7.25.2007

They Can Be Trained!

The other night I did a quick Target stop on my way home from work. Bought a few essentials including paper towels and toliet paper. When I got home I set everything in the entry way thinking to myself...Oh, I'll just take care of this later (unfortunately, that seems to be my motto these days). So the night goes on, we have dinner, clean up and as I'm leaving to go work out, Mike is giving Brett a bath and I hear Colton say, "dad, I have to go number two." Mike tells him to go downstairs. I go on my merry way. When I get home, both kids are in bed and Mike is downstairs on the couch. I go into the downstairs bathroom and notice that the big 24 pack of toliet paper is on the floor in the bathroom and there is a new roll on the dispenser. I say to Mike, "did you bring the toliet paper down?" His reply (which didn't shock me in the least) was "no." OK, well that's weird.....I don't remember doing it and then it came to me. My little 5 year old was so responsible that he took it upon himself to bring the tp downstairs, open it, replace the tp AND put the empty tp roll into the garbage!! I love this kid!

PS - he even had the tp coming off the top. Just like mommy likes!!!

7.23.2007

Another First

He did it!!! On the first try, away he went without his training wheels. I have to admit, I was quite surprised at how good he did. There was no hesitation. Mike helped him balance, gave him a push, and voila...off into the sunset....well, technically it was just across the front yard.

Here he is, the proud boy without his training wheels!!

Old Friends, New Friends

Our friends Jarrett and Shawna came back to MN from Hawaii for a little vacation - weird, I know...is it really a vacation when you leave paradise to go anywhere else?
We were able to get a visit in during their action packed three weeks. It was our first opportunity to meet their daughter, Madeline and was she a sweet thing! Brett wasn't really sure about having to share any toys, but after he realized that they were about the same size and she was having none of it, he quickly gave in. Smart boy. ;)
Believe it or not, these two are six months apart!! Brett was born in July and Maddie the following January.

7.11.2007

Smores

How to make a Smores

Step One: Grab your friend Cassidy, have Grandma stick some marshmallows on the roasters and stick them over the fire. Step Two: Give the marshmallow roasters to Grandma because it's too much work to hold the roaster. But make sure Grandma doesn't burn them.
Step Three: Enjoy the gooey treat and persuade mom that you need another one even though you've already had 2 popsicles and a piece of pie. Not to mention it's 9:30pm.

Brett's favorite pastime

Our second child has proved to be quite different from child one. I'm not sure if I'm noticing things more because now there are two kids or if it's truly based on him being so darned stubborn (I prefer the terms focused and determined versus stubborn - only because my mom says Brett's a lot like I was). I think after 12 months, we've finally figured out what makes this kid happy....FOOD! Don't think for one second that he was about to share anything with this cute, friendly dog. In fact, Brett was pretty ticked she was even hanging around.
Hmmmm... hot dogs. One of Brett's favorite "meats."
A saltine in one hand and a Cheeto in the other. Does life get any better?

4th of July

Being that the 4th of July fell in the middle of the week and both Mike and I had to work the day before and the day after, we ended up sticking close to home and taking the boys to the beach. Colton spent about the whole time in the water. His new thing this year is going underwater and keeping his eyes open. In his world, he can stay under for 30 seconds....in the 'real' world, it's more like 8 seconds, but a HUGE achievement from last year when he'd barely get his knees wet! Brett, on the other hand, preferred the shade and some snacks. Let me be clear, not just some snacks, but a lot of snacks.

7.02.2007

Happy Birthday Brett! July 3rd

Happy Birthday Brett! I am in shock that 12 months have passed already and you've gone from this little premature baby to this one-year-old bundle of energy.
You've definitely become your own little person. Some of it I blame your father for....well, actually you are more like me than I care to admit. According to my mother, you have the same temperament that I did. You are either mad as heck or happy as ever - no happy medium for you! You want nothing to do with cuddling, everything to do with eating and you're already picking on your big brother! We love you so much and are so happy that you are part of our lives! Happy Birthday my baby!

7.01.2007

It's a PARTY!

I pulled it off! The caterpillar cake was a success. It took 3 boxes of cake, almost 3 containers of frosting, a bag of sour gummy worms, 2 M&M's and some sour sticks, to make it happen, but here it is: Here's the birthday boy trying to figure what to do next. The frosting was a little sweet for him, but that didn't hold him back. We learned that he doesn't really care for strawberry cake, but once grandpa started sharing his chocolate piece, watch out!

Big brother was more than willing to help teach his little bro how to get the goods out. Brett got many wonderful gifts, but his favorite was the tissue paper that things came wrapped in. Go figure.