Niran's videos

Niran's dance party. He loves dancing with his glow sticks.

The other night Niran was reading an Army book I had sitting in our room. He was laying on his belly, kicking his legs and next thing I know he's running towards me holding the book open. He came up and showed me a picture and said "this is a sholger (soldier)!!!" I said it was and then he went on to tell me what soldiers do. I asked him if he would record it to send to Daddy. He was more than happy to until he had to actually perform. To make this video I had to do a bit of coaxing, but he still answers everything he did before. I apologize for it being sideways. Dusty told me how I could fix it, but the program doesn't support it, so I'm stuck with a sideways video for now. I'll see if I can convince him to do another video. Maybe I can get his pirate and cowboy then as well.

Calvin Videos

Calvin Lee riding his bike backwards and forwards

He loves brushing his teeth, he has great form =)

Myrtle Beach, SC 3/9/2012-3/11/2012

We got a last minute acceptance to a spouses retreat in Myrtle Beach, SC this last weekend. It's the same group that puts on the marriage retreats that we got to go on in January. This retreat actually expanded on the marriage retreat but for the spouses solely. It was very nice. Too cold to swim in the water, but we did go down to the beach and the boys got to put their tootsies in the water. The boys got to play in child care and of course they loved it. There was even child care for "me time." I was able to go out to dinner with a friend and have a full adult conversation. No children screaming while I was on the phone or running around the house, I was childless! Wonderful! They are supposed to be doing these more often and hopefully we will be able to attend another event. Even if the next one I decided to go lay in the hotel room and do nothing during "me time," it will be worth it!

Moon rising over the ocean the first night

A peek our zoomed ocean view

Bubby helping Baby walk on the sand

He didn't like taking his shoes off

No wait, he loves it!

He was mad I made him smile for the camera

He loves his big brother!

Run!

View from our "me time" dinner with Chelsea. No children, it was great!

He fell asleep watching tv. Kind of creepy, his daddy sleeps like that some times.

First Day of Preschool 3/18/2012

Yes, you read that correctly! Our not-so-little boy started preschool today!

His doctor and speech therapist have really encouraged us to put him in. We drug our feet due to the costs, but finally gave in once we had the money. We were told the soonest he could get in would be next school year, if space allowed. That's very hit or miss on a military installation since people move around very frequently. I was very hopeful that he could start the school year since Spring and Summer are peak seasons for PCS (permanent change of station) moves. Last Tuesday I received a phone call from Child Youth Services (CYS) saying they had openings. Yay! But not that simple. They only had so many slots available for each class and they were calling more people than they had availability for. It was a first come first serve situation. We had just walked in the door and we're putting groceries away and instead of relaxing and kicking off our shoes and putting our coats away I packed us back in the car and headed down to get the slot we wanted. The whole time I was thinking this was for the next school year and thankful he got in. We got there, they did all that fun computer stuff & then asked if he could start tomorrow. Tomorrow?!?! I had to put it off for an extra day due to speech therapy, but he did get to start right away.

First Day!

I'll give him that the sun was in his eyes, but this is a normal smile for him.

The first day was a little wild and sad for me. I was supposed to do new parent orientation before he started, but it was never said to me. They also didn't even have him on any of the paperwork or in the system. They had to dig up our account to even see he was supposed to start. I thought for a second I would have to break his heart and leave. Thankfully they sorted it all out and I was able to do a little orientation before and after school.

Niran loved...no scratch that, LOVES preschool. When I pick him up he immediately comes up to me and says what he did. Colored, puzzles, played outside, rode a bike, played with a ball, danced, played in a kitchen, read a book, ate a snack, who knows what else he said that I didn't understand. They warned me it was normal for the child to cry after a couple of days. I don't think that will happen with Niran. Three days now he has just disappeared after washing his hands. He throws the paper towel in the trash and sits down to start playing. He won't even say bye, he just says what he's doing and I say good-bye then leave. Tell him he's going to preschool is the only I can even get him out of bed in the morning. He's never been more willing to eat breakfast either! Calvin really wants to play as well, but he has a couple of years still ahead of him.

His first day. This child was not going to be upset I was leaving him.

Dusty and I like to go out to eat to celebrate major events in our lives, so that is just what we did. After his first day I took him to Red Robin for a celebration lunch. He loves Red Robin, balloons & tv just make his day. He hasn't been willing to take a nap, he just nicely asks to watch tv or a movie. Which I am fine with as long as he is quiet while Calvin is napping.

He got a milkshake, chicken on a stick and french fries. A little taste of Heaven for him.

This one slept most of the time and woke up in time to finish Bubby's lunch.

He had homework his first day. Make a community helper (ie. police officer, fighter fighter, etc). He insisted on a cowboy, Woody from Toy Story to be exact. He wasn't interested in finishing either, but that is a lot of work for your first night when the rest of the class got the full week.

Second Day. I didn't get many pictures the first day since it was a little wild. Got to love his smiles!

Scooters

And the journey begins...

On days we go check mail, I do not go all the time since we rarely get mail, Niran likes to ride his scooter. He always says the mailbox is missing and we have to go find it. When he does spot it he gets very excited. Getting there is always very quick. I think the downhill part helps. The return is much longer. Once we get close to the mailbox he begins this odd habit of stopping and telling me something. Some times just a phrase or two others a story. Today the first stop included planes. Short and sweet. Another one included following the road, crashing, going upside down, right side up, up side down, going in someone's house, playing with a dog and then returning to where we were and walking the rest of the way. Yes, that one was pretty detailed with hand gestures and sound effects. The last few times we have gone it's been windy so I couldn't record anything. Today, it was gorgeous outside, but it wasn't until we started on our journey that I realized I had no space on my memory card to record. I only have enough space for 3 photos. I'll have to watch the weather for another calm day.

Talking about a plane. There was not one in sight and we couldn't hear them on the ramp today either.

Speech Therapy

Niran has officially started speech therapy! The first session lasted an hour and a half. We had to stop since he was losing interest. I was able to go in with him and watch the initial test. I actually did have to help the speech therapist acknowledge when he did say the word correctly (in his language) or help guide him in a way for him to answer. I was nervous about going because Niran is very quiet around strangers. We have friends that he has been around regularly since we got here in June and he just starting to talk to them, still nowhere near as much as he would talk to Dusty and me. Before we went in I had a talk with him in the car. I explained what we were doing, that this was needed for him to talk to people and for them to understand him better. This is also needed if he wants to start playing sports and learning his ABCs and counting for preschool. Of course that really excited him. When Ms. Rachel came to take us back to the room he was very excited to go with her. He talked to her right from the start and he did really well answering her questions and participating in her games. He is right on track for comprhension, sounds, itendification, and some other things. The only thing he is behind in is articulation. She said it has to do with him not closing his mouth properly. That actually makes me laugh because he was pain to feed when he was younger. He would never open his mouth!

I could not go into his second session, but I was able to hear him in there. We have little exercises we get to do at home and I have to remind him to close him mouth when he talks. At first he would get very mad at me for reminding me, but after a couple of days he has opened up and he will sit with me and work until he gets very giggling. I can really hear the difference to in his speech. Of course before he started he was already improving by leaps and bounds, but this will catch his articulation up to the rest of his speech. I can't wait to be able to enroll him in activities, but for now we need to wait since he is only understood by Dusty and me.

Mommy Pet Peeve

I HATE when the boys hand me their sippy cup so they don't have to deal with it, empty or with something still in it. They will hand it to me and ask for more, but they seem to think that if they just don't want to hold it or go put on the table, it's my job to deal with it. We have always had a rule you put your cup on the table, Calvin's goes on the bench so he can reach it. They were really good about putting it there and all of a sudden they started handing it to me without a word. From the first time they have done that I tell them put it on the table if they want to finish it later or on the kitchen counter if they are done. And yet months later they still just hand it to me as if it's my job. When are they going back to the old ways? They have two legs, they can do it themselves. I do everything else around here, can't I have a break with something?

Vent over...

Boys' Bedroom

One of the projects I'm working on this year is the boys' bedroom. Calvin is going to be needing a big boy bed towards the end of the year and Niran is starting to outgrow his toddler bed. I'm saving up money so I can buy what I want. I've ordered their bedding, a throw for each of them, & curtains. I actually found a site that had them over over 50% off. I need to buy sheets though. You can't find the matching sheets since the line has been discontinued. This was the first theme I had picked out and Dusty liked it. It's something fairly generic & good for little boys. But I wasn't happy the sheets were available so I started looking for other bedding. I decided to go with a Pixar Cars theme. I've actually been dragging my feet for awhile to buy the bedding. I had the money to get the bedding and was trying to find what I wanted, but I couldn't settle and kept putting off. I showed my friend the Plane Crazy bedding and she loved it. This was the bedding that mom really liked as well. It didn't take me long to buy the bedding and few extra items they had. For less than I would have paid going for the cars bedding. I'll be hunting down sheet sets later. Here's the bedding:

This is the bunk bed I wanted, sorry it's small, I can't get a full size picture at the moment. It's currently sold out in every color except cherry. I hadn't quite gotten the money saved up so I figured we'd wait a bit longer and buy a mattress so I can sell Niran's Spongebob bedroom set and a few other items first. Here's hoping everyone went crazy with the good sale & they didn't discontinue it. Afterall I have a friend that has had it for about 5 years and it has held up through multiple moves, I think it can survive us for awhile.

They boys only have books upstairs. They have a few stuffed animals, but it's just books. I did this when Niran would turn on the light and play instead of sleeping. I don't have as big of a problem if he stays up reading books though. I would like to get this cubbie and put some books and decorations in it. Pretty simple.

When I sell the Spongebob bedroom set the boys will lose their table and chair set. They use it regularly so I feel bad getting rid of it. But the set will sell better as a full set. I did consider buying them a little couch for their room so they can sit down and relax. That is still a possibility, but it depends if we have the bunk bed as bunk beds right away or wait awhile and stick with two separate beds for now. This is the table and chairs I would love to get them. You can buy additional chairs as well. This table has the best reviews for lasting for kids closer to the age of 7. Many are only around 4.

I have some ideas for wall decor. We are stuck with white walls, so I need to work with decorations. There are some wall hangings I can buy that match the bedding. I am still waiting to hear from a gentleman about getting movie still from Plane Crazy. I was thinking of framing them & maybe making a new face for a clock for their room.

I would also like to get them matching dressers as well, but they are fine with the dresser they have the moment. I will most likely leave the dressers for last and find something I like when it is on sale. Nothing I need to hurry for.

Daddy Dolls

When you join the Army and have kids, you start getting these dolls. They are digital camo on most of their bodies and there is a pocket that is over their face. These dolls can actually be purchased by the general public and they have many other designs to choose from. I thought of getting one with a different fabric, but they aren't cheap! You can either have the doll's face show or put a photo of your soldier in it. We had 2 that the boys were given but they just never in to them. The other night they were each given a new one. They have not been able to separate from them since. They come downstairs in the morning and go back up for sleeping.

Calvin uses his to cuddle. He usually falls asleep on him as a pillow and he wakes up crying if he can't find him.

Niran is different from Calvin with his doll. He becomes happy/happier when he sees him. Gives him kisses and just thinks the world of him. He isn't there for comfort. He still has to sleep with him & bring him downstairs.

Just some photos of the boys from January and February

The boys got a pretty cool car from Grandma & Grandpa. Just after Christmas while we were debating what to get with the Christmas money I found a very good deal for this car, which is something I wanted to get them anyway. It worked out so well. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa, its the most played and fought over toy in our house!

They love this table, but Calvin had decided it was okay to stand on top of it. It is currently residing in the garage.

Someone needed a quick rinse after a messy dinner. He can't get enough time in the water. Or give enough cheesy smiles!

We used every one of Niran's legos to build a tower. That is Baby Godzilla ready to climb!

Cookies baking, they do this for pretty much anything I put in the oven.

We celebrated Daddy's birthday early!!

Where's Bubby? He ended up just crawling and sitting on top of Bubby. They loved it.

Shakin' his booty!!

His favorite face when you take a picture of him.

Niran's cars! And a rare photo of him looking at the camera too!!

Corps Run - Feb 1, 2012

To welcome home the XVIII Airborne Corps from Iraq, there were over 14,000 soldiers from the XVIII Corps, 82nd Airborne, and runners from Ft Drum, NY and Ft Knox, KY. We got up nice and early to walk down to Longstreet to watch all the runners. We stayed for a good hour. They ran up the street turned around and came back down. I don't know exactly how much they ran, but the part of Longstreet they did run is 2 miles, plus the turn around they ran at least 4 miles. It didn't start on this road, so it could have been closer to 5 miles. The number of soldiers for this run is actually less than what they had from the 82nd Airborne's division run, but still pretty amazing.

This is only about a mile into their run maybe a bit more (probably not even 1/4 mile from the house). The light at the top of the street is actually where the barracks are for Dusty's Bridage. He's that close to his company. He works somewhere else though.

Here is the start. I believe these runners are from 82nd Division Headquarters. From what I understand the XVIII Airborne didn't run with us, but ran in their territory. I could be very wrong though.

Here are some runners, these guys were at the start so they seemed a little more pumped up than the later runners. It was pretty funny to watch them yell at say hi to us and then smack into the people in front of them because they weren't paying attention.

The following photos are from the Paraglide newspaper (that's also why they look better than my camera!)

Oh the cannon! This thing was going off pretty regularly. Possibly for each new Brigade that past, I'm not sure. It also went off when they started running too.

This is looking from one end of Longstreet down to the other. If you look very carefully, the second street light you see (you can only see one green light) is where the boys and I watched from. The far end is closed every morning for PT, the whole thing is closed for events like this.

I am pretty sure Dusty is not in any of these pictures. With it being so dark it was really hard to read the flags if they were even open. If they wore Brigade shirts (not the gray Army shirts), which Dusty did, they looked all the same as well. We had one friend that stopped in front of us & she yelled and waved before the started running again. Dusty apparently was calling cadence on the first pass. So I am sure I at least heard him, but possibly did not see him. On his second pass I had given up hope of spotting him when I here Kim and turned to see Dusty waving at us. That made it 120% worth it!! We'll go to the next run like this as well. Niran really enjoyed watching. Calvin just hung out in the stroller eating and drinking his milk.

Here is some medics calling cadence. This was towards the front of the pack.

Update

I thought I'd do a mini update on the boys.


This is what they do every morning when we get dressed. While I'm helping one get dressed the other is reading. We also find Niran reading at this table when he wakes up before us. Calvin is usually looking over his shoulder from his crib as well.


Niran - 3 1/2 years


He still weighs 30lb. Still, for the last year to year and a half. But he's growing taller and is thinning out. He still has his fat cheeks though, which are still just as delicious as the day he was born. He's talking more and more every day. He will be starting speech therapy the end of February. We don't think he NEEDS it, but his doctor has been really pushing since July to put him in. It won't hurt him doing it earlier and if the speech therapist says no, then no harm done. He's working on his ABCs & counting so he can start preschool next Fall. I put him on the waiting list, but they can't say what the actual wait will be. Keep your fingers crossed it's short. He's really excited to start school, even if it's only 2 days a week. I'm making arrangements for a baby sitter for the boys so they can start swimming lessons in the next couple of months. We would like to put Niran in some sports classes, but again I will need a sitter for Calvin because I have to attend the classes with him. It will be nice to get some of his excess energy out. Maybe he'll start going to sleep before us then. He got Lego Duplo blocks for Christmas. He said those were his favorite present and I believe it. He plays with them all the time. The also got a Cozy Coupe car & Niran drives through the house in it with Calvin holding on to the back. He still loves reading books. We are looking into buying him a TAG reading system. I think he'll enjoy playing with that while I make dinner or when he wakes up before us on the weekend. He loves drawing and coloring every day. He even did a little maze by himself, I was very impressed. He has flashcards that he likes to play with, which is another item that comes out most days. He's a very sweet boy who loves to play with others. I think preschool will be the perfect place for him.

Calvin - 1 year


He is walking. Well as long as he is on the carpet. He still won't stand on the tile unless he's holding a hand or using his walker. When he does push his walker around it's usually him running through the house yelling and chasing his brother. He can say Mama, Dada (most common), Bubba, nigh nigh. He can nod yes and no, he can say shush with his finger, Bubby taught him peek-a-boo the other day. He knows eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, belly button and feet, although he usually likes to show them to you using your body rather than his. He loves putting shoes on and if he goes missing he's usually putting shoes on by the door. He can climb up and down the stairs, very, very quickly, so forgetting the baby gate means there is a baby upstairs. He's still trying to figure out the spoon and fork eating, but loves doing it. He is the best eater as well, eating his brother's food as well some nights. He likes to drink out of a regular cup, but with help of course. He babbles like crazy now and knows what we are asking him to do when we talk to him. He loves playing with Bubby's Legos and their cars end up all over the house regularly. He loves reading and can often be heard screaming at Bubby when he takes his TAG Jr books from him (which is why we want to get Bubby TAG). He started sleeping through the night after he was weaned, which was glorious! He isn't into watching TV & movies like Niran is. If Niran is watching a movie he'll be playing. Very different from when Niran was his age. He got is 7th tooth in on Friday and his 8th tooth Sunday. All his teeth have come in as sets within a couple days of each other. He is a goofball who just does his own thing and LOVES to dance. You turn on music he's going to be shaking his little booty, even if he's tired.


Dusty & I are doing well. Not much has changed for us, still doing the usual things. We did get to go on a marriage retreat a couple of weekends ago. It was very enjoyable. I'll have to pull the photos off my phone and do a post about it. We hope you are all doing well!!

Potty Training

I'm going to make this fairly sweet & short. I tried potty training Niran at 18 months & due to various issues it wasn't accomplished the many times I tried. When we got to North Carolina I was going to try again & never give up. I really wanted something to motivate him, a reward or bribe, whichever you call it. I call it a reward for his accomplishment, but I had no idea what we were going to use. A couple days before we were to start again we were driving home, telling Niran how he was going to start potty training like a big boy. About a block before the house he said he had to go potty. We ran him inside and he went, just like that. Daddy & I were cheering him on and without talking to Daddy I told Niran "If you can keep going potty like a big boy, Mommy & Daddy will buy you a bike!" Why I didn't think of it sooner I don't know, maybe because we had bought the bike for his birthday the weekend before. Yes, it was 1.5 months until his birthday, but it was a great sale! He was very excited for this. Every time we were at Walmart and he saw the bikes he wanted to ride them (he did some times as well). Now it was time to figure out how to track his progress. That night it hit me. CandyLand! I would make a board game on poster board, much like CandyLand with the final prize being his bike! I ran it by Dusty the next day & he liked the idea as well. I got the poster board & the prizes then started working on the game board itself. We weren't able to start on a Monday because the idea came so late and the board wasn't easy to make it. We did start Tuesday morning, after a very late night for me, and here is our progress!

Aug 9, 2010 - It has begun! Niran's Potty Game! He was very excited about his game!

Each space represented a success in going potty. Every 15th success he won a small prize. When he made to the end he would get his new bike. If we waren't quite ready to say he's potty trained & should get his bike I was prepared to extend the board to allow more time.

His 1st Prize! The first week started out slow of course, but by the end of it I knew he had it. It was just a matter of continuing to reinforce going potty every time before having an accident.

Bubbles, this landed as his first trip to the potty one morning. Daddy came home from PT to him going crazy chasing bubbles done. We ran out of bubbles that morning.

His Woody & Buzz Lightyear cars. He won these at two different times, but he was very excited to get both. Probably b/c he loves car that much. The Woody car marked the halfway point. After that it went pretty quickly.

His dry erase books, one of his favorite prizes! He actually did very well his first time tracing the letters!

Last prize before the big one! Another prize he loves, it's a bath toy. The last few days of his game went VERY fast. He was getting a prize a day. I was hoping that he would do well enough so Daddy could be there to see him get his bike. The day Daddy left for training (he left at midnight) Niran had a few accidents because he wanted to play instead of going potty.

The morning after Daddy left for training he did it! It was the second trip to the bathroom for the day. It seemed like ages before he went. I was so excited I had the bike setup outside for him, but he just did not need to go this morning. I was even loading him up on fluids.

Yay! He did it! I told him that we needed to go get his bike. He was so excited talking in Niranese. Put his shoes on and tried opening the door before I was ready.

Sitting outside was his bike & helmet. He was so excited and got on & rode for a little while, but it was a bit warm so I brought him and his bike inside so he could ride around for awhile.

All the hard work paid off. We had one set back when he broke his leg. It was really hard getting his chonies off over his cast as well has trying to get him in the bathroom quickly. The accidents became too frequent and I did not want issues with his cast so back into a diaper he went. Once he was out of his cast he knew exactly what to do. We still have night time training to do, but we're waiting a few more months to start that.