Holy 3!

I could make a hundred lists to try to capture all of Milo's personality right now, and still be forgetting something. I'm crazy about my little guy and age 2-3 has been amazing.
Accomplishments
- Potty trained!  That's right. HUGE accomplishment for mom and Milo.  It really wasn't too bad.  Peeing was mastered after only a few accidents, and after holding it for a couple of days, I bribed him with a trip to Cal Ranch to pick out a tractor, and twenty minutes later we had our first poop in the potty.  It's so weird how proud you can be about poop. 
- Food is his friend.  Happy to report that we have had little to no vomit experiences this year.  It used to be that if you forced Milo to eat something, he would start gagging and throw up anything that you have managed to get down.  I swear every meal used to be a struggle.  I seriously never thought that we would be able to say this, but Milo enjoys eating now!  This summer he has really ventured out.  He'll now eat pizza, hamburgers, chicken, and hot dogs.  This kid eats all the time.  He still is skinny as a rail, but he eats!
- Nursery and playgroup.  Milo has always had "mommy" issues.  From infancy he has known when I leave the room, and it stresses him out.  There have only been two times in the past three years that I have left him with non-family, and I'm pretty sure we both were hyperventilating. Maybe mom has "Milo" issues. . . Anyway, in the last few months, Milo has started to go to nursery and playgroup on his own.  He still gets really anxious, but no tears, and once he's there he does great.  He's learned how to tell time, so he knows that when the big hand goes up twice, then mom comes back.  If I'm one minute late, he lets me know about it!
- He can spell Bob. "Bobobobobob". He can also spell Milo, "Mbobobobob".
- Textures.  He is still a very clean child.  But he's accepted that, "sometimes tractor men get dirty.  It means they are working bery hard".
- He knows his shapes, colors, alphabet, and most numbers.  But if you asked him what he's best at, he would tell you that he can name twenty trucks.
-Milo is our little fish.  He can jump off the side of the pool with no floaties, surface, and then swim about half the length of the pool without help.  He loves to go swimming.  It is super impressive to watch him. 
Milo Loves
-Tractor everything
-Rockets and space shuttles
-Construction boots
-Tractor driver music (country)
-Little Caesars breadsticks (me too)
-Popsicles
-Going to both Grandmas' houses
-His dog Sadie
-You Tube
-Arctic Circle complimentary ice cream cones (again, me too)
-Pestering his little sister
-Making popcorn
-Papa John one (getting thrown in the air)
-Hiding under the covers
-Dad coming home from work. (It's almost not fair how excited he gets)

I Love it When He Says
-Panpakes
-boochie
-Sunny goofers (funny)
-Holy moly
-Turn on some yousic
-When I get bigger and bigger then I can . . .
-I'm getting my exercise
-It's amazing
-Sprinkle sprinkle
-They must love me
-Moon come out?
-Orange Bob (SpongeBob)
-Mom, I been doin this trick all the time (referring to stopping and going pee)
-Conskeeter (computer)

Milo Hates
-The moon
-Getting his toenails clipped
-Going to the Dr., (even though he talks about Dr. Owen like he is his best friend)
-Crowds
-Church vests.  .  . Too bad I love church vests and make him wear them anyway:)

Favorite Songs
-My Fire truck is HOT
-International Harvester
-Big Green Tractor
-Springsteen

On the day before his birthday, Milo found a kitty.  It followed him in the house, and I thought we were going to have to keep him for sure.  Luckily, kitty wandered off while we were out.

We took Milo and Aliyah to the Gateway on his birthday.  Milo LOVED it.

Chris was sad, because Milo wanted to play by himself and with the kids-not with us... Guess he's a big boy now.

Chris made a pretty epic birthday breakfast for our little tractor man.

                                            

Party at Layton park with family and friends.

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.