Things you may or may not know of a little someone.

1.  He is brilliant.

Seriously...Who thinks of this kind of stuff? He insisted on helping me carry our tomato cages to the car. I turn around to this. Makes me want to cut off the top and drape a dress on him :)

2. He has a twin from another mother.

They get along great and have crazy imaginations. Most days, my only intervention is to remind them to remember to share. The weird part? Reminder to share their pretend cookies....and apples...and friends. They seriously break down to tears when the other won't share something that in reality, doesn't exist. I never had much of an imagination so I find it sightly weird.

3. His photography skills are becoming quite fantastic.I enjoy downloading pictures on to the computer and seeing what he has been up to.

4. On our last flight, as soon as the "fasten your seatbelt" light went off, Brycen stood on the chair and started dancing and singing, "I like to move it, move it! I like to MOVE IT!"  It was quite the scene.
He then fell asleep like this.

Too bad it was on the landing of the 4 hour flight...
5. He is amazing with his little brother.

Oh Texas!

My first journey flying solo with the boys took us to Texas to see my oldest brother graduate from Texas A&M Medical School.

  

Joshua, his wife--Laura, Cian and cousin-Liala.

The big event brought my whole family together--and we got to meet Brycen and Cian's first cousins on my side of the family. Our kids are no longer the only grandkids.

Cian with 12 day old Liam.

 

It made things a bit more crazy but still good since I was husbandless (grad school sure keeps him busy), I called dips on the two younger uncles and thus, had two extra sets of arms.

Grandpa-ing up during the graduation ceremony.

Announcing: Dr. Joshua Shields! Brycen LOVED it!

With the proud parents...

Sure love my 3 year old.

Josh also was commissioned into the Air Force!

The progression of the following pictures crack me up. Our attempt to get all the grandkids with the grandparents. Notice specifically Brycen and Cian in the first couple.

Cian loves to pull hair! But really, what baby doesn't...

Solution. I guess happiness trumps getting all to look at the same camera.

On a side note, our hotel had a huge indoor bathtub (temperature and all) that Cian went in for his first official swim! He LOVED it!

Flying SOLO

Why flying with two kids is barely possible for me:

1. Brycen LOVES flying. So he is usually happy and easy.
2. He loves to help with Cian. So whenever I needed to fold up the stroller, Brycen gladly flopped on the ground and held him.
3. I consider myself to be an amazing multi-tasker and capable of patience,when needed.

BUT, when a 4 hour layover is thrown into the mix, that is seriously pushing the limits.

Brycen's energy never ceases to amaze me though and then of course his total lack of shyness. After going through security at the airport in Indy, Brycen literally weaved through crowds, sprinting to our gate while greeting everyone he came in contact with--completely not comprehending that his mother with the double wide stroller had no where near the ability to keep up. More than once I heard the comment, (while chuckling) "Who's child is that?" Once he arrived at our gate, he literally jumped in the air repeatedly while shouting, "Yes! We made it! We are here!!!" The front row of elderly people got a hoot out of it.

Once we took the 18 minute flight to Chicago (maybe not that short, but we were practically told to chug our drinks it was so short), Brycen exited the plane with both hands waving like he was the President of the United States, greeting the crowds.

So, what do you do for 4 hours?

1. You find these handy water bottle stations, every airport in the World should invest in them. I LOVE water and this is just brilliant. Not to mention that it is purified, yummy water not chilled tap water...

2. Act out "The Terminal". I have a deep love for quarters, I'm not sure why... so when I saw an abandoned airport cart and then further down, a station to return it; I jumped on the idea of having Brycen earn a quarter while wasting some good time.

  

It literally took 45 minutes to direct Brycen and the cart through crowds just to find out that they NO LONGER GIVE QUARTERS!!! Cheapos. Major disappointment. Good thing Brycen had no idea of the quarter thing (it was going to be a surprise that he would've LOVED).

3. Moving sidewalks. One after one after one. I'm not sure Brycen quite understands that when he runs while riding, it makes it near impossible to keep up..there was some BIG lecturing followed when I did finally keep up...that was too scary. You know it's bad when a TSA member says, "Is that you child up there?" Yes. Yes...I'm coming!!

4. Stickers.

5. Of course, food.

 

Cian does not seem to love flying quite like his brother does, needing constant entertainment--singing, bouncing, feeding, finding new anything for him to play with (that is okay for him to put into his mouth--everything goes into his mouth these days) you name it-I tried it. And then Brycen needed to use the bathroom. Yes, we all three fit. While holding Cian, I managed to help Brycen pull down his pants, climb onto the toilet, wipe, get dressed and hands washed all in an area that I'm pretty sure I couldn't even touch my toes.
 
End result: We DID make it safely to Texas with one mentally and physically exhausted Momma. VERY grateful helpful family members were on the other side.