Tough Week

*This was composed the end of June but never posted. Go figure. :)

It's been a while since we updated the blog, but we honestly have good reason this time. Last week the whole house came down with a not-very-fun sickness, so we spent a lot of time watching TV and eating soda crackers. Since everyone is finally feeling better, we have been trying to get back into our normal schedule, and unfortunately we've run into a couple of days where the kids have decided to rebel. Today, for example, the boys were downstairs playing Star Wars after lunch. I took advantage of a few spare minutes and went to my room to do some filing. The air conditioning came on and closed the bedroom door. I thought nothing of it and finished going through some papers. (Yeah, mommy-sense had apparently suffered from the sickness as well.) When I was done, I went downstairs to check on the kids. They were having a little scuffle about sharing, so I asked Ryan to come over and talk to me so we could work it out. When he came over I noticed orange powder around his mouth and smelled Doritos on his breath. Now, we don't have Doritos at our house very often, so the kids get pretty excited when they are around. I asked Ryan if he had been eating chips. He just looked at me and tried not to smile. I asked Matthew the same question, and he told me no, but the Mommy-sense (finally) kicked in and I could tell he wasn't being truthful. After some more questioning Matthew led me over to a blanket on the floor and lifted it up to reveal the bag of chips. It was almost entirely empty. Apparently the boys had decided they needed a snack and snuck the bag downstairs while my door was closed. Let's just say they had to clean up the mess and it looks like Doritos will have an even bigger hiatus from our house. Boys!

Buzz-Man Zach

Zachary is just like his brothers - tons of fun but FULL of mischief. He loves to grab things he's not supposed to, wait until I see him, then run away full throttle in an escape attempt. And I have to admit he is pretty fast. He likes to take favorite toys away from his brothers when they aren't looking and thinks it's hilarious to have them chase him down. And then he throws the tantrum when they reclaim their goods. This has resulted in a new era of life for him - duh, duh, duh - corner time out. He's been in time out on my lap before, but he's old enough to start the regular stuff. The first few times he went to the corner he went pretty willingly, sat down, and started to fake cry (obviously imitating his older brothers). Honestly? I had to try very hard not to laugh. Because of his talent for disturbing the peace, he has also learned to say "sorry" (sha-sha) and "love you" (lo loo).

Zach loves to play. He likes the typical cars, trucks, little people, etc., but he is usually interested in whatever his brothers are playing with (as previously mentioned.) He can really get into their ball games and can hold his own in wrestling matches.
He even likes to have lightsaber fights and can make some pretty good blaster noises. Legos are also a favorite, although he prefers to play with the lego people (he calls them "guys") by pulling them apart and putting them back together again. He loves playing outside on his bike and on the swings.

He is also starting to talk a lot more and is trying to imitate the things that we say. He wakes up every morning with the same question - "Daddy bye-bye car?" and has started to put more words together in phrases and sentences. He heard one of the boys pass gas one day and started to laugh. "Mat-ma toot!" he told all of us. New words he is saying: Mat-ma (Matthew), Rye-Rye (Ryan), uh-oh, nuh-uh, swee (swing), sly (slide), pan (pants), sock, ha (hat), bye (bike), pwee (please), tank oo, pop-pop (popcorn - the kid is an addict), my (mine), no, ow-sy (outside), muh (milk), wa-wa (water), der (there), show, gink (drink), umpa (grandma/grandpa), bubbo (bubble), Buh (Buzz Lightyear), Queen (Lightning McQueen) and some others as well.

And finally, we had to give our little guy a buzz. His sweet baby hair just wasn't filling in where it was supposed to. It was long and wispy and he was starting to have a mullet. Cool as that may be, Kevin opted to give him a buzz to give Zach's hair a new start. Here's a short breakdown of the process:

Before

During

Mohawk

Final Buzz

It made me a little sad to see all of his hair go. He looks bigger now and is no longer my baby, just a happy, busy toddler. He is such a fun little boy with a lot of spunk and personality. I guess he has to be in order to fit in with the rest of the crew. I can't believe he will be two in a few months. We sure do love our Zachary!

Ryan

Oh Ryan, where to begin? Our Ry-Ry is a compact ball of energy waiting to explode. He does everything wholeheartedly - playing, singing, running, jumping, crying, throwing fits, giving hugs and kisses, etc. He has always been independent, but lately he has been sure to let us know that he wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. He loves to play with his older brother Matthew, anything having to do with Star Wars, legos, cars, etc. And somewhere along the way he developed a new fascination with Batman and Mr. Freeze.

Ryan is also very interested in small or little things. He likes to hold old floss containers and a small toy cell-phone and always checks out the smallest board books at the library. He has a very boyish connection with bugs and rocks and can find a new rock anywhere we go. He actually has several rock collections in our backyard for this very purpose. He also thinks that he has the ability to "grow little" and is always commmenting on "when I grow little again..." It's usually so he can wear an old shirt or play with an old toy, but it's funny that his mind works that way.

Here is Ryan with his "Rainbow Mountain"

I think I've mentioned before that Ryan is very literal. Everything is taken at face value with him. When I tell him to "cool your jets" or "hold your horses" I often get an exasperated "Mom, I don't have any jets!!" (or horses). Ryan cannot be referred to as cute, handsome, funny, silly, or any other adjective. "I'm just Ryan," he informs us.

He doesn't take naps anymore, although he probably should about every third day. This is what happens when you go to time out for a few minutes...

He is also very curious about the world and has a great sense of humor. A while ago he asked Kevin, "Dad, why do you not have hair?" Kevin could only reply that some people lose their hair as they get older and that he hoped the same fate would escape Ryan. Sometimes I'll ask Ryan if he knows where something is and he'll say, "I know." "Where?" "It's lost." Thanks, dude. One time I asked him where his shoes were and he responded, "I don't know. Maybe they ran away." Another time he came up to me out of the blue and said, "Mom, look at my head." "What's wrong with it?" "I don't have a hat!" Ryan is very attached to his hat and loves to wear it at all times of day.

Case in point:

Some other fun things about Ryan:

He loves to ride bikes.

He has Life cereal for breakfast almost every day.

He is learning how to write his name
(and tends to draw on other things in the process.)

We love our Ryan and all the fun he brings to our family.

My Matthew

Ah! Where has the time gone? I thought I was doing better at posting, and all of a sudden it has been three weeks. I haven't talked much about Matthew lately, so I thought I would share a quick update about the first Musketeer.

Matthew is such a great kid. He has so many fun qualities. One of my favorite things about him is that he loves to laugh (tickle fights are common at our house). He likes to play games, any kind of board game, computer game, or imaginary, and the faster he can run the better. We spend a lot of our afternoons doing bike and running races down our driveway. One day when we were playing duck-duck-goose, he was having a hard time staying ahead of Ryan. He got a little frustrated, but then looked at me and smiled. "I guess I'll just have to put on my fast legs," he says.

His computer game knowledge is amazing. We probably let him play a little more often than he should, but even if that weren't the case I don't think he would be any different. The kid has the mind of a steel trap. Nothing escapes his observation and he can practically memorize something he sees within one viewing. His listening skills are the same in that regard and he can therefore recall anything you say to him, for better or worse. He tells me stories about things we talked about several months ago. It's hard for my tired brain to remember sometimes. We told him that we would take the family to see Toy Story 3 in the theaters when it came out. I am reminded every day that June 18th is coming soon. And August can't come soon enough for him to start kindergarten (still a little too close for comfort for me.)

He is still very interested in anything Star Wars or Lego related. He and Ryan will rotate through all the Star Wars characters on any given day. He also likes to reconstruct his legos to make new and better space craft. He comes up with some great stuff. He will occasionally play with cars or other toys. One time he was playing with a little knight person. I was checking my email when he came to me and asked if he could show me something. He proceeded to pull off the knight's hair to reveal its "brains," a fuzz-ball he just happened to find and decided it would make a great addition to his empty-headed guy. Nice.

He has always loved reading and we have been practicing some words, but all of a sudden his interest has increased and his knowledge has literally exploded. He tries to read everything he sees and can usually read the word or come pretty close. He still spells phonetically, but knows enough that he can figure out a word if it is spelled vocally. Kevin and I have started speaking in Spanish around him when we need to communicate grown-up information that Matthew doesn't need to know. I'm sure he'll figure that out too someday.

Matthew just finished playing soccer and he LOVED it. He couldn't wait for the next game to come and was pretty sad when the season was over.

The best thing about watching Matthew play was his smile. He wasn't the best player on the team as far as his skill-set goes, but he was always smiling.

I asked him one day if he might want to try another sport. He was hesitant at first. I was just curious, so I started throwing out suggestions. "What about basketball?" He gave me a weird look and said he doesn't think he would be very good at basketball. "Maybe baseball......or golf," he says. I didn't think the kid even knew what golf was.

A few other fun things about Matthew:

He is learning how to ride a bike. He almost has it down. We are just working on the notion that momentum keeps you going and upright.

He has decided he is too old for baths and prefers showers.

He is excellent at sneaking contraband. The best place to find something missing is under his bed.

Matthew is a great helper and older brother. He is always willing to get me something if my hands are tied. Just the other day I was watching the kids out the window while I finished up the dinner dishes. I watched as Zachary pointed to the swing and Matthew lifted him on the swing and started to push him. I actually got a little teary-eyed watching. I can't believe how big my oldest is getting.

"Ten-Four Good Buddy"

During spring break in April we went up to the Hill Aerospace Museum with Grandma and Grandpa Tams and our cousins. Let me just say that the boys had a blast. They LOVED the airplanes. As we walked into the museum, the boys and their cousins were very excitedly pointing out planes and aircraft parts. Some of the volunteers were sitting by the entrance and they couldn't help but laugh at the excitement of these little guys. They told them to come back anytime!

Here's a picture of Ryan and Matthew at the first airplane.

Here they are by an army jeep that looks like Sarge from the Pixar Cars movie. Don't they look excited for mom to be taking their picture?

Ryan especially loved the helicopters

Matthew was intrigued by any torpedoes or bombs

Zach was just hanging out, taking it all in (he really wanted to get out and run, but two crazy boys was enough for mom!)

With some of the cousins

The best part of the museum was an interactive play area where the kids could learn about the airplanes. They had actual cockpits they had removed from old planes for the kids to sit in with helmets and jumpers for them to try on. My boys weren't too interested in the jumpers, but the helmets were a big hit. They were in heaven.





Matthew and Ryan were on a mission somewhere. I couldn't hear all of the details, but I know Matthew was shouting out a destination and call signs, something to the effect of, "Did you hear me? We're headed to the mountains. Copy, niner?" I wanted to call them Goose and Maverick, but realized they wouldn't get the reference.










Here they are with some of the planes outside. I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures because they were literally running from plane to plane.




After the museum we got some burgers at the Burger Bar and headed to a park to eat them.

It was such a fun day!