Tyson - August/September 2013

I know, I know, late again.  As I was uploading your pictures just now to the blog and it showed the little thumbnail of all the ones I've chosen for the past 2 months I figured that's all I needed to write.  These pictures show pretty plainly how much of a fun kid you are.  In fact, and this should be taken as a pretty big compliment, but dad has been known to say lately that if we could be guaranteed any additional kids would act like you we'd have 5 more!  It's a far, FAR cry from a few months ago when you were cutting all those molars and absolutely miserable.  That's all but forgiven and forgotten after this dream of a summer we've had with you.  It hasn't been all roses and rainbows, but everyone who has spent any amount of time with you lately including grandmas, Papa's, and babysitters have mentioned how much fun you've been lately.

You loved the pool and had a blast every time we went going down the slides, jumping off the edge of the pool, and getting a Tiki Shack shaved ice on our way home.  (I finally had to start getting you your own so you wouldn't scream at the rest of us to give you a BITE! the whole way home.)

Aren't you just the cutest thing all wrapped up and heading home?

You're still obsessed with cars.  I'll have to get a picture of the front room where you have every single car out and ready to "play cars?"  We set up a tote lid as a ramp and drive the cars down it, or you drive them off the edge of the TV stand and wait for me to make a dramatic crash sound when they hit the pile that's already at the bottom.

 You've got some of the best faces I've ever seen - we've known this since we used to flick you lightly on the forehead just to get your grumpy face, and it's no secret when you aren't sure about someone because you'll give them a pretty good glare.  This day we were playing with Logan's "disguise" glasses with the fake nose and you obviously didn't like the look on me...

...and I never could catch you with the camera before you'd hurry and take them off, but seriously kid, look how cute you are.

You like to play dress up in scary masks at the store...

...and tutus at home!

We had "fun" at Peach Days with Grandma & Papa H. and Aunt Lisa (I'm using fun lightly as the weather was akin to hell as far as I'm concerned), and we finally got smart and cooled off in the splash pad on our way back to the truck.  (We thought we were being smart by putting you in this bright shirt so we could pick you out of the crowd if you got lost, but look at the kid in the same color behind you!)

You still adore your bike and would probably ride it all day if you could.  In fact, I've let you bring it inside quite often just so I can get groceries put away or dinner going without leaving you outside to ride alone.  We've gone on quite a few bike rides to the Ranchos park lately, and I bought a bike seat for you to ride behind me, but you prefer to ride your own bike.  I think round trip it is about a mile, but you handle it like a champ - especially on the downhill slope on our way home.  You cruise, and I have to run to keep up.  We get a lot of funny looks from people who drive by because you do look pretty small to be riding a bike!  You've even mastered the art of riding the bike while carrying the blanky.

You've been so much fun lately that I haven't even minded the fact that you stay up so late most nights.  You do like to try to get us to watch Mickey Mouse because one day I realized that the big kids don't watch Mickey anymore so you'd been deprived of that show, and I felt like that had to be remedied.  Now that's all you want on the TV all the time, whether you're sitting down to watch it or not.  It's pretty dang cute to hear you say Mickey Mouse and Donawd Duck though. I forgot how cute it is to hear little kids say those names, so I guess it is worth it to have a Mickey marathon in our house for that.

Sometimes we pop popcorn and watch TV at the end of the day, and sometimes you stick your foot in the popcorn.

I don't even mind the days when you don't take naps - and that's saying something!  In the afternoons when I'm not working (seems like few and far between these days - but there's a light at the end of that tunnel!) and you should be napping we usually end up just hanging out together.  But when you do fall asleep, either a nap, in the car, or finally crash at the end of the day, you lose a little bit of your grown-up look, and I don't mind that one bit either.

We brought Toby back down to our house again, and boy do you love that dog.  I think he mostly loves you too, especially since you found out where his food was and like to carry his bowl the bag and scoop out 4 or 5 pieces with it at a time and take it back to him over and over.

We're getting in some park time whenever we can too.  You're starting to become more of a daredevil and climb up on things that make me hold my breath until you make it to the top.  The water fountains and faucets are a big attraction too.

Seriously kid, do you see the cuteness?

And you were especially cute on this Sunday when I apparently took a million pictures of you just being you.

You were so proud of this creepy hat.  (I used to think they were funny until one day when my boss at the gift shop told me those tails are real.  I'm not such a fan anymore.)

And yes, I took a picture of you at church, but you've even gotten better at being in Sacrament meeting. This was last week, and from the minute we got there you grabbed that book and opened it up and wanted to sing.  When the music finally started you did sing, and it was, yep, CUTE!  You sang and played and did well, and then walked right into nursery without a fit and without crying for me.  I'm happy about that and also a little sad.

Your personality is grade A amazing right now, and I hope it is just a glimpse of things to come.  Not to say that Logan and Tess don't have great funny personalities either, but all 4 of us that live in the house with you want to be around you all the time.  The funny things you say and the things you do to get us to laugh are awesome.  I'll even second what Grandma H. says about you when she comes to babysit, and that's that you are a total joy right now. I've never wanted to freeze my family more than I do right now, and I'm in a place where the difficulty of having young kids is fading a bit to the point where I can honestly say I'm enjoying nearly every minute of you guys and doing my best to soak it in and take pictures in my mind of these moments so I can remember them.  I know that you guys will still be fun and a blast when you are older,

but with this face I can't imagine life MUCH better than it is right now.

Love you Tyger,
Mom

(Bonus points if you kept track of how many times I said "cute" and "fun" in this letter.)

Logan - August/September 2013

Oi buddy, I still haven't gotten caught up enough to get these letters on time!  Unfortunately along with having no time I also have the world's worst memory, and I can barely remember the last 2 months to have much to write about.  I don't have a ton of pictures this time to help me out either.

I did get a couple though, like another one of you and Ty at the pool.  I think this day we got there early enough that we were the first ones there for a good 15 minutes or so.  I loved going to the pool when I was little, and I love that I have an excuse to go again with you guys now.  I don't get to sit on the side of the pool with a lot of the other moms and relax, but I don't mind one bit.  It's fun to see how you progressed at swimming and holding your breath under water for longer and longer as the summer went on.  I was definitely sad to see the pool season go for another year.

I found this picture in the midst of all our August/September pictures, and at first I wasn't sure what it was, but when I looked closer at your sandwich here I remembered.  Dad was working, so I took you guys to Tropic for the Pollock reunion.  They served really good BBQ beef sandwiches, but in your Logan weirdness you wanted nothing to do with the meat and had a potato chip sandwich instead.

And of course a week or so later you started first(!) grade.  You were a little nervous to be in Mr. Willardson's class because of "Dance Party Friday," but after your first Friday you told me how much you loved it.  You have done great in first grade and even earned your reading T-shirt after about 3 weeks in school.  In fact, you were the FIRST one in the whole school to earn it!  They had an assembly scheduled already the day you earned it, and from what you told me they called you up in front of the school to congratulate you.  You said at first you were nervous to go up, but then you were excited and thought it was pretty cool.  I can tell you that there are a LOT of people who are so proud of you bud.

I'll have to get a picture of you in your shirt for next month's letter because you earned it so fast that they hadn't even ordered them yet!

You are also learning how to be brave and doing things that are a little scary, like school lunch.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again - you are so much like your mom!  I put some money on your lunch account at school but you never would use it.  When I'd ask you why you told me you were scared you would forget your lunch number (which you could always tell me on demand) or wouldn't know where to go, or what if someone sat next to you and made you eat every. single. bite on your plate?  Finally one day everything they were serving sounded okay to you, so I didn't make your lunch, UNTIL we were walking out the door for school and work and you changed your mind.  I may have gotten a little bit upset, but I threw a sandwich in your lunch box and ran out the door.  I worried about you the rest of the day because you were pretty upset by the time we got to school, but when I picked you up you were so excited to tell me that you had eaten school lunch after all and DIDN'T DIE!  In fact, you LIKED IT!  It's a small thing, but trust me, I know how your brain works and I know it was kind of a big deal.  I hope I can get you to realize that the things that seem scary at first usually end up being really positive things cause it sure isn't fun missing out on things just because we're Nervous Nellys.

You're such a great kid, and I try to tell you that often.  "I love you" isn't an uncommon phrase at our house.  It's something dad and I say a lot to you guys and you guys say back us, but the other day as we were getting ready for school I looked at you for something and before I could say anything you said it to me first.  For some reason it stopped me for a second, and I was so happy to hear it from you first, and it made my morning.  You are such a good brother and an awesome son, and we're so glad to have you in our family!

Love you bud,
Mom