Quote of the Day

"I'm not tired, I just can't keep my eyes open."

-Lainey, on the way to gymnastics

*****

As a little side note, I went to see the doctor today and I took the kids with me. We went to the ENT doctor's office, a place with which they are very familiar. He offered to hold my hand as we walked into the office and he kept telling me "no cryin'." He was also convinced that I needed to see the doctor "ke-cause (because) Mommy bumped her ear on the floor." :) He was quite the little motivator and was fascinated with the fact that I needed a "checkup." I love his sweet little self. Especially when he held my hand when I was getting my blood pressure taken. :)

Our Library Friend

 My kids love this statue in our library of a boy reading a book. Walker used to get all confused by it, but now he just thinks it's funny. Today, for some reason, the kids named him "Harper." Okay...

 They love him. :) 

These two confiscated my phone and took some pictures of themselves. I can't help but laugh a little bit. :)

Orange Smiles

Remember doing this? :)

Usually, one day a week, we eat at the gym after my morning workout. Gotta love that cafe attached to the gym... 

I love how Atina, Lainey's friend from the gym, is in the background doing the same thing. :)

Walker is THREE!

Happy Birthday, Buddy! This was a train-heavy birthday. This boy is SET for a while. :) 

Sister was super helpful.

SO excited to receive yet another addition to his train track collection.

  

A little cousin love at Walker's family party this afternoon. We missed you, little Tom (and Anne and Brian)!

Height: 37 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 31.8 pounds (50th percentile)

He was super excited to have his "buhp-day pahty" (birthday party).

Seriously. SO sweet. It was a crummy picture, but I love it so. He's hugging his three biggest girl cousins...Kate, Brooke, and Cally. :)

Just including this one because of her face. Funny!!

A few notable facts about our sweet boy:

• He's literal. When Ben asks him if he wants to “run around with Daddy” Walker literally thinks they’re gonna run around, not run errands. :) And, if Ben says, “Daddy has a bug [to get something/do something/etc]” – Walker responds with “on your car?” like “Is there a bug on your car?”
• He's a very sensitive little guy...emotional, sensitive, kind, sweet, and caring. Except when he's mad then he's a bit dramatic. He'll still cry and throw himself onto the ground and sometimes he'll yell back at me. For example, when he once got mad at the breakfast that I had made him, he said, "I no like this plate! I no like this food. Dis hot. I want somepin' else."
• His naughty trains are the “cubblesome cucks” (troublesome trucks) and he’s afraid that the “cubblesome cucks” will wake him up at night (because they are naughty and one of them “giggles”and makes noise). He will not sleep with them and tells me, “I no sleep with them ke-cause the cubblesome cucks go wake me up.”
• I love it when he says "dere" instead of "there."
• He will often sing a song (or hum the tune to a song) when he's playing independently. I like to think that songs get stuck in his head. The ones I hear most frequently are "Wheels on the Bus" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and the Thomas the Train theme song. :)
• When he needs me, he calls me in a very high-pitched voice. "Mah-mmmyy!" 
• LOVES peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
• He's a modest one. He often says, “I look so handsome.”
• He will frequently answer questions we ask him with "maybe yes" and "maybe no" and "maybe...(whatever the answer is)" and "I don't know." :) Makes me laugh.
• Likes his toy cars and trains to have faces. Like Thomas and the other trains, and the cars from the movie Cars.
• Often, he gives the answer "nobody" when I think he really means "nothing." Example: I'll say, "Walker, what's your sister doing?" He'll answer, "Nobody." :)
• Vampires (yes, like you see at Halloween, but Walker still talks about the one in his aunt Tisha and uncle Greg's yard) are called “bam-fiuhs.” Took me forever to catch onto that one.
• Likes to wiggle his toes when he gets out of his socks. Does it every time. :)
• “Ooh, Mommy. It’s a boo-tiful (beautiful) day.” He actually uses the words “beautiful” and “pretty” and I think that’s sweet. Probably because he’s around his sister a lot. 
• Has gotten to where he asks for “Daddy” or “Da Da” when I’m making him do something that he doesn’t want to do. Like put on his clothes. 
• For some reason, he likes to flush the toilet with his foot. He hikes that leg up there and flushes the potty. He must have seen someone do that...somewhere...? :)
• He gets excited when his little tiny poops make a "snowman" in the potty.
• If something hurts, or if something looks like it might hurt, he calls it an "ouchie."
• Every single day he requests a "different shirt" because he never likes the one I've picked out for him. Every. Single. Day. No matter the shirt. One of my least favorite things is trying to get him dressed! :)
• Whenever Lainey doesn’t cry when I brush her hair – which is rarely – Walker will say, “Her not cryin’!” He acts surprised that she’s not crying! 
• He likes to pick out a single word in a song and say, “Freak!? That’s silly.” Then he laughs. No matter what the word is and if it’s actually silly or not. Even if the word is "hat." :)
• The word "bridge" is "bidge" and the word "sand" is "sam."
• Most babies are referred to as "her" and he always will say "her" instead of "she." For example, "Her said yes!" or "Her said no." :)
• He's notorious for picking out a piece of candy, tasting it, declaring that he doesn't like that piece of candy, and then asking for another one. He might "eat" three pieces of candy, but only a little bit of each one. He has a good strategy for eating dessert and he has great willpower. :) Unlike his mama! I would happily eat the three pieces of candy in their entirety. :)
• Most of the time, his trains get referred to as "choo-choo cains."
• Gets mad at Thomas (the train) for being naughty (like hiding or finding his way into a random box of toys). Thankfully, Thomas always says, “I’m sorry, Walker.” (Walker tells me this.)
• We saw a cute little lab puppy and Walker got down on the floor and asked the puppy, “You like to play choo-choo trains?” I'm telling you. If that puppy had said yes, I would have taken it home.
• Can finally pedal! (3yrs)
• Reagan is much nicer to Walker than she is to Lainey. I think Reagan can sense the difference in their personalities.
• He does NOT like the sun in his eyes. He flips out. :) He'll scream, "Toooo bight (bright)!" And then he just cries until I can wrangle out a pair of sunglasses to hand to him which he eventually gets frustrated with because they don't fit on his face just right. Sigh...
• Has learned how easy it is to go “wee-wee” outside. 
• Doesn’t say his “r’s” – “Ben Hawwis.” (He loves pointing out Daddy’s campaign signs.)
• Raises both arms in the air – fists closed – when he’s excited about something. Like playing choo choo trains.
• He always wants a full cup of milk. If I give him his sippy cup half full, he calls me out on it and requests some “milk on top.” (As in, fill it all the way to the top, Mom!)
• Doesn’t like having sticky/messy hands. I usually have to wipe them more than once.
• Calls people “Little Buddy.” (Like the character Wubbzy, in his favorite TV show Wow Wow Wubbzy.)
• He would love it if I would play choo-choo trains with him all day long. I mean it. All. Day. Long. If I tell him that I'm busy cleaning (or whatever) he'll respond with, "After you're done? Then you play choo-choo cains with me?" and he gets SO excited even if I only say "maybe." :) He loves playing choo-choo trains with his mommy. And boy, does it get exhausting. But I know that someday I'll look back on these times and laugh and be glad that we played choo-choo trains so often together. :) We even take them to all of Lainey's activities...dance on Tuesdays, then gymnastics on Wednesdays, and then dance again on Thursdays...his trains are a hit everywhere he goes. Thankfully he's gotten good at sharing with other kids and he loves the one-on-one time that he and I always get to play with those trains.
• For some reason, he likes being barefoot at the playground. Even on the wood chips! Ouch. For such a sensitive guy, those wood chips don't seem to bother him at all...
• Loves/hates ghosts. He wants to play "ghosts" but then gets overwhelmed and scared. He will go from giggling/laughing/cracking up to hysterically crying. Even when he knows that we are the ghosts (like Lainey with her blanket on her head or Ben with a blanket on his head).
• I would much rather take him into a breakable, fragile store than I would Lainey. He's a much better listener and not nearly as clumsy as his big sister. ;) 
• His preferred seating for watching TV is on top of the coffee table. Not his chair, not the couch, not the floor. He likes sitting on top of the coffee table (it's soft and squishy...we call it a coffee table but it's really a coffee table ottoman).
• Mannequins are “ghosts” if they’re white. He gets awfully confused about why they don’t have feet or faces (some of them). He actually prefers all things to have faces.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, train-loving, car-racing, precious boy. We LOVE you, Walker. 

S-O-C-C-E-R

Walker is playing soccer. With a group of three- and four-year-old boys and girls. He seems to do okay during practice...we've only lost him twice to the nearby playground. :) He looks SO cute in his gear. I kinda want to squeeze him. :)

He's obsessed with making "funny faces" for the camera.

Sitting on his ball during practice, listening to Coach Robert. It was hard sitting on that ball! It kept rolling away. :)

It was also hard standing with one's foot on top of the ball. 

Again, the ball kept rolling away and his foot kept slipping off of it.

Which brings us to game #1. 

Walker isn't a fan of his team shirt. He cried practically the entire time in the car on the way to the game because he wanted to take his shirt off.

It was cold! I think he would have preferred warmer weather for his first soccer game. :)

At this point we were just proud of him standing on the field with his teammates.

It didn't last long...Ben took him off the field.

And...a final parting shot. :) Anyone surprised? We LOVE this boy, but I can't say I'm all that surprised by his behavior. :) And, I'm relieved to say that he wasn't the only one crying...there were a few sad little people. I'm hoping next week goes better! I think we all are! :)

Rockstar Birthday Party and a Train Ride

Lainey attended a rockstar birthday party at Sweet and Sassy. A first. She had a blast and really enjoyed dressing up for the party. :)

This is my favorite. Funny. :)

And...earlier in the day this little guy and his dad went on a train ride. They rode the DART train from Plano to Richardson. Walker kept telling me that it went "really fast." :)

So cute. Notice how he says "choo-choo cain." Someday he'll start saying words properly and it'll make me sad! ;)

Somebody is potty trained...

Amazingly, this little guy is using the potty. Consistently and regularly and happily. Who knew that he would be a hundred times easier to train than Lainey was? Maybe it was because we waited till he was a bit older...closer to three rather than two? But also I think his uptight, neat, clean, perfectionist personality might have had something to do with it...whereas Lainey couldn't care less if she had an accident (she still doesn't care) Walker does NOT like being wet/messy/sticky. So, my laid-back child (Lainey) took forever to potty train and my type-A child (Walker) took a couple of days. He hasn't had an accident in about a week, so I think we're good to go. :) SO proud of my little buddy. Now we just gotta get out of that crib and say bye-bye to that binky and he'll officially be a big boy!

Showing off his undies before bath time. We made a mess with shaving cream paint. :)

Sorry, but that is one cute little booty. It looks so tiny!

It is quite liberating to know that after nearly 5 straight years of changing diapers, we are DONE.

funny face #1

funny face #2

Some funny highlights of Walker's potty training:

1. He was very motivated to make "wee wee bubbles like Parker" in the potty. Parker is his "school friend." His teacher, Ms. Linda, taught him how to do that. :)

2. He can "hold it" forever. And has gotten good at telling me when he needs to go.

3. He makes big "snakes" in the potty. This phenomena went from being "really cool" to a little scary and now is back to being "really cool." The first time it happened, he said, "Woah! How'd that big snake get in dere (there)?"

4. He likes to watch his poo poos go in the "cave."

5. He keeps telling me, "I getting big. I growing up." This makes me happy and sad at the same time.

6. Walker gets a bit confused with needs/wants/likes. (Who doesn't?) He'll often say, "I no like to go potty" when he really means, "I don't need to go potty." And usually he's right. Lainey still has problems with this one. :)

And that's it! So, just before his third birthday, this little guy is potty trained! YAY!