School 2015

My boys are growing up!  *tear*

 Now that my big boys are in school (Caleb in half-days kindergarten and Russell in preschool 2x/week) this little guy and I get four hours a week with just the two of us!

[Also, you'll notice that our front door has undergone a transformation between Caleb's first day and Russell's first day.  You're looking at Minwax gel stain in Hickory.  It went on evenly, even though I didn't remove the old, patchy finish from the door.  It certainly brings out the lovely details and makes the entrance to our home feel much more clean and welcoming!]

Russell is THREE!

Happy third birthday to my little Russell Sprout!

Russ is a pretty chill kid.  He completely skipped the terrible twos.  (But yeah, the threes were more terrible for Caleb, so I'm not holding my breath.)

Here are a few things about Russell these days:

• He weighs 25 lbs 7 oz ( 4-pound gain in the past year) and measures 35 inches tall (a 3-inch gain in a year).  He's one pound heavier than Caleb was at age 3 and is a quarter of an inch shorter than Caleb was.  Russ sure is a shorty!  He doesn't have his check-up until next week, so I'm not sure where he lies on the growth charts, but I'm fairly certain he isn't on the charts at all.  I think that's where his "healthy" is, though.  I'm more than ok with his weight, hydration, willingness to eat, etc.  I guess I just have small kids!
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• He wears size 18 month clothes.  Most of them fit him just fine, but a few of the shirts are getting small and a good handful of his pants fall right off.  Some 2T shirts look just fine on him, but he's just not quite ready to take the leap and wear all 2T clothes.
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• Speaking of growth and eating, Russell is a fantastic eater.  He loves every kind of fruit, veggie, and meat.  He is a super adventurous eater and willingly eats things like curry and spicy foods (he loves to have Tabasco sauce to dip his foods in).  He demands to have his own green smoothie at lunch when I make them for myself (with apple juice, carrots, spinach, chia seeds, strawberries, and blueberries).  He always wants to snack on things like nuts, fruit leather, and applesauce.  He's a seriously healthy eater.  But he also has a sweet tooth that's hard to ignore!
• Sometimes when I'm telling Russ what he can have for a snack, he'll tell me, "I don't want that because it won't make my hungry go away."  He wants something more filling.  What a cute way to say it!  When he's done eating, Russ will declare, "My hungry is gone.  I'm done."  And he always clears his plate from the table without being asked, which is greatly appreciated.  
• Speaking of food, Russell appears to have outgrown his corn intolerance!  A few months ago, we reintroduced corn into his diet (we added gluten back in earlier this summer) and he had no problems!  His stools have been exactly the same as they were without corn (when he was intolerant to corn he had blood and mucus in his poop and complained of tummy aches all day long).  It's amazing to not have to worry about what I feed him!  Although, he has been complaining of tummy aches for the last few days, such as when I offered him a piece of toast (which he had the morning before) and he said, "Yes!...No, I don't want it.  Yesterday when I ate it it made my tummy hurt."  He has said the same thing about other foods, too.  I don't know what the deal is, but I don't like it!  He's very in tune with his body--always has been--but I'm really hoping it's nothing.  Coupled with the super dry skin on his chin, I worry, naturally.  But I'm hoping the rash is not food-relates and is just from the dry weather and that some moisturizer will take care of it.
• Speaking of eating anything, before I came down with awful morning sickness Russ and I would go out to eat once a week while Caleb was at preschool.  Let me tell you, this kid was the best behaved 2-year-old I'd ever seen in a restaurant!  He always behaved like a little adult, making polite requests of the waitresses all by himself and everything. 
• A few weeks ago, Russ learned how to climb out of his crib.  We converted his crib to a toddler bed and the first few weeks were torture.  He would not sleep.  Naps were done with.  Bed time took forever.  We would check on him and find him dilly dallying around his room and when asked why he wasn't asleep he would say, "My eyes aren't tired and they won't shut!"  After two weeks of this we finally decided he needed a "motivator."  So we told him, "If you stay in your bed and don't turn on your light, you can have a skittle in the morning/when nap time is over."  It worked like a charm and he's now napping better than he was when he was in his crib!
• He's been potty trained for 11 months now.  That's so crazy to me!  He's completely independent in the bathroom these days, able to do everything on his own without prompting.  It's dreamy.  :)
• Russ is already facing forward in his car seat.  We made the switch this summer.  We switched him much earlier than we did Caleb, but it's working out fine.
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• Last Sunday, on the way home from church, Nate asked Russ how his day was.  Russ answered, "I had a rough day."  When Nate asked why, Russell said, "Because they didn't have bubbles in nursery."  The kid loves bubbles!
• Russell is super excited to be a big brother.  Without prompting, he has already started caressing my belly and giving the baby kisses through my belly and talking to the baby.  The other day he was rubbing my belly and then snapped his hand back and said, "Ouch!  The baby bit me!"
• He is in a super obsessive animal stage.  He pretends to be an animal almost all day long.  Lately it's been turtles.  Russell is a turtle and Caleb is his owner (brings him food and water, keeps him in a "cage" with toys as a fence, etc).  The other day, Caleb let his turtle out for a walk and the poor turtle somehow got flipped over on his back.  Russell the Turtle had to lie there with his legs up in the air until his owner flipped him back over.  Poor Turtle would have died there on his back if someone hadn't flipped him over!  It made me laugh so hard and I eventually learned that the boys have an app on the tablet where they're veterinarians and have to help wild animals--and there's a turtle who is stuck on its back and you have to help it by turning it over.  Russell is so clever to have thought of that!
• Russ is super boyish these days.  He loves to make jokes about poop.  Poop!  Where did he get that from??  Caleb never did that.  Russ will literally pick up a brown crayon and say, "Mommy, this crayon is like poop!  HAHAHAHAHA!"  Anything is made funnier to him by saying "poop" or "poopy."  We have to remind him all of the time that it's "inappropriate to joke about poop."  Mostly when he calls someone poopy (nicely, of course) then laughs his head off. 
• He has had two haircuts in his life now, and both were exclusively to get rid of wispies over his ears and the wispy mullet.  I'm happy to say that his hair seems to be thickening now that he's gained those most recent two pounds.
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• He's a huge fan of jumping lately.  He'll jump off of the couch and land on both feet, jump over a throw pillow on the floor, clearing it completely and landing on both feet, etc.  He's a very good jumper!
• Russ also likes to rhyme.  He notices when words rhyme and he makes up words all of the time to tell us that they rhyme (thinks like, "Caleb and Baleb rhyme, Mom!").
• He's also a super good communicator.  Talking has always been a strong suit for both of my kids, and this kid just blows me away with some of the sophisticated things he comes up with.
• I'm pretty sure he's tone deaf.  It makes me a little sad, I must admit.  The only two songs that he knows all of the words to are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and I Am a Child of God (because he used to request that we sing them to him every night).  By this age, Caleb knew the words to a ton of songs, and could sing them without missing a note.  Russ enjoys music, but he doesn't seem to enjoy singing.  He maaaaybe gets a few notes right when he sings Twinkle Twinkle.  But not more than a few.  
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• In my mind, Russ has some qualities that make him unique from other kids his age.  The biggest one is his desire to seek harmony and avoid confrontation.  For example, if I'm bringing a blue cup and an orange cup to the table, Caleb will automatically tell me that he wants the color that I'm about to hand to Russell.  If they both declare that they want the orange one, Russ almost always changes his mind to say that he wants the blue one.  He absolutely does not want the one Caleb wants, because that would cause a fight.  How many 2-year-olds are that mature?  And he does that with so many things.  As long as he's not in a super tired/cranky mood, he mostly lets Caleb take toys from him.  Whenever I see it I make it right (I absolutely don't want Caleb to think that's ok), but for the most part Russell couldn't care less.
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• Russell has a "friend" that goes with him everywhere.  It's a little black bear that he calls Baby Bear.  He went through a phase for a few days where he changed his name to Baby Jesus, and today he started telling me that it's just Baby.  He would bring Baby Bear with him everywhere if he could, but he's pretty good about when he needs washed or when I tell him he can't bring his bear with.  He also has a favorite blanket, just a soft brown baby blanket with an elephant on the corner.  He's pretty attached to both his Baby Bear and his Elephant Blanket.

And now for a fun tradition that I started when Caleb turned 3!  Here's an interview to show you what 3-year-old Russ is like!

I've never known another child so young who is so in tune with the feelings of others, so aware of himself, so pleasant, so mature, and still so silly!  You bring balance to our family, Russ, and I'm so glad you joined us when you did!  Happy birthday!

Caleb is 5!

Happy birthday to my great big boy!

This is what Caleb is like at 5 years old:

• He weighs 33lbs 10oz.  He recently had a big ol' growth spurt, gaining 3 pounds in less than 3 months!  For Caleb, that's incredible!  This is literally his first growth spurt in his entire life (if you don't include the weight he gained immediately after getting his feeding tube).  We even had to pack up all of his 2T clothes.  He's wearing exclusively 3T now!  And his clothes fit him pretty well, too!  It helps that Walmart now carries toddler pants with an adjustable waist for under $10.  We stocked up.  :)
• He is starting to stay dry at night, as long as he wakes up to use the potty.  This is pretty impressive to me, since he currently gets 800ml of formula while he sleeps (that's over 26 ounces!).  He has to unpin his tube extension from his waistband to go potty (we pin it to him at night so it doesn't pull his feeding tube out).  For a while there he was waking us up to help him to the potty, but a few times now he has unpinned his tube himself!  I'm pretty proud of those fine motor skills.  ;)
• He can zip his own jacket.  I remember most of my kindergarten class couldn't even do that!
• He very recently discovered the joy of art.  Just a few months ago he didn't even know how to color inside of the lines and the only thing he could draw was a car.  Seriously.  But now he colors in the lines and comes up with original pieces of art--rainbows (his favorite), monsters, houses with chimneys, people, butterflies, etc.  
• Some art of Caleb's:  a butterfly; Meggie (he drew that picture on the day she was put down); him in front of a house with a door, doorknob, and chimney, as well as green grass that he cut with scissors to be the texture of grass; and two boys who bear a striking resemblance to Caleb and Russell, yet Caleb told me they weren't them, they were bunnies and then he drew tails on them...hmmm....
  
   A super cute monster that he drew on cardboard (we get a lot of boxes around here, and it's always his favorite thing to color on).
  
  
• I made Caleb a rainbow cake, since he's so fond of drawing rainbows.  He always asks me to remind him what order the colors go in.

• He knows and can write the entire alphabet and is starting to sound out words.  I'd guess he could be reading by now if I took the time to teach him, but pretty much all I have the energy for these days is growing his baby sibling.
• He gets worked up easily when he's frustrated with his inability to do something.  We both have to take a lot of deep breaths.
• One of his favorite things to do is make Russell laugh.  It doesn't take much for Caleb to get Russ to laugh, either.  They're truly best friends.  They play so well together.  Of course they have their moments (I swear, they're more likely to fight over something when I'm on the phone), but for the most part they have the best balance I could ever expect from two brothers.
• His other best friend is Nash, as it has been since they were wee babes.
• His best preschool friend is a girl named Maci.  She likes zebras and Frozen and they like to play "kitchen" together.
• He doesn't have a favorite color, but tends to like red.
• He's kind of a follower.  When other people like something, he's more likely to like it as well.  He's not always an original thinker, but he does have great self confidence, which sort of evens it out.
• His favorite toys are games--board games and card games and puzzles and such.  Unfortunately he needs supervision to play lots of them, and he can't play them all day long or the pieces will all get lost.  But yesterday when we asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, the first thing that popped into his mind was "PLAY GAMES!"
• He picks his clothes and dresses himself every morning.  Sometimes I have to send him back to change--like when he wants to wear shorts when it's 40 degrees out (he's a big fan of shorts, just like his daddy).
• He is super distract-able.  It takes about three reminders to get him to put his shoes on.  Same thing for putting on his seat belt (which he's been doing by himself for a while now, and he's still in a 5-point harness) and his pajamas.
• He loves being helpful--he will set the table without us asking (this is a new thing for him, and we're loving it).  He also loves doing chores, especially cleaning the toilet (no one tell him it's gross, please!).
• He hates brushing his teeth.  Sometimes there are tears.  I attribute it to his oral aversion and his highly sensitive gag reflex.  If he's even the littlest bit sick, brushing his teeth makes him throw up.  But he's been to the dentist three times and always gets great reviews on his teeth, so that's great!  (Even though he only brushes at night....)
• He is a very thoughtful person.  He loves to donate his money to people who have less than him, he always remembers people who are struggling in his prayers, and he just plain likes to please people.
• He's a super snuggler.
• The best word I can think to describe him is enthusiastic.  Everything is exciting to him.  Seriously.  It can be exhausting, but it's an amazing quality.  He sees so much good in the world!

Caleb, we couldn't imagine our family without you.  Life without you would be so boring!  You are a great big brother, a wonderful helper, and a fantastic snuggler.  I love your zest for life, and how you love everyone.  You are a great example to me and I couldn't be more proud to be your mom!

And now, an interview with the man of the hour himself:

Russell's Potty Training Update

Remember when I wrote this post about day 1 of potty training?  Remember how I was so optimistic?

Well, don't hate me....**

He has been potty trained ever since.

I could probably count on one hand the number of accidents he had in those first few weeks.  We brought him to the store and to the church nursery in underwear on days 3 & 4 of potty training.  It was dreamy.  Seriously, I can't imagine that anyone else has ever had such a good potty training experience.

For the first two weeks he could keep himself dry for hours and I would take him to the potty at transition times (before leaving the house, before naps, before meals, etc).  And he was so willing to go.  No fights involved, unlike with his brother's first attempt at potty training.

After a few weeks (or maybe up to a month?) he started telling me when he needed to go.  It started with him leaking out just a drip onto his underwear and then realizing what happened, so he'd say, "Mommy!  I have pee-pee on my underwear!" and I'd bring him to the bathroom.  After a few days of that, he started recognizing the feeling before anything came out, and he'd tell me right away.

In the past month or two, has also been able to put his own pants and underwear on!  He can also get himself up onto the potty by himself these days.  So he can do every step independently!  Except for putting the lid up...he's scared of it pinching his fingers, so I have to open it for him.

He has also learned how to pull his pants up, now that they all fall down since he doesn't wear a bulky diaper anymore!

And he still requires a diaper during naps and at night.  At the beginning there he was waking up dry pretty often, but he soon realized that he didn't need to because he was wearing a diaper.  I kind of regret that we missed that window of opportunity, but it'll happen soon enough.  Maybe once he starts growing better we won't have to give him milk when he goes to bed (that's when he gets most of his fluids for the day), and it'll make night training easier.  But for now, I'll take it!  My son potty trained himself at 25 months!  I couldn't ask for more!

Doesn't he look so grown up?

**(And seriously, please don't hate me.  I don't mean to brag, really.  Every kid is different, and there is such a wide range of when kids potty train.  We got lucky with this one.  So don't beat yourself up if you can't get your 3/4/5-year-old to use the potty.  I would never judge you, ever.  I wish everyone had it this easy, but I'd be surprised if any of my future children potty trained this early and this easily, because they're all just so different!)

The things they say (plus random photos)

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Caleb asked about something I was eating, and it had wheat in it so I told him it wasn't Caleb-safe or Russell-safe.  A few minutes later, Nate took a piece of it off of my plate.  Russell looks up and asks, "Daddy-safe?"

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The boys were reading an alphabet book with Auntie Jenna.  She asked, "What words start with f?"  Russell answered, "Futterfie!" (that means butterfly in Russell Language).

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Both boys like to open my scriptures and "read" things like, "Oh, no!  A dragon!  A monster!  Ahh!"

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We went to a BYU men's basketball game and the circus in the same week.  About a week later, Caleb told me that boys play basketball and girls dance.  He sounded kind of sad to have made that connection.  I told him that girls and boys can do all of the same things, except that only boys can be daddies and only girls can be mommies.  I gave him lots of examples of girls who play basketball and boys who dance and told him that if he wanted to dance then he could.

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Nate took Caleb to the church with him for a little one-on-one time while he did some paperwork.  Caleb kept pestering Nate to let him get some toys from the nursery.  Finally, Caleb said, "Dad, how many is one?  It's not very many, is it?  Can I just get one car from the nursery?"  He's a tricky one!

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Caleb asked Russell to share a toy with him, which Russell gladly did.  Caleb excitedly thanked him and said, "You put a smile on my face!"

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play date with our triplet friends--just pretend that that little sweetie doesn't have her finger up her nose ;)

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Caleb gets a lot of chances to say he's sorry.  We taught him what it means to repent, and one night after squirming around while I was tube feeding him, causing me to squirt oil all over my hands, he said, "I'm sorry, Mom.  I'm going to repent every day.  Every day except for Christmas.  Then I won't repent.  Hehehehe!"

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Russell tripped on the sidewalk and skinned his knee.  He came crying to me, I picked him up, and he said, "Kiss it!  QUICK!"

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Russell found a pine cone on our walk home from church one day.  He's very attached to his pine cone and must take it in the car with him every time we go anywhere.  He calls it a "pokey-pine."

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bffs

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Caleb heard Pink's song "Try" on the radio one day (the one that goes gotta get up and try, try, try).  He asked me, "What is she trying to do?"  So I taught him the phrase if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Now he recites it to himself when he's trying something that's difficult.

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Russell often says something silly and follows it up with "Just kidding!" (it sounds like "dus tiddin'!")

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Caleb just said to me, "I feel like I wanna hug you and not let you go!!"

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Changes...Diapers, that is....

This week, Caleb wins the prize for the best big brother and the best son.  My almost-4-year-old changed my almost-2-year-old's diaper with very minimal help.  It. Was. Awesome.

If he makes this a habit, I'd be much more tempted to have a third child.  I could get used to this!

Also, Russ was a great sport.  He just laid there the whole time.

My kids are awesome.

Being a second child

He points to it and says "potty" while trying to pull down his pants.  Then he sits his little booty down on it and says "cheese."

I just love that irresistible smile.

Proud Mommy Moment: Operation Smile

Caleb saw this commercial a few weeks ago.  Ever since, he has been talking about the "babies with owies on their lips."  I told him that maybe he could draw them a picture and mail it to them to make them happy.  I also told him that he could give them some money to help them pay for surgery so that their owies can go bye-bye.  He picked all of the coins from his bank (two quarters and a dime) and one dollar bill to mail to them.

I asked him what he wanted to say in his letter, and he said, "A."  Well...that's a letter, all right!  So together we came up with this "message" for them:

Did you know that $240 is all it takes to give one potentially life-saving surgery?  1 in 10 babies born with a cleft lip/palate dies in their first year.  That's because they can't suck, so they can't eat.  I know what it's like to have a baby who can't eat.  It breaks my heart to think that so many babies can die of starvation.

Nate's employer matches charitable contributions, so we donated $120 and they donated $120.  So together we may have saved a life!  If you want to help the babies with owies on their lips, you can go here.  It feels so good to do it.

And it feels so good to be teaching my small child to think about others and to give of himself to help them feel better.  I hope I can continue to use these opportunities to teach my boys, and I hope they continue to love to give.