Bode

Oh, this boy. 

Where do I even begin?!?

He is ALWAYS on the move.

He loves to carry a golf club around the house (sometimes three at a time. And I just bought a glass coffee table- I'm not sure why).

He has been using a spoon efficiently for quite some time and LOVES tools and doing things the "big way." (Which is maybe why he's been insisting on using the bannister to walk up and down the stairs, even though he isn't really even tall enough to reach it).

He says "mama" "dada" (Dada is his favorite person) "hot" and as of today..."ELMO!" (I think I've heard "up" and "stuck").

He also loves to point out eyes, ears, nose and mouth.

When I read him a book (mostly always a baseball book) he just points at every object and makes me tell him what each thing is (so basically I'm not reading).

He's still in major blankie love. Thank goodness for those little blanket fragments. Although they are dwindling :(

When Bode sees that Mimi has something that's the same as him, he points it out to her and says "tuh tuh tuh." This started with popcicles, but now is their routine for anything (mostly at the dinner table). It's really really cute and sweet.

He's got all four molars poking through, but one of them is still giving him some trouble as it comes to the surface more completely. Sleep has been disrupted (again). Hoping to get back on track some day...

Here's some pics of our blonde boy on a fall day outside:

The other day Mimi was feeling sweet and wanted to dress him. I can't imagine why she'd want to take that task on, after she watches Ben and I practically pull our hair out trying to wrestle this little man...but I obliged.

Here's how it started:

MIMI (Sweetly) "can you come over here buddy?!?"

Bode did not comply.
Shocker.

Poor girl. She tried to persevere for a few minutes, until I heard a very frustrated "HMPF!" and watched her stomp away.

Then Bode toddled into her room and locked out...

(with mischievious giggles)

I ended up dressing him that day.

****

Parent Confessionals

Okay, this post is going to feel a lot like this clip from The Goonies:

There's some things I've been wanting to get off my chest. 

I think Ben and I are pretty good parents. We make Mimi brush her teeth and say thank you (and sometimes even make her carry her own plate to the sink). But sometimes I'm not always a model citizen of Parenthoodville. (Aside from the obvious overuse of TV to babysit my offspring).

Hmmm Hmmm (throat clearing)... Here goes:

-Sometimes I use the words "poop" and "butt" to get my child to laugh

(and sometimes even together)

-One time both my children had consumed 8 popcicles between them (and it wasn't even 9:00 am).

-90% of the time that I ask Mimi to clean up her room, I end up doing most of it myself.

-I let my kids tear up foam board and make a big, white, styrofoam mess of my living room (oh, wait. You already knew about that one).

-When I order kids meals for my kids I eat most of their french fries before they even see the bag (and I eat all of Mimi's chips that come with her Chipoltle meal. She doesn't even know that those are rightfully hers).

-When Mimi saw her Christmas present last week by accident (it was THE present of the year...the Santa one) and asked about it, I lied and said it was for a little girl who's sick in the hospital and doesn't have any presents. I froze. Now she'll probably have an unexplainable hatred for hospitals that not even her future shrink will be able to unlock. Woops.

Okay, I think that's it for now. This will probably trigger more confessions, so stayed tuned. Feel free to share your own. It feels really good. 

*****

Thanksgiving

TURKEY DAY!

I started the day with a little gluten free pumpkin pie and coffee...the perfect combination of course.

I needed energy for the THIRD ANNUAL Turrill Turkey Trot with this turkey!

(I also needed to run because I was channeling Paula Dean for our green bean casserole recipe)

Mimi insisted on running this year. Adorable.

(she also insisted on bringing her stocking with us after she relentlessly asked for it to be unearthed from the Christmas boxes in the basement)

During our run we made a pit stop at our friends house to feed their cat Mack.

It's so precious to have neighbor/friends!!! (especially ones who live on the golf course and have a slide and climby thing!)

I love my turkeys.

This girl was READY to get her Christmas on!!!! 

(Mama and Daddy were not).

I tried to distract her by having her watch the Macy's Day parade (and looking for our beloved Caldwells who were THERE!!!)

After taking a shower and enjoying more pumpkin pie in solitude (yes, I'm a gluten free pumpkin pie hoarder. It was going to be a hard day to be a 

gluten-y glutenson. Most days it doesn't even factor in...not hard at all. But Thanksgiving...?!?! Goodbye stuffing, goodbye pie! Goodbye gravy! So that's how I rationalized eating a whole pie in my bedroom ;)

(okay, not the WHOLE pie. I did save some for the next morning to have while watching Christmas movies and addressing Christmas cards with Mimi. Oh and for that night, getting up with Bode at 1 am. Healthy.)

So on the tail of that confession, here's another one.

We ate before Thanksgiving dinner.

Woa. It feels good to get off our chests.

You see, Ben's family bucks the tradition of eating Thanksgiving mid-day and waits until nighttime. It's hard to wait! We had planned to go to the museum to spend the day, but as this stage of life goes, Bode's sleeping didn't really align, so by the time he was up from a good Thanksgiving snooze, it was too late. 

By 3:00, Mama was ANTSY and needed to get out of the house.

So Ben suggested we go to the Dickens. It's a cute little Longmont landmark/restaurant. It was a little odd being there. We looked like the family who had no family and needed to go out to eat on Thanksgiving. Nope, just grabbing a burger and fries before we head to Thanksgiving meal of course. Duh.

cute little pink clogs :)

This may have been right before Bode took a big chunk out of that foam pumpkin. With his mouth.

Holding our secret of a "pre-Thanksgiving" snack of a burger close to our chests, we finally headed to BT and Oma's house. The fun was about to begin!!! 

Mimi was OVER THE MOON about seeing her cousins. I love seeing how her relationship to them has evolved. I remember bringing her in her baby seat for her first Thanksgiving. Then slowly, for each family event, she was able to run after them and then finally play WITH her cousins. So cute.

She loves Fiona the most.

Here were the lovely set tables:

Our hot hosts!

Mimi and Bode frolicking in the backyard....

Bode kept putting cherry tomatoes in his mouth, biting them, then putting them back- by the handfuls. 

Bode also had a little admirer...Olivia. She kept saying, "Bode's SOOOO cute. I just want to hold him!" (a.k.a. can I hold him?!?!)

So she did. And it was adorable. His feet were practically touching the floor.

Benny's been deemed the "prayer guy" at any family event. And that makes me proud :)

This boy got after some mashed potatoes!

While Mimi ate with the cousins at the official "kid table" :)

Then Bode's mood turned...

He was tired!!!

Nothing that a little Play with Me Sesame wouldn't fix...

When I walked into the "kids table" I said "Mimi, are you eating?!" and she proudly and unassumingly said, "Yeah. I'm done!" That's what her "done" plate looked like. But after a little peer pressure, cousin-style, she ate a little more.

I had left Bode cozy on the couch to watch his favorite show. Then when I glanced over to check on him, this is what I saw:

Love that Livi!

 A good night was had by all, capped off by the traditional "beater licking" of the whipped cream made by Aunt Karen.

****

(The next morning we decorated for Christmas, much to Mimi's joy!)