Random sillies

We had a fun dinner last night with Aunt Madison as our guest. Rychen P. is now discovering all the funny stuff you can do with food. Being the "cool" mom that I am, I showed him how you can suck up spaghetti into your mouth, and then he wanted to both suck the same strand! Lady & the Tramp style :) But this photo actually took several attempts because these noodles are a lot more slippery than you'd think!



This is his new toy, the "key game" that he picked out at Value Village for $1.99 woohoo! The keys unlock blocks, which are peices to a puzzle, and then you form the puzzle on top. A very simple, mundane game, but he gets so excited about it. He chose this over Cat in the Hat game or a big truck, and insisted we go home right then and there so we could play it.


And in case you've never seen one before, this is a tummy.

Huge milestone

Today Rychen P. took a big step toward growing up. He is gaining a lot of independence and becoming more comfortable with other people, knowing I will still be here when he is done. We went to a meeting at the church, and some kids were playing in the cultural hall. He wanted to play with the kids and I told him "Okay but I am going back to the meeting." He said fine, took his friend's hand, and ran off. Wow! What autonomy. It was so fun to see him holding hands and running around with the older kids, and even afterward at playgroup, he was off playing with older kids, not caring where I was. He is really maturing. (This may not be a spectacular feat for your child, but this is the boy who won't go to nursery by himself!)

After the playgroup, Laura wanted him to come play at her house. I said that would be fine, and Rychen P. told me Goodbye. He went home with them for a couple hours while I did some writing and yoga at home. Hooray!

P.S. The next day Rychen went back over to play some more. When I came to pick him up, he was not excited to see me, and said "But I want to stay at this house!"

Latest Fashion

This is not one of those posts where I brag about my kid. This is completely strange and I admit it. So go ahead, laugh. (He does this on a regular basis and sometimes insists on going out in public like this!) Just look at his smile, though, I can't take that away from him!

Faux Hawk

I love Rychen P.'s long hair and keep resisting cutting it, but SOMETHING needed to be done with it! So Dad styled it.... (and yes, he really likes getting his hair done, don't let the scowl fool you)

The next day was Sunday so we had to do something more serious. At least we find that a simple gel comb through makes him look presentable over the usual double cow-lick 'fro. And Dad informed me, "He looks best when the part is on his left side." My husband needs to go to beauty school, he is really into this.

Fun day with friends

Today we had our friends Emma and Laura over for a long time. I was prepared with a fun project, making valentines with cute scrapbook paper and stamps! Laura got really into it, but it didn't keep Rychen's attention for long.

But luckily they had brought over his favorite toy from their house, plastic fruit. He always has to have a big serving utensil and a big bowl to play with. (Emma's favorite activity was riding Rychen's trike.)

We love playing with Emma & Laura, especially hide and seek, duck duck goose, games with balloons, going down the slide, riding bikes, playing balls, music time, etc... There is always something fun going on. After realizing he has an aunt with the same name, Rychen now calls Laura "Little Laura," and so Emma of course is "Little Emma." Another funny thing to note is that after spending so much time with Emma, Rychen has picked up a few of her traits: her loud infectious laugh, and her high energy enthusiasm with certain phrases. It's very cute but we are not used to this much excitement!

Dinner after a long day

This is embarassing. But we sat down to dinner and I just started laughing. Seeing a great opportunity for a blog post, I asked, "Are we secure enough in ourselves to let other people enjoy a good laugh too?"

It had been a long day, as long a day as a whiny 2-year-old on 3 fewer hours of sleep than usual can make it. The last task of the day is get him fed before bedtime. Rychen had to finish leftover taco soup (and made some home-made tortilla chips to accompany it), but the thought made me feel sick, so I opted for salad and pasta. Rychen P. heard me mention fish as an option, and then threw a FIT to have fish. Dad said no, it will stink the house up. Rychen P. screamed louder. FINE. So we cooked three different meals, for a total of 5 dishes on the table. We sat Rychen P. down with his food as we finished gathering our dishes, and the next thing I know there is a PILE of SALMON on the table! And I had served him a restaurant-worthy, beautiful dish of salmon, pasta, and broccoli. He hadn't wanted the broccoli, but I cooked it anyway, and so when I find him munching away on his broccoli and a pile of salmon removed from his dish, naturally it fit right in with the kind of day we were having. All I could do was laugh, so we took pictures.

Of course the scene is worse than that though. Look at our table. We didn't even have the energy (presence of mind?) to clear it off for dinner. There are remnants of the day's projects pushed into the corner. And being totally honest, I would say don't let me fool you into thinking that we usually have an orderly family dinner, at least with a specific meal plan (it is common to have a few meal choices). And to bring more humiliation to myself as a homemaker and sterile person, I will even admit this.... Well you can't just waste SALMON! C'mon, I know other moms out there finish up their kids' food after they have fingered it. The truth is, Rychen P. had the best meal of any of us, and he barely touched it!

"Let's talk"

Rychen P. loves talking. How funny! He could be running, playing, whatever, but he comes and sits on my lap and says, "let's talk!" This is very convenient when I don't feel like doing anything, and extra special when we go to bed and chat like best friends for a while before falling asleep. I think it's wonderful, it gives me a chance to teach him random things (like what armor is, yesterday's topic) and to help his verbal skills.

So we've developed a few games. In order to teach letter sounds, I'd say "B says buh. What starts with B? Buh-buh-beach or ca-ca-clock?" etc. And another cute game is favorites. We learned a favorite is what you like the most. So I ask all sorts of random, "What's your favorite ____?" And his answers sure are random too! His favorite color is "probably black," (but the next time it will be different) and his favorite ball is a pink ball. We're also learning Right and Left, so I quizzed him on all his body parts: "Where is your right elbow? Where is your left knee?" How fun!! I love this stage!

Fun with scriptures

When we have family scripture reading, usually we all get our own book and Rychen P. cooperates since he gets to hold his own book. Sometimes I have to say certain oft-occuring phrases in a silly way to keep his attention, like "And now, Behold!" But lately he's been more energetic and not wanting to sit still. So we try to read with the 2 of us, but he just interrupts. So I got the idea to act out some scripture stories. We were reading Alma 47 where a wicked man uses deceit and murder to gain power. I said, "Let's get the stuffed animals! We can act this out."

"The Cunning of Amalakiah: a play by the Jones family" Starring Garfield as Amalakiah, Penguin as Lehonti, Giraffe as the Lamanite King, and several other animals as the armies.

So if you look carefully, you will see: (on the couch) Lehonti (penguin) and his army on top of the hill (couch) and then wicked Amalakiah (Garfield) leaving his armies to come persuade Lehonti to let him be in charge of his armies too, and the King is waiting back at home for Amalakiah to come murder him.

A violent play, I admit it is rated PG-13. We use hitting instead of murdering though. And we explain that Amalakiah was very greedy and wanted to be the most powerful person, so he lied and connived to get his way, and then he even killed the King so he could be the King! This is very wrong and Jesus was not happy with his choices. We do not lie or hurt people!