My sweet boy

Teagan loves to sing and it's the most adorable thing to me. He only sings when he is in the mood to sing and he is almost never in the mood if asked to sing. My favorite is when he sings Beyond the Sea. Darryl sang that song to him almost everyday since he was born. It's so cute to hear Teagan start to sing it. I am amazed at the number of songs he can sing by himself. He can sing I am a Child of God, Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam, and I also love when he sings me this song. Ya. When my little boy has both arms around my neck and sings that song to me, it's enough to make my heart burst. The best part is, that it only happens when it's his idea.

Teagan has been so affectionate lately. He tells me almost everyday, "Mama I love you SO much!" It's really cute. He is also concerned with having the whole family together as much as possible. He loves it when he gets to have Mom and Dad with him. He grabs our heads and pulls us in to kiss his cheeks. He loves it when we each kiss his cheeks at the same time. Then he wants a group hug. I really love that he enjoys having our little family together as much as possible. It doesn't happen very often since we have crazy work/school schedules, but I am glad Teagan makes the most of the time we do have together. I love my little family.

About Darryl

I mostly blog about Teagan since this blog's main purpose is a family journal. (And since I didn't do a baby book. Bad mom.) But I feel like I need to write a bit about what life is like for Darryl and me as well.

Darryl is currently in nursing school. It's a private school that graduates students at an accelerated rate so they really pack in as much as they can each semester. He is stressed to say the least. He is thriving and really loving the work. He gets more and more excited about being a nurse everyday. Darryl has had to overcome some challenges that most do not face. He has a learning disability. Darryl is dyslexic.

Despite common beliefs that dyslexia is just inverting numbers and letters or reading things backwards, it's not. There are a few different forms of dyslexia, and I am not claiming to know a whole lot on the subject, but I do know a lot more since I married Darryl. Dyslexia (at least the type Darryl has) is where a person does not associate a sound with a symbol. So when you teach children to read and tell them to "sound it out" this impossible for those with dyslexia. There is a disconnect between the sound the letter makes and the symbol itself. Dyslexia is not an intellectual disability and most people with dyslexia are actually quite intelligent, but faced with a learning/reading disability that makes traditional schooling quite difficult.

Darryl was 7 years old when he found out he had dyslexia. A specialist who did testing on Darryl told my mother-in-law that his dyslexia was among the worst she had ever seen. Not a day goes by that I don't think about and feel grateful for my In-Laws and their response to Darryl's learning disability. Darryl was put in a private school (and from what I understand, an expensive private school). This school specialized in teaching children with Dyslexia. He could have been held back by his disability, but his parents sacrificed so much to give their kids a bright future. Darryl's literacy and scholarly success is due to the education he received at this specialized school.

Darryl is 28 now and when he graduates from nursing school, he will have his 2ND associates degree and another year to go before finally getting his bachelor's. (At least during that year he will be able to work as a nurse!) He also went to the Fire and Rescue Academy at UVU and has a certificate (and only 2 classes away from a bachelor's in fire science). Darryl has finished quite a bit of schooling but has changed his mind about career fields a few times. That's perfectly OK, since I feel like he is the one who will have to go to work everyday, he might as well find something he loves. Sometimes Darryl or I will get a bit discouraged about how long it has taken to finally get into and stay with a career path, I remember how much he has accomplished. He is a college graduate and when he was a kid, it was questionable as to whether or not he would even be fully literate.

I am so proud of how hard he works. His dyslexia means he has to work SO much harder to learn the material. It takes a lot more time and a whole lot more effort. I am so proud of him for everything he has accomplished and I am so happy that he finally found a career path that he is excited about. He loves going to school. He loves it even more than he loves his job. (Too bad washing windows at the Church Office Building doesn't pay better, or he would want to do that for the rest of his life. He loves working for the Church and likes to have a physically active job that keeps him moving.) I am so proud of him working hard to provide for our future. On days where one or both of us is SO tired of being poor college students we just have to remember it's not forever and that he has accomplished quite a feat already.

My son the songwriter

WARNING: This blog post contains adult language spoken by a toddler.

Teagan learned a few choice words and had to learn (the hard way) that these words get him in trouble. He now knows they are "naughty words" and he has to sit in time-out if he says one. This proved effective and he has curbed his swearing habit. (Now if we could only get his daddy to do the same!) 

Teagan is also quite musical. Let's be honest here, he's got a lot of the Young blood in him. He was bound to be musical. So, how well does his musical nature and use of naughty words combine? That's exactly what I found out recently. 

We were driving in the car and Darryl and I were deep in conversation and Teagan was in the back seat singing to himself. He sings to himself a lot. No bid deal, right? Wrong. I pause when I notice him singing something I don't recognize. Teagan didn't realize I was listening of coarse, and I hear him sing as sweetly as he can sing:

Naughty words naughty words,

I like naughty words la la la

Shit Damn it Shit Damn it

la la la la la Naughty words

Imagine my surprise. Since he didn't realize I wasn't listening, I didn't draw attention to the song and luckily it didn't continue. I was able to hold my composure and not even laugh. That was a miracle. Thankfully, this was a one-time performance and I haven't heard the song or the naughty words since. 

Totally amazing

Teagan has been talking up a storm lately! He is such a funny little guy. My mom and I were shopping for my birthday and Teagan wanted to run around a little bit so I told him he could and I would follow him. He ran straight up to a toy display of construction trucks, towing trucks and just about any kind of truck. He stops and I had to pick up his jaw off the floor. He said, "Mom! Look! It's totally amazing! There's a garbage truck, and this one is a cement mixer, and this one is a tow truck, and there's a truck with logs on the back! I'm so excited! It's totally amazing! It's really amazing! Let's go show Diya!" 

He brought back his grandma Diya and repeated everything. He pointed out all the different kinds of trucks and kept saying it was "totally amazing." Now what Grandma could resist that? She said, "Teagan, if it's totally amazing, I better buy you one." He was ecstatic. He thought through his decision quite thoroughly, changing his mind quite often. He would hand her a truck and say, "I like this one." Then he would say, "No. How about this one?" This process took about ten to fifteen minutes before he finally kept going back to the same truck and decided on that one. What a character. I wish I could express how animated he was standing there pointing out the trucks and saying how excited he was and how amazing it was. He talks with his hands and his is very animated with his facial expressions. (Do you think he gets that from his mother?) It was just too cute. 

Dear Teagan, 

Last night you got to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed since you have croup and have had trouble breathing. You would cough and start to cry and I would tell you that I was right here and you put your little arms around my neck and held me so tightly and fell back asleep. That little arm of yours stayed around my neck the whole night and as I laid there cuddling you up to me, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. You are the sweetest and most precious thing in the whole world to me. I laid there and instead of thinking about how I haven't slept in 2 days, I just enjoyed basking in the sweetness of a little boy snoring with his arms wrapped tightly around his mommy. It was the most wonderful feeling. You make me feel so loved.

Yesterday you caressed my cheek and said "Pretty mama" and I nearly cried. You are the sweetest and most loving boy. Although you have grown tired of kisses, you love to snuggle up to me a lot more and I am loving every minute of it. It melts my heart when you tell me you love me and I am so glad your grandma taught you to say it! I am so proud of you and so glad that you are mine. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful person in my life and I am so grateful to be such a big part of yours. I love you!

Love, 

Mommy