Harper's World

In Harper's world it is okay to wear a Halloween costume 92 days after the actual holiday....
In Harper's world it is okay to sleep in that same costume night after night....
In Harper's world it is okay to ask people to call you Tyrone because that is your favorite character on Backyardigans...
In Harper's world it is okay to wear your dad's underwear clipped together with a paper binder clip while admiring yourself in the bathroom mirror.... you only want to wear them because they are orange and you have made it very clear to EVERYONE that orange is your favorite color....
In Harper's world it is somehow okay to drink pop while you brush your teeth (as evident from the video)....
In Harper's world anything is possible....
Oh the life of a 2 1/2 year old.

Click on the following link to watch the video:









****Sorry for not being able to get the video/pics to work in portrait form. It is obviously an issue with this blog site and Mac computers. I will try to make sure I take my pics in landscape in the future. Just turn your head to the side :)

BB is Short for.......

The toothfairy has finally visited our house - not to pick up teeth, but instead to drop some off.  Collier has been toothless until yesterday.  For those with children, you will know that he is a "late bloomer" when it comes to getting his pearly whites.  

According to my very trusted babycenterdotcom,  "the vast majority of babies sprout their first teeth when they're between 4 and 7 months of age."  This is the first of two unique differences that I can't resist sharing with the group.  

Collier is almost 8 1/2 months old and we were just getting comfortable with the fact that we might be seeing his gummy grin for a very long time until he woke up yesterday morning.  Although we all know we are not suppose to compare our children, Harper got his first tooth somewhere around 5 months.  I only use it as a point of reference because by no means is Harper the definition of normal and as Dr. Briesacher always tells me, there is a "wide spectrum of what is normal for kids".  Also, since he is the second child we barely notice the absence of teeth until other people point it out.  If he were the first child, I am pretty confident that I would have already rushed Collier to see Dr. Briesacher about not having teeth and I would have exhausted the internet for my own diagnosis prior to arriving at the doctor's office. 

Honestly, I have probably been the most comfortable with the fact that Collier's teeth are delayed because I am still breastfeeding and teeth and booby aren't natural friends.

The second important piece of information that makes Collier's teething experience so unique is which tooth has decided to arrive.  Babycenterdotcom points out that "most babies get new teeth in this order:  First the bottom two middle ones, then the top two middle ones, then the ones along the sides and back."  Once again as a point of reference, this is precisely how Harper's teeth made their appearance - on time and in logical order.  Well Collier is blazing new trails, taking the road less travelled and following after his southern ancestory roots because his first tooth is his cuspid or canine tooth.  If you are not sure which tooth I am referring to, place your index finger on your big front tooth and count over two more teeth.  It is the sharp pointy one just on the cornerstone of your gumline.  For dogs or other wild animals, it is the "shredder" tooth.  For hillbillies, it is usually the one tooth that takes the longest to fall out when the mouth decides to purge the rest of its teeth for one reason or another.

I can't wait to share photos in the next few weeks when Colliers shredder tooth is more visible.  I guess I don't need to wait any longer to introduce meat :).  We can only hope that his front teeth are just waiting to make a presence.

As many of you will remember from early blog postings, we referred to Collier as BB before his arrival.  You probably thought it stood for baby brother, baby Brace, baby boy..... but we waited till now to let you know that it really stands for Billy Bob.

Big Boy Potty Time

Over the last several months we have occasionally asked Harper if he would like to use the potty instead of his diaper and his response is always "Not Yet".  We figured we wouldn't pressure him since he is so much like his mother and pressure only makes him want to produce the opposite response.  I figure at some point sitting in your own pee and poo will become so uncomfortable that he will make the move to sit on the potty without our need to force him.  At 29 months, Harper has shown no interest in potty training.......UNTIL TONIGHT!

After his bath, he asked to go poo poo on the potty.  Without hesitation I took him to the bathroom thinking he was yanking my chain.  Much to my surprise, he sat there like a pro and was all calm and collected.  It's as if he had worked himself up to this moment - rehearsing the most important play of the game in his head prior to the big day.  Since many of you on the blog are not parents yet, I will spare the details and cut to the chase.   Tonight Harper decided to take care of business on the big boy potty.  As with most things that 2.5 year olds do, I will probably never understand what brought on his motivation.  But, he realized right away the power of relaxation that comes with quality reading material. We only had to read The 3 Little Pigs once and everything was done.  Mine and Matt's pride couldn't even hold a candle to how proud Harper was of himself (as the pictures below so accurately portray).  I guess I was the one who should have done a little rehearsing because after everything was said and done and we flushed, Harper looks at me and says "Mommy where does poo poo go when we flush it?".......  Uh....Where does it go?  I thought I had come up with some good answers for many of the anticipated "kid" questions but this was one time that I was completely stumped.  The only thing that came out of my mouth was - "Probably to a river."  Great - now he will never want to swim in a river in his whole life.  What was I thinking....what was I suppose to say????  Honestly, what kind of cool imaginary, creative place exists for poop?

Proud Yet Humble

The "Eat My Shorts" - Olympic Gold Medal Look that Harper seems more comfortable doing!

Top Ten Ways Ringing in 2008 is Different than Years Past

Sorry for the delay in posting.  The Brace household came down with the stomach bug the weekend before Christmas.  Changing bed sheets over and over and hugging the toilet was not our idea of how to spend our time off but that is precisely what we did for 5 days.  Fortunately, by Christmas morning everyone was well again to enjoy Santa's surprises.

So, we have spent the last week and half trying to catch up, rest up and get back on our "routine".  To introduce the new year, I thought I would share my perception of how life has changed between "Then" and "Now" - what better way to do this than a Top Ten List.  Enjoy -

Top Ten Ways Ringing in 2008 is Different than Years Past

#10 - Instead of "nursing" on my own holiday cocktail, I am now nursing my infant son.
#9 -  The only ball that we saw drop was one that Harper threw across the room.
#8 -  We are now content to ring in the New Year based on Eastern Standard Time although we live in the Mountain Standard Time zone.
#7 - The bottle of champagne we bought to celebrate is still in the refrigerator.........unopened!
#6 - My resolutions were already broken by the 2nd day of January.
#5 - A wild and crazy night out now consists of going for the Early Bird Special at a kid friendly restaurant.
#4 - No one seems to want to invite us to New Year's Eve parties anymore - are they afraid we might damper the fun by bringing along a 2 year old and 7 month old?
#3 - Instead of a designated driver we are looking for a designated babysitter.... hey, maybe they could pull double duty!
#2 - Our holiday noisemakers have a pulse and no off button.
#1 - My New Year's Eve kiss occurred at noon rather than midnight.

Thought I would also include a few Christmas pics of the boys.  Harper was mesmerized by the holiday spirit and Collier was content to just eat the wrapping paper and the bows.

Collier did start crawling over the Christmas holiday so the level of craziness in our household has just increased by two fold. The wiggle worm that was in my tummy this time last year is now starting to break out of his shell. There is never a still moment for him.  He is constantly on the go.

Harper has turned into a boy over night.  There is not even a hint of baby left in him.  He is talking in full sentences, counting to ten in both English and Spanish and singing every song he hears at full volume no matter where we are.  He keeps us laughing - his imagination is something to be envied.  Collier is still his biggest fan but will soon be tough competition for him.  Collier already thinks he is older than he is.  He has recently gotten brave enough and strong enough to start taking things out of Harper's hands that he wants - including food!  They are so fun but so exhausting..... life with 2 active boys will either keep us young or make us old quick - we just aren't sure which yet!