Miss Mariah

Now that I have documented so many things that make Chet precious to us I knew I needed to do a Mariah post. She is 3.5 years old after all and because that is a huge milestone we must recognize it...ok ok, I just really like talking about my children.

Mariah is very big into role play. One day in a matter of an hour she was Dr. Labrum (her pediatrician), Grandma Crossley, a Grumpy pirate (her own label, it wasn't my favorite), a baby, Grandpa, mom, Nellie (her imaginary friend, she comes to play a lot) and Elise (her cousin). She demands that we refer to her by whatever role she is playing and doesn't have much patience with us if we get the name/title wrong. I once asked her for a kiss and in a quite patronizing way she said, "I'm not for kissing, I'm a policeman.".
She has started to assign roles to Chet who surprisingly plays his parts well, if only for a few minutes. The other day she was a fairy and Chet was Superman. The fairy declared that a monster was destroying her castle and there was a baby that needed to be saved. Superman swooped in, with sound effects and all, saved the baby and began to destroy the monster. The fairy was appalled by his methods though: "Superman! Don't kill the monster with the baby! Use your sword!". I looked into the room to see Chet swinging the baby by its feet and slamming its head down on the floor where I assume the remains of the monster lay. He gets the job done, some just may not be ok with his methods.

We had a mouse and vole fall into our window well a few months ago and Mariah and Chet loved to watch them run in and out of the leaves. One day Mariah and I were watching when she said, "Shhh mom be quite!". Immediately following the chastisement she put her little arm around my neck shoved her face right into mine and whispered, "Will you be my best friend?". How can I not be that girls best friend?

When my mom and sister were here: "The other day a bird pooped on our deck and I said, 'oh my word that's adorable!'". She likes to use big words even if she doesn't know what they mean. She has started to preface some sentences with "Of course..." whether it works in the sentence or not.

Me: Go play with dad.
Mariah: No, he'll just have to do it with a Gentile. (no idea where this came from and when I was reading my list of the things she says I even wondered if it was an autocorrect. But I have never known my phone to use that word so I'm pretty sure that must be what she said, that girl never ceases to amaze me.)

One day while pretending to be a cat and singing a song: "The kitty is singing about the Messiah".

"Sometimes girls want to be alone like cats do." This must have been after Chet had been bugging her. She and her brother are a little too much in your face for most cats so she has been told this quite often.

Mariah now says all her prayers without help. They are prayers full of gratitude if not a little random. She often prays for whatever she sees as she is praying (we are still working on closing our eyes). One day she thanked Heavenly Father for my owie. I guess we can learn and grow from our pain...

I was complaining to Tanner about  a headache and he was trying to prescribe remedies, more water, Tylenol, etc. I kept saying that I didn't think any of that would help. Mariah was being so kind and came to me and said, "Would a hug help?".

Tanner was getting Mariah and Chet a drink and Mariah frantically exclaimed, "I want the blue lid!" To which Tanner said, "It doesn't matter, who cares?". Mariah looked right up at him and while pointing to herself said, "I do". Tanner doesn't often get put in his place...

One day after one too many accidents, in frustration, I asked Mariah what I should do with her. In tears she said, "Just love me mom!". Out of the mouth of babes...

One night after a long day Mariah was disgusted with me because I wouldn't sing the "other temple song". I kept telling her that the only one I knew was "I Love to See the Temple" and that I didn't know any other one about temples. She then said in tears, "Mom, if you don't know then you just need to change your life."

Mariah is really excited about the baby. It's going to be the best Christmas gift ever! Before our ultrasound if anyone asked her what she thought we were having she almost always said a girl. I was starting to get a little nervous because I think she thought that we were asking her what she wanted, and that if that didn't happen she would think we had ignored her request. At the doctor's office, when the doctor asked her what she thought the baby was she said, boy. So Mariah got what she wanted...phew.

One of my besties takes pictures and got some great pictures of Mariah. I feel like they capture her personality so well.

 Mariah loves her Grandmas so so much. She even has adopted quite a few grandmas. 

And this is her, I am so done with pictures, face. 

Oh Mariah, where would we be without your wisdom and insight? I wish I could remember each and every thing she says but for now these lists are going to have to do. We love this sassy-pants girl. 

Our Two Year Old Boy

Our Chet boy has changed so much in the last 6 months. It has been such a joy to watch him learn and grow each and every day. There are so many things that I don't ever want to forget about this sweet boy.

About a month ago I began to hear "Yook mama!" for anything and everything. Every simple little discovery that he may have made or any accomplishment big or small. If I don't acknowledge it he keeps saying it over and over. He even at times will say, "Yook Yaya!" (Mariah) and she has learned to respond, "I see Chet!" or "thats great!".

Anytime Chet gets an injury he has to report it to me. Even if Dad is here, Chet usually goes searching for Mama for consolation. Once he has told me and I have repeated back where exactly he was injured and show the right amount of affection, he immediately stops crying and can go right back to whatever he was doing. Some days it drives me crazy but it also makes me feel pretty special deep down.

Don't be jealous of my matching skills...we can't all have my sense of fashion.

He has become a little obsessed with "squito bites". Any scratch, bump or bruise that he finds on himself or anyone else is automatically a "squito bite" and it is hard to convince him otherwise.

Chet has discovered the joy of prayer. He wants to pray at every mealtime so we often have more than one blessing on the food. He isn't a big fan of Sacrament Meeting. We have been working a lot on his whisper...but he does love nursery. He has great nursery leaders and I am so thankful for them.

Chet loves balls of any kind but especially loves "backaball" (basketball). He still loves watching highlights with his dad but if it isn't his beloved basketball he gets bored with it. He loves wearing "backaball" shorts just like his dad. His throw is getting better and better too. It can be a little dangerous for those playing catch with him.

He has a love/hate relationship with his tie. 

Chet loves "trackers" (tractors), "tucks" (trucks), "cahs" (cars) and motorcycles (which when he says sounds nothing like the word, I had to figure it out by deduction). Whenever he sees a tractor or motorcycle he automatically brings up "bompa" (Grandpa). Grandpa is a huge topic of conversation for him. He even has a pair of jeans that remind him of his grandpa. While driving in the car he cheers on the traffic, "go go cahs! go!". And if we are walking through a parking lot he wants to stop and study each vehicle we walk by.

 I love his "crash!" at the end. 

My boy has discovered wrestling and loves it. Growing up with mostly sisters I am not a big fan but surprisingly my sweet little Mariah loves it too so that keeps Chet happy. Only problem is that it usually ends in tears. He especially loves to wrestle Dad who knows the correct way to wrestle without breaking someone's neck, I'm grateful for that.

Chet had started sneaking his "ganket" (blanket) and "ginkie" (binkie) out of his crib during the day. He realized that if he came out of his bedroom I would take them from him so he began camping out in his room for large chunks of time just so he could get some time with his loves. I started to hide them but Chet seemed to have a knack for finding them even if it meant he had to climb to precarious heights to get to them.
One day I picked a new hiding place. Chet went on the hunt but could not find them. He finally came to me and said, "Ginkie gone.". He was so calm about it that I decided that that was the time to do what I had been dreading for months...trash the binkies. So I just agreed with him that the binkie was gone and it has been ever since. He still has his blanket and has done surprisingly well without the binkie. The first night was hard for him. I laid by him for a really long time and he kept saying, "Ginkie gone" and I would agree and then he would say, "ganket?" and I would assure him that he still had his precious blanket. Nap-times are harder and he struggles at times to go to bed at night but we only had one episode in the middle of the night. It went much smoother than I thought it would. I even think he is more cheerful throughout the day. And I just love seeing my sleeping boy without something in the way of his beautiful face.

Chet has really started to play well with Mariah. For the most part he goes along with whatever she is imagining and it is so sweet to see them together. There have been some times where Mariah has been gone with dad or once at our neighbor's playing with their grand daughter. I always think Chet is going to enjoy the one on one time with me but he asks for "Yaya" most of the time. That boy loves his sister.

I just love the way he is looking at his sister here

Out in public Chet is somewhat of a somber child. Most don't see his goofiness and fun-loving character that comes out at home. He rarely smiles at other people but just studies them with a serious face. I wish more people could see the Chet that we get to have at home because he is truly a delight to be around.

Chet in his beloved boots

When people talk to him he often points out what he is wearing or his hair. I think he is so used to seeing people comment on his sister's hair or clothes that he figures that is what they are going to talk about to him as well. It is pretty cute.

Everything is the color "geen" to Chet so we have decided that must be his favorite color.

Chet loves to point to my growing belly and say "baby" and then point to his belly and say "baby". Other times he will say, in a sad voice, "sick" and then point to his tummy and say "baby". Which is funny because I don't get sick while pregnant. If I tell him that he doesn't have a baby in his tummy he has to go through the whole household, "dadda baby? Yaya baby? Momma baby?" I'm not sure how much he gets it.

We have loved having a little boy in this house and Chet makes us even more excited for the boy who will be joining us in December! Hooray for another wrestling partner! All in good time Chet.

You see my face? Yeah, I am that excited...

Chet, we love you so much and are so happy for the joy you bring into our lives!