Determination

You know, I used to think that Marcus was the most determined kid in the universe. You should see him. You can actually see his brain working out a problem and he doesn't stop until he's figured it out. It's scary to watch when it deals with climbing something but fun when it deals with him learning something new. No go back and read my first sentence because this post isn't about my dear Mr. Man...

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He's only just 7 months old. Like, literally a couple days over 7 months. Marcus wasn't doing this until over 9 months. Never in my life after Marcus but before Jamesen did I think that my second child would be more... [for the lack of a better term] Marcus then my first! There were so many times with him that I would think to myself "I'm so glad that the second is opposite of the first. I won't have to deal with this until later!" Who was I kidding?? I totally jinxed myself beyond anything. Marcus started walking at 9.5 months and was walking 100% of the time/crawling by 10.5 months. If we keep this 2 months ahead thing going, Jamesen will start walking this month.

I actually don't think it will be quite that soon. I think he'll start around 8 months because Marcus had better balance than Jamesen does. Marcus for heaven's sake was standing in the middle of the floor before he even hit 6 months! Jamesen isn't quite that good but he's doing it more often.

And you know what... we're having one more kid... and I hope that third times the charm and I get a lazy baby who is like a baby we met at Chick-fil-a the other day; 9 months old, had been sitting since just after 4 months and no signs of crawling yet. How lucky is that lady?? I was jealouuusssssss!

Craving the Rio

For those of you who aren't fortunate to live in Utah, Arizona and Nevada, there's a place called Cafe Rio. Sabe and I were HOOKED after only eating there once. It was all I craved while pregnant with Jamesen. It's actually really popular. It opened up a place in Vegas right before I had Marcus and by the time I went down there for my friends wedding this past October, there were 5 places in Vegas. Yes, it's that good.

Sabe and I have both discussed our first Cafe Rio trip. It's going to happen the second we both get back to Utah. Marcus love the Rio and I know he'll be excited to eat it again and we'll introduce Jamesen to the Dark Side since he'll be almost one by then and can have that kind of stuff.

I'm drooling just writing this.

Too bad they don't have a Rio in CO since the boys and I will be flying there while Sabe drives.

Speaking of Colorado... Patrick is turning one in 2ish weeks and I've still not met him and I'm a bit sad about that. I won't meet him until he's like 15 months old. How sad is that?? Marcus and Erin saw each other quite a bit in their first year seeing as Britt and I were a state apart. Too bad we don't all live in the same state. I'm really jealous of girls I know who live in the same city as their moms and sisters. It's pretty depressing actually.

Speaking of living near family, can you cross your fingers and pray that our next duty station is Fort Carson, CO? We'll be about an hour away from Brittanie and I could REALLY use a friend that I don't have to worry about ditching me or being my friend just because there's nobody else to be friends with.

And something else totally random... the Wii Board Sabe got me while back broke. We came back from Christmas vaca and it wouldn't recognize the Wii and I finally got my new one today! Stupid nintendo has been holding onto the things so the price has been rising. Really irritating! I had to shell out $50 extra bucks to get a new one. LAME.

Ok, that's my random post of the day.

Pitter Patter of Little... Hands

The bottom floor of my house is a rectangle. The top half is one big room with the tv/living room area on the left and the dining area on the right. If you go from the top right, to the bottom right you'll go through a doorway that has no door into the kitchen/laundry area. Going from the bottom right to the bottom left you'll pass through another doorway [that has a door] into the little space right inside the front door and the stairs to the upper floor. There's a "doorway" [it's about the size of a door but it's just a space] going from the bottom left to the living room in the upper left. This area has baby gate blocking off the stairs so Jamesen can't get to it.

Any time I leave the living room and go into the kitchen or any of the "lower part of the rectangle", Jamesen will follow behind me. I'll be switching out laundry, cooking or cleaning and I'll hear the pitter patter of his hands crawling along the floor to find me. Then I'll look around the corner and his face will pop into view and split into a huge wonderful grin just for me when he sees me.

I will admit, sometimes I leave the room just so I can hear the pitter patter of his hands, knowing he's crawling as fast as he can to come find me. That ear to ear grin is one of my favorite things in the universe.

Jamie's bump

We had the ultrasound for Jamie's bump today. He was really squirmy since he hates things touching his head, but he did ok for the most part. It's an artery that's swollen. The part that's swollen will most likely need to be removed. The radiologist that I talked to didn't want to say too much since he's not Jamie's dr, so I'll know more when the lady gets back to me. I'll of course update everyone when I know more.

The Big 03

It's boggling my mind how close Marcus is getting to 3. Jamesen getting close to one isn't as bad as Marcus getting close to 3. I've done a first birthday before and he's been around less so, yes it boggles my mind that he's on the other side of 6 months now but not like the fact that Marcus has one month to go before he's halfway to three. I swear that I just had him. that we were JUST celebrating his first birthday. That only yesterday was his second birthday.

I changed all his clothes to 3T yesterday and it just really hit me how big he's getting. He seemed like so much more of a baby when he couldn't talk. Now all the sudden he's talking all the time, growing out clothes he's been in for about a year, able to get himself dressed, put on his shoes [he actually gets them on the right feet every time too], sleep through the night, is able to put himself to sleep at night, and can tell me if he wants or doesn't want what I'm giving him.

It's funny though, both boy's birthdays this year are right around family weddings. Carl's getting married a few days after Jamesen's first birthday and Nano's getting married the day after Marcus'. I can't wait to do Jamesen's first birthday. I hope it's better than Marcus where only 2 people came [Lynne and Miki]. I'm going to do an icecream theme for it. I've found some really cute stuff online that I'm going to use for it. I'm really excited! Marcus' party will be down in Vegas and will be a Thomas theme since he's so obsessed. We'll probably have a pinata! He's old enough for a pinata at 3 right??

Ok well Marcus is wanting outside and keeps saying, "Abbeye!" so we're going to go see his girlfriend :)

Dude...

Marcus is OBSESSED with trains. All we watch all day long is our two Thomas DVD's. I bought 3 more so we had more of a variety because I'm getting sick of them. All I hear all day long is, "Choo Choo!!" while he grabs my hand to take me upstairs and play with his train table. All I have to say is choo choo and he stops his temper tantrum or smiles and looks at the camera. He's cute. It's a good thing I don't mind trains. I think I know what his next birthday's theme is going to be though. Mom since we'll be celebrating it down there, can you see if they have a Thomas cake pan? :)

I stand all amazed

Marcus' speech having a breakthrough has really helped in the whole listening department [well most of the time]. While he was a beast when he was hungry and tired, after he was napped and fed he was pleasant. When I told him to get off the coffee table, he did, almost right away. That NEVER happens. I always have to yell at the top of my lungs to get him to do something. It was so refreshing.

Of course, bribery always works too. He's becoming obsessed with "choo choo" 's. He only wants to watch train DVD's [I ordered a few more Thomas DVD's because we're both getting sick of the ones we've got being watched over and over. He was freaking out in Target today and all I had to say was "Choo choo!" and he stopped his tantrum and starting singing the theme song from Choo Choo Soul.

Jamesen's really amazing me too. It's funny, people will see him climbing, walking, pulling to a stand and standing without holding onto anything and say, "WOW he's so tiny! Was he early?" And I tell them no he was right on his due date and that he's actually really tall for his age. They'll then ask how old he is and it's funny to watch jaws drop when I say 6 months. He's so speedy, so amazing to me.

I found myself complaining to a random stranger [who did the jaw drop thing. She had an 8 month old who wasn't doing anything that J does] about how hard it is to have 2 busy bodies and how jealous I was that her first son didn't start crawling until almost a year old and walking at 18 months and how she didn't expect her little girl to start crawling anytime soon. To be honest, I sort of feel like I got the raw end of the deal. Neither of my kids sleep well at night. Marcus only sleeps through the night half the time and lately he's been waking up multiple times a night. It's hard to deal with two busy bodies on now sleep.

I need to remember how amazing my children are. To think of Marcus having the best balance of any two year old I know as something amazing, not something that's a pain in my backside. The fact that Marcus can climb stairs perfectly at 6 months is amazing, not something designed specifically to irritate me. My children are amazing and I need to remember that. On days like today when Marcus is really testing my patience, I need to remember his sweet smile and how it totally melts my heart. When Jamesen is crying and needy, I need to remember that he won't be this little much longer. Soon he won't want me to kiss him and hold him and love him. He'll be grown up and embarrassed of me.

I looked at my ticker today and realized that Marcus is one month away from being 2 and a half years old. He's halfway to 3. Already. Boggles my mind!