Devon: January

Plasma car race!

Sometimes Devon just won't eat anything for dinner. He may have had a big lunch or too many snacks or he doesn't like what I cook. So we do what I call "Dinner Derby". We chase each other around the house on our plasma cars and every few "laps" I yell out "Bite!" and he happily takes a bite of food and we continue with the derby. One minute he declares that he's not hungry and "30 Dinner Derby minutes" later he has eaten everything on his plate. It is so much fun.

Devon loves to go to Costco with me. I usually take him when they have samples and he rides around in the cart and eats while I get all the shopping done fuss free. Sometimes I let him walk and he pushes the cart and says hi to EVERYONE that passes by. On our last shopping trip I got him his first hot dog and he ate the entire thing (minus the bun). I think hot dogs are his new favorite food.

Every once in a while I am reminded at what a kid Devon is turning into. He was carrying this "bucket" around for a few days and left it in the kitchen after dinner. After he went to sleep I emptied the contents and this is what was in there:
a fancy plastic cup, a plastic knife, key chain, bear, stop watch, a phone and some beans. Too funny and so random!

Devon loves to drink water from plastic bottles that his Daddy brings home and this large jug was no exception. NOTE the ADORABLE Mr. Potato head backpack that my sister made for him. When he goes out with his Daddy I use it for him to carry diapers, wipes, a toy and a snack. He loves to wear it and tote his own stuff.
(Yes, that's a water jug in one hand and a lighter in the other. Sigh. I can't keep up with this kid).

Joe had the great idea to take Devon to Mt. Lemon over the weekend. We wanted him to see snow before it all melted, but I think the highlight was the impromptu fire that Joe and Devon built.

I put Devon in warm clothes and packed a hoodie, but when we got to the mountain the hoodie was soaked because Audrey's bottle leaked all over it. He was warm enough, but we built the fire to keep him from getting too cold and let's face it .... the kid loves fire. He loves building it, gathering pine needles, and putting it out by throwing snow on top of it. It was exhausting, but a fun family day filled with sweet memories.

Fruit smoothie mustache!

Swinging with Audrey at the park. Such a sweet brother.

If I am putting him down for bed and he is fussing, but hears Audrey crying he tells me to go and check on her. Sometimes he cries and wakes her up, but most of the time he is super sweet. He doesn't show any negative behavior toward her, but will ask me to put her down so I can pick him up. He has definitely gotten more stubborn and some days it feels like the only thing he says to me is,"Um no". He says both words so quickly they sound like one word. Even if I ask him something like,"Did you like that ice cream?" (an obvious "yes" response is expected) and he says,"Um no", I know he's just being .... two ;) He is totally in that phase where he wants to do things for himself. He seems to get distracted between climbing into his car seat and the toys on the floor and he decides that he's not getting in the seat. This is very aggravating because it usually ends with me putting him in the seat, he's crying which makes Audrey cry and I'm wondering why we ever leave the house ;)I'm sure (and I'm hoping) that this will pass soon. He is more will full these days and I am trying to figure out what kind of discipline actually works. I'll let you know when I figure that out ;)

He picked up this stick and kept saying,"Big gun! Pkew, pkew! (that's my gun sound).

I took Devon and Audrey to the zoo today. Devon was upset that he couldn't feed his veggie chips to this "sneaky bird".

Most kids want to sit on this statue. It is a classic photo op at the zoo.

Devon, also wanted to sit on this tiny statue. Such a funny kid.

Devon loves to build pillow forts on our bed with Daddy at the end of the day and wrestle. We can understand everything he says and he says a lot! His vocabulary and sentence structure is impressive for his age. He is very thoughtful and has an amazing memory. He can count to 20, though he skips 15-17 so I don't know if that counts. He loves to watch "shows" like Despicable me, Monsters Inc, Transformers and Shrek. He walks around the house muttering about Prince Charming and saying "Light bulb!". His favorite phrase right now is,"Per gun! (short for piranha) Oh yeah!" and he runs around the house with my hair dryer shooting stuff. I love to take him shopping with me (for those quick, specific item shopping trips) because he holds my clothes, tells me if he likes what I pick out and he spontaneously dances to the music playing on the speakers. He is at such a fun age and we are savoring this special time.