B is Three!

Baylor turned three today, can you believe it?!  I took copious amounts of pictures and am just dying to post them, but so many of them need red eye so I'll have to be patient while I wait.

In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy a little video of his special trip to some very tall buildings in town.    Enjoy!                                                                                                                                

Our First Preview: Mollie's Teenage Years

Oh ... my ... gosh.  We should up our cell phone plan right now in preparation.

And, honey, I think you need to get a fake shotgun to clean when the boys arrive.  After all the telephoning and primping she'll be doing (and how naturally cute she is), I have no doubt the boys will come a-runnin'.

*sigh*

Livin' Large at the Costco Food Court

The other night, big spenders that we are, we took the kids to Costco for a little dinner and grocery shopping.  Mollie was getting hungry, so I left Baylor with Bryson in hopes that the boys could get all three slices of pizza, cups, and silverware to the table for us.  Baylor, being the budding big boy he is, got to carry his own slice of pizza!  He almost dropped it, seen here, but he eventually made it to the table safely.  Whew!  

After dinner, Bryson and Mollie went to the car to drop off the stroller and Baylor and I explored the vending machines.

When something says "Push" it is your duty to check it out, right?

For whatever reason, the kids just love going to Costco.  I guess there's just so much to explore.

Library Time with Oma

Last week the kids and I hit the local library with my mom and, of course, there was much fun to be had.

Mollie channeled her inner tech geek and played on the computer a while.

And Baylor introduced me to the big alphabet/numbers rug at the back of the children's section.  First we counted up from one.

Then after going through some of the alphabet, we checked out the puppet theatre.

Mollie really got into carrying the puppets around.

Then we headed back to the stacks to find some books to check out ... and play with the toys over there.

We got a ton of books and the kids had a great time.  Thanks again, Mom, for joining us!

Mollie's First Carousel Ride

Mollie has guts.  She's the little daredevil of the family and will try just about anything (well, except most foods ... sigh).  So it was no surprise that, though her brother yet again was too scared to try the carousel at Rivertown, she was game to give it a go.

Oma was the lucky one to get to ride with her.  First, Mollie got strapped to the frog.

Then they posed for a smile before the ride began.

She started out okay, though she wouldn't hold onto the brass pole for support so my mom had to hold her up.

Then it all shifted to fear ...

Mom took it in stride while Mollie held on for dear life.

At least she wasn't screaming or crying.

Just terrified silence and desperate attempts to separate herself from the frog.

Eventually Mom was able to free her and they rode around the last couple times together.

When asked if she wanted to ride it again, Mollie shook her head vigorously.  Guess no one will be riding that for a while.  Oh well.

Ice Cream and the Ding-Dong Ditch Attempt

We recently made another trip to Rocky's.  The kids enjoyed their ice cream.

Then we went for a walk.

As we passed this closed AT&T shop, Baylor saw the door bell and felt the urge to play a little ding-dong ditch.  Aunt Christine tried to talk him out of it.

But when he thought she wasn't looking, he started his funny little creep toward the door.

Aaaaallllmost there!

Ah, thwarted again!

Aunt Christine couldn't help but laugh.

He's a funny one, that little man of mine!

Ms. Messy Face

Lately Mollie has become queen of the messy face.  Part of it is that she is trying new foods, and part of it is that she has developed an "I-can-do-it-myself" attitude about just about everything.

Enjoy!

Pureed green beans:

Orange popsicle:

Chocolate ice cream cone:

(And yes, I got ALL the chocolate out of her adorable little dress!  Awesome, huh?)

Visit with the Smiths

A couple weekends ago, our good friends the Smiths came over for a visit and to introduce us to their newest member, Marley.  The kids quickly warmed up to each other and played pretty well while the adults caught up.

Tobin told Mollie all about the outside and various sports.

Then he and Baylor worked on the bead maze.

Isn't he adorable?!

Baylor entertained the younger kids by popping out of the tunnel.

Poor Miss Marley had a rough day.  But she was able to give us a few smiles there at the end ... isn't she wonderfully cute?!

We had a fantastic time with our dear friends, and hopefully we'll get to visit with our friends again soon!

Much thanks to the Smith family for making the trek to our house!

That's What He Said: The Late Night Edition

I could hear him over the monitor ... "Mommy!  Mommy!  Come here!"  So sad and upset.

I quickly, quietly trotted up the stairs and entered his room.  "What's the matter, bubba?"

"Oh, Mommy, I heard a noise when my sound machine was on.  Two noises."

"What were they, buddy?  What kind of noises?"  I hadn't heard anything outside or in the house, so I had no idea what he was talking about.

"The noises Pooh hears."

Ahhh.  "Oh, you mean the rumbly in his tummy?  Did you hear that?"

"Yeah."

After a quick string cheese snack, and another brushing of the teeth, I got him back into bed.  We took his shirt off as he likes to be a little cold when he goes to sleep, and he snuggled right in.  And proceeded to pepper me with questions.

"Mom, what happens when if I hear the rumbly again?"

"You tell it that it's nighttime and he has to go to sleep."

"What happens if I hear it REALLY REALLY loud in the morning?"

"We'll get you breakfast as fast as we can."

"Mom, what happens when I suck him?"  Referring to his stuffed husky.

"Does he get crunchy and stiff?"  That's what she said.

"Yeah."

"Okay, good night, buddy."

"Mom, what happens if a phone doesn't have an antenna?"  Seriously, this was the next question.

"Where did that question come from?"

"What does it doooo?  And what happens when a thing has two antennas?"

"Ah, well insects have two antennae on the top of their heads that they use to feel things. (I touched his arm with two fingers for effect.)  And cell phones have one antenna to send and receive signals."

"And Mom ..."

"Baylor, any more questions you have should be directed to your husky or Mr. Bear."

"Mom ..."

"Buddy, can you just say, 'I love you, Mom'?"

In the sweetest voice ever ...

"I love you, Mom."

Trash

For quite some time now, Baylor has been pretty attached to trash.  No, not just any trash, the trash he makes on a daily basis from pulling strings out of our terry cloth diaper changing covers.  Seriously.  Wish I was kidding.

See those bald spots and track lines?

When we change his diaper, he'll grab hold of a string, pull as hard as he can, and work on his ... wad.  If he works hard at picking up pieces he's previously pulled and dropped and pulling as much as he can with each diaper change, he gets a pretty good sized wad going.

They look like this ...

(Funny side note: the ones he pulls from our off-white changing cover he refers to as "white trash".)

And they are ALL OVER OUR HOUSE.  Oh, and he likes to take them with him wherever he goes.  (Sorry if you've found some at your house after we've visited.)

For a while he liked to chew and swallow them, making diaper changes even more exciting.  But we started putting him in time out for that, and it pretty much stopped.  The other day, though, my mom babysat while I went to an appointment, and when I came back she informed me in hushed tones that he may have stuck one up his nose.  I asked him about it, he said he did, but when I looked up there I couldn't find anything.

After he went down for his nap, I called the pediatrician's office to see what I should do.  I wasn't exactly ready for what the nurse told me.  She said that when he got up, I should lay him on the ground, pinch off the non-trashed nostril, put my mouth over his (a la CPR), and blow into his mouth, effectively blowing his nose for him.

Awesome.

So, upon his awakening, I did what she said.  Baylor seemed a little uneasy at what I was doing, but I guess he trusts me enough to let me do what I say is in his best interest (most of the time, anyway).  But he did start crying when his nose made a loud honking sound as I blew through his mouth; I guess it startled him a bit.  He said it didn't hurt, though, and nothing came out.  The nurse said if his nose started getting runny and green the next day that something was probably stuck and we'd need to go in.  The next day came and went with no nasal drainage so we were good.

You'd think this was where the story ends, but it isn't.

Saturday, as we were hanging out in the living room, Baylor, after complaining of a stuffy nose for a day or two, rubbed a lovely, giant booger out of his nose.  As it turns out, the booger was mostly comprised of a wad of his trash, encased in green.  Lovely, kiddo.

After a talk, he's no longer allowed to pull the string out of the changing pad covers, though we'll see how long that lasts.  He has been at it for so long, I barely even notice him doing it anymore.