Another Month

Another month has gone by and Tyler is officially 4 months old now. Let's take a look back, shall we....

His face is slimming down but his smile is getting bigger! He's such a happy baby. For the most part he's always happy. Although lately he's been fighting going to sleep and that's driving us crazy. You almost have to give up and just let him cry.... and cry... and cry... and then he'll fall asleep. We're like, "Look, we know you are tired, just GO.TO.SLEEP." Oh well, such is life. He sleeps for a long time though, so I don't dare complain. I'm just learning to tune him out.

Amy and Will still adore him and "leave the baby alone" is a constant saying in our household. Tyler loves to sleep on his right side and flips over any chance he can get. We have to make sure he's buckled into his bouncy chair! He has come out of it a few times. He practically tries to crawl when he's on his tummy and almost jumps out of your arms when you hold him. He's definitely ready to GO!

This weekend also marked the first week without Amy. Although I was sad to see her go, it was really quiet without her. And since both boys take naps (and Amy didn't)... I'm not going to lie, the quietness was quite nice. Although she did have a bad day on Friday. She forgot her show and tell, she didn't have any ice cream money (they can get ice cream on Friday's) and there wasn't time for book buddies (a 3rd grade class that comes in a read with her class). So she came home Friday crying, disappointed and sad. It was really sad to see her like that! Linda (Dallin's mother) and I were talking and while we are ready for them to go to school and learn stuff..... we aren't quite ready for them to experience "life" and it's disappointments. I know it's coming, but still, it's sad, you know?

So I figured out a way for her to get ice cream on Friday's. Well, let's face it.... I'm a sucker and can't stand to see her so sad, so I would have given her the money anyway. But I remembered a book I read along time ago (and need to re-read) called "The Parenting Breakthrough" and thought "What would Merillee (the author) do??"  So I thought, "She needs to "earn" this ice cream money...." and so "The chart" was born....

Every day Amy has to make her bed, pick-up her clothes, stack their books and help mom. When she does each of those, she gets a sticker. A sticker on all of them means ice cream on Friday. But the real kicker is IF she does all her chores, she not only gets ice cream money for herself, she also gets ice cream money for Dallin as well. We really wanted to teach her the joy of working hard and blessing someone else and thought this would be a fun way to do it. And let me tell you, so far, it's worked! She jumped out of bed Saturday morning and got everything done without being asked. Today I said, "let's do your chores" and all she said was, "What can I help you with, Mom?" So far, so good. Ice Cream for you and your best friend can be quite motivating!

 And Will.... our tornado....

This is how he slept one night. I thought it was so funny. And yet so fitting. Can you see the angels? They are passed out next to him, and thankful he's finally asleep.

On Friday he insisted on wearing his bike helmet and no pants (of course). He'd go around the house and scream, "MOTORCYCLE!! Vrrooom, vvvrrrooommmm." Then he'd color quietly. Then he'd scream it again, then go back to playing quietly. Boys are weird.

He also LOVES to play on our phones. We don't have a iPad, but we are toying with the idea of getting one. Though we'd probably never see it. This boy LOVES the phone. "I play games? I play on phone?" is what he asks constantly. It amazes me how quickly these kids learn the finger swipe and all that goes with it.

So that's us gearing up for another week. Not too much planned, which is nice. I kind of feel like taking it easy for awhile. I started sewing again last night. I love to sew. And I'm getting the itch to finally decorate our bedroom. Maybe I'll do that this fall. I don't know, I'm just feeling like tackling some house projects. It's definitely my idea of fun. :)