27 Month Observations

Time is flying and ever day Hollis seems to be growing and changing more and more.  Each day begins with a lot of love.  He either calls for me when he wakes and usually requests a "ton-ton" ride to the kitchen to see Dad.  If Dad gets to him first, he and Dad love to wake me up with a hot cup of coffee.  Hollis calls "Momma, your coffee is ready." 

Before long he is starting to eat some of his favorite breakfast meals: peanut butter toast, oatmeal, yogurt with blueberries or cold banna (banana).  Mid-eating he escapes the table to engage Mom or Dad in sword battles, ninja training or basketball.  

He talks a lot and loves to role play.  He is usually a soldier or knight all decorated with armor or a ninja from the lego ninjago series.  He is always game for helping out, whether that is giving Mom some vitamins or helping Ayla put her shoes on.

He has is fair share of tantrums.  They usually occur when we are trying to get him to wear pants or a jacket or at dinner time when he would rather play then sit at the table with the family.  They are pretty intense, loud and physical but he comes around usually withing 5 minutes.

Every night at the dinner table we light a peace candle and join in a conversation we call "high-low" where we all share are high part of the day and our low.  Hollis now reminds the family of "high-low" when we sit at the table and almost always shares.  He usually high is usually "Ayla's house" and his low has been peeing or pooping in his pants.

He is starting to identify letters, he know H,L and O.  He knows all his colors and count 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10.

On the rare occasion he says really awesome things like "Momma, I really love you!"  "Sing to me like when I was born"  Totally the best.  He loves to cuddle up to me while I read him some books, and sometimes he will read them with me.    

Gearing up for Winter hikes again.

I was just sifting through some old photos.  This one here is from April 2012, out at Peavy.  It got me excited to think of all the hikes with Joelene, Adrianna, Alicia and Finley again. 

Terrible Two is here.

Is Hollis terrible?  Is he terrible for me to deal with?  Is he just experiencing something terrible inside so he falls a part and into a fit of rage without and ration or sanity? On Thursday I set to leave the house at 8:15am to drop Hollis off at his friends.  I left the house with Hollis half naked and we still didn't get there until 9:45am and I didn't get to see my dear friend defend her Phd. I was so mad.  I was so mad I could get on my schedule, Hollis just didn't want to do anything I wanted him to do.  When I went to pick up Hollis up from his friends he had the best day ever.  Ate all of his food, had a second helping, took a 2+ hour nap and was well behaved.  I was super happy that he had a good day but totally jealous to not have had some good time with with my buddy.  Each day is different, but gawd damn this kid with try me and I don't even think he is trying. 

OOO Momma look a red tree...

While driving with my little bub, he started getting excited and said "Ooo Momma look!  A red tree!"  It is amazing to think that this is the first Fall that he can communicate his excitement about nature.  He was really impressed with the red trees.  Then he said, "Momma lets see if we can find more."  We spend the entire drive home looking for red trees.  It was a special moment.

Year 3 begins!

Hollis turned 2 a month ago.  Where does the time go?  No, really, tell me.  I feel like I have less and less time each week, each day.  When Hollis was just 2 months old I spent several days canning plums and apples with a dear friend and her infant.  We took shifts over the stove and over mill while the other tended to the little ones.  At times I would prepare the fruit with Hollis asleep on my lap.  Last year I canned much less and this year I have no time to can at all.  We barely have time to socialize outside of playdates.  The only two events we have hosted have been Hollis summer birthday bashes.  This year we threw a big party at the Thompson Shelter in Avery Park.  It was cool day with clear skies.  Hollis ate several cupcakes and played in the sandbox like a wild dragon. 

Hollis and I try to get out and about as much as possible but still there are days where we would rather play at home inside building lego castles and elaborate train routes taking over both the living room and dining room.  Hollis like to construct and maybe even more deconstruct.  He enjoys his time in imaginary play that includes knights and ninjas and well I do to so it works out well for both of us.
Hollis remains very verbal and enjoys recounting the events of the day, letting me know what color everything is, and sending greetings and salutations to friends and neighbors. 

This spring and summer I am proud to say we have gotten out on several camping trips.  I am proud because this is a goal I have set for our family and we are making progress.  We purchased a 6 person family tent to provide us liveable shelter in any weather, so far  the weather has been good to us.  We got out to the coast and camped at Washburne State Park in June, Skull Hollow for the Sunrise Classic Half Marathon in July, and here we are camping out at Marys Peak in August.  The boys thrive in open nature, so hard to come by in our day to day activities. 

Hollis is a high energy little man, he is passionate about doing what he wants when he wants and now he has the words for his demands.  He is hard to distract and not much of negotiator, I wonder if this a typical 2 year old behavior or if he is just that stubborn. He is very kind and gentle at the same time.   He often says "no thank you" when he doesn't want to play what you want him to play, and "I sorry" when he accidently hurts someone or hurt their feelings. 

The Baby Swap was one of the best things I ever joined.  Hollis's buddies Ayla and Anni have become more like family than friends.  Watch their love grow has been a true treasure.  The teach and excite each other, they share and sometimes they don't.  They look forward to their time together often screeching in sheer joy when they first get together.  I love them all so dearly and couldn't ask for a better crew to parent with. 

All in all life is great and we all doing so very well.

Back Home and Back Again

Auntie K sent us to PA in July for 2 weeks.  Following are some picture highlights.

Showing Aunti K all the toys.

Wineberries

It was so hot it was hard to be outside even for 15 minutes.

Auntie K was super good to us.

Meeting baby Frannie for the first time.

Uncle Frankie!

Cheesesteaks Oh the cheesesteaks!

Playing ball everywhere with everyone!

At Mimi's house a favorite destination!

Aunt Brenda!

Uncle Nate at Tamatos Deli!

Playing with Poppa Guido!

Making your own crayon at the Crayola factory!

Yeah!

The time of our lives...

Hollis is a little man.  Talking in sentences, identifying colors, using adjectives... he is just blowing my mind everyday.  I feel like the luckiest mother in the world to get to spend every day and nearly every minute with the love of my life. He slows me down to observe the wonder of nature and speeds me up to keep me by his side.  He never stops always exploring, always playing.  He loves to spend time with friends young and old, real and imaginary.  My favorite days are those with now obligations where we just get to play inside, outside and explore this world together.  He is almost two, and we are planning our big family camping trip to the Strawberry Mountains, Hollis says he likes it.