Good Friends

Jeannine and me

The boys (Jeannine and I are clearly outnumbered with all these guys around!)

left to right: Spence with Isaiah on his lap, Darryl holding Teagan, and Phill holding Chase

Darryl giving pony rides to Teagan and Isaiah. They loved it.

We had a going away party for Spence since he is moving. It was a lot of fun but we will miss him and his quirky personality. Thankfully, he is moving to Salt Lake and can still visit. Darryl and I have loved living in our apartment complex because of all the great people. We have really enjoyed getting to know the people here. It's been a lot of fun. 

They grow up too fast

Now that Teagan is no longer taking a bottle at night, he decided that he shouldn't have to sleep in a crib either! He keeps climbing out of his crib and then would get tired and couldn't get back in and would start to cry. I decided it was time to convert his crib into a toddler bed. We did that a few nights ago and he loves it. He can get in and out of bed by himself and he is so proud. 

I can't believe my baby is so big. He is becoming more and more independent and I have mixed feelings about that. His kissable fat cheeks are thinning, he sleeps in a bed, and thinks he owns the world. (He makes a convincing case as to that last one.) I love watching him grow and develop. I love how excited he gets when he learns something new. 

Teagan loves to sing 5 little ducks, popcorn popping, wheels on the bus, and ring around the rosie. He also LOVES to do somersaults, and climb on anything and everything! He is a gadget boy and will try his hardest to steal anything from cell phones to calculators. If it's electronic, he wants it. He loves to play hide and seek, and play outside as much as possible. He loves animals (except when he gets too close to the "scary" ones) and especially fish. We bought a year pass to the Aquarium for $16 and we have definitely gotten more than our money's worth. He loves to read and would spend hours on my lap with books if he could. 

He doesn't want to share his mama just yet and resorts to baby-like characteristics if I hold another baby. He wants to be a big boy, but not if it means he isn't my baby. Honestly, I love that. It melts my heart. He is so affectionate and gives his mama lots of hugs and kisses (even without being asked for them). I just love my little boy. I relish every moment I get to spend with him, which lately isn't enough. I find myself watching him sleep quite often. Somedays that's the only time I get to see him. I just need to remind myself that working this much is only temporary. The down side is, so is his youth. I hate that I am missing part of it. 

Bye-Bye ba-ba

Teagan had a really hard time giving up his bottle. When he was a year old I talked to his doctor about weaning him and he said not to. I was a little surprised, but he explained that kids usually do best when they decide they are ready and so long as he ate well at meals it was fine to give him a bottle at bedtime. He said he wouldn't really start to worry until Teagan got closer to 2 years old.

Teagan hasn't been eating very well lately and I felt it was time so Saturday I took him by the hand and he threw his ba-ba in the garbage. He was quite reluctant, but it was good to see him let go. He put it in the garbage and waved bye-bye and started to cry. We shut the pantry door and he stood there for a little bit waving bye-bye with tears streaming down his face. I felt bad for him, but knew it was for the best. We went in the living room and read some stories and he went right back to his happy self. He has adjusted fairly well so far. He cries for a bit when we put him to bed, but not for long and then falls asleep. We have kept a bedtime routine of reading a story and saying prayers before bed so he still has something to comfort him and ease him into bedtime. It's hard to hear him cry knowing exactly what would comfort him, but he is a big boy now and as hard as that is for me, I know it's best for him.

My baby is getting SO big!