Okay then...

Someone apparently found the camera on my iPad. 

And, judging by all the pictures of the floor, ceiling, and small fingers, I'm guessing that someone also taught the 4 year old how to use the camera. Excellent. 

Holiday Trilogy

Thanksgiving was a special day for 3 reasons this year. 

1. It was obviously Thanksgiving. One of the few days a year where there are no limits to my fat, sugar, or carbohydrate consumption. 
2. Brad's birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year. Not only was his birthday on his all time favorite holiday, but he also turned the big 30. I had great plans of over-exaggerating...i mean celebrating his age, as he is half way to 60, but the Army thought it best to send him to the sandbox to party with the camels. Instead he ran a 5k which he renamed, The Brad Coates Birthday Fun Run, and missed the last piece of pumpkin pie at chow time. I guess I should start learning how to make pumpkin pie before his 2 week visit in the spring. 
3. Young Syphr turned 18 months old. 

Likes:

• baths
• destroying
• running
• being outside
• binkas
• wearing shoes
• watching Caillou
• Songs: If you're happy and you know it, and ring around the rosie
• milk
• chicken nuggets, veggie chips, crackers, bananas, pop tarts and strawberries. Those are the things I am positive he will eat at any time of the day. Everything else is a gamble. 

Dislikes:

• when brothers pester, but they better start watching out. Syphr fights back. 
• diaper changes
• car rides longer than 25 minutes
• strangers
• inhalers, spacers and nebulizers. Any medicines used to improve his asthma, which we aren't allowed to call asthma until he turns around 7 or has multiple recurring trips to the ER. For now we will just call it an occasional narrowing of his airways resulting in difficulty breathing, and slight to moderate wheezing, which we treat with an inhaler and nebulizer....but its not asthma. Got to love doctors and their insane logic.

Talents:

• putting on his own boots.
• saying: mama, dada, bye-bye, hi, yeah, no, yay, la-la, vroom, ball, uh-oh, knock-knock. While his word usage is not huge at this point, he makes sure to get his point across. When he wants more milk he brings me his cup and shouts MAMA...MAMA...MAMA. When he is tired, or sad, he sticks his finger in his mouth, meaning he wants his binka. When he is ready for bed he shakes the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and shouts, MAMA! 
• throwing fits. He's become great at throwing himself back when he is in my arms, when I'm least expecting it, diving on the floor to cry, and screaming while running straight into the wall. 
• growing super awesome curls on 75% of his head. I hope they stick around. 
• jumping
• going up and down stairs safely 
• doing chores: he is a great duster, and occasional dishwasher unloading helper. 

We are so happy to have this little guy in our family. He has the sweetest and most cuddly personality, and despite my rant of his tantrums, he's incredibly mellow....as long as you don't cross him the wrong way. He loves his brothers, and wants to do everything and be in everything they are. Its been so fun, thus far, to watch his personality grow and we can't wait to see how different he will be in another 6 months. 

How do you wear a hat?

According to Talan:

This is how not awesome guys wear a hat, but sometimes daddy wears his hat like this.

This is how cool and awesome guys wear a hat. I wear my hat like that because I am cool and awesome.....AND fast.

This is a not cool guy. You just should not wear a flip side hat.

This is an awesome hat guy.

One day Syphr is going to get big and come after you Talan

That day is today.

Talan took the basketball away from Syphr one too many times. 

At first Talan thought it was funny. Then Syphr wouldn't get up. Syphr was not crying, but screaming at the top of his lungs and focusing all his energy on pressing down as hard as he could so Tal couldn't get up. 

                                       

Talan then started to realize it is not fun with a toddler sitting on your face. He tried to push Syphr off, but  as I personally know each morning when Syphr wakes me up by sitting on my face, he is freakishly strong.

In nearly full panic mode, Talan pushes his body in a circle with his feet. Syphr enjoys the ride.

Then he added a full body roll to his pivot which landed him with success. I think Syphr feels justified, and Talan hasn't gotten in his bubble in the last 10 minutes. Success all around.

Brace-face

Today, Ashton traded his spacing torture device which lived on the roof of his mouth for the past few months, for some starter braces which might also be classified as a torture device. 

Here is what Ashton has to say about his braces:

"They feel horrible. They feel really really horrible on my teeth. They squeeze them and then they pop my teeth out sometimes. The end."

Okay, maybe I should ask him again when his mouth isn't sore.