Sometimes Devin Mothers Me

I joke around that there is a teenager trapped inside Devin's little body. He was born an old soul, much more aware of things than he really should be. But today I realized he doesn't sound like a teenager all the time. Sometimes he sounds like a nigh-30-year-old mother. Man does that boy retain the things I say--and the way I say them--with surprising accuracy. And then he uses these things against me. In the correct context.

I chuckled today while making our Fluffernutter-sandwich lunch because my three year old told me he was DISAPPOINTED IN ME. 'Course he is still three, so right after this statement he was screaming and melting down due to the horrible situation I'd created in his life by allowing his baby brother to TOUCH HIS DUMP TRUCK AND CARS. Then he recovered, correctly put away his blocks, and climbed up to his chair. Where he pronounced, once again, that he was very disappointed in me and to not do that ever again. "Excuse me?" I replied, "You do not talk to me that way." He did not care so much for my attempt to hold order in the house and only continued on with his scolding: "Mama, I'm very disappointed in your choices today. You did not make a good choice in letting Landon play with my dump truck, and I'm very upset about it. I'm not happy at all with your choice."

Reprimand received.

Upon waking from his nap and finding his sippy cup where he had requested I leave it--and filled with water to boot--his positive reinforcement was, "Thank you Mommy. Thank you very much for doing what I asked you to do! That makes me very happy."

We have some strong-willed personalities in this home. He thinks he's in charge, and I let him live in that fantasyland sometimes. Love my little Devin man.

10 Months

This kid will be eating cake in two months!!

At 10 months Landon,

*can crawl normally (I miss the teeter-tottering around, though) and is pretty fast.

*loves to dance and bounces whenever he hears some music.

*loves to pull himself up on everything and can cruise a little, albeit slowly.

*is still a mama's boy, but he also loves to bite me and pull my hair--totally awesome.

*is starting to be mischievous and always finds his way to the plugs, dishwasher, and carbon monoxide detector.

*sometimes puts his hands together when we say it's time for prayer.

*can drink out of a straw and eats as much food as Devin.

*has the brightest, sweetest smile and loves to mimic our laughs and coughs. 

Mama and Devin

I read a blog post about making sure to have pictures of yourself as a mother having fun. That doesn't happen as much as it should, so I'm trying to change that.

Big Boy Bed

Devin finally got his big boy bed. 

 

It was totally me holding him back. It was just so much easier to have him in a crib while transitioning to two kids, and he never tried to climb out so I didn't feel like it was a need. However, he's growing up and it was beyond time for him to have a new bed. He loves his new bed and is excited to tell people about his new sleeping arrangements.

 He is still a angel about staying in bed and waiting for me to come in. He just hangs out reading books. Oh, how I love my Devin.

A Love Story About Throwing Up

***Fair warning, I really do talk about throwing up.***

You know those moments that make you feel like you're seeing the big picture right then? The moments that remind you of all the reasons you do what you do every day? I love those moments. I cherish them. And though I really don't enjoy throwing up, up-chucking in the car on New Year's Eve was one of those moments.

I didn't tell Rich soon enough to pull the car over. I did turn my head and try to quickly open the door, but, still, bits of Croissan'Wich ended up inside the car. As Rich calmly pulled over and began to clean me and the door up, he never said an impatient word. He didn't yell at me for puking egg into the speaker holes or sigh heavily about having to do all the work while I sat in shock and tried to clean my hair. Perhaps he was silently thanking me for packing my own roll of paper towels? All I know is that I felt very loved as he stood on the side of the freeway mopping up my mess while it was 2 below zero. The baby wipes froze before finishing the wipe-up job, but he kept on cleaning and reassuring me that it was okay. And this was in spite of my puking on his pillow a little. His sweet act of charity dealing with the contents of my stomach told me that all this we've been doing for the past 5 years wasn't a sham. Of course I'd known he loved me before this. He tells me all the time and provides acts of service for me and the boys daily. He happily does the dishes every night. He buys me ice cream and single flowers. He calls me at lunchtime. But he's never cleaned up my throw up.

You see, in 5 years of marriage Rich and I have never thrown up in front of each other. Therefore, December 31, 2012 is now a special date commemorating the first time I puked in front of my husband. And I'm glad I did throw up. Kind of. Seeing him provide Christlike charity made me love him more. And I thought I loved him a lot. But it turns out the capacity for love keeps growing.

He may never want to eat a Croissan'Wich again. (Just so you know, it wasn't the Croissan'Wich that made me sick, it was the flu. Not that you'll want to eat one again real soon, but I didn't want to besmirch the good name of Croissan'Wich.) Or travel through northern Nevada during a cold front. But I know he loves me enough to clean up after me. And buy me a Sprite and then shake it for 10 minutes to get the fizz almost out.

Rich really is the best husband ever. I'm pretty lucky to get to go on 15-hour drives with him. And I'm so glad the rumbling in my tummy could provide us with such a beautiful moment.

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

This boy is a Sunbeam! 

He barely made the cut off, so he's a super young Sunbeam and almost incapable of sitting still, but he's a darn cute one. He was super excited to go to Primary with Mama and SuSu and to sing all the songs. I'm not sure if he even sang one song, and he did have to sit on a lap most of the time, but he had a wonderful time and wants to go back next week. So, success! He told me that he liked Sister Redford but that he was stomping and that he was not being nice. Shocking. 

We had a Sunbeam cake to celebrate, and he thought it was pretty cool he got to have another cake dedicated solely to him.

Family Pictures 2012

We were able to sneak in some family pictures while we were in Utah. I loved our photographer this time and Devin did too (as evidenced by his laughing in most of the pictures). I thought all the pictures turned out pretty good except for our couple ones. Those are not super attractive. And, man, I need to lose more of that baby weight!

Birthday Questionnaire

I forgot to add this to the other post. I interviewed him during his party, and the answers are all Devin.

3-year-old things about Devin

3-year-old statistics:

Height: 36.5 in

Weight: 32.5 lbs

We went to the doctor where he performed all required tasks for the nurses just fine, but then when the doctor announced it was now his turn for a check, he freaked. Like majorly freaked out. You know it's awesome when the doctor has to comment, "Whoa, I better watch out or I might get kicked in the face." It's always comforting to a mother to have these experiences. Especially as not 10 minutes before the doctor had complimented my disciplining and consistency. A retraction was obviously issued.

At 3 years Devin says great stuff like "I was calling for Mama but I noticed she didn't come." or "I don't want to go over there, I'm nervous about it." or "Hmm, that's curious. They have lots and lots of colors of lollipops!"or "Our family goal should be to snuggle more." He has had some anger issues the past few months, but it's like he turned 3 and got hilarious (he also got sick, which means he's also been beyond crazy). Turning 3 has not helped him be nicer to his brother, however. This is an area for improvement in the coming year. That, and to actually call Landon by his name rather than "Chunky," "Chubby," or "Chunky Baby Feet." He doesn't like having his picture taken and screams at me to "stop that right now" when I try to sneak a shot in. His imagination still makes me laugh and his tight grasp on his alternate reality can be pretty intense when he insists that falling off the chair broke his "watch," so now he doesn't know if its 454; or when he gasps in distress about leaving his friends behind at church. He has started disliking long-sleeved shirts and having an opinion about his clothes. The other day he told me "I don't like that shirt; it's too bright. I will just cry about it instead." I swear he knows how to read sometimes because if you try to skip a part in a book he's read before he will wait until you're completely done with the page (sometimes the whole book) and tell you the exact sentence you skipped and point to where it is on the page. He's also tried to sound out some words, which really amazes/terrifies me. Pretty sure he's much too smart for his own good. I sure love this boy and always will. He has a tender heart and teasing smile. Selective hearing and a large desire "to help." He "can do it all by himself" but still wants me there. I know someday he won't. Some days I'm not awesome at being patient with his exuberant personality, but he stops me in my tracks a lot, amazed at his kindness, sweetness, and intelligence. Really is incredible that the boy who made me a mother is 3.

3 Years Old!!

"It's December 30th and it's my birthday!"

Devin had been looking forward to his birthday all month long. He knew his birthday was right after Christmas and was giddy about the prospect of being 3 and would tell the people who asked how old he was that he was "two, but on my next birthday on December thirtieth I'm going to be three!"

I decided to try to be a little bit of an awesome mom for his birthday and make a fancy-ish cake. I stole the idea of making a "3" from two bundt cakes from Erin's cute cake for Ally's birthday. Pinterest then featured a picture of the "3" cake with a rainbow of M&M's. We decided to recreate the rainbow cake with Sixlets, and I was pretty happy with how the cake turned out. Just so you know, it did take us about an hour to put on the candies!

Devin requested "noodles and pasta" for dinner, so we ended up with a spaghetti dinner on Grandma's white tablecloth. On his official birthday we decided to just celebrate with grandparents, so Grandma and Grandpa Britton and Great Grandma Peterson came over for the celebration.

Just had to include this pictures because Devin loved playing with Grandma's "activities" while were visiting and after his birthday dinner this is where he came to pass the time until presents. He was singing all the Christmas songs from Primary and even carried on the "asleep, asleep" chorus from "Away in a Manger" for a solid minute.

Devin is certainly a lucky boy, what with all the wonderful gifts he got for his birthday. After Christmas I'd decided that only grandparents should buy him gifts because he always likes their presents better, but we did score a victory with the "claydough" set we got for him.

Landon also got in on the present-opening fun and was able to open his birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa Britton early so he could enjoy them now.

It might be a bit prideful, but I felt like a million bucks that Devin was so excited about his cake. He LOVED it. I'm not sure if he thought it looked cool or if it was just the thought of all that candy, but it made me happy that he was happy!

I wanted to get shots of him with all his grandparents, and though we succeeded, we never got a shot with Mommy and Daddy! So many pictures, and never enough!!

At the end of the night he wrapped up the festivities by snuggling up with Grandpa and reading the stories both grandparents had given him. Both were former library favorites, and he was all about re-reading both as soon as possible.

Happy Birthday Devin!!

Devin's Birthday with the Milletts

Devin was a lucky boy this year and got to have two birthday parties celebrating his accomplishment in turning 3. The first was a get together with the Millett family where Devin had so, so much fun. It was so wonderful to get together again with everyone, and Devin definitely felt loved and special about turning 3. He had previously requested a party hat for his birthday, though he didn't wear it for long, it was adorable. His aunts and uncles and cousins spoiled him and he was so excited about his new play food and ice cream cones. After the present opening it was time for actual ice cream cones, of which Devin ate two.