The Best Two Years

Here's the promised update on little Ez:

In my only slightly biased opinion Ezra is the best kid there ever was! He brings us so much joy. Every day he makes me smile and I love him more than I ever thought I could. I'm sure I am like every other mother who thinks that every little thing her child does is the funniest thing. I still make James come in to watch him with me while he sleeps and I am always telling him every little thing Ezra said that day that made me laugh.

(here James is stretching and squishing his face in ways that look painful, but Ezra couldn't stop laughing!)

Here's what he's been up to lately:

-He talks all the time and just started putting more than 3 words together.

-He still loves signing and has learned many new signs recently.

-He loves watching signing time.

-He has become obsessed with thomas the train and got his first train track for his birthday. He now wants to play with it for hours at a time.

-He is very active and has to run or jump everywhere he goes.

-People are commenting all the time on how much of a boy he is. He just loves guns, dinosaurs, monsters, cars, trains, rough play, swords, etc.

-He is still very tender hearted and sensitive and I think it's sweet.

-He has a great memory. He will point to a picture of his cousins and say their names when he hasn't seen them in weeks or months. I am just amazed all the time at the things he remembers and points out to me.

-His milk allergy is no longer a problem. He still has an allergy- I notice hives every now and then, but I think his body has built up a tolerance to it and he can finally have straight up cow's milk.

-He wants to know everything and is constantly asking, "what was that?"

-He is really getting the hang of his colors and shapes and can recognize maybe a 1/4 of his ABC's.

-He still loves dancing. He can shake his tail feather and pop-lock like no toddler I have ever seen before.

-He loves the itouch. It's a little embarrassing to me how well he can work it.

-He still gives kisses and hugs all the time. He kisses my tummy lots too.
-He comes up to me when he's tired and says "nuggles" and then he'll say, "yuv you mama" -melts my heart.

-He has finally gotten used to nursery and doesn't put up a fight any more. In fact, most of the time he gets excited when the closing prayer is said in sacrament meeting. He'll almost always shout, "Yay nursree!"

-As for sleeping in his big boy bed... he does great for nap time. Lately he has been getting into bed for his nap before I even say it's time. However, bed time is still a struggle and sleeping through the night is an off and on occurence. Maybe he's just training me for when his brother comes along.

Some of the things he has said or done lately that made me laugh are:

-We got in the car one day and his seat was really hot. He screamed, "hot, hot" and then turned around to blow on it and said, "better."

-During the 4th of July parade we witnessed several horses pooping right in front of us. Now everytime Ezra sees a horse he says, "horsey, poop!" He then follows with "poop potty" It makes me laugh every time.

-He is very polite and almost always says excuse me when he wants to get by someone. The other day he was playing with the trains in Barnes and Noble and he said "skew me" to a little boy who didn't say anything back so Ezra said it again. When the boy didn't say anything back Ezra looked at me and nodded his head and said, "skewzed"
-Last night he pooped in the tub and started screaming bloody murder. He cried even harder when I started draining the tub and the pooped started swimming closer and closer to him. James couldn't help but laugh. I think I would've laughed more if I wasn't the one who had to clean the poop out of the tub.

-I taught him the chubby face/story and now he is always grabbing my cheeks or his own saying "chubby".

-EVERY time we get in the car he asks for the bus song. The second it's over he shouts, "MORE PEAS!" I have found myself singing these songs in the middle of the night and it drives me crazy!

-He started giving me back massages and he loves to play with my hair, though he has realized he gets a bigger reaction out of me when he pulls my hair, so he starts off really nice and then yanks it to hear me yell. He then follows with "sorry pull hair" and starts all over. I am a little too trusting...

(This is at his 2nd birthday party. I was trying to tell him to throw the balloon at daddy, but he wasn't so sure.- photo courtesy of Cristina Sorensen since I didn't get any pics)

Okay just about everything he does I think is so adorable and hilarious. These really have been the best two years so far and I am looking forward to many more!

Ezra is 2!!

Ezra celebrated his 2nd birthday on Saturday the 17th! I can't believe my little guy is 2! We had a lot of fun celebrating, but I unfortunately am an airhead mom and didn't take any pictures!!

We had a birthday party for him on Thursday the 15th because we were going out of town for the weekend on Friday. It was a great turn out. We went to the park and just played some games and had some food and CAKE! We played silly toddler games like, "Who can make the biggest splash" the kids just through a rock into a bucket of water. I know, it sounds lame, but Ezra loves throwing rocks in water, so maybe it was cool for him. Then we threw water balloons mostly at the ground and a few at daddy. We also chased bubbles, played ring around the rosey and sang a couple of Ezra's favorite songs. Then the kids spent the rest of the time playing in the bucket of water and near the drinking fountain. We have some great friends out here and we are so thankful to everyone who came to support our little Ezra's 2nd birthday!

Then on Saturday we were in Pocatello visiting James' sisters. They were so nice about making Ezra's birthday fun for him by throwing a little party with all the cousins. He loved when we sang "happy birthday" and he really loved opening more presents! Then we had brownie trifold for our cake which was delish! Our family is really so cool! I certainly married into a good one.

On Monday we headed to Utah to meet up with my other sister-in-law and to spend the day at Cherry Hill. It was a really cute water park and it was a blast! I even went down the water slide like 100 times. Ezra could only handle it twice and then he was ready for the lazy river again which he just about fell asleep on. I'm sure people looked at me funny every time I got to the bottom of the slide, but the baby is safe, so no worries! One thing I wouldn't recommend during pregnancy however is to be in a bathing suit next to my three beautiful and skinny sisters-in-law. They have each had 2-4 kids and you would never be able to tell, grr!

Anyway, we are back home now and Ezra keeps saying "more happy birday" and "swimming"? It is really cute. I plan on posting soon to do a 2 year update on Ezra's latest within the week, so stay tuned Grandma's!!

Summer Fun

Since my last post seemed a little down I wanted to post to let everyone know that there are still very many things that make me smile each day. My goober husband and adorable son are at the top of the list. We've been enjoying this summer so much. Here are some of the things we have been up to:

(We went camping in Jackson Hole with our friends the Williamson's. Here James is teaching Mr. Ezra how to play with fire.)

(I could just eat that face!!!)

Ezra also started swim lessons this month. Since my bathing suit is very tight and my belly is very big, I decided to make James get in with him. They both have been having a blast! Ezra is a little afraid of the water, but daddy makes it so fun and he loves to play all the games.

(Here he is learning to swim to the side to climb out.)

(Here he is learning to kick while swimming after balls.)

(He is learning to keep his balance so he can swim alone with a floatation device. He is also learning how to shuffle along the side and blow bubbles so he doesn't swallow the water.)

(Here are Ezra and James waiting in line to go go-karting! I have actually taken Ezra a couple times before just he and I, but this was the first time for James, so they were both super excited.)

(James said Ezra kept laughing and got really excited when someone would pass them and Daddy would make a big deal about it. James says they got the slowest kart, but I am very grateful for that because let's be honest, Ezra is only 2!)

(We also went on the bumper boats. There was no one else in line, so I told James I would go too if he promised to be nice and not put me into labor. Ezra loved bumping into mommy. He couldn't stop laughing.)

We have also been enjoying beautiful Rexburg weather. Ezra and I go on walks everyday. He has started asking to go in the car every time we go out. James thinks he just likes getting places faster. I guess it is hard to know you're going to the water, but to have to wait for mommy to waddle across town to get there...

(Since we started going to a family ward we are now close enough to walk to church every Sunday. Here are my handsomes on our way to church.)

(This is Egin lake which is right by the sand dunes. It's a fun lake that doesn't get more than a few feet deep, so you can walk through the entire lake! It's really fun and relaxing. James kept telling me it wasn't very deep, but I came away from our lake walk with very wet capri's.)

(Ezra mostly enjoyed diggin the sand and throwing it. He loves water, but mostly to look at and drink.)

(Can you tell what this is? Well, if you can, please let us know. James sculpted something and we still don't know what it is. All I can identify is a very voluptuous tush.)

(This is Ezra during one of our cross-town adventures to the park. He loves to pick up the bark and make it "rain" into his bucket. He's such a boy and so fun these days.) 

(And of course the famous Rexburg splash park... We walk in the morning, stay all morning and head home for nap time while the sun dries Ezra's suit and he takes a snooze through town.)

(This is Ezra right before he dumped a bucket of water at my feet. We have to bring the bucket everytime because it distracts him from how cold the water is.)

We have also been enjoying daily lunch at the park, carousel rides, ice cream trips, bubbles, chalk drawings, campfires, fireworks, the rodeo, the music festival, the parade, the duck pond and the river. We are outside most of the day everyday which keeps Ezra and I both distracted from his tantrums and we have been having a great time spending every minute together before this baby comes. Tough days still come and go, but Mr. Ezra and my dear husband give me so many reasons to smile and be happy. When I'm not, Ezra is always there ready to run to the bathroom to get me a tissue and James is always ready to massage my aching feet. I love my boys; even little Boy Tressler in my tum :)

Oh, AND... We have finally switched Ezra to cows milk instead of soy and he has been doing great! So exciting! James is really happy to have whole milk in the house right now too. I keep telling him it's Ezra's milk, but he just isn't such a fan of my skim. Does any one else think it is a little ridiculous to buy 3 different kinds of milk for your family of 3?