The Sentimental Birthday Post

 In my last post, I told all about our birthday festivities for Mark. Today let me talk a little bit about Mark, my big boy four year-old.
It's hard to believe that Mark is four already. It has been an adventurous four years so far! From his IVH on his brain when he was two weeks old to just trying to survive a fearless, adventurous, all-boy little boy, Mark brings excitement and adventure every day.


I've decided to try to do birthday interviews each year with each of the kids, and so here's Mark's birthday interview:
1. Who is your favorite person in the whole world?
     My cousins, Daisy and Kharee.
2. What is your favorite color?
     Green (which is funny because just a few months ago, he wouldn't have anything to do with anything that was green!)
3.  What's your favorite show?
     The froggie show 
4.  What sport do you like best or what do you like to do for fun?
     water balloons (He didn't say this, but he really liked playing soccer too).
5.  What song do you love?
     Follow the Prophet
6.  What's your favorite cereal?
     The Red Cereal with marshmallows (Lucky Charms) and oatmeal
7.  Who is your best friend?
     Kharee & Daisy
8.  What do you want to be when you grow up?
     Like my cousins. Fly airplanes.
9.  What is your favorite book?
     The monkey book (Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb)
10.  What are you really good at?
     I'm big and strong.
11. Where do you wish you could go on vacation?
     Water pool and Grandma's house
12. What is your best memory?
     Playing with the cousins.
13. What would you buy if you had $1000?
     Cake
14. What vegetables do you like/not like?
     I like carrots but don't like green vegetables.
15. If you could have a wish, what would it be?
     A dragon
16. What do you like to do best with your friends?
     Playing Cell Damage (a video game).
17. What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday?
     Color.

And now, here's what I have to say about my Mark.
Mark is a character. He loves to laugh and to make others laugh. He likes to be goofy. He likes to put on silly glasses and hats and dance around.

Mark plays hard. He does everything full throttle. He likes to do anything active. We got the boys balance bikes for Easter, and Mark was the first one to figure out the bike and how to get it to go really fast. He likes to go really fast toward a wall and then turn right before the wall, playing chicken with the wall, I guess. Sometimes the wall wins, but Mark is pretty good at it. Mark loves to run and jump and just play, play, play. He loves anything that involves a ball. He played his first soccer season this past spring and loved it (though I think he was more in it for the girls than the game). Funny story--Mark fell in love with a little girl on his soccer team named Paisley. Now Paisley was much taller. I think Mark came up to her waist. But it was love at first sight. At the first game, Mark did his first romantic gesture. With three/four year old soccer, it's just bunch ball (you just have a bunch of little kids in a bunch kicking in every direction with no clue where the soccer ball even is). Well, Mark broke into one of these wild packs, stole the ball, went in the opposite direction of the goal, and put the ball right at Paisley's feet. I don't know about Paisley, but it won my heart!




Mark wears his emotions of his sleeve. When he's happy, he's the happiest kid alive. When he's sad, he's the saddest kid you've ever met. Mark has been blessed with amazing lungs. That kid can wail when he wants to. Maybe he will be a rock star someday? Mark is a tender heart. He likes to be all strong and tough, but he's also very caring and sweet (reminds me of his daddy). Like Grandma J once said, "Mark is tough as nails, but don't hurt his feelings." That sums him up well.

Mark is stubborn (gets that from me) and hard-headed (gets that from dad). He is a determined soul. He doesn't like change. From stories that I hear about Nic's childhood, I think Mark is very much like his dad was growing up. There's a story of when Nic was either in kindergarten or first grade, and the teacher was doing some lesson that involved Care Bears. Nic didn't like Care Bears. They were for girls. So Nic stomped out the classroom and then proceeded to walk all the way home. I could picture Mark doing that in a heartbeat. 

Mark is more of a daddy's boy. He loves me fiercely, but it's daddy that he emulates and strives to be like. He wants to be big and strong like daddy. He wants to do anything that dad is doing. He is so much like Nic, it's scary!

I love Mark so much and can't imagine life without him. It's so fun to watch him grow and learn. In two weeks he starts preschool. Crazy! He will always be my little miracle, my indomitable spirit, and my freckled-face, blue-eye little boy. 

Happy 4th Birthday, Mark!

Today is Mark's birthday and what a day it has been! Well, what a weekend it has been! For his birthday, Mark decided that he wanted to go camping. So Friday, we loaded up the mini-van and headed to South Willow Canyon for a little camp-out. Papa and Grandma J joined us with their trailer. Daddy had to work, so he came up a little later that evening. Nanny also joined us a little later, and Grandma M came up in the morning to join us for breakfast.

We had so much fun. I had some great helpers to set up the tent. I told them that whatever rocks and pine cones that they didn't move, they would be sleeping on top of later that night, so they did a great job clearing our space. I put together little back-packs with little activities and games for each boy, and they had fun with that. We did 'Build-your-own-trailmix' where the boys filled up baggies with their favorite treats. The sour gummie worms were the favorite. But what the boys really enjoyed was the DIRT! Mark and Cole, especially, played and rolled in the dirt until the only white on them was the white of their eyes. They raced trucks down this hill then slid down the hill on their rumps to retrieve them. There was a small creek near our camp, and they spent hours just throwing rocks into the creek. Sam enjoyed going on hikes and exploring. He especially liked hiking to a couple of places he discovered--Rock Valley and Rocket Valley (his names). This was Lucy's first official camp-out, and she even got in on the action, playing in the dirt and enjoying the fresh air.


 








I made a dutch oven dinner and then we had fire cupcakes and Nanny taught the boys how to make S'mores (the boys keep calling them 'snores'). We hung out around the fire for awhile and then it was time for bed. My little campers were worn out. We snuggled up all together in our tent (all six of us) and after a little bit of giggling and excitement, everyone was out cold. We also had Gus with us, and he kept close to the tent all night and kept us safe. (By the way, Gus was also in hog heaven running around and exploring).



The next morning, we had some dutch oven breakfast, played some more, made some gnome houses, and then cleaned up camp and headed home. It was a bit of a whirlwind camping trip, but we're hoping to be able to go camping more often. We all had so much fun, and it's just so good for the soul to be out in nature for awhile.

 

 Tonight we had everyone over for a birthday dinner. Mark got to choose the menu, so we stuck with our camping theme and had sloppy joes and pigs-in-a-blanket. We had a camping birthday cake that Mark helped choose from Pinterest. There was lots of good food and good times. Of course, Mark was spoiled with presents--lots of trucks, cars, art stuff, rocket launchers, and cap guns--all things that Mark loves. It was great birthday for a great little boy!

My Terrible Two Year Old Who Is Actually More Terrific Than Terrible

Happy Birthday, Marky-Parky!
Mark just celebrated his second birthday. The big TWO. Wow! It seems just like yesterday that we were here:

 And this is never far from my memory:

Now here we are:

 So, for Mark's 2nd birthday, here are a few things about my sweet boy.

Mark loves to be outside. That boy could stay outside from sun up to sun down if I let him. He loves dirt, trucks, cars, balls...he is all boy. He likes to just drive around in his toy car or the Lightning McQueen four wheeler. For his birthday, he got a new ride--a Harley! He likes to push things around, like his baby brother in a stroller.
 

I like to refer to Mark as my Mighty Mark. He likes to use muscle and might to work things out. We call him "Bonk" because he's usually inclined to hammering things and because he's so active that he's a bit accident prone. He was a little slower to start walking. In fact, he wouldn't even put his feet down to stand. Then one day he decided it was time, and he hit the ground running. He is always on the go. He likes to run, jump, play, dance...anything that keeps him moving. He loves all sports and is fairly athletic for his age. He actually has a really good arm and can throw with a lot of power and good aim. As I was recently hit by a projectile toy dump truck, I can attest to his throwing strength. =)


Mark can be a little hard-headed like his daddy (okay, like his mommy too). Like I said with the walking, he had to decide he wanted to do it. If he doesn't want to do something, he will dig in his heels and there's no changing his mind. I like to think that this just means he will always be a determined person in life.

One thing that his Grandma J said once that has kind of stuck was,"Mark is tough as nails--just don't hurt his feelings." That is one true statement. Mark is an adventurer. He has no fear. He will climb to the top of the highest slide at the playground and slide down without any help. He's not afraid to try new things or of getting hurt (much to my chagrin!), instead, he sees adventures in place of challenges. He is tough as nails. However, if I get mad at him about something or if someone says something that hurts his feelings, the waterworks start. And while he may have initially had some issues with his head when he was born, Mark was blessed with some outstanding lungs.

I think Mark will be a little more introverted like me. He likes to be around people, and he's really sweet and giving, but he needs a little time on his own to really function. I'm the same as far as needing a little alone time to re-energize. Mark loves to share and to give. He loves to give big Mark bear hugs. I think he will be a defender of the little guy in his life. Two funny stories about Mark:

One day we were out somewhere at a semi-crowded place and a kid, probably 9 or 10 years old, wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into me. Actually, he almost knocked me over and gave me a sore shoulder. He apologized and rushed on his way. Mark literally did an about face and with a determined, all-business face started going after this kid. I'm not sure what he was planning to do if he caught the kid, but it made my heart swell to see my little boy going to my rescue.

The other day we were getting some take-out dinner at a Chinese place. As we were waiting for our food, this huge Polynesian guy came in. He placed his order at the counter and then sat down at the table next to us. Now, mind you, this guy was HUGE. He had tattoos up and down his arms and legs and looked like a linebacker for some college team. Well, Mark decided he was going to make friends. He went to the guy's table, pulled himself up into the chair across from the guy, rested his chin on his arms, and proceeded to just stare at the guy. At first, the guy pretended to not notice him. But after a few minutes of intense staring, the guy finally made eye contact with Mark and said, "Hi, little guy." And then they were friends. As the guy left, he said good-bye to Mark, and then said to me, "You have a cute kid." Yes, I do.

Mark is a sweetheart and a character. He brings so much fun and adventure to our family. I am lucky and blessed to be able to call myself Mark's Mom.

 For Mark's birthday, I made him a 2 pancake for breakfast. And I made him a jeepin' cake because, of course, he loves going out in the Jeep. He's already laid claim to my Jeep. That's what I get for naming him after Uncle Mark and Uncle Clay. =)

Milestones

I haven't been keeping my blog the most up-dated, so here are a few milestones that the boys have reached in the past few months:

Sam

Sam is finally potty trained. I tried all sorts of methods (we read books, picked out cool big boy underwear,went all day for days with no clothes, did sticker charts, reward charts, gummy bears bribes, and much more), but I had finally resigned myself to the fact that he just wasn't ready. Then my good friend, Heidi, gave us a bin of toys for boys (some cars, jets, etc.) She had received the toys but has all girls. So as a last hope, I put all of the toys in a big, clear bag and told Sam it was the potty bag. Every time he went potty in the big boy potty, he could reach into the bag and get a surprise. He started wearing big boy underwear that day, and has only had a few accidents in about five months. He doesn't even need pull-ups or anything at night. Potty training is a piece of cake...ha ha!

Sam can not only sing the alphabet song, but he also recognizes letters. I didn't realize how good he was at this until Nic and I were working on some word puzzles. Sam wanted to play, so I told him to find certain letters to spell out the words I needed. He was able to identify every letter. He can also spell his name. In fact, he likes to get on daddy's Iphone and the Ipad and type his name. At first, he had his letters mixed up a little, and we would get reminders of appointments with 'asm', but he has since remedied that problem and now we receive NUMEROUS reminders about SAM all day long. I feel like I'm in one of the those Mormon advertisements--"Family: Isn't it about time?" Sam makes sure that we remember to spend time with him every day! =)

I hate to admit it, but Sam is also a screen junkie. He can work the Ipad and Iphone without any problem. My dad just got an Ipad, and we like to joke that Sam can go show grandpa how to use his computer. He really could. The kid is very technologically smart. He has his favorite games that he likes to play, and one of his favorite things is browsing apps and picking out new ones that he wants to try. He always wants to know the password so that he can purchase new apps. Sorry, kid, that ain't going to happen! He also has his favorite shows, including: Diego, Dora, Pocoyo, Pingu, Eebee, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. His two favorite movies right now are: Despicable Me and Rio. Some Disney movies are a little too intense for him still (he's a little sensitive to the scary parts like Ursula on The Little Mermaid). And whenever I start feeling a little guilty about how much screen time he has, he does something like acting out an entire scene while inserting himself as a character in the scene or counting to 8 in Spanish. He's learning new things constantly. And we do try to do non-screen things each day too.

He is full of curiosity and imagination. I love it! Sam is also quite the comedian. His two favorite jokes are:
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because he was walking that way. (This is a Sam original).

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo who?
You don't have to cry. It's just me!

As for church, Sam graduated from the nursery in January and is now a Sunbeam. The transition has not been very smooth, however. Sam loved nursery (snacks, toys, and lots of attention, who wouldn't?) from day one and it has been very difficult to let go. He has fallen asleep in class a couple of times and one time he ran away yelling. (After hearing stories of how Nic ran away from school when he was little because he got a new teacher, I'm thinking it might be hereditary). But he seems to be doing a little better and seems to be enjoying class time.

Sam loves being a big brother, if not just for the torture factor. He and Mark are starting to get to the point where they play together for a little bit, and Sam loves helping to take care of Cole (or Baby Mo Mo, as he likes to call him). One of my greatest desires as a mother is that my boys will be best friends. We're working on it every day!

Mark

I didn't think it would ever happen, but in January, Mark finally decided to walk. Mark just never showed any interest in walking. He didn't even like to stand very much. After I had Cole, I couldn't really lift Mark very much at first, but I ended up doing it because the kid just wouldn't walk. And he would start getting really frustrated because he wanted to get somewhere but couldn't. Perhaps he was a little spoiled and got carried around too much, who knows. I kept asking his pediatrician and our Early Intervention specialist if it was a physical problem or had to do with his earlier issues, but it was just the fact that he needed to decide that he wanted to do it. Mark is definitely bull headed, and you don't tell him what to do. It has to be his decision. But once he started walking, he was running. He is constantly on the go now. And he is my little athlete. I think he has daddy's athleticism. He can throw really well, kick a ball, jump, and climb. Sometimes I worry a little because with his shunt he's not supposed to do contact sports, but he's my boy with the build and interest in football. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there.

Mark is definitely all boy. It's funny to see the similarities and differences between Mark and Sam. While Sam's cars like to talk to each other, Mark's cars drive. Mark loves to drive his cars all over the place (complete with the car sound effects). Mark loves dirt. We just got a sandbox a month ago, and Mark practically lives in the sandbox. He loves to be outside. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I don't hardly see the kid anymore. He goes outside in the morning and then I drag him back in for meals and bedtime. Mark's nickname is Bonk because he is such a physical boy. He is constantly bonking his head, hammering on something (or someone), or moving my furniture. That kid is crazy strong!

Just last month, Mark graduated from Early Intervention. Melinda, his specialist, did his bi-yearly evaluation and told us that there isn't anything more she can do for him. He is right on schedule for fine and gross motor skills. He is very smart and socially outgoing. You would never know all that he has been through. He's just a regular toddler. While I'm excited for this next step, I'm also really going to miss Melinda. I will post the letter I wrote to my legislators about the Early Intervention program later.

 The only thing that he is kind of lagging with is talking. He can say 'dada', 'momma', 'nan-nan', 'banana', 'gu-gu' (gus), and a few other little words, but that's about it. Lately, he's been making more effort to communicate, but still gets really frustrated when he can't communicate what he wants. He's also funny because, unlike most kids, he says, 'yeah' but not 'no'. If you ask him something and the answer is yes, he'll say, "yeah, yeah!" If the answer is no, he just won't answer you. I can remember a time when I thought 'no' was the only word in Sam's vocabulary! This next month we're going to start working with a speech therapist to help him communicate better. Melinda says that it might just be a defiance issue, and knowing Mark, she might be right.

Mark especially loves being the older brother to Cole. He loves to hug and tickle his little brother. He sometimes needs a little reminding to be gentle, but, for the most part, is super cute with his baby. And he loves all other babies too. He loves to play with babies and bring them toys. Mark has a big heart and likes to share toys and snacks with Cole and with other babies. I think Mark and Cole are going to be especially good friends.

Cole

I like the rhyme, "Old King Cole was a merry, old soul..." because it describes Cole perfectly. He is such a merry soul. He's so good natured and always smiling and laughing. You can say 'tickle' to him and he'll laugh. The only time he's not very happy is when he's hungry. That's a very serious time!

Cole is my rock n' roller. He rolls everywhere. He started rolling onto his tummy pretty early on and now you have to keep an eye on him. Within a minute, he can make it clear across the room. I call him my 'Rolley Cole-y." I wonder if he'll crawl a lot sooner than his brothers did. He is really good at lifting his upper body with his arms. And he wants to be running around with his brothers so badly.

Cole also got his first tooth when he was just six months old. He now has his two front bottom teeth. And that kid loves to eat. He would nurse all day if I let him and loves baby food. The other day we were at the park. I had Cole on my lap and was talking to one of the other boys, when I looked down and discovered that Cole had eaten half of his brother's peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I guess I'm going too slow in introducing solid foods. He's ready for the good stuff! At his six month appointment, he was in the 7th percentile for weight and our pediatrician recommended nursing him more to get more calories for him. Nic thinks Cole paid the doctor to say that, because he doesn't look scrawny by any means. But we've been working on eating more, much to Cole's happiness.

A Love for Books

I love books, and I love to see my boys love books. I hope that they will always have a love for reading. I like to watch Mark go to the bookshelf and look and look until he finds his favorite books. I like how Mark's favorite way to read is sitting on top of you. I like watching the boys' reactions to books--their smiles and laughs and excitement. I want to remember their first favorites, so I just thought I would write down the first books that captured their hearts (the books that we've read over and over and over and over again until everyone has them memorized).
By the way, here are a few of my first favorite books (I still have them memorized!):

Sam's First Favorite Books:

Mark's First Favorite Books:

Cole currently likes to eat any book. I'll post his favorite books when he's more selective and more into reading than eating.