Puppy Love and Hinckley Walks February 2019

Holy moly, February FLEW by and it was eventful!

Of course, we celebrated Valentine's Day.  Dane and I outdid ourselves this year, I must say.

We actually got snow- twice in one day!  I'm told it hasn't snowed here for around a decade.  The kids went out with buckets to "catch" the snow (and were pretty disappointed when it melted).  We made sure to dress them warmly, which was totally unnecessary, ha ha.

But one of the most newsworthy changes of this month is for Hinckley!  He finally started walking on Feb. 25 (just a few days short of being 16 months).  He took a few steps that evening and the next day walked across our playroom.  He still has plenty of practicing to do but we are so proud (and relieved that he beat 18 months!)

Of course, living with Atticus, our wolf lover, Hinckley has learned to howl with the best of them.  It's funny, he also howls whenever he puts on a mask or a hat.  He seems to think that one should howl when dressing up.  

Oh, this little charmer.  He had his 15 month appointment at the beginning of the month and I'm happy to report that he's back up in size (45th percentile in height, 29th in weight and 59th in head).

Man, that doctor appointment was hard.  He remembered the doctor's office and put up the FIGHT of his life.  We actually had three of us adults hold him down so that the doctor could check his ear.  Dr. Tenby joked that he should be a wrestler with all that strength and use of leverage.   

We see this strength of will more and more.  He and Atticus literally butt heads all the time.  He loves coloring and has already colored on two of our doors.  And he doesn't just use the crayons for drawing.  He loves to sneak them in his mouth and chew on them.  Bleh!  

He also is the culprit in many, many missing items in our house.  For example, I couldn't find my hairbrush for a few days.  It turned up behind Atticus' chair- all the way across the house (along with several other bathroom items!)

I think our favorite thing he does, however, is singing. He is singing ALL the time.  He has a really sweet voice and his favorite song is now "I am a Child of God."  Of course, he's not saying the words yet (though some of his sounds are similar) but it's really recognizable: "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me..."  He also loves "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," but that's the only other song, so far, that we can recognize.

He still LOVES "Shoes" (he says it with the cutest voice!) and socks ("Sah") and often surprises us with new words (If I say, "Ready," he'll say, "Set," and sometimes even, "Go!")  He has said, "Hi Mom!" and I'm pretty sure he's been saying or repeating, "Sorry" ("Sah-dah"-Atticus and I have plenty of chances to say that one!)  He goes around saying,  "Dis" and "Wha-dis?" all the time.  

And yes, I not only let my kiddo chew on a rock, I took a picture of it.  Even rocks can look cute around this guy.

Atticus continues to go back and forth between his inner Jekyll and Hyde.  You'll see in the quotes below that he has some mean ones (I've blocked out the worst ones) but he also shows such depth in his questions and comments.  One of my favorite moments came when we saw a sweet widow from our ward at the store.  She's probably in her 80s and Atticus, instead of being afraid like I would have, gave her a great big hug.  Absolutely melted my heart.

He is sounding out words more and more.  He often reads the letters backwards but gets almost all of the sounds correct and is getting better at putting them together.

Another favorite day was when he decided his favorite superhero was the Flash.  He ran around and around (to the point that he said his legs were hurting after a couple hours).  But he was helpful and kind all day- because the Flash is kind (? I know nothing about the Flash!)  It was a lovely, lovely day.

For the past few months he has had gorgeous hair with perfect, Little Lord Fauntleroy locks.  Dane and I didn't want to part with it but, halfway through the month, he told us he was sick of it... so I tried my hand cutting it.  Eek.  It could have been worse (and I couldn't resist giving him a bowl cut halfway through) but it was pretty obvious that it was my first time.

Well, Atticus didn't earn a sticker for every day of the month, but he really did do his best and did lots of extra chores to make up for missed days.  (Annnnd we had already put down a deposit on our little puppy...)  Soooo, I'd like to introduce our family's newest member:

Max (born 12/28/2018)

He has such a sweet disposition!  We are all in love.  We were worried about Hinckley being too rough with him (his first interaction involved him wacking the puppy while saying, "Soft!" again and again) but now that the novelty has worn off, the two of them get along just fine.  It's actually really adorable to see them side by side (especially when they both have a chew toy sticking out of their mouths).  

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Here's to many more hours of cuddling with our little snuggle bunny.  And wish us luck with potty training!  Yikes.

Atticusisms:

• Hinckley and me are gonna beat you up cause were on a team!  Come on Hinckley!  Let's escape!
• I want to fast for Nana.
• Daddy doesn't like green for the Grinch, he just likes guns.
• Mommy, I have a quesion!  I want to whisper it in your ear...
• Why did Jesus have to go in Gethsemane?
• Daddy, you need to say sorry to Mommy!  Now Mommy, you need to say I forgive you.
• I want a green smoovly.
• I can see Heaven through the clouds
• This is my house! (mouthing off to a grown up)
• How can I change?  How can I put what I learn in my heart? (during one of our many discussions about changing his behavior)
• Mom, does the Flash get sweaty (while running)?

Come, Follow Me: January 2019

The boys are growing up so fast!

Hinckley is communicating more and more.  His words include "Up" ("Uh"), "See saw" (sometimes "dee daw but sometimes said with an "s"),

"Peekaboo" ("da doo or dee doo"), he can "bock" like a chicken, "Oink" like a pig, "moo" like a cow, and will usually say "bye bye" ("buh bye") while waving goodbye.  We love all the different ways he uses "One, two three!"  He'll say it so he can get spun or tossed, to go on the slide or do anything adventurous.  He also says it as he throws food off his tray ("un [or dah], two, ee!"- and throws the food on three).  He knows "soft" (although we're afraid we may have accidentally taught him the wrong word for "dog"- he calls dogs and all furry blankets/animals "soft" because he's constantly being told to be soft with them...)  He's also saying, "Thank you" ("Deet doo") when he gives or is given an object.

His mimicry is so adorable.  He folded his arms for family prayer a couple nights ago.  Toward the end of the month he really came into his own with his lion walker, jerking it around corners.  He acts like he owns the place!  Then, just today (the 27th), he stood independently before church and took his first step toward Dane right before bed.  Yaaaaay!

A milestone we didn't love was his first real time vomiting.  Not a fun night.  But it was only the one time, thank heavens.  (Atticus got sick with a violent but short-lived stomach bug at the end of the month, too.)

One more aspect of his personality with which we're becoming acquainted is his STRONG will.  Mom and Dad are NOT his favorite people.  He loves certain people (a few of our ward members and Dane's cousin Delaney) and he pretty much jumps out of our arms when he sees them.  It's a little embarrassing when we, inevitably, need to take him back.  He cries and even screams.  I have a hunch it's because Dane and I are always the bad guys.

Oh, Atticus.  We've had such great days and such rotten ones.  We are planning on getting a dog at the end of February and we had the grand idea that we'd make a sticker chart for Atticus to help him act more "responsibly" in order to "earn" a dog.  It's definitely had mixed results.  

While we've had plenty of tantrums and, unfortunately, a couple incidents with honesty (involving hand washing), Atticus has also had so many wonderful moments.  For example, he prays from his heart, all the time.  When he hears that someone is in trouble (even when he overhears me talking on the phone) he will stop and drop right then and there and pray for them.  He has prayed for my mom's ankle (her knee has been troubling her for the last month or more) and for his Nana every prayer for the entire month.  He also spontaneously decided he wanted to make a "seed of faith" piece of art and, halfway through the month, he decided he wanted to share the gospel with his friend.  He talked about it so much that we had the missionaries come so we could bring him a copy of The Book of Mormon.  We wrote him and his mom a note and brought them cookies.  It was all his idea.  I would never have had the guts to do it without him.  

I think a big reason for his growing testimony has been our new program of Bible study.  2019 brought big changes in our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one of which is the "Come, Follow Me" program for individuals and families.  I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who wants to help their family have a closer relationship with the Savior and with one another.  (We've also gone from having three hours of church to only two, which has been amazing!)  

Studying the New Testament has been wonderful.  We're taking our time and have been able to glean some wonderful things from Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2 and John 1.  We also studied Alma 32, learning about growing a seed of faith.  I'm proud (and surprised) to say that our seeds are growing!  Hooray!  Now if only we could get our own seeds of faith to grow.  My faith has taken a beating in the last little while.  I'm working very hard to dig deep and keep it strong.  

Atticusisms:

"Please bless Atticus because I was so good today."

"Is that Uncle Rick [on the phone] pretending to be the Grinch?"

"It's an emergency.  Can you button up my pants?" (while I was putting H down for a nap.)

"I don't know about that.  I'm going to see for myself."

"[Bobba's] giving me a creepy wave."

"How was your new class [at church]?"  "Good, but there were no shnacks!" (said very angrily)

"How do babies come out of a mommy's tummy?"  (Ah, dang...)

"Can we do 'Mommy Wrestling'?"

"Be careful, Atticus." (While playing at the park)

"With God, nothing shall be impossible." (he'll still whisper this to us to give us a pleasant surprise.)

Bowman, "Atticus, are you really a wolf?"  Atticus, "No, I'm just pretending."

"You're not a slowpoke, you're a fast poke!"
"It's going to be a rough night." (Said dramatically when he was feeling sick one night.) :(

January moments:

We also are trying out a new toy rotation schedule.  I already love it (more than half of our toys are now put away in storage!)

We had a Harry Potter themed New Beginnings (it was 5 hours long... yikes!)  We had a lot of fun.

The scariest part of our month was Marti's hospital stay.  She has had a rough couple of weeks.  We've been praying without ceasing for her and I'm happy to report that she's at home, recovering little by little.  Still, it was a wake up call for us.  We can't take anything or anyone for granted.  It was also eye opening for me to see how much faith little Atticus has that his Nana would be okay.  We will not be stopping our prayers in her behalf.