Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Devon: January

Devon is still in soccer once a week for an hour. Watching three year olds play soccer is hysterical. It's just drills, no games, and they have a blast. They are so serious about their water breaks. Gotta hydrate, mom! (He's in the hat on the far left).

"Im' ready to do ju jitsu! I'm a fighter!"

Devon's daddy made the design on this t-shirt. When he wears it he demands to be called "octopus man".

This is his mountain hat. He got it at the Asian market and wears it happily. How adorable is he?

Chillin'.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Meet the "White Animal". Joe made this sweet puppet about a year ago out of a tube sock and feathers. Devon named it the White Animal. Joe is the only one who can do it because the White Animal has a very specific voice. It used to be the only thing that would calm Devon down when he was really upset. It is crushingly adorable to watch Devon talk to the White Animal and give it hugs totally oblivious that his dad is responsible for making it move.

Devon has sort of given up naps. He takes one about once a week so I call it "resting time" which means that every day he has to stay in his room for 1-2 hours and rest. This means he has to stay on his bed (with the off chance that he will get tired and sleep) and at the very least play toys quietly. This is how I found him when I went to get him out. Shirt off ... mask on.

He loves to ride his motorcycle in the house and on the driveway as Audrey and I ride together on a plasma car. Our driveway slopes just enough to give you a bit of speed as you head back towards the house.

Devon loves to read. He knows all the words in most of the books on his bookshelf cover to cover. His memory is amazing to be able to recall, word for word, as many as he does.

I decided to put Devon in a teacher lead gymnastics class to see how he likes it and he does a great job. He has more confidence on the trampoline, he can do forward and backward rolls, jump tucks, follows directions, interacts with kids his age (all girls by the way) and swings on the rings. He loves his teachers and gets covered in stamps at the end of each class.

Sand angel. This is how we do it in the desert.

So serious.

"Look, mama! I made a "X" with my bacon." Devon can be such a contradiction. He is making a letter x out of bacon, but at the same time demanded to eat in the high chair. He goes through occasional days where he wants to be a baby, go in the pouch, "go" in his pull up and eat in the high chair. I sort of indulge him in it because it is pretty short lived and it's just his way of telling me he needs more attention and care. I love the days when he's extra snuggly, but it's difficult when he has to be carried a lot and demands things as "baby Devon" that add extra clean up and stress to the day. Plus, Audrey actually is a baby (well, more of a baby than Devon is and actually needs to eat in the high chair and be carried down the stairs)and needs extra attention as well. I need more arms!!!

Devon loves to be outside, play with his daddy, play on our bed, paint, color, watch shows, fight, make crafts, go to the park, eat fruit snacks (he calls them ponies), eat ice cream, go to the Children's Museum, run and do anything that requires never ending, child energy. He is nice to his sister, polite to strangers and is always telling us how much he loves us and that he is proud of us. He is the sweetest little boy around.

Audrey: 18 months (January)


Audrey is just one of the kids. She is not a timid baby happy to sit by and play with other babies or baby toys while the big kids run and climb. She gets right in there and is adventerous, but with the right amount of caution.

She loves to play on the computer and my ipad coloring and playing games. Her vocabulary has increased over the past couple of weeks and regularly says mama, dada, ball, kitty and cat. Her favorite word by far is book. It's the first thing she says in the morning as she staggers over to me with her bed head hair, her blankie and a book for me to read.

Audrey enjoys spending time with all of her grandparents. She couldn't get enough of grandma's square dance skirt and was giggling and clapping when pops and abuela took her and Devon out for dinner.

As much as I would like Audrey to be a snuggly baby she is as independent as ever and constantly on the move.

She is always busy and likes to play in her kitchen, build with Lego's and play with Devon's Buzz Lightyear.

While Devon goes to soccer practice, Audrey and I have some time together to play on the grass, watch a little soccer and eat snacks. She loves .... LOVES to kick around the soccer ball and chase after it. I've never seen such a little kid do that.

She loves to eat tofu, noodles, fruit snacks, apples and peas.



After music time at the bookstore we went and got smoothies and her blankie goes every where she does. It get so dirty and it's nearly impossible to get it washed since she rarely lets a few minutes go by without holding it close.



Audrey is having fewer and fewer tantrums. Thank god for that! She still has them, but no longer throws herself to the floor flat on her belly. She dramatically drops to her knees which is a nice change :)


She is starting to do more mimicking and will cradle dolls in her arms, give them kisses and take a make up sponge and blot her cheek. She loves getting into my makeup and loves ... LOVES lip gloss.


We love going to the park several times a week to climb and run. Audrey, my little thrill seeker, is all about the slides. The tallest, steepest, twirliest slides are the ones she likes best. She is usually a very happy girl, super fun to be around and just wants to be included. Love this little dolly!


Thursday, January 12, 2012

Devon: December

We had a fantastic month with all the excitement that comes with the holidays. We did Christmas afternoon at my mom's house, Christmas with Joe's family a week later, but we had a lovely Christmas morning at home complete with pajamas, messy hair and sugared cereal. I had so much fun selecting gifts for Devon and I think my painstakingly slow gift selection paid off. Devon is such a caring boy and loves animals. We recently took Sampson to the vet and Devon was such a great helper, I thought he would enjoy his very own vet kit.

Ahhhh the magic of Christmas morning and the thrill of a new toy. Devon's "big" gift was a real Buzz Lightyear. He plays with him constantly. They are best friends. This is a seriously awesome toy that is, thankfully, very durable.

Testing out the laser. Yeah. It's awesome.

I made a supreme effort to do festive crafts with the kids this Christmas as my way of starting traditions so I made a felt fishing game. I made a few "fish" (ornament, candy cane, gingerbread man, etc) with paperclips sewn in and a simple pole with a magnate on the end. I need to make some actual fish and put these away with the Christmas stuff for next year. Such a simple game that both kids love to play.

Felt board holiday craft. "Snowmans" and Christmas tree with all the decorations. He was so proud of himself for putting it together. Check out that hat!

Santa says,"Ho! Ho! Ho!" in honor of a sparkle covered pine cone "tree".

Paper chain and snowflakes. I cut everything out and Devon and I spent about two hours gluing on glitter. He did a great job putting on just a tiny bit of glue (he had plenty of practice) as well as carefully placing the glitter. I hung the paper chains in the dining room near the tree and I think it added a sweet whimsy to the holiday.

I think the gingerbread house was Devon's favorite this year. I built the simple, basic structure the night before and put it in the fridge so it was solid for decorating. I put the frosting in a zip lock bag, tied a knot and let Devon do the rest. We took a couple of days to get the whole house covered, but I think we all had a great time doing new, seasonal crafts and it gave us a wonderful opportunity to do things one-on-one.

We enjoyed some lovely weeks of rain this past month and on this particular day I got Devon suited up to play in the rain. He shoveled mud and sorted the rocks for about 15 minutes before he begrudgingly came inside.

I know all parents think their kids are amazing/smart/cute, but seriously Devon is very smart. I have started to let him use my phone somewhat unsupervised so he can play a matching game and he is A-mazing at it. I also let him take pictures and out of 40 or so shots, there are about 5-6 truly good ones.
For example:
Holiday crafting paper chains covered in glued on glitter on the floor.

I call this one "Diaper change" :)Devon's perspective.

Audrey coming into his room to play.

His growling dinosaur.

Mama. In her pj's. No make up. No hair done. Hands in front of face just in time :)

Although Audrey is passed out, it's always a good time for funny faces and robot arms.

Devon loves few people more than he loves his Uncle Ben. Devon is so well behaved and sweet when Uncle Ben is around. He wants to show him all his toys and books and cool tricks and my ever patient brother listens intently.

I took Devon over to Aunt Jane's house for a play date with all four of her girls. He had so much fun and loves his cousins. They play so well together giggling and playing toys. Devon is such a good sport with this Super "man" outfit. It has a cape so the fact that it's actually a dress is a moot point to this sweet boy.

Devon and Audrey are becoming pals. For realsies.

Devon loves to go to the park, be a super hero (that changes every 20-30 seconds), play on mama and daddy's bed, ride cars, "do some exercisin'" and all types of art projects. He is a delight to be around and is pretty easy going.

THE ENDS.