Thomas The Tank Engine Birthday

the table setting using pre-existing toys to decorate

red presents were requested

even little brother was shocked by the balloons 

a pretend camping set was this years pick it came with a pretend swiss army knife. He was in heaven 

books are always a present must 

my first real attempt at cake making. 

my parents Skyping during the cake cutting. Also note the fact that W spilled water on his back, a talent he alone is able to do. The front of his shirt was totally dry. 

I think my cake made the cut

As I mentioned before I gave up on avoiding an actual character birthday especially since Bear has been asking for a "Thomas cake" since the talk of his birthday even started. His love for trains has not yet subsided and for the second year in a row a train birthday was requested. (you can see his last birthday based on  1,2,3, to the Zoo HERE).

Since we just moved and don't know very many people here yet I wanted to make our family birthday extra special but knew I didn't want to spend a lot on decorations since it was just going to be us. I asked Bear if he had any special request and slowly the list grew. Here are a few  things he mentioned.

1. pancakes
2.red presents
3.a Thomas Cake
4.balloons
5. shapes on the wall

Although the last item left me a little confused the list seemed manageable enough that I was able to fulfill the whole list. The night before husband blew up a ton of balloons and we lined the hallway and living room with them for a morning surprise. The shapes on the wall I translated to triangle bunting, strawberry pancakes were made first thing in the morning and  his presents were all wrapped in red paper. I even tried my hand at making a bake from scratch using THIS recipe. Frosting isn't easy as I expected but I added a few trains to the top and some sprinkles and it seemed to make the birthday boy very happy.

The "party" was split in two. The morning was opening presents and a pancake breakfast before papa left to work and when papa came home we ate hamburgers (per the birthday boys request) and cut the cake. We even had my parents Skype while he blew out his candles. I love technology. Overall I think he had a great day full of love and a whole lot of attention. Calls from relatives came in at different times of the day and it made me realize just how loved these boys are despite the physical distance between them and family.

The best part for me was that since we based his party on something he already owns decorations were practically free. Besides the bunting and plates everything used were things we already had. The track on the table, the trains used as cake toppers were all toys we owned. It just goes to show how resourceful you can be while still making something look cute and festive. Now to start prepping for Wolf's birthday which is next month.

Happy Birthday Little Bear

I can't believe my little first born is already 3. I know I have probably said this a thousand times but it is so bittersweet watching them grow up. It feels like I just brought him home. And look at him now, such a personality, so full of life (and opinions). I am so, so lucky to be his mama. 

 The day he was born. 

 His first beach trip

  His first birthday party, that also went along with....

 His first real sugar

 His second birthday ....

His zoo- train scavenger hunt

 The three year old in all his glory.

 And yes we indeed had a train themed party for the second year in a row. This time I gave up avoiding actual characters and went with Thomas. More pictures from our little family party to come.

Oh sweet Bear, happy birthday your mama loves you so.

It started with an innocent hand-me-down

how it all got started 

As I have mentioned many times in this blog Bear is Thomas obsessed! And for the sake of humor but mainly to capture these memories for myself I will try to explain in better detail how this all came about. It all started with a hand-me- down train table given to us by an amazing family at the preschool I use to work at. B wasn't even walking yet but he would cruise around the table to play with the trains.

 Fast forward to when Wolf was born and we had just moved to Oregon. We had yet to have Bear ever watch TV and we started letting him watch 5-10 min clips of Thomas online. Still hesitant from letting him have too much screen time this continued for a few months when I was really in need of time.  Well 5-10 minutes a few times a week was enough to get that ball rolling and soon the word "Thomas" was in our vocabulary. When he turned 2 I started letting him watch full episodes a few times a week. This just created a snowball affect on what had already started. When he wasn't watching it he was playing, talking or reading about him. The characters started becoming daily names mentioned in our household. More Thomas gear started popping up from who knows where (FYI Grandparents LOVE when their grand kids are into something it makes it easy to spoil them). Which brings us to present day. Though we try to keep screen time to a minimum there is a guarantee that if the TV is on it's on Thomas. Thomas and all his friends are still part of our playtime routine and conversation and we have  even adopted a few of the slogans to help praise our kids "Bear you were brave and bold, nice work"

Before kids I thought I was never going to get my kids commercialized toys. They were never going to wear character clothing (for the record Thomas is the only one that has slipped through the crack of that rule) I snubbed my nose at any of that. And yes as a parent I could have chosen to not allow that to happen but honestly it happened in such a slow progression that by the time I noticed it did it was too late. And at that point are you really going to yank your kids prized possessions out of their hands??? C'mon that is just cruel! Plus the old shows aren't half bad, I mean  Ringo Starr is the original narrator and the morals lessons are good. So if I had to chose a show and character for him to obsess on I am kind of glad it's Thomas.

Think your kid might be Thomas obsessed take the quiz

1. your little one refers to colors by characters "blue like Thomas, green like Percy etc."
2. despite having other toys all their games are played with their trains (ex my son plays babies with them he will put them to bed and feed them)
3. they have a type of character toy or accessory for any part of the day. Bath toy, dinner plate, pajamas
4. they pick out Thomas pajamas for bed
5. they change into their Thomas shirt or underwear in the morning
6. You yourself have a favorite narrator. Mine is Ringo Starr, husbands is Gorge Carlin 
7. You have a preference between the live model original shows or the CG shows
8. you have had a Thomas/ train themed party (2x points if you had it for more than one year) 
9. All your family member know about it and buy or send thing because "it made them think of you guys"
10. Your little one adds the characters to your nightly prayer list. 
11. Your kids know all the character names even the random ones that have only been on a few episodes. 

If you have answered yes to anyone of these questions, chances are you are on the road to Thomas mania. Enjoy the ride and let your kids have fun. 

2/52

                                    " A portrait of my boys, once a week, every week, in 2013 "

Bear: This little guy is just getting too big. Taking his brother for a stroll

Wolf: Such an independent little guy. So full of curiosity. 

Well, week two of the 52 week challenge is done. I am excited for the new week as I have slowly gotten back my motivation and inspiration to blog again. I have a few ideas and things in store that I am slowly working on and am excited to be putting them in action soon. Until then this project at least keeps me wanting to check in and say hello. 

Mama and Bear

Being a toddler is tough. Being a toddler to a little brother who is mastering walking and having all four of his top teeth come in all at once is even harder (poor little brother too). It means that Wolf has been attached to me all the time. His separation anxiety is high and adding all these other things...well you can imagine not a lot gets done around here.
I can always tell that it is time for a Mama and Bear date when he starts trying to get attention anyway he can. I will spare you the details of the adventure we have had but it's your standard toddler mischief.

We headed off to our favorite local book store during Wolf's nap. We found some great used books for a super low price. "Sure B  you can pick out a $2 Thomas book". There are few things  that can make this little boy as happy as books and Thomas. I am pretty sure we made his week by combining the two.  We even picked out a book for W. Afterwards we walked around downtown for a bit and grabbed a little snack before heading home. He had a smile the whole way home as he flipped through his "new" book over and over. I just love it when I am able to make my kids day.

I have posted about these sort of dates with B before. It means so much to be able to reconnect with the boys in a setting that is specifically aimed towards them.  With Wolf I feel my reconnection time is obviously different, we read books, sing songs and most of all we nurse. But with B only nursing once a day and being far more active, thing had to shift and time needed to be spent differently, and it makes such a big change in his behavior. I know that with W walking our activities will be different soon as well. I am so excited to see what type of things he will be into and what little adventure we will go on.
How do you reconnect and spend time with your little ones? I would love some new ideas.

The many faces of Bear 26 month edition

Here are some of Bear's milestones both big and small 

• This boy like most toddlers is a dancer. He has some pretty technical moves too such as shaking his shoulders, spinning around in circles while bobbing his head up and down often adding a few arm pumps up and down, and the popular stomping feet and and bobbing up and down. WOW!
• he can make jokes and tell stories. Often telling me that there are monkeys outside our door. When I go and check he bursts into laughter. 
• He enjoys pretend play more and more. He loves bringing me a pillow and blanket and telling me it's bedtime (unfortunately the game ends before I can get comfy)
• he is enjoying longer stories too. My MIL bought us early reader chapter books to save for when they are older but he will request it for nap time. He really pays attention when I read it. 
• he has very little interest in any other toys besides his magnetic trains and blocks. He will tell me they are "shunting the blocks" it sounds more like "Shoonts bok"
• he loves people and will always go out of his way to say hello

I can't wait to see what new little things he will learn in the following month. 

Mud pool

dumping out all the water

What kid doesn't like getting dirty? Although I know there are some that don't, most do.  B is no exception. Like most kids it is usually in the most inopportune times, like when we are about to leave and I am putting W in the car and B starts playing with dirt in our front yard in his nice clothes. It drives me a little crazy.

My MIL and I were talking today about letting kids be kids/ letting boys be boys. I don't want my kids to ever think getting dirty or exploring nature is wrong, but there are better times to do so. With that in mind I decided to make this little boys day and let him get dirty! 

I set up up his inflatable pool, threw in some dirt and a bucket of water and let him go to town! I also gave him some funnels, shovels and a dump truck for good measure. He enjoyed his piggy behavior for  most of the afternoon although W wanted nothing to do with it and enjoyed spending  time indoors with Papi. I had a great time watching him splash and play. He kept on looking at me as to see if this was okay or if I was going to stop him. Not today little man, today we get dirty. 

This post is part of the Two in Diapers Mommy Brain Mixer

The many faces of Bear- 25 month edition

I finally decided that the "many faces of Bear" posts will continue despite him turning two, and I am so glad I did because he has grown so much. He has physically gotten bigger gaining 3lbs in the last few months and getting taller. He is still on the smaller side but with growth spurts like that I am not worried. He is able to form 4-6 word sentences mainly "can I have some _______ please" (papa worked on that one a lot) also things like "I want to ______" "Read book please". Although I may still be the only one who understand some of his talking his words are becoming much more clear. He now "reads" stories to W out loud and is starting to memorize what comes next in a few of his favorites.

When painting or coloring he is much more intentional. With painting his stokes are intentional and he will actually tell me what he is painting (mainly cars and trucks) when coloring a picture he will use the correct colors but will still color all over. He has becoming very helpful with our garden and has jumped the gun on many of our plants and pulled them out ( I don't think our shallots will survive) but he is proud every time he waters.

He is able to drink from a regular cup pretty neatly and gets so excited when he does.  It's incredible to think just how big of a change happened in one short month.

Word of Mouth

The wait was a bit long so our hostess snuck some crackers for B. I didn't even have to ask, so awesome!

A few post ago I wrote about the boys needing time away from each other, equally as important is the fact that they get one on one time with each parent. Husband and I typically switch off who we go out with and a few weeks ago it was B's turn to go out with mama. We are very big breakfast fans so we went to a popular spot in town. Word of Mouth, we left W and papa home sleeping and I enjoyed my coffee being topped off more times then I can count. (yes please caffeine) while B enjoyed all the attention he was getting from the waitress and his monster bowl of berries. 

I know that as our family will grow these little dates will become a little more spread out so I am grateful that we have the opportunity now to spend a little alone time with them and reassure our children that they are special and important.