Faith 14 Months

Faith's

Faith's sleep schedule, and mine has been very interrupted over the last couple of weeks. When we got back from our Pismo Beach trip we temporarily moved in with Nanny to help her through the holidays. Faith bounced back and forth between sleeping in the crib in our room to sleeping in the pack n play in Bryce's room. When she was with us, she'd wake up at some point in the middle of the night and would not go back to sleep. I'd bring her to bed with us and she'd insist on nursing ever couple of hours. When she was in the room with Bryce she would often wake up around 3 or 4 and not go back to sleep, even if we let her cry for an extended period of time. Again, when I'd finally get up and bring her back to our bed she'd want to nurse on and off. While I know this was a bad habit to get into it seemed easier than allowing her to cry and wake the whole house up. Once we move back home again, I'll have to let her cry it out for a few nights to get back into a good routine.

Often when Bryce and I eat breakfast Faith isn't all that interested. I'm not sure if she just doesn't like breakfast foods that much, isn't hungry first thing, or if she is full from nursing when she wakes up. However, since we've been staying with Nanny, she'd eat a little of the breakfast I give her and then later in the morning, when Nanny would eat she would insist on getting in her lap and sharing her cereal. It became their morning ritual. After a few mornings of this Nanny wised up and starting pouring herself a larger bowl to accommodate Faith's demands. Other than her two breakfasts, her eating pattern hasn't changed much. She'll still eat just about anything and nurses 4 times a days, not including the middle of the night. When she is finished eating she doesn't just tell you she is finished (she signs this). Instead she rubs her filthy hands in her hair and throws every crumb on her tray to the floor. It is always a big ordeal to clean up after her.

Lately she has been going through another Mommy Phase. She wants me all the time. She walks around saying Mama, Mama a gazillion times. While I love that she wants me, it can also become a little much. If I get up before Nathan and leave her with him she screams and throws a huge tantrum until her brings her to me or until I'm finished in the shower.

Faith gets into more things than Bryce or my niece and nephews ever did. She is so busy and she loves to go right for the things that are off limits. She is constantly digging through Nanny's desk drawers, emptying out the pantry, removing all the Tupperware from the cupboard, and pulling out all the sandwiches bags from the drawer. When you tell her no, she looks at you and keeps doing it. When you remove her, she throws a fit. She can be a real handful.

Bryce 3 Years 5 Months

Bryce is still loving school. Most of the time he still tells me that he plays with Dax and Garrett. I'm encouraging him to play with other kids too. While I haven't personally observed these kids, from what Bryce tells me they don't always play nice and often have "potty talk." He still doesn't like to do a lot of the art work because he doesn't want to get his hands dirty.

Bryce is doing so well with his letters and sounds. When he is in the right mood, he can tell you the name and sound of just about every letter. He can also string a couple of sounds together. Unfortunately, even though he knows these things, he doesn't like to sit down and practice. I realize he is really young still, but I would love it if I could teach him even more. I'm trying to come up with fun ways to keep him interested.

Bryce's behavior has improved a little. He has been having less time-outs over the past couple of weeks.

Sometimes out of the blue Bryce will bring up Pawka and tell me that he is really sad because he misses him, but happy because he is in heaven with Jesus. He asks a lot of questions about heaven and who will get to go and when. He also reminds us that Nanny really misses Pawka too, and that we need to give her extra loves because Pawka isn't here anymore.

Bryce is totally obsessed with Toy Story. We got him Toy Story 2 on DVD and he wants to watch it all the time. He rarely plays with his Car movie cars and hasn't watched the movie in weeks. He is sure that Santa is going to bring him all the characters from Toy Story. He also still likes Peter Pan, but this too has taken a backseat to Toy Story.

Faith 13 Months

Faith is doing great. This past month she has started to communicate even more. She is signing more, and will shake her head yes or no to just about any question. However, more often than not she will tell you no. Some of her new signs include please, birdie and thank you.

She is one tough cookie. Bryce likes to get low to the ground, grab Faith around her middle, or sometimes her neck, and wrestle with her. She often falls to the ground with a loud thud, but doesn't cry. She just rolls over and wrestles with him. We try to encourage Bryce to wrestle with her gently, since she is such a peanut, but it doesn't often happen.

Faith is still throwing some good fits as you can see from the picture. Thankfully once she screams for a couple of minutes she normally reverts back to her happy self quickly.

She is really loving playing with her new doll and stroller. She pushes it all around the house. She also loves playing with whatever Bryce happens to be playing with.

Her feeding and nap schedule hasn't changed in the last month. Thankfully she still eats whatever I put in front of her. She is getting better at using her spoon. She still uses her hand a lot, even with things like cereal w/ milk, yogurt, and soup, but we're encouraging more use of the spoon.

Soda Springs Trip

Nathan, the kids and I headed up to Soda Springs mid morning on Thursday the 12th. Pops and Julie were already there. Packing was simplified since all we had to worry about were our clothes, Nathan's bike, and a few toys for the kids. Pops and Julie took care of everything else, including all the food and drinks.

The house we stayed at was very nice. Since we were the only family joining Pops and Julie for the first two nights, we were able to have Faith in her own room, which made our first two nights much more restful. The following two nights all four of us were in one room. Bryce slept in a bunk bed that ran perpendicular above our bed. He thought it was really neat to sleep up high.

The first afternoon Pops and Nathan went for a little bike ride. Julie took Bryce outside a helped him to build a snowman, which Bryce named "Mr. Tall Foot." The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with the kids. That evening we celebrated Tom's birthday. Rather than having a cake, Julie put candles in some chocolate chip cookies. Bryce thought that was great. Each night after he wanted to know if we could have candles in the cookies.

The next day we went sledding. We drove out a long dirt road, covered with snow, until we found a good spot. It was very beautiful as we had a view of the surrounding snow-covered mountains and valleys below. Bryce had a blast. As he barreled down the hill he would yell "heave those halyards" or "man the long cannons" both lines from Peter Pan. At the end of one run, he tipped forward off the sled and landed face first in the snow. I was sure it would be the end of sledding for him, but he stood up, brushed off the snow and was ready for more. He carried the sled up the hill on his own without complaining at least 40 times. Faith also enjoyed her rides down the hill and equally enjoyed Julie pulling her around on the sled.

That afternoon Nathan and I went on a long walk through the neighborhood while the kids slept. It felt good to get out of the house and get a little exercise. We were hoping Em and Justin would be coming up that evening, but unfortunately Justin got bogged down with work and they weren't able to make it.

The next day we hung out at the house until Julie's kids arrived. We really enjoyed getting to know them and the kids played really well together. Julie had told me that Caitlin and I had a lot in common and that our family structure reminded her of Ryan and Caitlin's. Meeting Julie's daughter, Ally, and her boyfriend was also great. That afternoon we went back to the same place we sledded the previous day. The snow had melted quite a bit, but there was still enough left for sledding. The kids all enjoyed it. On the way back Joey's car got stuck in the snow. The guys had to go back and dig him out. Later in the day Nathan and I went on another walk around the neighborhood

The following day the guys went on a bike ride and us girls and kids stayed home. We played in the snow and the kids made another snowman. That afternoon we all went for a walk. Julie prepared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that afternoon. We ate until we were stuffed. Tom and Julie gave each couple a wonderful poetry book, and each kid received a blessings book.

We left to come home the following morning. Pops and Julie - thanks for a wonderful trip.

Blueberries

Nathan and Bryce planted three blueberry plants at Nanny's house. We did research to find different varieties that grow well in this climate. With any luck each of the three plants will produce about 10 pounds a year.

Bryce had a great time helping Nathan.

Bryce 3 Years, 4 Months Old

Bryce is still thriving at school. He loves it. He has made a lot of friends, but mostly plays with Garrett and Dax. He has not gotten into any trouble since the first week of school when he pushed a little girl. I'm so happy that he behaves well at school and seems to get along with all the kids. In the beginning he didn't like to do the art projects. Now, if I ask him to make me some art on the way to school he tends to participate more.

Naps are still sporadic at best, but he is doing a little better at staying in his room for quiet time.

We have a new timeout spot - the garage or if he has been really naughty than he gets strapped into his car seat. This seems to be the only effective discipline. He hates it. Generally after only a few minutes he is ready to come in, apologize for his actions, and change his attitude. This seems to work better than earning smiley faces which earn him prices or taking toys away. It sounds a bit harsh, but I know he is safe and it really calms him down. When I would put him in his room for a time out he would throw all of his toys down the stairs and try to climb over the gate. It was not good.

Sometimes out of the blue Bryce will come up to us and say, "I love you Mommy (Daddy)." It is so wonderful that he is doing this without prompting. It melts our hearts.

He is still really enjoying playing with his Peter Pan toys. He also loves Buzz Lightyear, his Goofy stuffed animal and his car movie cars. His imagination keeps growing, it is wonderful.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. We hosted a car at the church's annual Trunk N' Treat night. Bryce was Peter Pan, Faith was a Fairy, Mandy was Tinker Bell and Trey was a Storm Trooper. They all looked great. Bryce had a blast going from car to car. He probably went around to each car 7 or 8 times. After going around a few times I recycled his candy into our basket to give out knowing he didn't need that much candy. Somehow we still managed to come home with tons. Bryce also had fun singing and dancing with Pastor D.

Faith didn't get the concept entirely. She had more fun digging through a huge cauldron filled with candy and taking candy from her pumpkin and putting it into the cauldron. She did however enjoy her first sucker (first piece of any type of candy). After a few minutes Nathan decided she was sticky enough and we took it from her.

Grammy and Gramps and Pops and Julie also came to Trunk N' Treat. It was great to be able to see them also.

Dinner Honoring Pawka

The Sonoma County Bar Association honored three people for Careers of Distinction. My dad received one of the three awards. He was notified of his nomination back in May while in the hospital. Normally a couple of letters come in from the legal community supporting each nomination. The Association received over 20 letters supporting my dad, including one letter from the entire Sonoma County bench. My mom was able to read the letters to him while he was in the hospital. He was very proud and humbled by the award.

A special dinner was held in honor of the recipients. They played a video for each recipient showing pictures of their life. Then Cerena Wong, a Judge and friend of my dad's gave a wonderful tribute to my dad. My mom then accepted the award and gave an acceptance speech. She was very nervous to get up and speak in front of 500 or so people, but she did a beautiful job. The evening turned out to be very pleasant. The food, drink and company was great. It was also wonderful to have so many people come up to us that we didn't know and tell us what a wonderful person my dad was and how he impacted them.