How About a Hug?

This month Atticus has been especially cuddly.  He'll just tell us, "I want a hug," where before we'd have to ask and he would often resist.

A favorite example took place on Oct. 20.  We were spending a quiet morning at home and I decided to try to go over colors with him again.  It wasn't going well and he saw that I was upset.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" he asked.

"I'm just worried about you," I told him.

He thought about this for several seconds, then asked, "How about a hug?"

Needless to say, we love this newfound affinity for affection!
October is seriously the most gorgeous, perfect month in our neck of the woods.  Almost every evening I tell Dane that I want to sleep outside.  One of these days I just might.

On top of the lovely weather, I've felt motivated to celebrate the holiday as much as possible before the baby comes, all of which amounts to our going on plenty of adventures and taking waaaay more pictures than anyone has a right to.

Gilcrease Orchard with our Joy School group:

 (35.5 weeks along in this photo, FYI)

 Yep- Atticus was being difficult in the group photo above.

 

Babysitting:
 
More Joyschool moments:

 F is for Fort and Fashion (yes, Atticus was Spiderman).

Early in the month we had a delightful visit from Bobba.

I'm afraid it wasn't a very relaxing vacation for him, but we so appreciated all of the ways he found to serve us.  Hopefully we'll be able to give him the royal treatment he deserves in the future.

We especially LOVE the chair that he carted down, a gift from Mimi.  THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who was a part of getting the chair down to us!  We've already spent hours in it and look forward to many more.

While Bobba was here, we decided to have an impromptu FHE on speaking kind words (sweet words vs. sour words).  Here's some documentation:

Unfortunately, we failed to take Atticus's unusual pallet into consideration.  When asked if he liked the "sour" taste (for sour words), he answered in the affirmative.  

Oops!  Maybe we'll have to try something bitter next time...

Our second set of visitors came at the end of the month.  It was a whirlwind, especially since Hinckley made his arrival, but we did have a good time.  

Quotes:
"I'm gonna kill _____________ as a door nail" (this goes for everything- you, my hair, your face, your tummy, the bad guys, etc.  It's gotten to the point that we are treating "kill" as a bad word.

"I don't like Lamanites!" (said several nights over the course of the month as he tried to go to sleep.  Lamanites are the new monsters?)

"Give, said the little stream... screaming, screaming all the day..."

"Butt of a poop!" "Poop on your head!" and other such savory sentences (yes, we've discovered the wonderful world of potty language, I'm afraid...)

"What is this?" in reference to cotton candy, as though it wasn't food.  :)  Don't worry- he loved it and was asking for more!

He's learned to pedal a bike from our neighbors

The biggest milestone of the month- other than becoming a big brother?

POTTY TRAINING!!!

This was completely unexpected for us and the timing couldn't be better.

Sure, he had shown more interest, going from yelling at us if we even mentioned poop to running with me to the bathroom while singing a jingle from Daniel Tiger's neighborhood, "If you have to go potty stop right away; flush and wash and be on your way!"  But I really had been keeping my expectations low.

Basically, the Wednesday before his little brother was born, we were at a park with some friends when Atticus ran up to me and said, "Mommy, I have to go potty!"  He had NEVER asked to go in public, especially because he had always said he was afraid he'd fall in big potties.

I almost told him, "No you don't!" but am so glad I restrained myself and "played along," or so I thought. But he went, washed his hands, and it was a great experience.  Two days later, he wanted to wear undies (which we'd tried once or twice before).  I decided to try a new way to motivate him.  I told him that if he stayed dry all day, with no accidents, we would order some Spider-Man undies.

I'm not sure if it was the promised reward or just the timing, but he did great all day, just in time for the arrival of his grandma and two uncles (maybe it was also because he knew they were coming?)   He even stopped in the middle of our ward trunk or treat that night and told me he had to go!-  We ran in with another little friend and proudly showed him how to go potty.  The day had been a success and the undies were ordered.

With Hinckley's arrival two days after that, I was sure that Atticus might regress as far as the potty was concerned, but so far he's stuck to it.  Maybe having several different adults was helpful.  I'm not sure.

The only thing I'm sure of is that, with a new baby in the home, the timing couldn't be better for our big boy to be using the potty!  Hooray!!!

I am a pumper

I know I should mention the horrific shooting that took place a couple of days ago.  I even watched some news with Atticus and explained, just a tiny bit, about what was happening.  Even this kiddo, who loves to pretend to shoot the bad guys, tie people up and send them to jail, wanted to turn it off, saying with wisdom beyond his years, "I don't like bad guys shooting."  While there has been a lot of good that we've seen from the community and heroes involved in the shooting, part of me just wants to echo what my toddler said and leave it at that.  It was horrific.  It was unspeakable.  And it happened just half an hour away from us.  I'm so grateful my family was safe and we continue to pray for all who were involved and affected.

That being said, prior to the events of October 1, we had a great month!  Man, was it speedy!
 
First, Atticus started going to Joy School.  While he's far from a model student, I LOVE the lessons he's been getting and can tell that little bits are sticking with him.  More importantly, it gives him a chance to interact regularly with wonderful kiddos of various ages, practice listening to different teachers, and I can tell that he and the others really are finding the "joy" that can be had in learning.

Here's his "first day" photo.  (I must admit, I forgot to take one his first day, since I was teaching!  Mom fail.)

 

Seasons Clothing and A is for Alligator...

Here's some proof that he's learning.  One morning he shocked me- he had the entire Pledge of Allegiance memorized!

 We also try to have educational moments on our own, as well.  Here's our little David trying out a sling we made together so he could slay Goliath.  It didn't work very well but he still enjoyed it.

Something that made us laugh (and butt heads!) a lot this last month was costumes.  I'm sure I've mentioned before just how much Atticus likes to dress up, but there are days that it really seems to get out of hand.  We often have shopping trips like the one below and days spent... well, in capes.  I'm afraid that I did end up having to hide a couple costumes when he started fighting over them with another friend.
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Don't let that underwear photo fool you.  We aren't potty training yet, I'm sorry to say.  We're just not ready.  The photo was taken on a day he asked to wear undies (for a couple of hours).  He generally is very, VERY opposed to the idea.  Our fingers are crossed that he comes around sometime soon...

Here are some fun photos of an 80s birthday party Dane and I attended.  We had a great time!

Our baby boy could come any day now (Nov. 10, so we're praying he stays put until then!)

 Atticus has asked repeatedly that we take the rocking chair out of his room so we can put it in Hinckley's room.  He also likes to yell at the baby to "Come out!" and says he wants to give him toys, push him in the stroller (now extremely clean, thanks to Dane!) and give him milk.

Don't let that sweetness fool you.  Atticus still has moments (and days) where he is pretty darn difficult.  He likes to occasionally say that he is a "punter" (also comes out as a "pumper" or a punker").  It's his way of saying that he's a punk (and proud of it!)

More one-liners:
"I want to go to Africa so I can be with Collin" (former nursery worker from church who's on a mission in Uganda)
"Peter?  Peter Rabbit?" (said during General Conference when someone mentioned Peter--Simon Peter)
"I made this for you!" (said about food, works of art, etc.)  I love that, very often, he either did not make the food/work of art in question or had no intention, whatsoever, of giving it away at first! ;) 
"I am a rabbit.  Hop, hop!" said while eating huge carrots (and finishes them!) and hopping around on the floor.
"Tell Goldilocks story" (this was his favorite for a while)
"Tell me a saw story" (took me a while to figure out he wanted to hear about Saul!)
"Tell me ______________ story."  This kid LOVES his stories- from personal anecdotes, Bible and Book of Mormon stories, to adding monsters to true stories, he can listen for surprising amounts of time.  It's a fun challenge, trying to come up with new ones that are worth telling.
"I want milk/water in the sky!"
"What?  What you said?"

Milestones worth mentioning:
We thought we were seeing the end of naps earlier in the month.  He just wasn't napping!-  Trouble was, by the mid-afternoon he would start to stutter, his speech was slurred, and his behavior was just terrible.  Then, when he started waking in the night again, I knew we had to make a change.  So we now have almost the exact same routine for naps as nights.  And he gets a treat for both, if he falls asleep.  Is this bribery?  Maybe.  Has his speech and behavior improved?  Absolutely.

He's now definitely a size 3 in shirts and is awkwardly in-between sizes in pants (he has the curse of the short Brough legs!)  It's sad laying some of our favorite shirts to rest, but we do love that he's getting so big!  Speaking of which, he's seen a related growth in appetite (there was one lunch where he ate 6 pieces of bacon!  SIX!)  He's also learning to dress himself and put his clothes away.

Just today I was blessed to have some sweet friends throw a baby shower.  Even some of the Young Women came.  I received diapers, wipes, freezer meals and, most importantly, the gift of love and support (and some great advice!)  I am so grateful! 

 We're excited for our baby boy to come but we're also trying to enjoy every last minute while we can of our little threesome.