Quinner :: 17 months

Hey Kid -

17 months old.  You make us tired.  You say, "A duh!" for pretty much everything and it is up to me mostly, to figure out what "a duh!" means at any particular moment in time.

It's a struggle.  We've really hit that rough and fun age with you.  Rough, because we really have no idea what you want and fun because let's face it, you are freakin' hilarious.

You love to wear Elliott's shoes....on your hands.
You dance.
You run.
You are a major pain in the butt at church every week. We thought 9 am church would be better for you but alas, it is not.
You are a pretty good and dependable napper.
You love to go "bye bye" and wait by the door that leads to the garage.
You love to stop in the snow and bug Wyatt.  He loves to run away from you and you love to chase him.
You think it's really funny to scratch people - mostly faces, but you drew blood on Elliott's back last week.  Not sure why you think it's funny but you do.



You use baby sign language for "more" and "all done" which really helps a lot.  We're working on "thank you" but it's not making any sense to you.

You love fruit snacks and chocolate covered pomegranate seeds.  You love diet coke, too, but you only get that sparingly.  You also love pasta and rice and french fries, but balance it out with as much fruit, lately craisins, as you can shove into your mouth.  Oh, and bacon!  You really like crispy bacon.

When I say, "okay Quinn, let's change your diaper" you drop down to the floor right where you are and wait for me to bring the diaper.  It blows my mind that you can understand what we are saying to you, but you do.



You can throw away garbage.  You say: mom, dad, Elliott, bye-bye, hi, dog, please (peesh), up (only sometimes) and Elmo.  You are very good at holding my hand in parking lots and will only sit in a shopping cart if I have a steady stream of hi chew candy to feed you.

You walk to the pantry and say "A duh" which mean "open please" in this instance and you pick out whatever you want.  If your choice is too high, you point and beg until I figure it out.  Funny how that works.

You are super chill.  Most of the time, you'd rather sit on someones lap and read a book than run around and be crazy.  Unless there are cars out - you love to play with cars.  And animals.  Oh, and Lego guys, too.





You are also at the fun age where we can teach you silly stuff and you mimic us.  All I have to say is, "Yo yo yo" and I've got you trained to fold your arms gangsta rap style and pull a funny face.  It makes make laugh every single time.  And, when you try to make a chewbacca sound, that's pretty funny too.

We love you buster brown.

Just stop scratching.

halftime conversation

My mother:  So, who is this guy anyway?

Willie:  Bruno Mars.

Mom: Who?

Haley:  Bruno Mars

Mom:  Oh, I don't know him.  Is he related to the singer Jason Mars.

Annie:  Who?

Mom:  Jason Mars.  The one that sings that song (sings something none of us know.)

Annie:  You mean Jason M-raz?

Willie:  (Laughing) No.  Bruno Mars and Jason Mraz are not related.

4 weeks

In four weeks (from yesterday), the Big Iggy leaves for two years to serve his LDS mission in Lithuania.

I know he is ready.  I know he is excited and nervous and will be an amazing missionary.

I know I will miss him.

I know he's got almost all his stuff.  I know he's probably sneaking his superman socks (with capes) into his suitcase even though he'd probably get in trouble for wearing them.

I know he's been practicing Lithuanian like a James Bond villain.  I've heard him.  He sounds like a villain.

I know that I still have a lot to do to get ready for him to leave (I'm full of surprises, don't ya know!).

And I know one little buddy who is going to have a hard time figuring out where his favorite lap disappeared too.

Elliott Moyle :: 7 years old!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Today, early this morning in fact, you turned seven years old.  Once I get over the fact that I am the mother of a seven year old, I'm sort of at a loss of words, but a mind racing with thoughts about you, my oldest son.  You are a brilliant boy who is kind to everyone, thoughtful, helpful, and always ready to laugh until you fall on the floor or squirt milk out your nose.  You are emotional and sensitive, but tough and resilient as well.  You are an excellent big brother, and getting to be a pretty good Spanish speaker, too.

When I sat down to look at the last year's worth of pictures to find the few that I wanted to use for your birthday video, it was hard to pick.  In the last year, there are almost no pictures of you alone.  In fact, only a handful.  Every picture I've got of you, you are with someone you love and take care of.  Your brothers, your cousins, your grandparents and your Uncle Willie....oh, and a few with mom and dad, too.  Mom and Dad are always bugging you to "be a leader" and when I sit down and look through pictures I realize that you are becoming one.

When you were a baby, Grandma Judy got you and dad shirts that said, "Me" and "mini me".  In the last year in particular, it is pretty obvious that you are your dad's son.  Yes, you've got my quick to fire temper and the patience of a fruit fly, but oh, you are so much like your dad.  Your mannerisms, your interests, gadget obsessions, routines and rituals, general impatience (okay, that's me, too), and the way that you obsess over tiny details that no one else even thinks about.  You two are peas in a pod.

You take such good care of your brothers.  Yes, the are annoying and drive you crazy and sometimes there is fighting and screaming and crying and gnashing of teeth.  But, when I sit in the office and listen to you and Wyatt quietly giggle before falling asleep, or watch you patiently play with Quinn and let him climb all over you, it melts my heart a little.  I never ever thought that I'd be the mom to three rambunctious little boys, but seeing the three of you together, and how much you all love each other, makes me confident that you'll always be best friends and always take care of each other.

You told me a while ago while tying your shoes in the morning, "Mom, I think I've finally figured the system out and guess what - I LOVE SCHOOL!"  And love it you do.  When I went with you to parent teacher conferences last November and listened to your teachers rave about you, and listen to you converse in Spanish with Ms. Cerezo I was just blown away and so proud.  Even at this young age, school is important to you and doing well is so important to you.  It's just so cool.

You love to dance and play video games.  You are absolutely loving playing basketball and are a fantastic reading, reading almost completely at a third grade level.  You love Lego's and drawing pictures.  You take hours to tell me a story and every night at dinner when Quinn does something goofy, we have to reprimand you for laughing SO HARD and being crazy disruptive.  You love to eat and have almost taken over the reigns of salsa maker and taste-tester.  I do all the major cutting, but you do everything else.  You are so helpful and even though sometimes you are a handful at home, are always on your best behavior at church, school, and out in public.

For your birthday dinner today, you are having a tough time deciding between Dickey's BBQ and Crown Burgers for a corn dog.  I vote Crown Burger's but we'll see what you choose.

Kiddo, every day when I go to bed, I count my lucky stars that you are my boy.  You made me a mom, and unfortunately for you, you are still my guinea pig as I (and your dad) figure out all this parenting stuff.  But, there couldn't be a better guinea pig any where in the whole wide world.

Love you so much!
Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Twinners

My sister had the day off of work today, but had a lot of work to get finished before the second semester starts tomorrow.  She asked if I could watch her kids for a few hours and she would pay me in my most favorite way.  A diet coke!

Never one to deny myself the company of my niece and nephew, and a ice cold diet coke, of course, I said yes.  So, for a few hours this morning, I was the mama hen to four little chicks.  Two of which are perfectly self sufficient and got along beautifully.  The other two, the almost twins?  They struggled a bit, but they love each other lots.  And, they wore me out!

Jack can say "Annie!"
Quinn can say, "Jaaa!"

And both of them are excellent at stealing each other's toys.

While Molly and Wyatt were in the basement playing, I brought the little monkeys upstairs with me and decided to take a few pictures of them.  They are so much alike, being only three months apart, but there is a sea of difference between them in their speed and mobility, dexterity, vocabulary, and personality.  Jack is a man of action!  He doesn't hold still, hardly sits down, and is super busy and pretty independent.  Quinn is a dawdling sloth, who takes his time, meanders around, and never strays too far from his mama.  Because of the difference in their birthdays, Jack will graduate high school the same year Quinn starts his senior year of high school.  Crazy what a difference a few months can make.

But, they are both super cute and I love them lots and lots.