Two for 2

Two weeks ago today, my second child had two teeth that were so unbelievably lose that they couldn't even wait until the second hour of church to come out. Neil pulled one out right during sacrament meeting. The other came out about 2 o'clock that afternoon, not too long after we got home from church because I couldn't take a second look at that second loose tooth holding on by two flimsy strings.Luckily for Paden, we didn't have have to wait two days for the tooth fairy to come. We know sometimes she gets backed up depending on how many kids bravely allow their parents to pull out their teeth. :-) Luckily for us, the tooth fairy collects these rare bills for occasions where two teeth are destined to come out together. At first Paden didn't think it was real money. We assured him it was, it is just a special one worth TWO dollars! He has now safety tucked his 2 dollar bill away in his dresser. Silly boy!

Permission vs. Forgiveness

Have you ever heard the philosophy that sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission? It works in some scenarios. Apparently, a very smart 4-year old named Paden believes in this philosophy. It is true that most kids probably don't think like this very often, they just do what they do without thinking; that's my experience anyway. But, this little story about Paden is one of the times I believe he followed the philosophy.

Last night, we were eating dinner (in the loose sense of the term) and so Neil and I were sitting downstairs. Side note: we don't buy soda very often and when we do it's not usually something we share with the kids (I know, we're mean). We haven't consumed caffinated soda for years. So, when we buy something it's usually caffiene free dr. pepper or coca cola as a treat. If we know someone coming from Utah we have them bring us caffiene free mt. dew, which is a special treat since you can't buy that around here. So, anyway, we had purchased some dr pepper the other day. It usually goes pretty quick, then we don't buy any for several months. Neil had the last one last night. When the boys came in from outside Paden came down and was talking about something, then was going to leave. He caught an eye of the coveted last dr. pepper, so he turns back and takes a swig. Neil and I look at each other like, "what is he doing, he didn't even ask".

So, Neil says: Paden, what are you doing?
Paden: I just wanted a drink of your soda.
Neil: Why didn't you ask first?
Paden: Because you would say no.
(Neil and I are cracking up at this)
Paden: Papa, can I have a drink of your soda?
Neil: No
Paden: See . . .

Isn't he sweet?

Funny Story

I will have to retell this story that Neil told me about Paden today. It's pretty darn funny.

Neil took the boys to tri-cities today for a few reasons. They met Cousins Jake and Marlys for breakfast at IHOP. They had a fantastic time and it's always fun to see family we don't get to see very often anymore. They went to the Children's museum. They had fun there, but they will tell you it's not as good as others they've been too. They also went on the big shopping trip for groceries.

At the children's museum, a kid that was a little older than Gunnar ran by Paden and called him "dude". Paden says, "hey!" Kid keeps going. Paden: "hey, I am talking to you!" Kid stops to listen to Paden. Paden explains sternly, "I am not 'dude'. I am Paden. P-A-D-E-N. Paden." Yes, he spelled out his name to the unsuspecting kid who called him "dude".

Paden is a funny kid and he's not afraid to speak his mind. He is not afraid to give anyone a hard time. He is pretty sweet sometimes too.

This morning I woke up and he was sleeping next to me; don't remember him coming in my bed! So, it's like 5-something in the morning and I roll over and he says, "Mama ..." I say, "yeah". "I love you." He was totally NOT awake! How cute! Then around 6am he did wake up more and wanted chocolate milk and a cartoon. TOO EARLY. I think I held him off until about 6:40am!

Oh the memories!

Funny Story (no SPT this week)

So, it's earth day and in the spirit of earth day, I believe my three year old decided to give back to the earth. No pictures of this event, as it had passed by the time that Neil found out what was happening. I believe that you will have mixed reviews on wanting to see pictures anyway. So, are you in suspense long enough? I wanted to make a dramatic intro to Paden's "giving back to mother earth". So, here's the story: Today, Neil hears Paden in the bathroom, so he goes to see if he needs help. He had no pants nor underwear anywhere to be found. So, Neil asks him where they are. Paden replies, "outside." So, what are they doing outside. "I pooped outside," says Paden so candidly. Sure enough, Neil went to check and there's the poo and the pants outside. So, there you have it. Paden is giving back by saving water and pooping freely on the lawn. During the last couple of potty training weeks, we have let him pee outside because boys seem to think that is fun. We recall it helped Gunnar potty training, it's warm enough outside right now, so why not. It saves Paden time going upstairs to a bathroom, he can just go out the patio sliding door and voila. Neil had to have a little chat with Paden about where it's appropriate to poo. So, that's the great story of the day! Keep reading below for Gunnar's story of the day for yesterday!

Can anyone guess what this is?

Looks like some hair on the floor, no big deal, right? Need another hint?

For those of you who guessed a "lock of hair" - you're right. Sorry no prizes, I think everyone got that one right!

So from what occassion do you think this lock of hair comes? If you guessed "First Hair Cut" - you're right! Sort of.

First hair cuts are such a joyous occassion, aren't they? A sign your baby is growing up and turning into a toddler. It's sad to see the long locks of hair drop to the floor. It's hard to pick just the perfect lock to save for the memory book. The toddler look is so handsome (for my boys at least) and it just makes you realize that kids grow so much faster than we want them too.

I am going to have to admit and confess that I was not quite as joyous as I could be following this "First Hair Cut". Let's see the results:

Yes, you guessed it folks! This is Paden's First Haircut HE GAVE HIMSELF!!!! He has only one strip of his bangs left and there's a chunk off the top/back part too. He cut quite a bit of hair off!

Here's before (this was three days before he cut his hair) - his hair is messed up here from jumping on the trampoline, but I think you can tell that he has much less hair now than he did! Crazy kid! I was in the computer room. Gunnar has his kids safety scissors that he gets and cuts paper. Apparently, he left them where Paden could reach them in the kitchen, so Paden decided to give himself a haircut. He came in to me and the first thing I noticed was that he cut a slit in his diaper right down the front middle (he didn't have clothes on - common theme with my boys). Then I saw pieces of hair on his belly and in his diaper front. THEN, I saw the chunks of hair missing. I couldn't do anything but laugh!!! He kind of needed one anyway. We haven't fixed his hair yet either. We normally take him to the barber shop in Quincy, so we'll be taking him sooner than we thought I guess. To see the results of Paden's real First Hair Cut, you can click here for a scanned image of his scrapbook page on the subject.

Faces of Paden

I could not resist posting these couple of pics of Paden. The kid LOVES chwac-it (chocolate). Anything and everything. So, today I had to skip work (oh darn) because of no one to watch the boys and Neil went to work for a friend of his at the HS; he'd already been in his class last Friday and yesterday, so when he got called again, he couldn't let his friend down. With Tuesday being Temple Day for my in-laws and with Aunt Ann being on vacation (how dare she!) AND my back up babysitter here out of town too, I was kind of low on options for the boys. I didn't want Gunnar to miss pre-school because umm . . . we have to pay for it whether he's there or not, so he's goin'! So, Paden and I dropped Gunnar off at preschool, went to the Dollar Tree where, yes, Everything's $1!!!! Love that store! I picked up the spray bottles I needed along with two little baskets to make into gifts - need some inpiration (Susan - that's your cue) for them though. Then, Paden and I went to the grocery store to pick up some bread, along with other necessities like donuts and chocolate milk. It's kind of thing with our family - it's our downfall! Paden was having a rough time because they were all out of "pink chocolate milk" for brother (the less expensive kind anyway). Paden was really having a hard time with what milk we should get for him and his brother. Paden likes brown, he knows Gunnar likes pink and I was trying to get him to pick out the cheapest brown ones there. After several minutes I finally was able to put three brown chocolate milks in the cart (they were on sale for .50 cents a piece!) and proceed to come home. So, these are the pics of Paden when he was finished eating his donut. I should have taken a pic of the donut - he doesn't eat them all, he just eats the chocolate off the top (with minimal bread in the bite). He was watching TV in the living room with his donut on the floor on his plate leaning over it biting the chocolate off. Ahhh . . . life with a 2-year old!

Paden's 2!!!

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet Padey Boy! He turned two on February 15th. I am pretty sure I told the story about when he was born a year ago on this post. This year, well, it's a good thing he's only two and doesn't really comprehend what's going on. We didn't celebrate his birthday on his birthday. We did go to McDonald's that day because Papa had late b-ball practice. Paden fell asleep on the way home from McDonald's (about 7:30pm or so) and stayed asleep all night! So, that was his birthday. Finally today we sang happy birthday and had cake & ice cream!













Paden is a very smart, stubborn, meticulous, joking, loving, junk-food devouring two year old! He's really a talker. He loves chocolate. He has to do most things a certain way and don't try to change his routine. He loves his Grandpa & Grandma (all the grandmas!). He loves mud. He loves watching cartoons. He found that he is very fond of "ogurt" today - he ate a bunch of go-gurts. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine. He has lots of engines. I think his favorite cartoon at this point is He Man. He also likes Handy Manny, Scooby Doo, Dora, Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He likes Bob the Builder and Thomas cartoons too, but since Handy Manny they don't get watched as often. He likes taking a bath, but doesn't like to rinse his hair and the water on his face. He's a copy-cat of Gunnar, but he very much has his very own personality! He's pretty lovey-dovey, with me at least. With him a kiss helps all hurts. He will seriously ask for to "kiss it" and as soon as he gets a kiss where he hurts he immediately stops crying. He's a very fun boy! My Padey Boy!