Not a Baby Anymore

Just this week, Jett learned to climb out of his crib. He has reached the pinnacle of terrible twos lately and I guess decided he needed to prove to us that he was the boss. So instead of napping, he climbed out and knew the score was JETT: 1 MOMMY: 0. The little stink.

So within a day we sold his crib and pulled out his twin bed. He did have a hard time going to bed though. For the first five minutes he cried and screamed and kept getting out. When he got over it, he acted like it was a game and kept opening and closing the bedroom door when we'd leave. Finally Dave sat on the floor outside of his door and left the door open. Jett laid in his bed talking and goofing off. Then it was my turn. I sat and watched a movie on-line and every minute or so I'd close the door about half an inch. Once he couldn't see me anymore, he finally fell asleep. He slept all night but woke up at 6:30 freaking out because he forgot about the bed. He definitely is easier to train than Cruise was. Cruise would scream for hours on end, so even though it's a little frustrating, we've definitely experienced worse.

The whole downside to all of this is no more naps. Man, I'm gonna miss those. Not that I ever got a nap, but I did get peace and quiet for about an hour each day. Yeah, that will be desperately missed. I guess I'll just have to wait until preschool.

Jett also got a big boy haircut this week. He looks like a little blonde David. I keep asking myself where the past two years went. But I guess it's because the past two years have been a bit crazy. And when crazy happens, things go fast.

Jett's early intervention has been going well, however, we still haven't been able to get him to make certain sounds. It's almost like he physically can't. He was sick (again) last week and the doctor pointed out that his tonsils are humungous. So he referred us to a ENT doctor. So if he does end up getting a tonsillectomy, I hope that not only does it reduce his monthly visits to the doctor, but that it helps with his speech as well. It gets frustrating sometimes having both my kids barely able to tell me what they want. But they eventually find a way. I'm really good at charades and interpreting babble at this point.

Jett also like to draw...on himself and the walls (don't worry Mom & Dad Ybarra, we're going to be repainting pretty much your entire house).

Jett's black goatee he drew all by himself.

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Jett lately has been pushing my buttons and doing that two year old thing where he tries to find out how much he can get away with. He hates time outs, which is excellent, and is incredibly stubborn (gee, I wonder where he gets that from). But he is such a snuggly little sweetheart and is so much fun to play with. He is really good at playing alone, but likes it if you are there to give him all kinds of input and reinforcement.

He has also gotten better at not teasing his big brother. He actually has been trying to help Cruise whenever he can. When Cruise can't find a toy, he breaks down in a huge meltdown and the world has ended. Jett has started to try to find the toy Cruise wants. And he tends to be quite successful at it. He'll go find it and bring it to Cruise. It's so sweet. The two of them still fight, but definitely not as much as they used to. They love to play super heroes and wrestle around a lot. The other night, the boys were playing in their Superman pajamas and Cruise just randomly said to Jett, "I love you, Jett." I almost cried. It was absolutely sweet. And then when it was time for Jett to go to bed, Cruise said, "Good night, Superman!" Lol!

Anyway, that's the update on Jett. I'll get one up on Cruise pretty soon.

Christmas Break 2011

Yes, I realize this took almost a month to write, but better late than never, right?

The Mommy Necklace
Cruise came home from school the day before Christmas break with an awesome gift for me: a hand painted (in my favorite blue-turquoise color) round jewelry box with a special necklace inside that says 'Love Cruise'. I was so excited! I always wanted a Mommy necklace! It's like the final initiation into Mommy-dom. Ha ha ha! Really though, I love it!

Backwards Underwear
Cruise decided just as the holiday season began, that he'd start dressing himself. I for one didn't realize he actually knew how, so it was a huge surprise when he refused any help dressing himself. He usually does pretty good except his underwear usually ends up backwards and his shirts, if the same on both sides, is backwards as well. Not to mention his shoes are usually on the wrong feet. But it is really nice not having to dress both of them anymore. I can just hand Cruise some clothes and tell him to get dressed! Woohoo!!!

Excited!
Cruise LOVES Christmas, believe it or not, he loves Christmas more than Halloween! Which means he loves it A LOT! One evening, while poor Daddy was passed out on the floor from being overworked and under-rested, Cruise put on his Santa hat and had his stuffed animals pretend to sit on his lap. He even tried to get Jett to sit on his lap, but Jett's not the most cooperative two year old.

I like to call this one "The Thinker on Daddy"

There was one evening when we received some Christmas carolers. Our neighbors and their kids came by, sang, and brought some treats. Cruise was absolutely ecstatic over this new experience. He HAD to try it! So he immediately grabbed a couple candy canes off the tree, got his coat and shoes, and made Dave take him caroling. They went by the neighbor's house where he sang "Jingle Bells" in his own style as he danced, handed them the candy cane, and said, "Merry Christmas!" That earned him a hug and kiss. He then headed to another neighbor's house but found that they weren't home, so he tried other homes who also didn't answer their doors. Walking around that much makes a little boy hungry, so he started eating the other candy cane. He finally went back to the second house and tried again. They answered and so he sang his song, handed them a half-eaten candy cane, and wished them a Merry Christmas. He and Dave came home and Cruise was just so excited! The next day he asked to go again, so we whipped up a bunch of cookies and stopped by the same houses and then a few to make up for the half eaten candy cane. I swear he could've caroled all day long.

Festivus

For those of you who don't know what Festivus is, you'll have to watch this episode of Seinfeld:

If you do, however, welcome to the Greer Girls' 1st Family Festivus!

As a fun little joke, we all decided to celebrate Festivus this year. We had a potluck dinner, followed by the Airing of Grievances, and concluded with the Feats of Strength.

The Festivus Pole covered in Grievances

Christmas Eve
Cruise had a really tough time with Festivus, and we summed it up to not having his necessary dose of proprioceptive and vestibular input. So Christmas Eve day, we all drove up to Aspen Grove and did some sledding. Jett and I got cold really fast, but Dave and Cruise couldn't get enough of the snow and sledding. So after a bit, Jett and I headed for the car and watched a movie while we waited for them.

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Every Christmas Eve, my Mom always makes a big spaghetti dinner followed by opening family presents (Santa presents are for the morning, obviously). Before heading over, we had the boys open their presents from Dave and I. Jett got Don't Spill the Beans and Cruise got Ants In My Pants. Dave got a nice soft scarf from the boys and two long sleeve shirts from me. And Dave gave me some new Victoria's Secret perfume. Then we all met at my parents' house and enjoyed a big spaghetti and meatball meal and enjoyed Charlotte's vegan/gluten-free trifle for dessert. It was AMAZING as usual.

Then we all got to open family presents.

Cruise with his new SpongeBob matching game from Grandma and Grandpa Greer

Jett with his Zingo game from Grandma & Grandpa Greer

Buzz Bandaids

Something we didn't get a picture of was my new dishes from my parents! I got a beautiful set of black and white damask dishes for my new house.

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve, Dave and I spent 3 hours putting up the boys' big present: a train set. It was a little tough shopping for the the boys this year since they are definitely not in need of anymore toys. But, you know, it's Christmas.

Christmas morning, Cruise was the first one up. He was instantly in love with the train set. He didn't even notice the presents under the tree. Jett heard Cruise up, so he was up and playing in no time. It was so nice to have them playing with the same thing and not be fighting! Woohoo! (I have no idea why the font isn't working in this part...sorry).

Cruise signing & saying "STOP"

We finally were able to divert their attention to the rest of their presents. Since they weren't really low on toys, I decided to get them some things to make their rooms a little more fun. Part of this idea came from the fact that we'll be moving soon and I want the transition to go as smooth as possible. So I figured if they have certain things in their rooms that makes it theirs, they'll adjust at least to their new rooms a bit easier. That's the idea in theory. Who know how it'll go. 

Anyway, for Cruise, we got him some space wall decals, a space bed set, and a Moon In My Room (AWESOME!). For Jett's room, we got him Buzz Lightyear wall decals, an alien lamp (the alien from Toy Story), and the same space bed set. 

The boys also got Christmas tree shaped crayons that I made for them, a couple coloring books, candy, a toothbrush, Cruise got the movie ELF (one of his favorites) and Jett got the new Winnie the Pooh movie, and they each got 3 Star Wars character toys. Oh, and Dave got the new X-Men movie in his stocking.

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Here's Cruise's finished "room". He currently sleeps in the living room aka playroom, so it was nice to make his little corner more bedroom-ish. Jett's I still have to take a picture of.

Moon In My Room lamp

After opening presents, the boys went back to playing with the train while I made our big Christmas breakfast of waffles with fruit and whipped cream, scrambled eggs, sausage, and orange juice.

Despite the fact that church was going to be cut short, we knew what would happen if we had gone: major meltdown from Cruise because there would be no Primary class after Sacrament meeting. I just wasn't up for that on Christmas Day. So we skipped Church and talked about the birth of Jesus with the boys. For the rest of the morning, they played with the train table without any fighting. It was AWESOME! 

That afternoon, we headed over to my parents' house to have our Christmas Feast with my sister and her family. My parents and other sister & her hubby all left for California early that morning. Our feast included ham, loaded sweet potatoes, green beans, lots of bubbly, rolls and Charlotte's amazing potatoes. For dessert, we had pumpkin pie and more trifle. It was all delicious! 

In the evening we visited with Dave's sister Mary and her family and his brother Dan and his wife Sofia. We ate dessert and swapped gifts. I was actually really impressed at how well our boys did with the long day. Christmas was a success! 

Here's a few fun pictures from the break:

Oh yeah...did I tell you we got a house? : )