Baby Steps!

I have learned a lot these past 4 months with having two boys. The first thing: to make myself feel good about my day, I set little goals like these and call it an accomplishment when actually done:

1. I got my hair done today, without Timmy being home to take the boys.

2. Both of the boys took a nap at the same time, which means, I got to take a nap!

3. I was able to get both of the boys dressed before noon.

4. We made it to mothers group or the library Story time, before it actually was over!

5. Zach didn't bite anyone today.

6. I let Timmy actually stay at school for his 8 hour allotted time.

That's all I can think of right now, and I have been sitting here for like 20 minutes thinking of other things that I possibly could've done, and yet, I can't think of any. Sooo

Here are my goals in the future....
1. Make dinner by myself
2. Exercise
3. Clean the house
4. Go to bed on time

I'll stop there, don't want to get to carried away. Plus these goals may take awhile. I might have to make up some more little goals, to make myself feel better, like... I will be dressed before 10:00 am tomorrow! Or maybe go to bed right now, because this handsome little face wakes us up every morning at 7:15 am!

Ode to the Grantster

Luckily Zach has not yet topped the crawling out of the crib incident. So now I can dedicate this post to my precious second child who doesn't get the recognition that he deserves. Grant is heaven sent and I am so grateful for my mild mannered little boy who takes a binki. The difference between these boys are incredible. He is the calm after Zach's escapades. He quietly sits by me while we watch Zach make the most of life. He is my constant companion and knows when I need a smile or a laugh to make my day better. He goes to anyone and has this calmness and peace about him that helps me calm down. I love looking into his eyes because they are animated and full of happiness. I get a kick out of how he has always wants to hold his head up to make sure he doesn't miss anything, especially to see where his older brother is, who he loves so much. He talks a lot, and we have some really amazing conversations. I love this little boy and I feel closer to heaven when I am with him because he is such an angel! I love you Grant!

The day I have been dreading has arrived...

Zach learned how to crawl out of his bed last night. I didn't think this day would ever come because he doesn't even run very much and is a very cautious boy. He was so wired after all of his candy from our several days of trick or treating that he was trying to bite Grant. We put him in his crib, and he was screaming his head off and having the time of his life in his crib. (timeout is not effective for this boy!) All of a sudden he walks outside of his room with the biggest smile on his face. Timmy and I start laughing and couldn't believe that he crawled out of his bed.

We put him in his crib again and he crawls out again, in the most careful way possible. We then took out his premium mattress from his crib to the toddler bed. And now he is in his toddler bed, and the containment of the child has been eliminated, My life as I knew it had changed drastically, and hopefully my non coping skills will be able to deal with this! The moral of the story is: do not give your child candy late at night, because then they develop superman skills and can do the impossible!

Zach and Grant

It has been quite an adjustment taking care of two boys, but I have loved not every minute, but close to it. They are great little boys and for the most part get along very well. How we get through the day is that I hold Grant up so Zach cannot reach him, and then when they are close by there is a lot of supervision. I am proud of Zach for handling Grant as well as he has, and learning how to say "nice" when his well intentioned pats on the head become punches!

An eventful Sunday

Here are some quick little stories of of what Zach's Dad saw him do today:
1. We did the dishes this morning. Zach pulled a chair to the sink and turned on and off the faucet, added soap to the bowls, cleaned with the rags, made new wash rags, and got water every where. He loves the sink.
2. Then he pulled his chair to the stove, found a pot I hadn't washed yet, pulled it off threw it in the sink, pulled his chair back over to the sink, filled the pot with water, pulled it down, pushed the chair over, put it on the stove and then put a lid on the pot. After this he wanted to turn on the heat, and thats where his fun ended.
3. I had my sleeping bag out from campout yesterday, so Zach crawled inside to the very end of it and back and forth and back and forth with me in it too. Then we drew pictures with both of us with sicking our heads out of the bag.
4. We had Stake conference and Zach tried to run up to the Stake President and lead our neighbor Lauren to him too, while he was giving his talk (probably on reverence, I didn't hear much of it).
5. Then Lauren showed Zach how to act like a dog, and the two puppies chased each other down the hall.
6. When we got home Zach pushed the rocking chair up to his crib, climbed on the seat, then the arm and then tried to dive in the crib and thats when I dashed in and his fun ended.
7. Then Zach ended up in his crib and we wanted to read books to Grant, so I let him, under close supervision.
8. Zach HATES diaper changes, unless Grant is getting one right next to him, so thats how we got his diaper changed right before bed.
9. I'm sure theres more, but thats enough. Zach is a very busy fun boy. He is always thinking of something fun to do. I had visions of him today as a teenager, dreaming up tons of fun things to do and keeping our family happily entertained. He is a lucky happy boy!

Zach knows how to open doors!

Zach fortunately did not pull anyones hair this week, but he has learned how to open the door. I put him into time out about five times a day and it usually is in his room and I shut the door. The other day I put him in his room and lay down by Grant, so we could both get a little break from Zach. All of a sudden I hear him opening the door and walk into my room and go "shhhh" (that is what he says when he thinks someone is sleeping.) I laid in bed still wondering what he would do next. Then he closed the door, and started running around the house. I got up about a minute later because I remembered that the locks are on the outside of the door because Zach locked himself in his room a couple of times in a row. Not wanting that to happen again, Timmy switched the locks so you couldn't lock yourself in your room. The only problem is that Zach could lock you in your room. Luckily he didn't, but he did hear me get up out of bed and quickly ran back into his room and closed the door. I walked into his room and he was rocking back and forth on the rocking chair, and had the biggest smile on his face! He is a tricky little boy, I tell you!

Zach has had another wild and crazy week!

Starting with him qualifying for Early On because he is speaking at an 18-20 month range. I wasn't offended with him qualifying for it, I was actually grateful that there is help out there to help him get back on track. The early on lady came on Thursday to help him with his speaking skills. Then things went a little wild, because Zach was hungry and tired, so that added onto the wildness factor. First off he was supposed to do a puzzle, but he ended up banging the blocks together. She tried to get him to quiet down with the blocks but that only motivated him to get louder and louder. Then she pulled out a book and a ball and asked which one he would rather play with, obviously he chose the ball. (I asked her if anyone ever chooses the book and she said that most kids do!) She told him to roll the ball to her but he refused and said "Mine!" several times. She finally had to put away the ball and he kept trying to get it out of the bag for the rest of the hour. Her comment about that episode was "Wow, I really need to be on top of my game for this one!"

Then she said that he was hungry and that he should probably eat. I was excited because I thought that meant she would leave. Well, I was wrong, what happened is that she sat and watched him eat. His eating skills were a little dicey, and he kept throwing things off of the table because he loved her reaction. After 10 minutes of eating they went to the other room, while I was in the kitchen cleaning up. All of a sudden I hear this yell from the lady. I rush to the other room, and Zach had grabbed her hair because they were wrestling, or rather Zach was wrestling her! The first thing that entered my mind was that at least he didn't bite her! She left shortly after that. It was a long hour and I felt really bad for the lady. Hopefully next month will go better. Her parting words were "you must have your hands full with those two boys"." And it is true. Grant and I just watch Zach with awe and wonder.