My 3 year old is halirous

Ok, he will be 4 in 2 months but honestly this kid cracks me up.  For example, yesterday I was trying to bargain with him. I had been trying to get him to write his name. He was about at the end of the "play time" with the writing and learning games so I told him if he wrote his name for me he could have an ice cream sandwich.  He stopped trying to ignore me and looked at me and laughed as he said, "Ice cream sandwich? That's funny. That is silly, ice cream Sandwich!"  I told him not really it was good he would like it and he said, "Ew gross." He finally wrote out his name for me as best he could and as a result got the (mini) ice cream sandwich, which he did not in fact think was gross at all. Ha.

At Six Flags dancing to a Bugs Bunny Show

You thought that was sort of cute, how about this one?  I have some glass glasses that I bring out some time for fun. The other morning I poured some egg nog in these "fancy" glasses (they look like champagne glasses.)  Cody wanted to try some so I handed him a glass. He was facing away from me and toward the girls. I told him, "be careful. That glass can break easily."  I wish I would have caught his response on video. He was holding the stem of the glass in both hands. He shuffled his feet first to the right and then the left pretending to tip the glass each way as he moved back and forth saying, "Woah, woah..."  I was so surprise. I asked the girls if he really just did what I thought he did.  I repeated the movement I say and sure enough this kid was messing with me with his sarcastic humor. What 3 year old do you know that is so silly?  It was so stinkin funny!!

He is learning a lot. He can almost write his name. He gets sort of stuck on the Y and tries to make the D a capital letter then adds the straight line part.  He is still working on talking more clearly. He knows the colors. He knows letters and numbers. He is learning to write them out.  He is currently in the fridge (oh make that freezer) helping himself to a snack.  It was an ice cream sandwich. Mommy had to say no to that one tonight as he has already had one.

When he doesn't want to do some thing he says, "Daddy, says no." As in daddy does not want him to do what I am telling him to do.  It is pretty funny. When he realizes daddy does agree with me he then says, "miss Liz says no." (His daycare lady.) That is what I get for telling him Miss Liz or daddy would want him to do what ever it is I am asking him to do.

His most special talent is burping the ABC's.  He is channeling some old friends of mine with that one. He can burp on command and thinks it is pretty funny. My husband and my grandma disagree. I dislike it when he wont stop but I have to admit sometimes it is funny. Gross but funny.

He defiantly has a personality. And I love it!

Now if only I could get him to sleep in his own bed again when daddy is working nights.

 This video was a month ago or so...

 

I like the Fro Big Cody said No!

Before

During

After

Our pet's can teach lotsa life lessons.

Sad sad day. Little Mousey went away. I though he'd come back another day, but it seems he was away to stay. So sad.

So we moved into our new house last month. (Still renting for now.) When we moved in the dog smell in the carpet was so bad we asked to have it replaced. The day they changed the carpet I was at work. The carpet guys let the cat named Mouse out. He never found his way home. I think maybe he couldn't find us. The whole smell of the place changed. Cody thought maybe he went to try to find his was the 20 miles to our old house. Aww. Little Cody knows Mouse is gone and probably not coming back.  Big Cody felt so bad he kept telling me to go to the pound and let a new one pick to live with us. I wasn't sure I was ready for that. 

About 3 weeks later we saw a sign in our neighborhood with a picture of a cat and a message that said, "Am I yours?" This picture looked so much like Mouse. I called right away and left a message. We waited 15 minutes and called from Cody's number since mine is long distance. Still no answer and no call back. Until... we were in bed at like 10 on a Thursday and got a call.  It was the lady who had the cat! Yippie! After a big discussion about this cat we decided I just needed to come see. As I was making plans to meet her after work on Friday Big Cody says, "Go now. You will be stressing out all day if you don't go now. She just got home so she's up. Just go. And take your phone so she can see a picture of Mouse so she doesn't think you are some crazy lady trying to steal a cat." Ha. he is so eloquent.  So I went. At 10:15pm. In my jammies. When I got to the house and she opened the door I took one look at this cat and knew it was not our missing kitty.  I let her know. She said she didn't think it would be (Based on our conversation and the fact she was thinking this cat she has was a girl.)  But she told me the cat she rescued needed a new home. No one else had called and she couldn't keep her much longer.  So that is how Lady Girl came to be the newest member of Team Mantor.  It is also the reason she looks like Bella and Mouse. (You may remember we found Mouse when we were on the look out for Bella one night when she was stuck in a closet. I miss her so much.)  You can't tell from the picture below but Lady Girl is huge. The girls say she looks like she ate Mouse. Or she is what it would look like if Mouse and Bella had a baby. Only she is older. Ha.

We still have hopes that Mouse will find his way back, but honestly he is such a good loving house cat that I think he probably found himself a new loving family.

In other pet news, we gave Adam Baldwin to a Baldwin family. Seriously. One of Mariana's friends brothers.  Then a few weeks later the girls took their snakes "home" to their mothers.  Two days after that the snakes got out of their cage and are still at large.  After many hours looking to no avail the snakes are still hidden.

For those counting this left us here at our house with John Casey. The big one. He was in a temporary cage in the garage. He got out of that so Big Cody put him in a pillow case over night. The next day I got home from work and the case was empty in the living room floor. I assumed big Cody had put him back in a cage outside.  I found out the next day I was wrong. This large snake is also at large. He is a Colombian Boa. He is friendly so far but waaay strong.  So grandma & grandpa, you can rest at ease. We have no snakes here any more. At least that we know where are.  Maybe that isn't more relaxing than knowing where he was in his cage, locked in and outside. hoe hum....

Mariana's Birthday

September 2011

We got all pretty'd up and went to the Riverwalk for Mariana's 15th birthday. She got to be an alligator in public. Her dream come true!

It's official

It is official. My camera is gone. I need a new one. All of my recent pictures are coming from my phone. Sup, sup, with that? There were 900+ memories on there that are gone forever. Tear! (I have a suspicion as to who may have gotten themselves a new camera a few months back. But it is waaaay gone and outta state now if that suspicion is correct.


It’s official. We are out of our house. We are still living out of storage and staying at a family from churches house. It has been so nice of them to let us stay there. But, hopefully we will get our keys today. We need to be in our own place. All 4 of us are feeling so displaced. Me, Cody, Lil Cody and Mouse. Our snakes are staying at a different home for these days. The family who has them is not all happy they are there. So they are also displaced. I hope our house is ready today!

It’s official. Little Cody is a-maze-za-zing! He knows the alphabet, the sounds, he can figure out what letter words start with and just last week he started showing me the alphabet in sign language. He loves to quiz me. When I get the answer right he usually tells me, “Good job, Momma.” I love it. Yesterday we were eating grapes and he tells me, “Mmmm. I love grapes! These are good. Everyone loves grapes.” Haha.

Boo hiss

That is what I have to say about my recent blogging. I have been awful. But since my camera left and all I have is my phone for pictures it has been hard and I am a bum!

Here are some cute ones of my cute ones....

Friends and foot eating

Cody's new bestie Emma

So cute!!

Love this kid!!

A buncha of Pictures with captions

This man is at a Regal movie theather wearing his "free" popcorn shirt for a different chain. Ha!

Mommy & her friends watch SYTYCD and daddy and the kids do this!

I thought putting the cheese on the top shelf would keep him out of it.

Another fun summer day at day care. (She took him to an indoor playplace that was waaay better than McDonalds!!)

Spaghetti for breakfast. In the car. It was the only thing that got him to stop crying that morning. Ha!

Oh no! I guess using the back seat as my shoe closet has caught up with me.

The Ring Leader

So, as I mentioned we like to go to the McAirConditioned Playplace so our monkey can run around and we can enjoy some free A/C. We go to this one near our house that has this big open area under the climbing tubes. Well, the last 2 times we were there random children were playing with lil C. The weird thing is these different kids basically played the same game. They play a version of tag where Cody is always pretty much "it." They run and he chases. Since he is not allowed to push or hit and he is not upset he basically doesn't touch the other kids so eventually they run into him and say that he "tagged" them. This last time if he touched them they would fall to the ground pretty much because every time Cody would run in two circles he would fall to the ground. They other kids would help him up and they would do it all over again. Probably a boring story for you and the bloggy blog, here but it was so funny to watch.

Day 30 of 30 ... 30 days all about and for my Cody boy

My dear sweet silly boy,

You are my joy. Babies and kids almost always change a mommies life. You saved mine. I waited for so long for you to join me here on Earth. I have always know more than any thing else I wanted to be a mom. When I started making wrong choices and then wasn't able to have kids and start my family like I'd always wanted I changed. My priorities changed and who I was and thought I wanted to be changed. I even thought I had started to convince myself I didn't really want kids.  Then one day all that changed. I found out, "Surprise!" I was pregnant. To me this in it's self was a miracle. I was resigned to the fact I might never get to be your mom. Imagine my joy.  That day I changed. With in a few weeks my whole world changed. I left California and moved to Arizona to be closer to my sister and brothers. I started going back to church. I started following the guidelines & standards the church out lines for us to live by for happy lives. 

It was not always easy. But I kept telling myself, Heavenly Father answered a 10 year old prayer of mine, so I needed to keep my end of the bargain.  I aways knew I wanted to raise my family to know the truthfulness of the gospel and the church. So, I started going. It took time to get comfortable with being there.  But with time and perseverance I got comfortable. And I became active again. And I got where I liked who I was and who I was becoming. I was more calm and collected as a mother of a 6 1/2 week early preemie than I has been in years. I made new friends and when you were just under 1 year old I, as you already know, met your daddy. We moved to Texas to be with him and the girls.

Every day of my life you make me smile. There are plenty of moments where you make me want to pull out my hair, too, but the little moments full of love make it worth it. The past 30 days tell about you and your little blooming personality. You have a stubborn streak. You are so smart and good at problem solving; which includes finding a way to get what you want.  You are a lover. You love to hug and cuddle me. You like kissing people and asking them if they are, "all better." You have a chore and you are really good about doing it. You feed the cat. The cat named Mouse who you just call Cat. (Too smart, I say.) You know all your colors. You know shapes and numbers. You can spell your name and recite 2 of the 13 articles of faith. You know who you are.

Cody I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for bringing you into my life. I don't know where I would be if you hadn't decided it was finally your time to come to this world.  Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy. I promise to do my best to teach you and love you and help you in this life. I can't wait to see all the other things you will do over the next 70 years.

Love,

Your Mommy

Day 29 of 30 . . .Growing up : Big Boy

 

Another step forward in Cody's progress to becoming a big boy. A new Big Boy Bed. Bigger than before.  1st night = success! He stayed in bed all night and didn't even try to come out of his room! Yay! (Nights two and 3...um... we are still working on it.)

A growing up sign. Literally growing. Cody seems to have grown like 4 inches in the last few weeks. I couldn't help but notice how long he seemed when he was laying in the bath tub. He almost stretched the whole length!!

• Daddy encourages Cody to be more self aware and be a big boy.  He got him this little red wagon so we can work on saying Bye-bye baby stroller!

Day 28 of 30 . . . A new favorite

As Quincy from Little Einsteins would say, "I can not believe it!" you have a new favorite.  Sorry Buzz, sorry Woody, sorry Leo & Rocket and the gang, sorry Bruster and the Chuggington crew, sorry Phineas & Ferb. There is a new favorite toon in town and mommy is not sure she likes it.  Gone is the learning about friendship and treating your toys good from Toy Story, gone is the classical music and problem solving of the Little Einsteins, gone is the learning to follow directions and do things right from Chuggington, and gone is the using your imagination and invention and crime fighting from Phineas & Ferb. (alright, that last one is a stretch, but...) And in comes learning to whine and cry and produce tears.

Lately every time you see this specific yellow sponge you go nuts! SpongeBob! SpongeBob! You shout and point. Oh no, I say.

Yesterday you did not want to put underwear on. I asked if you wanted Woody or Buzz or Thomas the Train or Lightening McQueen. "SpongeBob!" you demanded and cried who I could not locate that one single pair of SpongeBob undies you own.  This habit really got started rolling at Miss Liz's house where you currently go for daycare.  She told me that Spongebob is your favorite and you even know the song. When they try to redirect you away from it you get maaad!

You definitely know what you like.

But drop the

whine or

we will

have

to

Ban

SpongeBob

Day 27 of 30 . . . Warm Milk

This kiddo cracks me up. It is fun to see the world a different way. I love seeing how his mind works. Take this little life moment for example:  I was trying to get him to drink his warm milk the other night (in hopes of it aiding his journey in to dream land and bed time) and I told him, “drink your milk.” He drank a little bit then handed the cup back to me.  I wanted him to drink more so I told him, “Come on, put it in your belly.”  He looked at me and then in all seriousness he lifted up his shirt so I could “put the milk in his belly.”  Hahahaha! What a funny guy!  Then I told him to show daddy how he puts the milk in his belly. He did it again. So silly.  As I am typing this 5 days later I just realized that I forgot to tell him how you really “put the milk in your belly.” Oops. My bad.

Day 26 of 30.... movie seat.

Ever since Cody was like 3 weeks old he has gone to the movies and brought thus seat. Yep, his stroller.96% of the time he sits in it, too. And we sit next to him. Right below the stadium seating. Next to the place you park if you are sitting in your chair you brought that has wheels.    Over 101 movies in the theater for this lil guy so far. 

Day 25 of 30... Haircut time

Cody has had 4 professional hair cuts.2 by my old friend Lindsey, one at Supercuts and this one. He was so good. When it was all done he told me, "Again!" And, "my turn." But he had no more hair to cut!!

Day 24 of 30 . . . what about your feet?

My little man loves to take off his shoes in the car.  I guess I get it. My shoes typically live in the car. But he does not realize that it is a pain in the reet-root when I am driving 5 minutes to the store and we get there and I have to reshoe the kid in the 170 thousand degree weather just to run into the stinkin store. I mean come on kiddo! Of course I could always leave hime shoeless (which I white trashy do some times) but then I have to carry him in so his footsies don't burn.

Shoeless at Sea World

His feet are growing fast all of the sudden. We had to buy new socks and new sandals the other day.  He seems to do better with those because of the heat, I guess. He is sure funny with the shoes in the car. More often than not he get taken to his day care lady's house with no feet coverings at all.   Then sometimes we will be home for hours and I have to remind him to take his shoes off. He just forgets inside. Ah, well. That is my silly shoeless boy.

Day 23 of 30 . . . The A says Ah

Day 22 of 30...... can I get some sleep?

Really for mommy the answer is no. little Cody does not like to go to bed at night. We have not found any magical trick that work. and believe me we've tried them all.   Wearing him down, no naps, short naps, sleeping with him , letting him sleep in our bed , letting him stay up to lee falls asleep , ..... none of these things work for me ..... so I have a toddler with insomnia....  but once he's out. Oh boy.

he fell asleep in the bath this morning. or maybe he wasnt quite awake. Noe he's sleeping in his towels on my bed. I gotta finish getting ready and were off to work and school.... have a great day