Jimmy's One!

I don't think I've every had a year slip by so quickly! My sweet baby is now one! The year was probably the most trying year of our lives, and in the muck of chaos, little Jimmy grew! He's such a delight! We opted for Bake Pops this year--a treat he was more than happy to eat!

To celebrate, we headed downtown (I'll post about that later). And now a little about my sweet boy:

He says: Mama, Dada, hot, that ("dat"),and Uh-oh
He LOVES his Mommy more than anything in the world--he's in a running for "most attached" with Ty.
He's an expert imitater--if you brush your hair, he'll grab the brush and brush his etc.
He sings and dances to music
He loves water! He'll climb in the tub any time he sees it--summer's gonna be crazy!
He is amazing with mechanics. He stacks blocks, puts lids on everything, loves taking things apart and trying to put them back together.
He's an artist! :) Put any writing utensil in his hand and he's in paradise scribbling away!
Not like he has a choice, but he loves cars and balls. He's got quite an arm already!
He's mischievous and a funny guy! If he knows he isn't supposed to do something (like crawl into the bathroom) he looks at me, laughs and starts sprinting toward it laughing all the way! And if he makes us laugh--he'll repeat it again and again, loving the attention he's getting.
He's a terrible sleeper, even though he snuggles in bed with Mommy every night--so spoiled!
He loves to eat peas and corn, peanut butter sandwiches, beans, and pears. He also loves baby food green beans. And, of course, anything sweet. So far, not a big milk or cheese fan--I'm totally shocked!
Walking? Not so much yet. He'll take steps if we trick him into it, but otherwise he is totally uninterested.
He loves being outside. He's a daredevil on his little motorcycle and tries to skateboard every time he sees it.
He is our darling little boy and we love him much. He brings smiles to our faces each day. We love you, James Kezerian!

Spinach

My kids used to be great at eating vegetables, but a little cold weather and a few holidays, and I go into some kind of sweet-tooth frenzy--baking non-stop. So, they've developed bad habits--either that, or they finally got word that kids aren't supposed to like vegetables. Regardless, it's been a fight the last few nights.

Ty used to LOVE spinach--eat it raw by the handfuls. Sunday, it was a battle.

Ty: But I can't eat my spinach--I'm allergic!
Rob and I both laugh.
Rob: You're not leaving the table until it is all gone!
A moment later
Ty: It's all gone!
Spinach is all over his chair--he's learned that throwing it on the floor is much too conspicuous.
Rob: You eat every one of those pieces Ty, or you're gonna get sick; and then you'll have to get shots! (It's a cruel way to convince them, I know.)
Ty seems to think about it for a minute, weighing his options.
Ty: What kind of shot? Just one in your nose? (He's imagining the mild flu mist "shot".)
Rob: No, the sharp kind. Now eat up! And don't you dare throw it on the floor or in your lap!
A few seconds later the plate is empty again. This time, in Ty's shirt. Seriously? Just eat the spinach!
Rob: Eat it!
Ty: I'm telling you, I'm allergic!
Rob: You don't even know what allergic means!
Ty: I'm full from my feet to my "frowt" and I can't "bweeve!"
Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. If it were Robbie, he would just cry, but with Ty, it's like a never-ending battle of excuses and challenges--he'll fight 'till the bitter end and it is quite exhausting. To be honest, I don't even remember how the rest went down . . . Popeye was of course brought up, and I know the spinach got too "soggy" from being rolled around his fingers and shirt and floor and he eventually got fresh new leaves to eat, which he did. But I sometimes wonder if it's worth all the effort. Some nights they eat in five minutes--others it 45 and just like this. Someday, they'll be grateful!

Missouri Superstars!!

When Rob and I were looking at residency programs, we looked up the usual--crime rates, schools, cost of living, ski resorts . . . ridiculous, I know, but it is important to Rob. Miraculously, there is a "resort" 30 minutes from our house, so we checked it out this week. It was about what I was imagining--similar to the dump hill we skied on in Michigan, but it was absolutely perfect for our family! Okay, so it is ridiculously expensive ($42 per lift ticket) but at least the kids were free. Being the cheapskates that we are, we stayed ALL day (we're talking 8 hours!!!) to make sure we got our money's worth.

And it was SO worth it! The snow was slushy so it slowed the boys down--Rob took Robbie down the "Black Diamond" and I actually couldn't keep up with Ty. People in Missouri have never seen the like--most of the adults skied at the same level as my boys (some much worse) and then to see my little three-year-old just about melted their hearts! I can't begin to tell you how many people were asking us about them and chatting about our little family--we were like the talk of the whole place. (Now I must say that our kids are no novelty in Utah, it is commonplace to see little ones skiing and even much better than my boys, but here they are superstars!) My favorite moment, however, was when we were hanging out in the lodge while Rob did his lone run. As I said before, we were so the rave (it's not like this place is big) so when Robbie points out the window and says, "Hey, there's Dad!" and then everyone (not exaggerating) looks out the window and sees Rob ski down the hill, it fell completely silent as if they were watching some kind of Olympian. Totally hilarious!

Scary moment--when Robbie couldn't quite get on the lift and I couldn't quite lift him in time and the people didn't quite seem to notice that I was HOLDING my DANGLING child five feet off the ground! I yelled back at them to stop the lift (again, I am still dumbfounded they didn't see this child hanging from the lift by his arms!) and they finally did--had Robbie drop into their arms and then left me to jump off myself--nice guys! :) But . . . I would still go again. The boys said they want to ski every day!

But You're Three!

We love our kids and we believe in them. But let's be real, there are limitations! That is, unless your dad is Rob. Rob doesn't believe in stopping their progress for some kind of "appropriate age" made-up marker. And so, my kids try everything early--or so it seems. My mom keeps joking that they'll have nothing to look forward to. But they will . . . .

This week was one of those times. Rob said Ty was ready to ride a bike. I, the doubter, told him to leave Ty alone--he's only THREE!!! (I know that doesn't mean a lot coming from me, who was a total loser and couldn't ride a bike until I was like seven--okay, not so much "like seven" . . . seven. Humiliating, I know. ) But . . . Rob was right. Ty can ride a two-wheeler. Of course he was motivated--Rob told him he couldn't ride a motorcycle unless he knew how to ride a bike first; Ty hopped right on.

And FYI: Don't worry Mom, getting Ty a motorcycle isn't one of those developmental milestones I'm aiming to achieve; my goal is that he'll NEVER ride one! :)