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.