Almost 3

Can't believe this boy is getting close to 3! P1 has started to love coloring again. He didn't do it for a while, but now wants to color all the paper in the house!

P1 likes to help with the garden. And he likes helping me turn the zucchini into green noodles.

He loves to play outside. We've been going to a new park each week, and trying to get him more familiar with playing at parks. It helps when we go with friends who can show him the ropes. He also loves watching the birds. We have hummingbirds come visit our feeder. One of them likes to sit in the apricot tree and guard the feeder. Whenever another hummingbird comes, he will dive bomb at them. We also see lots of chickadees.

 

P1 still takes an afternoon nap, yay! He has been having a little separation anxiety lately. He's had a hard time letting me go when I drop him off at nursery, or at Grandma's house when I have an appointment. And he usually wakes up around 4 am crying for help with his blankets. If Dad goes in, he just cries louder for Mom.

 

He also loves to read, and is memorizing some of his books. He is constantly asking what letters words start with. One morning he had asked what letter "green" started with, so I told him it was a "G". Then later, he asked what "green beans" started with. So I asked him, "Well, what does green start with?" thinking we would do one word at a time. But he kept getting frustrated with me and would say "No, not green, what does green beans start with?" This now happens several times a day with other 2 word things.

I can usually understand what he is saying, but when I can't, he gets very frustrated with me. And he will say "No Mom, I'm saying          !" The other day he was trying to tell me that Peter Pan says "Stinky Codfish", and it took me the longest time to figure out the codfish part.

He can spell his name, and he actually tried writing it out. I thought it was a very good attempt for a 2 year old. He did it when I was out of the room, and when I came back he showed it to me, and I could definitely tell what he had been trying to do. He also tried to spell his sister's name, but hers is a little harder to do.

I also started reading the Book of Mormon with him, just 1-2 verses a night. I've been surprised at how well he seems to follow. We used to just tell scripture stories at night, but I think it's been good to actually read from the scriptures too. I also started helping him say his own nighttime prayers. He has been helping say prayers for a while now, but they are usually very repetitious. So at night I ask him what made him happy that day and what he needs help with. Then I help him say his prayer. He does have a hard time sitting still for prayers though, but he is a 2 year old!

We have not tried potty training again. It would be nice to have that done before he's 3, but we'll see. Oh, and when he needs a haircut, he will tell me that his hair is too big and that I need to cut it. Love my little boy!

13 Months

At 13 months, this little girl is a walking pro! She walks everywhere now and is pretty sturdy. It's fun watching her follow P1 around and play with him. She loves her shoes and will always go get them and sit down for you to put them on.

P2 is a very good sleeper. She takes 2 naps, and sleeps through the night even when P1 wakes up crying.

P2 loves to sit on laps. She will grab toys or books, and then pat your knee until you let her sit on your lap. She loves reading books!

She enjoys coloring with her brother. And she likes to put things in and out of bags.

Playing at the Discovery Gateway.

She loves putting food in her hair, especially peanut butter. She is a mommy's girl who cries if other people get too close to her. But at the same time, she is more adventurous than her brother. More willing to go explore on her own, and try climbing up things. She doesn't speak a lot, but is very good at letting you know what she wants.

Pioneer Day

We went and checked out the Days of '47 parade floats at the preview at the South Towne Expo Center. We went with my nephew and sister-in-law. The floats were pretty neat, but the kids didn't really enjoy being there. And traffic was awful, so we spent more time in the truck than we did looking at the floats. So I'm not sure if we'll do this one again. But P1 did like looking for the floats when we watched the parade on TV.

P1 liked this whale float with the dolphins:

And he was scared of the dragon float. Basically any of the moving/smoking floats made him nervous.

There was definitely an underwater theme in abundance this year.

P1 liked the train on this float, and thought the airplane was a giant hummingbird (can't really see it in the picture).

For Pioneer Day we went to the Handcart Days at the city park. We spent $10 on tickets, thinking we would blow through them quickly. But P1 didn't want to do any of the rides. He loves bouncy houses, so we tried to get him to go on that one, but as soon as it was his turn, he would start crying and clinging to us. And that happened with about everything. Even with the fish pond, he wouldn't hold onto the pole, and I had to do it for him. But once he realized he got a toy out of it, he was willing to do that one again. We did find one ride that I could do with him, the teacups.

So we blew the rest of our tickets on yummy food that I couldn't eat. But the kids sure enjoyed it!

I've been doing a little research on my pioneer ancestors. I have a lot of them, at least 32 according to this pioneer ancestor website. And I've already discovered a couple that aren't listed there.

My 5th great-grandma on my dad's side, Polly Barber Child, was baptized in New York with her husband. On their way to Kirtland, they had a neat experience with one of the three Nephites. They endured persecution in Caldwell County, Missouri. They crossed the plains in 1852 and settle in Ogden, Utah. Her husband died 2 months after arriving in the valley. She was a midwife for 50 years, bringing hundreds of children into the world.

I love these words that she wrote in a letter to her family back East:

"Yes, there has never been the smallest moment or thought flit across my mind like wishing I had never had embraced the gospel and come here. No, my friends, there is peace and comfort to the true believer of the gospel."

I am grateful for the faith and testimony of my ancestors. They endured hard things and they pressed forward with hope and faith. What great examples for us!

Feeding the Ducks

We went and fed the ducks on Saturday. I thought P1 would really enjoy it due to his sudden interest in birds. We went to the local pond, not knowing what to expect, but it was a pretty nice pond with plenty of ducks! P1 had a blast feeding them, and P2 also enjoyed watching them.

We also had fun catching butterflies and dragonflies. PE got a dragonfly to sit on his finger, and he also caught a couple butterflies. P1 just liked to chase after them.

And P2 is getting better at walking!

Lego Birds

We went to the Lego store on Saturday. P1 loves to go and play with the Legos, and PE loves to look at the Legos. This time even P2 enjoyed playing with the Duplos.

But the surprising thing was that I bought a Lego set for me! I buy a fair amount of Legos for my 3 "kids", but I don't remember the last time I bought myself a set. But, there was this really neat set of 3 birds: a hummingbird, a European robin, and a blue jay. This set was a Lego creation that got enough votes online that Lego turned it into an official set. They were really fun to build, and are pretty intricate models. I built them while the kids slept, and P1 was quite enamored with them when he woke up. I think the blue jay is his new pet.

 

This has also initiated an interest in birds. So now we are trying to do some backyard bird watching. We made some pine cone bird feeders and hung them in our trees. We also put up a hummingbird feeder. So far we have seen American robins, and I think a Black-headed Grosbeak.

Oh, and we've seen wasps. P1 got stung yesterday while we were out finding pine cones. He cupped the wasp behind his ear, so it got him 3 times before I moved his hand and it flew away. Poor kid. He was screaming bloody murder. Which of course caused P2 to scream bloody murder. Fortunately, our neighbors were out and they came over and helped us. And he is feeling much better today!

Also, I just remembered a good movie about bird watching. It's a comedy starring Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson called "The Big Year ".