Right at the beginning we headed back to Utah and stayed for a little over a week. I was very nervous about the trip since it was just the boys, Max and me but we survived. Thank heavens, I had many people recommend switching Hinckley's car seat so he faced forward. It made a world of difference.
First we stayed with my dad and stepmom. We did a little boating (Atticus got up on the kneeboard again! And then he got hit by the kneeboard. I felt horrible!), a little singing and we even got to see my dad perform with a local band. The boys loved it! My dad is a rock star.
Here is Hinckley eating some of Grandma Terree's homemade ice cream. No, he's not out of the woods when it comes to dairy, but I just couldn't resist letting him try the real thing.
We had so much fun at my Dad's but we had more stops to make. After a couple days we headed to stay with Dane's grandparents. We love Zoe and Ernie. We spent a little time in the garden and Grandma even made a special breakfast with Mickey Mouse pancakes. They were so sweet.
Then we headed to my Mom's house and stayed a few days. I just love spending time with my mom.
Something I treasured about this trip was the time we were able to spend with my younger brother. He read Calvin and Hobbes to Atticus, just the way my oldest brother used to read it to him. Atticus LOVES it. (probably a little too much- we've had to put it away for a little while since he has a little too much in common with the naughty Calvin, ha ha.)
Oh, these cute boys. This month Bobba sent us home with a mini picnic table and it is amazing what having an art station has done. They are drawing on that thing at least once a day. Often more than once. And Hinckley is not one step behind Atticus. He is very serious about his artwork. You can see some of his scribbling above. We get pages and pages of this!
Hinckley also started using playdough this month. He LOVES it.
He started climbing on our bar stools and was refusing to sit in his booster seat for a while so we were thinking of letting him sit in a regular chair... but he is so darn unpredictable, it's scary! We had to go back to his high chair for a while. It's a fight to get him to sit there (he wants to be big like Atticus) but he's just not ready.
On the same note, he is growing more and more independent all the time. He wants to walk down the stairs on his feet (not on his knees!) He pushes me away all the time and will often tell me "All done!" if I try to join him while he's singing. Such a stinker!
Here is just a small sampling of the piles of art that Atticus is producing every week. I love it- it's like something got unlocked inside him during our last stay in Utah. I just haven't quite figured out what to do with all of it...
Another phase that Atticus has been going through this month has been new/increased fears. He keeps telling us he's afraid he'll get lost when we go places. I no longer have to fight him on holding my hand- he does it all the time in public without being asked (which I love!) When I ask him what he's afraid of he'll list off things like spiders, snakes, ghosts and monsters (especially ones like the chameleon monster in Monsters, Inc.) He has even been asking us, on top of saying an extra prayer and spraying "monster spray," to lock his door at night. We don't because it's just not safe but he's definitely not faking it.
Here's to hoping his fears subside!
Last but not least, Dane turned 33 yesterday. He doesn't like a fuss but we made sure to make his favorite beans and chili for dinner and he requested cherry chip cake for dessert. Ha ha, I have given him a lot of garbage about that request, for the record. To my thinking, a cake like that has more business at an 80th birthday... But to each his own.
You know, he might not have great taste when it comes to sweets but man, did we hit the jackpot when it comes to devotion to his family. We just love this guy.
We swam, did some hiking (we totally saw a moose our first day up!) and went to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country. As expected, the boys loved it all.
We tried to spend short bouts of time with Bob and Marti, to give them a breather before our last day in Utah. Some of my former mission companions and I got together for a reunion and I had asked my in-laws to watch the boys all that afternoon and into the evening.
The boys had such a wonderful time (Atticus was so sad when we packed everything up to go in the morning! It's always so hard to leave them!). And I was able to spend some much needed time with my Quyreruh ("sisters" in Armenian). I love these ladies so much.
Going back to reality was honestly a relief. Max was shockingly well-behaved but it was obvious that even he was elated to be home when we got back.
Speaking of Max, we just love this dog now that he's starting to calm down enough to hang out. Hinckley and Atticus LOVE cuddling with him. What is harder to catch is how much both boys love to run around and have Max chase them.
Oh, these cute boys. This month Bobba sent us home with a mini picnic table and it is amazing what having an art station has done. They are drawing on that thing at least once a day. Often more than once. And Hinckley is not one step behind Atticus. He is very serious about his artwork. You can see some of his scribbling above. We get pages and pages of this!
Hinckley also started using playdough this month. He LOVES it.
He started climbing on our bar stools and was refusing to sit in his booster seat for a while so we were thinking of letting him sit in a regular chair... but he is so darn unpredictable, it's scary! We had to go back to his high chair for a while. It's a fight to get him to sit there (he wants to be big like Atticus) but he's just not ready.
On the same note, he is growing more and more independent all the time. He wants to walk down the stairs on his feet (not on his knees!) He pushes me away all the time and will often tell me "All done!" if I try to join him while he's singing. Such a stinker!
Here is just a small sampling of the piles of art that Atticus is producing every week. I love it- it's like something got unlocked inside him during our last stay in Utah. I just haven't quite figured out what to do with all of it...
Here's to hoping his fears subside!
Oh! I can't forget the soccer team. We've had two practices and Atticus did wonderfully. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I love the way he kicks the ball. He is so accurate and is getting stronger and stronger (thanks to all the "working out" that he does- he runs and runs and makes up all sorts of exercise moves around the house.) Anyway, I'm happy to report that Atticus kept his emotions in check for the last two weeks. We'll see about future practices but it has been so nice to start the season out right.
You know, he might not have great taste when it comes to sweets but man, did we hit the jackpot when it comes to devotion to his family. We just love this guy.
Atticusisms:
- "Run for your life, Mommy!" (as we ran away from a moose in Utah)
- "I'm just looking at the beautiful mountains and hoping I see a mountain lion right now."
- "What does Belle use in all of her decorating?" (during the Gaston song)
- "Please help me not to yell or scream at soccer. Help me to say, 'Coach, can I get some water?'"
- "Let's play sinful cougar. I'm the sinful cougar."
- ("Atticus, what would you do if we told you a secret?") "I would tell everyone."
- "How do I know what lady I should marry?"
- "[Daddy's] gonna be scareded out of his wits!"
- After a discussion about private parts, boundaries, etc. (prompted by Atticus's questions) I tell him that we'll get an anatomy book to answer his questions. He starts to laugh and says, "A book about privates?! We're getting a privates book?!"
Hinckley Speaks:
- "Fox sayeee!" (What does the Fox Say? He LOVES this song- sings it all the time!)
- "Byeeee"
- "Nastics" (gymnastics)
- "Weeee!" (after he switched to facing forward in his car seat. He still says it every so often)
- He repeats the last two syllables of pretty much anything we say.
