cake smash? not quite

I took Reese today to do a little photo shoot with her eating her first birthday cake. I set the cake in front of her and she daintily used her index finger and touched the blue frosting, and then tasted it. She did it 4 or 5 times over a couple of minutes, and finally I took her hand and tried to make her grab the cake. She spent the next few minutes trying to wipe it off her hand, and then decided she was bored with this whole idea and crawled around the side of the cake. It felt like she was telling me that she was too proper or too grown up for all of this nonsense. Once again, my children never want to do anything I want them too.

Raphael the ninja turtle

Sawyer is obsessed with ninja turtles right now. Especially the red guy, Raphael. This all started from him seeing one Lego ad with a ninja turtle set in his Lego magazine. He has never seen a show or a book about them, but he loves them. He knows they fight bad guys and tonight after reading a book about lost children with his papa before bedtime, he told me "this is my uniform (his ninja turtle PJ's) and if any child gets lost I will help find them while I am sleeping." So cute. He currently has ninja turtle bed sheets, PJ's, and finally I found him a costume for Halloween. Easy to find a ninja turtle costume, not so easy to find the red guy. "It has to be the RED guy!" I love my little ninja turtle. I also love that the picture of the ninja stars that one of the turtles fight with on his bed sheets he thinks are snowflakes. He is so innocent and precious at this young age of 3. I wish I could write down everything he says.

"Hold my hand mama!"

Last weekend we went for an overnight camping trip with Sawyer's school. He had never been camping before and was very excited about his new sleeping bag. We stayed up at a great spot near Deception Pass with 35 other families. It rained part of the time, but luckily they had cabins for us to sleep in and a lodge for meals, so really it worked out fine. Sawyer tie dyed a shirt for the first time and played with his buddy Oliver "bubs", Tiago, and a new little girl from Germany that spoke no English, Lilly. Luckily, for us we had our own cabin, so I didn't have to worry about Reese waking others up in the middle of the night. I was also nervous about Sawyer sleeping on the top bunk, which you know is where he wanted to be. We finally were able to convince him that it would be even more fun if we lined up the mattress' on the floor in the middle of the room and then laid all of our sleeping bags next to each other. He decided that this would be a great plan IF he could hold mama's hand. Awwwwww! And he did. All night. When he would wake up at night he would find my hand again and grab it. Even in the morning when he woke up, the first thing he did was grab my hand and he said "mama, leave you hand right here!" We didn't sleep great, but the kids did fine. We finished off the camping trip with a mile hike down to the beach through a gorgeous forest, with the primary goal of finding slugs! :)

Birds

While we were in Hawaii, Reese developed this obsession with birds and chickens. They really catch her attention and she will watch them for the longest time. She also learned to clap and wave while we were in Hawaii. We watched a short hula show and she clapped through the whole thing! She is 10 months old and growing way too fast.

I love you

So after coming off of a couple of hard weeks with rough bedtimes and tantrums, Sawyer has been super snuggly and affectionate. Tonight he asked me to come listen to Papa read him a story for bedtime. I said "of course, just let me go put on my pajamas." He said "okay mama, be safe." and then walked back into his room. A second later, he ran back and said "because I love you." Then he gave me the tightest hug ever. Moments like this would make anyone melt!

Sawyer's weak spot

It's no secret that Sawyer and I have been having our "challenges" recently. I feel like we are constantly butting heads, and I hate feeling like we are having more tension filled moments than loving ones. I noticed that I started raising my voice trying to get his attention when he wasn't listening to me, and naturally, as a result he started raising his voice to get my attention. So I have been reading some parenting books, listening to advice from friends and trying different approaches. I started with trying to never raise my voice no matter what, and then giving myself a time out when I need a moment to collect myself and get my anger in check. This has been incredibly helpful and already started our days out better. The other thing I have been trying comes from Love and Logic, basically giving him choices and asking him to step away from me (go to another room or just to the corner or couch) when he is screaming or kicking his feet and then telling him when he is ready to be sweet I will come sit with him or he can come back and continue playing with me. You wouldn't believe how this has worked. We haven't used threats or bribes very often except occasionally when desperate, but they never worked. What does work with Sawyer, what's his weak spot? Being away from his MAMA! Seriously, he stops his tantrum almost immediately. I think his acting out really boils down to not getting enough of my attention. Reese has seriously inched in on his territory and he just hasn't worked out how to share me yet. Anyhow, I feel like we are at least back on the right track, even though there will be sure to be more hills and valleys. But how can I not melt when I realize how much my boy just wants to be with me?

Girls weekend in D.C.

Reese and I headed to D.C. to visit Priscilla and meet my Godson, Eldad! What a precious little man he is! We really only spent a day and a half together, but what a special time it was to be with them, and even just to have a little trip with my girl. She was a fantastic traveler and did great in the hotel, rental car, and plane! She was even a trooper as I drug her around the Lincoln Memorial, and other monuments in D.C. It was in the upper 90's and so humid! We also got to attend a special dedication service for Eldad at Priscilla's church. I am so thankful to still have Priscilla as a friend, 13 years after my trip to Ghana. And now to call Eldad my Godson, what an honor!