I was telling my sister about Braden on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve he was so excited. Of course he was having trouble sleeping. Kelsey had written a note to Santa Claus asking for 2 real light sabers, not fake ones. If she couldn't have those she wanted $1000. If those weren't available, she was willing to take a mini iPad. Well Braden was inspired by that note. At 10:30 he comes out of Kelsey's room (all the kids started sleeping in her room for Christmas Eve last year). He needed to see his Christmas list because he said he forgot 2 things. In a rush to get him back to bed, I told him to tell me the items and I would add them to his list. He wanted $100 and magic, said with fingers wiggling in the air mimicking sparkles. He said he wanted real magic. When I was finished she told me I need to put that story on my blog. Oh yah?! That.
That got me to thinking. All the other kids have stories about them growing up. Braden maybe a little less because I wasn't as diligent. But Tanner will have nothing if I don't write. The family history guilt came over me. I have done a little bit of indexing. I found a couple names to take to the temple. I even added a story to familysearch.org. I guess I should try to do a little for Tanner.
Tanner is almost 18 months. It is hard to believe that Macy was 18 months when Kelsey was born. That was a crazy life that hasn't ended. Some things are easier, some are harder. Macy and Kelsey always had a friend which helped keep them busy. Braden was always my little buddy and pretty low key. These characteristics are diminishing quite rapidly the older he gets. He whines more, hates going to stores with me and doesn't stick around home much. However, I am still required to come down and give him a hug and kiss before bed. We laugh a bit and he smiles at. He still loves me and the hint of my buddy is there.
Tanner spends a lot of time without siblings. More so than Braden because of the age spacing. He wants to be as big as the other kids. He tries so hard to do all that they do but he just can't. Sometimes it frustrates him that they leave him and he is stuck at home. He is a busy body so the only time I can really accomplish anything is when he is napping or down for the night. He could open all our doors as soon as he could walk. They are all lever handles and no locks fit them. One Saturday the kids left. I forgot to lock the outside doors when I jumped in the shower. I realized this between the shampoo and conditioner. I jumped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around me to check the outside doors. The door leading to the garage was open along with my garage door. I had to run back and throw on a jacket and pj bottoms. By the time I got outside Brian was home in the garage asking if I knew that Tanner was outside. I answered yes but I couldn't run outside naked. He is a climber. I never had one of those. The bar stools have been put in storage and he is always on the kitchen table. Cups filled with water and bowls with milk are not allowed to be left out. He pulls large cans out of the pantry and uses those to get to higher shelves. He throws the biggest temper tantrums out of all the kids. When angry he can cry for 20 minutes straight. He throws himself into couches and falls to the ground scooting all over the place. He has hurt himself during these tantrums but there is no consoling him sometimes. They are actually quite funny to watch.
Tanner is not all stinker. He is actually one of the cutest kids. The neighborhood loves him. All of Braden's friends love him. Tanner thinks they are his friends too and will grab their hand when they come in the door. He loves Steve Kirchen and the Kirchen family. He always wants Steve to hold him and his visits them regularly during sacrament meeting. He is a great hug giver. He calls it a huggie. He wraps his arms around your neck and squeezes over and over. It is the best feeling. To make it even better, he adds more people to the group. If Brian is around and I ask for a huggie, he motions Brian over and we have a threesome. There have been times when he has brought the whole family together for a group hug. While Brian and I were at the Vegas Bowl in December, the kids stayed with Brian's parents. They taught him to raise his hand whenever someone would say "Who wants smooches?" Smooches are kisses so someone would run over and kiss him. He loved this game. Recently he has learned how to say "no" by shaking his head so sometimes he shakes his head "no" instead of raising his hand. He says "no" a lot like when we ask if he wants to go to bed, brush his teeth or get in his pajamas. We need to teach him "yes" not that he would use it when we asked to brush his teeth.
TV watching started early for him. I tried to avoid it until he was older but sometimes he was in such a mood right when I needed to make dinner. I found the TV settled him right down and I could get everything done. It sometimes snaps him out of one of his tantrums. So I have given in and try not to use it too much. He is in love with a show called Baby Genius. The kids say they hate it but get sucked in as soon as it comes on. It is all nursery songs. When he first started watching the show he would scream and clap and stomp his feet. It was hilarious to watch his excitement. He would scream when a new song would come on. He still gets excited when you say TV, Baby Genius or actually turn on the TV but the same passion isn't there. Now when the TV comes on he plops down like a big kid and settles in. It is cute. Sometimes he grabs the remote himself and will hit buttons trying to turn it on himself. I have tried some other shows but nothing holds his interest like those songs.
A few other fun facts: He likes to go to bed at 8:30. He doesn't deviate well like the other kids. He has never wanted to climb into our bed. In fact, he hates it and usually squirms out immediately. So much for trying to catch a few more winks. He has 12 teeth with at least another on the way. Despite being the youngest, he is quite the jibber jabber. He is always talking baby talk. He has a few words in his vocabulary: go, ball, mom, dad, gox (socks), bune (balloon), peas (please), shoes, huggie, and poop.
