Tillamook and Hike

There are so many things I love about Blair and Paul. One of them being they both love to hike as much as I do.

On a whim, we decided to drive to Tillamook and spend our Saturday hiking Cape Lookout (and rewarding ourselves with yummy dairy). If you haven't done that hike before, it's a beautiful 5 miler that takes you out to the tip of the cliff-filled peninsula. Would you believe that our three-year-old Paul practically did the whole thing on his own two legs... happily? There were only a couple brief stretches that Blair had him on his shoulders. This kid is a natural-born hiker! Not only did he walk more than 4 miles of it himself, he was RUNNING up the hills at the end of it! We started the hike at 1:40 and finished around 5pm. After hours of hiking he somehow had the energy to run uphill for the whole end of it! Here's proof in video:

I was fully expecting Paul to be tired and pleasant during our car-rides, and whining and complaining during the hike. But it was the complete opposite. He was whining and screaming in the car both ways, but was sooooo happy to be outdoors during our hike. Crazy kid.

It was a relief when he finally fell asleep on the way there.

These two would run ahead of me and hide until I came. Paul would just laugh and laugh!

Proof we made it!

We were all pretty tired and hungry after Cape Lookout, so we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for some well-deserved dinner and icecream.

Is is just me, or do our faces look photoshopped into the Tillamook car? We were there for real! I promise! haha

Paul's 3rd birthday

Catch up time!

We celebrated Paul's third birthday on the fourth of July. Blair's family was already getting together for food and fun at a park so we did the lay thing and just tagged Paul's birthday onto an already planned party. (Let's see how often this happens in Paul's life.) Paul didn't know the difference and had a blast!

Paul's been practicing holding his "three" fingers and was quite skilled at it with both hands before the big day hit. Of course, I don't have a picture of that. But here are some other pictures and videos from the event. Enjoy!

Yay! Squirt guns!

Paulisms

Some funny Paulisms as of late:

"I'm always a funny boy, but not right now." This was said while he was tired and mellow. I guess his usual, loud, and crazy self is what he calls "funny".

"Let's go walk on the chewy rocks!" Hey, if there can be crunchy rocks there must be chewy rocks too, right?

As Blair headed out the door for work, Paul cheerfully told him, "Have care of your day, daddy!"

To my horror, Paul has developed an obsessive love for the word "poop". He thinks it's hilarious to randomly exchange a word in his sentence for that word. I'm hoping the potty humor is getting out of his system early...

While watching me use the sewing machine he warned, "Be careful mommy, that needle could go really fast and then you would have no fingers anymore."

I overheard this little gem while Paul was playing with his trains:
" 'Help me crain!' shouted the train anxiously." As if he were narrating a story book.

"See you in a few whiles!"

"See you next later, guys!"

Paul also really likes using the word "usually", but he uses it like we would use the word "sometimes". Example: "Usually I tell you yes... and usually I tell you no."


I tell people that Paul is 150% boy. He's all about trains, planes, trucks and cars. If those vehicles are crashing and fighting, that's even better! He also would live outside if I
let him. I often find him digging up worms, handling centipedes (true story!), running, splashing in the mud,
and THROWING anything and everything! And, man, does he have a good arm! He would make a great pitcher some day! I should get it on video just so you can see what I'm talking about. Now if only I could get him to stop trying to practice in the house.

Photo courtesy of Gary Nilsen

 As rough and tough as he likes to think he is, Paul's still a baby at heart and can be frightened into fits of girly screams without one even trying to startle him. He also has a very tender heart and is excellent at comforting anyone who is sad, just by giving a big hug and saying, "It's alright. Don't be sad. I'm sorry."

He sure makes life exciting and enjoyable! We love our Paul!

Potty Trained (at the beginning of the year!)

Paul is (mostly) potty trained! Hurray!

I had been meaning to tackle the potty issue with Paul for a while, but it wasn't until the last week of Christmas break that I finally took the plunge. It really felt like a leap of faith because I was still debating up until the very night before the planned time. My plan of attack? The "three-day potty training" method I read about all over the internet.

I say "mostly" trained because he still wears a diaper at night, and he still isn't wearing big boy undies during the day. That's right. My boy goes commando every day. That seemed to be the winning factor to his potty-training success.

How did I do it? I literally spent three whole days in the kitchen with a naked-bottomed boy, building train sets and eating (and drinking!) snacks.

The first day went surprisingly well. I was not expecting Paul to be able to "hold it" for as long as he would. (Three hours was normal!) There were a few accidents in the beginning, but as soon as he realised he got a sticker, fruit snack, and a mommy dance every time he went in the toilet, he was gung ho about it the rest of the day! I thought, this is going to be a piece of cake! 

Of course, pride comes before the fall. Enter day number two. I thought he did so well the first day, I could go ahead to introduce the undies on day two rather than day four. Boy was that a mistake! As soon as one of those undies touched his skin, he was a leaking faucet! We went through all of his undies in the first half of the day and the novelty of potty training was wearing off for Paul. His confidence and excitement were dwindling. He was starting to resist. I began to seriously doubt whether he was ready, and was almost ready to give it up all together. But, I decided to take my mom's advice and keep surging forward. I took off those silly undies (who needs them anyway?) and made up my mind to make this way of living his only option now. No more diapers during the day and that's that!

But what did that mean? Was I going to have to carry around a half-naked child and a portable potty everywhere? I crossed my fingers and put him in loose fitting pants for the second half of day two. Bingo! I found the perfect balance!

By day number three, his (and my) confidence sky-rocketed as he was going in the toilet most of the time with no accidents. It was awesome!

We only had a set-back a couple weeks ago when he experienced constipation for the first time, and he developed a fear of going #2 on the toilet. This resulted in him holding it until it was un-holdable, and at the most inconvenient times. One of those times we were playing outside with some friends and I thought he had stepped in some dog doo. I figured I would just clean his shoes once we got home. Well, I got some texts about an appointment I forgot about and was late for. I rushed Paul home to keep my appointment, only to find the inside of his pants and shoes were covered in his own doo. Not fun.

But he is back on track and doing better than ever. It's a great feeling to have that mountain mostly behind us. He seems a lot older now too. :)

Recent Paul News

He'll be officially two and a half on New Years day, and he is a ham of all hams! A comment I get very frequently about Paul is that he "has so much personality". Maybe that's just something people say to you when your two year old looks like a handful, but I still take it as a compliment. Do you say "thank you" if someone says something nice about your child? This mother's still trying to figure that one out...

Funny Paulisms as of late...

1. While busily preparing Paul's breakfast, I was half listening to his babblings as he sat strapped in his high chair. Then I heard him say, "ready... set.... GO! Mom come chase me!" Then in a more melancholy voice he said "I can't really run...." More happily he added, "but I can pretend!" as his legs gesticulated frantically in his high chair.

2. We have a little 3D twisty, block, mind puzzle thing that you're supposed to be able to twist into all sorts of fun shapes. The only shape I can make out of it consistently is a straight line or, as Paul calls is, a "choo choo train". When Rachel and JC came over, JC made it into a sphere. So the next day Paul urged me to do the same and make it into a ball shape. I gave up and handed Paul my mangled attempt. He just looked at it and said, "Mommy, you can't make a ball." After a short pause he added, "Mommy, you are a girl and a woman."

3. Paul and I were driving together without Blair because "daddy was sick". Blair was suffering through the worst of the flu. Paul told me matter of factly, "Daddy is sick. Daddy's head hurts. Daddy's toe hurts. Daddy's knee hurts. Poor daddy! We will put Neosporin on him to make him feel better." (For those who were like me growing up and never used the stuff, Nesporin  is an antibacterial ointment used on open wounds. My slightly more germ-conscious husband introduced me when we married.)

4. Lately, Paul likes to pretend he can read words he sees. He saw the package of baby wipes and told me as boldly and clearly as possible while pointing at the words, "Mommy, it says 'Wipe. Your. Bum'!"


Paul's favorite and overused phrases right now:

• "What did I say?" He asks this whether he just said something or not, and just likes the confused answers he gets from people when he keeps saying this over and over again.
• "I have an idea!" This is another one that mommy falls for every time. He doesn't really have an idea he wants to share, he just wants my attention and to hear me say, "What? What's your idea?"
• "Guess what!" Yet again, I'll never learn. There's nothing exciting he wants to share! Why? Why do I keep buying it?
• "Actually" This is said very know-it-all like before suggesting the very opposite of what I just said. 
• "You're right" My personal favorite. I'm not sure how it got started, but I hope it never goes away!
• "Oh" Another favorite of mine. This is said with a humble expression and often several times in a row. This is usually used after I use an "actually" phrase with him. I think he picked this up from his Cousin Gene, because Paul will often say, "Gene says 'Oh'". 
• "Yesterday" This is used to describe any event from the past, whether it was a year ago or two minutes ago. 
• "Home Depot" For some reason, saying this puts him into a fit of laughter.
• "After that" He uses this little pair to find out what's happening after something he doesn't want to do. "But what are we doing after that?"
• "Okay?" Said very long and drawn out, this is usually used after he explains in detail what he thinks the day's plans are. Example: "We will go to grandma's house, and then we will go to the park and after that I will have a chocolate. Okay?" 
• "No!" Do I even need to mention this one? He's two, that should be all you need to know.

 Other Favorites
Time of day: Paul loves early mornings. Even on the weekends he wakes up at 6:00am the most insanely happy person you can imagine. Ug...
Jumping to music: The daily ritual includes turning on some peppy, keyboard music to repeat, (oh bring back my Bonnie to me, to me!!!!) removing the couch cushions and jumping on the couch base like a trampoline. Now before you start judging me, I did think long and hard about allowing him to do this, and there are limits and conditions. Regardless, it has been one of the most wonderful things that has bought me many precious alone times.
Immitating people: Yes, this little guy has Whitaker blood for sure! He is surprizingly talented at mimicking voice, influction, and/or speach impediments of other people he hears. And, just like his Whitaker relatives, includes a hearty laugh at his own hilarity. Its pretty crazy! Perhaps that's one reason he learned to talk so early...
Books: I bought him a cheep book of Nursery Rhymes from Ross and he LOVES this book. His favorite rhymes are Mother Goose, Old King Cole, and Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. He also loves any book with trains, no matter how long and boring the storyline. If there are pictures of trains he'll enjoy it.
Songs: Book of Mormon Stories, Child's Prayer (Paul calls it "Kingdom"), The Farmer in the Dell,
Foods: His favorites right now are chocolate, blueberries, cheese, chicken, and yogurt. So, people keep telling me two year olds have no appetite and they slim out. Yeah, that hasn't happened yet for Paul. He's gotten taller, sure, but he's still is covered in dimples and rolls and can out-eat his mommy at any meal.
Vehicle: The train is still the winner! Woo woo! (Is that punny?)





Nighttime News
He's recently discovered he's afraid of the dark. After a few nights of panic and running out of the room, we got into a new nighttime and nap time routine which includes a nightlight, an open bedroom door and the words, "I'll come check on you in a couple of minutes". Gotta love the ever-changing needs of children. It makes parenting interesting and fun!

Pumpkin Patch!

Below are a few photos taken while at Bi Zi Farm's pumpkin patch earlier this month. That place was the size of an amusement park, I swear! 

Having Gary, Emma and their kids come along made it even more fun! 

Paul loved climbing the hay pyramid and crawling through the tunnels!

We got to choose some pumpkins from one of several gigantic pumpkin patch fields. I wish I took more pictures of us actually in the field. This was the best one I could find.

The corn pit was awesome!

Farm animals!

Freshly pressed cider!

TRACTOR!!! Of all the fancy stuff they had to do there, this was the boys' favorite attraction: a parked tractor. They did not want to get off for a good 40 minutes or so.

Here's a list of just SOME of the things they had at this crazy fun pumpkin patch: 

• live band
• tractor rides
• giant corn maze
• haybale maze
• petting zoo
• cider pressing
• food
• free drinks (hot cocoa)
• haybale pyramid with tunnels (Paul's favorite)
• pony rides
• a corn pit to play in
• pumpkin launching (Blair's favorite)
• and of course a huge pumpkin patch

Those were just the things we happened to see. We didn't see all of it though. We'll definitely be visiting that farm again in the future!

Halloween

Paul was a train conductor for Halloween. I had thought about making Paul's costume, but saw this one online for $20 and caved.

This was the first year Paul got to do real trick or treating in a neighborhood. He and his cousin were practicing saying "trick or treat" the whole time they were at peoples' front door, but as soon as the door opened, both Paul and his two-year old cousin froze. It happened at almost every single house. 

At one of the houses, "uncle Gary" urged the boys to say it nice and loud. So Paul was in the middle of yelling it at the top of his lungs (and he's got some lungs, let me tell you!) when the door opened, causing him to freeze mid sentence,

"TRICK OR TR----" 

The lady at the door just laughed.