this is a random post about chet and holden.
if you make it to the end [or cheat, and skip to the end] you will be rewarded with a bunch of [random] pictures.
good luck.
matt texted me this picture a couple weeks ago..
he saw it on the back of a bus when he was driving home from work.
he thought it would be funny to stress me out about preschool.
but it wasn't!
i am already more stressed about it then i'd like to be.
up until we moved here, i hadn't put the slightest thought into when chet would start preschool.
he still seems so little to me.
but about 1 week after we moved here i met a mom at the park and had the first, of many, conversations like this:
other mom: how old is your little boy?
me: he turned 3 in march.
other mom: oh, what preschool does he go to?
me: he doesn't go yet.
other mom: have you decided where he will go in the fall?
me: nope.
other mom: [and then the mom proceeds to tell me all the schools that her 2 year old is on a waiting list to get into to..]
apparently kids start preschool quite young here.
a few people have actually told me that they start "as soon as they are potty trained".
it's terrifying!
it sounds like the early start age has a lot to do with the fact that many families here have 2 working parents and, therefore, their children are in daycare.
and, if kids are in daycare, they might as well be in preschool. it makes perfect sense.
but i don't work. and i'm not ready for chet to leave me.
and i do feel like i make lots of efforts to teach him and have him interacting with other kids.
but maybe it's not enough?
i don't want him to be behind other kids.
i mean, according to that ad on the bus, this decision will affect the rest of chet's life!
ahhh!
i thought we had more time before we would have to make decisions like these.
seriously chet, stop growing up.
i can find some comfort in knowing that, when we do decide to enroll chet in school, he will be excited for it.
he loves wearing his backpack.
and he thinks school buses rock.
he often tells me how great it will be when he is bigger and he gets to ride a school bus.
i just nod.
i'm no school bus expert - i only had to take one for kindergarten.
but, if my memory serves me right, school buses actually aren't that fun!
sorry chet.
chet is definitely growing up lately.
i feel like when he turned 3 he really started changing into a little boy.
sometimes it is adorable. and sometimes it is a pain in the butt!
he wants to do EVERYTHING on his own.
[open his fruit snack, start the bath, turn on the light, put on his shoes, peel his orange, put his dishes in the dishwasher..]
sometimes i'm blown away by how capable and talented he is. [for a 3 year old, of course!]
for the record, here is a list of other things that describe chet these days:
some days i won't ever think about him going to the bathroom because he does it all on his own. woohoo!
the other day he even asked me to leave the bathroom when he was doing his business. what?!
he always wants his window open when we are in the car.
he asks lots of questions.
he likes back scratches.
chet speaks in a whiny voice A LOT. that trait is his hardest to love!
but i remember my parents always getting on my case for being a whiner, so i guess this is payback.
thanks to the movie wreck-it ralph, chet is always calling me a hobo.
he wants to say every single prayer. and it is super weird because he just went through a prayer-hating stage.
[that stage made us feel like really crappy parents].
but now he will say entire prayers by himself! it melts our hearts.
last night his prayer went something like this:
heavenly father,
thank you for jesus.
thank you for our blessings.
thank you for jesus.
in the name of jesus. amen!
sooo.. we have some work to do! but we love hearing him pray.
he sings a lot. mostly a butchered version of the abc's or some primary song.
he likes to help with baking.. because he loves eating sugar.
he still eats dill pickles every single day.
chet is very routine-oriented. bedtime is the exact same (lengthy) routine every night.
but after the bedtime routine is over he is a wicked good sleeper, so it is worth it.
naps are happening less and less.
he has mastered his balance bike.
we are determined to have chet swimming by the end of the summer. we have a long ways to go, but it's gonna happen.
he loves the beach :)
he often embarrasses us with his honesty.. for example, when he asked me if a large [not pregnant] lady had a baby in her tummy. when we are standing right next to said lady.
he is bugged when we get in the elevator and someone has already pushed the button. he thinks that is his job.
he doesn't like when holden naps for too long because he gets bored without him.
chet loves his new nursery class. and with good reason.. his teachers are incredible.
he made his first cali friend! his name is liam.
he misses his grandparents and cousins. he asks about them lots.
now for holden..
holden will be ONE in less then a month.
his first year is flying by faster then i could have imagined.
i spent the first month in the hospital wishing the days away, and now i want it to STOP.
have i given him all the love i could have in these past 11 months?
i really wish i could have given him 100% of my attention, like i did with chet.
but obviously it doesn't work like that.
i am trying my best to treasure my baby, while he's still a baby.
i think i blogged that i thought holden's first tooth was going to pop through "at any moment" about 5 months ago.
i guess i was a little off on that estimate.
because it just arrived!
tooth #2 came just a couple days later.
holden still prefers to army crawl most of the time, but is very efficient when he does.
he pulls himself up on everything.
his favorite food is bananas. but real ones, not the baby food kind.
he really likes yogurt too.
he likes to play in water and go on walks.
holden is curious.
he is an awfully good pincher.
the second i put tank's dog food on the floor holden is after it.
he has a raspy, old-man laugh. it's precious.
he screams more then chet ever did. not so precious.
he is easy to make smile.
he thinks getting raspberries on his tummy is hilarious.
i love watching the boys on the baby monitor in the mornings. they are always laughing at each other from their beds.
holden is a great sleeper.
[he sleeps from 9-7, has a bottle at 7, and goes right back to sleep until 9.]
we finally stopped swaddling him at bedtime when he was 9.5 months.
i don't think he will take a bottle much longer. he is a bit of a mutant with bottles.
he says mama, but i'm pretty sure he doesn't mean anything by it. unfortunately.
we haven't had holden measured in a while, but everyone thinks he looks tall.
everyone also says he looks just like chet.
matt and i have honestly gotten chet and holden baby pictures mixed up. it's bad!
i'm so curious to see if they always look alike.
i love playing with holden's hair.
he is so happy to be held on our hip and walked around.
now for the pictures:
these are pictures of baby chet and holden side by side.
they are definitely brothers.
our first 'mormon helping hands' activity.
i am pretty sure he could ride a two wheeler [w/o training wheels] easy peasy.. if we had one!
holden trashed our beloved bean plant. chet was heartbroken.
we always find holden sleeping in the strangest positions.
but sometimes i can still get him to snuggle with me.
we celebrated tank's 5th birthday.
when we told chet it was tank's birthday, he insisted we make a cake.
unfortunately, tank didn't get to eat any of it! sucks to be a dog.
we signed the boys up for bank accounts at wells fargo and they gave them each a tacky pony.
chet took those ponies everywhere for the first few days.
hanging out at liam's house.
