January

I figure it's time to put up more pictures before my mom starts bugging me again... The month kind of flew by I guess. Though it also still seems like a long time until Spring Break. I actually get two this year (yahoo!). Marie (John's sister) and her family are going to Huntington Beach in March during her husband's spring break. The Carter grandparents are going to be coming this way too so we can all meet down there for a few days. So it's pretty exciting. But still seeming a ways away.

I was looking through pictures we happened to have this month. Most of them are a bit random and around playtime (which seems to be anytime outside of nap and eating time).

Here's Trevor in his "throne" that John built him. He spent a lot of time declaring "off with their heads!" that day.

























Not to leave Ryan out, John built a Ryan sized throne too.
























The rocking horse has regained it's popularity lately. Especially now that Ryan can play on it too. Turns out that all the best toys in the house are the ones that your brother happens to be interested in at the moment (both ways).



And we managed to get some snow last week. I'm not really sure what the official accumulation was, but not much more than what you see in the pictures. I worked that day and got to cross two newly formed 'rivers' on the way back from Trona. It switched from rain to big flakes about ten miles away from town. There are no pictures of the boys playing in it because, as Trevor explained "no way! It's cold and wet!" I think it's funny though that in the past year we've seen more actual snow falling in Ridgecrest than in Alaska.





Ryan's walking like crazy now. He hasn't quite mastered the standing from sitting move (though John claimes he has seen him do this) and I think once he feels comfortable with that he'll really be a biped. He's mastered the walking while carrying items (very important to him), turns, and squats down instead of just falling all the time. So he's really turning into a toddler more than a baby now. He seems to understand 'no', but finds it funny most of the time. Trevor keeps growing in vocabulary and understanding of all sorts of things. It's really interesting to hear the questions and thoughts that he comes up with day to day. I can understand the whole idea that time really starts flying when you have kids. It's hard to picture Trevor as when he was Ryan's age. And that was only a couple years ago.

Christmas Time and Alaska Visit

We were up visiting my parents for a couple of weeks around Christmas. They had a really good snowfall for days before we got there so Trevor got to experience some winter. He was pretty sure that it would all melt before we got there because it doesn't usually stick on the mountains near Ridgecrest more than a day or so. Turns out it his mommy was right and it was still there. I was impressed that he stayed out in it at all and I think that John was a little dismayed that he didn't want to go out more.























All suited up



The first time they went out it was super cold but they played for quite a while.


Ryan stayed inside and played with Grandma Linda

We took Ryan out to play on the second outside adventure. He liked being pulled around in the sled, but anytime the sled stopped he'd get a bit overly concerned. Trevor seemed to have fun except for any part when the snow touched his skin.


Trevor spent some time cleaning off grandma's fence









I stopped pulling the sled to take a picture--so he's concerned



The sled was still moving in this picture--much happier



Ryan was happiest when we got inside and started taking the snow clothes off

Trevor got to go to work with Bapa one of the days we were up. Ryan went around with grandma, Aunt Nancy and I to deliver Christmas baskets to some businesses. We ran in to Trevor and Bapa on one of our stops and Trevor definitely seemed to have the better end of the deal. He'd already eaten hostess cupcakes for snack, then with a chocolate smeared face came bouncing into the building we were at to later find cookies.
























Ryan the Woodbuilt mascot




Trevor helped make a gingerbread house again this year. This time he got quite a bit more of the candy on the house.



Hanging the stockings



Christmas morning--opening stockings



And presents

Grandma Betty and Ryan taking a stroll around the house




Visiting the Alaska Berry Factory























Trev and Grandma
























Ryan and Bapa most likely watching football or cowboys
























Glass doors are fun

Angel Choir

Trev's Sunday school class had their performance last weekend... here's the video



Yes... it did seem like that poor boy had to stay up there a bit too long before his grandpa finally rescued him... Trevor seemed pretty concerned about the kid. Showbiz is pretty rough. Trevor is much more musical in person--he's been singing made up songs and semi real songs all weekend... just not on stage. But he got a lot of the hand movements. We were very proud to watch him get up there and be part of the group.

Videos

Trevor was in the bell choir last night during the hanging of the greens at church. He was a very serious little ringer...



And I got the cake videos to work out too. Trevor had a little more reservation about the whole cake thing



Ryan did not give me much time to turn the video on

Ryan likes Cake

We celebrated Ryan turning one last week. I think for me there's a mix of it seeming like the year flew by and then seeming like he's always been a part of our family. He seemed to enjoy the whole birthday experience. Kids to poke at, cake to eat, watching the bigger boys play with new toys.





Trevor was the cake/song conductor. He dutifully rounded up people to sing to Ryan and got them started with a 1-2-3. Trev was also very helpful in blowing out the candle. He had been telling Ryan over and over again in the morning how he would do it for him.








Ryan dove right into the cake. It was such a contrast between Trevor's cake reaction when he turned one. I took a little video but am having trouble loading it on the computer for some reason, so I'll post his and Trevor's if I get it worked out later.













Pausing to reflect over the year













We were noting the ratio of neatness to amount of wasted cake as the children age















Ryan was given a little six inch round cake to eat and we ended up taking it away from him after he ate half of it because he seemed to be showing no signs of winding down.














Remains of the cake














Sugar!














Ryan was very generous with his presents and had a few eager helpers to open them up and try them out.








































































And one more cake picture

Golfing and Stuff

This is a little delayed. When my parents were still visiting, Trevor got to have his first try at golfing. It was kind of a big ordeal because he and my dad went out to get him a couple of little clubs, then we built up how he was going with Bapa, daddy and George the next morning, and when we finally get out there some guy told them that Trevor was not allowed to be there at all. So I got to take Trevor home disappointed and moderately traumatized while the rest of them stayed and golfed. When they finished up they drove back to the clubhouse to find a whole bunch of toddler looking kids out putting on the practice green area. Dad went and talked to the guy again and seems it was a big misunderstanding and despite dad telling him they were only wanting to go on the practice green, the man seemed to be under the impression that they wanted to take Trevor on the actual course. You can tell how traumatic the whole ordeal was by the length of this paragraph. Trev got to go out after all a couple days later with dad. He seemed to have a lot of fun and lasted about a half hour going back and forth between the holes. Just wait til he finds out about the places with windmills.






Sometimes there is a fine line between golfing and hockey



Ryan the caddy


And now for something completely different. Here's a video of the boys from last week. It's a little random--initially I was trying to record Ryan's happy food dance that he likes to do after he's done eating now. He sort of sways back and forth to bee bop a little bit but evidently not when there's a camera.

Happy Halloween

The boys got to have two Halloween days this year--one on Thursday at their daycare and then last night at our house. The center puts on a 'parade' where the kids walk around the building and trick or treat at all the classrooms. Then they walked them over to the base infirmary to trick or treat more there. Turns out that the majority of the preschool age kids were either superheroes or princesses. When I walked into the classroom I found at least five spidermen (black and red ones), two ironmen, a supergirl, superman, and a couple batmen. It was like they had their own little Justice League. Only one Super Trevor though.


Super Trevor--the shirt is on backwards, but Trev said he liked it that way...


Trevor and Jorja comparing loot. I think not too long after this point Trevor decided he really had enough candy and kept trying to hand off his bag to me.

I was expecting that Ryan's room would just have the kids crawling around in their costumes while the big kids walked by, but turns out they dressed them up and strapped them into little buggies to walk around too.




Trick or treating is exhausting

We had a Halloween party at our house this year and were happy to have lots of big and little people in costumes. Trevor was pretty excited about answering the door for trick or treaters but was less excited about going out and doing it himself. He and John walked down a couple houses to see the 'scary house' but it ended up being scary enough that they only watched from the sidewalk. I think he still didn't see much point in going door to door when there are candy and cupcakes at our house already.























Super Trevor and his assistant
























Ryan Lion and Lady attacked by a Lion



Ryan Lion and Brady the skunk
























Happy Heroes



Lion Taming



Extra cute costume for crawling



























Don't mess with Super Trev and his Assistant