Cutest, nicest little devil

The best description I can think of to describe Bea at this stage is "wolf in sheep's clothing".  Unlike Henry who would do bad things and then try to get away with it by running away or refusing to clean up or say sorry, Bea is a mastermind at causing cute chaos and sweetening up her abuse to Henry and Clementine.  She's so quick to say sorry and give hugs and kisses when she hurts anyone and she says please and thank you all day long, gives Clementine her blankie and pacifier when she's crying(which is always caused by her), but one moment later she's pulling hair, pushing her to the floor, running over her with the doll stroller, pinching her face, stealing her toys and being equally annoying and abusive to Henry, who doesn't even fight back, but runs to me for protection.  Where did she learn this? How did my sweet, lovely Bea turn into such a monster? I have no idea who she learned it from and I'm praying this is just a phase.  Strange thing is that she will not hurt me, but has no reservations to hit Lucy or Justin, or anyone else.  How can she love Clementine and abuse her at the same time.  I put her in time out in the cold garage at least 5 times per day where she freezes and cries her eyes out and I know for a fact that she knows that she's in the wrong because after I hear a blood curdling scream from Clementine I always hear, "Sorry Commietine" afterward as she looks at me with a guilty half smirk on her face.  I have started to put her blankie in time out and that is helping a little, but I'm open for any suggestions! 

Happy Birthday to Nanna B

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Potty Training Gone Bad

Well, Bea has been taking her diaper off in the crib and pooping and peeing all over her bedding and she hates poop in her diaper and takes her diaper off when she poops in it before I can get her to lie down to change so I bought her some little panties and I thought maybe she would catch on to going on the potty but boy was I wrong.  She had no ability to predict when she had to go and didn't even come close to making it to the potty both days we tried.

She even has a new baby doll with a potty chair and when it got some water in it from playing with it in the pool I sat her down on her little potty and squeezed it until some water came out of the joints and said, "look Bea, she went potty!".  Bea leaned over, looked in the doll potty chair picked it up and drank the water.  So I think we'll hold off for a little while.

California Girl

So I keep putting off mentioning our California trip because I hate writing every detail of our trips so I'll just mention the important parts.  We actually flew out to Arizona to visit Justin's grandparents and aunt in Prescott for a couple days before we headed out to the reunion.  We spend some great time with aunt Patrice and with the grandparents even though Grandpa gave us all a scare and almost kicked the bucket with a SVT attack.  Thank heaven he recovered! We ate good food, went on some hikes, drove through the beautiful desert and caught up on each others' families.

Then we caught a flight out to San Diego and spend the next five nights in an old FEMA trailer on the beach at Camp Pendelton.  The location was perfect, but it was like we were back in a mission apartment with the worst government issue beds ever. You could feel every spring through the bed and we almost cut ourselves every time we rolled over.  No kidding. We spent a lot of time at the beach, drove around some really beautiful neighborhoods, ate fish tacos whenever possible, tried surfing and actually got up! Woo hoo! And visited with some friends we haven't seen in a while.  We spent a really nice evening with the Ohrn family and Justin and I couldn't believe that their two boys were more energetic and out of control than Henry.  We were shocked! He couldn't have had more fun with those adorable boys.  We ended up renting a boat for an hour or so and ate fish tacos in the boat as we went one mile per hour around the harbor.

The next day we invited Justin's other friend Alex to come surfing with us and it was fun to see him after the last time we got together when I was pregnant with Henry. I don't think he's ever seen me not pregnant or fat! We missed his wife and kids!  Hopefully we'll see them sometime in the near future.

We got our family photos taken by Justin's sister, which I can't wait to see and spend one really boring and painful day at Legoland.  This is the second time we've been so close to a Disney park and didn't go.  Argh.  Henry liked it, but we spent most of our time letting them play on what I would describe as a Lego playground with Lego building stations so I didn't think it was worth $50 each to play with Legos.  The lines for the good rides were 90 minutes long and what 4 and 2 year old can wait that long? Not mine!  I would have rather used that money to buy Henry a massive set of Legos(not that we could have taken them home with the baggage fees.  We only had one 50lb bag for all five of us.  Can you imagine? haha.)

The best part was watching the kids interact with each other and get to know one another.  I thought the dynamic was great because Henry liked being the oldest and in charge of things and when one of his younger cousins were napping, the other wasn't all alone ever because Henry doesn't nap anymore so everyone always had Henry to play with.  He enjoyed the company of his two boy cousins, Gabe and Colton who are both around 3 years old.

One of the most fun days was the day we spent the morning in La Jolla, which was real estate eye candy and then met the family to go to the Mormon Batallion Monument that was just opened in January.  Then we walked around the Old Town in the area and ate awesome tortillas and enjoyed the surroundings.  Oh, and I seriously love the trees in California.  I couldn't stop staring at them.

That's all I have to say about our trip. I wish we would have celebrated Bea's Birthday a little while we were there, but I guess no one thought of it.

First Joke

 Bea and her accessories

Bea made her first joke the other day and I just love that she's getting a great sense of humor.  We had Mexican food for dinner the other night and she didn't really love the food so when she finished what she wanted to eat, she asked for more food.  I offered to her what we had and she kept saying no to everything.  Then I said, "well what do you want?" and she said, "food" and I said, "what kind of food?" and she smiled, looked at us and said, "doggy food! He he he!(squinty underbite smile)".  It was so funny and she knew it was funny.  I appreciate a good sense of humor so much.  Keep it up Bea!

Happy Birthday Sweet Bea

Dear Daughter,

Today is your Birthday and I have to say that this past year has been nothing but delightful.  2010 has brought so many changes in you and we've watched you develop from a baby to a little girl which is definitely my favorite developmental stage so far.  Last year all you did was copy Henry in playing with cars and dinosaurs and now you are busy taking care of your baby dolls and pushing them around in your stroller with flip flops and sunglasses on.  You love accessories, especially shoes, but most of the time you only have one shoe on and it's on the wrong foot.  You get frustrated when they don't stay on and start to throw a tantrum but are quickly pacified when I tell you to just ask for help, which you do, and I fix whatever you're having problems with.  You are still a pretty obedient child and usually do what I ask you to do, however, when you don't want to do something you say "no" in such a cute way that we end up not even caring that you say no to us! Henry still has the habit of stealing things from you without asking which really makes you mad, but no matter what it is, as soon as he gives it back to you and asks nicely if he can have the item you are quick to share it with him.  You then remind him to say thank-you.  Thank-you is something you say all day long.  You really love giving things to me -- garbage, snotty tissues, anything of mine you find around the house, etc, and when you give it to me you say, "thank-you mommy" over and over again until I thank you.  You are still a very tidy child and always join in to help me clean up the house.  You particularly like to help sweep and run to get your broom and dustpan when I start sweeping the floor. You don't like that your tools don't work very well and get mad when the dirt doesn't go up into the dustpan like mine does, but with a little help you're overjoyed when you get to carry a load of kitchen gunk over to the garbage.  You love playing in the water and I frequently find you upstairs sitting on the counter top with a flood on the floor as you play in the water.  You don't mind getting water in your face and love to make Henry laugh as you put bubbles on your face and pour water over your head to rinse them off.  Your favorite word is "poopy" and you try to make everyone laugh by saying it over and over in different combinations like "poopy doggy" an "poopy, eeeeww".  You really don't like poop in your diaper either.  My biggest problem with you is that every morning I come to get you out of your crib you have completely stripped down and are naked in there just hanging out reading books.  I never know when you wake up because you never cry and are perfectly content to sit and play in your crib for hours.  Sometimes when you take your diaper off, you have poop in your diaper, or poop and pee in your crib which means that I'm constantly washing all your blankies and sheets.  You are famous for taking your diaper off anytime, anyplace and I'm always chasing you down to re-clothe you after you strip down.  You have a killer underbite and love to make it worse to make people laugh.  Bea, one thing you also love to do is sing, just like Henry.  You and Henry are always singing one song...the ABC's.  You don't know all the letters yet but you constantly sing "ABCB Baby B, Baby, Baby CBB" and so on.  One day all three of you were singing independently in the back seat of my car and it brought joy to my heart to hear all your little voices.  Your favorite food is probably tomatoes and you can be seen at any time of the day picking and eating tomatoes from the garden.  You love pasta with pesto and tomatoes, but still pick out the mozzarella saying, "mommy, no" to me.  Some day you will love it!  You are still my best sleeper and have continued to take super long naps and sleep for hours and hours at night.  Just the other day you slept 13.5 hours at night and took a four hour nap during the day.  Granted we just got back from California and are on a weird schedule but how many waking hours was that? 7? You are one sleepy girl!  The thing you love the most, though, is your baby sister.  You love her to death and spend your whole day trying to get access to her.  You always climb into her pack-n-play and try to bounce her, put her binkie in, pick her up or even gouge her eyeballs out.  Clementine usually smiles at you as you stick your face into hers, but always ends up crying as you squeeze the life out of her or smash your head against her head.  I can't wait for the day when you two can play together and I'm praying that you two become best friends!  Bea, you still have a really stylish haircut and everywhere we go you attract attention from people, young and old, saying how beautiful you are and how much they love your haircut or your eyes, or your smile.  You are super friendly and will let anyone hold you and don't hesitate to copy anything I tell you to say to people.  On our trip out to Utah a month ago, Henry poured apple juice on your head while I was getting my hair cut and it was a sticky mess but one of the stylists, with nothing else to do, ended up taking you back to get your hair washed in the washing room and brought your back to get your hair blow dried and styled.  You were a perfect angel and just did everything she wanted you to do.  By the time we left, the whole place was in love with you and made all the single girls want to get married and have kids so they could have a darling little girl just like you.  Bea, you are such a little angel and I am so blessed to be your mom.  You bring peace and love into our home and we love every moment we spend with you.  Thank you for being such an important part of our lives. 

Love,
Mommy

Mountain Maid

View from the top of our hike courtesy of Eric

At the top there were a billion ladybugs flying up the mountain and Bea found a bush full of them to play with and collect. She was repeating over and over, "day-dy bug, dad-dy bug" spewing out slobber as she recited it

At the top: Me and Clementine, Nanna B, Eric and Lucy, Nanni and Papi and Uncle Will below holding Bea and Henry.  Congratulations Will for graduating from BYU Idaho!

Here is Bea feeding crackers to some young boy at the graduation ceremony.  I think most of the people around us were focused on them instead of the speakers.  Sounds a lot like what happens during sacrament meeting

Bea playing in the "do not wade" pools at the Gateway Mall

 Bea not so sure yet about Aunt Meghan or "Uncle Meg" as Colton calls her

Yep, she's drinking the water.  With an infant on my chest at all times, there's little I can do.  

Bea with her friend Ella at the Aquarium.   They are pretty much the exact same age.  So cute together!

Trying to get a shot at my grandma's grave but the sun was in the worst spot and washed us all out.  Bea loved holding Clementine though.  She looks really worried....and a little like Benjamin Button

This one has better light but the kids were out of control.  This is the best one of them and of course I'm not looking!

Close-up of the underbite

Sideways and under bite.  

My sister's boyfriend Eric, who has a super mega professional camera, got some fun shots of Bea including some of her with her sideways under bite.  It's pretty funny and cute right now, but it'll soon not be so cute and may impede her speech, which I think it already may be doing.  Here are some other cute shots of her up in Idaho.

Bea at Grand Targhee Ski Resort on the wild bull powered by Nanni

Being silly outside the condos

Bea saying "doggie food"

Camping with B

 This is on a good day

Um, Bea is usually a very clean child but lately she's looking very dirty and shabby.  I'm growing her bangs out and with all the ice cream, popsicles, corn, and fruit she gets all over her body and hair, she's looking pretty ragged, but oh so cute. Here she it!

You can see why she's naked much of the time

Baby Nya practicing to be like Bea.  She's so ready for food!

Bea helping herself to the PB & J

Exploring her surroundings at our campsite in WV

 Bea in the tall grass at our first campsite

My little water baby

Slowly becoming famous...

My sister is working at a online travel magazine for the summer called Family Travel Forum and she wrote a piece on the swimsuit that she gave us called Snap Me Swimwear.  There's a quote from me and a few photos of her.  Leave a comment if you feel like it.   Here's the article link..

http://www.familytravelforum.com/how/shopping/14229-Snap-Swimwear.html

Also I forgot to mention that we were on the cover of the BYU Alumni Magazine in May.   Along with the sock modeling I'd say she's making her mark on the world! Personally, I can't get enough of her silly personality and her sideways under bite:)

Bouncing Baby Bea

Bea played in a bouncy castle today and boy did she bounce.  She was bouncing so much I should have put my camera on the sports mode! I love seeing her have a good time with the kids. 

Accessorizing

I just can't stand how cute she is.  

Love the shoes from Nanna B.  She tries so hard to keep them on.  Don't you just want to squeeze her chubbiness?

O-B-S-E-S-S-I-O-N

 Tough Love. Poor Baby

To say that Bea is obsessed with her baby sister is an understatement.  She throws huge tantrums when she sees Clementine and doesn't get to smother her with her affections(usually more like torture).  I am learning, however, that Clementine can take more squeezing and smacking than I expected.  Most of the time she doesn't even cry at all.  The whole time Bea is around her she says, over and over again, "baby, baby, baby baby, hi baby, my baby, baby, baby, baby, etc", giggling and kissing and patting and poking and squeezing and dancing and screaming out for joy at every moment. 

 More kisses outside

I constantly have to remind her to be gentle and she does, for the most part.  She really enjoys putting the bottle or pacifier in her mouth and she piles blankets on top of her, trying to be a big help.  Once while I had set Clementine down in the baby bath hammock, Bea got the boppy pillow and put it around her head so Bea had to peak through to see her face.  She said, "hi baby!" over and over again while laughing hysterically.  It was pretty cute.

 Bea, piling on the blankets and poking Clementine in the face

The thing I worry about most is Bea trying to pick her up. I seriously can't leave them alone for more than three seconds which means that they are constantly separated and now that Bea can climb into a pack-n-play, I don't know how to have the baby downstairs with us without Bea trying to attack her all the time.  When I do take Bea away from the baby, she screams and kicks and flails her body around saying the same thing, "baby, baby, baby!!!!, aaaahhhhhh!!" I want the baby to be out more often so Bea gets over the novelty of her, but how? Any suggestions? Please help!

This is pure happiness on her face.  See that painting in the background.  Our friend's 7 year old painted it and we LOVE it. 

Big Girl Swing

We finally got real swings for our play fort and Bea looks so big in her new half bucket seat.  I just love how her chubby legs look in her swing.  She laughs and loves to lean back and say hello to me while I'm pushing her.  She's such a ray of sunshine in our lives. 

I had to crop this photo because she was completely naked so you can't see her chubby legs:( I'll have to get another photo.  Thanks to Christi for sending taking this pic!

Beatrice and Clementine

This week I am dedicated to recording what happens when Bea sees Clementine.  Strangely, it's a rare occurrence because Clementine sleeps for almost the entire day.  When I finally bring her downstairs while Bea is awake, she gets so excited, screams with delight, and goes in for the attack.  She always wants to hold her on her lap and does so with an anaconda-like grip.  She always wants to poke her in the face and giggles every time she gets to touch her. 

I watched an episode of Martha Speaks(cartoon about a talking dog) while I was waiting for my car to be inspected and they were talking about the difference between a "dog lover" and a "doggie lover".  Doggie lovers are basically kids who love dogs so much that the end up abusing them.  Bea is like that, but with babies.  I'm afraid to even leave them in the same room with each other.  I have to be within three inches of them or else I know Bea's finger will definitely poke Clementine's eye out.  For now, she can only rub her head and kiss her feet.  She also holds her foot while we walk around.  Feet are pretty safe, aren't they?

Carefree baby

Remember that song from primary "Oh what do you do in the summertime?"  I really loved that song and I feel like I'm reliving those feelings I had back then as I watch my kids play outside.  It's been so nice to be outside all day long with the kids, working in the garden, pushing them on the swings, playing in the little pools and with the hose, watching for the raspberries to ripen and dreaming about heirloom tomatoes.  

We have made several trips to the zoo, we went camping a few weeks ago and we took the kids out on our friend's boat to ride the tube and watch dad rip it up on the wake board.  I think these kids have had a lot of fun in their short lives.

 Bea kissing the boy statue at the zoo

Bea screaming in delight at the animals at the petting zoo at our favorite farm, Soergels

Lounging in chairs at the campsite eating snacks

Great shot of Bea splashing in the tub -- one of her favorite past times.  We play in the bath every day in the winter when there's nothing else to do.