Facebook statuses 8/09-9/12
2/21/09 spent a chunk of her birthday locked outside
her house... the house keys were locked in the car and the car keys were
locked in the house.
2/28/09 is currently on the road to wyoming
3/22/09 is in Utah for a few days
3/29/09 is in Missouri
4/29/09 found two new furry family members under the bed this morning... surprising, I thought it would be more
5/2/09 I had a dream last night that I was in Mission Viejo... but no one else was there for me to go see. Everyone that I knew was either off at college some place, or moved to Utah or somewhere else.
6/6/09 I'm doing alright today
6/14/09 I need a hug tonight... for anyone who knows me well, that is saying something
6/18/09 some days are better than others, today was a good day
6/24/09 It has been a very long day, and I'm exhausted... and yet here I sit... awake... still
7/7/09 I'm in utah for the rest of the month
7/15/09 I am currently enjoying life, thinking of Dean often, and counting down the days till November 11th :) ...give or take
7/21/09 my back is aching tonight
7/25/09 finally got around to watching the new Harry Potter movie today.
7/31/09 is driving back to Colorado today
8/18/09 yay for carpet!
8/24/09 had a marvelous day today :)
8/26/09 I'm tired of being tired; I'm tired of being hungry; I'm off balance; I ache all over all the time; Its a good thing life is good, or I just might just not get up in the morning.
8/30/09 listened to Christmas music today, and wore Dean's Jacket. That made me feel better. :)
9/3/09 crayon melted, got all over a stuffed animal, and hardened again... how do I get it out???
9/4/09 made a quilt today. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Thanks MaeLyn!
9/8/09 Seven months have gone by so quickly... but at the same time the last three months have taken an eternity. Interesting how that works. Will the next two months go by quickly or slowly... or a bit of each?
9/12/09 loves the sound of falling rain
9/15/09 I am so frustrated... lousy doctors need to make up their minds
9/21/09 Today is the last day of summer... so we're celebrating with snow???
10/8/09 feels like a piñata... except that the kid with the bat is trying to break me open from the inside out
10/8/09 Over the ground lies a mantel of white
10/25/09 Okay... I'm sick of this. 17 days isn't too early, lets go!
11/6/09 went for a bikeride today. Needless to say, it was a short ride, but it felt good anyways.
11/7/09 Mom flies in today, and Dean has begun his long journey home. He should be here in a few days!
11/8/09 Dean just called from Qatar, headed to Kuwait, then probably Germany or Ireland, then to the USA. Should be here in a couple days. Hoping he beats baby here!
11/10/09 Dean is in Germany, he should be here by tomorrow afternoon!
11/12/09 Dean is here, baby is not. Inducing him Friday night if he doesn't come before then.
11/12 09 Induction moved to sunday morning, hopefully baby will come before then on his own, Dean doesn't have a lot of time here.
11/16/09 Is proud to announce the birth of Dean James Dawes. Born at 9:09 November 15th. :)
11/22/09 tired... happy, but tired
11/25/09 four hours of sleep... hooray! its almost sad that that's a good thing
11/27/09 Dean is on a plane headed back to Afghanistan... and I begin my life as a single parent. I'm glad I only have to do this for six months... but after not even two weeks, six months is going to be an eternity.
11/29/09 He's figuring out when night time is, and I'm actually getting some decent sleep! So grateful for small blessings... oh wait, I mean huge blessings!
12/3/09 I keep getting told that babies are incapable of smiling at two and a half weeks old... but that sure looks like a smile to me
12/8/09 Way too cold. I was outside for less than two minutes attempting to get the snow off my car and I came back inside with frozen fingers and a frozen face... I guess I won't be going out today afterall.
12/12/09 Its hard to fathom sometimes that this amazing little boy is mine
12/14/09 eight hours of sleep chopped into bits and peices feels so different from eight straight hours of sleep... but hey, eight hours is eight hours, I'll take what I can get
12/15/09 One month old already... the time has passed so quickly.
12/21/09 Goodbye Colorado, I'll see you in a few months
1/1/10 Hello Rexburg!!! ...I forgot how cold it gets here...
1/4/10 He wakes up crying for food as though he will die if I don't feed him immediately, he eats for about five minutes and promptly falls back asleep. Maybe it's time to cut out this 5am feeding... but how do I go about doing that?
1/4/10 My baby just rolled over!!! only seven weeks old... I wonder if he could do it again, I think it was an accident, but still, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment for his age.
1/6/10 Is it better to be dependent on a pacifier or a thumb? A thumb can't get lost in the night, but a pacifier is easier to take away when he is older.
1/10/10 I cut my own hair with junior safety scizzors this morning
1/13/10 so grateful for answers to prayer
1/19/10 two month checkup today... time really flies
1/19/10 Two month appointment today. DJ is now 11lbs 11oz, 23.5 inches long, and a 15.2 inch head circumference. 46th percentile for weight, 59th percentile for length, and 19th percentile for head.
1/25/10 If I'm going to be living in a place where it snows, I think I need to get shoes with better traction.
1/30/10 11:30... wide awake... doesn't he know it's time to sleep???
2/2/10 watching Groundhog Day... I should be doing homework, or washing dishes, or doing just about anything else...
1/5/10 Away go the 0-3 month clothes and out come the 3-6 month clothes, its amazing how fast he's growing.
2/8/10 The good news is, he slept for six hours straight. The bad news is, he doesn't want to go back to sleep now. He doesn't seem to mind that it's dark and he's swaddled.
2/10/10 Okay, I have now lost all right to complain that I never have time to do things anymore. DJ is playing happily by himself, and I am sitting here playing silly games.
2/13/10 had some fun hanging out with my little brother tonight
2/15/10 Three months old today
2/17/10 Last night I moved DJ's bed out of my room and into the living room. It was great last night, but now that it's day time and I'm in the living room, I'm considering putting him back where he was. I wish I had another room to put him in.
2/18/10 This morning, for the first time in three months, I awoke feeling rested after having fed DJ only once during the night.
2/19/10 7:00, he's acting tired. He just got up from a long nap and hour ago. Is it possible that he really is tired again? If he does go to sleep now, is it just a nap, or is he down for the night? If he does go down for the night now, what time will he wake up in the morning??? It isn't supposed to be this complicated
2/20/10 I guess its morning... not even 6 am yet... day can't start before the sun rises! All well, at least I have the promise of a nap in an hour or so.
2/20/10 just watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was SO funny! I loved it!
2/26/10 I am very glad that DJ is content playing by himself. That way when he wakes up at two in the morning and refuses to go back to sleep I can just put him on his play mat and I can go to sleep on the couch until he gets tired again. I'm probaby encouraging him to be awake in the middle of the night by letting him play. But its better than having him cry for an hour until he is finally tired enough to go back to sleep
3/1/10 grateful for webcams this morning
3/2/10 I woke up this morning to the sound of a sneeze... five minutes later I heard him talking to himself... I finally got up to go get him, and then he went back down for his morning nap half an hour later. I kinda wonder how long he let me sleep in this morning.
3/4/10 last night DJ stole my fork out of my hand and hit himself in the head with it... his days of sitting on my lap at mealtime are numbered
3/9/10 tired of waiting... at least two more months, maybe longer... sigh
3/11/10 Its hard to be sick when you're a mom
3/13/10 ... need ... sleep ...
3/14/10 It's kinda sad when a relatively good night still has me up several times
3/15/10 Somehow DJ got the memo about the time change... up by 7 like he is every morning
3/16/10 A day full of smiles... it's been a good day.
3/23/10 My 13 pound baby tried to lift a 10 pound weight... he wasn't very successful, but it was funny anyways
3/25/10 Oh no! he discovered my glasses.
3/27/10 took DJ to the park for the first time. I don't know how much he enjoyed it, but I had fun.
3/30/10 You'd think that after hardly sleeping at all last night I'd feel more tired than I am... teething in earnest, fun stuff
3/31/10 He has a tooth!!! ... well... he has a little white speck. Surprisingly though it wasn't in the front where I was expecting it to come in, it was way in the back... a little unusual, but not unheard of.
4/1/10 natures april fools joke... tricks us into thinking that spring is here... and then it snows
4/3/10 The thief may come in the night, but that doesn't mean you have to invite him in and serve him tea and crumpets and then show him the silverware... You shouldn't be serving tea anyways!
4/4/10 after three games of Yatzee, heidi and I each had exactly 612 points
4/5/10 so tired of snow, so ready for spring... I miss California
4/27/10 If it weren't for the scorpions and the heat, texas would be a nice place. It is beautiful, there is no denying that.
5/5/10 Colorado... I'm home... except for that fact that I still dont' have a home. And even when I do actually get my apartment tomorrow I won't actually be able to move in until next week. Ugh, I wish I had a truck, and I wish I were strong enough load it wihout having to get help. On the up side, Dean should be home sometime next week!!!
5/9/10 I used to be able to put dj 22452BFQD21D ON ONE SIde od my lap 32423 wqedwq and my lap top on th e o bnmm ther.sfg... I think those days are coming to an endf54444325r6h
5/15/10 He's home!!!
6/1/10 DJ managed to get a hold of my cell phone, and he chewed on it and drooled on it, and now it won't work... I guess I no longer have a cell phone.
6/3/10 I think it's time to baby proof the house because DJ is rolling around and getting into things he shouldn't
6/4/10 I hate deleting good pictures, but when I have hundreds to sort through, something has to go.
6/15/10 Finally got around to having DJ's 6 month checkup. He is a happy, healthy, slightly small little boy :) He got shots today too, and he only cried for a couple of seconds, I was impressed.
6/17/10 DJ went down for his morning nap before 6 this morning... does anyone else see a problem here? ...I'm going back to bed.
6/21/10 I just bought DJ 5 pairs of shoes for $2. I love craigslist.
6/27/10 I'm in Utah this week, Idaho at the end of the week, Wyoming next week...
7/2/10 I'm in Montana, I've never been to Monana before I don't think. I'm enjoying meeting lots of Dean's family. I wish it were a happier occasion.
7/19/10 I set DJ on the floor turn arountd for about three seconds, I turn back and he has disappeared. I finally found him over in the kitchen a good 15 feet away eating a paper towel that fell out of the garbage... ugh, the joys of having a mobile baby.
8/4/10 DJ has tons of cool toys that we stole from Heather's basement, but still he would rather play with my laptop and cell phone.
8/6/10 I just went in to get DJ up from his nap. He was standing up in his crib holding on to the side. I don't know why I was surprised, he's been pulling himself up on other furniture for a week now.
8/8/10 blinding flashes of light, followed by huge crashes of thunder. Torrents of flooding rain. I love storms :) glad I'm inside though.
8/12/10 I can already tell that DJ is going to be a climber. He very nearly succeeded just now in climbing up my leg and onto the coffee table.
8/14/10 I knew this day would come. I'm actually surprised it took so long. DJ managed to pull everything off the bottom three shelves of each of my bookshelves.
8/24/10 how does one go about cooking an extremely large zucchini?
8/26/10 DJ has the hiccups, and every time that he does, he laughs hysterically for a second, then waits silently for the next one, then he laughs again.
9/6/10 Just got back from a quick trip to Wyoming and Utah. Been a very long day of driving including a screaming baby and a flat tire. Glad to be home safely. DJ is glad to be home too. As we were walking up to the front door he started squealing in delight and has been super happy ever since... now I just wish he would go to sleep.
9/9/10 I tried to vacuum today. I usually wait until Dean gets home to vacuum so that he can take DJ outside or something. This was the first time that I attempted to vacuum with DJ in the room, and he was terrified. He cried for a full ten minutes afterward, it was so sad.
10/1/10 I forget how much DJ is growing until he starts getting into stuff that I put up out of his reach just a month ago.
10/6/10 I put DJ to bed about 20 minutes ago. I thought he was asleep, but now I can hear him laughing hysterically at who knows what.
10/9/10 four new teeth and learning to walk: it's been a busy week for DJ
10/16/10 DJ figured out how to open the DVD cases... I guess that means I can't let him pull them all off the shelves anymore
10/24/10 we bought a cookie sheet yesterday. It had a piece of paper stuck to it with a picture of a plate of cookies. DJ is holding that paper and pointing to the cookies, and laughing and trying to pick them up off the page. I think he wants some cookies.
10/30/10 just got back from "trunk or treat." DJ had lots of fun walking around as a monkey, although he was supposed to be a monkey in a tree.
10/31/10 it's almost 7 o clock, it's dark outside, I can hear kids and spooky noises outside... but no trick or treaters yet... I guess no one wants to climb the stairs? all well, more candy for me!
11/5/10 DJ was sick and miserable all day today, and yesterday. I sure hope he's better by tomorrow, it's no fun having a sick baby
11/7/11 Even after an ER visit yesterday, DJ is still miserable today. He just cried for the last hour straight, finally he fell asleep thoroughly exhausted.
11/15/10 Today my son turns one! I can't believe I've been a mom for a whole year. Happy Birthday DJ!
11/16/10 had to go to a meeting tonight because there was a shooting in my apartment complex... I think I would rather just not know these things.
11/18/10 *sigh* harry potter starts tonight... and I'll be sleeping... :( maybe I'll get to see it in a few weeks if I'm lucky.
12/11/10 This morning, DJ successfully spoon fed himself oatmeal for the first time... he's growing up too fast... I guess that's a good thing considering he's going to have a little brother in march.
12/24/10 Fire in the fireplace, hot apple cider, christmas movies, reading the Christmas story with my little family... there's just nothing like Christmas eve.
1/1/11 Who gets up at 5 am on new years day?... I do thanks to a little boy who decided that the crack of dawn wasn't early enough... but thanks to a wonderful husband I got to go back to bed and sleep in until eight, I don't get to do that very often. Happy New Year!
1/10/11 lost my cell phone a few days ago, doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get it back. Working on getting a house phone so I'm not completely cut off from the world.
2/9/11 DJ spent the last half hour helping me load the dishwasher... as much as I appreciate the help, I'd rather he left the clean dishes in the cupboard.
3/20/11 I'm happy to announce the birth of Andrew Norman Dawes, at 4:09 am March 19th... I'll get some pictures up eventually
4/19/11 Andrew is one month old today, and smiling a ton! ...except when I pull the camera out... I'll get a picture of him smiling one of these days
5/8/11 Whoever had the idea to put shoelaces on toddler shoes obviously had no idea that no toddler can sit still long enough to let you tie their shoes
5/10/11 What are you cooking?
I'm boiling pacifiers.
oh, I've never tried those, do they taste any good?
I don't know you'd have to ask Andrew.
5/12/11 DJ is dancing to the beat of the dishwasher
5/18/11 DJ just said helicopter... well it sounded more like cacacaca, but it had the right number of syllables and he had a helicopter in his hand, that's a big word for such a little boy :)
5/23/11 All day today I was writing down all of the words that DJ said that I could understand. I counted 33 different words. That's a lot more than the three I counted two months ago.
5/30/11 at 11:30 last night, amidst the loud snores coming from DJ's room I hear "Adoo" (Andrew) must have been dreaming about his little brother :)
6/1/11 Last night we had both kids in bed asleep by 7:30. Andrew didn't wake up again until 3, when he ate quickly and went right back to sleep, and is still asleep now at 7:30 am. It's been a while since I've had a really good night's sleep! :)
6/14/11 All weekend DJ has been doing funny squats while saying E-O-E-O... I finally figured out what he was doing today. "knees and toes, knees and toes"
6/17/11 7:15, both kids down for the night... I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow
6/19/11 Andrew is three months old today. He celebrated by rolling over! I thought it was an accident, but he did it again just a minute later. We'll see if he can still do it tomorrow.
6/24/11 DJ was sitting on a chair for snack time, wearing his daddy's dog tags. He turned around in the chair to see what I was doing and the tags got caught in the chair. In an effort to free himself, he fell off the chair and hit his head, and then the chain pulled the chair down on top of him. After all that, guess what he was most upset about? the dog tags had come off of him and he wanted it back on.
7/2/11 The other day we took DJ to the splash park, and he had lots of fun. Today it rained and we went out and played in the rain. Guess which one he had more fun doing? :)
7/6/11 six am. we're all up, kids got baths, we've all had breakfast, we're all dressed, and now DJ is insisting that we "GO GO GO!" Where shall we go? What's open at 6am?
7/10/11 7:50 and we're all ready to go to church... too bad church doesn't start until 11, and at least one of my children will probably need a change of clothes before then. Hmmm... maybe I'm a little too ahead of the game this morning.
7/23/11 I think I can now officially say that Andrew can roll over... and his favorite time to do so? right in the middle of a messy diaper change.
7/23/11 DJ figured out how to open the door to let himself out of nap time... I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
7/26/11 Instead of painting the table like he usually does whenever we have yogurt, today DJ decided that his legs and belly made a better canvas.
8/15/11 The last of the family just went home... the house is now quiet after a very loud and exciting family reunion.
8/19/11 I left Andrew on the playmat on one side of the living room and then I went to do some dishes. When I came back he had rolled clear across the room to the keyboard that Heather left here after the family reunion, and he and DJ were both playing it.
8/25/11 DJ just fell asleep on the ground during a diaper change with lunch sitting on the table waiting to be eaten... I guess it was nap time and I missed the memo
9/5/11 DJ climbs down from his chair, pulls his half eaten bowl of dry cereal down, and waves goodbye to me and blows me a kiss. "Where are you going DJ?" "Work!" he responds happily. He then proceeds to climb down the stairs still clutching his bowl of cereal in his hands. Two minutes later he comes back up stairs, all the while saying, "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh" When he gets to the top of the stairs, "DJ what's wrong?" "Mess" ... and so my day begins.
9/9/11 This morning DJ doubled the number of timeouts that he has had in his lifetime... it has been a very frustrating morning
9/11/11 What do you know, hand sanitizer really does get pen out of couches. Good to know.
9/13/11 Moving back to Rexburg in two weeks. So much to do...
9/14/11 ice-blocking in the rain: cold, wet, fun
9/30/11 Back in rexburg... How long we'll be here I have no idea
10/6/11 me: "DJ, I love you."
DJ: "Too!"
10/15/11 feeling kinda lonely today... why? I have no idea
10/21/11 me: "DJ, say one"
DJ: "two"
me: "no, say one"
DJ: "two"
me: "One!"
DJ: "Two!"
me: "fine, say two"
DJ: "three"
10/21/11 I just solved a rubix cube for the first time in over a year, and it took me over 40 minutes to do... I doubt it would have taken me that long except that it was my cube that has pictures of Venice, Italy on it, and I didn't get a chance to look at the pictures before it got mixed up, and when they're all mixed up all of the sides look more or less the same, especially since a couple of them are pictures of the same building just from different angles.
10/26/11 I just raked leaves for the first time since moving from California, and was surprised to learn that Dean had never raked leaves before in his life! Lots of good memories of jumping in huge piles of sycamore leaves and making mazes and houses... :)
10/27/11 We started off to go have fun at a Halloween carnival... then just as we were leaving the house Dean got called away to help someone move, then right after we got there Andrew started screaming because it was too loud, and then to top things off, DJ threw up all over the first game we were going to do... needless to say, we didn't stay long.
10/29/11 DJ is watching the old Winnie the Pooh movie, and he just keeps randomly giggling, saying "it's Pooh!"
10/31/11 SO excited to go trick or treating tonight! It has been a long time... isn't being a mom great!
10/31/11 I forget how long of a walk it is just around the block for a not quite two year old... more than enough candy for him though
11/4/11 snow in colorado springs... snow in green river WY, snow in Orem UT... no snow in Rexburg... that seems a little backwards to me.
11/6/11 doesn't seem to matter what time I put the kids to bed, they were still up before six this morning... and that was before we changed the clocks.
11/15/11
Happy birthday to my son, Dean James Dawes, Dean-o-, DJ, Little Dean, Little Man, Baby Boy, Silly Kid, Crazy Boy, Big Guy, Sunshine Guy, Kiddo, Buddy.
He likes books, especially ones with animals in them.
His favorite toys are buckets to carry things in, laundry hampers to play in, scrubby brushes to clean things with, pots and pans to bang on, suit cases to roll around the house, and blankets to hide under. He also likes Legos, stuffed animals, balls, cars, trains, planes, and anything that makes noise.
His favorite foods are fruit snacks, bananas, string cheese, and marshmallow cereal.
He loves to watch Winnie the Pooh, Veggietales, and Blues Clues.
He loves his stuffed Pooh Bear most of all, he also likes his Winnie the Pooh blanket, and his Winnie the Pooh airplane, and his Winnie the Pooh sippy cup, and his Winnie the Pooh toothbrush, etc.
He is working on learning his colors and after months of practice, I think he's finally starting to catch on.
He likes to throw things straight up in the air and they often fall on his head.
He loves to stack blocks and other objects to make towers that are often impressively tall.
He can count to five, but he has yet to ever say "one."
He loves to play with other kids and follow them around and copy everything that they do.
Any time that he sees or even just hears an airplane or helicopter he points to the sky with great excitement, and will often run in that direction, shouting "Plane!" until it is out of sight.
He likes to brush his teeth, and is often devastated when it is time to stop after sometimes more than ten minutes of brushing.
He is very helpful. He likes to clean up messes, and scrub things, sweep things up, empty and load the dishwasher, fold laundry, put laundry in the washer or dryer, and take care of trash or dirty clothes that he ever finds.
He learns new words every day and will often surprise me with what he knows how to say.
He loves his little brother Andrew, but hates it when Andrew gets his sippy cup or toys. He's very good about trading toys with Andrew when Andrew has something that he wants. Whenever he finds something that belongs to Andrew he will usually run it over and give it to him.
He loves his Mama a lot, but it is his Daddy that he is always so excited to see.
We all love him very very much and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.
11/17/11 I just gave DJ the very last piece of Halloween candy. What are we going to do tomorrow when he asks for "canny pees"... I anticipate tears :(
11/18/11 Dean being color blind takes all of the fun out of putting food coloring in his food
11/22/11 DJ used to toilet today for the first time ever, and it was entirely his idea! I guess that's his birthday present to Daddy!
11/27/11 Tonight at dinner, DJ requested water. Not juice, not milk, but water. I think that's a first.
11/31/11 here's a challenge: Lie on your back flat on the floor, with two children, one on either side of you... Casually toss a small soft ball up towards the ceiling, bounce it off the ceiling, then off both of the kids' heads, then have it land in a honey pot clear across the room.
12/2/11 The good news is, we found the missing sippy cup. The bad news is, it was full of milk. The worse news is, Andrew was the one who found it... hope he doesn't get sick.
12/4/11 After scripture reading tonight DJ jumped up, gave me a hug, then ran off. We had to call him back and remind him that we hadn't had prayer yet. He came back, sat quietly for prayer, then the moment it was over he gave me another hug, and again ran out of the room and with a huge grin on his face he shouted, "To Bed!"
12/9/11 Today has been a really good day. I think this is the first day in a long time that has been completely tantrum free. The only issue was when he was playing in his laundry hamper, and he got upset when I wouldn't put Andrew in with him.
12/14/11 It's snowing outside... and might I just say, it's about time.
12/15/11 In the last hour Andrew pulled the Christmas tree down on top of himself, tried to knock the trashcan over, almost fell down the basement stairs, and took a bite out of a crayon... I can't leave that kid unattended for ten seconds without something happening.
12/27/11 Well, we've been gone for the last week. We got back last night to some frozen pipes. All day today was spent thawing out pipes, only to discover that the pipes were broken... basement flooded, carpet ruined, huge mess... getting the pipes fixed tomorrow, can't use water tonight, getting the carpet replaced in a couple of days... exciting stuff! I'm glad we don't own this house, so we don't have to pay for any of these repairs. We're hoping the owners will do something to keep this from happening again. There was absolutely nothing that we could have done to prevent this; the house is old, and apparently not built to code.
12/28/11 No snow for Christmas, then today we think it is finally going to snow, and what do we get? Rain! You can't really play in ice cold rain. Warm rain sure, snow definitely, but you can't really do much with ice cold rain.
1/10/12 I never really realized just how hard the words 'me' and 'you' are to explain to a two year old.
(while looking at pictures of DJ)
me: DJ, who is that?
DJ: it's you!
me: no, it's not me, it's you.
DJ: it's you!
me: No say, it's me
DJ: mama?
me: no, not mama, DJ, it's you, but you say, me
1/11/12 I guess jumping over cracks in the sidewalk is intuitive and not a learned thing. DJ was jumping over every crack in the sidewalk on the way to the babysitter's house today.
1/13/12 DJ was helping me make muffins this morning, and as we were putting the batter into the tins (which is a very messy job when being helped by a two year old) he kept pointing to one and calling it a baby, I didn't realize until a bit later that he was letting me know that that particular one had less batter in it than all of the rest. I put some more in that one, and then he found another one and c
1/30/12 This morning when I dropped the kids off at
their babysitter's house, DJ was pointing emphatically at what, I wasn't
sure, and said again and again "Da Deboo!," or at least that's what it
sounded to me. After walking along the pathway up to my friend's
apartment and he said it again and again and again, I finally figured
out, he was pointing at the temple and saying "The Temple!"
2/9/12 electric bill is almost $400 this month... this is ridiculous
2/10/12 today Andrew took a couple of steps, he ate with a spoon, and DJ called me April...twice
2/19/12 We just got home from church and I told DJ to take off his shoes so he won't get snow in the house. Instead of taking off his shoes he sits down and scrapes the snow off of his shoes and eats it, then says, "mmm, snow! yummy food on shoes!" ... I'm a little bit torn between being disgusted, and being somewhat impressed at his developing language skills.
2/21/12 Right now I'm babysitting a little girl, about 18 months old. She is sitting at DJ's little toy table, and DJ was telling her about the different colors on it. He kept pointing at the red part of the table saying, "it's Yellow!" and then the little girl very clearly said Yellow. I don't really know how extensive her vocabulary is, but I hope she doesn't come away thinking that red is yellow.
2/22/12 I played basketball tonight for the first time in a few years... it was great for about 15 minutes until I jammed my finger. It really hurts!
2/23/12 DJ is pretending to change the diaper of a stuffed rabbit. He keeps pulling out wipes and wiping it, and saying "yuck, mess, poopy, yuck" then he comes to me with the wipe, and says "trash?" then runs off and puts it in the trash then comes back and pulls out another wipe.
2/23/12 What do you do when it's fairly warm out and so you promise your kids a trip to the park, and when you get there the playground is flooded under at least four inches of water? ...we went to arctic circle to play at the playground there... kinda defeats the purpose of going out on a warm day, but DJ wanted a slide.
2/24/12 How many kids do you know who only eat their vegetables and leave everything else... that's Andrew.
2/27/12 I think it's safe to say that Andrew can walk now. He took his first steps a couple of weeks ago, but in the past couple of days he has been experimenting more and more with it. He just took probably about ten steps off to who knows what and then he stopped and turned around... yeah he fell as he turned, but it was exciting anyways.
2/28/12 I think DJ is developing a sense of style. I've been letting him pick out his clothes lately, and today he pulled two shirts down out of the closet and he refused to let me put one of them back. Most days he just grabs a shirt at random, so it never crossed my mind that maybe it was intentional. Then he had me help him put on the white T-shirt that he had pulled down, so I thought that was the one
3/10/12 DJ and Andrew are sleeping in the same room tonight... let's see how that goes
3/15/12 Free time devoid of the study of what men have written is like unto death, akin to the burial of one who is still alive.
3/17/12 Andrew just managed to somehow climb up onto the couch. That was something that DJ didn't accomplish until he was nearly two years old. In the last week Andrew has also climbed up the stairs, climbed up onto a step stool, and very nearly made it out of his crib... Looks like I've got a climber.
3/18/12 Every day of the week it takes some serious convincing to get DJ to take a nap at 1:30 or 2 or sometimes even 2:30. But for some reason most Sundays he can't keep his eyes open through a 12:30 lunch.
3/19/12 It's Andrew's Birthday today! This year has gone by so fast
3/24/12 DJ had lots of fun playing outside today with friends, but I had to drag him kicking and screaming the entire way home.
3/24/12 spent the morning at the park, came home for naps, spent the afternoon in a friend's backyard, and then spent the evening having a picnic and playing in our backyard. And we didn't need to put on a jacket once. :)
3/26/12 This morning I set Andrew down on the sidewalk and he got so excited, and took off running. He was doing really well until he tripped and skinned his nose.
3/29/12 DJ has a tendency to repeat everything I say, so it makes for some interesting conversations.
DJ: mama, cuptakes?
Me: no, we're not going to make cupcakes today, sorry
DJ: please, cuptakes today, sorry
Me: well I could make some muffins I suppose
DJ: yep, muffins I suppose
4/1/12 "When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges or wanting to cause harm — please apply the following: Stop it!"
4/6/12 German pancakes in a muffin tin... why did I not think of this before?
4/6/12 DJ's first ever bowling game scores: Dad got 84 points, Mom got 91 points, DJ got 106 points. Dean had a really bad game for him, my game was about average for me, and DJ did great for his first game! He loved it. He would laugh hysterically every time the ball came back up the chute.
4/17/12 I think ball is officially Andrew's first word. He says mama and dada, but I don't know if he really understands what they mean. He definitely knows what a ball is. :)
4/23/12 Just got back from Utah where I said goodbye to my little sister for the next year and a half while she serves a mission in the Philippines. I'll miss you Heidi!
4/29/12 last Sunday DJ's shoes fit him... this Sunday, I can't even force them on.
5/4/12 All day today, both of my boys have been acting so much older. Andrew has been showing some real understanding of the things that we say, copying everything we do, and just doing things that he wasn't really doing much even yesterday. DJ is getting better at this potty training thing, he has been really obedient and helpful all day, and when he did do something wrong, he put himself in time-out.
5/8/12 how do such small kids make such big messes?
5/8/12 it's 6:18... kids are in bed... ... ... they're even quiet if not asleep... what do I do now?
5/9/12 This morning I cleaned up all of the toys, I mopped the floor, and I gave the kids a bath. This afternoon every single toy is back out, the floor is covered with lunch, and the kids are covered in food, dirt, and boogers... *sigh*
5/9/12 today was DJ's second day in a row without a nap. Yesterday he went to bed at 6:15, and today he fell asleep in his dinner.
What do you do when your child just stops taking naps, but still obviously needs them?
5/12/12 As I put the kids to bed they look as though they are about to drift off to sleep... and then the moment I close the door, they both break out into peals of laughter. Five minutes later, all is quiet.
5/17/12 DJ has two trains, and he puts them next to each other and says "one, two, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, thirteen, GO!" and then they race. Sometimes he'll count to five, and sometimes he'll count to two, and occasionally he'll count to seven... but he always skips 4, and if he gets up to ten he always adds 13
5/20/12 I sure hope these clouds clear up soon
5/20/12 I feel a little bit like the girl in "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury.
6/4/12 Even after two and a half years, DJ is still terrified of the vacuum... Andrew on the other hand LOVES it
6/8/12 This morning DJ watched a clip from the new Winnie the Pooh movie over and over and over again. It was the song about the backson: the terrible monster that scribbles in the books, wakes up babies, stops the clocks, puts holes in socks, tangles up christmas hooks, steals your youth, and does pretty much every single bad thing imaginable. After watching that about 20 times he came over to me and discovered a hole in my sock, to which he said emphatically, "Hole in sock! Backson! OH NO!!!"
6/10/12 This morning DJ was standing on top of a box and he kept saying "templeroni." I thought he was saying something about the temple and then saying that he wanted to eat macaroni or something like that... it took me a while to figure out that he was pretending to be moroni on top of the temple.
6/11/12 Loading up the truck today, moving to Wyoming tomorrow. Goodbye Rexburg.
6/25/12 There is at least one meltdown every day. Today's meltdown is because there are no more dirty dishes to wash.
6/25/12 I usually let the kids each choose one toy to take to bed with them, but tonight DJ wanted to take his book of mormon picture book. Half an hour later I can still hear him saying things like "nephi... bow... broken... fix it" and "ammon... sheep... not nice" "rocks...touch finger... light... boats"
6/27/12 Andrew learned the joy of putting olives on his fingers, and at the same time finally mastered the word 'more'... it might help that the sign for more looks a lot like pointing to his fingers. He's saying it too though, so whatever works
6/28/12 how do you make a lion out of a pipe cleaner? DJ just brought me a pipe cleaner and is now insisting that I make a lion out of it...
6/29/12 yesterday by noon I had cleaned up 7 urine messes and 1 milk mess. Today by noon I have cleaned up one urine mess, two apple juice messes and one dish water mess. I'd call that progress! *sigh* the joys of motherhood... don't you just love toddlers :)
7/2/12 (Sunday evening)
me: let's make muddy buddies!
conscience: I thought you were trying to eat healthier?
me: I'll only have a little bit, I'll make it last all week
conscience: like I haven't heard that one before
me: this time will be different
(Monday morning... looking into nearly empty bowl)
me: well, the kids helped
conscience: you are hereby forbidden to make muddy buddies ever again
me: you're probably right... what about cookies?
conscience: no wonder you can't lose any weight
7/3/12 beginning week 4 without a dishwasher... I'm never going to complain about loading the dishwasher again.
7/3/12 Andrew was crying just now so I went up to check on him, and I found DJ standing beside his crib, arms through the bars singing twinkle twinkle little star to him. I'm not sure if that's why Andrew was crying, or if DJ started singing to him trying to make him feel better.
7/5/12 I was really hoping the kids would sleep in this morning after staying up late to watch fireworks. No such luck. At least the kids both loved the fireworks. Andrew cried a bit at the noise at first, but he got over it quickly.
7/7/12 The hysterical laughter coming from the other room should have been my first clue that I would find a huge mess. Milk EVERYWHERE. It was a small cup, only half full, but they managed to get it completely covering the table and the floor, and their chairs, and all over their bodies. So what do I do? I hand them each a washcloth and leave the room. Now I'm still hearing hysterical laughter.
7/11/12 DJ was begging to make some cookies, so we made strawberry banana applesauce coconut oatmeal cookies for lunch. They were pretty good considering there was no added sugar, the kids liked them too.
7/11/12 reading to the boys the story of Zeezrom, and when I got to the part about the people throwing rocks at him, DJ said "No throw rocks! time out!" I'll bet you can't guess what he was in time out today for.
7/11/12 from the kids' bedroom I hear a loud thump, a cry of pain, and then hysterical laughter. DJ had opened the huge box full of stuffed animals (the box had been taped shut) and tossed all of the animals into Andrew's crib. Andrew was able to climb on top of all of the stuffed animals in order to get out of his crib. It sounded like he had a hard landing, but by the time I got in there to check on him he was running around the room laughing like he had just done something amazing!
7/18/12 there's nothing wrong with having s'mores for dinner right? If it makes it any better, we had zucchini for dessert.
7/23/12 Today Andrew is exactly the same age that DJ was when Andrew was born... weird
7/24/12 Andrew likes fresh pineapple at least as much as his mom, and DJ dislikes pineapple almost as much as his dad. Our family is very divided on the pineapple issue.
7/30/12 This evening, Andrew screamed so hard he held his breathe until he passed out. This is the second time he has done this in the last couple of weeks, and the fourth time he's done this int he last couple of months... *sigh*... all because I wouldn't let him carry a book bigger than he was up the stairs by himself.
8/3/12 yesterday and today I've been counting how many words Andrew says. I thought it would be somewhere around 10 or 15, and was astounded to find out that he knows at least 29 words.
8/8/12 DJ and Andrew are sitting in the laundry basket with a blanket over their heads, reading books to each other.
8/8/12 We took the side off of Andrew's crib tonight, making it a toddler bed. Andrew was very excited to be able to get in and out of his bed on his own. We put them to bed a few minutes ago and now by the sounds of it, they are jumping off of his bed, both laughing hysterically. Andrew might be back in a crib tomorrow.
8/9/12 the boys are playing upstairs in their room and I hear " I did it! I did it! Yay! Sword!" Apparently with great effort DJ had climbed up and pulled down a kite that I had placed out of his reach, he took the plastic things out of the sides that give the kite shape, gave one to Andrew, kept one for himself and when I got up there to check on them they were having a sword fight.
8/9/12 After watching the show for over a year, DJ just figured out blues clues, and he only needed one clue.
8/11/12 when we took the side off of Andrew's crib, I expected him to wander around a little more, but when I put him down for a nap, close the door behind me, and he comes downstairs a few minutes later, I have to wonder. He can't even reach the doorknob, and even if he could there was a cover over the knob so DJ can't open it. I seem to have an escape artist on my hands.
8/11/12 One of the last things we do when we put the kids to bed is give everyone hugs. Somewhere in the last several months, the kids got the idea that whenever the two of them hug, they have to fall over like they've been tackled. The last few nights, the moment I say that it's time to give hugs, Andrew has started running away and DJ chases him like they're playing tag, until DJ finally catches him and pulls him down to the ground. Of course they both laugh hysterically the whole time. It's a fun little ritual, but I hope one day they learn to hug without falling over.
8/11/12 the kids emptied their dresser, threw clothes everywhere, not leaving a single sock paired together, ripped the wood off the front of the drawers, knocked over the whole dresser, and ripped the back off of it, spread diapers throughout the room, emptied the container of wipes, ripped a board book which obviously took some effort, forced open the closet where the toys were hiding, dumped the toys out and spread those everywhere, climbed up on top of the stuffed animal box and pulled half of the shirts off of their hangers... ugh
8/16/12 playing with legos this morning, DJ built a train, then added a platform where his planes (also made out of legos) could land. Aircraft carrier train?
8/16/12 three nights in a row putting the kids to bed in separate rooms. Three nights in a row of kids falling asleep with no messes and no destruction. Three nights in a row of peace. Two mornings in a row of Andrew waking up happier in the morning after not being kept up by his brother until ten. ...Why did I want them to share a room again?
8/18/12 Today I finally feel like this potty training thing is a success. Today for the first time, DJ used the potty, without me having to remind him, without making a mess first, and without any help at all. Honestly, we were doing a big puzzle together, and I had my back turned looking for the next piece and when I turned back to him he had disappeared, and I found him sitting on the toilet. He hasn't had a single accident all day!
8/30/12 my children had so much fun cleaning crayon off the walls this morning, I fear they're going to draw on the walls again, just so they'll get to clean it up again.
8/31/12 I just put the boys to bed, and almost immediately after I close the bedroom door I hear DJ singing a song that sounded a lot like twinkle twinkle little star, but I heard him say Andrew several times, and ninja, and yummy food... I wish I had gotten the thread of the song better...
9/3/12 Dean: Andrew, can you say, book?
Andrew: Book
Dean: can you say cup?
Andrew: bup
Dean: can you say train?
Andrew: choo choo
Dean: can you say helicopter?
Andrew: plane *makes airplane noises with his hand flying through the air*
Dean: can you say monkey?
Andrew: *makes monkey noises*
9/9/12 DJ's song while playing this morning: pop a weasle, monkey peasle, gator catch me, gator catch me, rosie fall down, meltin' small small small.
9/15/12 I just finished reading a series of books. There are several different main characters throughout the series, and in the last book, all but one of the main characters dies, but it is a very happy ending. Who can guess what it is?
9/20/11 all ready to make lunch. Andrew wants to help. I lay out six slices of bread on the table to make three sandwiches, one for each of us. DJ comes running into the room saying he needs help with something, so I go to help him, leaving Andrew to watch over the bread. When I get back, there is a bite taken out of the middle of every single slice of bread, all laid out more or less where I had left them... and Andrew is nowhere to be seen.
2/28/09 is currently on the road to wyoming
3/22/09 is in Utah for a few days
3/29/09 is in Missouri
4/29/09 found two new furry family members under the bed this morning... surprising, I thought it would be more
5/2/09 I had a dream last night that I was in Mission Viejo... but no one else was there for me to go see. Everyone that I knew was either off at college some place, or moved to Utah or somewhere else.
6/6/09 I'm doing alright today
6/14/09 I need a hug tonight... for anyone who knows me well, that is saying something
6/18/09 some days are better than others, today was a good day
6/24/09 It has been a very long day, and I'm exhausted... and yet here I sit... awake... still
7/7/09 I'm in utah for the rest of the month
7/15/09 I am currently enjoying life, thinking of Dean often, and counting down the days till November 11th :) ...give or take
7/21/09 my back is aching tonight
7/25/09 finally got around to watching the new Harry Potter movie today.
7/31/09 is driving back to Colorado today
8/18/09 yay for carpet!
8/24/09 had a marvelous day today :)
8/26/09 I'm tired of being tired; I'm tired of being hungry; I'm off balance; I ache all over all the time; Its a good thing life is good, or I just might just not get up in the morning.
8/30/09 listened to Christmas music today, and wore Dean's Jacket. That made me feel better. :)
9/3/09 crayon melted, got all over a stuffed animal, and hardened again... how do I get it out???
9/4/09 made a quilt today. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. Thanks MaeLyn!
9/8/09 Seven months have gone by so quickly... but at the same time the last three months have taken an eternity. Interesting how that works. Will the next two months go by quickly or slowly... or a bit of each?
9/12/09 loves the sound of falling rain
9/15/09 I am so frustrated... lousy doctors need to make up their minds
9/21/09 Today is the last day of summer... so we're celebrating with snow???
10/8/09 feels like a piñata... except that the kid with the bat is trying to break me open from the inside out
10/8/09 Over the ground lies a mantel of white
10/25/09 Okay... I'm sick of this. 17 days isn't too early, lets go!
11/6/09 went for a bikeride today. Needless to say, it was a short ride, but it felt good anyways.
11/7/09 Mom flies in today, and Dean has begun his long journey home. He should be here in a few days!
11/8/09 Dean just called from Qatar, headed to Kuwait, then probably Germany or Ireland, then to the USA. Should be here in a couple days. Hoping he beats baby here!
11/10/09 Dean is in Germany, he should be here by tomorrow afternoon!
11/12/09 Dean is here, baby is not. Inducing him Friday night if he doesn't come before then.
11/12 09 Induction moved to sunday morning, hopefully baby will come before then on his own, Dean doesn't have a lot of time here.
11/16/09 Is proud to announce the birth of Dean James Dawes. Born at 9:09 November 15th. :)
11/22/09 tired... happy, but tired
11/25/09 four hours of sleep... hooray! its almost sad that that's a good thing
11/27/09 Dean is on a plane headed back to Afghanistan... and I begin my life as a single parent. I'm glad I only have to do this for six months... but after not even two weeks, six months is going to be an eternity.
11/29/09 He's figuring out when night time is, and I'm actually getting some decent sleep! So grateful for small blessings... oh wait, I mean huge blessings!
12/3/09 I keep getting told that babies are incapable of smiling at two and a half weeks old... but that sure looks like a smile to me
12/8/09 Way too cold. I was outside for less than two minutes attempting to get the snow off my car and I came back inside with frozen fingers and a frozen face... I guess I won't be going out today afterall.
12/12/09 Its hard to fathom sometimes that this amazing little boy is mine
12/14/09 eight hours of sleep chopped into bits and peices feels so different from eight straight hours of sleep... but hey, eight hours is eight hours, I'll take what I can get
12/15/09 One month old already... the time has passed so quickly.
12/21/09 Goodbye Colorado, I'll see you in a few months
1/1/10 Hello Rexburg!!! ...I forgot how cold it gets here...
1/4/10 He wakes up crying for food as though he will die if I don't feed him immediately, he eats for about five minutes and promptly falls back asleep. Maybe it's time to cut out this 5am feeding... but how do I go about doing that?
1/4/10 My baby just rolled over!!! only seven weeks old... I wonder if he could do it again, I think it was an accident, but still, that's a pretty impressive accomplishment for his age.
1/6/10 Is it better to be dependent on a pacifier or a thumb? A thumb can't get lost in the night, but a pacifier is easier to take away when he is older.
1/10/10 I cut my own hair with junior safety scizzors this morning
1/13/10 so grateful for answers to prayer
1/19/10 two month checkup today... time really flies
1/19/10 Two month appointment today. DJ is now 11lbs 11oz, 23.5 inches long, and a 15.2 inch head circumference. 46th percentile for weight, 59th percentile for length, and 19th percentile for head.
1/25/10 If I'm going to be living in a place where it snows, I think I need to get shoes with better traction.
1/30/10 11:30... wide awake... doesn't he know it's time to sleep???
2/2/10 watching Groundhog Day... I should be doing homework, or washing dishes, or doing just about anything else...
1/5/10 Away go the 0-3 month clothes and out come the 3-6 month clothes, its amazing how fast he's growing.
2/8/10 The good news is, he slept for six hours straight. The bad news is, he doesn't want to go back to sleep now. He doesn't seem to mind that it's dark and he's swaddled.
2/10/10 Okay, I have now lost all right to complain that I never have time to do things anymore. DJ is playing happily by himself, and I am sitting here playing silly games.
2/13/10 had some fun hanging out with my little brother tonight
2/15/10 Three months old today
2/17/10 Last night I moved DJ's bed out of my room and into the living room. It was great last night, but now that it's day time and I'm in the living room, I'm considering putting him back where he was. I wish I had another room to put him in.
2/18/10 This morning, for the first time in three months, I awoke feeling rested after having fed DJ only once during the night.
2/19/10 7:00, he's acting tired. He just got up from a long nap and hour ago. Is it possible that he really is tired again? If he does go to sleep now, is it just a nap, or is he down for the night? If he does go down for the night now, what time will he wake up in the morning??? It isn't supposed to be this complicated
2/20/10 I guess its morning... not even 6 am yet... day can't start before the sun rises! All well, at least I have the promise of a nap in an hour or so.
2/20/10 just watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It was SO funny! I loved it!
2/26/10 I am very glad that DJ is content playing by himself. That way when he wakes up at two in the morning and refuses to go back to sleep I can just put him on his play mat and I can go to sleep on the couch until he gets tired again. I'm probaby encouraging him to be awake in the middle of the night by letting him play. But its better than having him cry for an hour until he is finally tired enough to go back to sleep
3/1/10 grateful for webcams this morning
3/2/10 I woke up this morning to the sound of a sneeze... five minutes later I heard him talking to himself... I finally got up to go get him, and then he went back down for his morning nap half an hour later. I kinda wonder how long he let me sleep in this morning.
3/4/10 last night DJ stole my fork out of my hand and hit himself in the head with it... his days of sitting on my lap at mealtime are numbered
3/9/10 tired of waiting... at least two more months, maybe longer... sigh
3/11/10 Its hard to be sick when you're a mom
3/13/10 ... need ... sleep ...
3/14/10 It's kinda sad when a relatively good night still has me up several times
3/15/10 Somehow DJ got the memo about the time change... up by 7 like he is every morning
3/16/10 A day full of smiles... it's been a good day.
3/23/10 My 13 pound baby tried to lift a 10 pound weight... he wasn't very successful, but it was funny anyways
3/25/10 Oh no! he discovered my glasses.
3/27/10 took DJ to the park for the first time. I don't know how much he enjoyed it, but I had fun.
3/30/10 You'd think that after hardly sleeping at all last night I'd feel more tired than I am... teething in earnest, fun stuff
3/31/10 He has a tooth!!! ... well... he has a little white speck. Surprisingly though it wasn't in the front where I was expecting it to come in, it was way in the back... a little unusual, but not unheard of.
4/1/10 natures april fools joke... tricks us into thinking that spring is here... and then it snows
4/3/10 The thief may come in the night, but that doesn't mean you have to invite him in and serve him tea and crumpets and then show him the silverware... You shouldn't be serving tea anyways!
4/4/10 after three games of Yatzee, heidi and I each had exactly 612 points
4/5/10 so tired of snow, so ready for spring... I miss California
4/27/10 If it weren't for the scorpions and the heat, texas would be a nice place. It is beautiful, there is no denying that.
5/5/10 Colorado... I'm home... except for that fact that I still dont' have a home. And even when I do actually get my apartment tomorrow I won't actually be able to move in until next week. Ugh, I wish I had a truck, and I wish I were strong enough load it wihout having to get help. On the up side, Dean should be home sometime next week!!!
5/9/10 I used to be able to put dj 22452BFQD21D ON ONE SIde od my lap 32423 wqedwq and my lap top on th e o bnmm ther.sfg... I think those days are coming to an endf54444325r6h
5/15/10 He's home!!!
6/1/10 DJ managed to get a hold of my cell phone, and he chewed on it and drooled on it, and now it won't work... I guess I no longer have a cell phone.
6/3/10 I think it's time to baby proof the house because DJ is rolling around and getting into things he shouldn't
6/4/10 I hate deleting good pictures, but when I have hundreds to sort through, something has to go.
6/15/10 Finally got around to having DJ's 6 month checkup. He is a happy, healthy, slightly small little boy :) He got shots today too, and he only cried for a couple of seconds, I was impressed.
6/17/10 DJ went down for his morning nap before 6 this morning... does anyone else see a problem here? ...I'm going back to bed.
6/21/10 I just bought DJ 5 pairs of shoes for $2. I love craigslist.
6/27/10 I'm in Utah this week, Idaho at the end of the week, Wyoming next week...
7/2/10 I'm in Montana, I've never been to Monana before I don't think. I'm enjoying meeting lots of Dean's family. I wish it were a happier occasion.
7/19/10 I set DJ on the floor turn arountd for about three seconds, I turn back and he has disappeared. I finally found him over in the kitchen a good 15 feet away eating a paper towel that fell out of the garbage... ugh, the joys of having a mobile baby.
8/4/10 DJ has tons of cool toys that we stole from Heather's basement, but still he would rather play with my laptop and cell phone.
8/6/10 I just went in to get DJ up from his nap. He was standing up in his crib holding on to the side. I don't know why I was surprised, he's been pulling himself up on other furniture for a week now.
8/8/10 blinding flashes of light, followed by huge crashes of thunder. Torrents of flooding rain. I love storms :) glad I'm inside though.
8/12/10 I can already tell that DJ is going to be a climber. He very nearly succeeded just now in climbing up my leg and onto the coffee table.
8/14/10 I knew this day would come. I'm actually surprised it took so long. DJ managed to pull everything off the bottom three shelves of each of my bookshelves.
8/24/10 how does one go about cooking an extremely large zucchini?
8/26/10 DJ has the hiccups, and every time that he does, he laughs hysterically for a second, then waits silently for the next one, then he laughs again.
9/6/10 Just got back from a quick trip to Wyoming and Utah. Been a very long day of driving including a screaming baby and a flat tire. Glad to be home safely. DJ is glad to be home too. As we were walking up to the front door he started squealing in delight and has been super happy ever since... now I just wish he would go to sleep.
9/9/10 I tried to vacuum today. I usually wait until Dean gets home to vacuum so that he can take DJ outside or something. This was the first time that I attempted to vacuum with DJ in the room, and he was terrified. He cried for a full ten minutes afterward, it was so sad.
10/1/10 I forget how much DJ is growing until he starts getting into stuff that I put up out of his reach just a month ago.
10/6/10 I put DJ to bed about 20 minutes ago. I thought he was asleep, but now I can hear him laughing hysterically at who knows what.
10/9/10 four new teeth and learning to walk: it's been a busy week for DJ
10/16/10 DJ figured out how to open the DVD cases... I guess that means I can't let him pull them all off the shelves anymore
10/24/10 we bought a cookie sheet yesterday. It had a piece of paper stuck to it with a picture of a plate of cookies. DJ is holding that paper and pointing to the cookies, and laughing and trying to pick them up off the page. I think he wants some cookies.
10/30/10 just got back from "trunk or treat." DJ had lots of fun walking around as a monkey, although he was supposed to be a monkey in a tree.
10/31/10 it's almost 7 o clock, it's dark outside, I can hear kids and spooky noises outside... but no trick or treaters yet... I guess no one wants to climb the stairs? all well, more candy for me!
11/5/10 DJ was sick and miserable all day today, and yesterday. I sure hope he's better by tomorrow, it's no fun having a sick baby
11/7/11 Even after an ER visit yesterday, DJ is still miserable today. He just cried for the last hour straight, finally he fell asleep thoroughly exhausted.
11/15/10 Today my son turns one! I can't believe I've been a mom for a whole year. Happy Birthday DJ!
11/16/10 had to go to a meeting tonight because there was a shooting in my apartment complex... I think I would rather just not know these things.
11/18/10 *sigh* harry potter starts tonight... and I'll be sleeping... :( maybe I'll get to see it in a few weeks if I'm lucky.
12/11/10 This morning, DJ successfully spoon fed himself oatmeal for the first time... he's growing up too fast... I guess that's a good thing considering he's going to have a little brother in march.
12/24/10 Fire in the fireplace, hot apple cider, christmas movies, reading the Christmas story with my little family... there's just nothing like Christmas eve.
1/1/11 Who gets up at 5 am on new years day?... I do thanks to a little boy who decided that the crack of dawn wasn't early enough... but thanks to a wonderful husband I got to go back to bed and sleep in until eight, I don't get to do that very often. Happy New Year!
1/10/11 lost my cell phone a few days ago, doesn't look like I'm going to be able to get it back. Working on getting a house phone so I'm not completely cut off from the world.
2/9/11 DJ spent the last half hour helping me load the dishwasher... as much as I appreciate the help, I'd rather he left the clean dishes in the cupboard.
3/20/11 I'm happy to announce the birth of Andrew Norman Dawes, at 4:09 am March 19th... I'll get some pictures up eventually
4/19/11 Andrew is one month old today, and smiling a ton! ...except when I pull the camera out... I'll get a picture of him smiling one of these days
5/8/11 Whoever had the idea to put shoelaces on toddler shoes obviously had no idea that no toddler can sit still long enough to let you tie their shoes
5/10/11 What are you cooking?
I'm boiling pacifiers.
oh, I've never tried those, do they taste any good?
I don't know you'd have to ask Andrew.
5/12/11 DJ is dancing to the beat of the dishwasher
5/18/11 DJ just said helicopter... well it sounded more like cacacaca, but it had the right number of syllables and he had a helicopter in his hand, that's a big word for such a little boy :)
5/23/11 All day today I was writing down all of the words that DJ said that I could understand. I counted 33 different words. That's a lot more than the three I counted two months ago.
5/30/11 at 11:30 last night, amidst the loud snores coming from DJ's room I hear "Adoo" (Andrew) must have been dreaming about his little brother :)
6/1/11 Last night we had both kids in bed asleep by 7:30. Andrew didn't wake up again until 3, when he ate quickly and went right back to sleep, and is still asleep now at 7:30 am. It's been a while since I've had a really good night's sleep! :)
6/14/11 All weekend DJ has been doing funny squats while saying E-O-E-O... I finally figured out what he was doing today. "knees and toes, knees and toes"
6/17/11 7:15, both kids down for the night... I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow
6/19/11 Andrew is three months old today. He celebrated by rolling over! I thought it was an accident, but he did it again just a minute later. We'll see if he can still do it tomorrow.
6/24/11 DJ was sitting on a chair for snack time, wearing his daddy's dog tags. He turned around in the chair to see what I was doing and the tags got caught in the chair. In an effort to free himself, he fell off the chair and hit his head, and then the chain pulled the chair down on top of him. After all that, guess what he was most upset about? the dog tags had come off of him and he wanted it back on.
7/2/11 The other day we took DJ to the splash park, and he had lots of fun. Today it rained and we went out and played in the rain. Guess which one he had more fun doing? :)
7/6/11 six am. we're all up, kids got baths, we've all had breakfast, we're all dressed, and now DJ is insisting that we "GO GO GO!" Where shall we go? What's open at 6am?
7/10/11 7:50 and we're all ready to go to church... too bad church doesn't start until 11, and at least one of my children will probably need a change of clothes before then. Hmmm... maybe I'm a little too ahead of the game this morning.
7/23/11 I think I can now officially say that Andrew can roll over... and his favorite time to do so? right in the middle of a messy diaper change.
7/23/11 DJ figured out how to open the door to let himself out of nap time... I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
7/26/11 Instead of painting the table like he usually does whenever we have yogurt, today DJ decided that his legs and belly made a better canvas.
8/15/11 The last of the family just went home... the house is now quiet after a very loud and exciting family reunion.
8/19/11 I left Andrew on the playmat on one side of the living room and then I went to do some dishes. When I came back he had rolled clear across the room to the keyboard that Heather left here after the family reunion, and he and DJ were both playing it.
8/25/11 DJ just fell asleep on the ground during a diaper change with lunch sitting on the table waiting to be eaten... I guess it was nap time and I missed the memo
9/5/11 DJ climbs down from his chair, pulls his half eaten bowl of dry cereal down, and waves goodbye to me and blows me a kiss. "Where are you going DJ?" "Work!" he responds happily. He then proceeds to climb down the stairs still clutching his bowl of cereal in his hands. Two minutes later he comes back up stairs, all the while saying, "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh" When he gets to the top of the stairs, "DJ what's wrong?" "Mess" ... and so my day begins.
9/9/11 This morning DJ doubled the number of timeouts that he has had in his lifetime... it has been a very frustrating morning
9/11/11 What do you know, hand sanitizer really does get pen out of couches. Good to know.
9/13/11 Moving back to Rexburg in two weeks. So much to do...
9/14/11 ice-blocking in the rain: cold, wet, fun
9/30/11 Back in rexburg... How long we'll be here I have no idea
10/6/11 me: "DJ, I love you."
DJ: "Too!"
10/15/11 feeling kinda lonely today... why? I have no idea
10/21/11 me: "DJ, say one"
DJ: "two"
me: "no, say one"
DJ: "two"
me: "One!"
DJ: "Two!"
me: "fine, say two"
DJ: "three"
10/21/11 I just solved a rubix cube for the first time in over a year, and it took me over 40 minutes to do... I doubt it would have taken me that long except that it was my cube that has pictures of Venice, Italy on it, and I didn't get a chance to look at the pictures before it got mixed up, and when they're all mixed up all of the sides look more or less the same, especially since a couple of them are pictures of the same building just from different angles.
10/26/11 I just raked leaves for the first time since moving from California, and was surprised to learn that Dean had never raked leaves before in his life! Lots of good memories of jumping in huge piles of sycamore leaves and making mazes and houses... :)
10/27/11 We started off to go have fun at a Halloween carnival... then just as we were leaving the house Dean got called away to help someone move, then right after we got there Andrew started screaming because it was too loud, and then to top things off, DJ threw up all over the first game we were going to do... needless to say, we didn't stay long.
10/29/11 DJ is watching the old Winnie the Pooh movie, and he just keeps randomly giggling, saying "it's Pooh!"
10/31/11 SO excited to go trick or treating tonight! It has been a long time... isn't being a mom great!
10/31/11 I forget how long of a walk it is just around the block for a not quite two year old... more than enough candy for him though
11/4/11 snow in colorado springs... snow in green river WY, snow in Orem UT... no snow in Rexburg... that seems a little backwards to me.
11/6/11 doesn't seem to matter what time I put the kids to bed, they were still up before six this morning... and that was before we changed the clocks.
11/15/11
Happy birthday to my son, Dean James Dawes, Dean-o-, DJ, Little Dean, Little Man, Baby Boy, Silly Kid, Crazy Boy, Big Guy, Sunshine Guy, Kiddo, Buddy.
He likes books, especially ones with animals in them.
His favorite toys are buckets to carry things in, laundry hampers to play in, scrubby brushes to clean things with, pots and pans to bang on, suit cases to roll around the house, and blankets to hide under. He also likes Legos, stuffed animals, balls, cars, trains, planes, and anything that makes noise.
His favorite foods are fruit snacks, bananas, string cheese, and marshmallow cereal.
He loves to watch Winnie the Pooh, Veggietales, and Blues Clues.
He loves his stuffed Pooh Bear most of all, he also likes his Winnie the Pooh blanket, and his Winnie the Pooh airplane, and his Winnie the Pooh sippy cup, and his Winnie the Pooh toothbrush, etc.
He is working on learning his colors and after months of practice, I think he's finally starting to catch on.
He likes to throw things straight up in the air and they often fall on his head.
He loves to stack blocks and other objects to make towers that are often impressively tall.
He can count to five, but he has yet to ever say "one."
He loves to play with other kids and follow them around and copy everything that they do.
Any time that he sees or even just hears an airplane or helicopter he points to the sky with great excitement, and will often run in that direction, shouting "Plane!" until it is out of sight.
He likes to brush his teeth, and is often devastated when it is time to stop after sometimes more than ten minutes of brushing.
He is very helpful. He likes to clean up messes, and scrub things, sweep things up, empty and load the dishwasher, fold laundry, put laundry in the washer or dryer, and take care of trash or dirty clothes that he ever finds.
He learns new words every day and will often surprise me with what he knows how to say.
He loves his little brother Andrew, but hates it when Andrew gets his sippy cup or toys. He's very good about trading toys with Andrew when Andrew has something that he wants. Whenever he finds something that belongs to Andrew he will usually run it over and give it to him.
He loves his Mama a lot, but it is his Daddy that he is always so excited to see.
We all love him very very much and we are so blessed to have him in our lives.
11/17/11 I just gave DJ the very last piece of Halloween candy. What are we going to do tomorrow when he asks for "canny pees"... I anticipate tears :(
11/18/11 Dean being color blind takes all of the fun out of putting food coloring in his food
11/22/11 DJ used to toilet today for the first time ever, and it was entirely his idea! I guess that's his birthday present to Daddy!
11/27/11 Tonight at dinner, DJ requested water. Not juice, not milk, but water. I think that's a first.
11/31/11 here's a challenge: Lie on your back flat on the floor, with two children, one on either side of you... Casually toss a small soft ball up towards the ceiling, bounce it off the ceiling, then off both of the kids' heads, then have it land in a honey pot clear across the room.
12/2/11 The good news is, we found the missing sippy cup. The bad news is, it was full of milk. The worse news is, Andrew was the one who found it... hope he doesn't get sick.
12/4/11 After scripture reading tonight DJ jumped up, gave me a hug, then ran off. We had to call him back and remind him that we hadn't had prayer yet. He came back, sat quietly for prayer, then the moment it was over he gave me another hug, and again ran out of the room and with a huge grin on his face he shouted, "To Bed!"
12/9/11 Today has been a really good day. I think this is the first day in a long time that has been completely tantrum free. The only issue was when he was playing in his laundry hamper, and he got upset when I wouldn't put Andrew in with him.
12/14/11 It's snowing outside... and might I just say, it's about time.
12/15/11 In the last hour Andrew pulled the Christmas tree down on top of himself, tried to knock the trashcan over, almost fell down the basement stairs, and took a bite out of a crayon... I can't leave that kid unattended for ten seconds without something happening.
12/27/11 Well, we've been gone for the last week. We got back last night to some frozen pipes. All day today was spent thawing out pipes, only to discover that the pipes were broken... basement flooded, carpet ruined, huge mess... getting the pipes fixed tomorrow, can't use water tonight, getting the carpet replaced in a couple of days... exciting stuff! I'm glad we don't own this house, so we don't have to pay for any of these repairs. We're hoping the owners will do something to keep this from happening again. There was absolutely nothing that we could have done to prevent this; the house is old, and apparently not built to code.
12/28/11 No snow for Christmas, then today we think it is finally going to snow, and what do we get? Rain! You can't really play in ice cold rain. Warm rain sure, snow definitely, but you can't really do much with ice cold rain.
1/10/12 I never really realized just how hard the words 'me' and 'you' are to explain to a two year old.
(while looking at pictures of DJ)
me: DJ, who is that?
DJ: it's you!
me: no, it's not me, it's you.
DJ: it's you!
me: No say, it's me
DJ: mama?
me: no, not mama, DJ, it's you, but you say, me
1/11/12 I guess jumping over cracks in the sidewalk is intuitive and not a learned thing. DJ was jumping over every crack in the sidewalk on the way to the babysitter's house today.
1/13/12 DJ was helping me make muffins this morning, and as we were putting the batter into the tins (which is a very messy job when being helped by a two year old) he kept pointing to one and calling it a baby, I didn't realize until a bit later that he was letting me know that that particular one had less batter in it than all of the rest. I put some more in that one, and then he found another one and c
alled it a baby, then he took it
upon himself to find the biggest one and take a huge spoonful of batter
out of it, and put it in the 'baby' one, thus making the one that had
been the biggest now the 'baby' so he had to fix that one. Yeah, he made
a huge mess, but it was really fun to see his brain work that way.
1/17/12 Yesterday, our first real day of potty
training was a total success... it's time consuming and tedious, but
after one day all I can say is so far so good.
1/26/12 For the last hour DJ has been playing in his
bed pretending to take a nap, so when I announced that it was nap time
he happily jumped into bed, cheerily said goodnight and closed his eyes
to go to sleep. Then I left the room and closed the door. Very sad and
confused little boy when playtime turns real.
2/9/12 electric bill is almost $400 this month... this is ridiculous
2/10/12 today Andrew took a couple of steps, he ate with a spoon, and DJ called me April...twice
2/19/12 We just got home from church and I told DJ to take off his shoes so he won't get snow in the house. Instead of taking off his shoes he sits down and scrapes the snow off of his shoes and eats it, then says, "mmm, snow! yummy food on shoes!" ... I'm a little bit torn between being disgusted, and being somewhat impressed at his developing language skills.
2/21/12 Right now I'm babysitting a little girl, about 18 months old. She is sitting at DJ's little toy table, and DJ was telling her about the different colors on it. He kept pointing at the red part of the table saying, "it's Yellow!" and then the little girl very clearly said Yellow. I don't really know how extensive her vocabulary is, but I hope she doesn't come away thinking that red is yellow.
2/22/12 I played basketball tonight for the first time in a few years... it was great for about 15 minutes until I jammed my finger. It really hurts!
2/23/12 DJ is pretending to change the diaper of a stuffed rabbit. He keeps pulling out wipes and wiping it, and saying "yuck, mess, poopy, yuck" then he comes to me with the wipe, and says "trash?" then runs off and puts it in the trash then comes back and pulls out another wipe.
2/23/12 What do you do when it's fairly warm out and so you promise your kids a trip to the park, and when you get there the playground is flooded under at least four inches of water? ...we went to arctic circle to play at the playground there... kinda defeats the purpose of going out on a warm day, but DJ wanted a slide.
2/24/12 How many kids do you know who only eat their vegetables and leave everything else... that's Andrew.
2/27/12 I think it's safe to say that Andrew can walk now. He took his first steps a couple of weeks ago, but in the past couple of days he has been experimenting more and more with it. He just took probably about ten steps off to who knows what and then he stopped and turned around... yeah he fell as he turned, but it was exciting anyways.
2/28/12 I think DJ is developing a sense of style. I've been letting him pick out his clothes lately, and today he pulled two shirts down out of the closet and he refused to let me put one of them back. Most days he just grabs a shirt at random, so it never crossed my mind that maybe it was intentional. Then he had me help him put on the white T-shirt that he had pulled down, so I thought that was the one
he had chosen, so I started to
put the other shirt back, but then he got upset. He wanted me to put
that shirt on over the other one. The second shirt was a polo shirt. It
didn't occur to me until the second shirt was on that he actually looked
pretty good with both shirts on. Whether he did it on purpose or
whether it was coincidence I have no idea.
3/5/12 I wake up early, get ready to go to class,
wake the kids up, get them dressed, get all three of us fed, load the
kids into the car, drive to the babysitter's house, unload the kids,
bring them in, get back in the car, go to class... class has been
canceled today, maybe I should have checked my email.
3/6/12 DJ just pulled a spoon out of the drawer and
came over to me and started stabbing me with the spoon and then putting
it in his mouth and saying, "mmm, yummy lunch!" I guess I'm raising a
cannibal.
3/10/12 DJ and Andrew are sleeping in the same room tonight... let's see how that goes
3/15/12 Free time devoid of the study of what men have written is like unto death, akin to the burial of one who is still alive.
3/17/12 Andrew just managed to somehow climb up onto the couch. That was something that DJ didn't accomplish until he was nearly two years old. In the last week Andrew has also climbed up the stairs, climbed up onto a step stool, and very nearly made it out of his crib... Looks like I've got a climber.
3/18/12 Every day of the week it takes some serious convincing to get DJ to take a nap at 1:30 or 2 or sometimes even 2:30. But for some reason most Sundays he can't keep his eyes open through a 12:30 lunch.
3/19/12 It's Andrew's Birthday today! This year has gone by so fast
3/24/12 DJ had lots of fun playing outside today with friends, but I had to drag him kicking and screaming the entire way home.
3/24/12 spent the morning at the park, came home for naps, spent the afternoon in a friend's backyard, and then spent the evening having a picnic and playing in our backyard. And we didn't need to put on a jacket once. :)
3/26/12 This morning I set Andrew down on the sidewalk and he got so excited, and took off running. He was doing really well until he tripped and skinned his nose.
3/29/12 DJ has a tendency to repeat everything I say, so it makes for some interesting conversations.
DJ: mama, cuptakes?
Me: no, we're not going to make cupcakes today, sorry
DJ: please, cuptakes today, sorry
Me: well I could make some muffins I suppose
DJ: yep, muffins I suppose
4/1/12 "When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges or wanting to cause harm — please apply the following: Stop it!"
4/6/12 German pancakes in a muffin tin... why did I not think of this before?
4/6/12 DJ's first ever bowling game scores: Dad got 84 points, Mom got 91 points, DJ got 106 points. Dean had a really bad game for him, my game was about average for me, and DJ did great for his first game! He loved it. He would laugh hysterically every time the ball came back up the chute.
4/17/12 I think ball is officially Andrew's first word. He says mama and dada, but I don't know if he really understands what they mean. He definitely knows what a ball is. :)
4/23/12 Just got back from Utah where I said goodbye to my little sister for the next year and a half while she serves a mission in the Philippines. I'll miss you Heidi!
4/29/12 last Sunday DJ's shoes fit him... this Sunday, I can't even force them on.
5/4/12 All day today, both of my boys have been acting so much older. Andrew has been showing some real understanding of the things that we say, copying everything we do, and just doing things that he wasn't really doing much even yesterday. DJ is getting better at this potty training thing, he has been really obedient and helpful all day, and when he did do something wrong, he put himself in time-out.
5/8/12 how do such small kids make such big messes?
5/8/12 it's 6:18... kids are in bed... ... ... they're even quiet if not asleep... what do I do now?
5/9/12 This morning I cleaned up all of the toys, I mopped the floor, and I gave the kids a bath. This afternoon every single toy is back out, the floor is covered with lunch, and the kids are covered in food, dirt, and boogers... *sigh*
5/9/12 today was DJ's second day in a row without a nap. Yesterday he went to bed at 6:15, and today he fell asleep in his dinner.
What do you do when your child just stops taking naps, but still obviously needs them?
5/12/12 As I put the kids to bed they look as though they are about to drift off to sleep... and then the moment I close the door, they both break out into peals of laughter. Five minutes later, all is quiet.
5/17/12 DJ has two trains, and he puts them next to each other and says "one, two, three, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, thirteen, GO!" and then they race. Sometimes he'll count to five, and sometimes he'll count to two, and occasionally he'll count to seven... but he always skips 4, and if he gets up to ten he always adds 13
5/20/12 I sure hope these clouds clear up soon
5/20/12 I feel a little bit like the girl in "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury.
6/4/12 Even after two and a half years, DJ is still terrified of the vacuum... Andrew on the other hand LOVES it
6/8/12 This morning DJ watched a clip from the new Winnie the Pooh movie over and over and over again. It was the song about the backson: the terrible monster that scribbles in the books, wakes up babies, stops the clocks, puts holes in socks, tangles up christmas hooks, steals your youth, and does pretty much every single bad thing imaginable. After watching that about 20 times he came over to me and discovered a hole in my sock, to which he said emphatically, "Hole in sock! Backson! OH NO!!!"
6/10/12 This morning DJ was standing on top of a box and he kept saying "templeroni." I thought he was saying something about the temple and then saying that he wanted to eat macaroni or something like that... it took me a while to figure out that he was pretending to be moroni on top of the temple.
6/11/12 Loading up the truck today, moving to Wyoming tomorrow. Goodbye Rexburg.
6/25/12 There is at least one meltdown every day. Today's meltdown is because there are no more dirty dishes to wash.
6/25/12 I usually let the kids each choose one toy to take to bed with them, but tonight DJ wanted to take his book of mormon picture book. Half an hour later I can still hear him saying things like "nephi... bow... broken... fix it" and "ammon... sheep... not nice" "rocks...touch finger... light... boats"
6/27/12 Andrew learned the joy of putting olives on his fingers, and at the same time finally mastered the word 'more'... it might help that the sign for more looks a lot like pointing to his fingers. He's saying it too though, so whatever works
6/28/12 how do you make a lion out of a pipe cleaner? DJ just brought me a pipe cleaner and is now insisting that I make a lion out of it...
6/29/12 yesterday by noon I had cleaned up 7 urine messes and 1 milk mess. Today by noon I have cleaned up one urine mess, two apple juice messes and one dish water mess. I'd call that progress! *sigh* the joys of motherhood... don't you just love toddlers :)
7/2/12 (Sunday evening)
me: let's make muddy buddies!
conscience: I thought you were trying to eat healthier?
me: I'll only have a little bit, I'll make it last all week
conscience: like I haven't heard that one before
me: this time will be different
(Monday morning... looking into nearly empty bowl)
me: well, the kids helped
conscience: you are hereby forbidden to make muddy buddies ever again
me: you're probably right... what about cookies?
conscience: no wonder you can't lose any weight
7/3/12 beginning week 4 without a dishwasher... I'm never going to complain about loading the dishwasher again.
7/3/12 Andrew was crying just now so I went up to check on him, and I found DJ standing beside his crib, arms through the bars singing twinkle twinkle little star to him. I'm not sure if that's why Andrew was crying, or if DJ started singing to him trying to make him feel better.
7/5/12 I was really hoping the kids would sleep in this morning after staying up late to watch fireworks. No such luck. At least the kids both loved the fireworks. Andrew cried a bit at the noise at first, but he got over it quickly.
7/7/12 The hysterical laughter coming from the other room should have been my first clue that I would find a huge mess. Milk EVERYWHERE. It was a small cup, only half full, but they managed to get it completely covering the table and the floor, and their chairs, and all over their bodies. So what do I do? I hand them each a washcloth and leave the room. Now I'm still hearing hysterical laughter.
7/11/12 DJ was begging to make some cookies, so we made strawberry banana applesauce coconut oatmeal cookies for lunch. They were pretty good considering there was no added sugar, the kids liked them too.
7/11/12 reading to the boys the story of Zeezrom, and when I got to the part about the people throwing rocks at him, DJ said "No throw rocks! time out!" I'll bet you can't guess what he was in time out today for.
7/11/12 from the kids' bedroom I hear a loud thump, a cry of pain, and then hysterical laughter. DJ had opened the huge box full of stuffed animals (the box had been taped shut) and tossed all of the animals into Andrew's crib. Andrew was able to climb on top of all of the stuffed animals in order to get out of his crib. It sounded like he had a hard landing, but by the time I got in there to check on him he was running around the room laughing like he had just done something amazing!
7/18/12 there's nothing wrong with having s'mores for dinner right? If it makes it any better, we had zucchini for dessert.
7/23/12 Today Andrew is exactly the same age that DJ was when Andrew was born... weird
7/24/12 Andrew likes fresh pineapple at least as much as his mom, and DJ dislikes pineapple almost as much as his dad. Our family is very divided on the pineapple issue.
7/30/12 This evening, Andrew screamed so hard he held his breathe until he passed out. This is the second time he has done this in the last couple of weeks, and the fourth time he's done this int he last couple of months... *sigh*... all because I wouldn't let him carry a book bigger than he was up the stairs by himself.
8/3/12 yesterday and today I've been counting how many words Andrew says. I thought it would be somewhere around 10 or 15, and was astounded to find out that he knows at least 29 words.
8/8/12 DJ and Andrew are sitting in the laundry basket with a blanket over their heads, reading books to each other.
8/8/12 We took the side off of Andrew's crib tonight, making it a toddler bed. Andrew was very excited to be able to get in and out of his bed on his own. We put them to bed a few minutes ago and now by the sounds of it, they are jumping off of his bed, both laughing hysterically. Andrew might be back in a crib tomorrow.
8/9/12 the boys are playing upstairs in their room and I hear " I did it! I did it! Yay! Sword!" Apparently with great effort DJ had climbed up and pulled down a kite that I had placed out of his reach, he took the plastic things out of the sides that give the kite shape, gave one to Andrew, kept one for himself and when I got up there to check on them they were having a sword fight.
8/9/12 After watching the show for over a year, DJ just figured out blues clues, and he only needed one clue.
8/11/12 when we took the side off of Andrew's crib, I expected him to wander around a little more, but when I put him down for a nap, close the door behind me, and he comes downstairs a few minutes later, I have to wonder. He can't even reach the doorknob, and even if he could there was a cover over the knob so DJ can't open it. I seem to have an escape artist on my hands.
8/11/12 One of the last things we do when we put the kids to bed is give everyone hugs. Somewhere in the last several months, the kids got the idea that whenever the two of them hug, they have to fall over like they've been tackled. The last few nights, the moment I say that it's time to give hugs, Andrew has started running away and DJ chases him like they're playing tag, until DJ finally catches him and pulls him down to the ground. Of course they both laugh hysterically the whole time. It's a fun little ritual, but I hope one day they learn to hug without falling over.
8/11/12 the kids emptied their dresser, threw clothes everywhere, not leaving a single sock paired together, ripped the wood off the front of the drawers, knocked over the whole dresser, and ripped the back off of it, spread diapers throughout the room, emptied the container of wipes, ripped a board book which obviously took some effort, forced open the closet where the toys were hiding, dumped the toys out and spread those everywhere, climbed up on top of the stuffed animal box and pulled half of the shirts off of their hangers... ugh
8/16/12 playing with legos this morning, DJ built a train, then added a platform where his planes (also made out of legos) could land. Aircraft carrier train?
8/16/12 three nights in a row putting the kids to bed in separate rooms. Three nights in a row of kids falling asleep with no messes and no destruction. Three nights in a row of peace. Two mornings in a row of Andrew waking up happier in the morning after not being kept up by his brother until ten. ...Why did I want them to share a room again?
8/18/12 Today I finally feel like this potty training thing is a success. Today for the first time, DJ used the potty, without me having to remind him, without making a mess first, and without any help at all. Honestly, we were doing a big puzzle together, and I had my back turned looking for the next piece and when I turned back to him he had disappeared, and I found him sitting on the toilet. He hasn't had a single accident all day!
8/30/12 my children had so much fun cleaning crayon off the walls this morning, I fear they're going to draw on the walls again, just so they'll get to clean it up again.
8/31/12 I just put the boys to bed, and almost immediately after I close the bedroom door I hear DJ singing a song that sounded a lot like twinkle twinkle little star, but I heard him say Andrew several times, and ninja, and yummy food... I wish I had gotten the thread of the song better...
9/3/12 Dean: Andrew, can you say, book?
Andrew: Book
Dean: can you say cup?
Andrew: bup
Dean: can you say train?
Andrew: choo choo
Dean: can you say helicopter?
Andrew: plane *makes airplane noises with his hand flying through the air*
Dean: can you say monkey?
Andrew: *makes monkey noises*
9/9/12 DJ's song while playing this morning: pop a weasle, monkey peasle, gator catch me, gator catch me, rosie fall down, meltin' small small small.
9/15/12 I just finished reading a series of books. There are several different main characters throughout the series, and in the last book, all but one of the main characters dies, but it is a very happy ending. Who can guess what it is?
9/20/11 all ready to make lunch. Andrew wants to help. I lay out six slices of bread on the table to make three sandwiches, one for each of us. DJ comes running into the room saying he needs help with something, so I go to help him, leaving Andrew to watch over the bread. When I get back, there is a bite taken out of the middle of every single slice of bread, all laid out more or less where I had left them... and Andrew is nowhere to be seen.
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