Tonight I tried something new with Ethan. Over the past little while he's been giving me trouble about eating. If I recalled all of the times, I'm sure I could single out reasons why it happened this one night...and then again on another. Most recently for instance, he's been sick (fever first, then a cough) so I can understnd a loss of appetite. Yesterday he seemed more on the mend and I wanted to fix him a dinner that he would eat (chicken pillows) and get some good protein in his body again. He was excited about it, until we sat down and then he screamed, "I don't want to eat anything!" The tears were bigger and more fake than I've seen in 2 days. I sent him to cry in his room so that Annie and I could eat in peace, and told him when he decided to come eat, dinner would be waiting. I didn't want to wait too long though (why don't they understand that if they only tried it!...they'd forget the fuss!) so I called Brian at work and had him talk to Ethan. Meanwhile, I picked him up and carried him to his chair while he was talking to Brian so that when he hung up, his train of thought would still be focused on eating. Worked like a charm (he even told me as he was eating "This is my favorite, mom." "mmm-hmm" was all I could say, I was so frustrated.)
Tonight I couldn't pinpoint a reason for his definance, other than that he's been able to do it before...and I felt a 'test' coming on. We were playing outside and I lost track of time, so when I looked at the clock and it said 5:15pm, I knew dinner had to be fast. (Why can't my kids like/eat spaghetti o's on nights like tonight??) I made spaghetti, bread sticks, and zucchini. It was all ready, we sat down, had a prayer, fixed AJ's plate and when Ethan saw it yelled, "I want to eat a hot dog, not this!" I tried to sympathize with him "oh, a hot dog does sound yummy, let's fix that tomorrow night!" Instead of resolving it, he just got more mad. He threw off his bib, slid his cup, and placemat on the floor and started to cry...crocodile tears.
Deep breath. No way was this going to turn into a nightly ritual. I said, "Ethan, if you don't want to eat, that's fine, but don't be rude. Pick up your cup, and place mat, and cry in your bedroom. AJ and I are hungry. If you decide you want to eat then come and say you're sorry to me for being rude, and I'll fix you a plate."
He exited and the crying stopped pretty quick. I would call down the hall periodically, "Ethan, are you ready to eat?" "NO!"
So AJ and I ate our dinner. I hadn't noticed he had wandered into the living room and was sitting on the couch, so I don't know how long he was there...but he obviously wasn't upset anymore. I asked him if he was ready to say he was sorry and eat some dinner. No, came the reply. Well, I'm not going to wait all night to see when this kid decides it's time to eat...and I'm certainly not going to call Brian; I'm not making that a habit either. (these were the thoughts in my head) So...I set the timer. (Ethan completely understands anything with the timer, we use it a lot...when it goes off...it's time to go to bed, clean up, come inside, etc) I set it for 5 minutes. I told him if he wanted to eat dinner, he needed to say 'sorry' before the timer went off.
He sat on the couch...dry-eyed, I might add. The timer went off. I cleared the table. I hadn't even dished up his food before his tantrum struck so clean-up was only AJ and I. Brian called: he's on his way. I tell him we have something to talk about. We hang up and Ethan says, "Mom, did you tell Dad I didn't eat my dinner?" (Inquisitively, no tears) "No," I said, "You're going to tell him why you didn't have dinner. And Ethan, that's going to make Dad feel really sad."
Now the real tears come. Is the thought of upsetting your Dad because you upset your Mom more traumatic than seeing that you've upset your mom? Tonight, it was.
So, Brian comes home, we tell the story. Brian has a 'father/son' talk with Ethan. And as I try to be as receptive as possible to this 2-year old...going on 16...apology that's being forced from his lips...I find myself convinced that Ethan knows exactly what he did.
Of course, his hunger pains kicked in, and he came to me (happy, I might add) saying, "Mom, I'm ready to eat my dinner now!"
I didn't give him any. Is that awful? His tears of disappointment weren't real (a mom can tell...heck, the way he was crying, a stranger could tell) so when Brian finished his dinner and there were leftover radishes in the vegetable tray, Ethan asked if he could have one. I said Yes.
Am I trying to ruin his tastebuds toward radishes forever? No...but that's quite the taste to have in your mouth if you're looking for something to satisfy tummy grumble. He wanted to bathe it in dip, but I put that away. Just radishes, honey! (I took one myself, as did Brian, so any future with radishes wouldn't be completely destroyed. We didn't laugh (out loud) or make a big deal out of anything. He just went to bed (30 minutes earlier than usual) What else is there to do in order to ignore the fact that you're hungry? I kissed him and hugged him tight, told him I loved him and said, "I hope tomorrow you make a good decision to eat dinner with the family"
We'll see.
Any suggestions?

"I almost bought a boat the other day"

KIT LINDSEY

Kit Matthew Lindsey 1972 ~ 2010 Kit Matthew Lindsey, born Jan. 31, 1972 passed away peacefully Monday, March 1, 2010 after a valiant fight the past seven years against Multiple Sclerosis.Kit was a light of encouragement and hope to all who met him. He loved being the life of the party and creating a fun environment wherever he went. Kit served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Canary Islands, and remained a stalwart servant of the Lord Jesus Christ the remainder of his life. Kit received a Bachelor's Degree from SUU, a Master's Degree from BYU, and a Juris Degree from UNLV. Among Kit's other accomplishments are organizing the judicial system for the City of Holladay, riding bulls on the weekends during an internship in Dallas, TX, initiating the successful incorporation of the City of Cottonwood Heights, as well as teaching Communications as a Professor at UVU. He is survived by his parents, Ron and Nancy, four brothers, Guy (Cici), Mike (Liz), Tim (Era) and David (Jackie), two sisters, Jackie Thayer (Bryan) and Tami Madsen (Jim) and 25 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by an older sister, Shelley. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 1:00 p.m., at the LDS Butler 20th Ward Chapel, 1355 E. 7200 S. in Cottonwood Heights. There will be a viewing Friday from 6-8:30 p.m. as well as an hour and a half prior to the funeral service on Saturday at the church. Interment will be at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery.

My dear friend Kit passed away last month. I didn't get the email in time to arrange to make his funeral. So I am glad I have memories to hold onto. If there ever was a man with a heart of gold and an countenance of sunshine, Kit is.

AJ's piggie tails

There is a cute elderly sister in our ward who has continually asked us when we're going to get a wig for AJ so that everyone knows she a girl. Bless her heart! Today, I was successful in putting pigtails in her hair...along with some daisy hair bows I made. It was official! If the dress didn't convince people, the flowers would :) I stopped the sister in the hall to tell her to take a look at Annie in sacrament mtg and notice the flowers in her hair. It was a feeble attempt because by sacrament the flowers were out, and only 1 pig tail remained. Daddies just don't know how to re-do hair-dos :) But this is what she looked like this morning!

Santa Rosa Plateau & the Very Hungry Caterpillars

It's been a long time since we've ventured to the outdoors...that didn't have anything to do with the beach. But this weekend we went north to the Santa Rosa Plateau. It's an ecological reserve (47,815 acres) filled with wild flowers, some vernal pools, and an old homestead with a 400 year old oak tree. Turns out, this plateau used to be a volcano (wasn't everything either a volcano or underwater?) so there's lava rock, which prohibits the water draining 'fast' when it rains. The slow leak forms a vernal pool where snakes, fairy shrimp and tadpoles live. We saw snakes and tadpoles but didn't see the fairy shrimp!

Because of the winter rain, the wild flowers are spectacular this year. We saw Johnny Jump up's, red maid, I need to do some research and come back to label the ones I don't know.

1 red maid in a sea of yellow

California Poppies

Chocolate Lillies (a rarity, even in the rainy season)

Lupine, Poppies, and Cacti in the background

We hiked about 3 miles ...and during those 3 miles sometimes I would stop, look, and remind myself that we were still in busy SoCal....we had just escaped it for awhile. There wasn't a hint of civilization to be seen. It was beautiful! It was truly a refuge.

Seas of purple and yellow on the plateau

We ate lunch at the old adobe homestead, under the shade of the old oak tree. One of the rangers there said that the faucet (below) was about 8-9 inches clear of the trunk when she first started working there (25 years ago). We sat with some hikers from Pasadena, out to see the wild flowers like the rest of us.

walking up to the homestead

A view looking up into the oak tree. The branches shaded the whole area and even touches the ground by our picnic table.

AJ had the best seat, in the hiking backpack, but Ethan was a trooper and hiked endlessly...until he had fallen about 4 times. By the 4th time he was done...too tired to walk straight, and pick up his feet. So Brian put him on his shoulders. We finished off the day by grabbing In-N-Out shakes...another lost commodity when we moved to Fallbrook. (The closest one is 20 minutes away) It was such a fun day! Getting there in the early morning Brian noticed large bugs crossing the road. He slowed down the car and sure enough, there were dozens of caterpillars crossing the road. When we pulled into the parking lot we had to watch where we stepped to avoid squishing them. They were everywhere, and they were fast. The greeting ranger (where we paid our dues) said they weren't sure yet what species it was, but perhaps the painted lady. Ethan mostly watched the path for the hungry caterpillars as we walked. After we passed the vernal pools however, the caterpillars disappeared. Heading back after lunch, when it was hot, most caterpillars were off the path and up onto a blade of grass. Look closely and you'll notice the darker 'stems' of the blade. They are all caterpillars.

Annie Jane turns 1

Annie Jane's Birth

Our little princess turned 1 today. 365 days earlier we were in the hospital, approached 3 different times to consider going home and letting her come 'naturally' rather than being induced. Their delivery center was too full and they were sending people to other hospitals. They tried to convince me that the induction probably wouldn't work, that I'd be miserable for 36 hours and go home, only to wait for her to come naturally anyway. I'm sure they were pretty frustrated with me...as I was with them for continuing to ask...but when they administered the Cytotek at 3pm (4 hours past the original time) and the 'birthing team' being paged overhead for delivery 6 hours later, I got several comments from the team, "Well, you were the last one we expected to deliver!"...Annie arrived at 9:41 PM.
What a wonderful year she has made for us. Always vocal, she communicates quite well if she disagrees, and is soft spoken if she's content with life. She knows "mom mom mom mom" and is starting to enunciate her 'NO' better. She understands so much. I say she is full of emotion Brian would call it drama...and Ethan occasionally says "Stop this llama drama!" At any rate, we love her to pieces and our home wouldn't be the same without her. Thank you Annie Jane for a wonderful first year.
Here are some great pictures of her first year.

1 month

6 weeks

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

Happy Birthday sweetie! We love you!

We celebrated your day with bumps and bruises. I took the above picture of you in the morning because I didn't know what messes you'd make during the day (on your clothes). You bumped your eye and lip within an hour of each other, matching your already bruised forehead, and by the end of the night you looked pretty hammered.

We made a special dinner just for you: Grandma Hale's Mac n Cheese, green beans and Grandma's homemade applesauce. All of it your favorite things to eat. We then connected with Grandma and Grandpa Hale on Skype. They watched her open presents. We also got birthday wishes from cousins and Grandma Earl throughout the day too.

I made a Hello Kitty Cake for her. I was excited to do a frozen transfer again. I couldn't wait to see if AJ was going to be a 'cake' eater... or refuse it, like her brother, Ethan. He watched me make, bake and decorate the cake, even helped spread the first layer of frosting on before the transfer. (Even still...he didn't have any cake tonight) Annie on the other hand...enjoyed every bite.

Happy Birthday ANNIE JANE! Love you to pieces!

Scolded by the Birds

Since we've moved here, I've been disappointed in our landlady's feeble attempt to provide a 'landscaper'. Two weeks ago Brian and I approached her about some serious overgrowth in our yard and jumped on board when she showed signs of being 'overwhelmed' with the amount of work this place needs. Once we got her consent to 'do a little bit here and there' I buzzed across the street to our neighbors and borrowed some hedgers, clippers, hand trimmers, a hand shovel, rack, and weed pick. Needless to say, we've been chopping out hedges and invasive vines, trimming the ferns, and raking up leaves ever since. Our city allows 10 30-gal garbage cans/week for green waste pickup. We 'borrowed' four from the vacant house next door to help us get the maximum done during the week. One poor orange tree has so many vines wrapped around its branches, I think it affected the production of fruit this year. We've cut many of the vines 'lifelines' but I'm not sure how I'm going to unravel them all.

The birds have been scolding us ever since.

A pleasant surprise came during our wet January weather: our cute little tree in the front has bloomed. It's flowers are about as big as my palm. And instead of shedding petals, the whole flower falls off and lands...without the stem. I took a picture today, there are a handful of blooms, but if you look closely, you can see just how many buds there are. Every day I look out there to see if there are any more. I can't wait until it's in full bloom.

We also learned that our outrageously overgrown bush (which I admit I hated because it looked so ugly) in the front is actually rosemary. Now it's in bloom too and bees are buzzing and I am, in fact, more tolerant of it's overgrowth. Funny how knowledge changes your perspective. However..rosemary or not, chop chop! into something a little more 'groomed'. Rosemary can be cut back (thank goodness) without damaging it...and into topiaries even! That would be fun! It smells really good though when you're standing out there!

Annie Janes Walks!

Our little AJ...took leaps and bounds in her development this month. Earlier (January 17th) she took her first steps, but refused to repeat them until 9 days later. And then...she just took off. She is fast, practically takes 'running' steps as she hurries from one thing to another. I'm glad we have carpet in most rooms, because she does fall a lot in her effort to hurry. Her head met some pretty strong metal bars (bed frame) twice in one day. but she's getting better all of the time. Especially bending down to pick up what she wants and then regaining her balance to walk. This has given her such freedom because now I'll take her outside to let her walk....new ground to cover! Annie, we are so proud of you.

Video #1: January 17th

Video #2: January 26th. This video is BEFORE we skyped Gramma Earl. She knew she was in the spotlight and would walk from the couch to the computer without missing a beat! Grandma and Grandpa Hale got to see her walk the next day.

Video #3: January 28th...2 days of walking