Wednesday, April 24, 2013

tickle bird and dancing lions


gasp!  pace--what's that in daddy's pocket?  look--quick!


it's tickle bird!


"all done!  all done!"


oh, ok--tickle bird is sleeping.  and snoring.  pace, can you make tickle bird snore?




and we've seen a little foot up on the booster seat like this before! 


max has turned into a little bulldog since he started crawling.  if something is in his way, rather than going around, under, over, or try to move it, he'll crawl right into it, bonk his head, shake his head--just like a little bulldog!--and crawl right into it again, shake his head, crawl--he'll do that routine 4-5 times before he sits on his haunches and turns into a banshee--either hurt from bonking his little head so many times, or mad that he can't get through to his intended point b, or both.  poor max--you'll figure it out!

pace adjusted really well when max was born--we didn't have any of the sibling rivalry or jealousy--pace was more than happy to help me getting a diaper, bring max a binkie, pat his head.  since max has become mobile, however--different story!  pace is constantly picking toys up off the ground so max can't reach them, and if he's playing with a totally different toy and sees max get a toy that pace decides he now wants, he'll run over and take it from max.  we've been implementing corner time-outs.  i set the timer for 2 minutes (for some reason one minute per year of age makes sense to me.  when the timer goes off, i say, "ok pace, let's talk"), and pace will sit in the corner and cry up until the timer goes off.  he's used to the time-out routine now:  when the timer dings, he wipes his eyes, grins a big grin, and walks over to me saying, "mama, let's talk".  

when max is on the run, pace's latest saying is, "no, no, no, maxwell--it's special!", and he runs away with his toy, giggling, because he thinks max is now playing "get you".

another cute pace-ism, totally unrelated to time-outs:  pace calls dandelions "dancing lions."  i didn't understand what he was saying until a few days ago we were playing outside and he blew a dandelion, and the seeds fell straight down onto the sidewalk, and then continued blow slightly back and forth in the breeze.  he pointed and said (very animated), "look, mama!  they're dancing!  dancing lions!"

1/2 marathon


david ran a half marathon the saturday morning of general conference weekend.  he really pushed himself and ran it in 1 hour 31 minutes!  if he keeps up this pace, and his training, he'll run his marathon with consistent 7-8 minute miles!  phew!




heads up!

after a few weeks of his little bottom up in the air,


he finally figured out how to get his head up in the air first!  next step:  running after pace!




he's literally folded in half...




Monday, April 8, 2013

with a little imagination...



pace turns everyday household items into...mostly construction items...

concrete pourer:


concrete mixer AND pourer:


french fry spider:


stonehenge  skyscraper (tye-graper) city:


notice the piles of dirt under the bricks--those are the foundations.  



car wash rollers:


grapple truck:


nest:


engine
saw (rather than turning pace into the next texas chainsaw massacre enthusiast, when he wants to "play saw", we pretend he's a dr. and after he saws my leg open, he then has to fix it and put on a cast)
jackhammer
tower
(depending on the day and theme of play)


how to keep a two year old entertained during general conference

 every time president monson came on to speak, pace looked up at the screen and said, "look!  prophet monson!" and then went back to whatever he was playing...the general conference attention span was somewhat limited, considering we had 8 hours to get through...

1. have your 10-month old play the recorder during the hymn breaks (and give those marshmallow pillow cheeks lots of kisses!)




2. turn your piano into an organ--with pipes!  pace loved every time the choir came on to sing, and loved seeing the organ pipes.  so when he saw these wooden dowels under the piano, he knew right where they needed to go:



3. have races with toy cars (max is really catching on to this one--he'll make little car sounds when he picks up a car or truck)




4. inflate a jumping ball from grandpa in virginia, try it out, and then decide it's better to roll it down the hall





5. take a nap all cuddled up with your favorite stuffed animals


6. play peek-a-boo from your fort skylight




7. sing "the wheels on the bus" with shadow dog



8. play at a park in between sessions




(this boy cannot keep is little hands out of the dirt for a second!)



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

outtakes

i need to stop telling pace to smile big...