1 Year, 7 Months, 2 Weeks

You, my dear Wyatt, are a piece of work!! You are still just a tiny guy, but with a big attitude! You make me smile til it hurts and your hugs and kisses melt my heart!! I love being your mama!

You are slowly adding new words to your vocabulary, but you're still the strong silent type and prefer to grunt or just smile when we ask you to tell us what you want! Some words you say are: Mama, Dada, Bubba, Mimi, PawPaw, Dixie, ball, boat, bath, bike, star, bowl, backpack, "red belly" (a game you and Daddy play), more, please, no, uh-huh, bye-bye, hi. I know there's more! 

You love animal sounds! You woof, meow, neigh, moo, ribbit, or squeak whenever you see animals! Your favorite being dogs, or woof-woofs as you call them.

You love singing songs that have actions and get so excited when you hear them in the car! Your favorites are Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy, I Can Wiggle (that we sing at story time), and This Little Piggy.

You still LOVE all your lovies- big star lovie, small star lovie, white lovie, and woof-woof. You suck your thumb still when touching a lovie or even saying the word. We are trying to break you of it, but no such luck! We recently added a big pillow to your bed and you were very proud and excited about that! Mimi made you a pumpkin pillow case just like Grant's, so you thought that was pretty cool! You go to bed about 8pm and wake up about 6:30am. You take a nap from about 1-2:30. On average, you sleep 2 hours less than Grant each day- I say its because you want to spend extra time with me! :)  No attempts of climbing out of your crib yet, so hopefully it stays that way!

You're starting to get quite picky with your food. You seriously eat about a quarter of what you did a few months ago. But you're still growing and have plenty of energy! I'm hoping its just a phase and you'll be back to your garbage disposal self soon! You LOVE grapes, cereal, cheese, pancakes, and mandarin oranges. 

You love brushing your teeth each day and taking your vitamins! You call them "numma nums" because I refer to them as gummies. 

You love playing Little People, Batcave, riding bikes, and anything else Grant has his hands on. You boys fight constantly! And you're usually the bully! You yell "NO!" at the top of your lungs over and over.You're very lucky to have a big brother who doesn't fight back!

You are wearing 12 or 18 month shirts and 9 or 12 month shorts or pants. Small fry!! You're in a size 4 diaper and a size 5 shoe. You can't wear any of Grant's clothes he wore when he was your age- they are 2 size too big! You have 12 teeth. 

You're such a lovey little guy who still loves to be held and snuggled! You get jealous if I'm holding Grant, or if I'm cuddling with Daddy. You're very possessive of your mama!!

Part of me is anxious for you to get bigger, talk more, and play games with your brother! But the other part of me wants to bottle you up as you are and keep you tiny forever!!
I love you my little punkin!!!

3 Years, 7 Months, 2 Weeks

I can't believe how big you're getting Mr. Grant!! You are just this ball of energy, smiling and giggling at all times! These past few months have brought a lot of change upon you, but you still remain just as spunky and happy as ever! I'm such a proud mama!!!

Your favorite thing to play is superheros or rescue boat, which still involve superheros. You LOVE LOVE LOVE all your Imaginext toys and we play with them constantly. You love to make up storylines, but usually need my help to continue the story. I love your innocence when we play- the boys guys are always just misunderstood. The Joker will say, "I wasn't trying to hurt you, I just wanted play with you." Or the mean shark says to the little fish, "I wasn't going to eat you, I just want to be your friend." So cute!  You're alwyas on the lookout for the next Imaginext toy you want on your "wishlist."

I recently started a chore chart for you, and you love it! If you do all your chores for the entire week, you get to put a magnet on your chart- one step closer to picking something out on your wishlist! You have two chores each day- anything from putting laundry away to emptying trash cans to school work. You LOVE all your chores and think they are super fun!! You've done a great job with everything!

You're still a picky eater as ever! You love pizza lunchables (cold, without sauce!), mac & cheese, Mini-Wheats cereal, pancakes, and french toast. Making meals for you is VERY hard, and your bad habits are starting to rub off on your brother! Someday, hopefully, you'll eat like a normal person!

You're learning to ride a two-wheel bike, and if you cared at all, you'd be cruising down the street all by yourself, because you can definitely do it! You just don't know you can! 

You know all your letters, capital and lowercase, and are starting to spell words on your own and sound out words you hear! I love it!!!

You wear 4T shirts and 3T/4T shorts or pants. You wear a 9.5 shoe. 

Some funny things you've said lately:

"I miss Jeepers (Levi's parents old dog). But my hair is getting black which means I'm almost going to Heaven and I'll see him there."

"You're gorgeous mom!"
"Hello, Earth to me!"
Honestly, anything that comes out of your mouth makes me smile!!!
I love you my big boy!!!

Trick or Treat!

Did these boys have a Happy Halloween, or what!!! My goodness, they were eating it all up, both literally and figuratively!!  They practically jumped into their costumes with excitement and hit the pavement running! It wasn't even dark yet, but they were ready to hit the road! Last year, I think Grant went to 4 houses before saying, "I all done." The year before, I think we went to 2 houses. So this year, with Wyatt, I thought we'd hit 6 houses MAX! But I was dead wrong! We went up and down both sides of our street- probably 20 houses or so! Quite a few didn't have their lights on, so we mostly just did a lot of walking. Wyatt was loving seeing everyone in costume. He'd wave at them as they walked by and he'd say, "Bye!" He wasn't scared of anyone or anything- not even this creepy looking green-masked gooey guy passing out candy. Grant wasn't so sure, but Wyatt walked right up and opened his bag! They both got lots of compliments on their costumes too!! I thought they were pretty darn cute myself!! After making the rounds on our block, I thought the boys would enjoy coming home to pass out candy for the remainder of the night. And they did!!!! They both passed out candy to the rest of the kids until all our candy was gone!  It was a great night!! I'm sure the years to come will even be more exciting!

Amazing Blue Angels

Today was a beautiful day for an Air Show! We've been hearing them and seeing all the jets practicing the past few days, as our house is right under the flight pattern! They were loud enough to shake the house even! So we were pretty excited to get out there and actually see them in action! It had been a few years since Levi and I had seem them- I was still pregnant with Grant! And the boys had never seen them, other than the house fly-overs! It started off as a very chilly 41 degrees this morning, so we dressed accordingly- although it warmed up to about 80 so we were HOT. But we made due! Luckily we wore layers, but shorts would have been nice!

We got there after lunch and walked around all the static displays. We walked inside the belly of a C-17 and C-5 (you can see the boys in that one!). Grant saw the inside of a T-6, which Levi flies, so he thought that was pretty cool. They enjoyed a strawberry snow cone, bounced in a few bouncy houses, and then we camped out a spot to watch the Blue Angels. Both of our boys have pretty nasty colds right now, so they weren't at their best. And when you add no nap on top of it, we were expecting breakdowns just about the time the Blue Angels went on. Wyatt was a little restless, but Grant just camped in the back of the stroller relaxing, so it wasn't too bad! We found some good seats, right at center line, just perfect for viewing. Surprisingly, the noise didn't bother the boys at all, which I thought would be a major problem, at least for Grant! But all was good!

It just amazes me to watch the Blue Angels and how precise they are- absolutely incredible! Gives me goose bumps, actually!! Makes me even more amazed that Levi knows how to do aerobatics like that in his T-6. Well, maybe not JUST like that, but still- I can't even do a decent somersault on the ground! Pretty awesome, if I do say so!

Best Pumpkins Yet

I wasn't sure we quite had it in us to carve pumpkins today. We spent a hot, sunny afternoon at the air show and by the time we got home, we were all spent! But we HAD to get it done since Levi is scheduled to work til 6pm tomorrow evening. So we mustered up some energy and got to work! Luckily, it was beautiful outside by the time we carved, so we worked on the patio while the boys ran around the backyard. We hadn't come up with a plan for any of our pumpkins, other than Grant saying he wanted his to be Robin. After some negotiating, we narrowed it down to Wyatt getting the Bat Signal and Grant getting Spiderman. I worked on Wyatt's and Levi did Grant's- both of which turned our great! Grant's especially!!! I found a cute ghost template for my pumpkin and Levi freehanded his for his pumpkin- yet another one of his masterpieces!! I think they'll look great sitting on the front porch greeting trick-or-treaters tomorrow night!

Personal (Clothes) Assistant

I was taking a shower yesterday and normally, there is not much privacy to be had. Normally, one or both boys comes knocking on the door for whatever reason. Wyatt only came in once, which was odd, but thought nothing of it. He came in once with two of my Jayhawk shirts in his hand and left them on the bathroom rug. After my shower, I walked into my room and saw Wyatt pulling out every T-shirt in my drawer! He was apparently picking out my outfit for the day. I could tell he was very proud of his "work." He even clapped for himself when I said, "Thanks for helping pick out my shirt, Wyatt." I didn't want to burst his bubble and tell him not to do that.  So after I decided on a t-shirt, I started to re-fold all the shirts to put away. And when I actually started putting them back in the drawer, the tears started streaming! But when I showed him that I was going to put on the t-shirt he picked out, that made him smile!!

Mannequin

My boys have a thing for Old Navy mannequins I guess. The same girl even!! After a quick trip to Old Navy this past weekend where I snapped this pic of Wyatt, I immediately remembered Grant having a fond affection for the models. I came home, looked at my old pics, and found a few of Grant- wearing the SAME shirt!! Just made me laugh! Other than the cute girls, their very favorite part of this display is the dog!!

This just makes me laugh!! Guess my boys do have one thing in common afterall!

The Alamo and Riverwalk

My parents came in town this past weekend. And I knew exactly what we were going to do with them- take them to The Alamo and The Riverwalk. Levi and I and the boys briefly strolled around The Riverwalk a few weeks back, but didn't really experience it, so we were excited to see what it was really about! We all put on our "Texas gear" and went on our adventure! The weather was pretty nice that morning- a little on the humid side, but we dealt just fine!

We started at The Alamo. Sadly, I haven't brushed up on any of my history, so that part was kind of lost on me. But I can definitely appreciate the architecture and the age and you could really feel the history there! The boys liked checking out the old canons and rifles. After exploring there for a little while, we walked on down to The Riverwalk. We got there early enough so the crowds weren't very bad. We ate first at The Republic of Texas Restaurant, which was the very first restaurant at the Riverwalk, established in 1909 (or something like that). After a good meal and watching the riverboats and ducks floating around, we started our walk around. The scenery was just beautiful! We really walked everywhere we could! It was starting to get crowded, the boys were getting tired, and so were our legs, so we packed up and headed home! It was a perfect day with our family!

Pumpkin Patch

It was the perfect day for the pumpkin patch!!! The past few years we've gone in Florida, its been hot and sticky, but today was much more pleasurable! Although a little warm for my liking at this time of year, we didn't sweat our butts off, so that's a good thing!! I'd been researching places to go here in San Antonio and wasn't coming up with much, but Levi finally heard about one at a nearby church. Just like Florida, Texas just doesn't seem to have pumpkin patches like they do in Kansas- ones where you actually pick them from the vine- so we're used to church pumpkin patches! We got there and did a once over and noticed lots of people pulling wagons around. We couldn't find one, so we thought maybe they just brought their own. Grant REALLY REALLY wanted a wagon or wheelbarrow and since we couldn't find one, he didn't really have the best attitude and could really care less about looking at pumpkins. We eventually found a wheelbarrow, but he wasn't the best driver, so we put that away and found an abandoned wagon. Finally, all was right in Grant's world! After that, Grant, Wyatt, and I went for a little "train" ride- a mower with barrel cars. They both loved it!! Wyatt loved it so much, he cried the rest of the time we were there because he wanted to keep riding! (Typical for my kids- just as one kid gets over his bad attitude, the other one starts!). So we all found our perfect pumpkins and our trip was over! I didn't get the best photo opps so my kids weren't really giving me anything to work with, but I made do! We did miss our good friends, The Dahlmans, who we've gone to the pumpkin patch in Florida with the past 3 years! Regardless, we were together as a family and that's all that really matters!!

Hoops

Levi and I just finished watching the series, Friday Night Lights. It's about a HS football team in Dillon, TX. In the series, we see some kids playing basketball on this huge covered outdoor court. We talked about how cool it would be to find a place like that. We've never seen one in Kansas, or Florida even. But a few weeks ago when we were on a search for a park for the kids, we came across one! It's a great shaded court, and plenty spacious for riding bikes! We forgot to bring a basketball the first few times we went there, but we finally remembered. Levi and I had fun shooting around while the boys rode bikes and played in the dirt. It was a good old day at the park!

My Thoughts Exactly

I think I need this tattooed on my forehead!!! Just sayin'!

Boys and Rocks

What it is about rocks that just attract little boys?? I don't know, but I'm glad they do! Our side yard is covered in rocks, for whatever reason. Actually, the entire backyard is less than desirable, at least to adult standards. But to kid standards, its perfect. Stacked railroad ties make for a great balance beam. No grass lends itself for good places to dig. And a whole side yard full of rocks is practically Heaven. And it finally was a cool 63 degrees this morning, so we took full advantage. The boys made some stone soup with some rocks, leaves, and a bucket of rain water. Lots of balancing was practiced. Dump trucks were dumped. It was an all around good morning. Well, there is always the inevitable sad face from Wyatt, but what day would be complete without seeing that face a few dozen times?!?

It's Cookie Time

I am obsessed with everything I find on Pinterest and I want to do it AS SOON AS I SEE IT. The second I saw this recipe I knew I had to make them! It was just a matter of having the time and ingredients. And today proved to be the day! After a quick trip to Target (is there really such a thing?) we got to mixing! Grant helped me mix while Wyatt helped Levi was the car- much easier with only one "helper." After the dough was mixed, it chilled in the freezer while I fixed dinner, ate dinner, and cleaned up dinner. Then it was time to bake! Levi took Wyatt upstairs- again, its just easier as Wyatt definitely is not at "helper" stage yet, in face he's opposite of "helper"- so Grant pulled up a chair and we got to work. He lasted next to me for about 2 minutes, then I was on my own (he heard Wyatt and Levi playing Batcave upstairs, which apparently sounded more enticing). I made about 40 cookies, and threw the rest of the dough away. We definitely don't need to be eating THAT many cookies! After they baked and cooled, I let Grant and Wyatt (and little Captain America) help me decorate a few. As an easier way to store them, I figured we'll just put them in a Ziploc and decorate when we want to eat them, that way the fun can continue! Grant loved his cookie!! Wyatt messed with the frosting for a minute and then decided he wanted no part of it. I think next time, I'll look for much smaller cookie cutters- they are way too big for little guys to eat!!

I hope making cookies like this can be a tradition I do with my boys at holidays, just like I did with my mom. I always loved decorating them...and eating them too!!!

PS- I don't recommend baking cookies AND cooking dinner at the same time. It makes for a HUGE cleanup. You'd think with 3 boys in the house, maybe one could be my bus-boy?!? HA!

Inflatable Wonderland

I've been researching different activities for us to do in San Antonio for the next few months. We don't have any friends here, so play dates aren't really an option. Its just me and the boys. All day long. Everyday. It gets boring! Upon my research, I heard of a place called Inflatable Wonderland. A whole warehouse full of bouncy houses and such and the main photo on the web page was a huge Superman and Batman. I knew this was definitely a place we would check out. What made it even better was that it was inside the mall that is 3 miles away. And its only $6. And kids 2 and under are free!!! SOLD! So on Monday, the boys and I went for what will be the first time of hundreds I'm sure!! We were the first people there and there were a total of 6 kids the entire time we were there!! It was awesome!! Grant found a little buddy named Henry and he tagged along with him most of the time, which was equally as fun for me!! There was a toddler area that I thought Wyatt would really get into, but he didn't really enjoy anything inflatable. He liked to ride on Dino (the pet from the Flintstones). He required quarters to move, but Wyatt didn't care, he just liked sitting!! Grant enjoyed all the bouncy houses. There was even a movie theater room that had a couple rows of seats and then a huge empty floor. He and Henry liked playing "soccer" in there with the bouncy balls we bought out of the quarter machine. Needless the say, the boys had a great time!! Henry's nanny told us that they go there every Monday and invited us to join them again. So looks like we've got ourselves a standing play date!! 

PS- The Batman is longer up and running. He apparently was deflated, much to Grant's dismay. A few tears were shed over this fact, but all is well with the world once again!

Busy Boys

It was a beautiful 70 degrees in hot, sunny Texas this morning so we had to take advantage! We headed out to the park to do some more bike riding! We found a park that had a large basketball court just perfect for riding bikes! Grant got some good practice in! He's still quite hesitant but had some good strides every now and again! Wyatt LOVED "riding" his little bike all over the place, and checking out the occasional airplane flying over head! 

 Of course, after bike riding, we had to play on the equipment. It didn't take too long before Grant spotted a huge rock nudged between two trees. I immediately saw a photo opp, so I started snapping away! And thank goodness I did- I haven't got any good pictures of Grant is a REALLY long time!! (PS- they would've been EVEN BETTER if I had a new camera already...someday!!!)

I got this one of Wyatt too and I was soooo excited when I saw it on my camera screen, only to upload it and find it was a touch on the blurry side. Again, new camera?!?!? But fuzzy or not, he's a little cutie!!

I'm only hoping the weather gets cooler and cooler so we can enjoy many more park days!! And maybe Grant will learn to ride his bike along the way! 

Practice Makes Perfect

Grant got a new bike today. He got a trike for his 2nd Christmas. He got a balance bike this past spring. He's been doing pretty good on his balance bike, so we thought we'd try a "big boy" bike. We found a great one at Toys R Us. After test driving some at the store, we thought that a 14" bike would be perfect for Grant. He can touch the ground easily, but still has plenty of room to grow. Since he's been practicing on his balance bike, which helps learn balance over pedaling, we thought he might pick it up pretty quickly. We were wrong. Grant is so "la-te-dah" as he's riding around. He watches his feet pedal, he looks for his shadow, he watches the wheels spin- all of which make for a bad combinations. So we will definitely be needing more practice. (And his previous helmet is too small, which is why he isn't wearing one. We're currently searching for a new one!)  

I know most kids learn to ride with training wheels, but we were hoping to teach Grant to ride without them. He knows how to ride a bike with training wheels already, but we really just want him to learn to ride and not rely on them. I have a feeling it won't take too long though. After all, practice does make perfect!! And I have a feeling, a "little shadow" will be ready to ride in no time as well!