Pioneer Day growing up was not really my thing--go to a church party, wear a bonnet, churn some butter. But Pioneer Day in Utah is a blast. It is pretty much just a Fourth of July II. People get the day off of work, have get-togethers, BBQ's and set off fireworks. This year's Pioneer Day was a blast. We went to Sharon's house at 1:00 and got to stay until 10:00. I got into their pool for the first time and all of the kids had a blast swimming all day. We failed to reapply sunscreen so they aren't too happy about the face and shoulder burns, but other than that the day was a success. Lots of Matt's family was there and we had some great BBQ and great fireworks. We even got to hang out with Matt's family the next day for some more BBQing and an evening swim.
I finally transferred all of my phone pictures and videos to my computer so I would have more memory space on my phone. A few days later my computer crashed and won't turn on. Matt has tried everything he knows and so far nothing has worked. I am pretty bummed about it but glad I have at least been keeping this blog and putting on some pics and videos.
A few weeks ago when I had been gone quite a bit, Jack met me at my car as I pulled up from work. He ran to hug me and with a shaky, sad voice he said, "Can I please be with you? I have barely seen you. I've hardly been spending my life with you." Cue all the emotions.
Jane and Jack took swimming lessons this week from Maddie. They did amazing. I could not believe it when I saw them swim on Friday. Last year we had to bribe Jack just to dunk his head under the water in the bath tub. But this year he can actually swim a few yards with his head down and ice-cream scoop arms. He loves to bob under the water and blow bubbles from his nose instead of pinching it closed. He's really good at holding his breath, which made me nervous several times as I watched him because it would get to the point that I would think-- is he still ok down there? The most amazing thing was when he climbed up Sharon's pergola and jumped off several times. He was wearing his water wings, but I couldn't believe he had the guts to do it!
Jane amazed me with her side breathing and diving from the side of the pool. Last year she could swim several yards in water where she could touch but now she is swimming all around the deep end where ever she wants to go.
After meeting with a rheumatologist we are continuing to monitor Pete's symptoms that include periodic episodes of mouth sores, with an occasional added fever and red eyes. It may be some sort of systemic autoinflammatory disease, but we'll have to wait and see.
Hank is still a doll. He loves puzzles and has been earning them for doing the entire potty process by himself--it has really cut down on the whining about washing his hands. He just brought Matt Jack's allergy meds and said, "I have allergies. See? It's right there," and pointed to his forearm. He loves meds and is always trying to convince me he needs them.
July 26, 2015
July 19, 2015
Another week of summer
I finished my first semester of graduate school this week! I was so happy to be finished. We celebrated with an at-home ice cream party. Unfortunately things at work got really crazy at the same time (but, bonus! promotion and pay raise!). So I've still been cramming too much into my day at the sacrifice of taking care of myself, but I'm hopeful this week will provide a bit more sleep and exercise and time to cook some healthy food.
The kids have been adorable. Hank just peed his pants and asked us to change his clothes. Then, he looked at me and said "You didn't say 'go pee pee.'" Oh, my bad, I didn't know that was our current arrangement. :)
Jack was eating cereal and said to Matt, "Honey Nut is yummier than eating a person, right Dad?"
Hank said to me the other day, very sweetly, "I yuve you. You not dumb."
Pete found a ruler and then walked right over to where we measure the kids sometimes. He even put the ruler above his head. Such a cutie.
This week we started a special bead jar that gets filled with a few beads as we catch the kids being kind and helpful. When the jar is full we will go on a fun family day to somewhere. So, one night I asked for help picking up the Mr. Potato head toys and Jack started helping right away. I said to him, "That's a fiver," referring to how I would put five beads into the jar. Hank heard that, came right over, put a potato head arm in the bucket and said, "That's a threever!" So funny. I don't think he knew I was even talking about beads, but he is obsessed with threes.
Jack and Hank split their money and bought a 2-pack of superheroes. Jack got Cyborg and Hank got Red Tornado. But Hank pronounces it, "red tomato". Love it.
We went out with friends to one of our favorite parks--Highland Glen Park. A couple years ago when we first started going there was a little stream and a waterfall, but it is now empty. Jane looked at the empty water bed and said, "Maybe if people believed in global warming there would be water." We had a picnic dinner and then went to walk around the pond. Our friends' girl, one year younger than Jack, asked Jack if he wanted to hold her hand. I was SO HAPPY I was there to witness Jack's reaction. His face beamed with a mixture of pride and nervousness. He didn't respond for awhile, but just stood there, not knowing how to proceed. I said, "Do you want to hold Olive's hand?" He said, "Let me think." Then he kind of glanced at me with a look that said, "I don't know, what should I do?" I gave him a look that conveyed, "Sure, yeah, go ahead." Then he turned to Olive and said, "Ok" and then very stiffly held out his hand and walked for a good ways with no bend in his arm at all. He eventually loosened up but shortly after the hand-holding had a tragic ending when they tried to run and Jack fell and skinned his palms.
After the walk around the pond the kids wanted to swim. Our friends had brought their kids in swimsuits but we hadn't. Jane's friend had an extra for her and then Jack was offered the one year old's extra pair of swim shorts sized 12-18 months. We gave it a shot, and sure enough, they fit Jack like a glove.
So, Pete has a new hilarious obsession. After seeing Jane walk out of my room wearing a scarf, he insisted, in his own pointing/screaming way, that he wanted the scarf. Jane took it a step further and dressed him up in the scarf and some necklaces. The next day Pete took Jane to the scarf to have her put it on him. Then he took her to my jewelry bag to have her put on two specific necklaces. He does this every day now. Sometimes more than once a day if we manage to ever get it off of him in the first place. Matt even had to run to store with him wearing this entire get-up which has now started to include a headband with a bow. The following pics are from the pre-bow era and on a day he also insisted on carrying around an empty milk jug.
The kids have been adorable. Hank just peed his pants and asked us to change his clothes. Then, he looked at me and said "You didn't say 'go pee pee.'" Oh, my bad, I didn't know that was our current arrangement. :)
Jack was eating cereal and said to Matt, "Honey Nut is yummier than eating a person, right Dad?"
Hank said to me the other day, very sweetly, "I yuve you. You not dumb."
Pete found a ruler and then walked right over to where we measure the kids sometimes. He even put the ruler above his head. Such a cutie.
This week we started a special bead jar that gets filled with a few beads as we catch the kids being kind and helpful. When the jar is full we will go on a fun family day to somewhere. So, one night I asked for help picking up the Mr. Potato head toys and Jack started helping right away. I said to him, "That's a fiver," referring to how I would put five beads into the jar. Hank heard that, came right over, put a potato head arm in the bucket and said, "That's a threever!" So funny. I don't think he knew I was even talking about beads, but he is obsessed with threes.
Jack and Hank split their money and bought a 2-pack of superheroes. Jack got Cyborg and Hank got Red Tornado. But Hank pronounces it, "red tomato". Love it.
We went out with friends to one of our favorite parks--Highland Glen Park. A couple years ago when we first started going there was a little stream and a waterfall, but it is now empty. Jane looked at the empty water bed and said, "Maybe if people believed in global warming there would be water." We had a picnic dinner and then went to walk around the pond. Our friends' girl, one year younger than Jack, asked Jack if he wanted to hold her hand. I was SO HAPPY I was there to witness Jack's reaction. His face beamed with a mixture of pride and nervousness. He didn't respond for awhile, but just stood there, not knowing how to proceed. I said, "Do you want to hold Olive's hand?" He said, "Let me think." Then he kind of glanced at me with a look that said, "I don't know, what should I do?" I gave him a look that conveyed, "Sure, yeah, go ahead." Then he turned to Olive and said, "Ok" and then very stiffly held out his hand and walked for a good ways with no bend in his arm at all. He eventually loosened up but shortly after the hand-holding had a tragic ending when they tried to run and Jack fell and skinned his palms.
After the walk around the pond the kids wanted to swim. Our friends had brought their kids in swimsuits but we hadn't. Jane's friend had an extra for her and then Jack was offered the one year old's extra pair of swim shorts sized 12-18 months. We gave it a shot, and sure enough, they fit Jack like a glove.
So, Pete has a new hilarious obsession. After seeing Jane walk out of my room wearing a scarf, he insisted, in his own pointing/screaming way, that he wanted the scarf. Jane took it a step further and dressed him up in the scarf and some necklaces. The next day Pete took Jane to the scarf to have her put it on him. Then he took her to my jewelry bag to have her put on two specific necklaces. He does this every day now. Sometimes more than once a day if we manage to ever get it off of him in the first place. Matt even had to run to store with him wearing this entire get-up which has now started to include a headband with a bow. The following pics are from the pre-bow era and on a day he also insisted on carrying around an empty milk jug.
July 13, 2015
Pete hums
Pete still isn't talking very much. He has a few words that he uses once every few days. :) Well, from what I hear, he's been saying "DAA!" quite a bit when calling for Matt. I would love for his language to develop, but I do feel good about his other communication skills like joint attention, gaze following, pointing, eye contact, etc. Anyway, the past couple weeks he has started humming. It's always the same tune--three notes, repeated. It goes high-low-medium. :)
Jane has been playing with her cousin Leah's American Girl dolls at Leah's house. Then we happened to get a magazine in the mail and Jane became absolutely obsessed with the idea of getting one. Obsessed. She's been counting her money and planning for her American Girl future. I told her about Target's knock-off line and she spent days on the computer looking at dolls. As soon as I would come home she would beg me to take her to Target, (yes, Jane is no fool, she knows she would rather spend $25 on a doll that looks the same as the original). We finally went but I told her she couldn't open the doll for a few days to really decide if she wanted it. A few days have gone by and I think she might be changing her mind! It's so funny how kids work. Jane is concerned that if she doesn't have enough money to buy another doll and accessories than if a friend comes over they won't be able to play. So, the doll may be going back to the store for awhile. We'll see. :)
Hank went into a bathroom at church that he hadn't been in before. He walked in and gasped and said, "I yuve it!" Later we were in American Fork canyon and Matt took Hank to use a port-a-potty. Hank declared, "I hate it!"
Hank has been complaining of his cheek and tongue hurting. We checked around and didn't notice anything but one night I was brushing his teeth and it really started hurting him. I asked him if his tooth hurt and he said yes and pointed directly to one tooth. Oh boy. We have yet to deal with a cavity yet so I was not looking forward to this. The next day Hank went with me to take Pete to the doctor. Hank kept thinking it was for his tooth. While driving there I told Siri to navigate to the doctor's office. Hank told me to tell Siri that his tooth hurt. That night though, I pulled his cheek out farther and saw that it was actually a canker sore that was causing the pain. He's all better now and I'm so relieved we can put off any long dentist shots for awhile longer.
Matt had just gotten Hank out of the bathroom, and usually Hank will stand in front of one of us, backwards, while we hold up the towel and then wrap it around him. This time he stood with his back in front of Matt, grabbed both sides of Matt's shorts thinking it was the towel, and tried to wrap them around himself.
Hank went to his speech appointment. Sharon was very excited for us by the idea that Hank could get free preschool. But, it turns out, Hank's speech pronunciation is within normal range for three year olds. He is hard to understand but the sound mistakes he makes are ones that most kids are able to outgrow fairly shortly. So if things haven't improved in about 9 months, then we will see about getting him some help. I hope everyone can learn to understand him at preschool in August!
Matt mentioned how hard it can be on days that Pete is especially grumpy but that when Pete hugs him really tight and lays his head on his shoulder as Matt sings his songs before nap and bed that it makes everything better. And I was like, "Hold up. What do you mean? How do you put him to bed?!" Turns out I've been having Pete hold all four of his stuffed animals while I awkwardly try to then hold Pete (and all four animals) cradled like a baby, while Matt just leaves the animals in the crib and holds Pete vertically while Pete hugs his neck and lays his head on his shoulder. I was very excited to give Matt's way a try, and I agree, that moment makes it all worth it!!
Jane has been playing with her cousin Leah's American Girl dolls at Leah's house. Then we happened to get a magazine in the mail and Jane became absolutely obsessed with the idea of getting one. Obsessed. She's been counting her money and planning for her American Girl future. I told her about Target's knock-off line and she spent days on the computer looking at dolls. As soon as I would come home she would beg me to take her to Target, (yes, Jane is no fool, she knows she would rather spend $25 on a doll that looks the same as the original). We finally went but I told her she couldn't open the doll for a few days to really decide if she wanted it. A few days have gone by and I think she might be changing her mind! It's so funny how kids work. Jane is concerned that if she doesn't have enough money to buy another doll and accessories than if a friend comes over they won't be able to play. So, the doll may be going back to the store for awhile. We'll see. :)
Hank went into a bathroom at church that he hadn't been in before. He walked in and gasped and said, "I yuve it!" Later we were in American Fork canyon and Matt took Hank to use a port-a-potty. Hank declared, "I hate it!"
Hank has been complaining of his cheek and tongue hurting. We checked around and didn't notice anything but one night I was brushing his teeth and it really started hurting him. I asked him if his tooth hurt and he said yes and pointed directly to one tooth. Oh boy. We have yet to deal with a cavity yet so I was not looking forward to this. The next day Hank went with me to take Pete to the doctor. Hank kept thinking it was for his tooth. While driving there I told Siri to navigate to the doctor's office. Hank told me to tell Siri that his tooth hurt. That night though, I pulled his cheek out farther and saw that it was actually a canker sore that was causing the pain. He's all better now and I'm so relieved we can put off any long dentist shots for awhile longer.
Matt had just gotten Hank out of the bathroom, and usually Hank will stand in front of one of us, backwards, while we hold up the towel and then wrap it around him. This time he stood with his back in front of Matt, grabbed both sides of Matt's shorts thinking it was the towel, and tried to wrap them around himself.
Hank went to his speech appointment. Sharon was very excited for us by the idea that Hank could get free preschool. But, it turns out, Hank's speech pronunciation is within normal range for three year olds. He is hard to understand but the sound mistakes he makes are ones that most kids are able to outgrow fairly shortly. So if things haven't improved in about 9 months, then we will see about getting him some help. I hope everyone can learn to understand him at preschool in August!
Matt mentioned how hard it can be on days that Pete is especially grumpy but that when Pete hugs him really tight and lays his head on his shoulder as Matt sings his songs before nap and bed that it makes everything better. And I was like, "Hold up. What do you mean? How do you put him to bed?!" Turns out I've been having Pete hold all four of his stuffed animals while I awkwardly try to then hold Pete (and all four animals) cradled like a baby, while Matt just leaves the animals in the crib and holds Pete vertically while Pete hugs his neck and lays his head on his shoulder. I was very excited to give Matt's way a try, and I agree, that moment makes it all worth it!!
July 5, 2015
Fourth of July!
All week I talked to Matt about how I wanted the Fourth of July to go down. I had been having a rough time with being gone so much and I was working hard to get some school stuff done and rearranged my Saturday clients so that we could have the entire day together as a family. But I didn't want us to spend half the day just sitting around the house doing nothing. :) First on the list was to find a used canoe on KSL at good price. We have been looking off and on for over a year but never made it happen. It was down to the wire but Matt was able to buy a used canoe from a man in Farmington on July 3! So on July 4 (after we did actually sit around the house for awhile but it was fun:) we went to Tibble Fork reservoir in American Fork canyon. We couldn't all go in the canoe together but Matt and I took turns taking a couple kids around the lake. It was wonderful. Then we came home and got showered and met my brother and his daughter for fireworks in Sandy. I always love the Sandy show. We brought a blanket and chairs and the fireworks were great. I was wondering how Hank would handle it because he really did not like the fireworks that we and our neighbors had lit the night before. He told me that night, "But they might shoot on to me and I die." We reassured him but the loud bangs really scared him. So at the big firework show Hank sat on my lap and had me plug his ears for him. I had to push hard with my index fingers on both of his ears and if I let up at all he would grab my hands and push telling me to push harder so he wouldn't have to hear the fireworks. Pete sat on Matt's lap and also felt much better if Matt covered his ears. It was definitely a wonderful day! Unfortunately it was such a great day I never even got my phone out to take pictures!
Matt's method of encouraging the kids to do their little school assignments has been to explain that other countries don't take summers off and they are beating us. So when Jack was doing his homework and Matt said, "Jack I'm so proud of you. You're getting so smart", Jack said, "But I'm not as smart as the Chinese yet, right?"
Pete continues to love reggae. It is pretty much on all the time. As soon as his feet hit the floor, he walks to the tv to tell us to turn it on. He is REALLY vocal about what he wants to do. He screams bloody murder when he has to do something he doesn't want to do. For example, being put in the car, or the stroller, or having to do ANYTHING, really. And I'm not joking---bloody murder. You would have to witness it for yourself. I tried to have him walk with me and the kids to pick out a few fireworks to buy on July 3 and everyone just stared at us while I pushed the stroller with a maniac screaming inside. BUT we love him. :)
Jane is very sweet with her brothers. She likes to be the one to get Pete out of his crib and carry him down the stairs. When I was putting Hank to bed the other night he gave me a kiss but then said he wanted to kiss Jane goodnight so he went to her room to give her a hug and kiss. She's very sweet.
Hank has been hilarious. Three-year-old's are so funny. We overheard Hank on a toy phone talking to a "bad guy". He said, "You gonna die! Bye bad guy!" When he was playing a car racing game on a tablet we overheard him say, "Bye losers". I told him once that his face was really dirty and to go look in the mirror. He came back to me and said, "The mirror told my face it dirty." He calls Two-face, a bad guy in Batman world, toothpaste. Jane and Jack were talking about what kind of milks they like (Jane likes 1% with the green lid and Jack likes whole milk with the red lid). Jane said, "I like green milk." Jack said, "I like red milk." Hank interjected happily with, "I like white milk."
Matt's method of encouraging the kids to do their little school assignments has been to explain that other countries don't take summers off and they are beating us. So when Jack was doing his homework and Matt said, "Jack I'm so proud of you. You're getting so smart", Jack said, "But I'm not as smart as the Chinese yet, right?"
Pete continues to love reggae. It is pretty much on all the time. As soon as his feet hit the floor, he walks to the tv to tell us to turn it on. He is REALLY vocal about what he wants to do. He screams bloody murder when he has to do something he doesn't want to do. For example, being put in the car, or the stroller, or having to do ANYTHING, really. And I'm not joking---bloody murder. You would have to witness it for yourself. I tried to have him walk with me and the kids to pick out a few fireworks to buy on July 3 and everyone just stared at us while I pushed the stroller with a maniac screaming inside. BUT we love him. :)
Jane is very sweet with her brothers. She likes to be the one to get Pete out of his crib and carry him down the stairs. When I was putting Hank to bed the other night he gave me a kiss but then said he wanted to kiss Jane goodnight so he went to her room to give her a hug and kiss. She's very sweet.
Hank has been hilarious. Three-year-old's are so funny. We overheard Hank on a toy phone talking to a "bad guy". He said, "You gonna die! Bye bad guy!" When he was playing a car racing game on a tablet we overheard him say, "Bye losers". I told him once that his face was really dirty and to go look in the mirror. He came back to me and said, "The mirror told my face it dirty." He calls Two-face, a bad guy in Batman world, toothpaste. Jane and Jack were talking about what kind of milks they like (Jane likes 1% with the green lid and Jack likes whole milk with the red lid). Jane said, "I like green milk." Jack said, "I like red milk." Hank interjected happily with, "I like white milk."
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