On March 18th my baby turned 2 years old! I still can’t believe it. I fully intend to write a birthday post, but unfortunately I’m a bit consumed with my class work. I’ve got like a 60 page research proposal due on Sunday, and in the mean time I’ve managed to hurt my back. We start a meeting at church tomorrow night and I’m having an epidural injection on Thursday. Timing could not be better. Since it’s going to be a while until I finish Jake’s birthday post, I will at least post some pictures. Stay tuned…

Since I’ve decided to write one monthly letter to both boys every month I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be easier for me to just put it on my website instead of this one or Max’s. That doesn’t mean that I still won’t post on here, because I’ve actually been thinking about that too. I’m always posting random things Max and Jake do on my Facebook page, and since not everyone has access to that, I’m going to post random things on here that pertain to Jake. Here’s something that recently happened:

So last Sunday morning we were sitting in church and I started to get a whiff of something stinky. So I leaned down to Jake and whispered in his ear, “Did you poop?” He turned around and looked right at me and said a little too loudly and energetically, “TOOT!” Sure enough, he was right.

Here’s a link to my website, in case you don’t know it.

http://renaemcalister.com

Dear Max & Jake,

The month of December seemed to go by very quickly. I ended up going to the emergency room three different times because I was having some pretty severe pain right under my rib cage on the right side of my body. After multiple tests it was determined that it was probably my gallbladder. So on December 7th, I had surgery to have it removed. The surgery was done laproscopically, which resulted in a very quick recovery, but it also gave me horrible gas pains in my shoulders and chest. I was in the hospital a few days because of the emergent nature of the situation, but after a few days I was up and about and feeling pretty good. I was told not to lift anything heavier than 15 pounds for 6 weeks, but I knew that was just going to be impossible. So I waited almost a full week and after that I picked up Jake and pretty much went back to my “normal” activity. I’ve been fine as far as the incisions from the surgery goes, however, my body is definitely having to make some adjustments to not having a gallbladder. I’ve had some pretty bad digestive episodes and I’m trying to learn to listen to my body and figure out what it can and can’t handle. But enough about me, let’s talk about YOU!

While I was having health issues at the beginning of the month Aunt Joy was here. I was very thankful that she was here and she even stayed and took care of you boys all day when I was in the hospital. You boys had a lot of fun playing with her and and Jake would take his blankie and snuggle with her every morning, it was so cute! Once Aunt Joy left and I ended up having surgery, you boys were either with Dada or Nona. I’m very thankful that I had so many people helping me, including Dena and Michelle who ended up coming over and helping me with you two in the evenings that Dada had to work. I must say that you two were really good and I really appreciated that, especially on the days that I didn’t feel good. Nona did tell me that she had to give Jake a swat on the leg for the first time. You boys were at Nona and Papa’s house so that Nona could work on her dictation while y’all were napping. She put Max in the guest room and Jake in the doll room. She heard Jake making noise and banging on something and she went in there to find a drawer open and stuff scattered everywhere. She told Jake to lay down and go to sleep and leave the drawers alone. A few minutes later she heard something and went back in there and Jake had two doll bows in his hand. As soon as he saw that he was caught he threw them both back in the drawer and ran back to where he was supposed to be sleeping. So Nona followed through with her threat and swatted Jake on the leg. She said that he was upset (his feelings were hurt that Nona had spanked him) but he finally went to sleep and obeyed. Jake, you’re are such a little booger. And I have plenty of proof. You two had a blast at Nona and Papa’s house, playing on the swing set in the backyard and jumping into piles of leaves. Jake even walked on part of the pool cover and then said, “wet!” I really missed you two while I was in the hospital and even though you came up to visit I didn’t get to really spend much time with y’all. I also had to be careful because you two are pretty rambunctious and when I came home I got kneed in one incision and elbowed in another. At first I was a little bit sad because Jake seemed to want Nona instead of me, and that has never happened. It didn’t last long because within a few days you were both back to being mama’s boys =)

After being in the hospital and then stuck in the house for way too long, I was very ready to get out and do something fun with you boys. So as soon as I was feeling up to it we decided to go to the zoo. You would think that it would be too cold to go to the zoo in December, but we had a couple of days of beautiful 70 degree weather and we ended up going on a really nice day. Not only was the weather nice but there weren’t many people and it seemed like all the animals were out and very active. The coolest thing was that we got to see the hippos actually DO something! We were standing there watching and all of the sudden one of the hippos came completely out of the water and opened his mouth all the way and we got to see his big chompers. Max got so excited. Then when we went to the penguin exhibit there were two penguins that kept swimming back and forth and following Max, it was really funny. We had a great time and both of you fell asleep on the way home, it wore all of us out.

This month was really great because all of us got a break/vacation. My class finished in the middle of December, Dada and I both finished teaching, and then Dada got two weeks off of work! It was great. Aunt Joy came to stay for a few days and then we got together at Nona and Papa’s house one day and ate a feast of Mexican food. There was a lot of laying around and football watching, along with plenty of Hungry Hungry Hippos. One day we were at the store and I thought it would be fun to get a game for you boys since Max really loves games. I’m thinking Candy Land may be our next purchase. You boys got a few new toys over the holidays including, a roadster tricycle, a Handy Manny toolbox, a dinosaur that walks and roars, a shopping cart, and a trampoline. Then you got some money and I let you pick out something with it at Toys R Us. Max picked out a garbage truck that lifts up a trashcan and everything, it’s pretty cool. He also picked out a big Joker action figure. Jake picked out a stroller (it’s blue and a very manly stroller, besides, he pushes Batman around in it) and a big Mack truck that holds a bunch of cars in it along with a Hulk figure. He seriously loves the Hulk. That reminds me of listening to you guys praying, but I’ll tell you about that in a minute.

So next we took a little trip to Oklahoma to stay with Uncle Guy and Aunt Destini. It was kind of crazy because Ian and Eliana were sick and coughing and we thought they might have RSV. They ended up going to the doctor and getting tested and thankfully it was negative. So even though they were sick the whole time we were there, it was just a cold virus or something. Now you both have it, but you both seem to be on the mend now. Anyway, we had some yummy Hideaway pizza and some delicious Ted’s Cafe Escondido. However, we had a serious sleeping issue. We did what we usually do and put Jake in a pack n play in the big hall bathroom and Max in Eliana’s room. At around 10:30pm Max came out of the room crying. I guess he got scared when he woke up and realized he was not at home in his bed. After that he didn’t want to go back and sleep in Eliana’s room so I made the mistake of telling him he could sleep with us. A huge mistake. I put him in our bed with the intention of letting him sleep with me. He wouldn’t stop flopping around and talking and then when he did fall asleep he fell off the bed. Seriously. After that I made him sleep on the floor next to our bed, and just about the time we all three got settled in and were about to fall asleep I heard Jake crying. At this point it was 1am in the morning. I walked into the bathroom to find Jake sitting on the TOILET crying. Thank goodness the lid was down, because otherwise he would have been splashing around in the toilet having a good ole’ time, at 1AM!!! Needless to say, I was exhausted and on the verge of completely losing it. Obviously I could no longer put Jake in the pack n play because he showed us just how much of an acrobat he really is by climbing out of it. So there we are, ALL 4 OF US packed into a small room. Max on the floor to the side of the bed, Jake on the floor at the foot of the bed, and Cale and I laying in the bed completely awake. Of course Max woke us all up because he had to go to the bathroom at 6am. The next day we went to this play place where you kids got to play, paint, and play with play dough. Soon after lunch we saw lots of eye rubbing, including me. So a new sleeping plan was made, because I just could not handle all of us in the same room again. We made a nice little “bed” on the floor of Eliana’s room and we put you two right next to each other. When nap time came around we went ahead and did a trial run with you two sleeping next to each other. It went great. We put Max in a pullup and put a thing on the doorknob so that Max couldn’t get out of the room. Because if he could open the door and get out, then that would mean he and Jake would have free roam of the house and we would never even know it. That’s a scary thought. (SIDENOTE: The day I had to go to the doctor for my post-op visit I was rushing to get the boys and myself ready so that I could drop them off with Nona while I went to my appointment. The boys were completely ready and I was in my bathroom finishing getting ready when Jake walked in saying “wet wet.” He had gone in the hall bathroom, got the big bucket we use to wash the boys’ hair out of the bathtub, turned the sink on and filled it up, and then dumped all the water down the front of his shirt. He was literally soaked from head to toe. Even his shoes were wet. I was so mad. I stripped him down to his diaper and he immediately ran and sat in timeout, I didn’t have to tell him because he knew he was in big trouble. As I was cleaning up the mess Max was asking me why Jake was sitting in timeout naked. So just think of all the damage that Jake could do if he was left to his own devices.) We never encourage Max to pee himself because he always wears underwear to bed, but this was an extenuating circumstance and we did what we had to do. We put him in a pullup and told him to just go in it. Everything was fine, until 11pm. We heard Max crying, beating on the door and somewhat hysterical. We went and tried to calm him down, but the second we started to leave and shut the door he started getting hysterical again. I seriously have no idea how Jake didn’t wake up, or Ian, since he was in the next room. Cale ended up dealing with Max and threatening him with his life I guess because we didn’t hear another peep after that. I woke up around 8:30am and saw that the light was on and that the boys were quietly playing, I didn’t care because at least they didn’t wake us up. I really have no idea what was going on with Max but I hope he never freaks out like that again. The good thing is, at least I know they can share a room and that they will be fine. We had a good trip (aside from the sleeping issue) but after two nights we were all ready to be home.

These letters get longer and longer every month. I really need to cut this off but I’m just not done, yet. Let’s talk about how sweet your bedtime prayers are. Jake is starting to pray without my help and it’s funny the things he says. He usually says “Thank you for house, toys, cars, books, Mama, Dada, Max, Jake, Jesus name, Amen.” (not necessarily in that order) One night you even prayed for Hulk, haha, you crack me up. You’ve really started to string words together lately, for example, just this week you said “Max hulk out.” At first I had no idea what that meant, but later Nona told me that Max was pretending to turn into Hulk and that when he went back to “David Banner” she would say that Max was hulked out. Jake says new words all the time and you two were actually arguing the other day. Jake would say, “Max, Two-Face” and Max would shake his head and say, “No Jake, I don’t like Two-Face.” This went on and on and Jake was just cracking up. The other day Dada and I were snuggled up in his chair watching Ratatouille with you boys and Max said to me, “Why do you like Dada” I then told him that Dada was my best friend, and I asked Max if he had a best friend. He immediately said, “Yes! Jake is my best friend!” How sweet is that. You two follow each other around the house and play so great together. Now that’s not to say that you don’t fight over things, but I usually try to let you guys sort it out and I only intervene if I have to. Jake has a bad habit of squealing when Max either takes something from him or won’t give him something he wants, but we are putting an end to that, if you get my drift. Max is getting in trouble because he thinks he is just as much in charge of Jake as we are, but he is quickly learning that he’s not. He’s a bit of a bossy older brother and thinks he can threaten Jake by telling him he’s going to get a pankin’. Then they both do things to purposefully aggravate each other, but that’s just the nature of siblings. All in all they are constantly playing and laughing together and I’m glad they have such a close relationship. I hope they will always be able to count on one another.

Here’s a video of you two jumping on your new trampoline. I love it because it is the perfect size for you two and it’s very safe because it’s only 2 feet off the ground. It’s a great way to burn off some of that toddler energy =)

One of my favorite things is to watch you boys “dance” when music is playing. We listen to music a lot during the day and Max seems to come up with a new move every time. One morning he was in the middle of getting dressed when he started dancing. Thankfully I got it on video. Because it is such great blackmail.

Love,
Mama

Dear Max & Jake,

I’m writing this a little late, again. I’ve been busy, to say the least, but this letter’s not about what’s been going on with me it’s about you two curly-headed boys. I’m going to go ahead and warn you that this post is going to be a picture overload! The newness of my camera hasn’t worn off yet =)

So a couple of months ago Dada and I took you boys to the Omni to see “Under the Sea.” While we were there we got a glimpse of the museum and Max really wanted to go see the dinosaur exhibit. I hadn’t been to the museum in years, and even though it was closed, I saw a lot more stuff for kids. There is a section dedicated to young children (1st grade or under), so one week Nona and I decided to take you boys and check it out. Once I saw how much it would cost us to get in and see everything, I made a spur of the moment decision to buy a pass. With the pass we get up to 5 people in to all parts of the museum and we get 15 tickets to the Omni to see any of the short documentary films. Since we got the pass we have seen “Under the Sea” twice, for a grand total of 3 times. It’s funny because you guys just love watching all the fish and seahorses and sharks. Max, you got scared when they showed the great white shark because at the Omni it feels like you can reach out and touch it. I told you to close your eyes when you see the shark and then you waited for me to tell you when the shark was gone so you could open your eyes. We really enjoyed the Children’s museum, where you boys played grocery store and doctor. One time we went with your friends, Creighton and Catherine, and we played with the water features outside, it was tons of fun! Out of all the neat things to see and do, Jake seemed to like the big turtle that was inside a glass dome. We also enjoyed sitting on the camel at the Egyptian exhibit and building “planes” out of paper plates and paper cups to see if they would fly in the wind tunnel. I think that most of all you boys loved the dinosaurs. There is a dinosaur exhibit in the museum, but then there are two dinosaurs outside. Jake loved the T-Rex and kept saying “ra-rex” until we took his picture with it. The museum is so much fun, and educational, and I’m glad we got a pass so that when the weather is bad we still have somewhere really neat to go!

So we have gone to the museum a lot, but you two still LOVE the zoo. Thankfully the weather hasn’t been too bad and we’ve been able to go to the zoo, even though it’s winter. Since we are veterans of the zoo and know where everything is, we usually go for about an hour or an hour a half and we see everything we want and we always ride the train. Every once in a while I will let you guys ride the carousel. When we go to the zoo I ask you both what you want to see first. Max, you usually tell me you want to see the hippos first. Jake, you usually tell me that you want to go see the turtles, you really have a thing for turtles lately. We really love going to the “MOLA” area of the zoo, the Museum of Living Art. I got a really great picture of a snake opening his mouth and Max always gets excited to see the Komodo dragon, which is the last thing you see at the MOLA exhibit.

So one really amazing thing happened this month, I started taking you boys to my volleyball games. At first I didn’t know how you two would do by yourselves and I brought books, blocks, and some food to keep you guys occupied while I played. There is a big gymnastics mat that is on the floor between the bleachers so I brought two little chairs to put on the mat, and to my surprise, you both stayed on the mat and watched me play 3 games (lasting about 45-50 minutes)! So far I’ve taken you two to 3 matches and y’all are perfectly content playing on the mat, I cannot begin to express how happy this makes me. We also got to spend some time this month with your buddy Oliver. It was pretty funny because all three of you were selfish and constantly annoying each other when you were in the living room with me and Emily, but when you three went to Oliver’s room y’all played great together and we never heard a peep out of you. We also went to the birthday party of our buddy, Bryce. Bryce’s dad, Branden, is my cousin on my mom’s side. So basically, you and Bryce are cousins of some sort. Anyway, We had a blast at the birthday party jumping in the bounce houses, playing games, and you both got to experience your first ride on a go-cart! We had a blast, and we all enjoyed the Elmo cupcakes, especially Jake!

So on Labor Day we did a photo shoot with Andrew Weaver. We got a few group shots of the whole family because we wanted to give one to Granny and Pappy for their 60th anniversary. Well I also wanted a few shots of the 4 of us and then individual pictures of both of you. Jake, you weren’t very cooperative because you wouldn’t be still long enough to really get a good shot, but I think some of the pictures of you two together turned out really good! So in these pictures Max is 3 years-old and Jake is 18 months-old. Time sure is flying by.

Max, you have started saying some really funny things in the last month. You will use really big words that you don’t even know the meaning of, yet you will use them in the appropriate context. It just cracks me up. You say things like “I absolutely want to eat lunch.” In fact, absolutely is one of the words you use quite frequently. You also have started saying very interesting things in your bedtime prayer. One night you prayed, “I’m thankful that sharks don’t eat people” and a couple of times you have prayed “Thank you that people don’t eat other people.” You have also said, “Please let Nona have a safe trip home” despite the fact that she left our house at least 6 hours earlier and we only live 2 minutes away. I’ve had some health issues and was in the emergency room and you prayed, “Please be with Mama in her recovery.” It is just so precious to hear your sweet prayers, even though they are sometimes funny and Dada and I have to try our hardest not to laugh. Once the doctors figured out that my gallbladder was the reason that I was having so much pain, I told you that I was going to have to have it taken out. You were very interested about it and you asked lots of questions. I told you that they were going to have to cut my stomach to take it out and that I would feel better once I had surgery. So the week before I had my surgery, out of no where you asked me if Jesus had a gallbladder. Then I explained to him that everyone has a gallbladder unless they have surgery to remove it. You are so inquisitive and very smart. It amazes me some of the things that you pick up on and remember.

Ever since we saw “Under the Sea” at the Omni you and Jake have been fascinated with sea creatures, especially sharks and cuttlefish. One day Nona took you boys to the library while I was teaching and you got a bunch of different books about sharks, whales, and they even had one about cuttlefish. I don’t know why, but it never really occurred to me to get non-fiction children’s books until now. Needless to say, we have checked out books about sea creatures, woolly mammoths, hippos, dinosaurs, rabbits, foxes, and the list goes on and on. I have even bought you a big book that has lots of animals in it and information about what they eat, where the live, and things like that. I also found a book about sharks and one about dinosaurs at Half-Priced Books and you two love looking at it and learning about the animals. Unfortunately, I missed the last few music classes due to my gallbladder issue. You both really enjoy music and I’ve noticed that Max has been singing during church and really enjoying it. Max, you love singing “Doe a Deer” and it’s amazing that you know the words to so many songs. I’ve also started doing more Spanish with you and Max can count to ten in Spanish and I’m hoping that you will continue to want to learn Spanish.

Jake, I am amazed at how “grown up” you are. You are such a little copycat because you repeat EVERYTHING. In the last week or two you have started to put words together instead of just saying one word at a time. The funny thing is, Max talked early and he seemed to develop language really fast, despite the fact that he didn’t have an older sibling. From what I can remember, and looking back on the letters that I’ve written to Max, you are pretty much talking as much as he was at this age. The thing that really sticks out as a major difference is the vocabulary difference. Jake, you know so many words that most one and a half year old’s would never know. For example, you know the names of all of Batman’s nemeses: Joker, Penguin, Two-Face (you call him “face”), and Mr. Freeze (you call him “freeze”). You also know the names of so many animals, and not just the “standard” ones, you know words like toucan, flamingo, catfish, hammer-head shark, and you even know that some elephants have tusks. I mean honestly, what one and a half year old knows the word tusk? I’m not saying you’re brilliant, although I am your mom and of course I think you are smart, but you know these words because of your brother (and the fact that we have a zoo pass probably helps too). It’s just nice that you can tell me what you want and I don’t have to guess why you are crying or upset. The things that you usually want and the words you say a lot are: milk, water (sometimes you aren’t so specific and you say “drink”), ish (you don’t say the “f” at the beginning and this refers to goldfish crackers), treat (this is usually referring to some sort of sweet that you get if you eat your food). Aside from wanting something to eat or drink you will also say, “babbie” which is your way of saying “blankie” and it is usually what comforts you. Sometimes you will get your blankie and then say “tag” as you look for the tag so that you can rub it and suck your thumb. You are just so silly and funny and you crack Max up all the time by dancing crazy or putting stuff over your head, or just being silly in general. The other day in the car you had Max’s big Batman action figure and you starting singing, “Nanananananana Batbah!” You are just so much fun right now. We are even getting you to pray at night. The other day your prayer went like this, “Teh tu for Mama, Dada, Max, Jake, Nona, Papa, house, car, books, toys, HULK, Jeja name, Ehen.” Of course you often repeat the same thing so I have to keep you on track by telling you “Jesus name” so that you will end your prayer. It’s still absolutely precious.

I’ve never enjoyed staying home as much as I have in the last few months. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but as I’ve said before, staying home isn’t a bed of roses. I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to stay home and I definitely wouldn’t have it any other way, but you two are now at an age that I’m really enjoying. I love waking up and deciding to spontaneously make a trip to the zoo or the museum. I’m so lucky to have such precious boys, and even though there are days that being a stay at home mom is really hard, I love you two so much and I can’t imagine leaving you in the care of someone else. Right now is a crucial time in your lives because I think that your character and behaviors are being molded into the men that you will become one day. Max is learning how to speak respectfully and treat others how he would want to be treated. Jake is learning how to share and how to deal with his emotions when he doesn’t get his way, particularly that it is completely unacceptable to fall on the floor and cry. You are both learning that if you want what the other one has then you should try trading toys with each other, it is making all of our lives easier. I pray that God will give Dada and I the wisdom to raise you to be obedient, respectful, loving, selfless, and caring boys and to train your conscious to be in line with God’s word. I pray that you will both strive to be like Christ and to live according to God’s will and not your own. We are trying to instill these characteristics through example, and we know that we fall short in many areas. The thing is, Max and Jake, you make us want to be better Christians, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers. Personally, I know that I have many short comings and that I am always going to be a work in progress, but I’m hopeful that Dada and I can pass along our good traits despite our bad ones.

Love,
Mama

Dear Max & Jake,

This has been quite the memorable month seeing as how we’ve made multiple trips to Care Now. We were having a garage sale at Nona and Papa’s house and you were both in the house playing with Dada and Papa. I knew something was wrong when I saw Papa running towards me with Jake in his arms. Max, I ran inside to find you laying in Dada’s arms crying and your shirt soaked in blood. You were horsing around, as usual, and apparently slipped when jumping off the ottoman and hit your head on the coffee table. The gash was right in the middle of your forehead, almost identical to the one that Jake had less than 6 months ago, except yours was longer and we immediately knew you needed stitches.

We quickly got in the car to take you (Max) to get stitches. Your head would not stop bleeding and you were crying. Dada held you in his lap while I drove to Care Now. Unfortunately, we’d done this before and I knew that we could get into Care Now right away and that it wouldn’t take as long as if we went to the ER at the hospital. By the time we got there you weren’t really crying anymore but you were worried about what the doctor was going to do. I just explained to you that the doctor was going to sew your forehead back together with some stitches. Then I told you that you and Jake were going to be twins because Jake busted his forehead open too. You thought that was funny and you started laughing. Then I told you it was going to look like you had a spider on your head when they put the stitches in, and you thought that was cool. I told you that you could scare everyone and say, “There’s a spider on my head!” The more we talked about it the cooler you thought it would be to have stitches on your head. Max, you did really great when they stitched you up and only cried a little bit when they had to give you shots around the gash to numb it before stitching it up. When they actually put the stitches in you were totally fine and we didn’t even have to hold you down, you just laid there and stayed still until they were finished. Then you got a sucker (that I had with me, you never know when you’re going to need a sucker!) and picked out a few stickers. You told everyone that you had a ladybug on your forehead and that you and Jake were twins!

All of this occurred while we were in the middle of a meeting with Bruce Roebuck. Max, you seemed fine once we got home and we were able to make it to church that night. We did decide to put a band aide over your stitches just to make sure that you didn’t mess with them or accidentally pull on one of them while you were sleeping or something. We ended up having a great meeting and I even got both of you to take a picture with Bruce while making your “Roebuck face.”

At the beginning of the month all the pumpkin patches opened and Max, you were very excited! Jake, you were also excited and loved seeing all the pumpkins. We went to the pumpkin patch in Grapevine at least twice and I let each of you pick out one small pumpkin and one mini white pumpkin. When we got home Max asked me if we could draw a face on their pumpkins. You two aren’t old enough to carve a pumpkin yet so I decided I would just get a Sharpie and draw on them. Max, you told me that you wanted your pumpkin to look mean. Jake, I made your pumpkin smile. Then I wrote both of your names on your pumpkins and they pretty much lived on the end table in the living room until this week. I also decided that it would be fun to go to the Flower Mound pumpkin patch. Although we had to drive a little ways to get there, they had so much stuff to do and it was all free! You both jumped in the bounce houses, we took a hayride, went into the “jail”, and looked at all the different characters that they had.

Even though my birthday is not until the end of November, I decided that I wanted a professional camera. I did some research and found a great deal on Amazon and even got a free $200 lens. Anyway, I didn’t know how long the promotion would last so I went ahead and ordered the camera for myself. It is awesome. I admit that I don’t really know how to use all of the settings and stuff, but I’ve been taking tons of pictures of you two. It is amazing how clear the pictures are, and even though I don’t know how to edit them yet, they are such great quality. I’ve taken pictures of y’all at the park while playing and feeding the ducks. Here are some of my favorites.

Jake, I think you are absolutely adorable dragging your blanket around and sucking your thumb. You aren’t particularly attached to one blanket, there are pretty much 3 blankets, so as long as you have one you are fine if the others are being washed or something. However, if all three blankets are available, you will drag all of them around. We have one blanket that we leave in the car and it is also your blanket at church. It’s funny because you will have a blanket and I will tell you that we have to go and that you need to leave your blanket because you have one in the car. You immediately drop your blanket and walk out the door, it’s a good thing that we leave that blanket in the car! You have started saying “tag” and when you get your blanket you will say “tag” and start turning your blanket and searching for it, as soon as you find it you start rubbing it and sucking your thumb. You are so precious.

One morning we were getting ready to leave and since I am currently having to park my car outside until we can get rid of some things in our garage, I usually just lock the bottom lock as I pull the door shut. As I was walking to towards the car I realized that I didn’t have my keys in my pocket and I pretty much freaked out. Thankfully I had my phone and so the first thing I did was call my mom since she has a key. Of course I couldn’t get a hold of her at home or on her cell phone. We have gates that are locked so I was considering jumping the fence, but what would I do with you two if I did that? Jake, I did not trust you to stay on the porch and I was worried, if unattended, you might run into the street or something. So I went to one of the gates, and I managed to pull it open wide enough that Max could get through. Max, I told you that I wanted you to crawl through the dog door, open the gate to the kitchen, and unlock and open the front door for me. I knew this was a big task for a 3 year old but I was confident that you could do it. Sure enough, by the time I walked to the front porch you were standing there waiting for me! I was so excited and told you that you were awesome! Then you asked me if you were a super hero, it was so cute!

Whenever we get home and you two are waiting for me to unlock the front door, y’all always sit in the little windows beside the door. While we were locked outside, the second time, I took pictures of y’all. Yes, I locked us outside twice in one month. Thankfully my mom was home and came over to unlock the door the second time. I took the opportunity to take pictures of you two as you played in the front yard while waiting for Nona.

You two are best buddies and one of (Jake) your most used words is “Max.” You say it very clearly. I did manage to get a video of you saying your body parts and other random words as the two of you were horsing around in your underwear (diaper for Jake). I think it’s hilarious when you two dance, and Jake, for some reason you started doing flips, I guess you think that’s dancing too. I love how playful and silly you both are, this is such a fun time. There are still occasional fights, Jake is finally beginning to understand the idea of taking turns. It’s funny because sometimes you just want whatever Max has and you are the annoying one, and other times Max will just want what you have and he will be the one that is irritating. At least you take turns.

The big news this month is that you (Max) are wearing underwear ALL the time now! No more pull-ups at naptime or bedtime. One Thursday morning you woke up with a dry pull-up for the first time. After that I knew that it was possible for you to stay dry all night so I decided that we would just put you in underwear and see what happens. We’ve had to really limit your water intake in the evenings and make sure you go to the bathroom before bed, for the most part it hasn’t been a big deal. I think it helps that you already get up in the early morning hours to go #2 because then you know you can get up and go to the bathroom whenever you need to. You and Dada have a morning ritual of eating breakfast together because you are usually up going to the bathroom while Dada is making his lunch and eating his breakfast. It’s cute that you two have your special time together, but it has led to some random roaming around in the morning. I have found you doing various things like, sitting on the couch playing with your iXL that we bought you, sitting on the chair in the living room eating cotton candy that was left over from the fair, or even sitting at the end of my bed just staring at me like a little creep. One morning you decided to let Jake out of his room and when I walked into the living room I found DVDs all over the floor and you told me that you and Jake wanted to watch a movie. Needless to say, there have been some spankings and you now know that when Dada leaves for work you better stay in your bed/room until I come and get you. You are allowed to get books off your shelf and when you eat breakfast with Dada he will give you your iXL so that you can play with it until I come get you. It’s just nice that you and Jake do not dictate when our day starts, I’m the one in charge of that!

I almost forgot to talk about our trip to the State Fair! I can’t remember the last time I went to the fair, but I really wanted to take you two this year. I decided to go on a week day so that it wasn’t as crowded and Papa went with us. We drove to Dallas and then rode the train to the fair. It was definitely a big thrill for y’all to ride the train. I had a game plan once we got to the fair because I had talked to some of my friends that had gone and they told me what activities they had for little kids. We went to the dog show, fed the animals, did the interactive barnyard, and rode an airplane ride! We ate some fried Frito chili pie, corn dogs, funnel cake, and got some cotton candy as we were leaving. We had a blast! It was so much fun and it completely wore all 4 of us out. Thankfully we went in the morning and by the time we got home you two were on the verge of completely passing out. I absolutely love seeing both of your eyes light up with excitement when we do something fun and if you both have fun, then I have fun!

Every month it seems like time is speeding up. You are both growing up so quickly and I’m trying not to miss anything. I’m really enjoying being your mama and staying home with you. Now, more than ever, I feel such an enormous responsibility to raise you right. I can’t wait to train you until you are teenagers or even school age, I must teach you NOW, while you are young. You are forming your personalities and learning how to behave and speak and I know that I must put in the work and training now, I can’t wait. It’s of the utmost importance. It’s urgent. It’s going to take everything I’ve got and everything Dada’s got, and we must be successful. I pray that God will bless us with wisdom in raising you two, and that he will give us the strength and perseverance that it will take to train you to be obedient children. I’m thankful that you are both sensitive and sweet loving boys and my number one goal is to spend eternity in Heaven with my family.

Love,
Mama

Dear Max & Jake,

Time is moving quickly and the weather is turning cool. While we have had a fun summer full of lots of swimming, I am ready for the fall. At the beginning of the month we hosted the Labor Day meeting in Grapevine. A lot of people were able to come and Max was so excited to see Ronny Wade and Barney Owens, and only mildly disappointed that Don King wasn’t there. I made sure to get a picture of Max and his buddy.

The cooler weather has afforded us lots of opportunities to go to the park. We are regularly going and feeding the ducks and you and Jake are both honing your duck/goose feeding skills. I can give Jake a whole piece of bread and he will tear it into little pieces and throw it, and sometimes eat it. Max tends to think that the bigger the animal the bigger the piece of bread needed. Therefore, if Max sees a big goose he will throw half a piece of bread to it, despite the fact that I have told him over and over that his bread will quickly be gone if he throws such big pieces. The neatest thing about feeding the ducks is that when no ducks are around we can throw bread in the water and watch as the fish jump and try to get it. We have actually seen a few turtles poke their heads out of the water too, but we have learned to throw the bread right to them because they can’t swim fast enough to outrun the ducks.

One thing that really stinks about Max turning 3 is that now he gets charged for everything. Most places we go have the policy of children 2 and under are free, including the zoo. So a few weeks ago when we went to the zoo we had to get Max his own zoo pass. Max, you thought you were big stuff when you got your picture taken to get your own zoo pass, it was so cute. Speaking of the zoo, I think this was definitely Jake’s funnest trip yet. Jake, you are a little parrot and try to repeat everything you hear. As we walked around the zoo you would point at the animals and wait for me to tell you its name and then try to repeat after me. You are talking so much and I love the way you say fish as “ish.” So our first stop at the zoo is almost always the monkeys, they are always entertaining and they are one of the first exhibits as you walk into the zoo. So we got to the zoo right as it opened and we walked over to see the chimpanzees as they were eating their breakfast of lettuce and carrots. Both of you boys were standing right at the glass watching as one of the chimps was sitting up high on one of the poles eating. Suddenly, the chimp jumped right at the glass where the two of you were standing and it nearly scared you both to death. Max hopped down and started trying to run yelling, “He’s gonna get me!” and Jake just looked shocked. There were a few older people standing nearby that tried to reassure Max, but after that he was very cautious and didn’t get too close to the glass when we were looking at the gorillas.

(Max and his buddy Creighton making faces)

One weekend Dada took Friday off and we planned a fun day. We went to Incredible Pizza and ate and played games. We had a lot of fun ridding some of the little rides in the toddler area and spent the rest of the time winning tickets so that you two could get some cheap, useless junk. Jake ended up choosing a ball, big surprise, and Max choose a plastic skeleton of all things. We’ve seen a lot of skeletons lately and you are interested in learning about bones and stuff. So after our trip to Incredible Pizza it was nap time. After nap time we took you guys to the Omni at the Fort Worth Museum and saw a documentary about animals that lived under the sea. It was about 45 minutes long, the perfect length, and you and Jake absolutely loved it. You got to see all types of neat fish and sea creatures, and when Max saw a shark he said, “It’s gonna get me!” The surround screen is so amazing that it looks like you could just reach out and touch the animals. It was such a neat experience and you both loved it. As we were leaving we looked through the windows and saw the dinosaur exhibit and I told you that we would come back and go to the museum another time since it was closed already. From what I can tell they have a pretty neat children’s museum and I’m hoping to take you boys to it sometime this fall.

I have been really busy with my class stuff and I can’t believe that I’m going to graduate with my Master in less than a month! In the meantime my nights and weekends are busy with reading and assignments and I haven’t had much time to write. It’s just temporary though and I’m excited to see what other opportunities present themselves once I have my degree. Max, you have started being able to nap in your underwear and you’ve even kept your pullup dry a few nights. Jake, you are talking so much and just repeat everything. You have started to answer questions when we ask by saying “yes” or “no”, even though you sometimes say the opposite of what you want. When I ask you what your name is you will say, “Jake” and if I ask you, “Who is your brother?” you will say, “Max!” You like to point out trucks, and you will say, “truck” as well as “jeep.” You know all your body parts, but you like to point them out on other people rather than yourself. You also squeeze your nose and say, “honk! honk!” You like to tell me “juice”, “water”, or “milk” when you are thirsty and like any kid you always say “cookies!” even though you don’t get them that often. You are at such a fun age and you seem to say 5 new words a day. When you want to know the name of something you will point and go, “ehhhh!” until I acknowledge you and tell you the word, then you will try to repeat it. You don’t usually make the k or hard c sound, instead it usually sounds like a b. Like when you try to say “bucky” for Uncle Bucky it usually comes out “bubby.” You also have a little lisp and it is so stinking cute.

I love how much you two boys play together and how you are both learning to take turns and get along whenever there is something that you both want. Jake, you have started squealing when you want something and Max won’t give it to you. Max, you sometimes get frustrated when Jake tries to take something away from you, but you also tease Jake by taking his blanket (which he still drags around) and running around with it. Jake usually starts squealing and chasing you around the house while Max laughs. The thing is, Jake has a little temper though and he will get really mad and if he gets a hold of Max there’s a good chance that he will wack him upside the head, I don’t blame him though. Max can be really irritating. The thing is, if you two fight over stuff and can’t figure out how to share or take turns then I take it away. I think this has worked well because you have both learned to share because if you don’t then no one gets to play with it. Jake is actually old enough to grasp the concept of taking turns and even though you have to take short turns, it seems to work.

I’ve started doing Spanish lessons with a group of home-schooled kids on the same days I teach. It has been really good and I’ve been trying to decide how I wanted to use the money. I started looking into different classes that I could do with you two during the day. We looked at a kids gym and I checked into different classes like art and music too. I finally decided to enroll you both into Kindermusik. It worked out really well because there is a class that is specifically for children ages 18 months to 3.5 years old and it also includes parents. I am so happy that I decided to do it because you both love it and we got a CD with all the songs and we practice them a lot at home. One day when we were at Sam’s we saw a little instrument set and I bought it for you both and we have fun “playing” all the instruments along with the songs. I think it’s very important for you boys to learn to sing, especially considering we sing acappella at church, and I hope some day you will both be song leaders! We now have a routine of going to the “net” park (they have this really neat web that Max loves to climb) and then going to music class every Monday. I’m so glad you are both enjoying music class and I think it’s great for you both. Not only are you learning music, but you are learning about how to act in a class with other children!

Max, you have been excited to go to the pumpkin patch for over a month. Every time we drive by you ask where the pumpkins are, so I have explained that the pumpkins won’t be ready until it gets cooler outside. So finally, last week, the pumpkin patch opened and I took you and Jake so that you could play and find yourself a pumpkin. You loved sitting on the big tractors, playing in the hay house and jumping on the bales of hay. We also went to see the goats, pigs, rabbits and chickens and Jake loved watching the animals and trying to say their names. I let both of you pick out a small pumpkin and then you both got a mini white pumpkin. I don’t really know what we are going to do with the pumpkins except look at them a carry them around. When we got home I got out my Sharpies and drew faces on them. Max named his pumpkin Barney Owens, in keeping with the preacher theme, and told me he wanted me to draw a mean face on it. I drew a smiley face on Jake’s pumpkin and then wrote both of your names on your pumpkins. I know that we will visit the pumpkin patch at least 3-4 more times in the next month. I actually heard about another pumpkin patch that is a little bit further away, but has lots more stuff to do. We are planning on going this weekend!

Love,
Mama

Dear Max & Jake,

Happy birthday Max! I still cannot believe that you are 3 years old. You had a wonderful birthday party and all your friends were there! I had a hard time deciding what to do for your birthday, everything is so expensive and we really didn’t want to spend a lot of money. On the other hand, it was so hot that we figured having an outdoor party would be miserable. About a month before your birthday we discovered a new jump house in Southlake, you especially loved it since there was a Batman inflatable. When I looked into having a party I saw that it was going to cost at least $200 to have a birthday party on the weekend and that was only inviting 10-15 kids. After a lot of research I ended up booking your party at the Jump Zone for only $99 including up to 25 kids and all paper products and utensils included! I got such a good deal because we had your party on a Friday morning, it was actually great because it wasn’t crowded and pretty much all of your friends were able to come! Even Emery and Kade came all the way from Midland to come to your party. Robbie, Kenzie, Logan, Trevor, Kendra, Lauralie, and Oliver all came from church. Then Dani, Jessie, Avery, Alecksandra, Creighton, Catherine, Madolyn, Brenden, Grayson, LD, Grant, Cameron, Riley, and Bradford also came! It was so neat to see all of your little buddies that we do play dates with together at your party. You were also lucky that Aunt Joy, Uncle Bucky and Aunt Jojo also were able to make it, and of course Nona and Papa were there along with Mama, Dada, and Jake.

After all you kids jumped your heads off we headed into the party room to sing happy birthday to you and eat some cake. Did I mention how nice it was that I didn’t have to do ANYTHING! The Jump Zone set everything up and cleaned everything up, it was awesome. So anyway, you loved your Batman cake and blew 2 of your 3 candles out, you needed a little bit of help reaching the third one, so I helped you a little so that you wouldn’t spit all over the cake. After we ate cake you got to sit in this big blow up chair to open all your presents. So there you were, looking like a king ripping into each of your presents. You got lots of great stuff, including several Batman toys, it took you 20-30 minutes just to open everything! Your big gifts this year were your train table, the Batcave and Joker’s Fun House, and all of the characters that came with it. You are a lucky boy, and very blessed.

On Saturday we went with Nona and Papa to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and then you and Jake got to get a stuffed animal at the Build-A-Bear workshop. Jake choose a black bear and you helped him choose the Buzz Lightyear outfit. For your animal you choose an owl and then put a vest and tie on him as well as a pair of glasses. When you and Nona went to make his birth certificate you decided to name him Hootie! Jake’s bear remains nameless.

Aunt Bethany and Emery and Kade came the week of your party and we got to go swimming with them on Wednesday. We had a lot of fun and then on Thursday we went the the Southlake town center and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. We had fun just walking around and the four of you loved the water fountain, but after about 10 minutes you were all red faced so we went to Barnes and Nobel to cool off and look at books. We managed to get a few pictures of the 4 of you, but it was difficult to get all of you to be still for more than 2 seconds.

We did a lot of swimming this month and I have made you two practice your swimming and floating so that you guys won’t forget everything you learned. We finally remembered to take our little 2-foot slide to Nona and Papa’s house and Jake loved going down it. In fact, Jake just kept getting out of the pool and going down the slide until I finally put it up so he would stay in the water. Jake, you are such a little booger. I must say that I’m really proud of you two little goof balls. Everything I have read says that it is impossible to teach really young children the concept of sharing and taking turns, but I completely disagree. I refuse to constantly referee things and you two have pretty much figured out how to play together and get along. If I hear crying or squealing I tell you guys that if you don’t work it out then I am taking whatever toy your are fighting over away and neither of you are going to get to play with it. So far it is working and you two constantly play together and I’m very thankful that you are buddies.

Everyone has now gone back to school, including me. I am teaching on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Nona is coming over to watch you two. You guys are having a blast with Nona and I know that she enjoys spending time with playing with you. Last week she took you guys to “toddler time” at the library and you came home with little paper clocks because they were teaching how to tell time. Now Max is constantly asking me what time it is and what we do at that time. It goes something like this, “Mama, what time is it?” and I say, “It’s 1 o’clock.” Then Max says, “What do we do at 1 o’clock?” and then I say, “Well, it’s almost time for nap.” This goes on and on and on and on and on. Max, you ask a lot of questions and you pretty much talk constantly. I know I am just getting paid back because my mom and dad say that is exactly what I did. In fact, my dad lamented that once I had learned how to talk I never shut up. I was always very curious and inquisitive and I still am. Max, you are definitely the same way. One day in the car you were just asking me question after question and I was just so tired of it that I told you not to talk until we got home, we were probably two minutes from the house. After about 10 seconds you whined and said, “Mama, I just want to talk!” I laughed and told you to talk to Jake, you then said that you didn’t want to talk to Jake, so I saw your cup in your cup holder and told you to talk to your cup. You looked at me and smiled and then picked up your cup and said, “Hi cup, what are you doing?” It was funny. I figured if you can talk to Batman on the phone all the time then you can talk to your cup. Okay, I got off topic. So when everyone was talking about going back to school I asked you if you wanted to go to school and you replied, “No Mama, I want to stay home with you FOREVER!” It was so sweet. The way I see it, there are only a few precious years that I have to be home with you boys, you will be in school for plenty of years so why rush it? I think school is great and I know that it will be good for you, but right now we are making huge sacrifices so that I can stay home with you and it just doesn’t make sense to pay to send you off to school right now. You are around plenty of kids and I’m not worried in the least that you need help in that area. In fact, I think too many kids only know how to interact with one another and don’t know to interact with adults. Anyway, I could totally get off on a tangent here but I will save this topic for a blog post on my own website. Basically, I am not going to put you in school this year, enough said.

This month Dada had to go out of town to Boston for work and we really missed him the week that he was gone. I took you both with me to pick him up from the airport when he came home and you both loved seeing all the airplanes! Dada brought home a new “bobo” for Jake (that is what he calls penguins) and he got a hammerhead shark for Max. The first night he got home after his trip Max was wearing his Batman pjs and he came in the kitchen and said, “Dada! I tooted in your chair!” Max, you were acting a little hyper and crazy and when Dada told you it was time to eat dinner he told you that you needed to calm down. You looked at him and replied, “Batman NEVER calms down!” You say the funniest things. Like when I asked you “Who do you call in an emergency?” and instead of saying, “911″ you thought about it and said, “Batman!” Okay, so anyway, I need to get pictures taken for Max turning 3 and for Jake turning 18 months old and we are planning on doing that over Labor Day weekend. The other day I actually thought about taking a picture on Sunday morning before church and I got a great one of my 3 favorite guys. I sure am a lucky girl!

Jake still drags his blanket around rubbing the tag and sucking his thumb, it is so cute. He also loves Bobo, his penguin, and lately he has been wearing sunglasses. It is really cute, even if he wears heart-shaped ones that he got as a party favor from a girl’s birthday party. Jake, you are such a funny little boy and I love your precious curly hair and your sweet smile. You are definitely a boy, but you do have a sweet side. You give such good hugs and sloppy kisses and unlike your brother, you only have to be asked once and you never deny your mama a hug and a kiss. I love to snuggle with you and just hug and kiss on you. Even though Max is 3, he is still very much a mama’s boy. While he might deny other people affection, he NEVER denies me when I want a kiss or a hug. If he accidentally steps on my toe or hurts me while playing around he will come hug me and say, “I’m sorry, Mama, are you okay?” You are such a sweet and caring boy. I’m so proud of you, Max, you finally stopped going #2 in your pullup! Unfortunately, your bowels are like clock-work and you’ve always pooped in the morning. I have taught you to stay in bed until I come get you, so you usually poop in your pullup, even though you are completely potty trained during the day. In an effort to get you to poop in the toilet I told you that you can get up and go poop in the toilet and then get back in bed and wait for me to come get you. We used fake money as a reward system and you can buy different privileges with your money. Well, it has totally worked and now you are pooping in the toilet in the morning and then getting back in bed and waiting for me to come get you. You earned a trip to the jump house and I even let you bring a friend, you chose to bring Robbie. We had so much fun and then we went to eat at Cici’s. I let you have a dollar so that you could “play games” and you bought a fake mustache. It was so cute and hilarious!

Summer is pretty much over and I am so ready for the fall. I’m ready for cooler weather, walks to the park, feeding the ducks, and visiting the pumpkin patch. You two are at such a fun age, and even though staying home is still challenging, I am truly enjoying it!

Love,

Mama

A little couch jumping

Dear Max & Jake,

This month I am changing my newsletter format. Instead of writing an individual letter to each of you I am going to start writing one letter a month to both of you. You two are such buddies that I feel like I am repeating myself a lot in your monthly letters. I think it will be easier on me to just write one letter a month and it will also be easier to categorize the letters by month and year instead of how many months old you are.

We went to the 4th of July Springfield meeting a few weeks ago. I must say, I was pretty nervous about taking the two of you. Not only was I dreading the 7 hour drive, but I was also a little worried about the 4 of us staying in a hotel room together. I must say, you two exceeding my expectations! The drive was really no big deal at all. The two of you watched movies on the portable DVD players, but Jake also stayed occupied by looking at books and eating lots of snacks! We had a great time at the meeting and I really enjoyed getting to see lots of friends that I hadn’t seen in years. I loved singing out of the new song books and the singing was nothing short of amazing.

When we came back from the meeting you guys started swim lessons right away. I found out about this program by stumbling on the website www.infantaquatics.com. This program is incredible. They teach what is called survival swimming which is called swim-float-swim. The first day you and two were swimming under water. The lessons are one on one but only last 10 minutes, but it is an intense 10 minutes. After the first day you both were hesitant about coming back and the only thing that you looked forward to was getting a sucker afterward. Jake, you pretty much cried the entire swim lesson and Max, you were constantly trying to bargain and ask if you were done every 30 seconds. We went to swim lessons Monday through Thursday for 3 weeks. The program usually takes 4-6 weeks, 5 weeks being the average. After the first week I could tell that Max was making more progress and kicking a lot while swimming. Max, you are great at floating, but for some reason you hate it. Jake, you absolutely hate being on your back and you first started trying to float while holding onto your feet, we have no idea how you maintained your balance enough to do it. After only 3 weeks of swim lessons you both were ready to graduate! I couldn’t believe it, and neither could miss Jennifer! She told me that having a student finish in 3 weeks is rare, and it is really amazing that both of you finished in 3 weeks. Jake went from not floating very long, to flipping over on his back and floating the instant he hits in the water. Jake, you still don’t kick much, but I’m no longer worried about you falling into the pool and drowning because you know to flip over on your back and just float so you can catch your breath. Max, you have done absolutely awesome with swimming and I am so proud of you! You are swimming underwater longer and longer. You will try to hold your breath and swim as far as you can just so you won’t have to flip on your back and float, but I still make you sometimes just because I don’t want you to forget what you learned. The other day you swam 3/4 the length of the pool! Your breath control is getting better and we have been swimming almost every day since we got done with swim lessons.

Jake, you are talking more and more! You say lots of words, here are some of the words I can think of that you just started saying. Drink, truck, Jojo, bird, airplane, baby, eyes, mouth, Batman (even though it sounds like batba, we know what you mean), and you also say “batba” for Spiderman. You love Spiderman. Just 2 nights ago you said “Max” for the first time. I was putting you to bed and Max wanted to help me tuck you in and you were saying “night-night” and then you reached your arms out and said “Mama” and I hugged you. Then Max gave you a hug and I asked you, “Can you say, Max?” At first you just kept saying “Mama” but finally I repeated it one more time and you said it, clear as day, “MAX!” I cannot explain the look on Max’s face when he heard you say his name, he was beyond excited, it was absolutely precious. In the past month you have started to really enjoy books, you even try to “read” them to yourself. You also still love penguins and we got a penguin book at the library the other day and you have made me read it to you at least 15 times in the past 2 days! I can tell that you are learning so much by being read to. You point to the pictures and what to know what the names of things are and your vocabulary seems to be doubling every month. Watching you and Max acquire language has been one of the most remarkable things about watching you grow.

Max, you are getting so excited for your birthday. You know it is coming up soon, but you have no concept of time. You will tell people that your birthday is August 8th and when people ask you how old you are you tell them, “I’m going to be 3, but I’m just 2 right now!” Even though it’s not your birthday yet, you just got one of your big presents, a train table. You and Jake love it and I’ve already had to break up a few fights over playing with a certain train or you being scared that Jake is going to break something, which I don’t blame you because that is definitely a legitimate concern. You are having a Batman birthday party at Jump Zone in Southlake and you are very excited about it. I’m excited too because this will really be your first birthday party with your own friends. Even though we are having it on a Friday I think we are going to have a good turn out.

In the last month, Max, you have started making a “mean” face. It is pretty funny and you are very expressive. Jake has started to take notice and now he makes a “mean” face too, it is really cute and not mean at all. Max, we have started practicing writing your name and you want to practice writing letters and stuff all the time. We have also started memorizing Bible verses and working on some pre-reading activities to help you learn new words and letter sounds and things like that. At first I thought it would be hard to get you to focus and do some of the things with me, but the first day we did it you asked if we could do more. You just love learning and I am taking advantage of that. I hope you continue to love to read and learn, I sure do! I am staying very busy with my class and everything, but this summer has been great and I have had a blast with the two of you. This summer has been the best one yet! I remember last summer being kind of difficult. Jake, you were still pretty little and I couldn’t do much with you. We didn’t really get to do that much last summer, I’ve definitely enjoyed all the time we’ve been able to spend outside enjoying the sun!

You two little boogers are my best buddies and my constant entertainment. You are both so sweet and I’m having a blast being with you and playing with you everyday. All the money in the world could not replace the time I get to spend with you two and watch you grow.

Love,

Mama

Jake Swimming

Jake’s Clothes Test

Max Swimming

Max’s Clothes Test

Man I love these boys!

Dear Jake,

I have decided that this is the last month that I am going to write individual letters to you and Max. I just cannot keep up with it anymore. Even though I am not going to write 2 individual letters, I am still going to write a monthly letter that will be to both you and Max. I am almost half way through my masters program, so this time next year I should be done. I’ve really enjoyed the classes so far and I am learning a lot. You would think that staying home with you and Max I would have time to work on my class during the day, but that is just not happening. I pretty much have to wait to work on my class while you and Max are asleep because the two of you will just not leave me alone long enough to get anything done. You always want to play with my highlighter or flip through my books or bang on my computer, I pretty much have to hide all of my stuff from you because you are drawn to it like a bug to light.

So you and Max have been doing a lot of coloring lately since I got you this little plastic lego table that also has a hard cover. You just seem so grown up for such a little guy because you pretty much do whatever Max does. Speaking of growing up, I still cannot believe that you are already in a toddler bed. About a month ago I found out that our crib had been recalled. After looking further into it, I also found out the manufacturing company was out of business so in order to be refunded I had to take the crib back to where I got it, which was Target. Amazingly enough, all I had to do was bring the crib in to get refunded, despite the fact that it was three years old and had teeth marks in it. I almost peed my self when they told me I was getting $270 back. For a 3 year old crib, WITH teeth marks. They asked me if I would like the money on a gift card, which would have been fine, but I had found a bunk bed set online at Walmart.com, so I asked for cash. That was all it took for the girl to hand me $270 IN CASH, for a 3 year old crib, with TEETH MARKS!!! Can you tell how excited I am?

Needless to say, I wasn’t planning on putting you in a toddler bed at 14 months old, but it just seemed stupid to buy another crib when we aren’t going to have any more babies. The plan has always been that you will get Max’s car bed and then we would buy bunk beds to go in Max’s room for when you are a little older. I found bunk beds that have a full size bed on the bottom and a twin on the top, they can also be 2 separate beds. We decided to put the twin bed together for Max, since he will be the one sleeping on the top bunk. We left the full size bed in the box so that we can save it for when you get a little older. I really want you to get to use the Lightening McQueen bed for at least a year or two. The day we took the crib back was the day Daddy put Max’s bed together, so when nap time rolled around we had already put the car bed in your room and we just set the pack-n-play up for you to sleep in. Trying to have you and Max nap in the same room together didn’t work out so well. We kept hearing you two laugh and when we heard a bang Daddy came in to see what was going on. I guess you two thought it would be fun to throw your stuffed animals at each other, so Daddy took them away and threatened the two of you and told you to go to sleep. An hour and a half later Jake was still giggling and we knew you were both STILL awake. By that time Max’s bed had been put together so we just put him in his room and you both finally went to sleep. That night I decided we would just let you sleep in the toddler bed and see what happens, we did leave the pack-n-play set up in your room just in case. To my surprise you did great and it has been no big deal at all. I just couldn’t believe how smooth the transition went, and I am still amazed that you are not getting out of bed!

We’ve had a lot of birthday celebrations in the past few months, including Papa’s, Nona’s, Emery’s, and countless more in the near future. You had a lot of fun at Emery’s birthday party, and you and Max were so excited when you got balloons at Razoo’s when we had Nona’s birthday dinner there. Max is really getting excited about his birthday party, and as long as there’s cake I know you will have fun.

Max has loved books since he was about a year old, and you are following right in his footsteps. Almost every morning you and Max will drag books onto the couch and just sit and look at them, Max will sometimes “read” them to you. You really look forward to us reading books to you before bedtime and you will point things out and try to repeat what we say. I really think your vocabulary is growing faster everyday. You say ball, dog, blankie, baby, shoes, book, fish, cup, bye-bye, hi, night-night, bite, cheese, chips, juice, and probably more that I am forgetting. Your most common word is still “mama”, but sometimes you will call whoever is taking care of you mama. You are such a goof.

You are getting so big. At your 15 month check up you were in the 90% for height and around 75% for weight. You have big wide bricks for feet, and you are quickly growing into Max’s old clothes and shoes. You may even catch up with him before too long, I kind of think you are going to be bigger than him. You had a little virus last week and you were being clingy and you wanted to be held. I hated that you were sick, but I sure did take advantage of all the cuddle time. Max was so sweet to you and kept asking you if you felt better, I think he was getting lonely playing by himself. He even got on the couch and asked me if you could sit in his lap. You two are so precious, well, most of the time.

So the other day Nona was watching you and Max while I went to a doctor’s appointment. You were playing with something and when Max came and took it away for you, you got so mad that you wound up and slapped the back of his head with all your might. Nona told me that she couldn’t help but laugh, she said the look on your face was priceless. Apparently it shocked Max and he just turned to Nona and said, “Jake hit me in the HEAD!” I guess Nona’s laughter was contagious because she said Max started laughing and then you started laughing, which I guess egged you on to do it AGAIN. Uh-oh, we’ve created a monster.

You and Max are both good eaters, but I always feed you strategically. For example, you both eat a sandwich for lunch almost every day along with some Baked Lays and fruit. I don’t let you even SEE the chips or fruit until you’ve eaten the majority of your sandwich because then you won’t eat it. So you pretty much have the routine down and you have started to just whine when I give you your sandwich and not eat it and then say “chip”. Yeah right, buddy! That’s not happening! So eventually, after about 10 minutes of fussing you finally ate your sandwich and then got your chips and fruit. You can’t trick Mama, you little booger! You and Max have learned to eat what we give you because we aren’t going to give you something else. If you end up not eating your food at the table, then we will put it on a plate in the living room so you can take bites while you are playing, it ALWAYS works. The thing is, eventually you get hungry, and when you don’t have a choice of something else, you will eat what we give you. Max did convince me to make cupcakes this week so we just let you have at it. You seemed to really enjoy it, but it’s hard to tell.

We’ve been taking advantage of our zoo pass this month and you are really enjoying it. You LOVE animals and you are so fascinated with all the animals we see at the zoo. You have branched out by calling all birds “duck” all furry animals are still referred to as “dog” and anything that swims in water is a “fish”. For some reason you have taken a real liking to penguins. It all started at Nona’s house. She has a little stuffed penguin that has kind of a leathery nose and you’ve always enjoyed chewing on it and you always go find it when we go over there. We also have a penguin calendar on the side of our refrigerator and you always point to it and smile. You are trying to say “penguin” but it usually comes out as “peegwee”. The other day when we went to the zoo we went to see the penguins first and you were totally enamored watching them swim. One penguin just kept swimming back in forth right in front of the glass where you and Max were standing. As we were leaving the zoo we decided to look in the gift shop and find you a penguin, we ended up getting one on a stick. I know right, a penguin on a stick? Basically it has a little harness you can put on your penguin that attaches to a stick so you can take your penguin for a walk, absurd I know. Of course you love it and you drag him around the house, or you take him off the stick and then use it as a weapon. So of course Max wanted one too and picked out an elephant, even more absurd than a penguin on a stick, I know. So this last time we went to the zoo we rode the train and you and Max rode on the carousel. You were obviously thrilled.

You randomly got a fever last Saturday and I kind of thought you were just cutting the rest of your canines. You already cut the bottom two, but the top haven’t come all the way through yet. You wouldn’t really eat anything and you just wanted to suck your thumb, hold your blankie, and sit in my lap. Your fever ended up getting up to 103, and I knew something else was going on besides teething. A day later you seemed fine except that you got a rash over your whole body. Thankfully you had your 15 month check up the next day and I was glad because I had no idea what to do about the rash. Your appointment went well, you are growing like a weed, so far you weigh about the same as Max did at your age, 25 pounds, and you are a little tall than he was, 32.5 inches. The doctor told me that your rash was just viral and would go away on its own, and then you got two shots. Nona told me that it sounded like you had 5ths, and I think that was it because Max pretty much got it right after you. You both are fine now and the rash is gone. I hate it when you and Max are sick, but I must admit, I do really enjoy the cuddle time!

It’s been a busy but fun month. This week we are headed to Oklahoma for a night and then on to the Springfield meeting in Missouri. We are excited to be going and I think you and Max are at a good age to go. We will be totally off “schedule” and staying up late, but it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m excited to hear some good preaching and see old friends. I’m sure you and Max are going to make lots of new friends and I know you will both enjoy the beautiful singing!

Love,
Mama

PS) You do the silliest things and I am trying to get it all on video, you know, for future use…

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