My Protector

Lately at night you want to take a toy to bed with you. But I have a rule that no toys are allowed in bed. But, "they help me not have nightmares" you told me one night. I almost gave in, because you were so sincere about it. But instead we came to an agreement that one toy could lay on the floor next to your bed and if you had a nightmare you could pick up the toy at night and hold it so the nightmare would go away. You told me "that toy will protect me from having those nightmares." And so every night you lay a toy next to your bed and thank goodness it's still there when you wake up (which means you did not have a nightmare). The other day you came home from school and had a leaf that you were very excited to give me. You gave me the leaf and said "you put this next to your bed and it will protect you from having any nightmares." It was so sweet and you really meant it. And so that leaf lays on my nightstand every night and is my protector.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I think every so often I am going to do a little post of what your favorite things are at that time. I should have started doing this awhile ago, but I guess I will start now.

Favorite Color: GREEN

Favorite Cartoon: Transformers Animated

Favorite Toy: BumbleeBee Transformers talking Figure (from Grandma)

Favorite Food: Little Keebler Striped Cookies (you have them almost every morning before school)

Favorite Song: Pocket Full of Sunshine (because it's Mommy's favorite - you're so sweet!)

Favorite Stuffed Animal - Penguin (the one we got from the zoo over the summer)

santa came... santa came!!!

You woke this morning almost like it was a normal morning. You were excited about something, you just were not sure what. Then Daddy reminded you that it was Christmas morning and your face just lite up! You started asking, "did Santa come, did Santa come?" You helped wake your brothers up and we headed downstairs. And as soon as we got downstairs you happily exclaimed "Santa came!!! Santa came!!!!" You woke up your cousin Lily and starting looking at the the presents. I helped you find your presents and you started opening them. Almost after each present you would look at me with a look on your face, like do I have more? And I had to keep showing your that this huge pile of gifts were all yours! You got some Batman and Power Ranges figurines, Legos, books, and lots of other toys. You are really into Transformers and you opened a box that had Optimus Prime in it and got a sad look on your face. "I didn't get Bumblebee," you said. Bumblebee is your favorite Transformer and was the toy that you asked Santa for in the letter you wrote to him. I hurriedly looked through the stack of presents, looking for the right shaped package and handed what I hoped was the right one to you. You open it and couldn't be happier... it was Bumblebee!!! Your Christmas was made and you got the biggest smile on your face! It was then handed off to Daddy to "transform" and since then you Dad and I and Jacob have transformed that thing 100 times! You also got a Polar Express train from your Grandparents! You love that train and had me put it together as soon as I could. Some pictures of you playing with the train here! You were also very concerned about Santa eating the cookies you made him and to make sure that he didn't eat the ones that you made for Jacob and you. But we found his letter saying Thank You and you were happy with that. You had a great Christmas.... and you are already talking about "next Christmas."

extra pics of you shaving with your pretend shaver!

"All Alboard... it's the Polar Express!"

You got this train for Christmas from Grammy and Papa and had to have me set it up right away! You love the movie Polar Express, during the Christmas season you could watch it every day or more if we let you. It's one of the very few movies that you will watch all the way through. So when you got the Polar Express train for Christmas you will elated!

more pics here!

Breakfast with Santa

Today we went to the local Boys and Girls club and had a breakfast with Santa. We met your friends, Jake and Kaylie there also. You were so happy to see Jake and Kaylie! You rode a Christmas train with Jake. You decorated your own Christmas cookie, which had plenty of yellow frosting and green sparkles on it. And you ate all of it! You also colored some Christmas pictures and sat on Santa's lap! It was so nice for you to be able to play with your friends that you have not seen in awhile. Here are some pictures!

String Blankie

You got this blanket when you just a month old from your Great Aunt Cheryl. And for a long time it was up in the closet and never used. Until you were about one and half or two I think, then it was probably dragged out of the closet while I was re-organizing and it has stuck with you ever since. You call it your string blankie, because of all the big strings that hold it together. You love how soft the strings are and you like to hold onto them them on your face. You like to look for the cozy ones. These are the strings that have gotten un-tied and are longer than the rest of them. You have your favorite cozy ones and I even have my favorite cozy ones and you can always pick them out pretty quickly. You sleep with this blanket every night. When we are going on long car rides I know to bring this blanket with us. You love this blanket and I know it's going to be around for a long time!

Clothing Dilemmas

Lately you have been very picky about the clothes you were. I usually pick out your outfit for school the night before, to save time in the morning. And most mornings you throw a fit because you don't like the outfit. It's not cozy, it's not cute, it's not green (your favorite color), it's not soft, it's not warm. Some mornings I try and have you pick out another outfit, but that is not an easy process either most of the time. I love that you are interested in the clothes you are wearing, but sometimes it does not make the mornings easy. And I do hope you keep wanting to match clothes and looking nice when you are a teenager, because who knows what kind of styles will be around then! Maybe my shopping is just rubbing off on you. The other day we went to GAP and you were helping me pick out shirts, "that is so cute mom" and "I think you should get that color." You even insisted on picking out a new shirt for yourself and what color to get. You helped me with picking out new shirts for Ben too, "I think Ben would love good in that shirt." Oh my... I might have a shopping buddy for life! Even this morning on the way to school you said, "Mom I really need a green coat, I don't like this blue coat. Or maybe a red coat, now I would like a red coat. Mom can you look at the store for a green or red coat today." I'll get right on that sweetie... (in fact I am hunting one down online while I am typing this!)

Fall Pictures

I decided that I would yours and Ben's pictures in two sessions. We went up to the park, which Ben fell asleep in the car, which gave me the perfect opportunity to take some great pictures of you without chasing after him! You did pretty good for the most part. Sometimes you just wanted to look the other way and other times you flashed me that adorable smile of yours. I love the different faces you make. Sometimes you look so serious and other times you are just a goof! You are really starting to loose that baby look, when I compared these pictures to last year. You look so much like your brother Jacob that it just amazes me. All in all I got some awesome pictures of you (even enter a couple of them in the babyGap contest).
All the pictures are here!

Fire Pops

A couple Saturdays ago we visited with Dad and Mom's friends John and Kelly and their kids. You really like playing with their daughter and you both had a lot of fun together. After dinner Daddy and John made a small bonfire and you all had smores. This was the first time you had smores and you absolutely loved them! You also loved watching the fire (not a surprise since you are so into fires and fire engines these days). A couple days after our visit you started playing "fire pops" in your room.

You spread a blanket out of the floor (this is the ground for the fire). You lay out your big magnetics sticks (these are the sticks to make the fire).


You get your fire extinguisher and get the fire started with that.


You then get some pretend sticks, marsh mellows, chocolate and crackers.


You then will pull up your little rocking chair, give Daddy, Mommy and yourself a stick with a marsh mellow on it and we roast them!


Then after they are done (which you have to inform us when they are done) you put the smores together. Every night that changes, sometimes you have to add some salt and pepper, sometimes you add a special sauce and sometimes you add an extra piece of candy. We then eat the pretend smores (which are VERY tasty) and then you get us all some milk and napkins. Sometimes we have two or three smores and sometimes you want to ten! You love doing this and it has become part of our bedtime routine for the past few days. You have such a wonderful imagination and I just love to watch you play! Oh and the name "fire pops" came from the noise the fire makes... the popping noise!

Fire Station Visit

You LOVE fire engines! You want to be a fireman when you grow up (or a police man, depends on the day). The latest bunch of books you checked out from the library with Daddy were all fire engines books. Which you painstakingly have to pick just two (of the five) to read at night before bed. You have a couple fireman hats, a fire jacket (also serves as rain coat when needed) and a water bottle that looks like a fire extinguisher. Everyday there are several fires in the house or around the yard that you need to put out and sometimes you need someones help too.

So, Daddy's friend John is a fireman at the Lake Orion fire station and he said that you could come on by and check out everything at the fire station. John also let Jacob do the same thing when he about the same age as you. (I will have to dig out some pictures and post those too!) You LOVED the fire station. You got to play in the fire engine and pretend to drive. You got to turn on the lights and make the sirens go off. John even put the full fireman gear on you (of course it was 10 sizes too big), you looked so cute! You got to see the fire hoses and all the fire equipment. I think it was one of your best days ever!

See all the pictures here!

(I think my picture taking is finally rubbing off on Daddy, because he took over 50 pictures and most of them were perfect!)