Winky a.k.a. Wrinkly

Anders was getting dressed after a long bath and as he caught sight of his hands he says, "Dad, my hands are winky...and my feet are winky too!" Another thing to work on.

Close Your Eyes and Go To Sleep

I was singing with Anders to tuck him in tonight. When I asked him what song, he immediately chose, "I Am A Child of God!"

He starts to sing the third verse. I start singing to help him remember the first verse. He says very bluntly, "Mom, it's my turn. Close your eyes and go to sleep."

Well, excuse me mister bossy pants.

Public Singing

Today was Stake Conference. We arrived a half an hour early because we had anticipated bridge traffic that never materialized. We were early enough to hear the primary choir practicing for the session.

When the primary choir got up half way through the first hour, Anders exclaims, "They're singing again!" Then they started and Anders didn't hesitate to join in, with great enthusiasm and volume. After the first verse he turned to his dad and said, "I know this song!" Then at the third verse he yells, "I love this song!"

When they young men/young women choir performed their number halfway through the second hour Anders turned to me and said, "I don't know this song...what is it?" I told him. He said "I want to sing it". I told him to go ahead and sing then. He repeated with a very accusatory tone, "I don't know it!" Apparently it was my fault that I hadn't taught him this song yet. To be fair though, it was a medley of "As Sisters In Zion" and "Army of Helaman". I hadn't considered "As Sisters In Zion" a necessary song as part of Anders limited repertoire at this point.

Birthday Gift Ideas from an Almost Three-Year-Old

Me: "What do you want for your birthday?"

Anders: "huh?"

Me: "Well, do you want a toy or how about some new books?"

Anders with a huge grin, "Lots of new books!"

Then Anders again later, "For my birthday I want lots of books and toys!"

Me: "Okay, what toy?"

Anders: "New toys!"

An almost three-year-old is zero help in trying to come up with birthday gift ideas. At least I know he will be happy with some new books.

Really Big Cat

I was in my room getting ready for the day when I overhear Anders exclaim, "Woah! It's a really big cat!" So I come to look out the window to see what he is talking about. As I walk into the living room he points towards the coffee table and shows me what you see in the picture below and exclaims again, "It's a really big cat!"

Peanut Butter

Tonight we were doing our breakfast for dinner that we do every Wednesday night because it is Anders favorite. We do eggs and homemade hashbrowns first, followed by pancakes. David and Anders like to do peanut butter and syrup on their pancakes. Bram usually eats his plain.

Bram had finished all but a bite of his pancake. He squawked for David's attention. He then pointed to his bite of pancake and with two fingers just above the pancake, he acted like he was smearing peanut butter on it. It was incredible and very easy to immediately see that he wanted peanut butter on his last bite.

Anders got a haircut. I had to buzz off all his cute curls because his hair was looking pretty scraggly. I have been cutting it with scissors for the last eight months, and you could finally tell because it was so uneven everywhere. We needed to start from scratch again. I miss those gorgeous waves of his. He feels like a new kid and keeps on talking about what a big boy he is because of his haircut.

Wasp of Hair

Today we went to the park for Bram's second time since the weather has changed. From previous posts you understand that he took awhile to overcome the complexities of the sidewalk. I thought that was funny. It was nothing compared to his reaction to the sand on the playground. He would freeze like he had just hit quicksand and his life depended on on him staying absolutely still! He fell over once and he had this hysterical chuckle that was the perfect indication of how much it was freaking him out to be in the sand. After that, if he felt any sand on his hands he would grunt and shout to ask me to get it off.

Once we got home, I pulled out instant pudding mix. I had a hair in my face that I went to pull back back with the rest of my hair and I felt something on top of my head in the process. I went to brush it off with my hand. When I felt the top of my head again it was gone. I looked all over the floor to see what had been in my hair. I couldn't find anything anywhere. So I started feeling around the rest of my hair. I found what felt the same as what had been on top of my head. I grabbed it with my hand thinking it is part of a tree or something. Nope. I was holding a live wasp.

Bram probably would have eaten it. Have I mentioned yet that he is my gross child. If there is anything unsavoury around, he has to touch it and make as big a mess as he can with it. This picture doesn't even begin to do his grossness justice. He demanded to eat peanut butter crackers with me and proceeded to pull them apart to eat just the peanut butter AFTER he smeared peanut butter all over his face and hands ON PURPOSE.

The Aptitude of Anders

He is not even three and he already has all of these songs down with little to no prompting. There are others, but I could not think of them all right now.

CHURCH SONGS

I Am A Child of God
I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus
I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ
Popcorn popping
I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home
I Hope They Call me on a Mission
The First Article of Faith
I Love to See the Temple
My Baptism
Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam

OTHER SONGS
ABC's
Alligators all Around
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Old McDonald
Elephants Have Wrinkles
The Wheels on the Bus

He also knows all his letters by sight, both upper and lower case. We almost have his numbers down up to twenty. Still working on him recognizing the numbers. He also is getting familiar with the sounds the letters make. He has most of our books memorized, we do read for at least a half an hour a day.

The Brilliant Bram

Words he can say:
Mama
Chocolate
Book
Ball
Baby
Daddy
Jesus
Juice
Please
Milk
Brownie
Granola bar
Cookie

Words he can sign:
More
Food
Bath
All done
Milk
Caterpillar
Mom
Dad
Please

I wish I could sleep in any position like Bram.

Hiccup Song

I sing Bram to sleep while cuddling him every night. Tonight, I got the hiccups right before I started singing to him. It sounded a lot like this: "I am a child of g - hiccup - God, and he has sent me here, has given - hiccup - me an earthly home, with p - hiccup - parents kind and dear". You get the picture. Bram thought I was making a new funny noise to make him laugh. And it worked. For the entire four verses of "I am a Child of God" Bram laughed at each and every hiccup. It was so cute I wish I could have recorded it. I guess blogging about it will have to suffice.

Sidewalk Walking

Watching Bram discover the world and all it's wonders is my new favorite past time. Today it was finally warm enough to go for a walk without a stroller. It was Bram's first experience actually walking on his own on an outside walk.

When we got to the sidewalk, he was completely distracted by its texture. He was really hesitant to walk on it. It reminded me of when Anders was a little younger than Bram and hated the texture of grass. We would put him on it and he would immediately freeze, refusing to move until we would come grab him.

Bram was literally dragging his feet as I tried to get him to come on a walk with us. Gradually he warmed up to the feeling of the sidewalk (he was wearing shoes!) and started trying to copy his brother. Anders was jumping over cracks, and Bram would stop and grunt at a crack and then walk on with a very pleased squeak to applause himself afterwards.

He did not notice anything beyond the sidewalk. I am so excited to see him expand his horizons beyond the sidewalk this summer!

Vampire

I was taking a Sunday afternoon nap with the boys. We just finished getting settled in and David came in to double check if I was comfy. He then asked if I wanted him to close the blinds to make it darker. I told him he knew I slept better when it was light out. So, he turns and walks out of the room and mutters, "vampire" as he reaches the hallway. I love my man's sense of humor!

I'm an ugly, fat sexy momma!

Me: "Anders, am I pretty or ugly?"

Anders: "Ugly!"

Me incredulously, "Hey!...Am I fat or skinny?"

Anders: "Fat!"

Okay, this went downhill fast.

Me: "Am I a sexy momma?" (Mostly, this question was to make his dad laugh)

Anders: "Um....YES!"

David's response to the conversation: "Anders, don't talk to my woman that way!"

Tattle Teller

I didn't know it could start before talking did, but Bram has started tattle telling on Anders. Anders is not supposed to close doors because he had been closing Bram in rooms and it was traumatic for Bram. So Anders went running down the hall. Bram was at the other end of the hall, where he could see me sitting in the living room, but also watch Anders. I hear a door slam. Then Bram starts charging up the hall frantically yelling, "Mama, mama, mama!" He was most definitely telling on his brother for shutting a door.

Lucky for me, Anders is pretty good at tattling on himself. If I hear Bram crying that he is hurt, I will run in and ask Anders what happened. Anders will readily volunteer, "I hit him!" I wonder how much longer that honesty to a fault will last.....

The Eternal Tear

Bram has big cheeks and knows how to use them to his advantage. Like how he cries, and stops soon enough to leave a wet trail to one, large tear drop just above his cheek. And it will stay there until he is done with it. So tonight, he was crying...then stopped...and then ten minutes later David wiped his nose, and as it was being wiped he pointed to the tear on his cheek to indicate that he would appreciate it being wiped away as well. It had achieved its purpose of reminding us for long enough that he had been unhappy.

Young Minds

Anders: "You be in trouble."

Me: "Why?"

Anders: "For not wearing pants."

FYI, I was fully clothed when he told me this. And he was looking at my pants when he said it. What a wild ride it would be to be inside his two-year-old brain.

Working On It

Apparently, David and I say, "working on it" A LOT. WE did not realize this until Anders started to use the phrase a lot too.

Me: "Anders, are you taking off your clothes for bath time?"
Anders: "Working on it!"

Me: "Are you picking up your toys?"
Anders: "WORKING on it!"

Me: "Are you getting your water from the fridge?"
Anders: "WORKING ON IT!"

He has got too much spunk.

And Bram. Guess who can say brownie with ease? He is a food junkie for junk food. He would be a very happy camper if all we ever ate was chocolate.

Same As You

Anders is in a phase where it is really important for us to all be the same. When I change Bram, he is always asking to change into the same clothes to match Bram. When David was dressing him this morning, he insisted that he needed a plaid shirt to match his dad (Bram was still sleeping). He has also been obsessed with jeans, because he has noticed lately that mom and dad are the same in the fact that they both wear jeans all the time. So he wanted a pair. We finally went and got him a pair this morning, and he insisted that Bram needed a pair too. So here they are in their jeans. And I have to say, they both rock them!