November 2018

Hello December!  

This is a belated update but at Hinckley's 1-year-old appointment he was just over 20 lbs.  He's small- in the 17th percentile for height, 27th for weight but his head circumference is catching up (he's now at the 50th percentile.)

He does seem to know "Dada" and "Mama" now and I could have sworn he was saying "bath" with me a few days ago.  He is mimicking us all the time, saying, "Shhh!" when Atticus pretends to sleep/snore.  I'm pretty sure he's given me kisses a couple of times.  He is making animal sounds more and more- he definitely was howling with Atticus and me last night.  

 

We LOVE his singing.  I think "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" is his favorite- he "doot-doots" along with us and waves his arm up and down to the beat.  Speaking of which, he has been waving at us more regularly (it's still sporadic).

He points and claps all the time (he loves "If You're Happy and You Know it.")  He has learned how to go down the stairs on his hands and knees (hooray!) but getting started is still a little tricky.  His 8th tooth finally came in just before Thanksgiving, so he's got an even set of chompers for now.

My favorite development this month was sleeping longer. With a couple of exceptions, Hinckley has started sleeping through the night!  It is such a blessing!  

It all started when I left for 24 hours or so for my mission companion's wedding.  I served with Maggie Sabey twice in Armenia and she is an incredible person and friend.  It was so good to be able to celebrate with them!  Meanwhile, Dane held down the fort and let Hinckley cry a little more.  (He also introduced some yogurt and some milk- more fat, better sleep?)  While he's still struggling with digesting dairy products, it's been so wonderful to feel like a person again.

Atticus must be grateful for sleep, too, because every time he has been asked to make a list of things he is grateful for, he has responded, "My bed!"  He has even started drawing his bed every so often.  I asked him why and he said it was because he loved his bed ("It's my favorite place!")  What?!?!  

Sleep is just one of the many blessings we had to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season.  We are SO blessed to have such wonderful friends teaching Atticus.  He adores all of the Barnum family and they take such great care of him and the other Sunbeams.

We are also grateful for beloved family members.  My mom and brother came to stay with us for Thanksgiving.  Their visit was short but so sweet.  Atticus woke up bright and EARLY so he could read books and snuggle with Mimi in the mornings.  Then he would badger Uncle Danny pretty much all day long.  He was in heaven.  

We've also been very grateful for Atticus's growing testimony and his understanding of prayer.  When he hears that something is wrong or someone is hurting, he immediately suggests that we pray.  Dane actually caught him praying on his own a week or so ago.  I hope he never stops.  

 Speaking of that little munchkin, it's time to focus on his milestones.

Atticus turns four in two days!  We are having an animal birthday party because of his ongoing obsession with wolves ("and foxes and jackals and coyotes and dingos...")

 He is learning so much.  He knows every letter of the alphabet and is getting better and better at tracing and free writing them.

Atticus has surprised me by playing "family" a lot with his little friend, Skye this month.  They even talk about having to go to the "wedding store" to get a wedding dress sometimes.  We've tried not to take it too seriously but it has led to several conversations about the dos and don'ts of kissing.  It's so cute but very unfamiliar territory for me.  I thought boys were supposed to think girls have cooties! 

We are still struggling to help tame Atticus's wild temper but he really has wonderful moments with Hinckley.

 

Sunday guacamole and bath time.

 
Here are the boys playing, "Grinch and Max."  Atticus has the story practically by heart (it's so cute to listen to him recite it).  We've already watched it 4+ times and it's only December 1st...

Atticusisms:

• "It's my baby's birthday." (when we celebrated Hinckley's birthday again- he was telling all of the neighbors he saw outside)
• "Mommy, I could really use some playtime with you."  
• "My nose hurts, my throat hurts, my tummy hurts, but my bum doesn't hurt."
• "How about we have a sick play date with Skye?"
• Me- "We all need to get better at keeping the commandments.  Mommy needs to be better, Daddy needs to be better..."  Atticus- "Like at brushing his teeth?"
• "Life is hard Hinckley.  It's a hard life, Hinckley!"
• "Is Daddy never coming home?"
• "I want to serve my mission in the cold places with wolves."  
• "What if a one-eyed monster comes under my bed through the wall?  What if ants come?" (right after watching A Bug's Life)
• "You kissed me on the lips!  You love me, you want to marry me!"
• "Mommy, your hands are old, old old."
• "I want to go with the devil." (to bug me and his Sunday School teachers)

I did want to share one thought I had earlier in the month while both of the boys were sick (Hinckley is sick again- poor little guy.  He has weak lungs and it requires us to spend a lot more time indoors than we're used to.)

Dane sent me a link to a video.  As I watched it with Atticus, he kept asking, "Why doesn't the mommy bear help the baby bear?!"  I could tell he was getting upset.  I have to admit, I was wondering the same thing.  But the resolution is so sweet and really made me think.  How often am I tempted to swoop in and rescue my boys when I might need to let them struggle a little more so they can learn and grow?  A good friend suggested letting them struggle when the cost of failure is low.  I have no doubt this is a principle I'll need to revisit again and again.

I also thought of the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Matthew 15:11-20.  There are times that we need to actively go and seek out those who are lost/struggling, but there are times when we just have to wait and watch and be ready to receive them with open arms when they get back.

Of course, in the end, we all are probably more like the baby bear than the momma bear.  I have so many times that I feel like I'm falling and failing again and again...and again...  I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows my limits and my needs.  I still have plenty of prayers that are more yelled than spoken (when under duress) but I do know that, in hindsight, it is all for my good and for my growth.

Birthdays and Biking

It's a little hard to believe but our littlest man is now a year old.  He brings so much joy to all three of us and we are loving his ever-developing personality.

 

We had a spaghetti dinner with him on his birthday and it was hilarious to watch him toss his cake on the floor (Atticus didn't eat his first birthday cake, either!)  For the record, he enjoyed the cake the next morning when he wasn't so tired and cranky.

October was a big month for our little man and not only because he turned a year old.  He started clapping, he waved for his first time (at Nana- still waiting for another performance) and he went down slides for the first time (on his tummy and his bottom!)  He's also gotten so much better at crawling.  He's waaay faster- it's so cute to watch him put his head down like he's sprinting, although he has run into walls and other objects a few times.  He'll crawl up on you from behind and surprise you, and he has the sweetest way of pausing while he crawls to hold a hand out to you, asking you to pick him up or play with him.  The little grin on his face makes it pretty irresistible.

There were many other big developments.  He crawled up the stairs for the first time this month.  Thank heaven, he is getting much more comfortable standing (he was getting stuck standing up in his crib and elsewhere a lot at the beginning of the month!).  He now coasts along furniture fairly quickly.  He loves walking behind our stool and our lion walker.  He transitions so well going up and down that we're thinking he'll be ready to try taking steps in the next month or two.

We also just love the personality that is becoming more and more evident.  He has started having little yell/scream-offs with Atticus and he'll even join Atticus when he sings in the car. The yelling isn't easy on the ears but I love watching them laugh with each other.  He is so content a lot of the time to just crawl around and explore, sweetly babbling, "Doo-doot" and other cute syllables.  It's obvious that most of the time, he's trying to find Atticus as he's crawling around.  And when Atticus will move to a different room, Hinckley will almost immediately head in that direction.

He LOVES balls or anything that rolls and will spend a surprising amount of time hitting balls with the back of his hand and chasing them around the room.  He picked up a light saber for his first time this month and we can already tell that he LOVES sword fighting (he is always trying to fight with me at dinner- he swings his spoon at me back and forth).
   
Speaking of dinnertime, he is getting to be pretty opinionated regarding food.  He does NOT like anything that is bland. For example, Atticus ate plain avocado for a long time but not Hinckley.  It has to be guacamole or nothing.  He also LOVES broccoli, tomatoes and meatballs.

We are a little worried about his biting.  As I mentioned last month, I don't dare nurse him during the day, so I've been pumping milk once a day and then nursing him at night.  I am happy to report, however, that this week he's had a couple long nights in a row, meaning he got a 12 hour stretch and two 9 hour stretches, so he's nursing less and less!  Hooray!

Atticus will be 4 years old in a month!  He is getting to be so responsible.  He can button buttons, zip zippers, put on socks, open and close doors, buckle seatbelts, the list goes on and on.  We bought him his first bottle of gel, just for him, and he loves to "do his hair" (which mostly goes straight up, ha ha- he hates getting help for the finishing touches but needs it for now).  He really doesn't nap unless he's had a late night, although he did nap once while sitting in our lazy boy and listening to music.  He has discovered a favorite salad dressing (calls it "Harmesan Cheese.") and he douses salad and other veggies with it.  And I discovered that both boys LOVE salmon, which makes me very happy.

He has had some really mean moments with Hinckley but he also has sweet ones, like when he caught Hinckley going down the slide for the first time.

It was October, so we got to go to the pumpkin patch with our Joy School group.  So fun!

And of course there was Halloween:

Atticus was a wolf, Hinckley was a little piggy, and I was Little Red Riding Hood.  

 

An unexpected twist in our month was our dogsitting experience.  Jill came for a week. It was tiring but she was a sweetie.  We all fell for her.  Even Dane was touched when he saw her keep baby Hinckley from falling off a tricycle.

The saddest part of this month was having our beloved friends the Whitakers sell their home.  They are still in the city but it's only a matter of time before they'll be moving away.  We are trying to enjoy every last minute we get to be with them.

The biggest milestone for Atticus this month is riding a real bicycle!  The day after General Conference (on Oct. 8th) our wonderful friend, Hillary Bellus (who also happens to be his swim teacher) took Atticus outside with a small bicycle and he just took off!

Bob and Marti had planned to give him a bike for his birthday but with the weather being so beautiful they decided to give it to him early when they came to visit.  The boy is in LOVE with his bike!  He's out riding every day.  During their visit, he was riding 3+ miles a day!

  

Our visit with Bob and Marti was so wonderful.  I love having visitors but it can be hard on Atticus and me to have them go.  We can't wait to see them again.

I can't end this post without sharing a special experience we had with Atticus.  We were writing a talk together for him to give in primary and, at the end of the talk, I was hoping he could bear his testimony.  He's been reading The Book of Mormon with us for over a year, so I asked him if he felt it was true.  We decided he could pray right then and there about it.  After his prayer, I asked how he felt and he said, "Be quiet!  I'm listening..."  (poor Hinckley was shushed more than once, ha ha) Then after a minute or so he told me, "I feel it Mommy!"  He ended his talk by saying that the Spirit had told him yes.

In our most recent General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson asked the sisters of our church to read The Book of Mormon by the end of the year.  I have loved delving in and feasting on the word at a faster pace.  I want to echo my son's words.  The Book of Mormon is true!  It is the word of God and it testifies of Jesus Christ.  It works hand in hand with the Bible and is helping me to become a better mom and person.  If you want more information please feel free to ask me or you can follow this link to get a free copy.  

Atticusisms:

• "I snuck inside and gobbled them up" (raisins in between riding his bike outside)
• "I just LOVE these so, so much!" (fish sticks, raisins- he's had a bigger appetite now that he's riding outside more and more)
• "I'm not the big bad wolf.  I'm a regular forest wolf."
• ("Come here, I want to give you a hug and a kiss") "Not yet.  I need to study my scriptures."
• "Is anyone sick?" (while praying)
• "Please bless Collin on his mission that he won't get bited by animals."
• "You're the best cooker, Mommy."
• "Let's pray for Mommy's elbow." (when I dislocated my shoulder.)
• "Aaah!  Scary doggy, scary doggy!!!" (while running around)
• "I love the doggy, even though she scratched my back."
• "Will you wrestle with me, Bobba?... Are you able to wrestle?"  (there was plenty of wrestling- poor Bob's lip got busted during one bout of wrestling).
• "Doggy, SIT!" (said with the most adorable, authoritative voice.)
• "Oh well, I guess nothing for me today/nothing for me this year." (while walking around the store looking for Hinckley's birthday present)