So Many Reasons Why I Love This Guy

I love it when Milo is excited about something.  Like the garbage man.  Every Monday from 6-8 a.m. We wait on the porch so that we can watch him get Missy and Justin's garbage and Dathan and Lynell's garbage. 90 seconds of pure joy followed by several hours of, "but why did he take our garbage?  I want him to come back and get more."

I love it when he gets in play mode.  He refers to himself as "The Tractor Man".  This kid has an extensive construction vocabulary.  Remember, he's only two, and he'll chat to himself about articulating dump trucks, hydraulics, and rubber tracks.  He may not know the alphabet, but he can name twenty types of big machines.

 I love to see him acting like a big boy.  This picture was taken on day 1 of potty training.  It's a miracle we survived.  It helped that this was what he chose to wear all day.  I thought that he looked so cute, that it made me much less frustrated. He mastered peeing on the potty pretty quick, it was the other one that we struggled with.  He didn't have any accidents, he just refused to go at all.  Poor guy, his tummy had to be hurting.  Finally after a week, he had success.  I bribed him with a toy, so as soon as he went, he said, "Yeah!  Now we get to go to Cal Ranch!" Chris took off and met us for lunch (it was that big of a deal)! We took him to the store to pick out a toy and he was hilarious.  Apparently he also learned the word actually on the same day.  He kept saying, "actually, I want this combine.  No actually I want this bobcat. Actually I want both."

 I love it when he gets into helping out.  This was the first zucchini out of our garden.  He was so excited to "harvest" it (since that's what tractor men do).  He watched tv with zucchini, ate breakfast with zucchini, and took zucchini on a stroller ride.  He kept saying things like, "zucchini do you like backhoes?" Finally he decided that he wanted me to "open" zucchini.  He was a little disappointed about what was inside, but when I made zucchini bread, he was all about it.

I love it when he tries new things.  He is becoming so brave.  He used to be apprehensive about anything new, but lately he's my little adventurer.  This summer he has conquered the tube slide, eating hamburgers and pizza, riding his bike down the driveway, and riding on ferry boats.

It's crazy to think about how much he has changed in the last six months.  I love to watch him get bigger, but oh how I love him being little. 

Taya's Tude Part II

I thought that crawling brought about a huge show of emotion from Taya... Now that she is walking, multiply that by 10.
She is into everything!

She thinks that she is SO big.

She knows exactly what she wants...

 and she is so stinkin cute that she always gets her way.

I didn't know that it was possible for a one year old to have so much personality.  It kind of worries me, because what does that mean our teenage years will look like?  But really I just think that she is hilarious.  Every night that I put her down, and I'm exhausted, then I have my power snack and sit down for a couple of minutes, and wish that she would wake up and play.  She is so full of life.  I absolutely love that about her.  She is sweet and sassy and crazy and snuggly all in a 20 second span.  Such a little princess already.  I love that messy mug so much it's ridiculous.

Party

I wasn't going to make a big deal out of Taya's 1st birthday.  After all, the kid is 1, so they aren't going to remember it one way or another. Chris convinced me to do a small get together, but I kept thinking, "what do you do at a 1 year old's party?"

Well of course there's the cake. . .

                                   Even if they don't want to eat it

                                  Brother and Dad have first dibs,

                                     then everyone else can start to help.

                       mama will think your messy face is the cutest thing in the world.

 Then you can skip all the games because baby just wants to drag grandma's purse around.

                                                 Movin on to presents

                                    Never too young to love dresses

                                    and shoes!

                                  Then it's show off time

 
 Where baby shows that she is not such a little baby anymore, and mama starts to cry, because she is so proud of having such a beautiful little girl.

So what do you do at a 1 year old's party?    Look around and recognize how many people are crazy about your tiny little Tayter bug, and once again feel overwhelming grattitude that for a whole year she has blessed your life.  

 

 

Almost One Year - Are You Joking Me!

Taya's Tricks
- She does the cutest little wave.  I'll tell her to say goodbye and she'll open and close her little hand, and smile.  I make her wave to everyone just because I love it so much.
- One day I noticed that Taya will blow on her food.  I'm sure that she is constantly watching me do it for her and Milo.  The only problem is, she will hold the fork next to her mouth and suck air in instead of blowing out. Then she'll look at you like, "did you see that?"
-She learned how to give high fives at about ten months.  She thinks they are so fun.
-Taya is freakishly good with utencils for such a little baby.  She prefers to eat with a fork.  She tries to poke her own food, and if she doesn't quite make it I lob it on there for her and she shovels it in.  She eats about double if she's doing it herself. 
-She is my spastic little dancer. She loves to kick her feet and rock back and forth to music.
-Anytime she hears someone say, "yeah" she'll clap her hands.  She has to think about it real hard, so she opens her mouth and rocks a little bit to get started.  Absolutely darling.

First Words
-Taya did babble dadadada before mamamama.  I don't think that she has really associated them with us yet though.
-The first verbal connection I noticed was when she was eating one day.  I put a matchbox car up on her tray.  She drove it across the tray and said, "vroom."  She did it a lot for about a week, but now she's shy about it (I swear just because she knows I want to get it on tape).
- Taya is mimicking tones and sounds.  She loves to listen to her brother and make crazy noises to make him laugh.  Their favorite is to lay on the bed on their back and kick their feet.  They'll both say, "ah-ra-ra".

Favorite things
- Just like her brother, Tay is crazy about her blanket.  It started at about six months.  I wasn't really pushing a blanket, because I have seen the down side to blanky attachment.  But I couldn't help it she loves her purple snuggles.  I can't blame her, those Minky people know their stuff.
- Taya loves to give hugs to her babies, Woody, and stuffed animals.  However she doesn't seem extremely fascinated with any particular toy. She is too busy to play with any one thing for more than a couple of seconds.
-Taya loves it when Milo is on Dad's shoulders, and she is on mine.  We'll play hide and seek and chase.  It is so incredibly exhausting for Chris and I, but it makes both of our kids so happy that we play it almost every night. 
-Taya loves to be right in the middle of the big kids.  As a baby Taya was so easily entertained.   I could lay her on the floor with a rattle for an hour and she would be as happy as can be.  But as soon as she started crawling her temperment changed big time.  She's my crazy girl now.  If she sees Milo going down a slide, she needs to be going down the slide.  If he is on his bike, she needs to be on a bike.  She is extremely strong willed already and knows exactly what she wants.  She is still as sweet as can be, and is a really happy baby, but she went from totally chill to wound up overnight.
-Ice cream cones.  She especially loves the ones from Arctic Circle because they are little enough that she can hold them in her hand.  Yes I'm a bad mom and I give her crap like suckers and ice cream.  I guess I'm living vicariously through her.
-DRINKS.  She loves anything in a cup.  She's best with a straw and will drink, blow bubbles, and spit it everywhere.  It's our best form of entertainment for her.

Taya Hates
-If you would have asked me what Milo hated at this stage, I could have made a five page list.  Taya isn't too picky though.  Instead she is just constantly into things that I hate.
-Like sand.  The first time that she ate sand, I thought, "let her try it and cry and hate it, and then she'll learn not to do it again".  Ya not how it worked out.  Taya loves to eat handful after handful of sand. One day when Chris was changing her diaper, she was crying a ton.  When I asked what was going on, Chris just pushed the diaper toward me.  Ya, that baby digested way too much sand in one day.
-Any time she has to sit still.  Church is a joke.  Doing her hair is out of the question. I've even learned to change her diaper while she is standing up.

Meant For Each Other

The night before being induced to have Taya, I was an absolute wreck.  I wasn't thinking about the contractions, or the delivery, instead I was so worried about Milo.  I loved spoiling him rotten.  I still rocked him like a baby and played with him 24/7.  My attention had been completely his, and that was all about to change.  I remember crying on the phone to my mom that I was worried about leaving him for a couple of nights (yes, I have weird parent separation anxiety), and all she said was, "You will be gone such a short time, and then you are bringing him home the greatest gift in the world".  I know she meant for this to comfort me, but it didn't. . . A little sister. . . A little sister to hog all of the attention and steal your toys. . . not the greatest gift in the world. 

Milo was 19 months when we brought Taya home.  He has always been a very picky/demanding child.  He is a sweet boy... as long as you do things exactly to his liking.  I knew his pampered world was about to shatter.  When I look back at the pictures, Milo was still just a baby, but all of the sudden he had to become the big brother--it was the best thing that ever happened.

I couldn't believe how sweet he was with Taya even from the very begining.  As time goes on, it becomes more and more obvious that these two were meant for each other.  Milo needs Taya to show him that life doesn't have to be clean and predictable, and Taya needs Milo to guide her into all of the things that are new.

Last week, I took Milo to run errands with me.  Chris was at home with Taya.  I told Milo that it was our special time together.  He was such a good boy and we had a good time together.  Then after lunch, he looks over at her carseat and says, "Mom, where's Taya? I miss her".  I explained where she was, and then asked, "Do you want to go to Toys-R-Us or should we go home and see her?" . . . "Let's go see her mama."  It was the sweetest thing.  My mom was right in all of her wisdom, a baby sister is the best thing.  
He is constantly watching over her.  When she is doing something dangerous he will say, "no no no Taya. You be safe."  He washes her hair in the bathtub and crawls around with her on the floor.  He'll tell me, "look mom, I'm playing with my baby sister."

On the flip side, there is about 45 minutes every afternoon when Taya is awake and Milo is napping.  Tay loves the individual attention for about 5 minutes, and then starts looking around for him.  When I finally open the door for him to wake up, she gets so excited and flaps her hands and crawls into bed with him.  She is always trying to keep up with him and do all of the things that he does.  She loves to give him cuddles and kisses (which are more like tackles and slobbers).
Of course there are moments when Milo pushes her down for taking his skidsteer, or when Taya throws a fit because Milo is holding her drink just out of reach, but I can't imagine just having one kid now.  They are a package deal, and have made our life incredibly full.

The Fine Print of the Job Description

Before becoming a mom I never knew...
-That I would call myself clean after putting on new sweats and picking bananas out of my hair.
-That I could be so happy to watch "The Lion King".  At least it has half decent music, and there aren't any tractors.
- That my days of dancing cool are over.  Jazz hands and cheesy smiling spins are all I know.  I probably always danced spastically (and like a dork), but when it's put to the wiggles or elmo's song, it somehow becomes 20 times more humiliating.
- That I could enjoy five minutes in the shower so much. It's the only "alone" time I ever have.
- That I could call 2 hours of sleep with earphones jammed in my ears "super refreshing".
- That I could be so happy making zero contribution to society.  Some days the biggest accomplishment that I make is getting Taya to say "ba ba ba". . . and I'm totally okay with that.
- That I would become so coordinated... I can change Taya's diaper while making her stand in the trunk. Find "skidsteer in the mud", while feeding Milo a bite of noodles, while dancing to keep Tay entertained.
- That my friends would no longer be determined by similar interests and good conversation, but by whether or not their child bites and has cool toys that they are willing to share.
- That I could stress so much.  How much sand can she swallow without doing permanent damage?  If my child eats 75% of the banana while we walk through the store, how much are they going to charge me? Oh my gosh, there is something seriously wrong with Taya's back.  It has a huge bump on it... oh wait that's just a sweet potato chunk mashed from lunch.
- That I could be so amazed by so little.  Like when Milo says, "skeeter" when he means computer, or when Taya crinkles her nose and sniffs a million times because she thinks something is funny.
- That I could love two kids so much.  I don't even know how to function without my kids anymore.  When I am out by myself, I accidently note that there is a farm tractor up ahead. When I am away from them for a long time (like a couple of hours), I am constantly worried.  I know that Chris is taking good care of them, but I am worried that I am going to miss something.  They get big so fast and our day is filled with a million simple moments, frustrating seconds, and silly bursts.  Being a mom is not always glamorous and anyone who seems like they have it together all of the time is full of crap.  It's impossible to know what is going to happen in the next moment and that's part of what makes it so fun and what makes it so nerve racking.  You learn a lot about yourself when you children's needs come first.  It has made me realize how much time I wasted worrying about stupid things when I was younger.  My kids don't care if  I need to pluck my eyebrows or if my pants don't fit as good as they used to.  All they care about is how many times dad and I are going to play hide and seek, and whether or not we saw how fast they went down the slide.  Before I became a mom I never knew that I could be so happy when my husband and children succeed.  Any of the unexpected and downright yucky things about being a mom are nothing compared to their perfectly messy smiles.

Taya's Tude

It's funny how babies have personalities.
Taya has always been the sweetest smiliest little thing, but lately she's been showin some sass too.

It all started when she learned to crawl, stand, and got two teeth, all in the same week. 
I was so proud of Taya, but you could tell Taya was so proud of Taya too.
She has decided that she is big now, and that she is the boss.
She completely stopped eating baby food. 
She won't let me help her eat.
I load up forks full of food, and she feeds them to herself.

She is 8 months and Milo is 2 1/2.  Milo still doesn't like to get his hands dirty so I am constantly hearing, "Mom, please feed me." I look over and Taya has eaten everything and moved on to licking her tray.

Tay has also decided that she knows how to play. Milo got Woody from Toy Story.
Only problem is, Tay has decided that she loves him.
She puts his hat on and off, cuddles him, and completely beems when he talks.  Every time Milo puts him down, she snatches him up.
Tay is very eager to be independent. If she doesn't like what is going on in the family room, she just crawls off into Milo's room or her room and does her own thing. She'll even push open doors. It's kind of creepy to be sitting in a room and have the door fling open and tthen she comes crawling in like she owns the place (which she does).

Milo never crawled, and he really never was into making a mess.  He never put anything in his mouth.  Tay is a new breed of child for us.  The other day she ate a whole piece of paper in like 20 seconds when i wasn't looking.  It is busy, but I absolutely love it.  It is so fun to watch her explore and try to keep up with her big brother.