Bolder Boulder

This has to be one of the best ways to spend Memorial Day.

It is too late tonight to write our stories. I just wanted to post these photos.

Happy Birthday today to Jessica. It was fun to spend some of the day with you.

P.S. - Sarah, I was wrong. There are lots of better photos in our future. :)

Unhappy Mommy

Right now Jace is playing with my hair instead of napping.
When I put him down for his nap he cried for 45 minutes and climbed out of the crib 3 times. It was a similar story last night. It took a crib escape, an hour of crying (mostly Jace) and countless times laying him down in his bed before he finally fell asleep. At 2 a.m. he woke up, talked for several minutes then climbed out of bed and wandered down the hall. He spent the rest of the night in bed with us.
I am not happy with my 2 year old. Everyone here is tired and cranky.

Sage's Boot Camp Birthday

We had so much fun at Sage's birthday party this afternoon. The high winds caused Joel's regatta to be canceled so he was able to join the fun.

Jace got to try out the giant bounce house (shaped like a tank).

He was the littlest kiddo at the party. He mostly did his own thing, exploring the backyard and the buckets of toys. He watched some of the games that the older kids were playing. He was exhausted when we left.

Thanks for the great party Sage! (and family)

Fear

I haven't seen this marked on the memorable milestone charts but it is a new and very real development for Jace. I wrote a while back about the terror at the car wash. This week he decided that storms are scary too. Specifically, Jace is scarred of thunder. Twice this week we experienced afternoon thunderstorms that are so common this time of year. I've always liked them (as long as there is no hail. Hail is very bad.)
The storms made Jace nervous and delayed his nap one day because he got scarred right as he was laying down. Then, two nights ago he woke up in the night crying. When Joel asked him if he had a bad dream Jace started saying, "Thunder. Scarred." There was no storm that night and after resting in our bed for a little while and rocking in the chair in his room he eventually went back to sleep in his own bed. Last night he started talking about thunder while we were getting ready for bed. Again, there was no storm. When I tucked him in he sat up and watched me leave the room. Then he whimpered a little. Then it got quiet for a few minutes and we assumed that he was falling asleep. Then there were some weird noises on the baby monitor. I listened closely and then decided to go check it out. Jace was hanging over the crib rail, stuck. He had attempted, wisely, to climb out feet first but couldn't get his upper half out of the crib. He was whimpering. That scarred me. I got him out of the crib and sat down to rock with him. He never went back to his bed. He started crying about thunder and would start screaming anytime he thought we were making a move to put him back to bed.
He spent the whole night in our bed. That's never happened before. He is the only one who slept well. I'm not sure what to do if he continues to be scarred of his own bed. Obviously, we will make some steps to get him transitioned out of the crib but yikes. I need that down time in the evening after he is asleep in his own bed.
He is napping in his bed right now. Hopefully, that is a good sign.

2

We spent the better part of three days celebrating Jace's birthday. On our visit to Wray, Grandad (my Dad) had little gifts hiding all over the house. This would have been very exciting if it wasn't for the huge closet full of toys in the basement. Jace didn't seem concerned about finding the gifts as long as Grandad would join him in the playroom.

The weather was cool and rainy and absolutely beautiful. I love how green everything is this time of year.

Jace showed off all his new conversational skills. At Grandma and Papa Courtney's house Jace was playing at the table and reached over to grab a toothpick. Papa warned him not to play with those because they are sharp. Miraculously, Jace listened and left them alone. (If I had given the exact same warning he would have grabbed a handful of them and run away, laughing.) Anyway, when we went to leave a little while later, Jace noticed that Papa had a toothpick in his mouth. Jace started pointing and shouted, "Oh-no, sharp." Good thing he was watching out for Papa.

Grandma Courtney made a delicious Sunday dinner complete with decorated birthday cake for Jace and Papa. Jace wanted to blow out the candles over and over again.And again.And this is what it looks like when you tell him that he is all done blowing out the candles.

Our birthday celebration continued on Monday night at the Palmer's house. In addition to dinner and "Dancing with the Stars" there was lots of cake and presents. Jace always enjoys Monday nights. He gets treats and screams a lot and chases after the dogs. He makes Joel and I crazy while having a totally fabulous time. His birthday was no exception. The only difference was that he got to open gifts and spent the last 15 minutes of his evening pushing around a new little plastic golf bag.

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate.

Thanks to everyone who sent birthday wishes.

We are excited to see what the next year holds.

Stuck

When your 2 you get crazy ideas like "Maybe today I can escape the crib".
Jace - "Help, please."
Daddy - "What's going on, big guy?"
"Mommy, you better come see this."
Jace - "Help."
Mommy - "What happened?"
Jace - "Stuck."

Happy Birthday Little Man!

We love you so much that we will get you unstuck right after Mommy takes your picture.

time travel during naptime?

This was last week but it still makes me smile.

When I put him down for his nap he looked normal.

When I went to get him up I found this....

I couldn't make his hair do this if I tried. My theory is that somehow, while I thought he was napping, he was actually getting styling tips from these guys....
Weird.

"No Way"

Starting at dinner this evening this was Jace's new phrase. I don't know where he got it but we heard it over and over tonight.
Joel set noodle soup in front of him.
Jace - "No Way."
Me - "Let's go change that stinky diaper."
Jace - "No Way."
Joel - "Jace are you ready for a bath?"
Jace - "No Way."
Joel - "Jace sit down on the potty."
Jace - "No Way."
Me - "Can Mommy comb your hair?"
Jace - "No Way."
Joel - "Time for stories."
Jace - "No Way."
Me - "Goodnight Jace."
Jace - "Night."

Mowing

Joel had to cut our tiny patch of grass for the first time this season. Jace ran outside shouting, "Daddy, have it." He uses the phrase "have it" for both offers and requests. It could mean he wants you to "have it". More often it means that he wants to "have it". At least it sounds nicer than just shouting, "Mine!" though it means the same thing.

Mother's Day

I just have to say how great it is to have Joel home. Last year he was 7 days into a trip on Mother's day. Him home is the best gift. That and the adorable card with Jace's hand print.

We had a mellow day. We fixed a late lunch for Elaine and enjoyed the fabulous weather by dining on the deck. Who needs store bought flowers when the pink tree is in full, fiery bloom.

Jace had a busy afternoon chasing Emma and Ozzy all over. He loves having someone to boss. He is constantly shouting, "Emma, no" even when she is just sitting there innocently trying to ignore him. Ozzy generally tries to hide from Jace. A memorable performance was given by Aunt Jessica and Ozzy. Trust me, the still shot is better than the video with accompanying audio. It was shrill. Jace thought it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen.

I wanted to get a picture of Jace and I together on Mother's day. Unfortunately, I waited until the end of the day when he was tired and grouchy.
To be honest, he gets that look a lot when I pick him up. I'm always making him do something horrible like get a clean diaper on or eat a meal at the table. He may run away when I say, "Jace, come here" but I still love being his Mommy.

Learning to pout

I got the camera out because the curl in the middle of his forehead made me smile. He understands what the camera is now, so he started showing off. When I ask him to smile I get the same little scrunched up face in every picture. So, tonight, I asked him to pout.

Mommy's socks

So stylish. He found those in my drawer and Daddy helped him put them on. Hours later, when it was time for the PJ's and socks to come off, there were tears.

Car Wash

One night last week it rained mud in the Denver area. We woke up to a layer of dusty grime on all the cars. It was super busy at every car wash in town for a couple days. Joel and I and Jace took the Explorer to the automatic car wash. Jace has been there before. In the past he has been nervous because it is dark and loud and there are the weird spinning brushes that move across the windows. This time he was terrified.
Joel and I were totally shocked. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Jace started screaming. SCREAMING. His mouth wide open, eyes squeezed shut, tears streaming down, red faced screaming. We tried to calm him down talking about the water and that it was loud but it was safe and Mommy and Daddy are right here. I can't remember what we said but he was shaking and holding Joel's hand so tight it left marks. Jace calmed down a little, enough to shout at the car wash. "Go away. AWAY. Go away." I'd never heard him say that before. It was so clear. We told Jace, "It's almost all done. We will go bye-bye." He waved his hand signing "all done" and said his version, "allll-allll-allll. Bye, wash." He calmed down quickly once we drove out of the car wash but for several minutes after he kept repeating, "Bye, wash. Done. Bye, wash." Even now, over a week later when we ask him about the car wash he says, "Bye, wash."
Today we drove by a gas station with a car wash. Joel asked Jace, "Do you want to go to the car wash?" Jace replied calmly, "No. Bye, wash."

Where does the time go!

I feel like I'm loosing big chunks of time. I can't believe it has be so long since my last post. I'm overwhelmed by the idea of trying to tell all the stories I should have posted in the last few weeks. I'll just hit the highlights.

I got a year older. Happy 33 to me. We celebrated with a weekend trip to Wray where my Grandma Courtney made two (TWO!!!) of my favorite desserts, angel food cake and coconut cream pie. What a delicious overindulgence.

I finally finished the assessment portfolio assignment for my Early Childhood Education lab class. It was a huge, time consuming, project. I am hugely grateful to Joel, Elaine and Gary for watching Jace while I spent hours and hours finishing. What a relief to turn it in. I'm proud to say I got and A. Now, I have to figure out what to do next.

Somewhere in the weeks that I was finishing homework, Spring arrived. The crab apple trees that I affectionately call, the pink trees, are in full bloom. They didn't bloom last year because of a badly timed frost. This year they are amazing.

We got a new refrigerator! I am so excited by this addition to our kitchen. I don't have to mop super chilled water out of the bottom of the fridge every two days. I don't have to throw away frozen vegetables. I have more fridge space and smaller energy bills. It is great. It makes the rest of the kitchen look like a dump. I guess it will only be the beginning of our much needed home improvements.
That's what's been happening around here. As far as Jace updates go, there are new stories everyday. I'll try to do better on posting them.