Sunday, January 30, 2011

Colt

I've always said that Colt was a quirky little guy since before he could crawl.  This has really just gotten more pronouced as he has gotten older.  He is the goofiest little bugger and seems to know what will get a laugh out of the family. 

The big story with Colt right now is potty training.  True to form, Colt is marching to the beat of his own drum throughout this process.


Colt knows he isn't supposed to potty in his pants, but sometimes he is a little shy about announcing his business. Occasionally he will hide to go number two. Here is is peeking out from one of his hiding spots (the grunting gave him away).


Colt prefers to peepee in the bathtub.  I can't explain it, but I'm willing to work with it. What's a few extra tub cleanings?


Colt is extremely proud of his big boy unders.  Here he is modeling a pair of Diego underwear designed by Nickelodeon and available at Wal-mart.
 Colt is well into the terrible twos.  He can get into trouble faster than Swiper the Fox.  About 40 times a day someone in the house yells out "Colty!" after stumbling upon one of his messes.  His answers is always some version of "well 'acuz..." (translation: well, because...I needed a crayon...I wanted a car...it just looked too tidy).


When no one was looking (and in about 30 seconds) Colt systematically bit the tip off every crayon in the box.


Colt was helping me make bread.  I always have a good excuse for my failed loaves.
Some of my favorite things about Colt:

1.  Whenever he gets hurt he wants to watch Diego and 'nuggle (snuggle).
2.  He comes out of his room every morning carrying his Teddy Bear.
3.  He thinks he has a baby puppy in his belly (this dates back to my pregnancy days).
4.  He pretends to be a puppy and licks everything.  Okay, this isn't my favorite thing.
5.  He loves being blow-dried every time he gets a little water anywhere on his body.
6.  His fat little face.


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Dash

Dash is growing up so much.  Brandan and I are always asking him if he'll stop growing, but he always answers, "I can't promise that".

Dash is a super smart kid.  He is always adding up numbers and writing new words.  He loves science experiments and running.  The other day he ran home from Brandan's school without stopping once! That's over half a mile. 

Dash is a great brother.  He might pick on his little brothers occasionally, but if he thinks any one else is criticizing them or making fun, he is the first to come to their rescue.



Dash and Colt in the play area of Burger King. Colt couldn't climb the stairs so Dash voluntarily helped him by letting him climb on his back and then giving him a boost.

 Dash and Abby Ivie are best friends. She plays cars with him and he plays dress up with her.


Since Dash was just little he has loved organizing and arranging.  He used to just categorize his cars by color, but now he has moved on to bigger objects and more complex organizational methods.  No less than four times a week, he re-organizes his room, including moving furniture and rearranging drawers.  We keep some food storage under the boys' bed and Dash's latest arrangements swapped food and toys.



This is the toy box.  That is oatmeal on top of granola bars, on top of crackers, on top of canned green beans.


Toys in the oatmeal and cracker boxes.


Toys in the granola bar boxes.


Toys in the oatmeal box.
 Dash is a pretty sensitive kid and he hates feeling embarrassed (who doesn't, right?), but, unfortunately, he embarrasses easily.  The other day he actually had a pretty embarrassing incident that we are both still recovering from. 
We had gone down to the high school to watch the boys basketball game.  We were sitting in the stands when Dash needed to go to the bathroom.  He knows where the bathroom is so I said he could go out by himself.  A few minutes later I saw Dash following a little girl in the door across the gym.  So now we are sitting in the bleachers on one side of the gym and Dash is walking along in front of the bleachers on the other side of the gym.  While we watched, Dash realized that he couldn't see us in the bleachers and he started to look worried.  Brandan and Colt quickly went down and out the door so they could get Dash.  In the meantime, the ball players are on one side of the court lined up to shoot a foul shot and Dash has turned and is looking across the gym and without realizing it is starting to wander into the court.  I'm panicking a little bit, and without thinking I call out his name right as everyone is real quite because of the foul shot. Dash sees me and immediately sprints right across the gym floor.  The whole gym breaks out into laughter right as Dash reached the bleachers.  It was heartbreaking because his little lip started to quiver and he turned red.  I felt so bad for him (and for myself).  We packed up to leave and headed out right away.  I've thought about it since though, and in a way, it was kind of a touching thing.  When Dash heard my voice his face lit up and he didn't see anything but me and he ran, fast too.  In fact, most of the school administrators have commented to Brandan on how fast Dash can run.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

If only everyone were so kind...

So this morning I was getting out of the shower and Dash was trying to get into the bathroom.  I told him to hold on for a second while I got wrapped in a towel.  When he finally pushed the door open he said, "Mom, it's okay if I see you naked because I won't laugh and make fun of you."  A real confidence booster.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Daily Grind

Sport loves sitting in his swing and staring at the red lizard.

Colt loves to hold Sport and sometimes Sport lets him.
Dec 2010 - Sport in his body sock Grandma Katie made him.

 Dec 2010 - Dash and Sport

Colt was wearing Dash's shoes after church one day.

Dec 2010 - This is a daily activity for Dash and Colt.

Colt got a hold of the brick of cheese one day and had several chunks bitten out before we caught him.

 Dec 2010  - Sport practicing holding his head up.

Dec 2010 - Dash and Sport. Dash is a really good brother and a super good helper.

Dec 2010 - Colt may not have sisters, but he is learning what it is like to live with women.  He fell asleep on the floor outside the bathroom waiting for me to get out of the shower.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Other Holiday Activities

Because Brandan got over a week off of school, we did lots of fun things over the holidays. Before Christmas, we went into Spearfish and stopped by the animal sanctuary to see Mike.  The sanctuary was hosting a live nativity and the boys got to tour the "stable" and help feed the animals. 

Then after Christmas, we went back to Idaho and visited family and celebrated New Year's.

The boys feeding the calf.

Dash and the sanctuary sheep.

Me and Colt in the stable.

Me and the boys with the camel.

Brandan and the boys with the grandmas at Grandma Fowler's house.

Hannah, Colt and Dash at Cam's house on New Year's Eve.

Grandpa Clayson reading to the boys over the Christmas break.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas 2010

We had such an awesome Christmas!  The afternoon of Christmas Eve, we went to the Senior Citizen center to deliver goodies, drop off some pictures, and sing some songs.  We were a pitiful choir, but the seniors seemed to think the boys were cute and they loved the pictures the boys had colored.  After that we went over to Brandan's school and played basketball and lots of chase games.  Then that evening, Brandan and I gave the boys one gift to open.  It was the game Twister.  We played it for as long as we could last and then the boys started tracking Santa on the internet.  It was awesome to see how excited they were.  We had really pushed the fact that Santa wouldn't come to the house if the boys were still awake, so when Dash saw that Santa was in "Rio de Cruella DeVil" (his pronunciation), he decided that looked close enough and he didn't want to risk it.  So, he and Colt went into bed at 7:30!  While we were tucking them in, I had to run out and get something out of the car.  When I came back in I told Dash I thought I'd heard bells ringing in the sky.  I thought he was going to fall out of the top bunk.  He immediately laid down and instructed Colt to do the same.  Colt promptly threw himself backward on the bed.  Then Dash demanded that we shut off all the lights and go straight into bed.  I love having kids this age!   

The next morning the boys ran in to see what Santa had brought.  They were super excited with everything.  After presents we had a big breakfast and then lounged around until the Booths called and invited us sledding.  It was a great day.

Colt and Dash in the weight room at the high school on Christmas Eve.

The boys playing Twister.
The boys by the Christmas tree.

The boys by the stockings...sort of.
Twister Finale.

Christmas morning.

Christmas morning - Colt put on his hat by himself.
Christmas morning.

Christmas morning.

Colt in his Christmas presents.

Sledding Christmas day with the Booths.

Christmas Day.

Christmas Day - Playing with the new toys at the gym.