Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!

Kyle and the boys recently accompanied me on a business trip. I'd like to say that it's because they miss me when I'm gone, but they tagged along since the hotel I was staying at was across the street from Disneyland. While I spent most of my time at a convention center, the boys soaked up the California sun.

We were able to spend a day at Disney as a family and it was fabulous. John Ross and I rode about every ride we could possibly go on. We got to visit Disney's playhouse where all the boys' favorites were - Mickey and the gang, Handy Manny, the Little Einsteins and Tigger & Pooh. The highlight for John Ross was meeting Goofy and playing at his house. Judd lit up like a Christmas tree when he got to see Mickey Mouse up close. He was truly amazed... after all, Mickey has been in his vocabulary for most of his short life.

Disneyland is truly a magical place and I feel fortunate that the boys got to experience it. They are young, but we took lots of pictures hoping that they will trigger memories as they get older.

Help! Who is this boy?

And where did he come from?! Do not get me wrong, I absolutely adore John Ross and he's definitely a Mama's Boy, but some days I do not know where the child came from! He is Mr. Attitude and likes to dictate who does what, when and where they do it. This applies to everyone in our house, including the dogs. I had been warned that 3-year-olds are opinionated, but didn't realize that the person who coined "terrible twos" had clearly never met a 3-year-old.

Any advice? I have a feeling that many parents have or are going through this and I'm worried that the advice is going to be "ride it out"... I just hope this ride isn't long!

On a bright note, John Ross was recently discharged from his speech therapy. He made leaps and bounds with his progress and is able to express himself more clearly. We are thrilled with his growth even if it has enhanced his new found sassiness.

Bye, Bye Binky!

We are on day 5 without a pacifier! Judd was still using his pacifier for naps and bedtime and we had been debating when it was time to pull the plug. After receiving a pep talk from our pediatrician on Friday, I was inspired to begin the battle. So Friday night we hid all of the pacifiers and crossed our fingers. Surprisingly it turns out that he wasn't as dependent on it as I thought (or as dependent as I was)! He has a very loved "lovey" that he is using as his crutch. It's just enough to keep him content. While he did fuss in protest at the beginning, he is doing great and I believe he is a fully-recovered paci addict... five days and counting.

I love you, you know

Birthday Boys

Happy Birthday John Ross and Judd! We celebrated the boys' birthdays with a Cowboys & Indians birthday party. Both boys looked the part in their cowboy hats, western shirts, jeans and cowboy boots. Most of the Missouri clan was able to join us in addition to some of our Iowa friends. We had such a fun time playing in the backyard at the Wild West Show (our bounce house) and chasing the Big Chief (Daddy) around the teepee. We even had some pony races on stick horses.

Judd had an eventful 1st year. As of October 7th, he has 8 teeth, is cruising everywhere and busy being a chatter box. His favorite words are "Daisy" (our dog), "Dada", "dog", "ball" and "no". He has learned that squealing gets an immediate reaction out of Mom and Dad since it usually means he is holding his ground with John Ross. He eats anything that you put in front of him, but is no doubt a fruit fanatic. His favorite treats are Dum Dum suckers. I swear he can sniff them out and will do anything in his power to put one in his mouth - wrapper and all. He's most definitely a Mama's boy, BUT won't miss an opportunity to give his Daddy a big grin and hug. After all, Daddy is the one who put his ride-on roadster together that he has driven around the house for miles.

John Ross had a life-changing year. Doctors were able to correctly diagnose his hypoglycemia and our lives have been different ever since. His health is stable, he is feeling great and making huge strides with his speech (which had been delayed). He continues to love music and got a new and bigger guitar for his 3rd birthday. His latest song of choice that he sings and strums to is Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours". He is still a swimming fool. He spent most of the summer in swim trunks, so we are continuing that experience through the fall. He is taking swimming lessons at a local YMCA and doing well. The first class was an absolute disaster... he was the kid that got kicked out for not following directions. Thankfully he is not the afraid and timid child, but unfortunately the polar opposite. He had his own agenda with no fear of the water. His participation has improved immensely.

We are so thankful to have such wonderful little boys. They keep us busy and life is crazy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. The two become closer each day and it's so fun to watch the hugs and kisses and John Ross rubbing his brother's back when he thinks no one is looking. Can't wait to see what next year will bring!

I'm a Big Boy Now!

John Ross and the potty chair have become friends... finally! Kyle and I decided that this past weekend was THE weekend to get John Ross potty trained. We had a rare weekend at home and with Kyle home on Monday, we had 3 days to achieve our mission. Almost two dozen pairs of underwear and a HUGE bag of Skittles later, I can proudly say - Mission Accomplished!

By the third day, it just clicked for him and he's been doing great ever since. He had one accident on Monday. We were nervous about staying on a roll once he went back to daycare today. He's continuing to use the potty at daycare and we're so proud of him.

I promised him about a month ago that he could have a brand new tractor once he started using the potty and he hasn't let me forget. Looks like we'll be hitting Tractor Supply this week!

We Have a Crawler!

Judd is finally crawling! To give the kid some credit, he has been mobile for awhile. He had his own style of scooting on his bottom to where he needed to go. Eventually he turned into a tripod using an inward-pointed leg as his "rudder". As of Wednesday, he has all four limbs parallel and moving in the same direction. It's very exciting, but I didn't realize how much baby proofing we need to do. John Ross is old enough, we've let a few things go and his toys have tiny parts that offer a new challenge.

Judd is also moving on to table food. He wasn't a big fan of the thick-textured baby foods, so we started giving him table food a few weeks ago and he is quite enthusiastic about that. Today he ate everything from meat to several types of fruits and was super excited about peas of all things.

He just cut his 8th tooth and sat through his 2nd haircut. He's growing so fast... it's a little heartbreaking for Mommy!