Granby Zoo

I have a three-year-old! Eeek!

We had a beautiful day at the Zoo to celebrate his birthday. Anders and Bram both loved the zoo, but for entirely different reasons.

Anders loved seeing all the animals, especially the monkeys. He also loved pulling the green wagon that he insisted we get as green is still his favorite color. We also got to ride on a train through a portion of the park. He has been asking to ride a train for months, so we got to check something off his bucket list on his birthday! Score!

Bram loved getting ice cream. He was also the only one who wanted to pet the goats and sting rays. And he loved seeing the fish and water at the exhibits. He would point and shout "puddle" at every body of water that he saw. His obsession with puddles has become so extreme that we cannot keep him away from puddles anywhere we go. He charges straight for them, completely ignoring anything we say. He also was obsessed with the orange traffic cones sectioning off portions of the parking lot. I am pretty sure we wouldn't have ever made it into the zoo if we had let Bram continue playing with them.

Some three-year-old updates on Anders:

Favorite color: green and blue

Favorite food: green smoothies, French fries

Favorite t.v. Show: Go, Diego, Go

Favorite movie: Peter Pan or Ice Age 3

Favorite friend: Nathan Morin (age 3), Samuel Plaskett (age 2), Jakob Bosworth (age 14), Bram.

Favorite game: dart guns

Loves: Riding his bike, reading with Mom, green peppers and cucumber, taking baths and showers,

Dislikes: Swimming, time-out, sand in his shoes, getting his hair cut, being chased or scared.

He is obsessed with getting bigger so he can:

Drive mom and dad's car.

Drive grandpa Bilodeau's tractor while grandpa rides in the trailer.

Wear underwear and use the toilet like Elmo.

Be as tall as mom and dad.

And he is huge. He is 42 pounds, which is the 97th percentile for his weight. He is above average for his height and of course his head is huge like his dads. He looks more like a four-year-old. He has also started showing his own fashion sense. Notice the two different colored shoes.

Anniversary Trip to Lake Sacacomie

We went on a little family anniversary trip to Lake Sacacomie in Quebec. It was beautiful. The hotel lodge that we stayed at was like stepping back a few decades. There were no clocks in our rooms, or televisions. We did have wireless internet...but we didn't spend much time in our room. They had an indoor and outdoor pool, they had complimentary canoes, kayaks, and paddle boats at the lake.  During the brief duration of our trip up there we had beautiful weather for the season. It rained right up until we arrived, and started right when we were leaving. So we were able to swim in the indoor pool. Anders is in desperate need of swim lessons. He is also in the 97th percentile for his weight, and it doesn't help that he is like pure muscle. He doesn't really float AT ALL. So he wasn't very fun in the pool. Bram was fearless and a lot of fun. The next morning we went early to do the paddle boats and canoes. I wish we could have canoed all day long. It was so much fun. Needless to say, we will be going back next year. It was a fabulous trip!

Woah!

We were out for a walk and Bram won't budge. I turn back to check on him and he points to his bum and says, "boop." He then grunts real loud, is pushing, and then exclaims in relief, "woah!" Really?! Thanks for the play by play little one. 

Truck Pajamas

Last night, Anders was telling his dad that he was going to buy him some truck pajamas. Apparently Anders feels that David's plain blue pajamas are too boring. As I was putting Anders down for his nap today he tells me about how he needs to buy his dad some truck pajamas, same as him, and that I need to get some truck pajamas same as him too.

The day I start wearing truck pajamas is the day the  boys have officially taken over. Never going to happen.

While on the subject of pajamas, here is a little gem of a picture when the boys swapped pajamas. Anders thought it was hilarious!

 

Sword

Anders moved all the chairs around in the living room and we asked him what he was doing. He responds, "Playing swords." We explained to him what a sword was and then tried to tell him that jumping on chairs is not playing swords. He insisted that it was. Then I caught him on video winding in and out of the chairs like a maze. I asked him, "Are you playing like you are in a maze?" Anders says, "Yeah, I like maze." He couldn't find the word for what he was doing, so sword was the closest thing he could come up with for maze. His maze is pictured below.

Sad Eyes

Anders: "My eyes are sad."

David: "Why are they sad?"

Anders: "No sunglasses."

A different conversation:

Anders: "Like this favorite color mom?"

Me: "Yes, that is the point of it being my favorite color."

Anders: "So like it?"

Driving honey

So my wife drives a woman in a ward to do her grocery shopping once a week. Her name is Amie, but Anders calls her Honey, no matter how many times we correct him.

This morning he was playing with cars and I listened to him say:

Anders sit here, and Brammy sits here and momma sits here. Then we're driving...driving...

Then honey sits here then we're driving...driving and then honey goes and does the groceries.

Funny! Guess he is used to doing it.

Put A Shirt On Dude!

We were driving home from seminary tonight and there was an old man walking around topless. He had a nice beer belly hanging over his shorts. It was not my favorite sight, so I said out loud to nobody in particular, "Put a shirt on dude!" As we were driving past a different topless man on a bike Anders voice from the backseat echoes, "Put a shirt on dood!" I was laughing so hard. I love that boy!

Heavenly Father keep you safe

This is David again posting for my very occasional interjection/story:

Tonight, Anders was scared so Syd asked me to cuddle with him for a little bit to help him feel safe. So we were talking about how daddy keeps him safe and that momma also keeps him safe. He asked if Bram keeps him safe and I told him that because he is bigger, he keeps Bram safe. I then told him that Camrose keeps him safe too and that is why she wanders around at night and is in his room sometimes.

Then I asked him "Do you know who else keeps you safe?" and he said with a little genuine grin I could see in the dark, "The missionaries!?"

I said, "It is possible. But do you know who else keeps you safe? Heavenly Father and Jesus can keep you safe if you are scared and help you be safe if it is right. You can ask for them to help you by praying." I then talked to him about how to ask for help when he is scared and asked if he wanted to do so tonight and he said yes so we sat up in his bed and he said:

"Heavenly Father, thank you keep me safe. Please bless it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

He then told me that he was not scared any more and that he could go to sleep now. I asked him if he was happy to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ could keep him safe and he said yes. Then he spontaneously decided to tell me: "Heavenly Father keep me safe. And momma keeps Jesus safe. And momma keep Heavenly Father safe."

Kind of heartwarming and cute to be a part of as a dad. The simple faith of a child to accept that his Father in Heaven loves him and can keep him safe from the imaginary dragons, alligators and monsters helps me to have more faith in his ability to help me with the challenges that I face.

I Want A Green Bicycle

We had a very thoughtful friend bring a hand-me-down bike for Anders. We were given a bike last year for Anders, but it is still a couple years too big. We pulled it out earlier to double check. So, we told Anders that someone was bringing him a bike and would be getting to our house soon. They were also dropping off a bunch of books their youngest had grown past. 

Anders says, "For my birthday! I also want balloons!"

I reassured him that it wasn't it birthday yet, and that he would get balloons on his birthday.

So he continues, "Maybe tomollow for balloons? And my car?....I want a green bicycle."

I laughed and told him that I didn't know what color his bicycle was going to be. When they showed up with it, not only was it the perfect size for Anders, but it was also GREEN. What a blessed child. 

Someone gave us two helmets which is great when you have two kids. Bram felt a part of the new experience while Anders tried out his new bike. It was an exciting adventure for all of us. Anders is too big!

Sugar

Anders: "I love you Mom!"

Me: "I love you more!"

Anders: "I love you a lot!"

Me: "I love you most!"

Anders: "I love you most!"

Me: "No, I do!"

Anders: "No, I do!"

Me: "Okay, you win."

Anders: "No, you win!"

He loves me more and I win. He sure knows how to butter me up.

Contradiction

Anders: "My shirt, I did it myself."

Me: "Good job."

Anders: "Yeah, you helped me."

Wait a minute. Something doesn't add up here.

Dirty Socks

We were in the middle of eating dinner tonight, when we notice Anders' dirty socks on either side of his  plate. David asks, "Why did you take off your socks?" Anders replies, "Cause they're dirty!" Um, pretty sure it has never been okay to put dirty socks on the table. I guess David should have picked a more direct questioning method. For instance, "Is it okay to put dirty socks on the table?" Absolutely not!

David proceeded to grab the socks from the table and tossed them on the floor to deal with after dinner. Bram, of course, grabbed them immediately after being cleaned up post dinner. I asked him if he could put them in the dirty laundry basket. He sauntered off. I quietly followed to see if he would actually do it. And he did! He is so smart. 

He also has been using a sign we couldn't figure out for about a week now. He points behind him and then does the sign, and them screams at us. Anders figured out what he was doing tonight! He was signing his version of alligator and was trying to play make believe with us. Thank goodness we had Anders to interpret. David and I would never have been able to figure that one out.

Found this gem of a picture and couldn't resist posting it. May be the best picture I have ever taken. I am so photogenic!!!!!

Almost Wurds

These are a few of the almost words the boys use that I don't want to forget. Ever.

Anders:

Aterpots - apricots

Tomollow - tomorrow

Naken - naked

Hanmerburger - hamburger

Bram:

Go, go, go - always three times

Eez erger - cheeseburger

Ick - stick

Bubba - Anders 

Ander - Anders

Mo ickle - motorcycle

Bo Bo - pacifier

Go it - got it

Goggie - doggie 

Meee - excuse me

Bram did not trust that shady tigger character. Frankly, I don't blame him.

Bo Bo

We were at seminary last night and I was with Bram in the hall. He had taken out his pacifier to get something to drink. When he finished I asked him where his "Bo-Bo" went. That is what he affectionately calls his pacifier. I saw it in his hand from the beginning, but he started spinning around in circles looking for it. I kept pointing to his hand and telling him to look in his hand, but he kept spinning in circles to find it somewhere on the floor. I thought I was going to die from laughter. 

Then, we were playing on the stairs to the stage. We were pretending there was an alligator in the dark room on the side of the stage. Bram would point into the room and make an awed face, and then turn and growl at me. 

This morning I was beginning my work-out and Anders requested "the red one, because the other person was naken [naked] on there." The pictures will show you what he is talking about:

No Parking

We were driving back from taking David to the metro station this morning. The road we normally take was closed for construction and the detour road had dozens of new no-parking signs. Anders started to comment on them, "R, another R, orange...your favorite color mom! R, R, oh, a stop sign. Another R."

The no parking signs were spaced about ten feet from each other for over two miles of residential area.  When I realized he thought the no-parking signs were an R, I just about died from laughter. I actually turned around to go back and take a picture, which is shown below.

As we were almost home, I told Anders that we would have a snack when we got home. He exclaimed, "I so excited!" What almost three-year-old says that?

Picking Teefs

Anders: "whatcha doing daddy?"

David: "Picking my teeth."

Anders: "You picking your teefs?"

David: "Yup."

Anders: "You pick my teefs too?"

So David picks his teeth. Bram watched the whole exchange from the comfort of my lap. When Anders thanked his Dad as he finished, Bram grunted and pointed to his mouth for a turn. David comes over and pulls out Bram's pacifier and instructs him to show his teeth. Bram not only shows his teeth but let his daddy pick at them too.

One of my new favorite things that Anders has started to say, "here my are" when he should be saying "here I am!"

That Pole Came Out of Nowhere

We were walking to the video store tonight and Anders was pretty distracted the entire walk. He has started to turn to look behind him while he is walking and isn't very good at determining how far he has gone and whether or not he is walking straight. Let me tell you, it is fun/funny to watch. Especially, when he decides to watch behind him after begging me to chase him, and barely avoids running into a massive pole. Like barely, to the point that he was able to stop himself from getting hurt, but still couldn't completely avoid it.

It reminded me of the time my mom took me, Topher and Tracy to Pismo Beach, California, for vacation. We were on our way to the beach and she was chasing us. We were much older than Anders. I was in my pre-teens I think. I turned around to see how close my mom was and ran straight and hard into a telephone pole. Boy did it hurt. And it provided a great, long laugh for everyone but me.

Keep Me Safe?

Anders makes the request of me every night, "Keep me safe, mom?"

Tonight, I reassured him as I always do that I will keep him safe. I remind him that there are no alligators, monsters or dragons in our house. We are safe.

He reminds me, "I scared of the dragons."

"I know, but there are no dragons here, " I reply. "You are safe. I keep you safe."

Anders continues, "Fly the plane to fight the dragon."

Impressed by his solution I respond, "That is a great idea Anders!"

Anders says, "But the plane breaks, and I fall and get hurt....and I have to watch out for the hole so I don't fall down and get hurt. I be careful not to fall down. I go round the hole careful, mom."

You betcha Anders. I have no idea where you went for the last part of our conversation tonight, but as long as you followed it, that is all that matters, eh?

Andersisms with Daddy

Anders comes into the kitchen while I am cooking something and shoots his gun over his shoulder and then turns around and asks where he hit. Then it is my turn and I shoot it which bounces off the fridge and hits his leg. He says, "we don't shoot at people dad. That's not nice. Say sorry."

I am going to a church training on employment resources today to give leaders tools to help members find jobs. He sees me dressed up and says, " I wear church clothes too? Come with you?"

We bought an adult sized bib, yes they make those. Anders was so excited that he wants to wear one so we can be the same...

Blow on Them

As we were driving today, two fire trucks went past going the opposite direction with their sirens blaring. Anders says, "Mom, TWO fire trucks! Blow on them." I respond, "I don't understand." He explains, "The fire...we blow on it." Currently his only experience with "fire" has been with candles. Can you tell?

Tonight, as we were reading a story called "Wacky Wednesday" we got to a page that had four things that were wacky in a bathroom. One of them is a palm tree in the toilet. Anders says, "That's not right. A tree in the toilet. Pee goes in the toilet, not a tree."

Below is more evidence that Bram is gross:
And this is the face he pulls when I ask him to smile. I love it!