Tyson - my pumpkin - "uh-oh, Momma, Dadda, and Night-night"

Tyson took his first steps!! For awhile we've suspected that Tyson is quite capable of walking, he just has no interest in it. Yesterday he was excited to see Thomas and while I was taking his jacket off he started walking towards him with me holding him. As I took the jacket off I just moved away and there he went - 4 steps to Thomas! The little stinker...holding out on us :)

Tyson can say "Uh-oh", "Momma", "Dadda", and "Night-Night" and knows what they mean. I would say that "Uh-oh" was really his first word that he knowingly used. He understands simple things like "Sit down", "give me a big hug", and "put it in here", but he acts oblivious to my admonishments over playing with the Playstation (he knows how to turn it on and eject the disc from it - it's like magic to him), pulling on cords under the computer table, playing in the kitchen trash, ripping books, and the list goes on. BUT, he continues to be a fun, bright, jolly little boy most of the time. His favorite activites are pulling all the magnets off the fridge, unloading the pantry, pulling the grill off the bottom of the refrigerator to my daily consternation, messing with the blinds (also to my daily consternation), playing on any bed other than his own, wrestling anyone who lays on the floor, and playing outside. Some of those things I'm not sure how much he actually enjoys doing them, but it's like he can't rest until there are no magents on the fridge and the grill is waiting to lame someone on the kitchen floor. He's much more adventurous than Cole was at this age and loves to get dirty. He loves baths and laughs with glee when Cole squirts him in the face with water. Cole has never laughed when water was in his face once in his life. Tyson thinks it's hilarious. Tyson loves baths so much that you have to sit right there while the tub fills up because as soon as he hears the water he comes flying in there and can heave himself over the edge to get in the water.

Above is how he plays "peek-a-boo". I love to see his little hands smashed on his face, sometimes covering his eyes and sometimes missing them. He still eats a lot, will eat almost anything, and eats really fast. I'm usually just sitting down to my meal and he's almost done with his. He goes to bed at 7 with no fussing and likes to have a burp cloth to hold and chew on. He stuffs (yes, stuff is the right word) it in his mouth as he puts himself to sleep so every morning you come get him and he first hands you (he likes to empty his crib before he gets out) a soaking wet burp cloth with a toothy grin. He gets up anywhere between 6 and 7:15 in the morning and still takes 2 naps a day, usually at 9:15ish and 1:30ish, sleeping for about 3 hours total. He goes to sleep without a fuss for naps as well as bedtime and often reaches for his bed when he knows it's time to go to sleep. He'll let you rock him (Cole did not like rocking) but after a minute or two he wants to either play or get in bed. He hates going to the nursery at church and they often have to page me to come get him because he's beside himself, but he loves to play at Mimi's house!

I am so so blessed to have this little jewel for my son. He is less cautious than Cole but has the same sweet personality and jolly disposition. He and Cole love to play together - they wrestle a lot and I often hear lots of laughing and then crying and have to regularly remind Cole that when Tyson cries that means GET OFF HIM.

"Tyson, where's your tongue?" He sat on Cole's trike yesterday for about 30 minutes and watched us play and pulled leaves off the bush in the front yard. Cole is very caring towards Tyson. He always likes to hand him all his toys when we get in the car since Tyson has usually thrown them out of reach during the last ride. If Tyson cries Cole often says over and over, "It's ok, Ty-Ty, It's ok. It's ok, buddy, it's ok." They do have their share of strife over "sharing", and Tyson can be just as ugly as Cole in swatting at Cole when he's frustrated or mad, but generally they love each other and Cole is very protective of Tyson. If Tyson is in another room I often say, "Cole, can you check on Tyson and tell me what he's doing?" And Cole will run in there and report back. Although sometimes I hear, "He's playing with the thing that comes out of the other thing." Then I know I better check on him. But usually I hear, "He's tayin' (playing) on my bed" or "He's yookin' at books" or "He's gettin' the diapers out of the trash can" - better go check again. This method also works in the car when Tyson is being quiet. He's still rear-facing so I can't see him. "Cole, what's Tyson doing?" {pause}. Cole: "He's just yookin'" meaning he's just looking out the window. Or, "He's seepin' (sleeping)". Cole often takes it upon himself to save Tyson from his own misbehavior and I know I need to intervene when I hear, "Tyson! Tyson, we don't tay (play) dat!" I come running and Cole explains, "Tyson was gettin' the tash (trash) so I took it away from him," or, "Tyson was touchin' dis so I took it sum (from) him." No matter that the item in question is equally dangerous for both parties. Cole takes his role as big brother very seriously and loves Tyson dearly.

Cole - my joy..."Yook uh me!"

I absolutely love this picture. Cole wanted to wear "the zoo shirt", his favorite piece of clothing. He got it, didn't think to remove his other shirt first, and put it on...backwards, and never pulled it all the way down, but he was so proud. I hear so often, "Yook uh me!" (look at me). I am reminded of how blessed I am that we are healthy and I'm here to look at all his antics and celebrate his accomplishments with him.

Cole makes me laugh every day. I always thought that 3 years old would be my favorite age, and I'm revelling in it! Here's some funny, cute, and clever memories that I want to keep forever:

1. We were reading a book about a raccoon and his forest friends. Cole was naming all the animals, paused at the porcupine, and then triumphantly said, "Pinecone!!" Close :)

2. I was trying to think of something to occupy the boys one afternoon, and we had recently been blueberry picking. I was racking my brain for an activity as I drawled out, "Lets...find...some...". "Blueberries!!" says Cole. Good idea son :).

3. Cole went through a phase, for weeks, where he regularly called me "Tis-Teena" (Christina), or "Momma Tis-Teena." If he really wanted my attention he called me by my first name, but as I tried to ween him from this habit to remind him that I'm "Momma" to him, he would use the double wammy. He's started it again, and as much as I try to remind him that he doesn't call me Christina, it sure is cute to hear his little voice calling from the other room, "Tis-Teena! Tis-Teena! Momma Tis-Teena, yook uh dis! (look at this)"

4. In an effort to get healthier we eat much lower-carb than we ever have before. So I made "Cabbage Lasagna" one night, which uses cabbage instead of noodles. It's actually really good and all of us liked it, but Thomas, who loves to be derogatory to get a laugh, told Cole that is was "Cabbage Surprise." Cole, not getting the joke, ate his dinner and loudly announced, "More Cabbage Surprise please!" It did get a good laugh :).

5. It's one of my goals as a parent to stimulate my kids' imaginations and creativity to find constructive things to do with their time. Not necessarily to always do those things WITH them, but my mom always told me that kids often need direction, they need help to stimulate their imaginations and keep them engaged. Once they're going on something, they can often play without you for hours. But sometimes they need help getting started with an idea. Cole has taken it upon himself to let me know when he needs this. "Momma, I want to do something FUN," he says expectantly. I can't always help, but it makes me smile that he thinks I'm a sure-fire answer to boredom.

6. We work on memory verses a couple mornings a week at breakfast. A 2 1/2 year old's ability to memorize is amazing, as I've found out. To start with I would say each line and he would repeat it after me. I didn't think he could do any of it on his own. One day I started one of them, "He must become greater," and before I could finish Cole says, "No, don't say that!" I was a little taken aback until he smiled and proudly said, "He must become greater, I must become less. John 3:30". I was shocked! I personally didn't even know the reference to it, but that little brain is absorbing everything. I then tried some of the other verses, asking him if he knew them, and was amazed to see how many of them he could say with just the first few words as a prompt.

7. Still on the topic of memory verses, I started one morning, "The Lord is..." and he took over with, "The Lord is my shepherd...not want...Psalm...[jibberish] five six seven eight nine ten!"

8. A couple months ago I said, "Thomas, do you want to put him to b-e-d?" Cole pouts out, "I don't want to go to b-e-d." Surprised, I asked him, "What's b-e-d?" "B-e-d is night-night," he says knowingly.

9. We were looking at "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" a few days ago and there are a bunch of different animals in a bus. He was asking me what each of them were and I would tell him. He got to one and I said, "I think it's a donkey." He retorts confidently, "I think it is NOT a donkey." He couldn't give me a better guess, but he was sure my guess was not right. A few animals later I told him one of them was a pig. "No, it's not a pig. It's a HOG." Ahh, the nuances of animal species. All his looking at National Geographic's "Mammals A-Z" is coming back to bite me.

10. Cole was looking at a book that happened to be on his bookshelf and announced vehemently, "Hey! This is not a book! It doesn't have any pictures!"

The mind of my firstborn

Cole loves puzzles. Has loved them since I got him his first one at a garage sale for 25 cents (missing 1 piece). I was sure, when I got this one at a yard sale for 50 cents, that he wouldn't be able to do it. The biggest one he'd done by himself was 24 pieces. This one was 48. I did it with him the first time. A few days later he got it out and, while I was in another room, put it together on his own. He loves puzzles! And his momma is a little bit proud :).

Another window into his personality. I have a bunch of extra hangers on the bottom rack in his closet where he can reach them. One day he and Tyson had taken all of them off and strewn them around his room. They were not in any order before he took them off, and all I told him was, "Cole, you need to go in your room and hang all the hangers back in the closet." 20 minutes later he came out and wanted me to come see his accomplishment. They are color-coded as well as type-organized. Only one hanger is out of "order".

I bought him a box of Tinker Toys last week at a garage sale and he loves them. The first time he played with them and I told him to pick them up, he did so...organizing them by type, putting all the wheels in a row, all the long sticks together, etc. They were a jumbled mess when I gave them to him, so he didn't have the idea that they were supposed to be organized, but he continues to put them away each time by lining up the wheels and trying to put the bigger things in order. Very interesting little personality in there :).

My First Mississippi State Fair

Of course, we would pick the day to go when all the farm animals were being switched out and there weren't any to see, but so goes life.

One of my favorite animals continues to be a llama. I often tell Momma (which, tricky as it is, is exactly how I say "llama" because I can't say my Ls...a problem for my mother when deciphering what I'm talking about) that there are llamas in the back yard or sleeping in her bed :).

Enjoying the circus. Who says fun isn't free? We had a great day at the fair for $0. Mommy says she can get away with this for a few more years until I understand that all the stuff we walk by you can actually TAKE HOME if you pay some money.

Frog Hunting with Mamena

Almost every Saturday we go visit Mamena (my great-grandma) while Daddy plays Angleball. Last week we found a small frog on her patio.

She showed me how to gently nudge him and make him hop. After awhile he got tired and just sat there and I moved on to other things.

And here's Tyson, playing in a puddle.

Love

Mommy says she's reminded every day how blessed she is.

Just what the firemen need...

Just what the firement need...a bunch of children running around, pulling on levers, pushing on buttons, hanging on their gym equipment, giving them heart attacks. But they let us come anyway. Here I am on the front of the firetruck. That bell to the left was a big hit once we figured out how to ring it from inside AND outside the truck.

It took me a few minutes to warm up to this idea, but once Simon got in the driver's seat, I felt safe.

Here's Freeman and I, making sure the tailgate is jump-proof.

What a fun day!

But there's only so much you can look at on a firetruck before you find something else to play with...

Our Stay-cation

Several months ago Thomas and I had an idea. Wouldn't it be fun to go stay with his grandmother (who we call Mamena) for a night as if we were going on vacation to her house? Since she lives in town, we usually just see her for a few hours at a time. So a few weeks ago we did! We packed up and had a slumber party at Mamena's house! On Saturday morning we decided to take it a step further and take her with us to the zoo. She hadn't been in over 15 years. She can walk, but the zoo would be a bit much, so we took the wheelchair and thankfully didn't have any catastrophes resulting in her meeting the pavement. What a fun time we had!

Below is Cole on the carousel (you get to do a lot of fun things when Mamena comes along) before it started. A little worried, a little excited.

Here's Mamena and Tyson watching Cole on the carousel.

And here's Cole, enduring the carousel, hating every moment of it once it started.

Here's one happy great-grandma. I think she may love my kids more than I do...what a blessing to have her in our lives and have her in town to do fun things like this with. I pray that God gives us many more years with her!

Summer Fun for $1

Momm would like you to be thinking, "Oh, what a creative mother!" Unfortunately, this activity lasted all of 30 seconds. But she should still get some points for it I think. She tried...it was a dud, but she tried :).

Mommy has recently picked up her love of garage saling and we have lucked out. She found this sprinkler mat for $1 at one (normally she would've bargained them down, but it was for a mission trip and she felt bad).

It was a big hit!

I don't like "uncontrolled water", so this is perfect for me. I can see what's going to shoot where at all times. Tyson ended up with a lot of ant bites from this, but he was having so much fun he didn't cry.

Washington State - the land of beautiful weather

In August we went to a big family reunion in Washington State. My Grandma Sharon was one of 8 kids so there are a lot of kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Almost 60 of us all together to be exact. But the last time they got together was 10 years ago for my great-grandparent's 50th anniversary. So this year they all planned to get together for their 60th anniversary, but my great-grandpa Wagenaar went to be with Jesus just a few weeks before the celebration. We decided to still get together and celebrate his legacy (remember, there's almost 60 of us!) and the wonderful family God has given us. So we took Tyson on his first plane ride and flew to Lynden, WA for 10 days.

Mommy's Aunt Lu is a hospitality genius. Between her house and 3 campers, she housed 26 of us, everyone who came in from out of town, at the same location! And FED ALL THOSE PEOPLE meal after meal for 10 days! What a wonderful lady! We spent a lot of time in their backyard enjoying the 70-degree weather. It only rained one night the whole time we were there. It was sunny and beautiful!

We even got to see Uncle Daniel!


And we played at a lot of different parks. With that many kids, you need some activities, so we hit up every park in town.



Here we are, only 3 or 4 people are missing from this picture. My great-grandma Wagenaar is sitting in the middle, then her 6 children (Grandma Sharon and great-Aunt Glenice are with Jesus already), their children, and their grandkids. What a great testament to God's goodness to 4 generations!

What we saw in the land of mountains

Mommy and Daddy. Mommy came to this spot 11 years ago with Grandma Sharon on their 7-week adventure to far-flung places. It's absolutely gorgeous.

Snow. Hmmm. Everyone's really excited about this....

I think this is more my cup of tea.

Oh my. How did we get HERE after those beautiful mountains? Yikes. I've never seen a cow from this angle before.

This look says, "Is it safe to turn my back on these gargantuan beasts? I feel like a nice target with my bright red shirt on."

This is a little more like it. Cows behind a fence, me out of firing range.