Brotherly Love

As Miles grows older, Bridger has more interest in him. Weekly, Bridger will wake Miles up from his nap insisting that, "Moddy, Miles needs to play with me." I don't think Miles is fond of the awakening just yet; he quite values his naps.

Well, this need for brotherly play time was intensified a few evenings ago.

Bridger was eating a popsicle outside; Miles was laying on his boppy inside. All of a sudden, Miles is crying. Bridger had set his popsicle down on the cement, walked into the house and was dragging Miles by his feet towards the door - boppy and all. When Brad asked Bridger what he was doing, Bridger explained, "I got Miles, daddy. Miles come eat popsicle with me."

Hey, at least he wants his brother involved in his good times. Thank heavens for these little boys that keep us laughing. And bless that sweet little Miles....he will be one tough, sugared-up cookie.

Little Boys

I feel love for my kids today. I feel the love everyday, but today I am feeling extra love over my little dreamy boys. Even at those times when my 2 year old is driving me to the edge of nuts....or I cannot seem to keep one thing at my standard of perfect in any room of my house...or I cannot get 2 minutes of alone time (yes, Bridger is h.e.l.p.i.n.g. me with this post)...I still love it. I love all of it. It keeps me busy, it keeps me trying to better myself, it keeps my smiling day in and day out.  Thank you, my sweet little sunshines, for bringing me so much joy.

Mister Independent

I have to admit, with all the new be-a-more-physically-attached parent "studies" (yes, I quotation studies....because seriously folks, how long do they actually study some of these methods?), I find myself reviewing my parenting skills and parenting want-to-dos. *Warning: Carissa tangent!* I think that is the point....or at least it should be. The "best" way to parent is different for every person and every kid. To each his own; I truly believe that. The study fetish and all the new publications on the one-and-only-way-to-parent is a little eye-rolling worthy to me. Just as I felt forever ago with the Tiger Mom ideas, these folks that believe and publish all their so-called one-and-only-ways-to-raise-outstanding-kids should do one thing for everyone who reads them --- take what they say and form.your.own.opinion! (Yes, I think the Tiger Mom is on the verge of nuts, BUT, I do like some of her theories on how to encourage the best out of your kids). There are a million ideas out there....and yes, some  great ones, but just because a whose-who from Outstanding Parenting Land claims that their way works and is the only way that works, does not mean it will work for me and my kids.  Maybe that's just me. Who knows. To each his own! Anyhow, back to the point -- with all the new light on the "best" parenting techniques, I have decided I love (even more than I already did) the fact that my 2 1/2 year old is his own variety of independent.

So, my fabulous kid:

He is currently all about, "No, Moddy, I do it."  Yes, he calls me, Moddy.  No, I don't correct him; I find it quite endearing. It melts my heart.  He says "Mom" just fine, but for whatever reason, the 'm' gets lost when he adds a 'y' to the end. Oh cute boy. You are funny. He now no longer has interest in Moddy making his sandwiches. Or his chocolate milk. Or his Crystal Light. Or cutting his meat. So when he wants a good ol' PB&H, he gets his step-stool; then he gets out the bread, the peanut butter, the honey, his plate and his knife. He does it all a to z.  I love it. I love that A) he, on his own, decided he wanted to make his own sandwich; B) that he knew everything he needed in order to do so; and C) that he enjoys eating his sandwich - sloppy peanut butter, spotted honey, off-centered folded bread and all.  He is willing to try and I love that.  I want him to try; I want him to fail; I want him to succeed; I want him to be able to do things on his own; I want him to gain confidence in himself and his growing skills. And I am proud mom of this sandwich-making boy! You go, kiddo!

 

 Delish!

Trouble Maker, Trouble Maker....

There are moments when I wonder...."Where was I?"  This is one of them. Come on now, I can't be everywhere at one time. At this moment, I hollered from my bedroom where I was finishing getting ready for the day, "Bridge, what are you up to, little boy?"  To which he replies, "I got candy, Moddy."  Pause.  Huh?! Candy?  Where in the world did he find candy?  (I am not a keep-candy-in-kids-reach type of gal...or for that matter, I hardly keep candy at all). As I mosied on out to the kitchen....this is what I found.

 

Yep, I just scrubbed the floors the night before. Hilarious?  Yep, to this mischievous face it was.  Somedays I feel it's better to only clean the floors right before I leave town. At least they will stay clean that way. Clean floors is one thing I had no idea would be impossible to keep once I had children.  I dream of a week long worth of perfectly clean floors. Reality?  Not a chance. But a girl can dream, can't she?  Bridger had climbed on the counter, reached up to the top shelf where I keep the tub of gum and mints (aka. candy to him) and was helping himself the yummy-breath goodness. Somewhere in there he knocked his, "No tank you" granola off the counter. Thank heavens for dogs and vacuums to help clean up the mess.

Super Racer

Two weekends ago, my brother came up for his Human Powered Machine competition. It was so fun going to watch his races those 2 days! I had never seen anything like that race before....and it was both fascinating and educating watching the machines that the various schools built to compete with. Who would have thought engineering a human powered machine could be so cool?! So proud of you, Trev!

The other super cool part of the weekend? We snuck it to watch 2 pro racecars take a few practice runs. It was a.w.e.s.o.m.e! We would have never been able to get that close to them at an actual race. Now, heaven knows I l.o.v.e. a good adrenaline rush and as we are watching these cars zoom by and at a zillion mph, all I could do was dreeeeeeaaaaaammmmm of driving one of my own. Hmmm, I'll just add it to the list with flying a jet. That's realistic, right? Ok, so maybe I will never get to drive these need-for-speed machines, but maybe I can be the passenger?! Anyhow, this was awesome. And my cute, little Bridger was enjoying it as much as I was.  All he could talk about the rest of the weekend were the "faster racecars." Adorable. It was even cuter watching him wait for the racecar to zoom around the corner and fly by us on the straightaway. And as the car passed, he would wave, "Bye racecar." So fun. Kids make everything cooler. I love it. And this was super cool.....right until the point we got booted out.

It was such a fun weekend! Thank you, Trev, for providing an excuse to get together and have some fun!