but it makes me think I should start screening those Disney movies more.

Bryce's Hat

I just think Bryce looks really cute in this hat.

From Tyler

NANA I LOVE YOU AND I MISS YOU TYLER


(Tyler typed this all by himself. I just told him which letters to press. This is a fun game he likes to play that helps him learn his letters!)

In Tyler's World

Anything that happened in the past happened "Last Morning"

Fruit Snacks are worth their weight in gold. I can get Tyler to do just about anything if it involves fruit snacks.

Cute Moments

These moments make me excited for these boys to grow up and be friends. I'm sure there will be plenty of fighting in the future, but I love these innocent playful moments. Bryce just adores Tyler.

Little Known Fact

If Bryce giggles too much he gets the hiccups. Happens every day.

Tyler Comment of the Day

This morning Tyler announced at breakfast "This day - I'm not going to pick my nose!" Good resolution bud..we'll see how long it lasts.

Dinner Last Night

Last night Andy and I and the boys ate a nice restaurant near Park City. We had a gift certificate and I wanted to go to the outlet malls afterwards to spend my Christmas money. Andy said he'd do something with the boys while I shopped and we didn't want to pay for a babysitter so we brought them with us. It was a pretty nice restaurant - expensive entrees, white linen table cloths, multiple forks set at your place etc. They were accommodating of our children even though I felt really out of place and there were no other children younger than 12 in the restaurant. Tyler got a booster chair and had his own place at the table. He was really excited about his silverware. Surprisingly both boys were really good all through dinner. Tyler just sat there with his elbows on the table and face in his hands looking around the restaurant most of the time. He even ate politely with his fork and didn't say he didn't like or wanted something else (like he usually does at home). As we were getting ready to leave, Andy and I both commented on how good Tyler had been. Then I reminded Andy to take Tyler to the bathroom before we left for the outlet malls. Tyler very loudly says so everyone in the room can hear "Why? Do you need to poop Dad?" Spoke a little too soon....

The Chocolate Thief Strikes Again

Pit Stop for a Hug

Funny Tyler Comments of the Day

"I like your hair Mom. It looks skinny." (I'd straightened it)

After finding him poking around in the pantry he quickly came out and shut the door and looking very innocent said "I was just wrapping the chocolate up for your Mom. I didn't put any in my mouth." (Not yet at least...)

Happy Birthday Nana!

Friends

Tyler's Interview

Sarah's Baby Shower

Interview with Bryce

Interview with Bryce - Blooper Reel

Nap Time

My Brothers so Cool

Send Bryce Back

The Vocal Stylings of Bryce Ferguson

This Game Never Gets Old