Riding on the tractor in the very hot sun.
JJ picking out a pumpkin.
Tristan helping him pick out a better one : )
JJ has been such a toddler lately. We are half-way done with Brian being gone for 4 weeks and it couldn't be going by any slower : ( Hopefully JJ and I make it through these next 2 weeks.
Last weekend Michael, Krista, and the boys came down to a fun "pumpkin weekend" at an organic farm in Valley Center that they get their produce from and then came down to our house for the weekend. We went up to meet them at the farm and had a great time. It was super hot, but we got to ride on a tractor around the farm which the boys really enjoyed. Randomly before we were about to leave, Batman (well, a guy dressed up like Batman) came wandering down through the field. JJ was pretty scared of him, but luckily was able to hide behind Uncle Michael's legs.
One hard part about having them here is that JJ starts biting! Honestly, the only person he really bites at this point is the Little One. I'm not sure if it's a problem of them not having a good enough vocabulary, or it's just a toddler thing, but it's really annoying! I spent almost all weekend say, "no JJ, don't bite (the Little One)." At one point JJ bit him so hard behind the ear that it made him bleed! One good thing though is that since the Little One has come around, JJ and Tristan have been getting along pretty well. At one point we even let them go upstairs to play by themselves and they did really well, which the Little One didn't appreciate since he was left downstairs crying! I really don't know how people have so many boys and stay sane.
My mom has always said that based on the minute that you see/meet JJ will determine what kind of child you think he is and this has been very evident lately. If you see him in the first 3 aisles of the grocery store you will think he and I are horrible, but if you see him later during shopping while he is greeting everyone, you will think that he's so cute! For some reason riding in the cart is always a huge fight which I almost always win.
I learned from my lifelong friend Tifani that bath time should be "learning time" and I've tried to do that more lately. We've been working on colors and numbers and also singing lots of songs. Last night we were singing "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and after a few times I got tired of that song, so we moved on to the "ABC's." After we sang it the first time JJ looked at me and said "good job Mommy." It really melted my heart : ) It's the cute random sayings that make me get through the day.
Here's a recap of tonight at bed when JJ really showed his toddlerhood. I put him to bed and then before I even walked out the door he was saying, "Mommy, Mommy" and I asked what he needed and he said "hmmm, hmmm" so I said "goodnight, I love you." Then 5 minutes later -
JJ, "Mommy, Mommy"
Me after running back upstairs, "Yes sweetie, what do you need"
JJ, "I want Tylenol"
Me, "No baby, you're not sick, you don't need Tylenol. I love you, goodnight"
JJ, "Ok, goodnight"
5 minutes later -
JJ, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy"
Me after running back upstairs, "What do you need?"
JJ, "door open"
Me, "ok, I'll open the door"
2 minuts later -
JJ, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy"
Me yelling up the stairs "What do you need sweetie"
JJ, "light off"
Me after going back up the stairs and putting the nightlight in, "goodnight, I love you"
JJ, "night, night"
Ok, you get the picture, I then went back upstairs multiple times to open the door, close the door, turn on the nightlight, turn off the nightlight, put a blanket on, find Clifford, finally say "I'm not coming back up here again. Goodnight, I love you." And he's been quiet ever since. The ups and downs of toddlerhood really do keep life interesting.
