christmas 2013

after david got home at 930 on christmas eve, we proceeded to wrap everything and get the house ready for christmas.  last year we left all our gifts in the cardboard boxes they got mailed to us in, but this year we thought it'd be fun to wrap everything.  my grandma sent us an elf on the shelf, but we turned him into the elf guard.  the only way i could pacify pace from not opening every box that came to our doorstep was by telling him the elf was the box guard and it was his job to guard our boxes until christmas, and on christmas morning, he will go home to his family with santa.  so anyway, i had wrapped quite a few presents during nap time, and put them back in the boxes so the boys wouldn't suspect anything, but we still had some wrapping to do.  so while david built the fire station "doll house" (we've had this stashed away for a few years), i wrapped the remaining gifts, and then finished sewing up the stuffed animals i'd made for them.  you'll notice the owl only has one eye.  i ran out of blue embroidery floss at 130 in the morning.  he is still a cyclops.  max doesn't seem to notice.

here's how we left it christmas eve night...

the boys woke up pretty early and pace and david came downstairs while i got max changed.  they had some good playtime while they were waiting for us.

and then the cute photos i was envisioning...hats, matching pi's (thanks, uncle je--i think they're adorable!--the boys also had a very extravagant christmas thanks to all the family gift, especially uncle je.)...the boys didn't think it was as adorable as i was thinking...

it literally took all day to open presents, which made it really fun.  the boys would open one or two things, and play with them for the next half hour, and then move on to something else.  it was definitely a slow, quiet morning.  very fun!  we got max a little tricycle so they boys can bike ride together next summer--as we were opening this one, max said, "w-o-w!"

of course, the best part was playing in the boxes...

and the car crusher from bishka.  he was so excited he said he was shaking!

holiday cheer

some projects that have kept us busy while daddy works away...

1. shoveling the snow from the walkway

2. making christmas decorations (pace was  just excited to experiment with the sparkly glue, so he had fun with a piece of paper.  he told me it was a water park.

this was a great activity for both boys--we cut out a wreath and a tree shape, glued on noodles before their nap and painted the noodles after their nap.  

max decided he didn't need a paintbrush tutorial and ripped the paintbrush (locked and loaded) from my hand and right into his head.

the little stinker.

finished product!

3. making hand wreaths.  this turned out super cute.  when i told my mom about this activity, i said, "i don't know how i'm going to keep them still for tracing around their hands!  i need to make a lot of hands!"  she said, "or you could just trace one on card stock and trace around that..."  thanks for that brain cell, mom...

4. oven ornaments!  this was pretty fun--both pace and max did pretty well with the colors.  pace did most of his pouring and i just asked max which color he wanted where and he'd point and let me know.

5.  bringing more decorations to a friend.  an older sister in our ward fell and fractured her back; i was doing rs visits last sunday and she mentioned she missed having all of her christmas decorations up around her house.  so the boys and i painted more trees and wreaths, and made a couple of paper chains, and visited her the next day.  she was over the moon!

18 months and 6 inches of snow!

max had his 18-month check up during christmas sweat shop week (remind me not to schedule like that again...):

weight: 23 pounds (33rd percentile)

height: 31.5" (19th percentile)

the dr is pretty sure he was scrunched up for his length measurement, because he's always been in the 40th+ percentile, but he didn't re-measure.  so he's betting we'll see a jump in length at his 2 year check up.  at all the previous dr appointments, max was totally chill and even giggled when the dr. checked him out and tickled his tummy.  this time he picked up on a few things that he didn't like!  he was not happy about getting undressed, his head measured, his length measured, or sitting on the scale.  cried the whole time.  my only concern i brought up with the dr. is that max is seemingly going on a "solid-foods strike"--he refuses solid food, unless, of course, it's a doughnut or cookie or chocolate treat, pancakes with syrup, or tuna melt with pickles (!).  i can usually get one bite in him, but when i force another on him, he'll hoard it in his mouth until that and about 3 tablespoons of drool dribbles down his chin.  he is the smoothie king, however, so we load up everything from spinach/kale/carrots to any sort of fruit, then yogurt, wheat germ, oatmeal, flax seed meal, and sometimes protein powder.  he downs smoothies faster than david!  the dr. thought that was pretty awesome, and said he was probably getting more nutrients than any other 18 month old eating "normal" food!  he even said if we did smoothies like that every day, the boys probably don't even need vitamin drops!  smoothies it is!

at eighteen months, maxwell is the most loving, sweet, stubborn, and adventurous little boy--he is also our little peacemaker!  he is always up for a cuddle with his blanket (he drags his favorite blanket around with him like linus from charlie brown), and loves snuggling with his mama or daddy.  he is also always up for wrestling, being tickled, or climbing anything he can get his hands and feet to scale!  pace is still learning how to share with max, and he goes into time out from time to time for toy stealing or hitting.  when i sit pace in the corner for a time out, max toddles over and sits next to pace to be in time out with him!  he'll pat his head or rub his back, or lean his head on pace's shoulder for a hug.  pace responds by telling max to go away, that he's in time out, but max just sticks around.  this is particularly funny if max has just shrieked his banshee war cry due to pace stealing a toy out of his hands...       

 verbal vocabulary:  bup (up), beep (car--as in, go play in the car and honk the horn), mama, daddy, ball (he says this one with a british accent!), hoo hoo (when he sees an owl), doggie, bubble, pop (he exclaims with such enthusiasm when popping bubbles!), ooooh (for no, he says while shaking his head), peese (please--he has said this on a handful of occasions while signing please as well), yellow and umbrella (although both of these come out sounding a bit scooby-doo-ish), nana (banana), ghee (binkie), bzzzz (for bee and zipper), bebe (baby), doo-doo (choo choo train), dat (that, while pointing), uh-oh, boo (as in peek-a-boo), moo (for cow), and woof woof (for dog).

non-verbally, he understands everything we say to him--commands, double request commands, if we tell him to go find something in another room, he'll come back with it, go upstairs, brush teeth, time for bed, etc.  he signs please, help, all done, bird, and more, and points to most of the basic body parts--nose, mouth, tummy, hands, etc.  and he's very adept at the pointing and grunting communication method!    

max loves music, playing the piano and shaking his booty to anything we have playing--all while flashing that dimpled grin of his.  he loves playing with cars and trucks, ringing the doorbell, helping me vacuum, putting dishes in the dishwasher, cleaning up his toys, and nap and bed time.  he's pretty much weaned himself off his morning nap, it's just an afternoon nap for both boys.  sometimes i still ask him if he wants a nap in the morning, if he's acting tired or whiny, and he'll vehemently shake his head and say, "oooooh."

we love our little max attack!  

recycling plant tour

after we got a garbage truck/recycling plant video from the library, pace has become obsessed with being a "material handler", crushing things, and compacters.  i called the local recycling plant to see if they did tours, and they said yes!  we weren't counting on the frigid weather when we scheduled the tour...i'm not sure how it normally works, but they said they don't operate the car crusher and can compacter when it's so cold.  so we went into the sorting shack and the workers showed us how they weigh things, cut things down, and sort things by material and color.  then we saw the material handler grapple truck, and that was it.  we're definitely going to have to go back when it's warmer out to see the things we missed!  

a little bit of christmas...

december 1st hits and the christmas sweat shop begins.  david is in peak mode, meaning we don't see him...he's out the door by 8 and home around 930 on a good night.  decorating the tree...

david's birthday--we helped him celebrate in the morning before he left for work.  it was his runner's birthday, too, so they went to california pizza kitchen for lunch.  

decorating the gingerbread house.  pace is going through this phase where he doesn't want to look at the camera while taking a picture.  i don't remember why max was upset--probably because he feels like he doesn't have enough room on the stool.

even though the boys were in bed when david got home, they were still awake.  so david showed them how to make icicles hang off the gingerbread roof. 

second annual cinnamon roll/peanut brittle/jam making sweat shop.  david says the cinnamon rolls are "a beacon of light for the ups drivers during a dismal, dark week of torture."  and that's why we do it.  would you believe i actually roped a friend into helping me?!  we even dipped and bagged all that peanut brittle while rolls were rising/baking/cooling!