TJ's 32nd Month

TJ is often asked, "how old are you?" to which he replies, "I two and a half" and he knows that in June he will turn three. With Ayla's birthday just around the corner and lots of talk of that, he is already looking forward to and planning his own party. "Mommy, I have a good idea, at my birthday party I will have a batman cake and we will ride bikes and go to the beach and play in the sand..." 

He loves to do what he calls "tricks" or "gymnastics" like standing on one leg, spinning in a circle, or hanging on things.  He also likes to "read books" by looking at the pictures and telling the story. He can often be found playing with his little toy animals and insects, lining them up, moving them to and from various boxes, and telling them what to do. He behaves best when he gets a nap but it is usually a fight to get him to take one- "Mommy, I have a good idea, how about I watch one chuck n friends and then take a nap tomorrow?" 

He knows the nightly routine and won't let anyone but himself say the prayer. His prayers usually consist of lots of thank you's, especially for the fun things he was able to do that day, and he almost always is thankful for food. 

Over MLK weekend we headed south to get some extra sunshine. TJ loved burrying Trent with sand.

But he may have loved getting buried even more!

Trent wanted to take Ayla out into the water but TJ clung to his leg and said "I want to go too!" He loves his Daddy, that is for sure.

We went to Marco Island, where TJ enjoyed jumping in and out of this raft.

He loves to jump!

TJ is often in his own little world, talking to himself, pointing at things, describing them, etc. It doesn't matter if no one is listening, this boy just likes to talk.

Here's an example of one of his "gymnastic" tricks, this is his "handstand." His feet are in the air- clearly a handstand.

"What's your name? Do you want to play in the sand with me?" Making new friends everywhere we go.

My mom came down to work on some projects with me and she brought Anna. TJ was so excited to have them both stay for a few days.

Trent planned a special camping adventure for TJ in the back yard. He taught TJ how to set up the tent (before it gets dark) and all about fire safety. 

They made a fire, roasted marshmallows on a wire hanger, and slept contently in the tent all night long. I think we are ready for a true camping experience.

We went to Lake Wauberg and played some frisbee golf.

TJ was good at finding and fetching all of our inaccurately thrown frisbees.

After frisbee we went for a paddle boat ride in the lake. It was a fun Saturday indeed.

TJ loves to play outside.

TJ is learning how to put his clothes on all by himself- one day he decided to be silly and put his sweater on his legs.

Once he figures out how to do something he is pretty insistent on doing it by himself- "No Mom! Don't help!"

Lately TJ has been a bit more picky with his food. And so was born- the crust-less sandwich.

Luckily little sister- who isn't picky at all when it comes to her carbs- is always there to eat TJ's ends.

I tell you what, TJ is one fun little boy to have around. I love spending my days with him.
Especially when he takes his nap.

Ayla's Eleventh Month

Oh Ayla! Our social little girl with the contagious smile is growing up. This month she went from taking only a step or two at a time, to walking all over the place. She is still a bit wobbly, but she is bound and determined to walk- even if it means picking herself back up every so often.
Everything she finds goes straight to her mouth. Unfortunately she really, really loves shoes. Too often I find her sucking on the sole of some dirty shoe and it makes me want to scream. She also loves to take things out of the containers they belong in (clothes out of drawers, tupperware out of cabinets, wipes out of the box, and most especially- shoes out of the shoe bins). She's shaping up to be just as much of a messer as her brother.
She loves her "dada", and seems to say his name when he comes home. She is usually really happy and full of smiles, but the past week or so she has been unusually fussy. I'm hoping it's just a new tooth, because I strongly prefer the giggly version of Ayla Rose. Oh how I love the sound of her giggle fits. Love her to pieces.

Welcome to Las Vegas. It was our first flight ever to go smoothly with the kids. Ayla was her usual easy going self. We sat next to another family with a boy and girl of the same age and after the flight they asked us if we would trade our daughter for theirs- "she didn't even make a peep!" they said.

Ayla took in all the sights, sounds, and smells of Sin City from the seat of her stroller. Here we are getting on the Las Vegas Monorail.

Las Vegas was coooold, so the beanie was pretty much a permanent fixture on top of her head. And look at those teeth! She has two tiny ones on the bottom, and two (almost 3) big ones up top.

We wanted to take a picture with the Flamingos. Look at all those Flamingos!

Trent and I ran our first 5k just before Christmas in the frozen tundra of Las Vegas. Ayla and TJ dressed for the occasion in their warm up suits. 

Overall Ayla is great at keeping her headbands on, but occasionally they end up around her neck, or in her mouth, like so.

Ayla was a really good girl this year, so naturally Santa brought her some presents.

She looked at them, smiled at them, then moved them straight to her mouth.

Now she is ready for the Florida sunshine.

We bundled her up to observe the Christmas afternoon sledding extravaganza.

Ayla and TJ had an absolute blast with cousins, Adie, Chase, and Parker. It was such a treat to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Heiner, and great aunts, uncles, and cousins. Where are the pictures of these people with my kids? Where was my camera? I am so mad.

On our last day in Las Vegas our great friends, Katie and Joe, visited us at the condo. We got to meet their adorable little man, Will, and introduce him to our little Ayla. Ayla wanted to steal his pacifier and he wanted to take off her bow. I think they like each other?

Our flight home was a red eye. A red eye with a lap child is a literal red eye. It took all of us a few days and lots of rest to recover from that mistake.

Stace and Kim let us borrow their half off card at Moes. We have been eating burritos almost every meal since.

My dad gave me a ton of text books to sell. I wrapped them up in every last cereal box we own and Ayla accompanied me to the post office to mail them out. This was only half of them!

With all the awesome weather we have been having, we can't help but spend our days at the park.

She had a giggle fit on the tire swing. I think she likes to do big girl things.

Happy New Year!

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.