Rubber Brownies

Avery

Said that brownies are “rubber chocolate”

Sets “traps” with string and toys and then invites us to get caught in them

At dinner, we served a slice of French bread seasoned with oregano.  Avery complained thinking there was “grass” on it.

While we were in the mall, a mannequin was posing in female swimwear.  Avery grabbed its hand and chortled, “Hewuoooh sweeeteee!”

Loves to wrestle and climb all over Clint.  He loves to provoke him to wrestle and taunts him with names like “wizard wips” (lizard lips)

Relentless streams of questions (especially “what if”), insatiable curiosity

Picked up on words such as “fabulous”, “practical”, “sales flyer”, “necessary”, etc… and tries to use them in his speech.

Showing more self-control when upset

Able to play on his own for short periods of time looking at books, playing with legos and drawing.

Creates Lego robot families – Dad (largest lego), Mom (second largest), big brother (likes to use red – favorite color) and baby (smallest)

We bought just a few fireworks to enjoy with Avery.  One included a box of “snaps”.  Instead of throwing one at a time to hear a “pop”, Avery asked if he could throw the whole bag and see what it sounded like.

Aileen

Clint nicknamed her “Little Miss” while Avery calls her “Aweenie”

Quietly smiles really big at times, like she is happy to see us.  Often that is her expression when we come to pick her up out of her crib for breakfast.

Occasionally rolls over

Loves to “stand up” with support

Gets riled up when watching Clint and Avery wrestle.  Sometimes she squeals as if to join in on the fun.

Catching Up

Here are some memories I've meant to record in the past few weeks:

Avery

“Avery and Mama time” – time Avery and I spend together when Aileen is napping.  We often read books, make crafts and artwork, board games, puzzles, eat snacks, bake cookies, draw with sidewalk chalk, blow bubbles, play legos and hotwheels or role play in pretend stories.

Avery can write the entire alphabet on a dry erase board.  He earns one chocolate chip for each alphabet letter.  Since he loves chocolate, that spurs him to work really hard.

“Let’s go look for rabbits to shoot and eat their ham!” – while looking out in the backyard

Avery’s choice of toys to bring to the dr. office waiting room was a rubber snake, light saber and Hotwheels cars.

Little signs of him growing up are always emerging.  For instance, he no longer takes his treasured “blue bankie” to bed (this started to occur sometime after his fourth birthday).  He has also asked to be able to open the refrigerator without asking to get a drink.  Likewise, signs of him being embarrassed has also surfaced which means he is developing an awareness of himself and how others view him.

Drawing together is something that Avery and I love to do.  He has developed in this area by giving names, meaning, descriptions and stories to his drawings.  He is also starting to show some effort in true to life representation on some things, such as a rectangle for a car with circle wheels.

Clint caught him twirling his hair like Clint use to at his age.  Avery’s hair is coming in a carmel brown color and is a bit thick and wavey like his mom and dad’s.

I was using some red dental floss (Avery’s favorite color is red, so he often comments on anything red) and had said that it was cinnamon flavored.  Avery was disappointed that he was using the green floss in his bathroom.  With a  frown on his face, he asked, “What flavor is my green fwoss?  Wettuce (lettuce) or sawad (salad)?”

Our family had dinner with another family who has a boy around Avery’s age.  They cracked us up while we listened in to their conversation about “bacteria”.

Avery handed me a fogged up jar and instructed me to open it.  He explained that he put “kisses” in it.  He had actually blown real kisses in the jar to give to me.  Then, he proceeded to take the jar from my hand, laugh out loud in it, screw on the lid, and then gave it back to me.

Aileen

Discovered her fingers and now sucks on them.  We think she may have started teething too.  She won’t take a pacifier.  Instead, she sucks her thumb to soothe herself.

Hasn’t rolled over yet, but somewhat scoots around in her crib in the mornings.

Avery loves to make Aileen laugh.  She laughs and squeals most at his funny faces and sounds.

Cars, Treasure, Motorcycles, Dirt Tracks

1.) drawing cars
2.) making a treasure map from brown paper sack
3.) Papa's visit - sitting on a real Harley Davidson motorcycle with the motor running!
4.) making a race track for Hotwheels car using cloud dough - 1 part flour + 1/8 part baby oil

Aileen and Avery

The Boy is Hard on Shoes

We bought Avery's first pair of shoes with Christmas money he received from his great-grandma Wooderson.  Since then, it's been a tradition to designate that money each year for a new pair.  However, we have had to buy more than one pair for him due to the fact that the shoes wear out so quickly.  Avery loves to play, and when he does play, he plays will all his might.  In fact, we have also had to buy more socks since he wears out the bottom heels so quickly.  Jeans are another issue since the knees develop threadbare holes and the bottoms unravel in strings.  He is in no need of cut-off jean shorts, however!

Avery may be hard on shoes since he plays with all his might.  Likewise, he also loves with all his might too.  Thankfully, our hearts will not wear out from the joy of loving this boy.

Spring activities

1.) riding his bike around the neighborhood in the beautiful spring weather - Avery is getting pretty good at riding, stopping, turning and dismounting off the bike by himself now.

2.) Plastic cup stacking castles/rocket ships; tp tube stethoscope; crushed fruit loop "sand" art

3.) tp tube heart prints

What a mom notices...

Avery

Runs around the backyard with the spray bottle trying to squirt birds

We are surprised by his increasing vocabulary.  He picks up on words said in passing and then later inserts them into his sentences.  Lately, he has been using “South Africa” and “Mexico”.

He made up a new song he called “Do Man Stuff”.  One of the verses included the lyrics “pow animals” (“pow” is Avery’s word for “shoot”), “pow a deer” and “saw some wood”.  The song “Do Girl Stuff” included the lyric “sew a shirt” and “the baby grows up into a mommy and the mommy gets to be a grandma”.

Our family held a garage sale one weekend.  Avery was trying to help.  He entertained customers by tickling them with a blade of grass as they walked by.  One woman was looking as some shirts we had for sale.  Avery told her “You are WAY too big for those!”  Thankfully, the woman was a good sport and didn’t seem offended.

“Pigs are my favorite animal because they are nice.”

Sometimes I peek in his room to pause and watch him sleep.  It amazes me how quickly he has grown, and how we have the responsibility to shape their early life experience.  I pray that we are diligent to offer them our best effort in doing so.

I laugh watching Avery perform the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse hotdog dance in his Lightning McQueen slippers and airplane pajamas.

I had a sore on my leg.  Avery pointed to it with a concerned look on his face and said, “Mommy, is that a sore?  A sore like an eagle sore (soar)?”

Avery poked two holes in a half piece of bread to make it like a cassette.  He asked if he could put it in the CD player.  It struck me how clever he was to even think of that.

My hair tends to shed a lot, and Clint teases me about finding it in his laundry and around the house.  Avery says that “Mommy’s hair leaks” (it “leaks” out).

He finds the greatest pleasure in entertaining people - making them laugh or smile.  I am thankful how he now tries to do this for Aileen too.  She responds with delight sometimes, even more so than when she interacts with us as her parents.  I hope Avery and Aileen will develop a special bond with one another.

Aileen

Her eyelashes are almost as long as her mommy’s.

                                                                                                    

Sometimes I pause to watch her sleep.  She is so peaceful and beautiful.  Her head fits in my hand, and she seems to give me her complete trust.

I laugh hearing Clint sing Weird Al Yankovic songs to Aileen trying to soothe her to sleep.

Many times other people’s first comment about Aileen is “Wow, look at all that hair!”.

She is less expressive than Avery was when he was her age.  Overall, her personality is less intense.  Her crying and vocal sounds are softer and more airy.  Sometimes it looks like she smiles with her eyes even though her mouth is expressionless.

Gives us a one-sided grin with a milk bubble at the corner of her mouth.

She spits up and hiccups a lot.

The way her hair sticks up in the back is quirky and cute.

When I place my hand on her head, I notice that my skin is showing some subtle signs of aging with creases and loss of elasticity.  Her skin in contrast is perfect – smooth, plump, rosy pink and delicate.