I'm having some blogging technical difficulties that I'm trying to sort out, but I think this post should work.
I am so excited to start some Christmas traditions with Brennan. We put our tree up Friday morning and while B napped that afternoon, we brought up a few surprises for him. I knew this year when we brought out the decorations I wanted to already have some goodies in B's stocking - stuff he could enjoy during the Christmas season. His stocking had two pairs of Christmas pajamas and a snowman shirt. We also brought up the Little People Nativity set we got on clearance after Christmas last year. We also put out the Elf on a Shelf book given to us by Mrs. Hamilton last year. And yes, these pictures are after his nap on Friday and he's still in pjs. He wore pjs all day since we didn't leave the house.
He immediately loved the nativity set. He knew exactly who baby Jesus was and has enjoyed playing with it since Friday. He also liked his pjs. He picked up the Elf on a Shelf book, but I was surprised how uninterested he was since he loves books.
I found this great letter on Pinterest that does a nice job of incorporating the elf, Santa, and Jesus together. Brennan knows who Santa is and likes to sit on his lap at the mall, but we haven't told him anything else about him. He doesn't think Santa is brining gifts and he doesn't know anything about Santa's naughty or nice lists. Since he didn't want to read the book, I simply explained to him that an elf was going to show up at the house to make sure he was making good choices. That night, the doorbell rang and there was a present on the front porch - the elf and the letter. Here's a link to the original letter. I modified mine a bit to work for only having one kid. We are doing the whole putting the elf (Kyle named him Buddy) in a different spot each morning so B can look for it. But we aren't doing the whole "no touching" thing because I'm not able to handle B whining about that each morning. On Saturday, Buddy was just sitting in the Christmas tree. The past two mornings, Brennan has found him and immediately moved him back to the Christmas tree. He has already said, "Make Buddy cry" a few times when he's made a bad choice, so he seems to understand the elf's purpose. We'll just keep our main focus on the true reason for the season.
Can't wait to start more traditions this Christmas season.
I wanted to share some pictures from Kyle's homecoming this past Saturday. For those of you who don't know, Kyle is the Weapons Officer aboard the USS Hartford; a fast-attack submarine. The Hartford left for a 6-month deployment (typical fast-attack deployment length) on May 15. Kyle was still in school at the time and upon graduation and a little well-deserved time off, he flew out to meet the boat on August 5 in Lisbon, Portugal. It was very nice that we didn't have to do the full 6-month deployment. Prior to the port-visit in Portugal, the Hartford had been at sea since leaving Groton, CT. Kyle got to the boat at the right time, because there were three port calls right in row. After Portugal, Kyle was able to visit both Scotland and Norway. Port calls give the guys some time off and also gives families a chance to Skype or FaceTime, which we can't do when they're on the submarine. Sometimes when the submarine is at sea, you have really good email communication and other times you have no email at all. After the guys left Norway, we went almost seven weeks without a single email. When an email popped up one day, I knew we were on the downhill swing of our time apart.
The sub made one more stop in Portsmouth, England. They were delayed leaving that port by two days, which pushed our homecoming date back two days as well. But this past Saturday was the big day. Kyle was gone a total of 102 days, which is short in terms of Navy deployment, but plenty long none-the-less. This was his first time being out to sea since Brennan was born, so it was a new experience for us all.
Kyle stayed very busy on the sub and that made his time go by quickly for the most part. Brennan and I stayed busy as well. Brennan started school in September, we are very active in our church, and we are active with the other officers' wives from the boat. Having all these support systems makes the time apart much, much easier.
When Kyle left in August, I made a simple sticker chart for Brennan so we could count down the days until Daddy returned. He loved it and it gave us a way to count down to other events too like our trip to Myrtle Beach and Papaw coming to visit. Brennan was very happy to put his final sticker on the chart on Saturday morning! The sticker chart still only had 100 stickers on it because when the boat got delayed I just peeled off 2 stickers and we kept going.
The boat wasn't scheduled to arrive until 2pm, so we just tried to have a relaxing morning at home. Mommy had some more cleaning to do and Brennan was super great about playing independently.
After we ate lunch at home, it was time to head down to the base to watch the sub pull in. We were very blessed with a gorgeous day - mid 50s in November in CT - so we didn't even need to wear coats down at the pier. Here are some shots of us waiting to see the submarine come down the river.
Right after we arrived, these guys marched by chanting.
We had a while to wait and B just looked around at everything going on.
I love this one. He kept saying, "Ready now, ready now!
A little snack break to pass the time.
Giving Ms. Ali a squeeze!
We had to get a picture with Flat Stanley for Auntie Val's nephew!
Then we could finally see the sub!
This is the longest part because it takes so long for them to pull up and get off the boat. TORTURE!
A friend whose husband came home from deployment early was there to celebrate with the Hartford families and offered to take pictures with my camera. These are the ones she captured!
Brennan was getting super excited.
Still waiting...a cookie makes time go by faster.
Finally the guys started walking off the boat! Then the gates get opened and everyone
walks onto the pier to find their loved ones!
A sweet hug for Daddy!
No clue what I'm laughing about, but oh well.
Brennan loved his Paddington Bear!
And an even bigger hug!
Kyle even held Flat Stanley for me so I could get a picture with the sub.
And back to that cookie again!
Reunited!
Now that Daddy's home again, he's getting back into our routines. Brennan has specifically asked for Dada to help with teeth brushing at night.
And he is constantly wanting to wrestle with Dada. Being 32 weeks pregnant puts a damper on Momma's wrestling abilities. Here's Kyle wrestling with B and Ringo at the same time!
We are so happy to have Daddy back home. Kyle has duty today, so he's at work on the sub for 24 hours. Brennan slept in later than normal this morning and when I went into his room once he woke up he said, "Dada still sleeping?" When I told him that Dada had to go to work today, he immediately broke down in tears and cried, "No Dada back on submarine!". Poor kid. I think Daddy leaving the next time is going to be much harder on him.
If you're really bored, I actually made it onto our local news for about 2 seconds. It just shows me walking down the pier looking for Kyle. You'll see me right after it talks about communication being few and far between for submariners.
You are now 33 months old. And this is an exciting update because it's the last one before Dada comes home from deployment! Woohoo! I think it's gonna be pretty fun to watch the two of you interact with each other. I know you'll love wrestling with him again. We will also be taking another trip to Disney World before your next update - a last little hoorah before "boy baby" arrives. But for now, let's focus on what you've been up to for the past month.
You are currently wearing mostly 3T clothes. I think you're still pretty small for your age, but I can tell you're getting taller. I don't see it day to day, but there are certainly things you can reach now that you couldn't reach just a few weeks ago. You're still in size 6.5 shoes - a tiny little foot. I think I need to get you some new snow boots because we've already had our first snow of the season. Speaking of weather, you made it through your 2nd hurricane. We were very fortunate because we didn't have any damage and never lost power during Hurricane Sandy; many people lost everything. I pray you have a heart for helping people in need when you get older. You also witnessed your first presidential election - and by witnessed I mean you stole my "I voted" sticker and slept through the results. When asked who the president is, you respond, "Obama." Shockingly enough Auntie Val taught you that one.
As you quickly approach the big 0-3, I'm so happy you're still napping. You usually nap for 2 or 2.5 hours, which is so nice for this tired Momma. Currently you're still wearing a Pull-up during nap time and it's almost always a little wet when you wake up. It's so strange that you went six months or so staying dry during nap and now we've had a few months of being wet. You're always wet in the morning, but for now I'm not worrying about that. You are still a good sleeper at night too, but I'm wondering if you're starting to have dreams or nightmares because several nights a week you'll start whining in the middle of the night. You fall back to sleep without me ever coming in your room, but it's not like you to be so restless. I love our nighttime routine and I hope it can stay the same or close to the same once the baby comes. Even if we've had a stressful day, I can almost always count on bath and bedtime to be easy and relaxing with you.
So about those stressful days, you have definitely been testing boundaries lately. You know the difference between right and wrong and always look back at me when you're about to make a poor choice. You also know my "mommy stare" and know you're in trouble when you see it. You're currently going through a hitting stage. You aren't hitting out of anger or meanness, you just like slapping people. You're just being playful, but I'm working hard on breaking that habit. We are working on finding good things to do with your hands like clapping and hugging and I'm starting to see an improvement. Just the other day you were about to playfully slap me and I stopped you and sort of jokingly said, "Brennan, what would Jesus do?" and you said, "Jesus no hit Mommy!" It made me smile. I know boundary testing is all part of growing up and thankfully the majority of the time you're still a good listener. It's a big deal to me that you follow a direction the first time it's given. According to BabyWise, for first time obedience (FTO) it's a good idea to have children make a verbal response like "Yes, Mommy" when a parent calls the child's name. When we started working on that this month, you loved it and it quickly became a game. You would stand in different places around the house and say, "Say Brennan's name". I'd say your name and then you'd say, "Yes, Mommy" and come running to me. You understand emotions so well and can tell me if I'm making a happy, sad, or mad face.
I am so thankful for your sweet, sensitive, and happy nature. You get so excited for the smallest little things and your whole body starts shaking. Your teacher says you're the happiest kid in class. You love going to church and seeing all the people you know. You're a big hugger and run up to them and give them big bear hugs. You're pretty much a celebrity at church! You also have this sensitive side though. If someone even barely bumps you, you get upset. I think this mainly comes from being an only child. I'm sure having a brother will toughen you up some!
You have always loved music and would sort of sing along with me when I sang, but you've just started singing songs by yourself. I love it! Just like talking, you sing really fast so it's hard to understand, but it's just adorable. My current favorites are you singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Jesus Loves Me". You talk up a storm now and make me laugh so many times each day. Some of your funnier new phrases are "that's too yucky!", "not yet" and "Brennan a crazy boy!". You have become a pro at tracing letters and numbers and will occasionally write the letter B on your own. The "Letter School" app is amazing and is one of your favorites. We just recently added some new apps to the iPad and you love "Marble Math Jr", "ABC House", "Thomas and Friends Heroes of the Rails", and "Interactive ABC HD - Pre-reading for Kids". I had to start limiting your time on the iPad because you are obsessed with that thing. You seem to think a "limit" has something to do with "lemons" but for now you understand that when the iPad is on a "lemon" you can't use it.
You still love wrestling and want to wrestle with anyone and everyone. You also love to intentionally fall down and say, "Crash!" You love chocolate milk and candy and sweets. You're super good at memory games - like super good - it blows my mind. You love school and your teachers love you. I'd love to be a fly on the wall and see what you're like there. Papaw and Linda just came up to visit you and you loved spending time with them. Eeek! I'm sure there's much more I could talk about. I'm so thankful for my iPhone so I can add notes to it throughout the month to make these updates possible.
Mommy loves you so much. I know you'll be excited to have your Dada come very soon and then we'll have a little more time as a family of three before the baby comes along. I think you'll be a great big brother.
I have wanted to try bathtub paint with Brennan for such a long time. I pinned the "recipe" for it forever ago and just have never gotten around to doing it. Plus the little fact that the recipe calls for corn starch and for the life of me I didn't think I'd ever find corn starch in the grocery. Then today I'm there with Brennan and it just pops out at me as plain as can be.
The recipe called for 1 tbsp corn starch, 4-6 pumps of baby shampoo, 2-3 drops food coloring, and 1-2 tsp of water. I didn't get too fancy this time and just made blue, yellow, red, and green since those are the food colorings I had on hand. I played around with the consistency a little bit and it turned out the first one I made was definitely the best. The others were a little too runny. Brennan had fun painting, but didn't want to do it for too long. He liked dumping the paints into the tub better. You can see the color of the water below. I'm not sure this was our cleanest tubby ever. And I do need to go scrub down the tub really well now because it definitely left a ring since he dumped all the paints into the water. I think we will definitely do it again soon!
The pictures don't really show much. I didn't even get a shot of the blue on the wall, which was the best one. Oh well!
After our bath, we went into B's room and found Ringo laying in his bed. Well this week it's my bed since my in-laws are here. Silly dog!
