Introducing the Ee Ee!

Maybe not the most appropriate kid song but they love to dance to it! Towards the end are Brody's version of Aunt Jessie's Donkey Kicks! Hope this kid doesn't become the next K. Fed!

We Finally Did it...

Tonight is the second night without the BINKY...wish us luck. Brody hasn't really thrown any big fits but the problem is, he won't stop talking long enough to fall asleep.  Tonight both boys were tossing and turing and refusing to fall asleep and Brody whines out "But I love Boone"!

I said "That's great buddy" and Boone says "Oh, thanks Bro" and they wrap each other up in a hug with a kiss and Boone rubs Brody's back to go to sleep.  That's how I left them...45 minutes later, Brody is screaming at the door to their room.

He doesn't ask for a binky but needs to be rocked for awhile.  As I lay him back down, I am wishing for that blasted pacifier to plug up his mouth so he'll quit talking.  Boone is sleeping peacefully through it all.  I finally say "Close your eyes and go to sleep".  He flops his head to the side, closes his eyes and says "Wike Dis". I say "Yes" and he reaches for his brother's hand, wrenches it from under the covers and starts frantically manipulating Boone's fingers (as is his habit) like Annie Sullivan finger spelling into Helen Keller's hand when she first understood the word 'WATER".  It is an annoying habit but it seems to relax him.

Just as I think its over and I can sneak out.  He pops his head up and commands "Want some watuh".  I get him one small sip and he gulps it down and responds "Moy".  One more time with the "watuh" and he insists we change James Taylor to Jack Johnson.  I think he's finally out!  

I know I'll be back in there at 3 am playing out a similar scenario so I'll wish all of you sweet dreams instead.

The Other Son's Highlights...

 I was feeling a little guilty for not having any videos of Brody up here.  Last night, he and Josh were goofing around before bed and he had both legs in one leg of his pajama pants.  He was hopping around like a little mermaid and they were both cracking up.  I thought it would be a great video opportunity.  Alas, I was a few seconds too late and was greeted by this charming little guy!

Oh, by the way...he stayed awake until 11 pm and woke up at 6:30 am. So much for sleeping in!

So I Won't Forget...

It is my arms that can wrap around him and get him to snuggle in.

It is my singing (that only he thinks is beautiful) that can make the sobbing stop.

That as he's mauling my fingers as he does every night, I can lean over and nuzzle his soft hair and inhale the sweet smell of my baby boy!

As draining as it is, I won't always be able to do that and I don't want to forget.

Master of the English Language

After walking into to a soaking wet bathroom floor-

Carla: "Brody, did you get out of the tub?"

B: "No, I got back in"

Watching TV-

Josh: "Brody, stop jumping on the furniture!"

B: "Dat's not furniture, dat's a couch"

Eyes

Nana (or Boone @ Nana's) took this picture originally. I tweaked it a bit; been working on eyes. Not that his need much work...

Early AM

Brody woke up at 4:30 this morning. I went in to get him and he sweetly said "Momma, I wanna wink a watuh, pease" Hard to resist, I know.

And then, he never went back to sleep. It is mornings like this that the bad momma wishes that Tivo had a playlist function...Thank goodness Daddy is an early riser on the weekdays!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Our baby is TWO! And that is exactly how you say it..."I TWO!" as you hold up four fingers. We had all plans to be completely done with the binky today too but last week when we asked if you remembered what was going to happen when you turned two, you said "I pay baseball". We said "no, no more binky when you turn two" You replied pensively "no...three" Already bargaining with us little man!

When you came to join us at 12:25 am on March 18th you were 26 minutes too late for the St. Patrick's Parties. I was so happy to have avoided a trip to the hospital for your birth. I got to have the natural birth that I wanted so badly and go home with a 9 pound 5 oz baby to boot! You have provided us with plenty of challenges and made us humble as we realized that we really weren't spectacular parents. Your brother was just a really easy first child. You make us earn our titles of Mom and Dad on a daily basis.


Our family was complete with your arrival. Two kids and two parents, what could be better? Your laugh fills me up everyday! I hope you have all that your heart desires and more my little man.

Love, Mama

Hey There Delilah

No offense the The Plain White Tees but I was dying laughing last night on our way home from the hockey game and we heard this coming from the back seat.  Excuse the blackout but it was quite dark out and the camera was the only recording device I had. Here is a picture with flash so you get the whole idea...

Music

When Boone was little (and still today) be could recognize a Jack Johnson song within the first few notes.  If you asked what he wanted to listen to, he always said "Jack Johnson" (you have to pretend he squished the name all together in an 18 month old kind of voice).  

So, the music of choice for our current almost two year old is "Beety Boys".  What, didn't quite catch that?  Yes, you were correct, that would be "The Beastie Boys".  "Kick It!"  is his favorite new phrase.  

That pretty much just sums up what our life is going to be like with these two!

Brody can...

• Count all the fingers one hand - "un, two" "un, two" "un" (starting over) "two"


• Sing his ABC's - "ABCD BDB GBGB DBD...."


• Say his colors - Boo, Geen, Ed, PoPo, Ink, Leyo, Nge, We just learned "Ite" today.

Mama can... write just enough code to make a bullet list in blogger, and thats all.

More Words

Brody has added a few more words to his vocabulary this week.  "Hep Ne (help me)" "Guy" (every action figure or LEGO man) and "hat" Today he started to mimic Boone and say "I don't know" but pretend it doesn't sound nearly that clear! He also says "ulk" for milk just like his Daddy did. His childcare provider was right, once he starts...  Oh one more new one, he is chasing Boone around saying "key, key" "a Ho Ho one".  See here to figure out what that is regarding.

Daily December #14

So, this is why I didn't post yesterday.  So sick, up all night and super runny nose.  Poor little guy!

Babyhood

Just got through putting the boys to bed.  As I was sitting in the dark rocking Brody, I just snuggled my nose into the curve between his soft, freshly bathed neck and shoulders and inhaled.  I can 't believe how fast his babyhood is slipping away especially since he is my last one.  For now I'll just have to be content to breathe him in...

Happy December!

I really need to put up a new banner but with the new Mac I don't have access to my photoshop until I decide to cough up the $ for a new version.  Brody had two new words today that make Daddy so proud - "Football" and "Golf ball"  I guess technically that last one is two words but still pretty exciting for us. 

We started taking links off our Paper Advent Chain today.  I really want to make a cool calendar for those boys with activities and treats but I guess that is a project for another year.

Poor Brody

The only cuddly stuffed thing that my baby has ever shown an affinity, nay, obsession for has been recalled for more freaking LEAD.  We've been pretty lucky so far but seriously!  The one thing that he wants to go to bed with besides the binky, the one thing he loves to carry around has now been confiscated in order to send it back to the lead police.  So very, very sad!  Goodbye sweet George, goodbye...

Little Men...

Hey check out the new banner! I think I finally got the hang of these things. Fun!

Just realized I haven't posted about the kids in awhile. Not much has been going on here but we've still managed to stay really busy. Josh is going back and forth between Yakima and Pullman for work. He usually is only gone one over night a week for right now but that is likely to change soon.

Boone is great, working on so many letter combinations. So funny when throws a random bunch of letters together and then asks "Mom, what does that spell?" It is probably more entertaining listening to me try to sound them out.

Brody is puny this weekend. Probably just a virus but I had him cultured for strep just in case. It was going around daycare this week. His speech is so delayed compared to Boone's and is actually pretty delayed for his age so I had an evaluation done last month. He barely misses the cutoff to qualify for expressive speech therapy but apparently his receptive is off the charts. That just means we have to be very careful of what we say, because he really does understand it all.

Of course he's been throwing out a lot of attempt at words since the eval. So funny. I think he can now say: duck, dog, cat, hat, thank you, yay!, all done and few new others. They all kind of sound very similar to the untrained ear though...

Labor Day

These first pics are a little ode to all the work that Don and Katie have put into their yard this year. Not that they really do the yard justice, they were just more fun to photograph. I LOVE this bird feeder! Mr. Ugly has been around Josh's grandma's ever since he can remember.

Isn't he just the cutest? He was holding that for daddy...really!!!



One very sultry look, actually more like an annoyed look that I was trying to take his picture yet again. And I wonder why after 14 years together I can count the photos of us taken together on two hands.



Really miss hanging out with crazy Rocky! Love those horseshoe throwers!

If you can't tell, we spent most of Labor Day weekend at Josh's parents house. Lots of swimming and eating and sun!

Sometimes it is such a challange

to parent this little person.

This picture is so blurry because he is running right at me. He is so wild compared to Boone at this age. He must act like the big boys all the time and if he can't or isn't able too...watch out! Complete melt down. This was taken when he was running all over the park at Fishhook this weekend. Granted he'd been cooped up on the boat all morning but Jeez! He never stops and is so daring. He climbs anything, a complete monkey as evidenced by this next pic.



Remember when I was talking about him being Picasso. Well this weekend when Josh and I were within about 4 feet of him he managed to color on the carpet with blue crayon. Like a huge one foot square area in about 5 seconds. Amazing! But we love him dearly and we are learning a lot.

Our Little Picasso

or something... I have no pictures to prove it but once again Brody attacked the white keyboard on Josh's ibook Mac with RED dry erase pen. Arghhh! Thanks goodness for magic erasers but there are still a few bits that I can't get off. Maybe keeping the laptop closed would help prevent this little disaster from repeating itself yet again! Hint, Hint!