For my Little Man

My little man is now 18 months...well, he has been for a couple days, but we just went in for his check up yesterday and he is growing like a weed.

His stats:
28.6 lbs - 77%
33 1/2 inches - 83%

Actually, I'm surprised his weight percentage isn't higher. He is SO heavy. I think Aliyah and Xander both weigh the same. Here are some things about Xander at 18 months...

- He is talking like crazy. No sentences, and I think Jace and I are the only ones that can understand him, but he is talking. Some of his words include:

gechoo (get you) - we like to play a lot
ak-ik (chapstick) - He found some of Aliyah's roll on chapstick the other day and he had it ALL over him...his cheeks, forehead, chin, and hair. Yes, he rolled it in his hair. And said "pretty" the whole time. He smelled good though.
sossy - sorry
tiss - kiss
hug
bock - block
Umm - He has started saying this when I ask him a question. It is pretty funny. He got that one from Aliyah, although I have no idea where she got it.
vegable (Vegetable) - his longest word :)
tower - we love those blocks
book
I asked him what the frog says and he said "radibbit"...close. :)

These are just a few of his more recent words. I love having both the kids talking. It makes them, and me, a lot happier when we can communicate.

Here are some fun facts about Xander:

*This kid loves to be outside...especially if there is dirt, or any other way to get dirty.

*He likes to play with balls and will carry one with him, throw it to you, then hold his hands in front of him and say "catchit."



*He has to feed himself. If you put something in his mouth he'll take it out and put it in himself.

*Xander loves balloons (he calls them boons) and when he has one he will hold it by the ribbon and take it everywhere with him.


*He will pretty much eat ANYTHING! He loves his fruit and "vegables."

*His favorite TV shows are: Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Diego, and Backyardigans

*He LOVES to wear "sockies" and "shoesies."

*He loves to build things. He uses blocks, books, food...



*He likes to pray and is really good at folding his arms and saying "AMEN!"

(Funny story: Last night I had the video camera and I asked him to say a prayer. He folded his wrists, put his head down, mumbled some stuff and then threw his arms out and said AMEN! It was so cute.)

(Xander praying in the car last night on our way home. I love how he folds his wrists.)

*He and Aliyah have found Jace's harmonica. It is now his favorite toy and dances around the house as he is playing it. ...so cute.


Anyway, before you get too bored reading this I just have to say that I LOVE my little booger! (I don't know why I call him that, but I do.) He can be the happiest little man in the world and he brings lots of joy and smiles into our families lives. We are so glad he is ours!

Potty Time...Try 1

I was trying to get Aliyah excited about using the potty. Saturday we went on an outing to Barnes and Noble and picked up a book for Aliyah about using the potty. What could be better than this:
She was super excited about it and has carried it EVERYWHERE ever since.

Monday I took her to the store and let her pick out a potty seat and big girl panties. We came home with this:

and some princess Dora panties. She was really excited about this. She carried that potty seat around the whole store pointing to each character and telling anyone around her who it was.

All that night she would go and sit on the potty. She didn't do anything, but I just wanted her to get familiar with it. She was so happy. O life was looking good.

Now I'm still not entirely sure how to accomplish this whole potty training issue. (I'm still waiting for some books I ordered.) But I kind of wanted her to try it and then see if she liked it enough to continue.

Yesterday was the day!

After her bath I got her all excited about wearing her big girl Dora Princess Panties! It was SO exciting. I set my alarm for 15 min. and we were good to go. I got Xander out of the tub and got him all ready. Then headed to the kitchen where Aliyah was rummaging through the pantry.

All of a sudden she stopped.

She looked down.

I looked down.

Yep. There was a stream of wetness running down her leg.

I said, "Aliyah...did you just pee in your princess panties?"
She kind of made a whining noise and said, "yahhhh."

I talked to her about it and what it was and whatnot. We got her all clean and I asked her if she wanted to try again. She agreed. So, we got another pair of panties.

I took her into my bathroom to do her hair.

As soon as I was done with that I heard my alarm go off. So I told Aliyah we were going to go sit on the Dora potty seat. She was excited. So off we went, Aliyah running ahead of me.

I stopped at my phone to turn off the alarm, so I guess it was my fault it happened...but she peed again. In her panties. :(

Again, I got her cleaned up and asked if she wanted to try again.

Her response:

"No, Elmo Diaper."

So, my friends...that is that for now. She has no desire to try again...for now.

Today as I got her out of the tub she looked at me and said "Mommy, Ee-yah Elmo diaper." (Aliyah Elmo diaper.)

Sigh...

Now, I'm not too discouraged because I wasn't really attempting to potty train right then. I was just hoping to get her to know the feeling and try. Unfortunately we never made it to the toilet in time for there to be some excitement. I just hope I haven't scarred her. :(

This is to be continued...

When will he learn?

This was just another typical Xander moment. He's pretty good at smacking his head/face on anything around him. So, yesterday at church was no exception.

Jace has meetings for church starting at 7:30 am. I have to be at church by 8:40 to set up for Primary. The kids came with me. The chairs were already set up, but I was busy doing some other things when out of the corner of my eye Xander fell. Yep, he was standing on a chair (a little one thank goodness) and he and the chair tipped over right into another chair. He cried, people oood and awed and asked if he was ok. I thought he was fine until I saw him again in Sacrament Meeting with a huge raspberry on his cheek. :( Sad times.





If you blow up the pic you can probably see a little something right on the bottom of his lip...it doesn't look as bad as it did a few days ago. Tuesday he fell...I'm thinking into the tile surrounding our tub... and his tooth went right through his lip. Yah...that's Xander for ya.

Single Mom

So, this is my 3rd week of being a single mom Monday-Wednesday, and while it's not full time it still takes it's toll. I don't know how people do it.

You probably don't know that Jace has decided it's time to get is MBA. It's through SUU but he takes his classes at Dixie which I'm glad for because at least he doesn't have a big commute. His classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday 5:30-8:30 pm. (Boo.) So, he goes straight from work to school and the kids don't see him at all. Sometimes he'll come home for lunch, but the kids are usually napping.

This is why last week we went to the park every day. I need a chance to get out of the house and where the kids can expel some energy. If anyone else has any other ideas I'm all for them. The weather is so good I just don't want to stay inside all day, but I gotta say the park is getting old.

Anyway, I just thought I'd give a shout out to any single mom's...or moms who have to go through single mom times where hubby's are away. I sure didn't know how much Jace coming home at 5 meant to me until he stopped coming home at 5. It's a relief some days to get some help.

Well, good luck to my hubby. I know you'll do great because you are such a hard worker. I just thought I'd tell you we are makin' it...just barely some days, but we are. We love you!

New Blog

OK friends. I need to stay motivated in the scrapbooking department. Having this blog has totally helped me stay up to speed on current events, but all my older pics just sit in folders untouched on my computer.

I have a solution.

To help me stay motivated I am copying my cousin's idea...Making a scrapbook blog. This blog is going to be private. So, if you want to be invited just let me know.

annevernon@gmail.com or you can just leave a comment.

I'll probably start it in a few days or so.

I'm hoping this is a good idea to get my butt in gear with all the zillions of pics that are waiting for me. Yikes. I'm kinda scared...but BRING IT ON!

Park Hopping

We are lovin' this weather down here. Mid 50s for the past week. Ahh...this is what January should feel like.

The kids and I have been taking advantage of the sunny days...we've been park hopping. Monday it was our Green Springs Park, Tuesday it was the Vernon-Worthen Park, and Wednesday it was the Highland Park. The kids are getting a lot of their energy out too, which makes nap time great for mom! :) Here is some of our park adventures.

These are all from Highland Park.

I need some advice...

So, I am REALLY wanting to start this potty training thing. The binki thing was rough. Only last night did Aliyah stay in bed and sleep by herself. (She snuck into our room twice, and then for a couple nights I was rocking her to sleep...Not ideal.) So, I'm not saying I'm going to start this second, because I think I need to prepare myself for this first.

So, I am enlisting all your potty training expertise. First off, I probably need a good book to read. I've heard about Nanny 911, but before I just go out and buy a book I want to know if there are other good reads.

Second, what do you think is better? Getting them their own little potty...



or getting a little seat that goes on the big potty?

I am so confused. There are too many different options. There are some really cool mini potty's, but then I think, so I really want to clean it out every time? I think I'd rather just have her sit on the big potty. I don't know...I wish it were more black and white.

As you can tell, I am up for any advice. I'll take it all in and apply Aliyah's personality to it and see if we can come up with something great.

Thanks for your help. :)

Ahh 2 year olds...

Alright...I really wish I could've gotten a picture of this because it was just too funny. However, I was too busy laughing to grab my camera.

Let me describe the situation a bit before I get to the funny part...

Xander has been on a whining spree all day. Let me re-iterate that...ALL day. Therefore, I've said a few things to him, he's been in time out, etc. Well, I was busy trying to ignore him because it just wasn't getting any better. Xander was doing his best to get my attention and sweet Aliyah was on the chair next to me coloring. Xander kept throwing the office door against the wall and I had told him numerous times to stop. He finally figured I was serious and threw himself on the floor to throw yet another fit. (Sigh...) I don't know if Aliyah had just been watching me too closely and knew what I would do next, or if she had had enough of the fits too. Either way this is what she did...

She got down off the chair and walked over to Xander, crouched down next to him, put her hands on Xander's cheeks and said the following:

"Yook at me. Touch Gan. (Referring to slamming the door.) Out there (pointing out of the room). Yook at me. Don touch gan!"
(translation: Look at me. Don't touch again or you'll go out there. Look at me. Don't touch again.")

She probably said it a good 3 times before Xander stopped his fit and Aliyah grabbed his hand to help him up. I was too busy laughing. It was the funniest thing ever.

Ya gotta love 2 year olds.

5 things I love...

I was tagged by Alisha, so here we go.

I love...

1} when both kids nap at the same time so I can have some "me time" in the middle of the day.

2} watching tv with Jace after the kids are asleep.

3} cuddling with the munchkins.

4} vacations! (Preferably some place warm.)

5} scrapbooking. It's one of my outlets. :)


I hope you enjoyed. Now I tag: Kirsten, Roz, all Ashley's, & Cami.

growing up

Well, we did it! We got rid of all the binky's in the house. I've been wanting to get Aliyah off them for a while now, so the new year came and we decided this would be her resolution...along with being potty trained. But she doesn't know that's her resolution yet. :)

January1, 2009: I cut the binky. Just put a hole in it so it wouldn't be as plump when sucking. I also threw out all other binky's. That night Aliyah put it in her mouth to go to sleep. She pulled it back out and looked at it. She told me it was broken, but she wanted to keep it. So I let her. She fell asleep with it. But I don't think she slept well all night. She was in the middle of a bad dream when I woke her up in the morning. I think she tossed and turned all night because her binky wasn't working well enough to comfort her.

January 2, 2009: My mom cut the tip off the binky. Aliyah really noticed the change now. Again she told me it was broken and she wanted Gama to fix it. Well, obviously there was nothing to be done, but try telling that to a 2 year old who keeps saying "Pease fix it." :( I was really tempted to go to the store to buy her another one. She was just so polite and really sad. But we stuck to our guns. She didn't take a nap. My mom cut even more off the binky. When Aliyah saw it we told her she should throw it away...and she did. She walked right over to the trash and threw it in. :) I was so happy. My mom and I took the kids to Jumpin' Jacks yesterday to wear them out so they would fall asleep easier. (I also cut Xander off from all bottles before bed. He's almost 18 months and he needs to be off it. Going to sleep is getting hard at the Vernon's. But I figured let's just get them off the binky and bottle at the same time and be done with all the misery at once. Good plan...right?) Well, that night Aliyah got out of her crib 4 times. Kind of normal, but she usually will just roll over and go to sleep when I give her the binky. But now there was no binky. She has the saddest cry too. It was hard, but she eventually fell asleep with a lot less of a fight than I thought.

January 3, 2009: Both kids slept in! I think it was a combination of not sleeping well the night before, being utterly worn out from both no naps yesterday and playing at Jumpin' Jacks, and who knows, maybe they knew their comfort things weren't there to even get up for so they just kept sleeping. Whatever it was, I rejoiced when the sun woke me up at 8:45 this morning! I NEVER sleep that late anymore. It was really nice. Xander slept til 9 and Aliyah was up when I got up but she was just playing by herself in her room. "O what a glorious morning! O what a glorious day!!!"

I would like to say we kicked the habits, but we'll find out for sure today. If Aliyah can take a nap with no binky I say we've got it!

Xander is doing very well at going to sleep with no bottle. He is crying less and less. Well, yesterday he cried for a full hour before he fell asleep for his nap. Hopefully it will be less today. :)