Sweet Brothers

The boys fight alot, but they are also so sweet to each other. Today, Luke told Ryan, "I love you bro." And then he told me and Greg, "I love Ryan." They then spent part of the morning chasing each other around to give the other one a hug. They also went to the playroom together holding hands.


Other things that have been going on:

Ryan saw President Obama on TV the other day and said, "That's Obama." Luke then said, "he's a present." I had tried to teach them during the inauguration that Obama is our new president; however, Luke thought I was talking about presents (which he very much loves).

As I've mentioned before, we've been having bedtime battles lately. Greg and I have both decided that we are no longer going to be manipulated (mostly by Luke) into going into their bedroom every 5 minutes or sitting in their bedroom for an hour and a half until the fall asleep. As a result, we decided we would let them cry it out. Here is a recap of the last few days.

• The first night Luke screamed for about 30 minutes and then he was tired enough for me to put him back to bed and he fell fast asleep.
• The second night he threw another fit but we did not go into their room. Ryan came downstairs and kept saying "bro." I took Ryan back upstairs and started to get a little nervous that something was wrong with Luke because Ryan was visibly upset about him. When I went into the room, Luke had cried himself into complete exhaustion and had fallen asleep with his head on his bed, but still standing on the floor. I put him in bed and he then slept all night.
• The third night, Ryan and Luke decided they would have a party. We went up once and had to turn their light off. We didn't hear anything from them for almost an hour (thinking success, it worked, their asleep). At about 9, I heard beeping and knew it was from the telephone in our bedroom. When I went upstairs, I found both boys in our bed (heads on pillows and under the covers) watching TV and playing with the phone.
• Last night, the boys came out once and tried to pull the same stunt again but were quickly caught. Luke then went sleep, but Ryan screamed for an hour. I gave in with him because he had taken a really late nap and he doesn't normally act like that. I let him come downstairs with me while we finished a movie and he fell asleep in my arms.
• Tonight: no problem with Luke (who was the problem to begin with), but Ryan threw another major tantrum. Greg and I took turns holding the door knob so he couldn't come out, but with him screaming "open the door" on the other side. After only 30-40 minutes, he is asleep. Sounds cruel, I know. But it is also cruel punishment for us to not get them to bed-now everyone can wake up happy. I'll keep you posted on how the bedtime saga continues.

We are all totally bummed that Nana and Grandad couldn't visit this weekend. They had plane tickets and bags packed to come, but Nana got the flu and was uninvited. We all wanted to see them, but we (and the rest of Colorado) are not interested in getting the horrible flu virus going around Lubbock (which hits people whether they got the flu shot or not). Fortunately, Spring Break is coming up soon and we will visit for a whole week. The boys might actually stay a week longer by themselves because Greg is going to be out of town the entire following week and this will allow me to still work my normal schedule and not have to worry about getting them to their school.

By the way-I still have a job. My position was saved for at least another school year. We'll see what happens this time next year-but the registration fee for preschool will not go to waist.

Today we took the boys to the school musical. It was Footloose so there was some hope that they would be entertained enough to behave. They did great the first act - Luke fell asleep and Ryan was mostly interested (in the show and his animal crackers). But by the time intermission was over, Luke was awake and Ryan wanted to get on stage so bad that he started to throw a fit when it was time to sit down. We took that as a cue to get out - but it was a fun and different outing for us and them.

Nothing major is coming up this week-hopefully I'll have nothing out of the ordinary to report. Greg will be gone part of the week and I'm making about 3 dozen cookies for Olivia's 6th birthday party on Saturday (she wants rainbows). Other than that-things will hopefully be quiet. Have a great week.

Nice Day at Home

The boys and I enjoyed the best weather today. It was in the upper 60s with no wind and sunny. As a result, the boys spent their morning and afternoon in the backyard. Their favorite place to play is not in their wonderful playhouse (which they do still love), but in the doghouse. They like to both crawl in there, play with rocks, and talk to each other. It is really quite funny. We also had the wonderful opportunity today to babysit Baby Thomas. I had so much fun playing with him and watching him watch the boys. He is a really good baby and it was a nice change from 2 year old behavior. Below are pictures from today and this week.

Ryan in the playhouse.

Can you see Luke's red nose. It is from his chalk, which he carries all over the backyard.

I wanted Ryan to put his hat on before he went outside, in his usual comedic way chose to put on 3 hats.

Luke pulling Ryan in the wagon.

Luke said, "My turn, bro."

Baby Thomas sleeping in Ryan's bed-it wasn't that long ago that Ryan slept like that (in that same blanket).

Ryan playing with his cousin.

Luke drew a slide. Can you see it, as well as himself, Ryan and Daddy on it?

This is from earlier in the week when Luke was in one of his clingy moods. He wanted to hold Daddy's hand, so here is Greg standing next to Luke while I was getting dinner ready, holding Luke's hand.

Isn't he such a handsome little Ryan? What happened to my baby?

Lastly, is a video of Luke drawing tonight. He draws his best pictures on his magnadoodle because he likes to erase when he messes up. I was hoping for a short video, but he was being quite a perfectionist tonight, so it took a little while.

Doing the Normal Routine Thing

We have had a pretty normal week around here. I took the boys to the Bounce House on Monday and met a friend from work with her two girls. The boys had a blast being led around by an 8 and 11 year old. It was the first time I've been able to go and just sit and watch - a nice change. We also had to register for Preschool for next year on Friday. I'm not sure if I'm still going to have a job or not next year, but we need to reserve our spot. I should find out by the end of next week if I'll still be working at the same school. The district has told my principal he has to cut 5 1/2 positions - so I might be one of them. I know the national economy is bad, but I am continually shocked at the incredibly poor state of Colorado's funding on education. I had no idea Texas was such a progressive state in education - but it is light years ahead on funding and policies. I'll stop ranting now.

The boys aren't doing anything too new or exciting, just continually adding new words and phrases to their vocabulary. Ryan has been our little drama king/actor since the very beginning and he cracks us up daily on the new things he says or does. His favorite thing to tell me now when I ask him to something is: "No, Mama, I busy" or "Ah, no, Mama" or "I don't think so, Mama." He also has this great pouty expression that he does along with it and he often sighs in exasperation and looks at the ground when we tell him to do something. We often have to hide our faces from him so he can't see us smile and laugh; however, he knows he is quite funny which is why keeps "improving" his attitude.

We have begun a new night time battle with the boys. Ryan likes to come out of his room and Luke likes to scream. It now often takes an hour to get them to sleep. I don't know what happened or where we went wrong. They used to go to sleep with little to no issues. Part of the problem is that Luke is very manipulative and throws major tantrums to continue to delay falling asleep (he wants to come downstairs with us), and once he gets really worked up he becomes inconsolable. We are working on it, we need the little bit of time we get after they go to bed for ourselves.

To end a positive note - one of most favorite things to do with them is to sing Wheels on the Bus almost nightly. Luke gets on his horse and Ryan sits on a stuffed fire engine and the four of us sing the song along with the motions. They love to sing and I love to hear their little sweet voices. Below are pictures from this past week.

Luke talking to Nana and Grandad on the computer. They read him a Dr. Seuss book and captured his attention.

Ryan loves to put on our shoes and walk around the house. He's wearing my boots here, but it is even better when he wears the boots with a heel.

You can't tell from this picture, but their room is dark. I walked in after bedtime this week and Luke was drawing in the dark.

Sweet picture of Baby Cousin Thomas at almost 3 months old.

Finally, below if the video of the boys playing Animal Scramble. Luke shows his competitive side by running from animal to animal, while Ryan shows how he does things at his pace only.

Happy Birthday Mackenna Kate!!

Congratulations to our great friends Tim and Stephanie on the birth of their sweet little girl. She was born Sunday night and already looks alot like Steph! I can't wait to meet her during my Spring Break next month.

Sunny Days...

We had a great week enjoying the sunny warm weather and all of the fun we could handle outside. The boys and I even enjoyed a lunch on our back porch. Not much else went on this week-all is quiet (not really, it is only quiet after they go to sleep). Our big event this weekend were long overdo haircuts - they look so handsome now. Below are pictures from this week - I guess there aren't many with Luke-he didn't have as much fun as Ryan did outside.

Ryan and Samson chilling in the sun.

Ryan loves to ride his car around the backyard-it is so nice to have all of the snow melted, at least for now.

The boys wanted to help me clean today, but their dust mops quickly turned into horses.

Luke as Oliver Twist: "More porridge, please, sir."

Ryan, crashed on the couch, after he refused to take a nap.

Ryan, crashed at the dinner table, after refusing to take a nap.

Lastly, a video of Ryan and Luke playing Animal Scramble. Notice how Luke runs as fast as he can to finish, while Ryann slowly meanders from one animal to another. Also, notice how they try to mess up eachothers' game-they love to tick the other one off. I'll post it later, blogger isn't being cooperative right now.

Zoo Fun

Sunday was Prairie Dog day at the zoo and it was also a great weather day, so took a little family field trip. The boys had a good time running around and seeing the animals. We are beyond being able to use our stroller for them, so they walk/we carry them. We could take the wagon, but that seems like more trouble than it is worth when we are both with them. After looking at the prairie dogs, we checked out the monkey house-which is everybody's favorite. And as it has always happened in previous trips to the zoo, the same little monkey jumped down to the window to greet the boys. Below are pictures from the zoo-which of course had to include a ride on the train.

Happenings this week:

Ryan is becoming increasingly more conversational. He asks us polite questions and responds appropriately when asked things like, how was your day, or what are you doing - and he asks us the same questions in return. He has come a long way since his 2 year old check up when the pediatrician suggested that he might need to go to a speech therapist because he only occasionally put 2 words together. Once we moved and got settled, his vocabulary exploded. He always had good receptive language skills, but the speech wasn't there-maybe having a foreign object lodged in his vocal cords for 7 weeks had something to do with that. He now talks in full sentences and we can't understand everything he is saying, but it is pretty close.

I took Luke to the doctor about his belly issues and potty training is on hold for him for at least a few months :( He doesn't seem to mind and we're more concerned about him feeling better and therefore feeling/being more pleasant. It is hard to be in a good mood when you're tummy hurts, but he is tough guy.

We are working on getting the boys to tell us their full names (first and last). When I ask Ryan what his name is, he will say "Ryan" and when I ask him his last name, he says "Luke." Not exactly what we're going for. Luke has it down when he chooses to answer. Just in case they happen to get separated from us, I think they need to know their full names. Plus, it is much more polite to answer someone when they ask you what your name is instead of saying "no" or screaming (that would be Ryan).

This is Luke's new best friend. He carries this little Ernie everywhere and talks to him. I heard him tell Ernie tonight that he loves him and wanted to give him a hug. He also put Ernie down to put together Cookie Monster so Ernie would have a friend.

Ryan likes to wear the lid to the Ernie and Cookie Monster legos and say "Happy Birthday, Mama."

This Luke and his Sphinx. No kidding, he built it and told me it was a Sphinx. Now I realize that it doesn't really look like the Sphinx, but the point is that he knows the word and what it is. I can attribute that to Little Einsteins. They love that show and they can now recognize many of the places the Little Einsteins go (like Egypt) when they see them in books. They also recognize musical instruments. I brought Ryan inside last night and the TV was on during a commercial playing classical music. Ryan stopped talking and said, "I hear a violin." TV can be educational (sometimes)!

Have a great week! And thank you Greg for taking the boys to your parents to watch the Super Bowl. I had such a nice and relaxing evening at home watching a movie and drinking a glass of wine. I truly don't remember the last time I had the house to myself. I really don't like to leave the house to have "me" time, I prefer to have it at home and that opportunity rarely comes up.