So it's been a while, so here's a little update.
Owen is still attached to his pacifier.
Luke has started gymnastics and LOVES every minute of it.
We bought a new house.
We moved.
We sold our old house.
We are all working and living in the same city for the first time in 4.5 years.
We work. We play. We rest.
Now you're caught up!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Letter to a TWO year old
Owen dear,
You are two years old! And you know what they say about the terrible two's? Yeah, it's all true with you. Sweet one minute, crazy the next. Kind and lovable one day, meaner than snot the next.
You are a brick. You've jumped from being around the 75th percentile for weight to 95%. You are a whopping 32.6 pounds (and to put that in perspective, that's 10 pounds less than your brother). Your teachers at school (Ms. Heather and Mrs. Ony) say they worry when you come running at them full speed for fear you'll knock them over. Almost everyone we see, whether we know them or not, comment on you being a future football player.
You are constantly saying 'mommy'. You yell it from across the house, you say it from the backseat. Anytime, anywhere. Over and over and over again. I've thought about changing my name, but I'm sure you'd just repeat that over and over again like you do 'mommy'. It makes me crazy, but I know you just need a little extra attention.
We still haven't conquered the pacifier. It seriously is going to be the fight of our lives to get rid of them. We thought you were making headway when you threw two pacifiers in the trash, but then you got sick and we were forced to get you another because we were traveling. There's no sense in all of us being miserable. Sometimes, just to make your point you aren't relenting in the war against the pacifiers, you'll walk around with two pacifiers in your mouth. It's quite the sight.
You really like to be held, touched, carried, loved on, played with, etc. Since day one of your life, you have always longed to be next to us. It's not enough to be sitting next to us on the couch, you need to be on our laps or crawling all over us. It's a little exhausting, but without that, you wouldn't be you.
You love to play and fight with Luke. You worry if Luke's not with us and ask about where he is. He gets you into a lot of trouble. A lot. I hope that your conscience will guide you as you get older so that you know when he's trying to rope you into doing something that will lead you to trouble. He's good about getting y'all to the edge and then letting you do the dirty work so you get into trouble when he's looking nice and innocent. Don't worry, we know he's not innocent.
We didn't throw a party for this birthday. We just moved to the new house and had a ton of unpacking to do. We did get a cake for you and we celebrated in Fort Smith with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jon, Aunt Emily and Baby Brooke.
You love to go to the pool. Your favorite thing to do is jumping in from the side. You get up and say 'ready, jump!' and jump into our arms. I don't know where we'll go swimming now, there's really not a pool around here. I guess it's time you learn to swim in the lake. I can't wait to take you on the boat and go tubing and teach you and Luke how to ski!
You're so fantastic and we love you dearly.
Happy two years old, mister!
Mom and Dad
You are two years old! And you know what they say about the terrible two's? Yeah, it's all true with you. Sweet one minute, crazy the next. Kind and lovable one day, meaner than snot the next.
You are a brick. You've jumped from being around the 75th percentile for weight to 95%. You are a whopping 32.6 pounds (and to put that in perspective, that's 10 pounds less than your brother). Your teachers at school (Ms. Heather and Mrs. Ony) say they worry when you come running at them full speed for fear you'll knock them over. Almost everyone we see, whether we know them or not, comment on you being a future football player.
You are constantly saying 'mommy'. You yell it from across the house, you say it from the backseat. Anytime, anywhere. Over and over and over again. I've thought about changing my name, but I'm sure you'd just repeat that over and over again like you do 'mommy'. It makes me crazy, but I know you just need a little extra attention.
We still haven't conquered the pacifier. It seriously is going to be the fight of our lives to get rid of them. We thought you were making headway when you threw two pacifiers in the trash, but then you got sick and we were forced to get you another because we were traveling. There's no sense in all of us being miserable. Sometimes, just to make your point you aren't relenting in the war against the pacifiers, you'll walk around with two pacifiers in your mouth. It's quite the sight.
You really like to be held, touched, carried, loved on, played with, etc. Since day one of your life, you have always longed to be next to us. It's not enough to be sitting next to us on the couch, you need to be on our laps or crawling all over us. It's a little exhausting, but without that, you wouldn't be you.
You love to play and fight with Luke. You worry if Luke's not with us and ask about where he is. He gets you into a lot of trouble. A lot. I hope that your conscience will guide you as you get older so that you know when he's trying to rope you into doing something that will lead you to trouble. He's good about getting y'all to the edge and then letting you do the dirty work so you get into trouble when he's looking nice and innocent. Don't worry, we know he's not innocent.
We didn't throw a party for this birthday. We just moved to the new house and had a ton of unpacking to do. We did get a cake for you and we celebrated in Fort Smith with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jon, Aunt Emily and Baby Brooke.
You love to go to the pool. Your favorite thing to do is jumping in from the side. You get up and say 'ready, jump!' and jump into our arms. I don't know where we'll go swimming now, there's really not a pool around here. I guess it's time you learn to swim in the lake. I can't wait to take you on the boat and go tubing and teach you and Luke how to ski!
You're so fantastic and we love you dearly.
Happy two years old, mister!
Mom and Dad
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Letter to Baby
Dear Owen,
You know, we now affectionately call you b-rat. It's half true, you really can be a b-rat, but part of it is learning, growing, exploring, and not having the vocabulary to communicate your thoughts and feelings appropriately. But today, I'm the b-rat because I let you 22 month letter pass by and the 23 month letter sneak up on me. So, we're just going to combine them. Ok? Ok.
You're doing great without your paci at school. You know you have to leave it in the car and willingly do so when we pull into the parking lot. But it is one of the first things you ask for when we get back in the car when I pick you up in the afternoons. We've even started running errands without it. We're all getting brave :) And when we get to school you run as fast as you can to push the button on the elevator, so I have to stop you so we can take Luke to class first. After we drop Luke off then you run again to the elevator, and I have to follow close behind, because I know if you got on that elevator by yourself, you're perfectly capable of hitting the correct button to the first floor and riding that elevator down. You'd probably be pretty proud of yourself and meanwhile I'd be flipping out.
You are becoming such a little water baby! Just the last couple of weeks you have gone from sitting at the edge of the pool and jumping into our arms to standing and taking a flying jump into our arms. Sometimes you don't even wait for us to get close enough to catch you so you go under until your floaties bring you back up and you have this wide eyed expression that says 'let's do it again!'. You even tried jumping off the diving board, except you didn't so much jump as you did fall. I was there to catch you but you didn't want to do it again. You thought it was hilarious when your dad jumped in. You are so good to get out of the pool when it's time for adult swim and you go with dad and Luke to pick out a treat from the concession stand.
We went to the zoo again yesterday. We have a season pass so we go quite often. You love to get some fish food and throw it in and watch the fish fight over the food. You love to see the monkeys and elephants and you make the best elephant noise. We also love to see the lions and tigers. Right now there are 4 baby tigers at the zoo that are so fun to watch. You crack up watching them pounce on their mom. The zoo has a new playground by the cafe and you and Luke love to play after we make our rounds seeing the animals. You climb all over it and go down the slide all by yourself. It's always fun being able to go and enjoy ourselves!
You are still such a great eater. And surprisingly, you love egg rolls! We totally expected you to spit it out, but you devoured the entire egg roll. We're lucky you like to try different things, you're pretty good to at least try something. You are not a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches and you don't really care for macaroni and cheese.
I can't believe you're going to be two. You are my baby. Not my big boy. I just don't know if I can cope…but then again, I guess there's not much choice.
We love you goose.
Mom and Dad
You know, we now affectionately call you b-rat. It's half true, you really can be a b-rat, but part of it is learning, growing, exploring, and not having the vocabulary to communicate your thoughts and feelings appropriately. But today, I'm the b-rat because I let you 22 month letter pass by and the 23 month letter sneak up on me. So, we're just going to combine them. Ok? Ok.
You're doing great without your paci at school. You know you have to leave it in the car and willingly do so when we pull into the parking lot. But it is one of the first things you ask for when we get back in the car when I pick you up in the afternoons. We've even started running errands without it. We're all getting brave :) And when we get to school you run as fast as you can to push the button on the elevator, so I have to stop you so we can take Luke to class first. After we drop Luke off then you run again to the elevator, and I have to follow close behind, because I know if you got on that elevator by yourself, you're perfectly capable of hitting the correct button to the first floor and riding that elevator down. You'd probably be pretty proud of yourself and meanwhile I'd be flipping out.
You are becoming such a little water baby! Just the last couple of weeks you have gone from sitting at the edge of the pool and jumping into our arms to standing and taking a flying jump into our arms. Sometimes you don't even wait for us to get close enough to catch you so you go under until your floaties bring you back up and you have this wide eyed expression that says 'let's do it again!'. You even tried jumping off the diving board, except you didn't so much jump as you did fall. I was there to catch you but you didn't want to do it again. You thought it was hilarious when your dad jumped in. You are so good to get out of the pool when it's time for adult swim and you go with dad and Luke to pick out a treat from the concession stand.
We went to the zoo again yesterday. We have a season pass so we go quite often. You love to get some fish food and throw it in and watch the fish fight over the food. You love to see the monkeys and elephants and you make the best elephant noise. We also love to see the lions and tigers. Right now there are 4 baby tigers at the zoo that are so fun to watch. You crack up watching them pounce on their mom. The zoo has a new playground by the cafe and you and Luke love to play after we make our rounds seeing the animals. You climb all over it and go down the slide all by yourself. It's always fun being able to go and enjoy ourselves!
You are still such a great eater. And surprisingly, you love egg rolls! We totally expected you to spit it out, but you devoured the entire egg roll. We're lucky you like to try different things, you're pretty good to at least try something. You are not a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches and you don't really care for macaroni and cheese.
I can't believe you're going to be two. You are my baby. Not my big boy. I just don't know if I can cope…but then again, I guess there's not much choice.
We love you goose.
Mom and Dad
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Letter to Baby
Dear Owie Kazoie,
Somehow we let the month fly by…I'm pretty sure I told you to SLOW it down a bit. But I guess we'll blame it on the fact that you can't read yet that you didn't get the memo. Either way, you're a whopping 21 months old.
The fact of the matter is, you're going to be 2 in a blink of an eye, so now would be a good time to discuss how we're going to handle this terrible 2 stage. I'm afraid we're already starting to show signs of what a terror you're going to be, so maybe we need to nip this in the bud now. Here's how mommy and daddy think you should behave in let's just say a pretend situation.
Luke takes your toy.
You hit Luke.
We discipline Luke.
We discipline you for hitting and put you in time out.
You listen carefully and sit in time out for you two minutes nicely.
You get up when you're told and the rest of play time is awesome.
But here's how the scenario really goes:
Luke takes your toy.
You hit Luke.
We discipline Luke
We discipline you for hitting and sit you in time out.
You get up.
We put you back.
You hit us after getting out of time out once again.
We get mad and put you back in time out.
You get mad.
We put you back.
Finally we realize that this is not working and you continue to terrorize your brother.
You see? You're uncooperative and stubborn. And strong willed. And hard headed. And sweet. And kind. And amazing. And so no matter how many times we put you in time out, you still win with your cuteness.
Now lets talk about nap time. I don't know why, but we cannot get you out of the car asleep and put you in your crib. You cry. You pitch fits. You throw your blanket and pacifiers out of the crib. You get you're legs stuck in the slats of the crib. You're exhausted. We're exhausted. Just take your nap for the love of pete! We all need a little break and nap time is there just for that reason.
Now on to vocabulary. It's growing…sort of. You have final consonant deletion on every word, but that's probably because you're still stuck to the pacifier. You're doing better without it during the day, especially at school, but at home it's a little harder…or maybe mommy is just more dependent on it than your teacher at school is. Either way, you can say 'back', 'cat', 'go', 'amen', 'me', 'bubble', 'bubba', 'no', 'eat', 'more', 'yay', 'fish', 'dog', and probably several more, they just aren't coming to mind right now.
You love playing outside and 'driving' the jeep that you and Luke have, or getting in the front seat of the car and turning all the knobs and pushing all the buttons. You love singing and know a few signs to 'I Stand All Amazed' and some of the dances to 'Fruit of the Spirit'. You love playing 'Ring Around the Rosie' and your favorite part is falling down with Luke. You still are my little ball boy, you love to play with balls and people are amazed at how well you dribble. You love books and get so excited to read your favorites. Right now those favorite books include 'Good Dog Carl' and 'Pajama Time'.
We love watching you explore and learn new things. You've started going down the slide by yourself! You love going to the zoo, especially when you get to play on the playground. You can climb up on the couch by yourself and you can get down from mom and dad's big bed by yourself. You're learning so many things I just can't keep track!
We love you little one.
Mom and Dad
Somehow we let the month fly by…I'm pretty sure I told you to SLOW it down a bit. But I guess we'll blame it on the fact that you can't read yet that you didn't get the memo. Either way, you're a whopping 21 months old.
The fact of the matter is, you're going to be 2 in a blink of an eye, so now would be a good time to discuss how we're going to handle this terrible 2 stage. I'm afraid we're already starting to show signs of what a terror you're going to be, so maybe we need to nip this in the bud now. Here's how mommy and daddy think you should behave in let's just say a pretend situation.
Luke takes your toy.
You hit Luke.
We discipline Luke.
We discipline you for hitting and put you in time out.
You listen carefully and sit in time out for you two minutes nicely.
You get up when you're told and the rest of play time is awesome.
But here's how the scenario really goes:
Luke takes your toy.
You hit Luke.
We discipline Luke
We discipline you for hitting and sit you in time out.
You get up.
We put you back.
You hit us after getting out of time out once again.
We get mad and put you back in time out.
You get mad.
We put you back.
Finally we realize that this is not working and you continue to terrorize your brother.
You see? You're uncooperative and stubborn. And strong willed. And hard headed. And sweet. And kind. And amazing. And so no matter how many times we put you in time out, you still win with your cuteness.
Now lets talk about nap time. I don't know why, but we cannot get you out of the car asleep and put you in your crib. You cry. You pitch fits. You throw your blanket and pacifiers out of the crib. You get you're legs stuck in the slats of the crib. You're exhausted. We're exhausted. Just take your nap for the love of pete! We all need a little break and nap time is there just for that reason.
Now on to vocabulary. It's growing…sort of. You have final consonant deletion on every word, but that's probably because you're still stuck to the pacifier. You're doing better without it during the day, especially at school, but at home it's a little harder…or maybe mommy is just more dependent on it than your teacher at school is. Either way, you can say 'back', 'cat', 'go', 'amen', 'me', 'bubble', 'bubba', 'no', 'eat', 'more', 'yay', 'fish', 'dog', and probably several more, they just aren't coming to mind right now.
You love playing outside and 'driving' the jeep that you and Luke have, or getting in the front seat of the car and turning all the knobs and pushing all the buttons. You love singing and know a few signs to 'I Stand All Amazed' and some of the dances to 'Fruit of the Spirit'. You love playing 'Ring Around the Rosie' and your favorite part is falling down with Luke. You still are my little ball boy, you love to play with balls and people are amazed at how well you dribble. You love books and get so excited to read your favorites. Right now those favorite books include 'Good Dog Carl' and 'Pajama Time'.
We love watching you explore and learn new things. You've started going down the slide by yourself! You love going to the zoo, especially when you get to play on the playground. You can climb up on the couch by yourself and you can get down from mom and dad's big bed by yourself. You're learning so many things I just can't keep track!
We love you little one.
Mom and Dad
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Letter to Baby
Dear Mister Man,
Owie, you are 20 months old. Just 4 short months away from being two! I can't believe that we're reaching the terrible twos this quickly!
You crack me up daily. You stick your lip out, fold your arms and turn away from us when you're mad. You open your mouth up real wide and let out the funniest laughs when you're torturing poor Baxter or Luke. You just have the best expressions lately and I can't get enough!
But I'll tell you what I do have enough of, and that's you waking up in the middle of the night or when we put you down for bed. Seriously, it's been going on for two weeks now and I'm so over it. I sure hope you don't have an ear infection, but we'll go to the ENT in a week or two and find out for sure, but I think it's just some sort of habit you've gotten yourself into. Wanna stop? It'd make our lives so much more enjoyable. Thanks :)
You're talking so much more than you were last month, and that probably has a lot to do with having your pacifier out more often. You can say 'fish' 'please' 'mama' 'dada' 'dog' 'quack quack' 'bubba' 'bubble' 'amen' and I'm sure there's more I'm missing, but that's a huge improvement over last month! :)
You have had your first haircut. We finally broke down and cut off your baby mullet, it was getting long enough to put in a ponytail so it was definitely time. You did really well and you look so handsome and big boy instead of a little baby. But I guess you have to get ready for summer, and so off went the mullet.
You love going to the park down the road from the house and you are great about climbing up the stairs and going down the slide now. Last month I could barely get you to go down the slide. This month you're doing it all by yourself! And you love the swings. You just lean your head back and laugh. It's the cutest thing. Really, seriously cute.
We love you little mister man,
mom and dad
Owie, you are 20 months old. Just 4 short months away from being two! I can't believe that we're reaching the terrible twos this quickly!
You crack me up daily. You stick your lip out, fold your arms and turn away from us when you're mad. You open your mouth up real wide and let out the funniest laughs when you're torturing poor Baxter or Luke. You just have the best expressions lately and I can't get enough!
But I'll tell you what I do have enough of, and that's you waking up in the middle of the night or when we put you down for bed. Seriously, it's been going on for two weeks now and I'm so over it. I sure hope you don't have an ear infection, but we'll go to the ENT in a week or two and find out for sure, but I think it's just some sort of habit you've gotten yourself into. Wanna stop? It'd make our lives so much more enjoyable. Thanks :)
You're talking so much more than you were last month, and that probably has a lot to do with having your pacifier out more often. You can say 'fish' 'please' 'mama' 'dada' 'dog' 'quack quack' 'bubba' 'bubble' 'amen' and I'm sure there's more I'm missing, but that's a huge improvement over last month! :)
You have had your first haircut. We finally broke down and cut off your baby mullet, it was getting long enough to put in a ponytail so it was definitely time. You did really well and you look so handsome and big boy instead of a little baby. But I guess you have to get ready for summer, and so off went the mullet.
You love going to the park down the road from the house and you are great about climbing up the stairs and going down the slide now. Last month I could barely get you to go down the slide. This month you're doing it all by yourself! And you love the swings. You just lean your head back and laugh. It's the cutest thing. Really, seriously cute.
We love you little mister man,
mom and dad
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Letter to Baby
Dear Owen,
You are 19 months old now and I adore every bit of you. Your hair is getting long, it's starting to look like a mullet. Can you say party in the back? Your feet are growing like a weed, your tubes are starting to work their way out and your throwing arm is getting stronger.
Your vocabulary is growing and now includes the words 'bubble', 'ish' (fish) and 'mo' (more). We have to tell you to take your paci out, say the word, which sometimes you do, and then you put the paci back in. But I'm so glad you're learning more words. Your receptive vocabulary is still amazing, so I know the expressive part will get there in time.
You've been running a fever for about the last 4 days off and on I got a phone call from your school last week and had to come get you. Your M came and picked you up, took you home to rest. The rest of the weekend you would have spurts where you felt great and played, then would spike a fever and crash. M took off Monday from work to keep you and Daddy was able to take off work yesterday (Tuesday) to keep you. You stopped running a fever finally so you'll go back to school today. We took you to the ENT I work with and you were fine ear, nose and throat wise, so off to school you go now.
Getting to stay home with dad must've been tons of fun. Daddy made a pallet in the floor for you to lay on and relax. You went to the store with him and got a bunch of groceries and a new ball. Daddy even took you to the park and pushed you in the swing. What fun! Monday evening Daddy came to pick you up from M and took you back home so he could keep you Tuesday. Mommy and Luke stayed at M and Pa's for the night. I'm sure you loved having Daddy all to yourself for a night!
We put up a little basketball hoop and you love it. You are pretty good at making baskets already and I know you'll be our little basketball player. You have a knack for it already! I have a feeling you'll be into a few sports. If it includes a ball, I'm sure you'll want to play.
You're cutting your canine teeth right now, and to be honest, I think that's been part of the fever, if not all of it. You are still a terrible teether and I hope you get them all out of the way sooner than later. It's no fun for you or for us!
When you and Luke play together, and something happens, you come running to mom and dad and point and say 'bubba' to let us know that he's done something that upsets you. Or you come running to us and say 'uh oh' to let us know there's something wrong. You're really good at getting your point across.
We love you Owen.
Mom and Dad
You are 19 months old now and I adore every bit of you. Your hair is getting long, it's starting to look like a mullet. Can you say party in the back? Your feet are growing like a weed, your tubes are starting to work their way out and your throwing arm is getting stronger.
Your vocabulary is growing and now includes the words 'bubble', 'ish' (fish) and 'mo' (more). We have to tell you to take your paci out, say the word, which sometimes you do, and then you put the paci back in. But I'm so glad you're learning more words. Your receptive vocabulary is still amazing, so I know the expressive part will get there in time.
You've been running a fever for about the last 4 days off and on I got a phone call from your school last week and had to come get you. Your M came and picked you up, took you home to rest. The rest of the weekend you would have spurts where you felt great and played, then would spike a fever and crash. M took off Monday from work to keep you and Daddy was able to take off work yesterday (Tuesday) to keep you. You stopped running a fever finally so you'll go back to school today. We took you to the ENT I work with and you were fine ear, nose and throat wise, so off to school you go now.
Getting to stay home with dad must've been tons of fun. Daddy made a pallet in the floor for you to lay on and relax. You went to the store with him and got a bunch of groceries and a new ball. Daddy even took you to the park and pushed you in the swing. What fun! Monday evening Daddy came to pick you up from M and took you back home so he could keep you Tuesday. Mommy and Luke stayed at M and Pa's for the night. I'm sure you loved having Daddy all to yourself for a night!
We put up a little basketball hoop and you love it. You are pretty good at making baskets already and I know you'll be our little basketball player. You have a knack for it already! I have a feeling you'll be into a few sports. If it includes a ball, I'm sure you'll want to play.
You're cutting your canine teeth right now, and to be honest, I think that's been part of the fever, if not all of it. You are still a terrible teether and I hope you get them all out of the way sooner than later. It's no fun for you or for us!
When you and Luke play together, and something happens, you come running to mom and dad and point and say 'bubba' to let us know that he's done something that upsets you. Or you come running to us and say 'uh oh' to let us know there's something wrong. You're really good at getting your point across.
We love you Owen.
Mom and Dad
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Letter to Baby
Dear 18th month old that calls me mom,
You are the cutest, stockiest, funniest, cuddliest, most adorable mean little stink on the planet. Seriously. You hit when you don't get your way. You pitch fits of epic proportions. You throw, knock down or kick when things just don't go the way you planned it would. It's really a good thing you only act this way at home or around people you're most comfortable with. So far we haven't had any incidents at school.
You love dancing. And music. Any music can get you on your feet moving and grooving. And you love playing 'Ring Around the Rosie'. You fall down and clap your hands. One of you're favorite songs says 'Peanut sittin' on a railroad track, his heart was all a flutter. Along came a choo-choo train, smashed him flat! (Clap your hands together here) Choo-Choo peanut butter'. You move your little arms like you're a little choo-choo, and when it comes to clapping your hands together, you get the best little look on your face like it will be the best clap ever. Seriously too cute.
You're in nursery now at church, and because church is during your nap time, it's really hard. You scream and cry when I drop you off, but then when you get settled and I come back to check on you through the mirror, you're playing and having a grand old time. Your nursery leaders are so considerate to you and your pacifier addiction as well.
You've learned a few new words, the most notable is 'melmo' otherwise known as 'elmo'. It took me a while to figure it out, but when you started pointing to your diaper, which has elmo on them, I put two and two together. Your mom is a pretty smart lady, you know :).
You are loving oranges. Not so much a fan of orange juice, but you can chow down on some oranges. You still love chicken, black olives, fries, fish sticks and peas. You've tried rice a few times and despise it. And all of a sudden you won't eat grilled cheese sandwiches. What's up with that?
You love climbing all over your dad, painting with Luke, playing Trouble with the family, loving on Baxter and stealing Luke's toys. Oh, you love to torture your brother. You can be his best buddy, but you can be so mean to him, too. I know that's just brothers and how you roll, but I really wish you could be just a little kinder to your brother. He loves you so much.
You're not a fan of the snow. Not just a fan, but hate everything about it. Sledding down the hill? Nope, hate it. Build a snow man? Absolutely not. You just would rather the weather produce no snow or ice and you could be satisfied.
We love you little one, for always.
Mom and Dad
You are the cutest, stockiest, funniest, cuddliest, most adorable mean little stink on the planet. Seriously. You hit when you don't get your way. You pitch fits of epic proportions. You throw, knock down or kick when things just don't go the way you planned it would. It's really a good thing you only act this way at home or around people you're most comfortable with. So far we haven't had any incidents at school.
You love dancing. And music. Any music can get you on your feet moving and grooving. And you love playing 'Ring Around the Rosie'. You fall down and clap your hands. One of you're favorite songs says 'Peanut sittin' on a railroad track, his heart was all a flutter. Along came a choo-choo train, smashed him flat! (Clap your hands together here) Choo-Choo peanut butter'. You move your little arms like you're a little choo-choo, and when it comes to clapping your hands together, you get the best little look on your face like it will be the best clap ever. Seriously too cute.
You're in nursery now at church, and because church is during your nap time, it's really hard. You scream and cry when I drop you off, but then when you get settled and I come back to check on you through the mirror, you're playing and having a grand old time. Your nursery leaders are so considerate to you and your pacifier addiction as well.
You've learned a few new words, the most notable is 'melmo' otherwise known as 'elmo'. It took me a while to figure it out, but when you started pointing to your diaper, which has elmo on them, I put two and two together. Your mom is a pretty smart lady, you know :).
You are loving oranges. Not so much a fan of orange juice, but you can chow down on some oranges. You still love chicken, black olives, fries, fish sticks and peas. You've tried rice a few times and despise it. And all of a sudden you won't eat grilled cheese sandwiches. What's up with that?
You love climbing all over your dad, painting with Luke, playing Trouble with the family, loving on Baxter and stealing Luke's toys. Oh, you love to torture your brother. You can be his best buddy, but you can be so mean to him, too. I know that's just brothers and how you roll, but I really wish you could be just a little kinder to your brother. He loves you so much.
You're not a fan of the snow. Not just a fan, but hate everything about it. Sledding down the hill? Nope, hate it. Build a snow man? Absolutely not. You just would rather the weather produce no snow or ice and you could be satisfied.
We love you little one, for always.
Mom and Dad
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Letter to my 4 year old
Baby Luke,
Turns out, you're not so much a baby anymore. As you would put it, 'I'm 4, I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy.' As a matter of fact, you've sprouted up this past year. You're face has changed into a more little boy look. You have a TON of hair. You have opinions and the vocabulary to back them.
This past year has been so awesome. We've had vacations to the beach, twice. You loved the sand and playing with daddy, and for a few minutes you actually liked the ocean, but then you were over it. We've been to Dallas to play and shop. We've been to Branson and Silver Dollar City. We've been to visit your Grandma and Grandpa in Northwest Arkansas.
At Silver Dollar City you loved riding the rides. You're favorite was the roller coaster - kid sized. I can't believe you liked it! You're definitely more of dare devil than I realized :) We waited in line for the parade and in true Luke fashion, you made friends with the kiddos beside us. We weren't able to stay for the parade because you and Owen were just way too tired. We had a great little trip and I think that we may make that a yearly trip.
You're learning so much! You know you're 'ABCs', you can count to thirty, you know shapes, colors and the sounds the letters make. You can write your name. You love to look at the letters in all your books and try to figure out what they say. Your preschool teacher is Mrs. Amanda and we think she's great. She lets you and your class do so many fun things. You paint, draw and craft. I know you always have a great time.
Your favorite movies right now are 'Planes' (we're watching it right now), 'Wreck It Ralph' and of course, the all time favorite, 'Cars'. You love playing the game 'Trouble'. We play it all the time. Your favorite part is sending mom and dad home. You won last night, but when you lose, you're a bit of a sore loser so we're working on being a good sport. Dad has yet to win a game.
We still stay at M and Pa's some during the week, and you love getting away with murder there. You and Owen seem to rule the roost while we're there. You sleep with mommy on the pull out couch, and most nights we're fine, but we sleep with a pillow in between us because your little foot likes to find its way to my back. Ouch!
Your vocabulary is amazing. You pick up everything and are really pretty articulate. You've turned into quite the little helper. You can turn the lights on by yourself, you can wash your hands, put your shoes on, clean up toys, put in a DVD by yourself, get into the car by yourself. All of these little things really add up and help us so much!
Oh! and you're FINALLY fully potty trained! What a relief!!
You are kind hearted, gentle, you love your brother and are so good playing with him (most of the time). You know what you want, you don't pitch too many fits. You love to read books. You still have Monkey. You love your family and we love you.
We love you and can't wait to see what the next year brings. Happy 4th!
Mom and Dad
Turns out, you're not so much a baby anymore. As you would put it, 'I'm 4, I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy.' As a matter of fact, you've sprouted up this past year. You're face has changed into a more little boy look. You have a TON of hair. You have opinions and the vocabulary to back them.
This past year has been so awesome. We've had vacations to the beach, twice. You loved the sand and playing with daddy, and for a few minutes you actually liked the ocean, but then you were over it. We've been to Dallas to play and shop. We've been to Branson and Silver Dollar City. We've been to visit your Grandma and Grandpa in Northwest Arkansas.
At Silver Dollar City you loved riding the rides. You're favorite was the roller coaster - kid sized. I can't believe you liked it! You're definitely more of dare devil than I realized :) We waited in line for the parade and in true Luke fashion, you made friends with the kiddos beside us. We weren't able to stay for the parade because you and Owen were just way too tired. We had a great little trip and I think that we may make that a yearly trip.
You're learning so much! You know you're 'ABCs', you can count to thirty, you know shapes, colors and the sounds the letters make. You can write your name. You love to look at the letters in all your books and try to figure out what they say. Your preschool teacher is Mrs. Amanda and we think she's great. She lets you and your class do so many fun things. You paint, draw and craft. I know you always have a great time.
Your favorite movies right now are 'Planes' (we're watching it right now), 'Wreck It Ralph' and of course, the all time favorite, 'Cars'. You love playing the game 'Trouble'. We play it all the time. Your favorite part is sending mom and dad home. You won last night, but when you lose, you're a bit of a sore loser so we're working on being a good sport. Dad has yet to win a game.
We still stay at M and Pa's some during the week, and you love getting away with murder there. You and Owen seem to rule the roost while we're there. You sleep with mommy on the pull out couch, and most nights we're fine, but we sleep with a pillow in between us because your little foot likes to find its way to my back. Ouch!
Your vocabulary is amazing. You pick up everything and are really pretty articulate. You've turned into quite the little helper. You can turn the lights on by yourself, you can wash your hands, put your shoes on, clean up toys, put in a DVD by yourself, get into the car by yourself. All of these little things really add up and help us so much!
Oh! and you're FINALLY fully potty trained! What a relief!!
You are kind hearted, gentle, you love your brother and are so good playing with him (most of the time). You know what you want, you don't pitch too many fits. You love to read books. You still have Monkey. You love your family and we love you.
We love you and can't wait to see what the next year brings. Happy 4th!
Mom and Dad
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Letter to Baby
Dear Mr.,
You are cutting all four one year old molars at the same time, and that's why this letter is late. You are mean you are cutting teeth. You are cranky when you are cutting teeth. You are clingy, whiney, mad, tired, and a down right bear when you are cutting teeth. If this is how you act when you lose a tooth, I'm sunk.
And if I could pry that pacifier out of your mouth for five seconds I'm sure you would start speaking. But as it stands, it all comes out 'ga' or 'da' or '{add a consonant of your choosing}ah'. Ball, mama, dada are still plenty understandable. The rest, not so much. Your comprehensive vocabulary is amazing and you're really great at relaying what you want by a series of points and sounds, but you have got to start getting some more words!
When you're feeling good, you're a ton of fun. You love to crawl all over us, give us high fives, play catch, race cars with Luke, enjoy pizza, picnic and a movie night. You like to pull all of dad's shoes out of his closet and make a big pile. He doesn't enjoy that, but I think it's quite funny.
M has been picking you and Luke up at school and taking you to the library to play. I think you really love getting to go with them and enjoy the play time. M and Pa think you are so funny, but know you've got a little mean streak in you. We have to be careful, especially because you like to slap and you just don't know your own strength!
You had an awesome Christmas and enjoyed ripping open packages. You didn't really care what the present was, but the tearing of paper was right up your alley. Santa was pretty good to you and Luke this year. No coal in your stocking!
We celebrated the new year by going to bed on time and sleeping in to five a.m. the new year's day. It was very exciting and super glamorous. Actually, it was exactly what we all needed! And now that we're in the new year, it means you're going to be eighteen months old and then 2 and then before we know it, you'll have a job and be moving out of the house.
But as for now, we want you to know how much we love you. Crankiness and all.
Loves,
Mom and Dad
You are cutting all four one year old molars at the same time, and that's why this letter is late. You are mean you are cutting teeth. You are cranky when you are cutting teeth. You are clingy, whiney, mad, tired, and a down right bear when you are cutting teeth. If this is how you act when you lose a tooth, I'm sunk.
And if I could pry that pacifier out of your mouth for five seconds I'm sure you would start speaking. But as it stands, it all comes out 'ga' or 'da' or '{add a consonant of your choosing}ah'. Ball, mama, dada are still plenty understandable. The rest, not so much. Your comprehensive vocabulary is amazing and you're really great at relaying what you want by a series of points and sounds, but you have got to start getting some more words!
When you're feeling good, you're a ton of fun. You love to crawl all over us, give us high fives, play catch, race cars with Luke, enjoy pizza, picnic and a movie night. You like to pull all of dad's shoes out of his closet and make a big pile. He doesn't enjoy that, but I think it's quite funny.
M has been picking you and Luke up at school and taking you to the library to play. I think you really love getting to go with them and enjoy the play time. M and Pa think you are so funny, but know you've got a little mean streak in you. We have to be careful, especially because you like to slap and you just don't know your own strength!
You had an awesome Christmas and enjoyed ripping open packages. You didn't really care what the present was, but the tearing of paper was right up your alley. Santa was pretty good to you and Luke this year. No coal in your stocking!
We celebrated the new year by going to bed on time and sleeping in to five a.m. the new year's day. It was very exciting and super glamorous. Actually, it was exactly what we all needed! And now that we're in the new year, it means you're going to be eighteen months old and then 2 and then before we know it, you'll have a job and be moving out of the house.
But as for now, we want you to know how much we love you. Crankiness and all.
Loves,
Mom and Dad
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