For the first time in at least three years

We did not have a single child in the church nursery. Not one of those darling munchkins was ours. Not one!!! Weston was "promoted" (aka: kicked out of) from the nursery to the 2's and 3's class. Guess who else is in that class? Wayne! They will be together until September, when Wayne will move up to the preschool class. I had been preparing Wayne, telling him that Weston could go with him, and that he needed to be the big boy and help him out, be kind, show him what to do, etc. Here is Wayne's response, as word for word as I can remember:

Wayne: Weston will come to class with me? Yay! I will be kind to him, and I will let him play with my friends. I have to be nice to my friends, my teacher says. And obey. And Jesus! I will teach Weston about Jesus!

*Sigh* Nothing like a three year old to humble you. I was so caught up in Wayne helping Weston to transition and how Weston would respond/do in a classroom setting, I completely forgot about the fact that this is Weston's very first class setting where he will be LEARNING about Jesus. The woman who teaches their class takes their education very seriously, and packs the class full of projects, fun, and active learning. She is a blessing! I was so proud that Wayne remembered what he had been learning, and that he wanted to teach it to Weston. How precious and special is that?

By the numbers + a diagnosis!

On Friday Weston and Wyatt tag teamed poor Dr. Boschler at Peachealth Medical Group (formerly known as Madrona Medical Group!) Poor guy didn't know what hit him! Thankfully Tyler could come with, so it was straight man to man defense going on in there. Ulgh. An 8ft by 8ft windowless box + 3 adults + 2 kids = HOT! And there air conditioner wasn't working either. Lucky for the boys, they were in there diapers. Not so lucky for the adults, we weren't!

Weston is growing just the same as he has been. He is a very normal two year old, and after initially playing shy, warmed right up to the doctor. He is such a goof! We did get a diagnosis on his skin (remember my post on how rashy he always is?) It's called Dermatographism. It is a skin condition that he will hopefully grow out of as he gets older. While it doesn't really bother him, it does flare up with quick changes in temperature, touch, and when he's exposed to things like grasses and foods. It's not an allergy, just how his skin reacts. It's no big deal, but it sure was nice to hear that it was actually called something, and that he should hopefully outgrow it!

Wyatt is doing really well too. He is a peanut, but a very happy and consistent peanut! Nothing to worry about with him, which is always a good day at the doctor.

Here are their stats:

Weston age 2: 36 inches tall (90%) 27 lbs 4oz (45%)
Wayne age 2: 38 inches tall 28 pounds.

Wyatt 6 months: 26 1/4 in. tall (45%) 14 lbs 10 oz. (8%)
Weston 6 months: 28 inches tall 16 lbs. 10 oz.
Wayne 6 months: 28 3/8 inches tall 17 lbs. 15 oz.

Someone's starting to talk...

And can you believe it's Weston?!? He loves Dora and Diego, and has been saying "map" for quite awhile now. This morning, my heart about stopped when he was watching Diego, and Diego was basically asking, "Is this right?" and Weston was saying back, "no!" Wow! It sounds so simple, but to watch him listen, understand, and REPLY was just amazing.

He has learned one more word... stink! He tells me that when his diaper needs changing.

And as long as we're talking about Weston, here's a little more about what he's been up to lately.

Weston ADORES Wyatt. I think he'd eat him if he could. He brings him toys, wants to hold him all the time and *occasionally* drags him around by his ankles. But it's all in love! If Wyatt is crying after waking up in the morning, or from a nap, Weston is the first one to come and get me, and PUSH me towards the stairs, pointing and grunting the whole time. While having the boys all so close together is definitely challenging, it's moments like this that make me realize it's worth it, to see how close in age and ability they are, and that they will have that "together" bond forever is so important!

Weston LOVES to take baths. Anytime, every time. And for a long time!

Weston still has very, very sensitive skin. He breaks out in a rash if he:

• goes outside
• eats ranch
• runs around a lot
• breaths

Okay, maybe that last one isn't true, but close! We've been watching to see if the boys develop chicken pox, and have had too many false alarms with Weston to count. He keeps breaking out in pox type rashes, and then they go away two hours later!

Weston is a BIG mama's boy. BIG. He loves to be held, snuggled, and frequently insists on touching me. Case in point: Tonight I was eating dinner on the couch, just before they went to bed (they ate earlier.) Weston was sitting next to me, and kept grabbing my right hand and pulling my arm around him so that I was holding him. The problem was... I was trying to eat with that hand! Case in point 2: This afternoon I got a bee in my bonnet to clean... I ended cleaning all of the downstairs blinds, baseboards, and trim. Halfway through he was missing me, and started pushing me away from the windows. When that didn't work, he just attached himself to my leg, hugging me and hanging on. 5 minutes and 1 set of blinds later, he decided playing would be more fun!

This weekend there is lots of fun to come... A double well child check tomorrow morning for Weston and Wyatt (pray for me!) and a few errands to run in Bellingham, then home to tackle the upstairs blinds, trim and baseboards. Then clean all the windows. I might find my motivation to do our own tax return, and maybe do a little online shopping at Old Navy. Wash the car, vacuum and armorall it.... I'm sure we'll fill our weekend before we know it!

Tuesday's Tidbit #4

I always post pictures of what things look like in the summer outside... So here's a post of what they look like in winter!
So bare! Hmm... what are the odds I could talk Tyler into mowing the lawn without being turned into a mental institution?

Life's all about the Learning

Wayne has been learning a TON lately. Call me a freak of the 21st century (is it still the 21st century? I guess it is!) but I don't really push the whole letters and reading thing around here. We read to him, and he "reads" to Weston, and I figure the rest will come when he's ready! The kind of learning that I am talking about is cause and effect, and figuring out how the world works. He also has a HUGE vocabulary!

• The other day we had a "how to eat an orange" lesson. We have full sized oranges in the house, and the boys don't really like them peeled. So I thought I'd try slicing them into eighths with the skin on. The problem was, when I put them on Wayne and Weston's plates, they starting eating the peel! This was shortly followed by them sputtering and spitting them out. After a brief lesson, they were eating the fruit only, like pros.
• Yesterday, Wayne told me that I was feeding Wyatt so much milk he was growing big and strong.
• Wayne has full well learned that if it's bed time, and he's really quite and snuggly, he get's to stay up later.
  
• Frequent words in Wayne's vocab: Delicious, special, clean and shiny, careful, so much.
  

Conversation Captured last night.

• Wayne: I love you Mom! You are my best friend. Did you know that you are my family? And Daddy, and Weston, and Wyatt too! You are all my family!
• Mom: I love you too buddy.
• Wayne: You are my BEST friend.
• Hugs and Kisses
• Mom: Do you know your whole name? Your first and last name?
• Wayne: WAYNE!!
• Mom: Yes, it's Wayne, but your WHOLE name is Wayne William Silves.
• Wayne: Silves?
• Mom: Yes, Silves! You are a Silves!
• Wayne: (while running out to the garage) Daddy, Daddy! I'm a SILVES!!!!
• Mom: (chuckling to herself) You sure are buddy boy, you sure are.
  

False Hope

Well we are now 2/3 of the way through Tyler's long weekend. Friday was rough, but today was pretty good. It's been really fun to see how much Wayne and Weston are in love with Wyatt these days. Now that he is sitting up in his bumbo seat, they are ALL over him! Poor boy. I have to practically beat off his brothers with a stick! :-)

They each like to take turns holding Wyatt, and I have caught them a few times trying to pick him up, or sit him up. Crazy boys!
With all the AMAZING weather we've been having, we've had the boys outside as much as possible. It's good for them and us, everyone wins!
Even though it was 52 degrees, I made them wear hats. It's still January!
One very happy boy.
One very busy boy. Makin' his Daddy proud, raking the leaves!

The weather feels more like April than January. Some of my bulbs are starting to come up, and I'm just scared for them. More than likely 2 weeks from now we'll have a northeastern and 12 inches of snow. *Sigh*

The problem with it feeling like Spring... that means it's the END of tax season. And it's not. Tax season has only just begun! I need bad weather to make it through until April 15! So here's hoping that my feelings of Spring are nothing more than false hope. All in good time!

Super Sillyness!

Guess who grabbed my reading glasses?
And ignore the drool on his shirt, his two year molars are working their way up.

P.S. In case you were even considering mocking me for wearing reading glasses, please remember that I stare at a computer screen A LOT and that you more than likely will one day wear them too! And maybe, just maybe, will your two year old look as completely cute and silly in them as mine does!

{I'm tired}

Boy oh boy, I am tired! And my mom has me all dressed up to go to church.Can't she see that I'm tired? And if she can, why does she keep using the flash on her camera?
Fine Mom. If I stop rubbing my eyes and look straight at you, will you stop taking my picture?
Nope, apparently not. Who can blame her though? I AM incredibly handsome and charming.
And I have good taste in shoes!
Oh great. Now she's taking pictures of my chubby, little boy, smooth skin with dimples, looking hands. Why does she do these things?
I'm still tired Mom! My eyes are even red! Seriously, not my best angle.
I give in. I'm just going to sit here while the crazy lady takes all the pictures she wants. Eventually her memory card will fill up!

What to do when you are two? Have a party!

Last Sunday we "officially" celebrated Weston's birthday with Sunday afternoon coffee and cake and ice cream cake. Weston's birthday was the "day" that would not end! :-) I made Weston an ice cream cake, and my mom made the other adults a mocha cake (a serious family favorite, and a recipe so complicated that no one but my mom makes it!) I even embellished the top with, what else? A W!

We practiced blowing out candles, and even as the big moment was right upon us, Weston had to practice one more time. Look at his lips! He didn't blow on the candles, so much as buzzed his lips and spit on it! (Sorry to those of you who ate the cake and didn't realize this!)
Weston liked it!
When we have birthdays, we open up the family room in order to fit everyone. It's around 30 people or so. Every time it seems like a lot of people, and yet there is no one you wouldn't invite, and probably more that I could! What is a mom to do?

Since Weston's birthday follows Christmas by three weeks, it's always hard to come up with good gift ideas for him. And as many of you know... they have a lot of toys! So for his second birthday, I found this tractor online. Perfect! Wayne already has a truck, and this way Weston could have his tractor, and the two can really play this summer! This was going to be more than a "mom and dad" gift, so I made him his own "tractor bank" to help him save. I even photoshopped his face onto the advertisement!I offered the idea to anyone who asked for one, and then put any money he received towards it. After just one or two cards, he was totally in to shoving money into his bank! He liked the "thud" of the quarters and nickels from the Bajema's too!
And I don't think everyone realized that we already had the tractor.... So after all the gifts and money stuffing were done, Tyler brought the tractor in. The look on precious Weston's face.... Sweet. Joy. Delight.
Of course, Wayne had to come check it out. For all the drama that day, of Wayne trying to get on the tractor and steal Weston's gifts, when they actually took it outside for the first time? Wayne road his truck, Weston his tractor, and neither one tried to switch. Impressive!
I think Wayne is wishing for his own John Deere right now.... And Madelyn too!
Breaking it in!
The boys all went off to play, and what do you know? The girls moved in on the tractor! Paige (left) and Madelyn (right) were so darn stinkin' cute, and had a blast together. Madelyn's our only girl, and the other girls on Paige's side of the family are all older, so she's typically surrounded by all boys too. Way to stick together girlies!
After everyone left, we pulled out these hats that the boys wanted at Walmart and I picked up and hid. Since they can't read anyway, we told them they were "Happy Birthday!" hats!

Happy Birthday Weston! We love you soooooo much! I can't believe you are on your way to being THREE now. Argh!

Sometimes you just need a laugh...

Tuesday's Tidbit #3

We parta-ayed all day long!

On Weston's birthday, we had a FULL day, and it was a great one! Come, join us for a picture tour of his SECOND birthday!

We stopped by Aunt Shelly's to help her with a few things, and I thought it was a good chance to get a picture of me with Weston. I had Bailey take my camera and...it took a few shots.
And a few more.

But Bailey was patient and got a cute one!We then ran a TON of errands in Lynden, and then met Grandpa and Grandma, and Tara and Madelyn at McDonald's. Madelyn and Weston are quite the good buddies, so we thought it would be fun for them to play and eat together.
Weston was pretty excited about his chocolate milk.
Here's what Wyatt did while we ate and visited... He never even got out of his seat! He is SUCH a laid back dude.
My attempt at a brother's picture. hah! Fat chance I'd get the two of them to stop long enough to smile for me.
Busy, busy, busy boy.

Now you see him, then you don't!

Take a look at the little girl in this picture...
She came up to me and asked if "those two" were my boys. I told her they were. She asked why they were so wild. I said because they were boys. She said boys shouldn't be wild. If they were girls, they wouldn't be wild. Very true honey, very true.


After McDonald's, it was a race to get home and get the boys down. They fell asleep in the car, and I carried them to their rooms. It was 12:30pm. I raced to clean up the house and get ready for our next event... Auntie Amanda and Grace were coming for coffee!!!

I love, love love this picture. I love that Grace is watching Amanda holding Wyatt in the background.
And here is the cutest baby boy in the whole wide world.
And these two are quite the buds. They each get so excited to see the other. I've always said that when they get to school, Weston will be her bodyguard and report directly to Tom.
...and they are off! The moment couldn't last.
Grace got Weston an Aquadoodle mat. He knew right what to do with the wrapped present!
And then the two got WILD and chased each other with the balloons.

After coffee, we had pizza for dinner, and then ICE CREAM cake for dessert. Weston was loving that!
Tyler got home from work, and there was a little more balloon running...
...and then Tyler helped him into his jamas.
It was a fantastic full day of fabulous fun. Weston turning two seems so crazy to me. He was just my baby, screaming all night long, spitting up all the time, and melting my heart every day. Now, he's a go getter of a two year old, spirited, fun loving, busy, full of life little boy. He is AMAZING, unique and special in every way. From his funky toe nails to the blonde hair on his head, I love every precious inch of him. When he wraps his stubby little hands around my neck and leans in for a kiss..... *Bliss* And I am present in THAT moment. Being squeezed by my two year old, as if his life depended upon it. I soak it up, and it's as if time as stood still, the world has stopped spinning, the phone has stopped ringing. Just him and me.