Friday Favorites: Bedtime

So, each evening, we love bedtime. Typically, this is Graces most fun time of day because she is bathed and fed and happy and wants to crawl everywhere and laugh and play and then is easy to put to bed. Atticus is also fun, but very wild as baths tend to hyper him up instead of calm him down. But, it's always fun because Vic is home and we are just playing with kids. And, another great part of bedtime for kids? PAJAMAS! They are just so stinkin' cute! So, last night I attempted a pajama picture of the kids. Here is how it went:

We get both kids put on the couch. Both stand up instead of staying put.

Grace pulls up to knock Atticus' cup over.

 Then, she realizes she has been caught.

 She tries to get out of trouble with a cute grin.  

 We try again to get them to pose.  

 Atticus heads to the side of the couch.

 And jumps up.

And he crashes down.

 

Just wanting to get one little picture, I bribe Atticus with a "pawty teet" (Hershey kiss) while Vic plays the Goofy Santa to get Grace's attention. We lose the "patient parents" award - we just wanted a picture.

 And we finally get a sweet bedtime picture. Love these two sweet babies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We had a very nice day with our little family of four here in College Station. We had sort-of-turkey-shaped pancakes for breakfast; pear, blue cheese and raisin bites for an appetizer;a delicious lunch of turkey, dressing, gravy, squash casserole, cauliflower gratin, cranberry conserve, and apple butter pumpkin pie for dessert. So, basically we ate all day long. We took naps, we played, we finished decorating outside for Christmas, did a little Black Friday online shopping and just enjoyed our day. Atticus said "Happy Danksdivving" and "Dobble Dobble" many times as well as gave our lunch prayer. We have a lot to be thankful for and so happy to have this day to give thanks for those blessings.

 

 

Grace: Our Little Pink Bear

So, to update everyone, Grace has a double ear infection and had fever for a few days, but is now on amoxicillin and ear drops and already back to her old self, minus the runny nose, ear infection, and coughs. But, she feels much better than she did when she had constant fever. Today, I snuck her outside for just a few minutes to look at the lights Atticus and Vic were putting up on the bushes; so, to keep her toasty warm, I put her in her new pink bear costume. Since we live in Texas, and there is a good chance it will be 85 degrees here next week, I thought I should take advantage of any chance we got to dress her in this outfit. She was precious! And of course, big brother thought he needed to terrorize her a little as well. Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Conversations

Atticus is continuing to talk more and more all the time. For example:

When eating something he likes "Ooh! Yummy in my tummy!"

He has started using "I" instead of "Attis" when talking lately. "Attis" still comes out occasionally.

He also has a lot on his shoulders apparently as he uses the term "I betta doe..." a lot. "Mommy I betta doe take Dace her paci." or "I betta doe det my banket" or "I betta doe cawl in your car". He "betta doe" do lots of things.

The cutest pronunciation he has lately is for marshmallows - one of his favorite treats: "Posh-pettows."

In the last two weeks, Atticus has been asking us "What time is it?" randomly. Sometimes after you tell him, he will repeat it and then ask "What time is it next?" Not sure where this curiosity about time has come from but it's pretty funny.

Last week, I knocked an entire container of puffs on the ground at a restaurant and said "Oh shoot!". He immediately repeated me so I corrected myself and said "Oh no!" and have been trying to avoid saying "Oh Shoot" since then. Today, I dropped something on the ground and he immediately said "Oh Shoot!" to which I ignored him. Good thing Vic and I don't really cuss around here.

When reading books or talking about animals, we still have the conversation of "Mommy, you yike nakes? Mommy, you yike rats?" and when I say no and grimace and ask him the same, he will decide his answer for the day and come back with something like "Oh yes! I do yike nakes!" He is also so funny in the way he talks about dogs or cats. He will tell me "I yike puppy dogs and titty tats."

When I ask him to make a decision, he will always start with "howt bowt...."

A funny conversation that made complete sense to him while we were watching a monkey at the Moody Gardens Rainforest:

Me: "Atticus, do you see that monkey? He has fingers and toes just like you."
Atticus: "Yook Mommy - that monkey has a tail just like me!"
Me: "Oh ok..."
Atticus: "No, Attis not have tail, Attis have belt."
And the conversation ended.

I went through a phase of not liking being called Mommy. He started this randomly at the end of the summer. He has always called me Mama and I love it. But, I wasn't so sure about Mommy. Well, now I'm used to it and love it too.

We have been talking about being thankful a lot. So, after a park visit one day, we were walking to the car and I was explaining that thankful meant being happy for something or someone and loving that something or someone. So, I would ask him what he was thankful for. He told me he was "daful" for daddy, dacie, mommy, yeaves, toys, am-mulls, etc. as we walked along. And each time he thought of something, I would say "we are thankful for that because we love it and are happy to have it, right?"  At one point, I said I was thankful for Atticus and he looked up at me and said, "You yuv me mommy?" I told him that yes, I loved him and with his face lighting up, he said my favorite phrase: "I yuv you too mommy!"

My cup runneth over.

The past few weeks...

This month has been very busy with trips, visits from friends, and seeing family. Here is a pictorial review:

Our friends, the Hueys, came in for a Saturday so Todd and Vic could go to the Aggie Football game while the kids and moms played at the house. Here is Atticus, Grace, Camden, and Haley holding Leighton.

 

We went to Galveston for a few days with Vic, who had meetings for work during the day. We went to the Rainforest and the Aquarium at Moody Gardens, hit up the beach, and ate at Rainforest Café twice. Needless to say, the abundance of animals made Atticus' week!

We celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss with a night out while Vic's parents were in town to watch the kids. We went to Uncorked for wine, cheese, and fruit in Downtown Bryan. Then, we had dinner at The Republic in College Station, where we had steaks, scallops, wine, calamari, macaroni and cheese, and cauliflower gratin. Yum! While in Downtown Bryan, we stopped by Downtown 202, where our reception was held 6 years before. It was rainy and there was another wedding reception going on!

Though I had a weekend filled with Church duties, scrapbooking and our anniversary night out, the kids had lots of fun with their Janny & Grandpa.

We attended our friends, Chris & Katherine's, neighborhood fall festival that had popcorn, balloon animals, a train ride, a petting zoo that included a 50 year old turtle, and a playground. These are all Atticus' favorite things.

We have had lots of fun in the bathtub lately. 

 

We headed to Sanger/Aubrey for a few days to visit the Erwin side of the family. I got to do a little afternoon shopping and had dinner at Charley & Ana's; we shopped for kitchen floors with GG; we checked on the cows and horses and Melbo & Pa's a few times; we played with and fed the goats at Grandma & Pop's house; and finally we happened to say goodbye to "Free Pass", the goat in the picture above. A few days after we saw her, she passed away at 16 years old. She was our last show goat and one of the best we ever had. Mabie, my favorite doe, passed away earlier this year at 15 years old.

And, since we have been back, we've had a few playdates, done some Thanksgiving crafts, talked about what we are thankful for, and had some toddler kind of days (Atticus - not me). We are currently at the house, watching the Aggies hopefully beat the hell outta LSU, and staying warm on this 43 degree day. We had plans to be in Austin this weekend with the Huey's, but Grace has gotten sick the last couple of days and ended up with a fever yesterday and all through the night until about noon today. She is finally napping and we are hoping she starts feeling better soon. Vic is working a couple of days this week, but we are very excited for Thanksgiving Day!

 

Little Moments: Eyes

So, this morning Atticus has been a toot. He throws his blanket on Grace; he jumps on the couch; he throws the pillows on the ground on top of Grace; he plays with his colored pencils sword fighting them (yes, he is sword fighting by himself) and gets wild almost hitting Grace. He bumps heads with her while being too wild after I told him to move away from her and it's the kind of bump that you can hear when their heads meet. I ask him to do something and he just looks at me and says no. It's just one of those mornings - he has already had a spanking and been warned too many times that he cannot go with Daddy to HEB if he doesn't behave. However, I really need him to go to HEB for awhile so I can re-gain some of my patience. On top of that, Grace has been sick, so if he looks at her wrong, she just starts crying. All in all, it's a normal terrible two kind of morning.

So, as he and Vic start to leave, with Vic knowing I need a few minutes of quiet, Vic dresses Atticus in his new adorable hat and says "tell Mommy bye and give her your cute eyes". Saying this, of course, he means to give me a cute look. But, first, Atticus squints his eyes and then walks to me and pretends to grab his eye and put it in mine. Then, he does the other eye very methodically as if he is trying to give me his eye. Laughing inside at how literal he is being, he then says "no mommy, those are Attis' eyes. Daddy - its not wukking". I just can't help but laugh at how serious he is being about giving me his eyes.

Then, they begin to walk out the door and Vic tells him to tell me bye. He says "Bye Mommy; Bye My Baby. I Yuv You Mommy. I Yuv my baby." And he looks adorable in his little hat while saying it.

Good grief - for all those frustrating moments, he can sure be endearing.

Grace: 8 months

Grace is already 8 months! Here are her stats:

• Weight is approx. 18 lbs.
• In 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers.
• Started crawling right at 7 1/2 months during our trip to Galveston. Gets everywhere this way.
• Even more than crawling, she has taught herself to pull up and actually stand for seconds at a time. It's like a game to her and she pulls up, lets go, and just looks at you while grinning.
• Is so tiny; I am curious to see how she compares to other babies at her 9 month appointment in December. She is just a little baby and so petite!
• Has started clapping and waving. Her claps don't always meet together, but she will do it when she hears music or her musical toys. Her waves are precious although we notice she does it more with others than me or Vic. I guess we don't typically leave her, so why would she wave to us?
• She also has started "dancing". When she is standing up and hears music, she will bounce and bend those little knees. So cute!
• Loves that pacifier at naptime and bedtime and sometimes in the car. I am trying to not do the car though....teaching her to enjoy life in her car seat; that is - until she is old enough to realize we have a DVD player for trips!
• If we are at home, she will take that morning nap still right about 2 hours after she has woken up. If we are out and about, she dozes in the car between stops, but rarely falls asleep in my arms anymore if we are at the park or children's museum or on a play date. However, nighttime is still inconsistent. I would say on average this past month, she has been up 2x a night - sometimes 3x; sometimes 1x. I have decided she is not always hungry though, so I will go pick her up, change her diaper or walk her around for a minute and then lay her back down to which she puts herself back to sleep. But, when I try to just let her cry it out, she doesn't give in until I go through the process above. Rascal.
• Started babbling "mamamamama" - usually when fussy or crying.
• Still only has 2 bottom teeth.
• She is still a good eater. Foods she currently eats: bananas, pears, peaches, strawberries, cheerios, all baby food, pasta, rice, beans, some crackers, some bread, cheese, and even had very tiny pieces of chicken one night. Since she had some constipation trouble recently, I am still giving her pureed prunes daily and she really hasn't had any issues since that time last month.
• She has gotten better about being a "mama only" girl. Just depends on the moment, but getting much better.
• She is so independent! And so curious! The evenings are when she is happiest. Everyone has been fed and kids are bathed and we are typically found on the living room floor playing and catching any random TV show Vic and I can watch while playing.
• I know she is tired and ready for bed the moment she started rubbing her eyes. At that second, I can typically lay her down and she grabs her paci and blanket and is asleep within minutes.
• She is still just a sweet, happy, good baby. She may have a piercing scream when unhappy, but usually we do not hear it often. Can't believe she is 8 months old!

Happy Hawoween!

As Atticus would say, "Happy Hawoween!" At first, he would say "Happy Hayoween". Either way, it was a good one. Honestly, the day was not great. Atticus was in one of those moods where he would not do anything I asked him and was super slow at doing anything else. He was just driving me crazy. And my patience was getting low. I had really almost had it. It's not that he was even being terrible or hateful or mean to Grace or anything. It was just a combination of being two years old and me being patience-less. He actually played some on his own outside (and by on his own, I mean I was outside with him, but at least not hearing "mama pay!" over and over again); he would say funny things that I would laugh at had I been more cheerful. It was just one of those days. The good part is that after raining all morning, it turned into a beautiful afternoon and perfect for trick-or-treating. And the evening was nice.

So, Vic got home, we got kids dressed and attempted pictures, and then headed out for trick-or-treating. Atticus did a good job. He said "Happy Hawoween" or "Trick or Treat" at each house, immediately checked out the candy (and would grab multiple pieces if they offered the candy dish for him to choose), and he said "tant you". He even listened to me when I told him he could not eat any candy until we got home, which honestly, I was expecting him to fight me on that and want candy right away. But, he was good. We walked our neighborhood, but about an hour into it, we started skipping houses here and there and just walking back to our cul-de-sac to trick or treat to our neighbors. He is just such a slow little walker and there was just so much to see and he just couldn't concentrate. But, we made it home, and he ate lots of candy and ironically, has not asked for his Halloween candy today. We put his pumpkin bucket in the pantry and so as soon as he sees it, I'm sure he will ask for some.

Grace, on the other hand, was perfect up until the very end when she got hungry and was ready to have some dinner. She just rode in the stroller and ate her puffs until the end when Vic carried her the rest of the way. I mean - she needs attention too!

The costumes were fun. We got very lucky with Grace's and borrowed my friend, Cecilia's, little pumpkin costume for her. It was so adorable and so much better than the little pumpkin sweat suit I was going to put her in. Atticus' costume was fun too. Until the last week or so, he didn't really understand "dressing up" for Halloween. I started a couple of weeks ago telling him he was going to be a cowboy so he started telling people that when they asked. And he would tell people that Grace was going to be a "punkin". We decided he would be Woody from Toy Story. So, I only had to make the little vest and sheriff badge and buy him a gun, holster, and hat. The hat was a little big so he didn't want to wear it long because it would cover up his eyes. But, he wore the rest pretty well throughout the night. He looked awfully cute walking around in it.

A few comments from the night:

"Dat house has yights!" (we told him the houses with lights were the ones that gave candy)
"Dat sca-ey mommy!" (this happened anytime he saw black or other scary costumes)
"Dat not sca-ey, dat nice." (sometimes what looked scary, he determined was actually nice)
"Attis touch it?" (this happened anytime he saw lawn décor he needed to check out)
"Attis shoot dat piyat" (he said this a few times repeating a homeowner who told him to shoot the dancing pirate on the homeowner's porch when it scared Atticus; he forgot about it later, but at first kept telling me as he looked back down the street to see the pirate that he needed to shoot it)

Potty Training Update

So sorry to leave you hanging on the saga of potty training Atticus. I'm sure you are expecting me to now post saying "hooray! We are done! He is potty trained!". But, I cannot do that. He is not potty trained. Friday, we took a break. The night before, Atticus woke up crying in the middle of the night. After not going back to sleep, I went to his room to check him and asked him if he needed to potty. He said yes and off we went (this was about 1:30 am). But, I found out he had already had an accident in his bed. So, we just put a diaper on for the rest of the night.

And, I decided I didn't want to stay in the house for a third day. So, we left the house for a day out and I put him in a diaper. Then, we were off and on Saturday and Sunday because I was preparing for a baby shower all weekend and Vic had the kids and Atticus was sometimes in underwear, but mostly in diapers. Then, Monday I kept him in a diaper. Monday night, my friend Meghan and I discussed potty training our sons (she is also in the  midst of this with Lane) and she re-inspired me to try some more. So, Tuesday, we went through 3 wet and one poopy diaper in a row without Atticus EVER even telling me he needed to go and I put him back in a diaper. I know - I'm a wimp. But, the poop was gross. And I was frustrated. Frustrated because eventually HE HAS TO TELL ME HE NEEDS TO POTTY! I can't spend every 20 minutes putting him on the potty all day long. I mean- I will if I thought that would help, but even when I do that, he has accidents between those 20 minutes. So, Wednesday and Thursday he was in diapers. Today he was in underwear and had an accident and then we had errands, so he went to a diaper and hasn't gone back to underwear yet (napping now). And then after he gets up from his nap, I want to walk to the park with him and Grace. So, do I put him in a diaper? Or do I put him in underwear? There is no place to use the restroom at the park so he would have to hold it, which is a lot to ask of him and he won't do anyways. And even if there was someplace for him to use the restroom, I think he would still have an accident and I'd have to change his clothes and deal with all of that at the park. So, most likely - diaper it will be.

You can see why this is not an easy task. So many people I have talked to have said "my son was three before he was potty trained" or "I started when he was three" or "when they are ready, it will be easy". Who knows what actually will work for Atticus? We will keep trying.