Kyle turns 2!

Kyle celebrated his second birthday. We had friends and neighbors over for the party. The kids fished for prizes and hit open a pinata. The cake had an ocean theme. The kids had "octopus" and shells and cheese for dinner. Kyle definitely enjoyed the cake and ice cream, but was rather disinterested in the presents. We let the older boys open them for him. Mara and John came to visit for the birthday too. Kyle is talking in short sentences now (about three words) and loves to run, jump and climb (just like his brother).

Bryson can ride a big bike (with training wheels) now. He is spending more time doing fine motor activities like crafts and has even been able to button his clothes. He can have decent conversations and his sense of humor is starting to show. He has significatly improved his performance at gymnastics class as well. He still has difficulty following directions in class though. Bryson is doing much better in his new class at daycare and doesn't cry anymore when I drop him off.

We had a nice Easter with our friends the Blickenstaffs. We went to a park and hid easter eggs. The boys had a great time running around looking for eggs. Kyle was just as good as the older boys. Bryson really enjoyed coloring eggs this year and they turned out great!

Is it spring yet?

We've only had a few nice days this spring and the rain is getting old. On our first sunny day in a long time Bryson couldn't wait to get the swimming pool out, unfortunately it was only about 50 deg out, he was very disappointed. We went to the tulip festival over the weekend, the boys had fun on the tractor "train"and Bryson loved the bouncy house.We had a nice visit with Steve, Jan and Anna in March. Unfortunately, Kyle was sick for most of the visit. We are expecting Mara and John in May for Kyle's second birthday.

Bryson started occupational therapy the end of Feb. He has a Sensory Processing Disorder. He needs work on his fine and gross motor skills as well as self regulation strategies. He has really improved with his strength and fine motor skills recently and seems to enjoy doing the fine motor tasks now. He doesn't get as frustrated and is more willing to try difficult things. He also started gymnastics classes and has done very well in the last two sessions. We bought him a trampoline for home after he bumped his face on the coffee table jumping off the sofa. He has moved up to the next class at school and is adjusting well. He is mostly potty trained, but still has the occasional accident.

Kyle is almost 2 years old! He still looks like a baby to me and he is so small! He's a pretty tough little guy though, last week we got a report from daycare that he kept wrestling a boy to the ground and made him cry! His favorite thing is to run around the house naked and yell, "naked baby!" (Bryson loves to join in too). He is talking more, but I don't always know what he's saying, it usually takes me awhile to figure it out. He loves to play outside in the water and mud. It's nearly impossible to keep him clean. He can pull the wagon all the way down to the church and back now.

I put up some new videos too!

Snow!

We got a couple days of snow this winter. The boys had a great time. We didn't get a chance to make a snow man though, it melted too quickly. I couldn't believe they canceled all the schools here for one inch of snow (and it was melted by noon!). We even had a couple days of cold weather (20 deg or less). It reminded me of back home, I forgot just how cold it gets in WI.

Bryson started seeing a speech therapist in Jan. He has had three visits so far and it has been very helpful. The therapist feels he has normal expressive and receptive speech, but he has social problems and needs to develop better play skills. We have been working on improving his eye contact during conversation and play as well as expanding his play skills with more pretend-type play (see pictures with the costumes). He initially made excellent progress and was even playing better and participating more at daycare. However, he's had a set back over the last couple weeks and is having more problems. He's been slowly gettin better the last few days and has even gone poop on the potty about 5 times now. Anyway, I am taking him to an occupational therapist tomorrow to be evaluated for sensory problems. He has also started a gymnastics class, he really enjoys it, but has difficulty following directions and staying with the class. He had to change classes so I could be there with him to help with his behavior. Today was his first day in the new class and his friend Jackson was there too. He had a great time!

Kyle is doing great, but he's really starting to test his boundaries and can be quite sassy. He loves to play with cars and enjoys playing outside. He is talking quite a bit and can put three words together. Overall, he is hard to understand, but when you figure out what he is saying, it's great. He loves the water and doesn't seem to have any fear. Last time when we took him swimming he wanted me to let go of him, even in the deep water. In the bath tub he's been laying down in the water on his back even!

I'm putting some new videos up too, so check it out!

Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful holiday season this year. Bryson really got into Christmas and Santa this year. His behavior was the best ever and he even started going poop on the potty. (Unfortunately, he has discontinued this practice since santa came.) He was pretty impressed with all the presents on Christmas morning and was able to pass them out due to the picture tags. Mara and John came to visit for Christmas and Bryson was a good little baker, helping gramma make bread and decorating the cookies with sprinkles. He even went door to door Christmas caroling for the neighbors and dropping off cookies. We took the Amtrak train to Portland one day and Bryson really enjoyed it he has been asking to go for another train ride.

Kyle is starting to really exert his independence. He is talking better and can express his needs and if he doesn't get what he wants he throws a tantrum. He is more particular about his toys and fights over them with Bryson, now he wants all the cars (even Bryson's) to play with. He likes to do things on his own and doesn't want to be carried anymore. He enjoyed all the new toys at Christmas, but wasn't excited about opening gifts. He loved to play with the Christmas tree ornaments (Bryson too).

I added videos to the drophots site too.

happy birthday steve!

Christmas!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I started potty training Bryson when we got back from our vacation and he is finally going pee on the potty consistently (it took 6 weeks!). However, he has yet to go number two on the potty. He has really improved with dressing himself and can get his underwear and pants on all by himself. We had a nice Thanksgiving at our friend's Cory and Melissa. Ken and the boys stayed up late watching Toy Story 3.

Bryson loves to sing songs and it surprises me how many of the words he actually knows. St. Nick came on the 6th and the boys got some candy and little gifts. Bryson got the movie Polar Express and really likes it. I'm hoping to take him on a real steam train ride this christmas season. (They have a "Polar Express" train in Hood River.) Bryson sat on Santa's lap, but was so shy he kept his head down and didn't say anything to him. Our neighbor dressed up as Santa a couple nights ago and stopped by with presents for Bryson and Kyle. Now Bryson thinks Santa is going to come over every night. I tried to show him on a calendar when Christmas was, but I don't think he understood.

Kyle is able to "run" now and is even trying to jump. I've seen him get a little air a couple times now. He is talking more and puts a couple words together. He is doing better at daycare, no more reports of him getting picked on. He has been sick (vomitting) all day today, unfortunately. He hasn't been able to keep anything down. Hopefully we all don't get sick. Mara is supposed to come for a visit tomorrow. I had to put gates up around the Christmas tree and nativity scene this year because Kyle undecorates the tree and thinks the ornaments are balls. Bryson also has a few favorite ornaments and likes to take them to bed with him. They seem to think the nativity characters are action figures of some kind and I find them all over the house.

Ken was in a car accident the day before Thanksgiving and the Mazda was totaled. Ken has more neck pain now and is seeing a specialist next week. We bought a 2007 Honda Oddesy last week and we really like it. I think it will come in handy when we go camping and we'll be able to take one car when visitors come. Bryson, Kyle and Keb seem to like the extra room too, they aren't all squished together like they were in the vibe. Keb gets the whole back seat. Looking forward to Christmas this year, it should be fun!

Happy Halloween!

Both boys had a checkup at the doctor today. Despite Kyle's significant increase in appetite he still hasn't made it onto the normal growth curve yet. He is still under 20lbs! His development is right on track though. Bryson is in the normal range for all his development, but is on the low end for speech and fine motor skills. The doctor said it wouldn't hurt to try potty training the boys at the same time, so I think I'll at least try it. I really started working on potty training with Bryson this weekend. It didn't go as well as I thought is could, but he's had multiple successful events and is still interested in trying. He has been wearing underwear at daycare too.

We had a short visit with my sister and parents the end of oct. It was nice to have some of the family together. We even stayed up late one night and played sheep's head, it was really fun! The boys really enjoyed having the company too. Kyle is a little more shy than Bryson and it took him a little while to warm up. My parents stayed with the kids for almost a week while Ken and I went on a short vacation.

We flew into Fresno, CA (you're right Jess, it is a pretty crappy town) and drove to Kings Canyon and Sequioa Natl Parks. Kings Canyon was very similar to Yosemite and Ken had a hard time driving on the steep winding roads. The trees in Sequioa park were amazing, they were huge. It was different from the Redwoods because you could see the whole tree. The were not as tall, but they were so wide! What as most amazing to me was how the giant trees could be burnt out up to 15 ft at the bottom and still survive and support the giant trunk above it! It was common to use fallen trees as homes or even hotels, they were so big inside.

Then we drove th Monterey Bay. It was a long ride but it was interesting to see all the agriculture. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was amazing. They had huge two story aquariums with schools of fish. The sardines were so beautiful to watch it was mezmorizing. The jelly fish exibits were beautiful as well. There was a lot of hands on stuff too and tons of kids activities. I'd love to take the boys there in a few years. I am so thankful to my parents for giving us the opportunity to get away for a while. I was surprised how much I missed the kids we called everyday to see how they were. I confess I was a little disappionted that they didn't even ask about us. Ken and I even walked to a nearby park and played on the playground (it was the coolest playground ever, Bryson woulda loved it!). It even had a real steam engine the kids could play on.

I surprised how different Kyle looked when we got home, he looked bigger! (We were only gone 5 days!) I was sad for my parents to leave, it was fun having them here spending time with the boys. We all got dressed up and went trick or treating in our neighborhood. There was only one other group that went out in our neighborhood, but everybody was ready with candy. We even scored a basketball hoop out of it! Bryson, of course, wanted to eat all the candy as he got it. The candy has come in pretty handy for potty training purposes.

Bryson had a small birthday party. It was Thomas themed, he got all sorts of Thomas stuff (books, backpack, lunch box, tent), I even made him a book
(about Thomas trains preparing his birthday party)by taking pictures of his trains. It turned out cute, he loves to read it and even knows alot of the words. His articulation is still pretty bad, but he is getting better. He loves to sing songs and surprises me how many of the words he knows. His favorite toys are his lego trains and cars. He is quite athletic and can keep up with us on our long walks.

Kyle is still not on the normal growth curve and is just under 20lbs at 18 months. He is talking more and seems to be putting two words together. He "runs" now and moves pretty fast. HE just learned how to open the doors and will head outside any chance he gets. He loves to play with cars and is getting more interested in the movies that Bryson watches. He loves the cat and tackles her and lays on her just like Bryson used to. He can follow some simple directions like "throw that in the garbage". He moved into a new class at daycare and seems to be adjusting well. He started throwing tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. I'm going to try to potty train him the same time as Bryson. So far he's only had one successful try and it's pretty hard to keep him sitting on the potty.