Pizza, Ducks, Dinner and Froyo

Just a little post to catch you up on our happenings so far this weekend. On Friday night there was a pizza party at Brennan's school. It's an annual event, so this was our second year going. The kids sang two songs: "You Are My Sunshine" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider". They just sang them sitting or standing right at the tables with their families and I think Brennan was the loudest by far. His teacher came over afterwards and said it sounded like he had a microphone.

It was a fun night with some yummy pizza. Brennan wasn't too impressed with the pizza because they only had cheese and he wanted pepperoni. He said cheese is "yucky." I pulled my smart Mommy card though and I went back a second time and brought him a piece and said, "Brennan I found pepperoni, but the pepperoni fell off when I was getting it out of the box." He immediately ate the cheese pizza then. Silly goose!

I really enjoyed watching Brennan interact with some of his friends at school. His first year at the school he really gravitated towards hanging out with the teachers and didn't talk a lot about the boys and girls in his class. But this year he talks about a lot of friends and he was so social and outgoing last night. It was really neat to see. He even let me take a picture of him with his two teachers from this year! I love his genuine smile in both pictures and his red cheeks because he had been running around playing like a crazy person.

This morning I took the boys to a Mother's Day breakfast at church. It was a donation breakfast to help our friend and babysitter, Meghan, raise funds for her mission trip to Japan this summer. The three of us had already eaten breakfast, but Auntie Val brought the boys doughnuts and Bryce devoured his. Brennan had more fun socializing. After church we went to the mall to play at the arcade, then came home for lunch and some much needed naps.

The weather had really warmed up during nap time and it was gorgeous outside when the boys woke up. I was trying to think of what we could do to get out of the house for the evening and decided to go see the ducks at the nearby Mystic Village.

Unfortunately it started raining on us while we were there, so we headed back to the car and drove across the street to eat dinner at Five Guys.

And then walked right next-door to have some frozen yogurt!

Both boys were super well-behave the entire time we were out. Brennan has been giving me some major attitude lately, but was sweet and obedient tonight. Until it was time to go to bed. ;)

All in all it was a nice day spent with the two boys who made me a Mommy. I'm excited to celebrate Mother's Day tomorrow with them and Kyle.

Ninjas!

I think I mentioned it the other day that Brennan won three free classes of karate while we were at the Kids Karnival on Saturday. We have never even talked about karate before, but once he won those classes, he was immediately interested in it. That same day we came home and watched a video from the website of the place offering the class. The class for 4-6 year olds is The Ninjas and Brennan watched the video of that class over and over and over again.

Brennan went for his first class yesterday at 4:45. Bryce and I stayed to watch. I thought it might be a little too intense of him. The instructors weren't yelling at the kids, but they speak kind of harshly. Obviously just preparing them for later classes. The class started with the kids running laps. Poor Brennan isn't much of a runner. He was much slower than the other kids, but he kept going. While they were running the instructor would yell, "Freeze" and the kids would stop. There was also a rule that if anyone fell down while running then the entire class had to do pushups. Two kids fell down at different times, so everyone had to drop and do pushups. They also had to do jumping jacks. Brennan needs lots of practice with those, but it was so cute watching him try.

He's such a good rule follower and even the kids who have been in class a long time were sometimes rowdy, but Brennan was on his best behavior. The kids then lined up with one of the four instructors and practiced the jab, cross, high block combination. Brennan seemed to catch onto that quickly. They also practiced a few other moves and talked about teamwork tonight.

It was a quick 30-minute class and at the end Brennan was given a white belt. He says he wants to go back, so we will definitely use the three free classes and then decided what we want to do. They're running a special for people from the Kids Karnival, but it would still cost $149/month. It's hard to put that much money into something when Brennan is so young and might not want to stick with it. I'm all about him sampling different things at this age and figuring out what he likes, but paying that much money is a big deal. So we will definitely have to think it over.

I'm glad he enjoyed it so much. I think it would be good for him because he needs to work on his coordination and athleticism. Here are few pics I was able to snap with my phone.

He's in the orange shirt here since we didn't have a uniform yet practicing his combos.

These pictures aren't that great, but they honestly make me get teary-eyed. I'm not expecting him to stick with karate for the long run, but what if he does. This was the night he was given his first white belt.

I love the other kids all giving him a drum roll!

I love my little ninja!

Dear Bryce,

You are sixteen months old and finally a full-time walker! I guess I can't say finally since it took Brennan much longer than you, but I'm still shocked it took you as long as it did. You aren't great at standing up in the middle of the room, so if you fall down while walking, you'll crawl or walk on your knees to the closest thing you can pull up on and then start walking again. I love you walking right now. You're slow enough that you can't run away from me yet, so it's still super cute.

You are still wearing size 3 diapers, but could also fit size 4 now. I need to weigh you because I can tell you've gained weight even with your walking. Your face is much fuller and you even have a little belly now. You got a nice haircut a few weeks ago and look like a a big boy now. Your hair is still super light blond and your eyes are still super blue. We still get comments about your eyes wherever we go. You're a lady killer for sure!

To celebrate your sixteen month birthday, you decided to tumble down the entire flight of stairs today. It scared me to death. It was completely Mommy's fault. We went to the Children's Museum this morning and when we got back home the three of us played in the basement for a bit. When it was time to come upstairs to eat lunch, you crawled up the steps first with me right behind you, and Brennan bringing up the rear. All of us are usually so good about closing the basement door; Brennan included, but neither of us closed it. We came into the living room, you went into the kitchen, and the next thing I know I hear you falling down the stairs. I immediately knew what was happening and I started crying and screaming. Thank God you were okay. In fact you were already sitting up when I got down to you. You were crying and had a good bruise over your left eye, but I was able to get you calmed down quickly. I took your pants off and checked out your legs. I went ahead and sat you in your high chair and you started eating and laughing and acting completely normal. Daddy came home from work when I called him to tell him what happened and also checked you out. We got you down and you walked all around. I kept a close eye on you the rest of the day, but I think you're perfectly fine. You're one tough dude!

You're very close to getting some new teeth, but I don't think any new ones have broken through yet, so you're still at eight. Most days you eat very well. You now love those little fruit pouches. I thought you'd make a huge mess with them, but you work them completely on their own. It's also a convenient way to sneak more veggies into your diet, because you aren't too fond of those. You also love dip now. You have been dipping your waffles in syrup for awhile now, but you also like ketchup. At Chili's last night you pointed to the table and said, "dip, dip" until I gave you some ketchup. Then you ate it with your fingers. You love fruit cocktail and still love any form of sweets. And you love milk. You drink lots of milk each day.

You're much more talkative now and have started repeating what others (especially Brennan) say. I won't be able to think of everything you can say, but here are few of your newer words: boo, shoe, maw (which I think means mine), boom, bye bye, go, and dip. You still call your sippy cup your "ba'.

The things you understand amaze me. You might not recognize the letter B yet like Brennan could at your age, but you are smart in different ways. If I tell you to go get me a diaper, you walk right back to your room. When I tell you it's tubby time, you walk right to the bathroom door. And you are extra observant. Just tonight a small ball rolled under the couch. You immediately went over and grabbed one of your toy golf clubs, brought it over to the couch, laid down on your belly and used it to get the ball out. You've seen me do that before, but that was a first for you to try it.

You've also learned how to blow kisses. It's the cutest thing ever. You blew a kiss on Sunday when I picked you up from the nursery and have been doing it a lot since then. You even make the "muah" sound when you do it. You just started doing the "I don't know" arms too. Like when you lose something and you flip your arms up as if to say, "Where'd it go? I don't know." And you love playing peek-a-boo.

Thankfully sleeping is still going very well. You typically sleep from 7ish-7ish. Sometimes you'll wake a little early, but are usually content just playing in your crib until I come get you. So far you've made no attempts to climb out of your crib. You are down to one nap a day. Occasionally if you wake up early, you'll take two, but that's a rarity now. Most days your afternoon nap is a good three hours. Today you didn't nap very well. When I came into your room I could immediately smell your dirty diaper and you were standing in your crib chewing on the rail. Not cool, Bryce!

The past month has been a lot of fun. You are getting less clingy to Mommy and will stay with a  sitter without crying at all. You still cry most weeks when I leave you in the church nursery, but that doesn't last long and then you have lots of fun playing. I love how ticklish you are and I love your open mouth kisses. You're such a sweet little guy and I just can't get enough of you!

Love,

Mommy

I took this 2nd picture today after his fall down the stairs. You might be able to the see the bruise on the side of his head over his left eye. Still smiling though!

A Visit to the Children's Museum

Yesterday, right before Bryce and I went to pick up Brennan at school, I called the library to see if the Children's Museum pass was available. I had checked the Monday before and it was checked out, but yesterday it was there, so Bryce and I went and grabbed it. 

We headed there this morning. I was excited to try it again. We used to be members the year before Bryce was born. I didn't renew my membership that winter because I knew I wouldn't be getting out a ton with the cold weather with a tiny baby. We used the free library pass once since Bryce was born, but he was teeny tiny. Today I was hoping both boys would enjoy it and that I wouldn't lose my sanity trying to keep up with them both. 

The title Children's Museum is very misleading. I tend to picture huge science museums or aquarium type places and this is nothing like that. It's an old house that has been turned into a play area for kids. There are a bunch of different stations and a lot had actually changed since we had been there over a year ago. It's small enough that it's fine for Brennan is be off playing somewhere by himself while I watch Bryce. I was trying to divide my attention between the two boys and "lost" Bryce once, but thankfully you can't wander too far away. 

Bryce had more fun than Brennan I think since this was his first time exploring the museum. He loved his ball ramp that I Brennan and I built.

Brennan was drawn to the sight word magnets. I love my little nerd!

I was shocked when Bryce was able to easily get these little magnets onto the pole all my himself. He was totally weirded out by the magnets repelling each other.

Bryce spent a long time playing in the toddler room. He didn't even need me in there. He was just exploring and shooting basketball and having a good time. In this picture he's playing peek-a-boo with a little girl inside the tent.

But this is where Bryce spent the majority of his time. He would walk around and find all these balls and put them back into this purple bin.

Then he'd dump them out again and take them over to these huge foam blocks and then bring them back to the purple bin. He was all over these blocks. I think he's part monkey.

It was a really fun morning. It got super crowded because there were some entire preschool groups that came in. I was a little overwhelmed by how many kids were there, but the boys played great and had fun. I love that we can get the pass from the library when it's available, but it might be time to consider getting a membership to the museum again because I think we'd have fun there this summer. 

Unfortunately shortly after we got home, Bryce tumbled down our entire flight of stairs into the basement. It was my fault for leaving the door open after we came upstairs. All of us (Brennan included) are usually so good about closing it. Thank God he wasn't injured. He was already sitting up when I got to the bottom of the steps to get him. He has some bumps on his head, but is walking and talking fine and ate his lunch well. He's resting now, but we will keep watching him over the next 24 hours. It was so scary, but it's amazing how resilient kids are. 

Hand-me-downs and Downtown

I don't know if you've seen that video about putting down your phone and looking up. I watched it yesterday, so I felt guilty pulling out my phone to snap these pictures today. But I love being able to document these memories here. It doesn't take me long to snap a few pictures and then I'm right there playing and engaging with the boys. Just wanted to say that before someone tells me to put my phone away. :)

I've always been a big fan of hand-me-downs. When I was pregnant with Brennan, we received so many boy clothes. We barely had to buy the kid anything to wear until he was three years old. And now Bryce is wearing those same hand-me-downs. A former coworker posted a picture on Facebook a few days ago asking if anyone was interested in a toy she was giving away. Awhile back I almost bought a used version of this exact same toy and now this one was being given away. Truthfully, Bryce is probably a little old for the toy already, but I figured he'd still be able to get some play time out of it. And even Brennan played with it some this afternoon too.

Here are a few shots of Bryce playing with it while Brennan was at school this morning.

Bryce also had fun playing on the jump jump...

...and with these CDs. He's forever pulling these off this shelf.

I laid Bryce down for a nap after playing because he was getting fussy, but he never fell asleep. I got some good cleaning done while he played in his crib and then we went to pick up Brennan at school. It's a little windy today, but in the mid-60s, so I packed a picnic lunch with us and once we grabbed Brennan, we headed to downtown Mystic to eat our lunch.

Brennan was less than thrilled to take a picture with me even though he was having a good time.

But then he was all kinds of crazy cheesiness for this one. Check out that sky!

I let this little guy eat his lunch in the stroller because he would dive headfirst into the river for sure!

But I finally let him down so he could run around in the grass. Or sit down and eat a cracker.

Brennan specifically asked to go take a picture by the anchor.

Then he wanted to sit by the water.

We were headed back to the car when the drawbridge started going up.

So we headed back across the lawn to watch the big boat come by.

We love our little downtown and I can't wait to visit it more as the temperature keeps warming up!

"I'm a Book Finisher!"

I am so proud of Brennan. Tonight he completed his first year of AWANA! He has loved being a Cubbie and I love seeing him so excited about going to church. Since he started in September, he has memorized 30 Bible verses. 30! He's been talking for several weeks about how tonight he will be an official "book finisher" when he recites his final verse from his book.

Brennan has had such wonderful leaders this year and talks about them all the time. He loves telling me about what happened during the puppet theater at Cubbies and of course his all time favorite is when they hunt for Easter eggs.

Each week of AWANA starts in our church's gym. I love taking Brennan and watching him stand in his spot on the blue line and put his hand on his heart for the pledges. And nothing melts my heart like seeing him fold his hands and bow his head each week when it's time for prayer there.

This picture was taken several weeks ago. Yes, I snapped this picture like a heathen while he was praying so sweetly.

Here's Brennan on his very first night of Cubbies back in September.

Here he is when he came in second place for his age group at the AWANA Grand Prix.

And here's my book finisher (with cake all over his face)!

And a few more pics from tonight...