Catching Up

Due to technical difficulties, I have gotten a little backed up with blogging, so this entry is to catch up on the Allbritton happenings and top news.

Chase loves to adorn his noggin with anything, not just hats!

Chase really enjoys holding the chickens, which are now surprisingly large!

Chase’s room is complete, it looks so fantastic! And Chase loves, loves, loves his new big boy bed!

For about 3 straight weeks Chase said, “Look Mom, I growed again!!” every time I would him from nap or in the morning. Almost like his big boy bed was helping him grow.

Tate learned all about different cultures this year at school and made some fun crafts to go along with them.

Probably the greatest thrill of the boys from this past few weeks is their acquisition of their very own lightsabers. Tyler introduced Tate to Star Wars a few months back and because of the genetic coding in boys, he thought it was the coolest thing ever and couldn’t stop talking about lightsabers for days after watching. So both Tate and Chase had their goal incentives set before them to earn their prized treasures and finally got their rewards. They play-fight several times a day and try to get Daddy in on the fun, which he does willingly (guess what Daddy is getting of his very own for Daddy’s day!)

 

This meant to be Chase’s “fighting face.”

The day is here!

Our little kiddos are early birds, always have been. I suppose because we are morning people, it was to be expected. And I suppose since we need to get up at 6:30 to get to school on time, that sealed the deal. This Saturday I woke up ready to have some “me time” before the family started puttering around. But I wasn’t quiet enough and Chase woke up yelling, “get me up….wake me up!” See, Chase is still in his crib, for how much longer you ask? Until he either tries to climb out or he gets too long I suppose. He is happy in his crib and Mommy is happy she can contain him for just a little bit longer. I don’t think there will be any psychological damage! I am guessing maybe a good time to transition him to a “big boy” bed would be when he goes to preschool and we emphasize his “bigness.” Anyhooo, so Tyler peeked his head into Chase room and whispered “it is still too early Baby, it isn’t time to get up.” But since I have Chase’s darkening shades cracked up to allow some light into his room at nap to play with his toys, he knew without a doubt that it was not too early and pointed up to the light steaming through the crack in this darkening shades and stated “but the day is here!” Alas, Daddy won and explained it was still too early and indeed he would have to wait just a few more minutes, but how cute! “The day is here!” He is ready to start his sweet little day.

I wish sugar was good…

Tate gets an organic lollypop on occasion after a well-mannered dinner. I have been beefing up on our nutrition discussions and teaching Tate why sugar, processed fats, etc. are bad for our bodies. Tonight, Tate got his occassional lollypop and here is what he said:

Tate: “I won’t eat lollypops much….lick….lick….I wish sugar was good for us, then I would eat lots of lollypops…maybe four a day!”

While Tate enjoyed his treat, Chase wanted to be part of the action. Although, his treat was a orange slice. (he did get a little chocolate just before his orange slice, just so you don’t think I am thaaattttt strict about food).

So long, farewell…

Early this morning we said our goodbyes to Grandmommy and returned home to Daddy and Granddaddy, who have been diligently working on the new living space (more on that soon). We had such a fun trip! Even with the stifling temperatures, we had tons of fun. We were in the pool morning and afternoon most days, played Crazy Eights, took a trip to the library and watched a few movies. Indoors was not all the bad with the fans going full speed. Also, I was born and raised in Arizona, so I am no stranger to hot and dry conditions. While packing, I realized Chase barely wore any clothes! He so enjoys being naked and it was a good time to do it….and his little naked body is so adorable!

Tate said something so cute, I must jot it down before I forget. Last night, in our preparations for this morning, I told Tate we would be leaving early and that I would need to wake him up. He talked about it and sounded a bit worried….don’t forget….if I am sleeping, just touch me and I will wake up….maybe we should wake up at 4 just to make sure! Grandmommy said, “he is a worrier! He needs more of Grandmommy’s genes.” And Tate calmly replied, “But I already have my own clothes!” (thinking Grandmommy said jeans!) We had a hardy laugh.

The airplane ride back was not quite as uneventful as the ride out, but it was still fine enough. Lets just say I was signing a lot towards the end! And I accidently erased all the videos from Chase’s Zune (which I don’t even know HOW to do), so Tate was upset for about 1 minute, forgave me quickly and happily listened to a story on CD. I am debating which time of the day is best to fly now (morning or during nap), but I suppose the cheapest ticket will make that decision.

We didn’t take too many pictures, but I did manage to get one great one the night before we left.

THANKS GRANDMOMMY – we are SOOOO

blessed you are OUR Grandmommy!!!!

Marshmallows!!!?

Backyard camping is an Allbritton tradition. The next camping date has been set for July 3rd. We were sitting all together after nap and I casually asked, “what food do you all want me to pick up for your camping night?” Tate, without a moment of hesitation, said “MARSHMALLOWS!!!” I said “WHAT!!! Who told you about marshmallows? How do you know about marshmallows!” He had no real understandable answer. BOOGER! Who tainted my child!?! I was trying to keep him ignorant of such foods for just a touch longer. Tyler offered a marginal amount of comfort and said that 98% of the marshmallows he had in his young life turned in to torches, we will see. I think Vitamin Cottage sells organic marshmallows, organic?? Strange. Better than non-organic I guess. I don’t know, I need to think this over.

“Dollop of eweee”

For years, Tyler has been giving “eweee” to Tate. It all started when Tyler gave Tate some kisses and whisker tickles on his neck; he laughed and laughed. So Tate tried to do it back to Tyler, but all that came out was slobber and funny nose rubs and Tyler said “ewwwww”, so from then out out, it became the game of “eweee”. And now, of course, he does it to Chase too. Both of the boys just go into hysterics. It is a daily event in the Allbritton household. At some point, Tate picked up on the word “dollop” and now asks Tyler, “can I have just one dollop of eweee before you go?” as he is walking out of his room for the night. So cute!

Chase-Zilla

Once Chase started crawling, we moved Tate’s elaborate train tracks to his room. It was pretty much out of sight, out of mind for Chase…until today that is. I left Chase in his room to air out after a diaper change. I heard some toy-crashing activity and didn’t think much of it. When the time came to put on Chase’s diaper, I walked down the hall and found him in Tate’s room gleefully “Godzillaing” his track!

I warned Tate before he came up from watching his TV show downstairs. He took it quite well. However, once he saw the destruction, he walked out of his room and said, “I am mad at Chase, but I still love him!”

A little bit after dinner, Chase took off again and headed toward Tate’s room. Tate was pretty anxious about getting his door closed. So the lesson of the day, “keep Tate’s door closed”.

Children’s Hospital for Toy Drop

I would not label myself a procrastinator. In fact, for those of you who know me well, I would bet you would say I am the polar opposite. However, I have to admit, I have pushed this off. Think back to October 2008, Tate’s birthday. We asked guests to his party to bring presents to donate to the Children’s Hospital instead of for Tate. These unopened toys, supplies, etc. are given to children after treatments or used in the playrooms within the hospital. Definitely a worthy, deserving use of our time and money. Bottom line, naps took precedence for us these past 4 months. Chase is sleeping a little less these days and we now have about a 3 hour window in the middle of the day that allows us to do some outings we just weren’t able to do before – well, do outings with happy, smiley boys that is!

So today we made the hour drive out to Children’s Hospital. Tate was very excited to give toys to those in need. And both boys were perfect! I am not sure Tate fully grasps what we did. We put the toys down and as we were walking out he said, “but how we will ever get the toys back?” – I was like, eye-curumba! But at least it opened the door again to discuss what we did and who they were for and how those toys will bless very sick children.

On that note, we are on a quest. A quest to find ways for me and the boys to serve others in our community….hands on serve. It seems almost too easy to just give money or take our used toys to the donation center. My friend Donna, her blog is in my friend list, is so passionate about teaching her kids humility through serving others, blessing others. It has been inspiring to talk with her and see (or at least hear) about how she is putting this into action. Thanks friend!

Anyway, my quest is to find ways to get Tate involved, excited and learning about compassion and that indeed there are those that do not live like us in this world. This will be good for me too, I have been stuck in my own little world for a long time, not venturing out and helping others much. Now that I want my boys to learn these valuable lessons early, it will also teach me a thing or two! 

Character card and spelling

Two very cute quips occurred this week. The first one happened when Tate and I were having some talk time before leaving his room for the night. I have to preface the story with an explanation of our character cards. We have this set of laminated cards that have a character trait on one side and the definition and a verse that applies on the other. They include all the different character traits we want to build in our children (and ourselves). The picture to the right is the holder on the fridge we use to hold the cards he gets during the day and then on Sundays we have a character card celebration! So, the other night while I was tickling his back and we heard noises out in the kitchen, Tate asked, "what is that noise?" I said "Daddy is honoring mommy by helping clean up the kitchen!" Then Tate said "does Daddy get a card?" I giggled and said no, he gets a big kiss! It was adorable! 

The second super cute quip was when Daddy and I were talking. For years now, we have been spelling words we didn't want him to hear - as you all know, hearing a word even just once can be repeated at any moment. We don't spell bad words, just words that have something do to with things like a present, bedtime or perhaps a consequence. So I was spelling something, I can't even remember what, and then all of a sudden, Tate starts spouting off letters in no real order - but then we distinctly made out a "b-r-i-t-t-o-n" - half of his last name! He totally thought it was part of the "conversation." I think he is catching on and our spell-eze is not going to work much longer as a secret language!

Fast-Poke

Tate is all boy, which means everything is more fun if there is a chance of "winning!" It doesn't matter what it is, he can "win" at dinner by finishing first (of course, he asks Daddy to "stop eating"), get to the MV first or drink his water faster than everyone sitting at the table. Today, I said "WOW - I am a slow-poke today!" And Tate said, "I am a fast-poke!" He was thrilled that he was faster than me and I just loved his new word!

Not on his fur!

Tate went to give Chase a kiss before bed and Chase was moving around so much Tate couldn't hit the spot he was aiming for. So we told him to try again and Tate looked down and said "not on his fur!" hehehehe!

Breakfast Soft Serve Ice Cream

We like breakfast ice cream, an idea inspired by Missy Chase Lapine in her book The Sneaky Chef. The recipe changes every time I make it, but today we took:

2 avocados

a 10oz bag of frozen strawberries (organic of course)

a pour (maybe 1/2 cup) homemade dairy kefir (could use anything, coconut milk, regular milk, almond milk)

1 T raw honey (plus a few drops stevia to bring up the sweetness just at touch)

1 T vitamin C-berry powder

a big blob of raw cream

I threw all the ingredients in my nifty food processor and let 'er rip.

Tate said, "mommy, you make nice ice cream!" I politely said "thank you!" But inside I am totally doing back flips because my precious first born totally digs this nourishing breakfast!

We have sickies

Tyler has had some summer allergies. Mostly he has been dealing with it, but on occasion he needed to pop a pill to help him sleep. As everyone knows, we pretty much avoid drugs, but a lack of sleep is just the pits, so I can let a few Claritin pills go.

Well, while on our nice, relaxing time away last weekend, Tyler started to feel worse and worse, even after the Claritin. Then BAMMM...sinus infection! So he laid low for all of Monday after our court finalization and was well enough to go to work on Tuesday. Then Tuesday I started feeling sick...first the throat, then the stuffy head and then the headaches and clogged ear. ARG! (SORRY DAD AND KATHLEEN, I hope you stay well!!!) I didn't get to experience my usual 12 hour, get-over-it, keep-moving thing. So Wednesday I was dragging, trying to care for the kids, but still avoiding too much contact as to not spread germs. Thursday, Tyler had to stay home from work to play "mommy".

Tyler asked Tate last night, "Did I play mommy well today?" Tate answered with an enthusiastic "yes!" He really does do an excellent job of running the house!

We noticed we could hear Chase breathing on Wednesday. And for the first time in his little all-night sleeping career, he woke up! I think he just has his fingers in his mouth, tries to breath in his nose and can't and wakes up. Tyler went in and with a little soothing, he was back to sleep in no time. What a trooper! So today I took a picture of Chase, here he is "sick"

He still smiles, laughs and plays. He isn't even that clogged, we can just hear breathing. His head is a little warm, not even enough to worry and take his temp. And the only other "symptom" he has is sleeping. He is sleeping like 3 hours longer than normal..WOW! Tate hasn't showed any symptoms yet, thankfully.

Chase is 5 months!

 

WOW...look at this little guy! Today, June 20th, he is 5 months old!

 

 

He keeps growing and growing...the blessing of getting to watch these two little boys grow up each day amazes me. Lets see, what is new with this precious little lamb... Chase is not only rolling over like a champ, but new little hairs on his precious little head are starting to appear. He watches his hand go back and forth like it is a psychedelic super-being. He has the most adorable giggle and is still the best sleeper, regardless if his new summer wake-up time is now 5:30ish...he still sleeps all night long without a peep.

He is still only eating formula. Probably in another 3 or 4 weeks we will try adding some solids into his diet, but for now the formula is keeping him happy and healthy. He is bright-eyed and is just the most content little baby in town! Tyler listed Chase's favorite things yesterday: sleep, formula and smiling!

Chase is the sunshine of our days! Tate is enamored with him. If Chase starts fussing, Tate thinks it is his "job" to make him happy. He says, "I'm coming Chase!" and runs over and either gives him a toy, turns on the vibrator on his bouncy seat or flips on a song on his swing.

 

I tell ya', this is the life! It doesn't get better than this!

Chubby legs

Chase's shirt says, "Party at my crib!"..it is really cute and it matches his blue blue eyes. Here is our happy boy hanging out with Tate on the couch, looking as angelic as ever! Just in the last week Chase has started to get a little bit more alert, like moving his head in the direction of little noises. We were all sitting outside the other day and a bird flew by and he was looking for it. He also really likes to watch the leaves rustle in the wind.

The week is pretty low-key, hanging out at home, summer school for Tate and lots of cuddles, playtime and walks. Chase is still sleeping 3 naps most days, especially if one of his first two get cut short by driving Tate to school or church. He is still sleeping all the night through, in fact, (I almost don't want to say it out loud) ever since he started sleeping through the night he has not woken up once in the middle of the night! Not once! I think it helps that sucking on his fingers soothes him back to sleep, because he is not franticly searching the crib for a pacifier.

He is also getting bigger. Tyler keeps rubbing his head around and around and calling it his little bowling ball. Also his little legs are so chubby and adorable. He loves to smile, giggle (still need to put up a video) and watch his brother play, jump around or do anything. It reminds me of how children watch us - Mom and Dad - always learning. What is the saying, most things are caught not taught! Makes me stop and think twice about my habits and other things I would not want my children to pick up on. I am already telling Tate that Chase watches everything he does and what a big responsibility that is!

Here Tate is giving Chase a big smacker! He does it all day long and says "Chase is my bestest baby!" or "I love my baby!"

"They look perfectly!"

Tate grows out of shoes pretty quickly. I bought these car shoes a while back and I bought them BIG (size 12). They are too big, but he likes them so much that he doesn't mind! When he first put them on today he said "they look perfectly!"

Random "I Love Yous!"

In our home, "I love you" is said frequently! It has caught on with Tate in the cutest way! We will just be sitting around, playing, talking or whatever and Tate will just burst out with "I love you mommy..." or "I love you Grandma"! It is TOO cute!

Musings from the past week

Apologies to our family and friends who have been looking for an update. I have no excuse really, I suppose things have been pretty quiet. Tyler took Friday, Monday and Tuesday off and we had a nice relaxing family time. We didn't do anything real exciting, just kept up with family life and the house. There is never a dull moment with an infant and preschooler in the house! One thing I did do is get the boys together for a few cute pictures...

Tate went to a birthday party for one of his school chums on Saturday. There were tons of kids. Unfortunately, his girlfriend Lauren couldn't make it, but Tate took it like a man and played on. In his goodie bag from the party he got some push on tattoos, which he thinks are pretty cool, and a power rangers mask...he doesn't even know who the power rangers are first of all, second, he just doesn't like hats or masks, but Daddy does!

Spring is in the air. Even though the weather has been a little frigid and snowy, the birds are singing early in the morning, I see new buds starting to form on the trees around our house and the just bought some strawberries at Vitamin Cottage...how exciting! One highlight for mommy was the second part of Sense and Sensibility from Masterpiece theatre...it is the simple things that bring me joy! I can't get enough of Jane Austen!

Tyler and I actually made it through a whole movie, in segments of course, but nonetheless, it was nice to watch something together. The baby is wonderful, cute as can be and starting to sleep a little longer at night. Last night his last feeding started at 7:30, he woke up around 1 to fill his tummy and then again around 4:30, but the pacifier held him off until about 5:30....so it feels like we are moving in the right direction anyway for feeding only once a night. He tummy is still just so small, but he is getting there!

Tate just loves playing with Chase..he will bring him toys, tuck blankets around his little bare legs and kiss his little head...he is the best big brother!

Tate has started something new...not sure where he picked it up, but it is pretty funny. When he gets silly, he says things like "I am going to water you like a plant"..or "I am going to mash you like a potato" (he likes this last one particularly well when we are eating mashed potatoes with dinner). Anyway, the cute things that come out of preschoolers mouths just puts us in stitches. And Tate loves to see us crack up. I will have to get better at writing more of them down here so we don't forget!

I leave you with a picture of sweet baby Chase...until next time...Love to you all!

... Don't Call Me ShallWe?

At lunch today, Tate was goofing off and playing with his food. I said, "Stop goofing off. Let's finish eating your lunch shall we?" He responded, "Don't call me ShallWe, my name is Tate."

For the younger readers of the blog...Airplane Shirley Quote

Can I "pet" the baby?

In his little boy way, Tate asks if he can "pet" the baby! He loves to stroke the baby's head and give him kisses - it is the cutest thing I have ever seen!