Tannerisms/Blogging Questions

Tannerisms

"Mom, come help me dig for dinosaur bones in the backyard. But, I don't want any human bones. If you find any human bones, just throw them in the trash can. I only want animal bones."
Luckily we didn't find any human bones in our backyard that day!

Tanner wrote the following in his notebook:
"woom"
Mom: "What's a woom?"
Tanner: "You know, like a bedwoom, like this: (Writes the word "BEDWOOM") See, bedwoom!"
Speech problems can be so cute!

Blogging Question

All my friends have such cute blogs. I love the pictures on the side bar and want to copy you! I have been trying to do it, but for some reason I can't get it to work. When I try to upload the pictures, it says the pictures can't load. Do they need to be in some certain format or something? Or, am I just more digitally challenged than I thought? Please let me in on your secrets! Thanks!

Bedtime!

All cleaned up and ready for "Night-Night!"

Butterflies!

We've been watching caterpillars eat, and eat, and eat, turn into Chrysalis', and finally butterflies! This particular butterfly took a special liking to Tanner and I was able to get some cute pictures. Tanner had fun showing his new friend all around the backyard! Three of the ten butterflies got names: Zoomy, Racecar, and Butterfly (very original!) Tanner enjoyed watching the life cycle of butterflies and having "pets" for a little while...

Speedway

Saturday was the Kids Fitness Challenge at the California Speedway! We got to race on the actual racetrack with over 5,000 other people! Tanner rode his scooter, while Ladd and I ran along beside him. My mom pushed Hunter in the stroller. When we crossed the finish line, Tanner looked up at me and asks, "Did I win?" His eyes beamed when I told him he was a winner!
After the race, there was a huge party: bounce houses, tons of free giveaways, BMX bike stunt show, visits from Firefighters, etc. By this point, Hunter was "done", so we didn't stay too long. But, it was fun anyways! It was fun running into lots of friends from church.
The purpose of this event is to encourage exercise and making healthy choices among kids. It is totally free and schools with the most participation get money for their school. I think they do this event throughout Southern California, the website is: http://www.fitnesschallengefoundation.org, if you are interested.

Our Sweet Boys

Over the past two weeks, I have had both boys to the doctor for their regular check ups. I thought this would be a good time to share a basic update on what they are up to...

The Goose

Every time I think of Tanner and the wonderful "big boy" he is becoming, my heart bursts with pride! He is so excited about everything and is eager to learn about the world (and universe) around him.

He takes after his dad in so many ways. He will talk to anyone-even if they don't speak English. (Tanner has been known to teach Spanish speaking kids English at the park!) His excitement for life bubbles over through his speech, making it sometimes a little hard to understand if you are not use to his speedy speech! Tanner is very caring of others and wants everyone to be included. I often find Tanner making friends with children who weren't playing with anyone else, so they wouldn't be "lonely". He is such a sweetheart!
Tanner has turned into quite the little artist. All he wants to do is draw! I find pads of paper and pencils all over. He draws "busy animals". These are animals that drive cars, work as construction workers, go fishing, or do whatever Tanner can think of... He has a very BIG imagination.
I have been so proud of Tanner's reading. We had been working on sounding out words and Tanner was sort of interested, then one day he read a paragraph on his own. "I can read!" he said with a big grin. Ever since then, he has really enjoyed learning to read. I love listening to that sweet little voice reading a story and loving every minute of it!
Tanner is so sweet, but he does test my mothering abilities now and then. Ever since he was a baby, he has been very sensitive to change. He likes things they way he thinks they should be, and if you change something without proper notice, he has a difficult time adjusting. We blame it on his early arrival at birth. Of course it has nothing to do with genetics or parenting abilities. Ladd keeps wondering when his nervous system is going to "grow in"...
Tanner will be 5 in May and weighs in at a huge 34 pounds. He is still in the 0-5 percentile for his age. I joke that it is because he burns all of his calories while he is eating them! We are still working on staying seated during meals! Any suggestions?

The Munchkin

You could not ask for a more lovable, sweet baby! Hunter melts my heart every time I see his adorable smile. He loves to give long, tight hugs and his giggle is very contagious. He is growing so fast- I can't believe he is already one and a half!
Hunter has turned out to be a talker too! He has very serious conversations, that no one can understand, except for him! Here are a few of the words we do understand: Ner (Tanner), touch, baby, shoe, show, moon, wing (swing), more, bubble, wahr (water), and dr (drink).
This little guy might grow up to be a couch potato if we are not careful. He has not met a food he does not like and he loves the TV and the computer. Whenever he passes the TV he asks for "show". His favorite: Elmo!
Hunter keeps me on my toes a little more than Tanner did at this age. He is such a climber, but does not have the best balance. Some of his favorite climbing spots include the table, our steep hill in the backyard, and the top of the toilet. So far he has survived with fairly minor bumps and bruises.
At 18 months, kids can start going to Nursery at Church. Hunter had a hard time being without mom at first. But, when he realized Nursery=Snack time, he could careless if Mama was bye-bye! The way to this kids heart is graham crackers!
Speaking of food, Hunter weighs 26 pounds, only 8 pounds lighter than his brother who is 3 1/2 years older!


We are so proud of our adorable little men. Both of our boys have been such a blessing in our lives and we are so grateful for their sweet spirits!

Happy Birthday Patrick!

On Saturday, we drove out to Indio with my dad and grandma to go to Patrick's birthday party. Patrick is my cousin's son. He turned 4! We had a blast at the party, which was at Pump It Up, or the "Jump House" as Tanner calls it. The picture above shows Patrick, with his parents, Brenda (my cousin) and Roland.
We missed Ladd. He had a school softball tournament at the same time. We were happy to hear that the 3L's won! (3L=third year law student)



Tanner with my dad, my grandma, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Chuck

We Did It!

On Saturday, four friends and I ran in the Agoura Hills "Great Race". I ran the 10K , which is a little over 6 miles. But, Wendy, Bethany, Laurie, and Suzanne were the true champions, they all finished the 1/2 marathon! We had lots of fun.
On Friday, four of us drove out and stayed the night at a hotel. We went out to dinner at a little Italian Restaurant. We figured some pasta would help give us the energy we needed to make it through the race. Little did we know that we would be the only people at this "Italian Cafe" wearing jeans and tennis shoes. Everyone was dressed up and the "live entertainment" took great interest in us. He asked if we were students, where are boyfriends were and when he saw Laurie's ring, he asked if she was married or engaged. She responded that she was married with four children. We proceeded to tell him that between the four of us, there were thirteen children. He was shocked, but that did not stop him from serenading our table with some song none of us were familiar with, but were pretty sure it was a little inappropriate. Oh well, at least the food was really good!
Anyways, race day was early and exciting. I am very proud of my half marathoners! They said it was more of a hike than a run, with difficult hills and very rocky terrain. But, the 10k was beautiful! There were some steep hills, but not too bad. Agoura Hills is a beautiful area and the run was very scenic. I ran it in a little over 58 minutes, with a pace of 9:24 per mile. I was hoping to finish in less than an hour, which I barely did! I finished 28 out of 132 in my age division. I had a good time and am looking forward to the Fontana half marathon in June! I am glad I have such good friends who inspire me...

Past weeks Adventures

Today we went to the Bubblefest at the Discovery Science Center. It was a fun, fun show! Both the boys loved it and were mesmerized by the bubbles! Ladd and I were very curious as to how Fan Wang (the bubble blower) became such a bubble expert. I might have to do some research about this guy...
No pictures from the Bubblefest, no cameras allowed. But, I did get this picture of my brave boy who finally decided to lay on the bed of nails at the Science Center!





Last Friday, we went with a bunch of friends from church to the La Brea Tar Pits in LA and the Natural History Museum of LA County. The kids had a great time, even though it was a very long day! Tanner has not stopped talking about Whooly Mammoths and has referred to the water of the "olden days" as tar! Tanner loved exploring both museums and most of all having so many friends to explore with! Hunter loved this giant polar bear that he could pet at the Natural History museum! He was happy to sit in his stroller most of the day and look at all the displays!




We also took care of my mom's dog, Phoebe, last weekend. My mom went to Washington DC to walk in an Epilepsy fundraiser with her brother and his family. I am so glad that all of my kids grandparents have pets, that we occasionally care for. This way, we get the fun of having a pet for awhile, without having to care for it all the time! Phoebe is a sweet, energetic dog who the boys adore! Hunter still looks for "pupa" every morning when he wakes up! Phoebe's favorite place in our house is right under Hunter's chair. She has learned that he his not very neat and loves his scraps!