pace's real birthday!

a few pace-isms we adore:

if he thinks something is crazy:  oh my goodness, that's bonkers!

if he's totally excited about something:  pace so 'cited!  (while jumping up and down, clapping hands)

if he's asking permission to do something:  muh?  pace do this?  yeah or no.  yeah?

if he wants his binkies outside of nap/bed time: my mouth hurts!  binkies make my mouth feel better.

if he wants you to hurry up:  well, c'mon then!  let's go! (who do you think he got that one from?!)

i asked him a few questions the other day, just to see what he'd say:

favorite food:  pears.  ("pace, that's a fruit.  do you have a favorite vegetable?"  "mmmm, blueberries."  "that's a fruit, too. do you have a favorite vegetable?"  "mmmmm...."  "how about spinach?  we always put spinach in smoothies."  "um, yeah.  pace like broccoli, too."  that's the truth.  whenever we go to the store for produce, he always asks to get broccoli, and then he immediately takes 2-3 big bites out of the broccoli head!)

favorite color:  green.  ...and black and purple and white and purple and orange and ...

favorite book:  do-day book (richard scarry's what do people do all day? book)

favorite game:  trucks (his most recent truck game is playing sheer tractor demolition.  we build a tall tower with blocks and then he gets out his hand grabber--the same one we used to catch his lion on the lion hunt--and he grabs the building like a sheer tractor)

favorite thing to do with mama and daddy:  play

favorite scripture: night-night (by that i think he means the fact that we "read" scriptures every night before bed...and by read, i mean we look at a scripture picture and talk about it)

what are you afraid of?  shadows.  "but what makes the shadow go away so you can be brave?"  "flashlights!"

    

since we'd been counting down on his birthday calendar, pace knew what day his "real" birthday was.  when everyone was up and going, i said, "pace, do you know what day today is?"  his eyes lit up and he said, "my real birthday!" it was hard to keep him contained while david was getting the camera ready!  he could smell trucks in the air! 

i'm so glad these boys think the birthday glasses are fun, because i think they are simply adorable in  them!  we found some really high-quality trucks (bruder brand) for a fraction of the cost at tj maxx.  so we stocked up and gifted some for birthday (and the rest will be for christmas...shhh, don't tell!).  bishka sent out another fun gift (a house memory game).  and then later that day, the doorbell rang, and rang again...presents from uncle jon erik arrived!  he is so generous with these boys!  pace thought it was awesome that package after package came for him, and he had a blast opening them all!  

right before naptime, papa jay showed up!  he had an overnight connecting flight on his way home from visiting cousin asher and aunt robin and uncle christian!  we had a fun lunch and then everyone went down for naps.  we unfortunately didn't even get photos because...  

not even an hour later, pace and max both woke up crying.  i ran upstairs thinking i'd just pop some binkies back in crying mouths and everyone would go back to sleep.  instead, i found pace crying, saying, "pace throw up".  sure enough...birthday boy caught the birthday stomach flu.  instead of going to ride the carousel and the toy store with papa jay, pace laid in my lap all night, pale green, whimpering, and not keeping anything down until 2am.  right when i thought he would pass out from exhaustion and we could sleep for at least a few hours before everyone else woke up, pace looked up at me and said, "pace awake now."  and then very quickly followed that up with, "i'm hungry, muh".  needless to say, muh didn't sleep that night.  we've spent the rest of the week in pj's and laying around.  pace would play for a few minutes, and then just lay down on his blanket or on the couch, trying to store up more energy.  

it wasn't until yesterday around 530 that pace said, "muh, get dressed now?  go outside?"  of all weeks to be sick...we have two mandatory roadshow rehearsals, two roadshow performances, one relief society presidency meeting, one funeral (and in this ward, the relief society is responsible for set up, food prep and serving, clean up, etc), die-hard potty training (after months of prepping pace for this moment, he'd dutifully respond to my questions, "pace, when you turn three, what are you going to wear instead of diapers?"  "unnerwear!"  "where are you going to put pee and stinky?"  "potty chair!"...i was planning on going cold turkey and putting pace in underwear, and learn from his messes...looks like that will be starting next week), running a total of 21 miles (training for a half marathon on thanksgiving), a family photo shoot/david on his bike photo shoot...and a partridge in a pear tree.  sometimes the stars throw you for a loop to let you know it's time to slow down and cuddle with your little guys in pj's all day.