Boys will be boys

Ewe, yuck, disgusting, no thank you!!! Braden has recently discovered just how "cool" bugs are. He's been collecting them and isn't afraid to pick them up and let them "tickle" him. He always wants me to hold them and touch them. I gently remind him that not all girls think bugs are cool. I don't mind playing in the dirt with him but draw the line at playing with his new-found friends. 

One day during Travis' bath, he started drinking from the faucet. What a goof! He loves bath time and always finds ways to make it fun and exciting.

I have to admit, my little one is a cutie, but don't let his charming looks convince you that he's a pure angel 100% of the time. Sure, he smiles and laughs and babbles "ma-ma, ma-ma" all day long but he also has this fetish/addiction with pinching my skin!!! Any piece of flesh he can get his tiny, little pinchers on is fair game to him. For some reason it must soothe him because he does it when he is tired, taking a bottle, or after he gets hurt. I was hoping it was just a short phase and one day it would just stop but I'm starting to think he's not going to quit without some major "help" on my end. I recently noticed that the underside of my arm has tiny bruises on it from his precious little pinching fingers! Any ideas on how to get this behavior to stop is welcomed!!! I've tried lots of different things but am open to any ideas!

My Little Jedi

Today we went to our neighbor, Sam's, 3rd birthday party. And, if you haven't already guessed, the theme was STAR WARS! Braden had a lot of fun and Travis did too even though he didn't get in on any of the action. Here are most of the jedis (or should I say Padawan learners...) and beautiful Princess Laya. Braden is the one with the sword on his chin if you couldn't guess.

Swinging at the Death Star pinata

Pining the light saber on Luke Skywalker

Attacking Darth Vader

Practicing light saber skills

Of course, Braden decided to fight with Princess Laya. I thought this was awesome!

Look at his form! He's a natural-born Jedi! 

Here is Travis checking out all the fun. The closest he came to a light saber was this yummy stick. Okay, that's not true. He found a light saber to play with towards the end when all the big kids were done with them...

 

Check out this video I got of the boys, excuse me, Jedis attacking one of the adults at the party. Side note: This guy is a Marine who was taken down by a bunch of 3-year-olds. Is our country in good hands? Haha! Totally kidding. He was a good sport to let the boys pound on him like they did!

Happy Birthday Sammy! We had lots of fun!

More Fun at the Beach

Saturday we went to the beach in Marina for the kids to celebrate their dad's birthday. It was beautiful but pretty chilly and super windy! (Not quite as fun as the Pacific Grove Beach in my last post, but fun nonetheless!)

Building a sand castle

Travis always loves to "help" his big brother.

Here's Braden sitting in a hole he dug.

All the boys playing in the sand.

Travis was crawling all over the place. By the time we left, he was covered from head to toe in sand! Wet, fine, sticky sand that's hard to get off! Needless to say, the boys enjoyed nice warm baths when we got home!

 Here's a video of Trav playing in the sand when we first got there. He was crawling right along like a little bulldozer, shoving his hands through the sand. It was fun to watch. He did this for most of the time we were there!

An Awesome Day at the Beach

This past Monday the boys and I were driving past the beach and Braden asked if we could stop and play. We were on our way home from running some errands, with no other plans for the day so... to the beach!!! We had a fun time playing on the rocks and feeling the breeze in our hair. Check out this picture of Travis. His expression says it all.

I was totally loving the view! The weather was awesome, the kids were happy, it was the perfect day!

Through the Eyes of Braden

I asked Braden these questions a couple of months ago and just came across them again. I thought all you grandparents might get a kick out of this. Here's what he thinks about me:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
me

3. What makes mom sad?
when the bottle brush gets frozen in the bag..... (huh?)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
make funny faces

5. What was your mom like as a child?
like me

6. How old is your mom?
hm, I don't know. Are you 10? (me: I don't know. Am I 10?) Braden: I think so.

7. How tall is your mom?
like this tall. (with hand reaching up high.) You're just a little tall.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
play cars with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
get sad

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
being happy

11. What is your mom really good at?
running

12. What is your mom not very good at?
exercising 

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Braden

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
ice cream

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
because you're happy

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
batman?

17. What do you and your mom do together?
play with cars

18. How are you and your mom the same?
both have shirts on

19. How are you and your mom different?
our heads are different. Mine is medium and yours is big.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
hugs

 Kids come up with the craziest stuff! I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the things he thinks and says. He makes me laugh every day. Each day is something new and fun.

Preschool!

Braden went to his first day of preschool today! He is just going to go twice a week for 3 hours which will be perfect for the both of us. He loved it from the moment he walked in the door. Here's pictures of him checking everything out before school started:

Here's Braden reminding me that I can't stay with him at school and that I needed to go home. He loves his independence. Isn't the short sink cute?! Their potty is short too but I drew the line at taking a picture of that!

He had an awesome time and can't wait to go back. His favorite part of the day was riding the tricycle outside. The teacher was very impressed that he followed directions and the routine so well. I can only attribute that to church (nursery and primary.) She was convinced that he'd been to school before and was quite surprised when she found out this was his first time.

Meet Mr. Ed

The other day I went out to my mom's house in Watsonville and stopped to "play" with the horses. They usually aren't out by the road so I was soooo excited to see that they were. They live a few blocks from my mom's house. It was so fun!

I was in HEAVEN! Now if I just could have ridden him...

Check out Mr. Ed!!! He really liked his head being rubbed and started showing his teeth and tilting his head. Not sure who liked it more... me or him...

Click on this picture to check out those teeth!