Jacob

Last week, Jacob turned 11 months old!!! I can't believe that he's that old now. He is sooooo cute and so much fun right now. Everyone always comments to us about his blond, blond hair and is deep blue eyes. Those features make his so adorable. He is really curious about so many things and loves getting into stuff. His favorite place is the dishwasher. He loves pulling things out of the dishwasher and finding scraps of food that he can eat (isn't that utterly disgusting?). The other day, I made Thobe's birthday cupcakes and put the beaters in the dishwasher. I didn't even think about Jacob getting a hold of them until I was putting a few things in the dishwasher and tidying the kitchen and looked down to find Jacob covered in green frosting. I often remind myself that knifes are not safe in the silverware area any more.

Jacob LOVES his brothers. When he sees them, he starts giggling (he does this with me and Michael too). He loves playing with them and hugging them. All of his brothers try to make sure he's safe and they love to make him laugh and smile. It's so much fun to see them all play together. He also loves our cat Pricilla. When he sees her he says, "Cilla. Cilla. Cilla!" and wiggles out of our arms so he can crawl after her. She tolerates him for a few seconds and then runs away and hides.

Jacob is very mobile. He is always standing and trying to walk along things. He is also a very fast crawler. He hates grass and cries if we sit him down in it outside. The other day we were all outside and Jacob insisted on staying on the cement. The next day I looked at his feet and he had scratches all over them.

Jacob is a real blabber mouth. He is always ranting and raving about something. He wants so much to talk. He says mama and dad and hola. The other night we went over to a friend's house who had a dog named Blizzard. I seriously think he said Blizzard several times. Our friends thought so too. 

Jacob LOVES food. I really don't think there is a food he doesn't like, except Cheerios, because we give those to him so much. If we're eating and he's not, he yells and yells at us to share. He gets so excited about food that he shakes sometimes.

Jacob also loves music. Whenever he hears Alden play his recital pieces on the piano, he starts dancing. He also tries to sing along with the music. Yesterday when I was leading the music in Primary, he was singing right along with us. He also loves his grandparents and is always so happy to see them. He really is a sweet baby. We're so lucky to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday, Thobe!!!

Thobe is so amazing to me!!! He really has got to be one of the smartest kids I've ever met. He is constantly saying things and doing things that amaze me. Last Sunday, he turned six years old. I can't believe that he's six now. The Friday before his birthday, we took ice cream sandwiches to everyone in his class and they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. On his birthday, we got up and had breakfast together and gave him his new suit. He looked so sharp and grown up in it! Then we went to church where the Primary sang, "Happy Birthday" to him. After church we had some friends over who ate dinner with us and ate his Mario birthday cake with him. Then we drove up to Toledo so that Thobe could open his presents with Grandpa and Abuelita, and Michael and I could go to seminary graduation. We didn't mean to make him wait all day to open his gifts, but it was just one of those days. I think he had a great day, regardless of all our running around. Yesterday (Saturday) we rented a gymnastics gym and invited a bunch of his friends to come and play with him for a birthday party. He got a lot of great gifts and was so happy to have so many of his friends there to play with him. I was so bummed that I forgot my camera. Oh well.

I have to say that I'm so happy with the boy Thobe is and all that he is doing. He loves telling stories about Mario and Luigi and is always talking about them. He also loves going outside and playing any kind of sport. He has really improved in his running. He is getting to be a fast runner and loves to play giant tag with his friends at school. He also loves eating new things. He ate frog legs at a Chinese buffet the other day and will always try things. He doesn't like spaghetti or lasagna or tasagna (Michael always says that Thobe likes tasagna, and Thobe gets irritated and says" Tasagna doesn't make any sense"). He is a very messy eater though, as evidenced by the picture from Alden's birthday party and the picture below.

He also says and does the funniest things. We've been seeing a urologist with Thobe who has had us do different things with him to get all his "pipes" working properly. As I explained what would happen with the enema, I told him that it would kind of make it so that we'd just start all over again. He looked at me with a bit of concern on his face and asked, "Am I going to be a baby again?" I assured him that he we wouldn't go that far back and that he would be fine. A few weeks ago, we were going to the temple. Thobe had been talking a lot about relay racing. He said to me, "Mom, girls' relay racing is a little bit weird, isn't it?" Trying to suppress the male chauvinism that I assume comes from being in a family of all boys, I of course told Thobe that I didn't think it was weird and asked him why he thought it was weird. He then corrected himself by saying, "Well, girls' relay racing is a little bit weird and a little bit gorgeous." That really made me laugh.

Several days later, he was talking to me about racing again and telling me how he and his classmates were going to race. He yelled out, "And here come the 5 year olds." Then he announced that the seven year olds were coming out onto the field too. Then quizzically, he asked, "Mom, how old are you?" After I told him, he announced, "Here come the 35 year olds!" I couldn't help but laugh and I thought about a bunch of 35 year old women running onto a field to run a race.

Thobe loves his brothers so much and is especially close to Alden. I really think that Alden is Thobe's best friend in the whole world and that the feeling is mutual. He also loves Hyrum and Jacob too. The other morning, I was listening to Thobe and Hyrum talk. Hyrum gave Thobe a big hug and said, "I love you too, Thobe." Thobe hugged Hyrum back and said, "Thanks, Hyrum. I love you!" Thobe is soooo good with Jacob. He really tries to keep him safe and happy.

He also says things that amaze me. Back in March (yes, it's been that long since I've blogged) we went to a Utah Jazz vs. Indiana Pacers basketball game. When we were driving home, Thobe said, "Hey, there's a German flag!" Neither Michael nor I saw the flag, so Michael asked him what colors the were on the German flag. Thobe said, "Black, Red, Yellow." Several weeks later, we were at Michael's parents' house. Warren gave the boys a dime for helping him pick up sticks, and Chris reminded them, "Don't forget to pay your tithing. Thobe responded, "I can't pay my tithing cause I only have one coin--oh wait, if I had 10 pennies, I could pay one of them for my tithing." I don't know when he learned to do percentages, but somewhere he did. He is such a good reader. He can read verses in the Book of Mormon with little to no help. The other day, he brought home a Froggy book and read almost the entire book to us without help as well. I'm constantly amazed at the things he can do.

He is so tender hearted. He hates to upset me or Michael and tries so hard to do what is right. The other day, Michael was telling him that Nicaragua is a country. In school they had been talking about the country and cities. In his mind, Nicaragua had more cities than countries and when Michael told him Nicaragua was a country, he got really upset and said, "Are you kidding me??? Are you kidding me????" He worries a lot about robbers, but I remember that I did too. I hope that he can always feel safe and happy here at home. I love him so much and am so glad that he's my son.

Hyrum The Photographer

I forgot to add on my last post that Hyrum loves to get he camera and take pictures. He'll often go outside and just shoot away. I always get such a laugh at looking at all the pictures he's taken. It really gives me a glimpse into his mind. Here are a few of my favorites that he's taken:

These are the water bottles that he dumped not too long after this picture was taken--I wonder if that act was premeditated.

These are the cars he lined up so neatly and then wanted to capture his work in a picture, I guess.

Doesn't this look like a picture from those "Guess the what this is" books?

I have a bunch of these shots, which by the way, are perhaps my favorite.

This one I'm thinking of entering in a photo contest.

Hmmmm... how does this thing work?

Another photo contest contestant.

We've got lots of pictures like this of Jacob. Jacob poses for Hyrum more than anyone else.

Thobe's tonsils.

Here's our phographer now.

An action shot of Alden playing the Wii.

He was even able to capture a bit of Michael's crazy side...

And my beauty.

What a sneaky guy!

Oh Hyrum

Where do I start with all that Hyrum has done recently? He is so, so so cute and so, so, so mischievous. I can't tell you how many times he each day he elates me and makes me want to cry. Nonetheless, I have to say that he is a sweetheart, and I love him so much!!!

I have a ton of stories to tell about Hyrum. I'm disappointed that I haven't written more of these stories. I really want to get caught up here so that I can sit down whenever he does something cute and type it up. I am going to try and do better. One of the fun things about Hyrum is that he has the cutest little voice. He talks so clearly and has a ton to say. He recently started saying, "What's the big idea?" when we do something he doesn't like, and if he can't see something he says, "I can't see a thing in this place." Just right now, while I'm typing, I hear him singing, "Scooby Dooby Doo, I see you, We got some things to do now." 

We never know what Hyrum will say or do. The other day we were helping Michael's grandparents move out of their house in Cleveland. Michael took Hyrum out to the car for some reason. When they got out there, Hyrum exclaimed, "I want my topter tockter." Michael being the smart parent that he is quickly realized that he wanted his toy helicopter. Also Hyrum loves watching TV and movies. Whenever you put in a video, Hyrum says, "Da Da Da, Coming soon, On DVD." He is very dramatic. When he cries he cries with his whole body. His shoulders slump in, his chin drops to his chest, and he hunches over. When he's happy, he's happy with his whole body too. He often adds a skip in his step and has a smile that lights up the room. He also now sees the cougars as being something bad rather than something good like the rest of the family. For about six months now, whenever you ask Hyrum a why question, he says, "Because the cougars." Well for awhile, whenever he'd say that, I'd say, "Darn those cougars," which I guess led Hyrum to believe they were bad guys. Hyrum has also started hitting himself in the head when things don't go well and says, "Dang it! Daddy says, 'Cheese pas,' Mommy." He's quite the character.

As I stated, Hyrum is very mischievous. Within 24 hours, Hyrum dumped nearly an entire bathtub full of water down on the floor that seeped through the floor and down onto the kitchen ceiling, which is now in desperate need of repair. He also took all the water 2 liter water bottles we have down in the basement and dumped those on to the floor. Fortunately there is a drain down there, but I still wasn't too happy about that.

Nonetheless, Hyrum loves his brothers. He loves trying to make Jacob laugh. Those two will often just get in each other's face and giggle and giggle and giggle. He also loves Alden and Thobe. He always wants to do what they are doing. It's so much fun to watch them all play together. He and Thobe sometimes butt heads, but for the most part, they get along well. The other day, Thobe was lying down, and Hyrum bit Thobe's hair and said, "Mmm delicious! I love hair."

Hyrum is most definitely a love hate kind of guy. The other day he said the prayer and in the middle of it, he said, "Thank you for the blueberries--I hate blueberries. Thank you for my Daddy--I love my daddy. Thank you for Jacob--I love Jacob...." It was very cute. Also right after he dumped the water out of the bathtub, we were sitting in the kitchen. Hyrum and I had the following conversation:

Hyrum: Mom, I hate our house.

Me: Why do you hate our house, Hy? I love our house.

Hyrum (pointing to the ceiling): I hate our house because it' s broken.

Me: Why is our house broken? Who broke it?

Hyrum: Hyrum.....it needs two batteries, Mom. Then we can fix it.

If only it were that easy.

Despite Hyrum's mischievousness and running away from me (the other day I chased him all around a gigantic home improvement store--I finally had  to leave Jacob in a shopping cart in a corner and chase down Hyrum) and his at times bossy temperament (he often tells me "Leave me alone, Mom" or "Get out of here!"), he is incredibly sweet and very hard to stay mad at. After dumping all those two liter bottles, he came up to me, wrapped his little arms around my neck, and said, "I love you too, Mom. Are you still angry with me?"

Needless to say, I didn't stay too mad too long.

Alden's Piano Recital & Birthday

I no longer know how to post video on my blog anymore, so I uploaded Alden's piano recital performance onto YouTube. I'll post the link here. I do have to say that it was awesome. Alden has been taking piano lessons for 8 months. At the end of March his piano teacher gave him this piece an another piece to learn for this recital today (May 16). The song that he played today had 2 flats and some tricky rhythms. When I saw the piece, I honestly thought it was a bit unreasonable. However, Alden practiced both pieces really hard and was able to memorize them. He played "Private Eyes" today for his recital (this was the harder of the two pieces) and will play "Little Cub's Dance" at his school talent show where he was chosen to be one of 15 performers. I'm so proud of him right now.

Here is the link to his piano recital.

By the way, he had a great birthday yesterday. He woke up in Columbus (Michael and I did an early morning temple session with the stake), and then came back to Lima, and met a few of his friends at Chuck E. Cheese. Michael's parents also met us there, and we all had a great time. After the party, we came back to the house where Alden finished opening the rest of his presents. Grandpa and Abuelita went back to Toledo, and we went to Alden's favorite Mexican restaurant, La Charriada. They sang Happy Birthday to him in Spanish and let him wear a big sombraro. The only downside to Alden was that there was a drunk guy there making a fool out of himself. Alden found that very disturbing. When we got home, I pulled out his scrapbook and told him about the day he was born and when he was little. It was so special. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who gave me Alden as a son. He is an amazing boy. I am sad that he's growing up so quickly, but I'm also so pleased to see the boy he's becoming. He's going to do great things!!! He gets baptized on July3. We're very excited!

Silly Brothers

Alden's Light Saber Cake (A Melissa Masterpiece)--Chris started laughing when she saw it, but I was proud of it.

Happy 8th Birthday, Alden!!! I'm so proud of you!!!!

Alden

Alden continues to be a pleasure to be
around.  I hope that his whole life he will be this way. He's just such a pleasant, happy, good-natured kid. He is so helpful with his brothers and is always willing to help me with them, especially with Jacob. Alden is also just losing his teeth. It's fun to hear his perspectives about the tooth fairy. It seems that our tooth fairy has much of the forgetfulness that his mom and dad have. We recently learned that even the tooth fairy keeps the Sabbath Day holy. She doesn't collect her teeth on Sunday. Unfortunately on that go round she didn't collect the tooth the following Monday or Tuesday either. Fortunately, on Wednesday, she stopped by and paid Alden for his tooth. What a forgetful tooth fairy!!! I don't remember her being so forgetful when I was younger.

Alden continues to impress me. A while back, his teacher told him that he could do a report on a famous person. He decided that he wanted to do his report on Joseph Smith. He worked really hard on it and did a phenomenal job. He got 57 out of 50.

Alden has also done really well with music. He had a music performance with the second graders and was chosen as a dancer. This was something Alden was not thrilled about, however. I kept prodding him about what he was going to do, and he kept dodging the question. Finally on the day before the performance he told me that he would have to dance with a girl. I told him that I didn't think that was so bad. Then he said in an embarrassed and quiet voice, "But Mom.... (extended studder and pause)...I (insert painful sigh) have (insert another painful pause) to hold (insert a paralyzing grimace and sigh) her haaaaand." He told Michael on their way there that he was really hoping that he'd be sick the day of the performance.

The thing I'm most pleased about with Alden musically is all that he's done on the piano as of late. He started lessons in September, but his piano teacher moved in November. He was really getting into it, so I was really hopeful that I would be able to find someone quickly. I talked to his school teacher, Mrs. Hempleman, who recommended a couple people that she had heard of. I called one and she said she'd take him that week. She is incredible! In March, she told us that she was going to do a piano recital in May and gave Alden two difficult pieces for a beginning pianist. She said that she wanted to push him a little. With some dedicated practice, Alden has memorized both pieces and plays them beautifully. He auditioned for his school talent show with one of the pieces about two weeks ago (he'd only had the pieces for three weeks at that point). I meant to send the music with him to school, but being the forgetful mom that I am, I totally spaced it. I didn't realize it until he got home, and I felt terrible. I really wanted him to audition and figured that he wouldn't be able to without the music. He told me that it wasn't a big deal and that he still auditioned. I asked him what he played, and he told me that he played his piece that he'd been practicing. I was really puzzled and told him that he didn't have the music. He said, "I know, Mom. I played it from memory." I was shocked and a little embarrassed. I figured it must have been pretty bad and asked him to play it for me. That crazy kid sat down and played the song from start to finish without hardly a mistake. I couldn't believe it. When he has his recital, I'll post a video of it here--I'm going to be a better blogger.

Anyway,  Alden is in a good groove right now. I'm really proud of who he is. He's smart, he's funny, and he tries so hard to do what is right. I couldn't be more blessed to have him as my oldest son.