Monday, July 25, 2011

Do not get between this boy and his corn

 If you are completely grossed out by seeing a child eating, then do not continue reading! 

However, I happen to love these shots of Tanner thoroughly enjoying his corn-on-the-cob and ribs! Who knew a baby with still ONLY 4 teeth could demolish this meal?!  Of course he finishes it off with a cupcake....don't judge:) The older one is grossed out by anything sweet so I'm happy at least one of my children finds happiness in sweet treats just like his Mommy!




Sunday, July 24, 2011

Dearest Cousins....We will see you soon!

The day finally came yesterday when we had to say goodbye to Jason's sister and our 3 nephews, as they embarked on their journey starting a new life in Indiana.  I think Talan realized truly what it meant this time when we said goodbye to his cousins....he said that he woudn't be seeing his cousins for a long time.  He understood that they would be living more than an 1 hour drive away, but was excited about the idea of having to take a plane to play with them.  Watching our 5 boys grow up together has been so special, and their bond will surely last a lifetime even with thousands of miles between them. Thank goodness for Skype, facebook, and texting so we can keep in touch!  I've included some photos of all of our boys over the years...   
                                                                  
Thomas and Talan are 2 months apart. Here is Talan getting his first look at his cousin


Thomas and Talan at 4 and 6 months old
Holding his cousins hand





Playing together at Jason's apprenticeship turn-out dinner

The 3 boys at Talan's 1 st birthday party


My most favorite picture of the 3 of them!




                                                               Christmas Morning aftermath

Mitch and Talan wrestling









Fishing at Almaden Lake





He's quite a character

The progression of these photos gives you a very clear idea of my Little T's Jekyll and Hyde personality...
Most people who spend time with him comment on his quiet nature, "he just likes to observe everything around him", "he's so even-tempered", "he is so calm."  That is unless he is stuck at home with yours truly, the one who gave him a cozy place to grow for almost 9 months, who sits up all hours of the night comforting his restless nights, or who painfully worries about his asthma every time he gets a sniffle since it has turned in to so much worse for him too many times.  I'm his Mommy, so I get both the greatest of him, and the worst, and every little precious/comical/adorable/quirky/annoying/loveable part in between.  He is a character, and when he is stuck with me, his favorite is Jekyll and Hyde...one moment he is joyfully racing cars, acting silly, and just like that, he becomes a screeching, screaming terror.  Yup that's right, I have a screamer.  All of you non parental units out there who scoff and scorn at parents who's children scream in public places(that was me at one time by the way!), well beware.  You never know what kind of child you will get, EVER.  Talan never, EVER screamed.
 It is all about your own child's personality.  And this little man certainly has one!  I love him more than words, but dear God, he can be loud.  We are working on it, and the frequency has decreased a bit now that he has become a little more verbal and can shake his head yes and no.  We have been doing brief time outs and those are making a difference also.  The frustration gets the best of him for sure, like most 1 year olds. Some bite, some bang their heads on walls, some make themselves throw up, others writhe around on the floor crying, and others never do any of this (the lucky ones).  My baby screams, but as I mentioned earlier, it is pretty much only at home.  Out and about he is darn near perfect.  I guess at home, I just bring out the best in him....how nice!                                    




The suttle change in his eyes, although he's smiling, indicates the change will soon be upon us...

If there were volume on this it would be ear piercing!

Let me see if she's still watching me so I can unleash more terror

His tantrums generally result in him having to hit or kick a wall like this


Exhausted from the tantrum

Emma Prusch Farm

While Talan was still in school, it was nice to have some mornings for just Baby T and me to have playdates together. He is much happier being out of the house and not having to run errands with me all of the time.  After all, I can only make Trader Joe's and Target exciting for so long! On this particular day we went to Emma Prush Farm in San Jose, where I had taken him before with Talan but he had been asleep on both of those days.  So it was his first official playdate at the farm...funny thing is we met up with my friend Shelley and her son Dominic but they wanted to be in two different places all of the time so we don't have an pictures together:(

One of Little T's first animal sounds has been a duck sound! If there is a duck in a book we are reading, he points to it and makes his sound...it's less of a "Quack" and more like a "Bap Bap Bap" but the intent is still there!  He has a general interest in birds and so he really enjoyed the chicken coop and pond area, where there are also chickens, pheasant and peacocks.  The only downside is all of the bird poop, which if you look at the last few pictures, explains why he is sitting on a tractor without pants on!




It still boggles my mind that he is big enough to climb, on fences of all things which are pretty difficult to balance on even for a bigger child.  Of course he figured it out!