Figuring out this toddler language

I am a true believer that I am multi-lingual. I do know a tiny bit of spanish but I am nowhere near fluent. I do, however, count myself among the few that are able to speak their toddler's language. I can't explain the empowerment I feel when I finally figure out one of my sons' words. I can only compare it to watching the spanish speaking soap operas on tv and feeling great about comprehending one of the 5000 words they say per minute. On this note, I just figured out yesterday that when Jack says, "What somebody overthere doing?" He is asking Who that person is. Fantastic. Now on to Brady...this might take me awhile ;)

Favorite Jackson Christmas Song Lyrics

Here they are:

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way. Elmo fun, it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh."

"Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is Four."

New Years Resolution

Okay, so I promised I was going to be better about blogging and now its time to put that plan into action. So much has changed since the last time I posted that I don't even know where to begin. Its almost Christmas which has been extremely challenging to explain to Jack. We went and saw Santa at Bass Pro (the boys did great!) but its so hard for him to comprehend that now Santa won't come bring him presents for a while. I've tried the whole "Elf on a Shelf" thing. I thought (and still do think) that it is the cutest idea to keep kids in line (let's not kid ourselves, it is truly made for parents to get better behavior out of their children for atleast 2 months out of the year.) For those of you who don't know, The Elf must not be touched by the children but they can talk to him and tell him things they want to tell santa. Each night the elf "flies off" to the north pole to report to Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice. Great idea, right? Well my brilliant eldest son (after finding our elf this morning in the chandalier in the dining room) asked me "daddy moved elf last night after I went to sleep?" I give up. This kid leaves no stone unturned.

Brady's 1st Birthday

I can not believe that we are 1 day shy of celebrating Braden Michael's First year of life. we have had so much fun this past year even though it is more work than I ever thought it would be. This is a very very busy household right now, but I sure wouldn't have it any other way. Here are a few pics of Braden's 1st (of 2) Birthday parties. This one was at my Grandmother's (GiGi's) house and was pretty low key. Brady loved the cake (mom has those pics) but he, true to form, was very gingerly touching the icing. He is so timid with textures and new things. He really is the antithesis of his older brother. Jack is the adventurer, for sure. I love them both for their differences.

Blocks

We had fun tonight playing with blocks. We were singing a song (build up the tower, build up the tower, build up the tower...and Brady knocks it down). Both Jack and Brady thought this was hillarious! It's the first time I've heard Brady laugh out loud for a reason other than me tickling him or playing peek a boo :) He really is getting a cute little personality.

November weather (sort of)

Today was 60 degrees at the warmest point! We are all congested but we found time to make it outside and get some fresh air. Jack ran around and kicked the soccer ball and Brady watched from up high in the swing. Of course then Jackson had to have his turn in the swing. It really was gorgeous weather for this time of year!

Cutest Bumblebee Around Town

We had a fun (yet very tiring!) Halloween this year. We started when daddy got home from work. We took the Caterpillar and Bumblebee up to see 'MiMi' at the hospital. Everyone there loved our little bugs. On our way back we got dinner and took it to GiGis house to eat. Gigi couldn't get over how cute the costumes were even though Brady only tolerated his for about two seconds. We then made it back home and took Jack down the street to see our neighbors. Brady was ready to go home but Jack wasn't so he and Daddy went around the block to Trick or Treat some more. Our streets were lined with kids this year which was really a lot of fun for Jackson. The funniest thing was that our neighbor, Jackson's friend Katie, was also a bumblebee for Halloween. They were really cute.