Everything's Changing

Things were getting complicated with two blogs, so I decided to change to a blog about both boys. The new address is http://www.andersonheroes.blogspot.com/
This blog will stay as it is so I can go back and look at old pictures to reminisce :-) Enjoy the new look!

R rated

So, I was going to put this on here, tell a few people it was there for a good laugh, and erase it. Then Landon said not to be so worrywart about it, so for now it's staying. . . but you've been warned :-)

Basically, Trenton has been babbling for awhile now and playing with different combinations of syllables. As the previous video showed, he says mom, dad, truck, bus, five, eight, nine, anne, wow, and please. Well, he also says fff for football. Then somehow in his mind, he realized there was another combination he hadn't tried! On Tuesday, Landon sent me out for some alone time. On my way home, he sent me a text that said "FYI, Trenton now says the F word." When I got home, sure enough, he was saying it pretty clearly! I know it's an AWFUL word, but how can you not laugh spontaneously, whether you want to or not, when you hear this precious two year old say something that he doesn't even know he's saying! So, I took the video, whether I'm a bad mom or not, because I wanted to be able to look back at this and actually see it instead of just trying to remember how it happened. There you go. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Vocabulary

Here's an update on the words Trenton can say. Yes, I am a proud mother :-) But hey, how else am I going to remember all these special moments when he's grown and left the house?!?! (By the way, the video starts out right away with his version of truck. You have to be ready to listen to catch it!)

Cheerio Morning

Here's Trenton at a normal breakfast, only this time he decided Private Penguin was hungry too! He was doing it on his own, but of course as soon as the camera came out he stopped. I had to ask him to do it for me, but it was still cute to see him treat Private as a real friend :-)

Everything has its place

After putting Trenton to bed one night, I walked to the playroom and found this by the door . . .

It always makes me smile to find evidence of his creative mind at work. I just had to take a picture so I can look back and laugh at how Trenton loved to line things up, whether toys, food, or mom's tupperware!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Trenton SPEAKS!

The other day, after counting fish with Trenton, he suddenly said two of the numbers. He really loves numbers; he always points them out on signs or toys and wants us to tell him the number. Well, I guess it worked because now he says the numbers 9 and 5. The funny part - that's the number of Lightning McQueen!! I guess he really does pay attention to that movie.





This one is more funny than a real word, but it did start somewehere. I told him the oven was hot and he said "ot" and I got all excited and started jumping up and down. He thought this was hysterical! He screamed with laughter and kept saying it to get my reaction. Only, with his emphasis, it then came out as "ot - tuh." I took it for hot anyway :-)




And here he is sick of me asking him to repeat hot so he decides to leave . . .

Halloween

I'm not all that into Halloween, but with kids it is fun to dress them up. Lita bought Trenton a costume and I had a hat from Trenton that I put on Sawyer. Landon had to work so I took the kids to Lita and Grandpa's house to hand out candy.

Birthday Party

Trenton turned two. Unbelievable! Here's a slideshow of his party. We had a good night eating a sub sandwich and playing at the park. Although, he was a stinker and wouldn't pose or smile for the camera all night!! He did have a blast, even if it doesn't show, especially since everytime I turned around someone else was giving him a piece of cake :-)

Catch Up - Be prepared, it's a lot!

Yea, I am finally back on the internet! Here's a couple of pictures of Trenton I took recently just for the heck of it. He's in a new stage of expressions - he always purses his lips and looks at you out of the corner of his eye. It's hysterical, but very hard to capture on camera because it's so spontaneous. I also love to tell him to close his eyes because he looks at the ceiling, but his eyes are still wide open :-)

Trenton is also becoming more and more independent. If there is any sort of cup or bottle (even Sawyer's bottles!) within his reach on the counter, he will grab it to get his own drink when he's thirsty.





This is a funny couple videos - Landon had just set up surround sound and put on Disney's cars to surprise Trenton. He LOVED it on the big TV with the sound coming out of all the speakers. He had to keep pointing it out to us like, do you see this?!?! Then when the "Life is a Highway" song came on, he just went nuts dancing :-)

He looks like a model . . .

When my family was here to visit, our friend, who was my wedding photographer, took Caitlyn's Senior pictures. I showed up with both boys fresh from bed to offer support. Cori started snapping pictures of Trenton too. Isn't this one precious?? You can't even tell he's in PJs right? :-) I made an 8x10 of it I loved it so much.

Playtime at the Park

We took the boys to the park by our new house and had a blast!

Brotherly Love

Trenton, once again, kept asking to hold Sawyer. This time we let him do it on his own because Sawyer was swaddled and couldn't flail about. Trenton was so sweet! He sat there calmly for five minutes or so just holding his brother. The only reason it ended is because I picked him back up; I think Trenton would have stayed there with his brother forever! He adores Sawyer now.

Daddy's Shoes

Trenton amazes me with how well he occupies himself and finds creative things to play. His new favorite spot is the window seat by the front door in the condo. He climbs up there even if it means climbing OVER the toy bin to get there. Landon and I also keep our shoes in a basket on this ledge. Here's what happens when you mix Trenton and a basket of shoes . . .

The Newspaper

Trenton has seen us read the paper with breakfast so many times that now he asks for a piece of the paper in the morning! Here he is "reading" the sports page and drinking his milk. He takes it very seriously :-)

Baby Brother

Trenton kept reaching for Sawyer the other night while Landon was holding him, so we sat him on the couch and let him "hold" his brother for a bit. It was adorable!! He already cares so much for Sawyer, whether that means giving him his paci or rocking his car seat when he starts fussing or poking him in the face while he's eating :-) It makes me eager to see their relationship develop as Sawyer grows.

Brothers

Well, here are my attempts to take a picture of the two boys together! After these 3, Trenton started fussing because he was sick of me pushing him back down to sit by Sawyer. He wanted to grab the camera or give Sawyer his paci or jump off the bed. All in all, they turned out cute and good for a laugh even if they aren't the traditional "look at the camera and smile" pose!

Trenton's First Football Game

Landon has a student in ninth grade and we've become good friends with her parents. On Wednesday, we went to one of the junior high football games to see her cheer. I was worried about bringing Trenton because I thought one of us was going to have to chase him around since there was no way he would sit still for long. Boy did he surprise me! He sat on the bleachers for an entire hour watching the game!!! He clapped and waved his hands in the air whenever the crowd cheered, and he kept pointing at the field and saying "oooh." It was amazing to see how interested he was in the sport; it must be genetic :-)

Trenton's Week with the Kemp Family

Trenton remembered Mimi and Pops right away and all week enjoyed reaching out for them or running into their arms. It was a fun week for him, as he got to read books and play with them and also show them his wild side :-) Despite having a new brother who got lots of attention, Trenton was still able to steal the limelight plenty. By the end of the vacation, he was so attached to everyone that he sobbed, pointing out the window, when we dropped Caitlyn and Aaron off at the airport! It was heartbreaking. We all miss them terribly.

Our Attempt at a Family Picture

We had already taken a bunch of group shots, and Trenton was done with the whole smiling for the camera thing! All he cared about was his shoe. . . and then he got Sawyer in on the mischief somehow. They must already be communicating as brothers! Notice the fist to block dad's face :-)

Grandpa's Beans

Trenton, once again, tries to use the silverware! He always does well with the clean stuff - hot dogs and fruit - and then gives up on the real "saucy" items - spaghetti and baked beans. I couldn't help taking more pictures :-)

Quality Time with Dad

Trenton is having to adjust to a little brother around now so Landon and I have each taken him on a date and tried to give him some individual attention. In this case, Landon was watching an episode of Friends and Trenton went and sat in the umbrella chair right by him. He sat there for longer than I have ever seen him sit still!! And he kept laughing and clapping at the show like he understood what was going on. It was cute to see him seek out Landon and mimic what he was doing.

Smile

Trenton is becoming a ham like his father and loves to smile for the camera! It's such a cute, toothy grin; I love it.

A New Game

Landon was looking for one of Trenton's pool toys, so he lifted up the lid to the skimmer. Somebody was watching :-) Now Trenton thinks it's fun to peer in there as well. And out of this a new game was born . . . leave it to Landon to come up with this one. He and Trenton are two peas in a pod.

Swimming with Dad

Here's a video of Trenton showing off his Aquatots skills. He loves to kick, monkey walk on the edge, and climb out of the pool, which are all things we learned in swim lessons. I'm so glad he is comfortable in the water.

Little Monkey

Trenton really is a monkey with the way he climbs things and jumps around like a wild chimp! :-) But now he actually has a little monkey. I bought a harness at Target that is a monkey backpack with straps to go around his chest and the tail is like a leash. It sounds awful to have your kids on a leash, but with two now, this will be great if we're walking around a park or the zoo or the mall because it will allow him the independence to walk without getting away from me. Plus, any hesitation I had about it is now gone. He loves it!! As you can see above, as soon as we put it on him, he started running around screaming with laughter. He loved the fact that Landon had him by the "tail" and would pull him back every now and then so he'd bump right on his butt. At one point, he ran into Lita's room and shut the door on Landon, but his tail was sticking out. Landon grabbed it and heard Trenton try to run away from the door and then fall back because he was caught. He thought it was hysterical!

I'm Not Sure Trenton is Ready to Share!

"Mommy, look what I found to play in . . .

" So, my feet hang over the edge . . . I can still pull on the cute animals and listen to the music. Who says you have to be comfortable while you play?"

"There, now they fit! :-)"


And this mischievious grin says it all, "Sawyer who? This is my toy!"

Our Family is about to change . . .

Well, tomorrow is July 26th and at any time during the day the hospital will call me in to have Sawyer. I'm feeling pretty emotional about it. On one hand, I will be thrilled to finally meet him and see what he looks like and how similar or different from Trenton he is. On the other hand, I am sentimental about the special times I've had with Trenton and the family Landon, he, and I have become. Tomorrow we will be a different family! There's going to be a new person to love and include in all the jokes and activities that Trenton previously occupied alone. I guess I'm almost sad that my alone time with Trenton has ended. I'm sure this is normal, and I'll hardly remember what I'm saying here when I face our new little boy for the first time. Anyway, all of these thoughts prompted me to meet Landon at work today and take some last family pictures before Sawyer is born. I look at them and just marvel at how old Trenton is and what a cute little boy he has become. He's going to be able to teach his little brother so many wonderful things, like how to use a stick as a sword and how to run from mommy when she's trying to clean you up! Our life is about to change, and so is Trenton D's. I hope he's ready. . . then again, I'm not sure I am :-)

Fourth of July

On July 4th, Landon had to work at Central's large fireworks festival so he was gone from 2pm until 11pm. Trenton and I went to Andersons for a family barbecue instead of braving the heat and the crowds at church, especially since Landon was in the food court working most of the night. We had such an enjoyable time! I got to hold Trenton's new cousin Isaac for the first time. This was also the first time that Trenton seemed curious. When they walked in and set the carseat on the floor, he crouched down by it and just studied Isaac. It was precious and also good practice for him! :-) The girls sat inside at the table chatting while the boys swam and grilled out back. Then after eating, Lita and Grandpa took Trenton for a swim.



His favorite part, though, was filling the rubber ball with water and squirting Grandpa with it!

Then, without even meaning to, we timed our drive home perfectly with Central's fireworks display. I took Brown Road, which is almost directly in line with the church, and we could see the entire show through our windshield while we drove. Trenton was mesmerized. There were a bunch of cars stopped all along the side of Brown to watch, but I didn't want to do it while I was alone. We were just happy to be able to see some fireworks that night!!

Souvenir from Lita and Grandpa

Lita and Grandpa just got back from Italy and this is the shirt they brought Trenton from Florence; it's adorable! It says "90% Angelo 10% Demonio"

It was hard trying to get a good picture of the shirt because he kept wanting to lay on my lap (not that I'm complaining since he never cuddles!) or run towards the camera (below).

The best part of putting his new shirt on: he kept pulling it out so he could see the front and laughing! He would point at the pictures and look up at me laughing, like he got the joke too. Or maybe he's laughing because they credited him for 90% angel :-)

Spaghetti Face

Trenton has been trying to figure out this whole spoon and fork thing and he does pretty well usually. That is until this meal of shells in spaghetti sauce and watermelon! He would get it on the spoon and then on the way to his mouth, tip it right off into his lap. Eventually, he started doing half spoon, half "fistful of food" to the mouth and this is the result . . .

At the end, I just dumped him in the shower clothes and all to start the clean up process. He thought it was a blast, of course :-)

Cereal Monster

I was in the bedroom and heard a rustling. When I came out, Trenton had climbed on the chair to reach the box of cereal from that morning and was calmly sitting there eating a snack. When he reached in for some cereal, his whole arm disappeared! I guess he knows how to take care of himself when he wants a snack now :-)

Here's a picture of his squinty-eyed grin and mouthful of food when he realized I was watching him.