A Glimpse into Kelsey's Mind or this could be Titled Gold Digger

A month ago on a Sunday Braden was teasing Kelsey that he saw her underpants and knew what color they were.  Kelsey replied by saying everyone knows what color her underwear is because it was Sunday.  The reason we all would know because on Sundays she wears white underpants because white is pure.  Just in case you were wondering a couple of Sundays after that statement more underwear talk was going on.  The elastic waistband was above her pant line which was what was causing the talk between her and Braden.  I pointed out that she wasn't wearing white underwear and it was Sunday.  I guess she forgot about the purity thing.

Tonight was the best.  Kelsey asked Brian what happens when you eat boogers.  He responded with something about why do you ask that?  Have you picked your nose recently?  Knowing Kelsey I chimed in saying "recently as in sometime this last month".  Kelsey giggles.  Brian asked her if this was true and if she has eaten her boogers recently.  I comment again about "recently as in sometime this past month."  She giggles more and while laughing says "I didn't want to get up and get a tissue."  Brian is totally disgusted and tells her as much which only makes her laugh more.  In her giggly voice she says "What?  It's fun.  It's kind of like a game, when you stick your finger up there and try to reach for them and they move all around..." More laughing and giggling.

That was not the start of the evenings silliness.  Before the boogers conversation I was playing on the ipad with Kelsey sitting next to me.  I turned to ask Brian a question because he had sat down on the opposite couch.  I look up and there he is wearing Kelsey's junior jazz jersey that has been out since Saturday.  He had removed his own shirt to help it fit better.  He put it on to tease her about not wanting it or caring about it.  I died laughing.  Kelsey began screaming.  She said that was gross and there was probably hair in it now.  Brian replied with a yes there probably is and pulled it down a bit to show some chest hair.  She screamed some more and said there is probably boogers on the jersey too because he has been sick.  She claimed it was going to have to be washed a thousand times.  Macy then walks in and exclaims "oh my gosh!  You look like a ..."  Kelsey finishes her sentence with "a weirdo".  The scene was epic.  Of course it was followed with the booger conversation.  At least Brian had put back on his own shirt otherwise I might have wet myself.

Sept thru Dec re-cap

September 

 His way of helping with the laundry. Not Really.

 Starting to climb.

 Kelsey dressing him up.

 I think you sat in something.

October

 Kelsey at it again.  This time with the Halloween box

 Macy (bottom) and Kelsey's (top) pumpkins.

 Braden's pumpkin.  Braden designed it.  Dad tried to carve it.  Mom had to salvage it.

 Leopard, 2 ninjas (one is the gold ninja from Ninjago) and Nemo.

Luckily we had this costume from Kelsey.  I had picked one up from Costco but when I went to put on the new costume someone had swapped the top and bottom.  The jacket was a 12 month size and the pants were 3 to 6 months.  The pants definitely weren't going to fit.

November

 Braden wanted to write an 8-page Christmas list.  Then he changed his mind and went with 6 pages.  He only filled 1 1/2 pages.

 Translation:

 Trouble

December

 Those are Kelsey's underpants on his head.  Luckily they came from the clean clothes I was folding.

 Christmas morning.

Kelsey's note to Santa.  His reply was that he wished he could give her a real light saber but there is no such thing.  He can't make money so he has to be careful how he gives it out.  Her reply was "well he could have given me an iPad mini."

Feeling a Guilty

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.

Does that Hurt?

The scene I walked into was this:

Braden has his shirt up and his skin is pinched between a huge magnetic clip that is meant to hold paper on the fridge.  It is kind of like a clothes pin.

I hear Kelsey ask "Does that hurt?"
Braden while laughing says "yes, really bad."

He then proceeds to clip is else where on his body.  The whole time grinning in pain.  Braden laughs some more and asks Kelsey "should I clip it to my nipple?"

At that point I intervened.  I am not sure why he kept doing it when it hurt so bad.  I had to make him stop so he could help finish clearing the table.

Updates

 2 days after my last post Tanner went in for his 9 month check up (which was almost a month late).  He doesn't look it but he has thinned a bit from all his moving.  He was 20 lbs 4 oz.  His height came in at 29 3/4 in.  He is a very flexible kid in that some days he can go with only one nap and still be happy.  His nap times are never at the same time, but he is okay with that.  Sometimes they are close to the same general time frame.  He likes to go to bed at 8:30 still but we push that a lot too.  He is one happy monster.

 Braden still cannot get enough of his brother.  He hasn't stopped kissing Tanner.  The most annoying sound in the world is a constant, repetitive kissing sound.  I have to tell Braden to stop kissing Tanner and to leave Tanner alone.  Tanner has started to push him away.  I think he wants some space.  At least he loves him.

 His first boat ride.  He loved it.  He didn't mind the jacket and it didn't slow him down.  He crawled all over the boat and made sure to throw a ball in the water.

 Here he is helping drive the boat and wearing Uncle Jeff's baby hat.

 He is very good at making messes.

 Today he found a new place to play.  Yesterday he crawled into a shelf of the entertainment center.

He thought sitting in this bowl was great fun.

Enough about Tanner.  Here are more of our adventures.

 Enjoying the outside.

Swimming at Mike and Becky's on Memorial Day.

 We went to the Curiosity Museum at Thanksgiving Point for Grandma Wendy's birthday.  All the kids had a blast.

 Macy even promised to eat fruit and vegetables every day.

 We finished school for the year.  Kelsey's class had a volunteer come to their classroom on a regular basis to help them put together an opera.  They began working on it right after Halloween.  The kids came up with the subject, the story line and all their parts.  It was really cute.

 Braden finished up preschool.  Man has he grown up, mostly in good ways.

 But the "boyside" and goofiness is really starting to come out.  During his end of the year performance he was more easily distracted.

He had more fun being silly with his friend than singing the songs.

 We also had fun at our Stake Carnival.  Our friend's have done a spectacular job 2 years in a row.  I hope the next chairman can do as good a job.

Where is Tanner is the Midst of all the Chaos?

He is right there with everyone making sure he is heard.  He is not a quiet child and has many funny sounds.  Everyone's favorite is a "clearing your throat" kind of sound.  Some people think he is choking until he keeps going and they realize he is doing it for fun.  My neighbors get a kick out of it every time they hear him going.
What I am grateful for is that his loudness is not a bad one.  He is a very happy baby and is real easy going.  He cries very little.  In fact several friends have commented "that is the first time I have ever heard him cry".  He does have his whiny moments.  Most of those are due to the fact that he wants to do things that he can't yet such as move around faster.

He is very flexible and easy going about his routine.  This is both bad and good.  It has made planning very difficult because I am never sure when he is going to wake up and when or how long his naps will be.  The combination of irregular schedules, preschool hours, and Braden refusing to go to the gym daycare has made getting to the gym rather difficult.  The good of it is he doesn't have to nap at a certain time or risk loosing a monster.  He can go several hours between naps and still be a happy kid.  For example on Sunday he only took one nap and was still as cute as ever.  This makes it easier to run multiple errands in one day.

He is 9.5 months and on the move.  I don't know if he will crawl because we have hardwood floors which makes the army crawl a piece of cake.  He can go from his tummy to sitting easily.  We have had to move items up higher and make sure doors are shut.  He has already mastered mess making 101.  I forgot how animal like babies on the move can be.  I am constantly reminding the kids to keep their shoes out of Tanner's area because he will chew on them.  Many times throughout the day I hear myself say "Tanner stop eating the rug." "Don't eat your brother's paper airplane."  He also likes to follow me around the house like a little puppy.  Too bad I can't let him clean the floor like a puppy.  This is a list of things already fished from his mouth since he became mobile:  lawn plug from when the grass was aerated, wood chips from the flower beds (he loves these), large dust bunny, bedding from Sniffle's cage, peanut, raisin, tape and paper.

He has 6 teeth and bites everything including my arm.  I meant to write down when his teeth came in but I forgot.  I think the bottom 2 were around 6 months and the top four around 7 or 8.  Unlike Braden, Tanner likes baby food and prefers it over a bottle during the day.  He is a terrible snacker and will sometimes drink only a couple of ounces of his bottle then play.  30 minutes later he will eat another couple of ounces.  He likes to eat when everyone else is eating (doesn't want to be left out).  He is also easily distracted while eating which fuels the snacking cycle.

He is not a cuddler.  He doesn't really enjoy being rocked to sleep.  In fact there was a couple of months that if you tried he would scream. Then when you would lay him in bed he would calm down and go sleep.  He still likes to be laid straight into bed and he will go right to sleep.  He has a favorite blanket that he sleeps with every night and each nap.  When you lay him down on it, he immediately grabs the blanket and brings it to his face.

Despite being a non-cuddler, he used to give the best kisses.  This was around 6 months.  Some of those kisses were close to crossing the line to making out.  I would have slobber all over my face when he finished so he would have been counted as a bad kisser.  But it always made me laugh.

 Playing/eating his first sword.

 Learning to feed himself.  For some reason he always gets it flipped and he chews the bottom.  He has improved but when he gets distracted and stops eating the bottle always flips.  Then he shakes it soaking his clothes.

 First time in a swimming pool.  This was the beginning of April.

 Of course he found a rubber ducky to eat.

 Playing the Indian drum on our visit to the Gale History Museum.

He loves his bath time.  He likes to drink the water.  He doesn't mind laying on his belly in the tub.

 He loved his feet.  This was in April but he has since grown out of the feet loving stage.  He used to lick his toes and always grabbed his feet when he was on his back.

 Wandering the room at Macy's birthday party.

 Making a mess.  He found the letters on a shelf and pulled them all out.

 He is so smart.  He can read (pretend to anyways).  I tried to snap the picture when he had the book open.  It really looked like he was reading.  He even had it right side up.  It looked so funny.

Made his way to the back door.  I think he was wondering when her could go outside and play like the big kids.