Final Post

We have been very busy since our last post.  I think you all know that the day after my last post, we had another little boy join our home.  Jace was born November 25, 2012 and has been a joy to add to our family.  Big brother AJ loves him very much and helps out at home.  I have decided to start a new blog through which I can update about both boys.  I will send out the info for the new blog as soon as I can.  Thanks for following along with us!

Our first family picture

AJ holding his little brother for the first time.

Jace 

Halloween

This year the holidays are more fun since AJ is older and starting to understand more.  First came Halloween.  He was very excited about the idea of candy (what kid isn't?). We carved a pumpkin for the first time with him this year.  He was all for it - so much fun!

That is, until he smelled the pumpkin.  If you know AJ very well, then you know he is a very smell oriented child.  He likes to smell everything and it has a huge impact on him. After one smell, he said it was too stinky and wouldn't have anything else to do with the carving after that!



We do not have a final picture of the pumpkin sadly enough.  Eric carved it and part of it fell off.  He used a paperclip to hold it together.  But then it got rained on outside and fell all apart.  So much for our first pumpkin!














Then came the day when he finally got to wear his Buzz Lightyear costume.  He was so excited!




















We took him to the fall festival at our church.  He was old enough to play a lot of the games this year.  Plus I was able to get this really cute picture of him and Paw-paw (his great-grandfather).















I told him that after Halloween was over he could play in his costume.  Not very many days go by without his costume.  His favorite is to wear it outside where he can run around and "fly."

June

The beginning of the summer started with a surgery for little AJ.  Due to multiple rounds of strep throat, the doctor said he qualified to have his tonsils and adenoids removed.  After much prayer and discussion, we decided to go ahead with the procedure.  I was very nervous, but we felt it was the right decision.  This picture is before they took him back for surgery.  My dad came along to help.

The surgery went well and was very quick.  God confirmed our decision when the doctor came to talk with me after the surgery.  He told me that his tonsils were really gross and had lots of bacteria and other things growing on them.  To me that was God saying, "See, I told you this was the right choice."

Two weeks of recovery time followed the surgery.  It was not the easiest two weeks of my life, but we are praying that this surgery will mean the end of strep throat for AJ.

Towards the end of the recovery time, we started to get out of the house more as his energy level increased.  We had a week of Vacation Bible School that he really seemed to enjoy.   We took several trips down to see and feed the ducks.  We went to the zoo with his cousin Elissa.  I also used this time to introduce more crafts and painting to him. 

 

Granny is helping him find the blackberries.

As soon as his recovery time was over, we were busy trying to get all kinds of things done.  We have gone places with friends almost every day.   He was finally able to get back in the pool so swim class was back along with Little Gym.  We managed to get out to pick blackberries at the very end of the season.  They were a little hard to find, but he had a lot of fun picking blackberries with Granny.

The blackberries we managed to pick.

 One more activity that had to wait for him to be stronger was rock climbing.  He loves to climb at the park, so I wanted to take him somewhere he could climb safely.  We got him all strapped in, but it was nap time and he was really tired after picking blackberries.  He did climb some, but I want to take him back in a few months when he is a little stronger and hopefully not so tired.

He rode his tricycle down the path to see the ducks.

Mr. Independent

Here is AJ washing his car - all by himself

We have definitely gotten into the "I do it myself" phase.  It is a phase that I love and dislike all at the same time.  I love that he is on track for learning to do things for himself.  I dislike all the extra time it takes for him to do things for himself :)  Now he wants to wash himself in the bath, which is great.  However, he gets upset with me when I just want to double check that he is clean.  He wants to dress himself, which results in longer get ready times in the morning.  Who has that kind of time in the morning?  I am trying really hard to resist the temptation to take over and to let him do these things himself. 

It is too hard to stay mad at this face!

Every morning now he wants to get his breakfast out of the freezer and into the microwave.   I generally let him since it is safe and he feels big.  Saturday morning I made pancakes and left the extras on the table along with the syrup while I went to get ready.  What was I thinking?  When I came back  in he was very proud of himself.  He had gotten a new pancake and poured syrup on it - and  little bit on Daddy's phone!  Oh well, it washed right off and everything was fine.

As independence comes, so does more verbal skills as well.  Which can be quite amusing :)  One day I wanted him to hurry up and wash in the bath so I told him I was just going to wash him quickly.  He got upset with me and said, "I am not your friend!"  This was the first time he had told me anything like this so I had to try hard not to laugh.  I made sure to respond, "You are right, I am not your friend.  I am your mommy.  Now get over here so I can wash you."

I will say that he has also been trying very hard (most of the time) to use good manners.  I hear "yes ma'am" quite frequently along with "please."  I am working on getting him to ask for things in complete questions and he is getting there.

 About 2 months ago, we started AJ in swim lessons.  I know how much he loves the water, so I want him to be able to swim and be safe.  We went over to Aunt Lisa's house to use her pool and he had a blast!  He is not afraid of the water at all and loves the slide!

Buzz Lightyear

About 3 days before his 3rd birthday, AJ began his fascination with Buzz Lightyear. This is his first character to really become attached to. Of course he has other shows that he likes and even went through phases where he watched one show or movie every day. It was too late to change the party theme (we still went with dinosaurs), but I have loved watching him play Buzz Lightyear.

During the first movie, Buzz's helmet is opened and he flops around gasping for air since he was convinced the air wasn't safe. At the end he says, "My eyeballs could have been sucked from their sockets!" AJ really likes to reenact this scene.



He has 5 Buzz Lightyear toys. One really big one that is pretty cool. It is just like the one in the movie - so he talks, shoots a laser, and has wings. He has 3 that are normal action figure size and his last is a plush one he can sleep with on his Toy Story sheets. He frequently will put his arms behind his back and tell me to "push his button." Then his wings (arms) pop out and he flies to wherever it is he was going. Buzz Lightyear talk has taken over many conversations. It is so fun to watch his imagination at work.


Buzz's most famous phrase "To Infinity and Beyond" has become more understandable, but this was towards the beginning of the fascination.

Holidays

As we come to the end of our 2 week break, I have to say that I have really enjoyed getting to spend more time with AJ. He is growing a learning at a pace that never ceases to amaze me. He is overall a very happy child (with a few moments of toddler insanity thrown in).

One things that really impresses me is his manners. He doesn't always remember to say please and thank you, but he is getting there. He usually says excuse me if he needs to get by and wants you to move. The other night I was putting his pajamas on him and when I was done, he said, "Thank you for putting my pajamas on."

This year he was much more impressed with Santa and all of the decorations that come with Christmas. He makes sure to point out Christmas lights every time he sees them - even during the day when they are not lit. He got to see Santa several times this year. He saw him at the mall for his picture, at the adoption agency's party, at a Christmas party for the neighborhood, and on the firetruck. I think he was most impressed with Santa on the firetruck. He seems to think now that Santa rides on the firetruck all the time :)

As with most kids, he was also excited about opening presents. He also like to give presents and will bring me something he found around the house and tell me it is my present.

I am so happy that I had these two weeks to just hang out and spend time with him without the rush of work. I look forward to watching him grow - I just wish it didn't seem to go by so fast!

Smart Boy

I was able to get a fairly good video of him singing his ABCs. He sang them for about 15 minutes straight. Sometimes he skips a few letters, but I love the sound of that little voice singing in my backseat.


AJ loves to read - and I hope it continues through his life. I was getting ready one morning and walked out to him reading the book to himself. Too cute to pass up.






I was so proud when he learned to pedal by himself!