TJ's 31st Month

How long can these monthly posts go on, you ask? I ask myself the same question every month. There must be an end to this madness, right? I mean, 31 months? This is getting ridiculous!! Do I combine the two kiddos into one monthly post? Do I keep the individual posts until they turn 3? 4? 5? Graduation from HIGH SCHOOL? Seriously, I need a finish month. An end date. But alas, this is not the month to end it. TJ continues to change like the wind, and I must document at least some of the details.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm totally over it. I'm over taking pictures, over posting pictures, and I'm certainly over the whole writing part. But this is our family history I'm talking about, which just so happened to be the basis of our lesson at church this week. This is not the month to end it.

Nap time was our greatest trial this month. Nap-time or destroy-a-perfectly-clean-bedroom-in-30-quiet-minutes-time?

He sleeps in the trundle bed beneath Ayla's crib, or at least that's where I put him before shutting the door and returning to a sight like this.

We went to Circus Circus in Las Vegas and TJ played two games. He popped a balloon with a dart.

And some horse racing game that Trent remembers playing a long, long time ago. TJ won a prize for both! "How lucky is that?" as he would say.

We stayed at the Flamingo hotel before Trent's parents came down. TJ loved the real Flamingos at the hotel.

We walked the strip on a few occasions.

TJ busted his best dance moves atop dad's shoulders when he heard music.

And we were able to check "Eiffel Tower" off the list of sights to see.   

The Bellagio's Christmas display was Amazing!

We went to a cactus garden with Grandma Doodle.

We beat Santa to his throne, so TJ acted in his stead.

TJ has the "HO HO HO" down pat

We ate Sunday dinner at great Uncle Chappell's home where we saw his Chappell Coal mine. 

We stuffed ourselves at buffet after buffet.

Santa delivered a few small presents to TJ on Christmas morning.

"Chuck and Friends" is what he asked Santa for.

He immediately asked Dad to play Chuck and Friends with him, so that's what they did on Christmas day. And every day since.

After opening presents we went up the mountain to play in the snow.

TJ enjoyed sledding.

Trent taught him how to make a snow ball.

And told him to throw it at Mommy!

It was definitely a Christmas to remember.

TJ loves to run to the mail box and help carry the mail in. Thank you everyone for the beautiful Christmas cards!

For New Years Eve we celebrated a few hours early with fireworks.

and streamers, and jumping off of high stools yelling "happy new year!"

TJ was very nervous to hold the sparklers.

He remained cautious but warmed up to them a bit.

My mom came down before and after Christmas, which is always a special treat for us all.

TJ loves his new Chuck dump truck.

Which can jump from one fence post to the next.

All of a sudden TJ started calling Trent and I "Dad" and "Mom" rather than "Daddy" and "Mommy." It makes him seem so much older, and I really don't like it.
Some of his common phrases are, "It's oh-tay" "You like that?" and "What going on out there?"
When he gets excited to see someone he acts a little crazy and "shows off." Thankfully he is a little more calm and less of a show off when it's just us at the house.
He doesn't like to share attention with Ayla. And he doesn't like when she knocks over his towers, or takes his toys out of the perfect line he puts them in.
This month he started to scribble a little less, and color inside the lines a little more. He also has drawn some pretty awesome masterpieces, my favorite being his "Christmas tree" that looks a whole lot like a Christmas tree!
We have two goals for TJ for the new year- to sleep without a diaper, and to sleep without a pacifier. I am scared to try either.

Ayla's Tenth Month

Our sweet baby girl is ten months old today. She is still just as happy as can be and brings so much joy to our little family. She gets so excited to see a familiar face, which makes us all feel so special. I see her enthusiastically playing with a ball and I think, "wow, she loves balls!" and then I see her going crazy over a doll and I think, "oh wow, she really likes that doll!" Sure enough she is just a smiley little girl who gets excited over the little things. Some other little things that really seem to delight her are: food, being picked up, attention from TJ, breathing the outside air when it is cold, books, balloons, and standing up.

Ayla is too often the victim of TJ's mischief. She is usually giggling while being picked on, until I raise my voice with TJ and she looks up at me, like "What? We are just having fun!"

Enjoying the ride to her first football game.

It was a nice day, and although it was the last home game of a great season, it wasn't very crowded. We sat with our friends, the Sanders, and had a fun time catching up with them.

While we were in Tallahassee we tried to take family pictures of all the grandchildren. Miss Rylee is so sweet to Ayla.

Ayla learned how to wave this month. She does the back-and-forth wave, the folding-hand wave, and even the beauty queen twist. She is one talented waver.

All eight cousins, except Dana and Andy's baby girl who is due in May.

The following weekend we took some of them to the mall to see Santa. I have always thought Ayla loves to be held by anyone. Santa proved to be the exception. She held it together for a minute and just softly whimpered...

But after a few minutes of us taking pictures, and not taking her off this strange man's lap, she completely lost it.

The cousins had fun piling into the double car stroller and pushing each other around the mall.

Kalil is such a good helper with Ayla, she patiently fed Ayla a huge batch of pears until they were all gone.

We were sad to take them to the airport and see them leave, but we had fun while waiting in the park-n-wait lot before their departure. It was so hot Kalil decided to roll up her clothes and work on her tan.

Kalil and Ayla, and TJ obliviously running in front of the camera.

Saying our good byes.

But hopefully we will see them again soon!

When we got home we decorated for Christmas. It is so fun to have a lit tree with shiny balls to look at.

And eat.

There it is. 

Typical Ayla- putting things in her mouth. We sectioned off a square of our living room with the couches so that she has a space to safely play with her toys (and not the Christmas balls, or the countless other chocking hazards she seems to create) and learn to walk. She loves to crawl to the middle of the room and stand up and sit back down. Over and over again. She is very steady on her feet so I am sure she will be walking in no time. In fact, Trent claims she took her very first step to him this evening while I was out.

TJ's 30th Month

Our two and a half year old is a silly one. He's a bit OCD about doing things on his own and germs. When he gets his mind set on something- nothing comes between him and getting it done. He still loves to help, and will often anticipate what I am about to do and rush to do it before me. He is very into racing and on a  regular basis will say, "Mommy, you beating me!" even when we are in no sort of racing environment i.e. casually walking next to each other in a store.

TJ walks just like his dad, looks a lot like his dad, and bugs people for fun exactly like his dad, but he has something in common with me too- if he doesn't get his sleep, or enough food in his belly, he is a total grouch. 

Being a boy at the Santa Fe Zoo with Julian and Joshua.

Walking like an alligator at the zoo playgroup.

At the zoo playground with Abby.

TJ's giggle face.

Slam dunk fail. Boy still loves to play basketball.

Blowing leaves in the backyard.

At the homecoming parade

Amazed by the sights and sounds.

I made a duck tape road for him to drive his cars on and Trent helped him fill it in with a whole town of block houses, schools, and stores.

Riding his bike at the park.

He never gets bored of pedaling.

We took both kids to a football game in the Swamp.

TJ thought it would be a good idea to put his head in the gators mouth.

Trent carried both children. 

Cleaning the potty and loving it.

Roger and the Mini-Roger

Walking Anna with Kaeme, Kalil, and Ayla- a favorite activity in Tallahassee

My mom made a race track by sweeping part of the leaves- brilliant. 

We were sick with lingering colds for a large portion of the past month, but thanks to lots of help from family, we were able to rest up and at least TJ is completely back to normal. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Tallahassee with all of my family and some friends. We also made another trip up to see Warner's baptism. We just got home yesterday and are settling down for two short weeks before our big Christmas trip to Vegas. I need your address for Christmas cards so send me an email or post it in the comment section. Thanks!