Happy Birthday, Nate!

My little Nate is already 2! 

He knows all his letter sounds.  He is a bit intense/obsessed about letters, always asking for "buh", which means B, which really means he wants me to write letters on paper, type letters on the computer, let him type letters into a text on my phone, or play a letter computer game.  He also can recognize numbers 1 to about 10, except he won't say 7.  I don't think he knows that the symbol (3) for a number means that there are 3 objects, though. 

He is saying a few more words every day. I am so glad!

He is super independent.  And also very unlikely to do anything except what he wants to do--my mom calls this being "steadfast and immovable".  I try to remember that it can be a good thing, but it mostly feels like he's just plain old stubborn!  But, I can usually motivate him to do something by asking if he wants to do it himself or if he needs me to "help" him do it.

He has a goofy sense of humor.  I'll be interested to see how it develops as he learns to talk more.

He wants so badly to be a big kid and do all the big kid things.  I love this little guy so much!  He definitely has his own little personality, quite different from Camden.  It's fun to watch him grow, but also hard to figure him out sometimes. 

I am really impatient with trying to make cakes and frosting look cool for birthdays.  So, this is Nate's "birthday cake" this year. 

 

Trying out his new scooter

Good Night, Birthday Boy!

 

 Good Morning, Birthday Boy!

 

Blowing out candles on his birthday ice cream

Happy Birthday, Camden boy!

It's been awhile since I posted.  I'm going to blame Brian for changing the password to something tricky, and I believe impossible to hack.  I need it written down to type it 1 character at a time.

Anyway, today Camden turned 4!  It's so strange for me to think of the time before he was born, but it also seems strange that he can be that old.  The whole day has been a happy one.  No tears, no melt downs, no arguing.  All "ok, sure mom!" and happy, cheerful, cooperative--from both boys!  It sure made the day a good one.  It makes me wonder how to replicate a day like this--if it was just a super special day, or if there is anything I can do to make more days happy ones. 

Anyway, here are a few highlights:

I put up a Happy Birthday sign, streamers, and balloons in our house. There's nothing like a few decorations to make a little one feel special!  We also blew up a bunch of balloons to leave on the floor and play with.

Brian got to come home for lunch, and we had Camden open a few gifts then.  Then, when Brian got home after work, we all went for a walk with Camden's new bike.  He's actually pretty good for his first day with a real bike.  Camden chose hot dogs for dinner, so I put 4 birthday candles in his hot dog and we sang again to him.  Then we went to a little fun center with a merry-go-round.  Camden LOVES merry-go-rounds, so it was fun for him.  He also has been begging to get roller skates, so we tried out the roller rink at he fun center.  One trip around the rink was enough for him to realize he really doesn't like skating.  At all.  :)  It was pretty funny for me to watch Brian trying to keep Camden on his feet, though.   Then Brian took Nate out.  Nate only got one trip around, too, but Brian mostly skated while holding Nate by his arms, slightly off the ground.  Nate really wanted to go around again, which surprised me. 

Oh, and treats!  Camden didn't want a birthday cake this year.  Or, actually, he wanted a super tricky Spinosaurus 3-D cake that looked like a week of stress-filled, sticky buttercream and fondant disaster if I attempted it.  So, he decided that he really didn't want cake anyway, but that chocolate pudding is really his favorite.  We made chocolate pudding and crumbled oreos on top, with the little chocolate rocks and a tiny toy dinosaur in the top of the cup.  They were so yummy!  And I even found an easy  dairy-free chocolate pudding recipe!  Earlier in the day, we had "dino swamp muffins" for a snack (which was actually avocado bread--yes it sounds really weird, but the avocado flavor was very mild, and the avocado just made the muffins super moist and GREEN.  They had some orange zest and cinnamon in it that made them really yummy.) Best part--boys had no idea they were eating avocado!  I've found a secret--if I bake a loaf of bread, Brian and I will end up eating all of it because they boys won't touch it.  If I bake the same batter into bite-size mini muffins, all of them will be gobbled up.  And, if they have sprinkles on them, even better! 

I'm a bad photographer, especially when I forget the camera at home. :(  But, I did get a few pictures.  And when we find the right computer attachment for Brian's phone, we can post some more. 

 

 
Happy Birthday, my not-so-little one!

Easter pictures

Happy Easter!  And Happy Birthday, Brian!  We have had a weekend full of celebrations!  I didn't get pictures of birthday celebrations, but the boys and I blew up 33 balloons for Brian yesterday, and Brian and I left the boys with a babysitter for a couple of hours last night.  The date I had planned didn't exactly work like I had hoped, but it was still good to be away from kids for awhile. :)

Then today, we ate Brian's birthday treat--Cherry pie with vanilla ice cream.  I found a perfect flavor of ice cream for our family, called  Best of Both, which is just half vanilla and half chocolate.  Anyway, Brian was trying chocolate ice cream with his cherry pie and said, "I prefer vanilla over chocolate, but I prefer chocolate over whipped cream."  Camden, quick as a wink, said, "I prefer chocolate under whipped cream. "  He he!  Yep, he certainly would like chocolate ice cream under whipped cream!

For Easter, we have been reading little phrases of The Living Christ all month.  I found a website that has little tags that have pictures or a name of Christ (Creator, Redeemer, Jehovah, Messiah, Firstborn, etc, etc,) that go along with The Living Christ.  All in all, it was a bit above Camden's understanding, but it was still good.  We also learned the first verse of "He is Risen" for our scripture memorization.  I was so excited when we got to sing it in church today!  I think it is so good for Camden and Nate to recognize the music we sing in church and be able to sing along.  They really are not too young to learn the hymns, and songs can both focus their attention and give them a way to be involved in Sacrament meetings. 

Anyway,  here are some pictures of our Easter celebrations, especially for grandparents to see:

Camden, super excited to start hunting (or really just picking up) eggs



 Nate, far more interested in colored pencils and sidewalk chalk to be bothered to smile

After the hunt, baskets go way up high to help us eat our candy more slowly.  :)

 

After church on Sunday:

I love my boys!

 

 

 Camden's t-rex impression--sorry I cut his head off. 

 

 Even on Easter, boys can find sticks that turn into swords.  Nate's "sword" looks small, but don't worry, he was holding his own!

Happy Easter!