Our baby is 4?!

 Happy 4th Birthday to our spirited little Brody!

 It's so hard to believe this photo was 4 years ago. I remember every detail of when he was born, down to the time my water broke at home (6:23 a.m.). 

How have 4 years passed already? Today, we have this little 4 year old!

Brody is tall for his age, somewhere around the 80th percentile for height among his peers. As far as weight, he is small but mighty. He weighs 32 pounds right now and he's all muscle. He has his very own six pack abs! This weight means he is a long way from the 40 lb requirements to move to a booster seat. He is disappointed, because he knows Dylan went right to a booster at 4 years old. For now, he has a great Britax Frontier 85 with cow fabric. It will convert to a booster when he's ready. Instead of his car seat, he calls it his "Cow seat."

Brody is so incredibly spirited. He does everything with intensity. He is so loving, so cuddly, so much enthusiasm. He is also quick to get angry and react. He does everything on the level '10.' I've recently learned he is described by early childhood specialists as a "Spirited Child." We believe this is a good thing and we're determined to help Brody channel all that enthusiasm into positive things.

He has two blankies that he sleeps and cuddles with, called his "Blue" or "Blue's". They are two of the same blanket that were baby gifts and he adores them. The stitching has come out of the blankets in some places, allowing him to dig his hand into the layers and he hangs on to the "holes." He often says, "I need a hole!" 

He drinks his 1/2 chocolate, 1/2 white milk every morning, though lately he has been demanding "Chocolate only!" I admit, we lie and tell him it's chocolate only. It's so much easier than him getting mad and throwing the cup across the room if we tell him the truth.

He goes to preschool at the YMCA in Eagan. It is a nice preschool program with plenty of opportunities to burn energy. They have a gymnasium they can use if the weather is poor, and they go swimming every week.

He has many nicknames: Brodes, Brodester, B, Little B, Honeybee, Brody Wills, B.Wills, Willsy and many more.

He adores his big brother and wants more than anything to play with Dylan. He is very persistent and does not take 'no' for an answer. He will stand outside Dylan's bedroom door and bang and kick and have a fit. 

His favorite toys are his Imaginext dinosaurs and his Star Wars Millenium Falcon. For his birthday, he asked for a Darth Vader costume. Brian and I both find it hysterical that he chooses to be the bad guy. For someone who wants to be the bad guy, he is very giving and willing to share.

We love our  little guy and simply cannot imagine life without him. He brings so much spirit, enthusiasm and character to our lives. 

The truth is funny

Dylan is home sick this afternoon. I had to pick him up from Y-care because he has a fever. We've been having a quiet afternoon, but now his energy level seems to be picking back up. He is wanting to do this and that. I keep reminding him that he is home sick, and if you're too sick to be at school, then you're too stick to do this or that.

He came up to me, cuddled in for a minute, then looked at me with those big blue eyes and said, "Momma, I just really wanna get what I want."

The truth...so sweet, so innocent...so funny.

Christmas 2011

We hosted Christmas Eve at our new house, and we loved it. This house is really fit for entertaining, and there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out and enjoy the time together. 

I post this picture of my grandpa because, well, you  just don't see this everyday!

Brody also enjoyed wearing a Santa hat, although it was kind of large for him!

 

The boys made quite a haul this year, as usual. It was a Lego Christmas for Dylan, and a Dinosaur Christmas for Brody.

Flight to the North Pole

Vava works for an organization that (in cooperating with Sun Country Airlines)  gives children the opportunity to take a flight to the North Pole. We were lucky enough to get a spot on the plane this year!

We arrived at the Humphrey terminal of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport and were given our boarding passes by some elves. From there, we went through security. That was kind of a neat experience for the boys, since they haven't flown yet.

The gate was all decorate and ready to send kids off to the North Pole.

The boys were able to color and write on the giant "Wish List" that was out for Santa. And then...it was time to board the plane! There was only enough room for one adult to ride with the boys, so I went with them. Brian, Papa Gordy and Vava waited back at the airport.

The boys were pretty excited!

We boarded the plane, everyone got buckled in, and then we backed away from the gate. We taxi'd around the airport, even got clearance to go on the runway, and the pilot gunned the engines. We were going really fast! Then the pilot told the kids that the gold dust that is sprinkled on the wings to help us fly to the North Pole works best if we shut the window shades, so we did. Shortly after that, we slowed down and taxi'd a bit more to the North Pole airport. We arrived there, and the pilot said something about Santa's helpers on the ground, but they were on the other side of the plane, so we couldn't see them. We waited just a bit and then Wendy from Wendy's Restaurants was there to serve us kids meals. Yes, isn't it incredible? Wendy lives in the North Pole!! The kids enjoyed their meal, and then it was time for us to fly back to Minnesota.

The flight attendants sang Christmas carols over the intercom, and then the Pilot recited 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Again, we shut our window shades, then got on the runway and went really fast. Magically, it didn't take us very long to get back to Minnesota.

As we exited the plane, each child got a chance to go in the cockpit, meet the pilots and earn their wings. The boys also got a certificate for their first flight.

Now, after all that flying, it was so funny that Santa was waiting for us back in Minnesota! The boys got a chance to sit with him and his elf, and to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

After that, each child was given an incredible gift bag, with all kinds of nice toys and games. It really was a neat experience. The boys had a wonderful time, and couldn't wait to tell their friends at school about their trip to the North Pole.

Renters Insurance, are you there?

It didn't take us long to have our first disaster in the house. 

About 8:30pm last night I was baking cookies, when suddenly it started to rain in the kitchen. I looked up to see water pouring out of a light fixture. I called Brian, and he took off running upstairs. Yep...plugged toilet. For some reason, we've had trouble with both boys plugging toilets since we moved into this house. They are using mass quantities of toilet paper and have to be monitored and reminded not to use too much. But this night, well...oops.

Dylan had used our bathroom toilet before going to bed and plugged it. We didn't know it until Brian discovered standing water in our bathroom, that had soaked out into our bedroom twelve inches as well as under the wall into our closet too. And apparently water just goes wherever it can, which means down. And out light fixtures.

I went back downstairs to assess the damage, when I noticed the water was not coming out of three different light fixtures. Ahh!!

Brian and I both agreed someday we would laugh about this. "We're sorry Dylan, you didn't go to college because Mommy and Daddy had to replace the ceiling in a house we don't own."

We protected the floor as much as we could, and set out containers and buckets to collect the dripping water. By morning it had stopped. The rental company strangely enough, wasn't too concerned. They came out to look at the damage, but told us it would dry and we just need to paint over it. Hmmmm, okay. Crisis averted.

We now have a strict three square rule.

An Old Fashioned Christmas

After the move and a bout with bronchitis for me, we were ready to get moving with the Christmas season! My mom and I took the boys to Dakota Village on the Dakota County Fairgrounds for an Old Fashioned Christmas. 

Shortly after we got there, snow started falling pretty heavily and it was so charming. Almost movie-like, being in this historic village all lit up for Christmas with heavy snow falling. 

We went into the church and sang Christmas carols with perfect strangers and it was so lovely it brought tears to my eyes. 

We went to the old schoolhouse where the boys colored an ornament for the tree. Doesn't Dylan look like he fits right in? :)

There were two sets of horses pulling trolley's around. This set was all black and something happened to upset them. Suddenly, the driver lost control of them and they were barreling through this little village. The driver was yelling at the horses to stop to no avail. He was almost being dragged by the reins and he kept slipping and sliding in the snow. He managed to get a hold of the reins and he drove the team of horses right into the side of a building to make them stop. The people on the trolley sure looked frightened and we were not too anxious to get on a trolley after that!

But, get on a trolley we did. With the other set of horses :)

The snow was falling quite heavily by now and it was just  magical.

Dylan gave the barber shop chair a try right before we left.

Santa comes to Dart

Boy are we lucky! Santa Claus came back to Dart this year, which meant we didn't have to go stand in line at the mall!

The boys were quite excited to see the big man. Dylan said he wants the Millenium Falcon (a Star Wars Lego kit) and Brody wants dinosaurs.