Malcolm: Age 4

Well, we're up to speed with Elliot.  During my blogging hiatus, Malcolm turned 4 years old.  We celebrated as he specifically requested, with a rocket birthday.  He wanted a rocket cake, and that's about all he'd thought of for his birthday.  We also shot off some Alka Seltzer rockets and made some rockets from straws.  He got really into rockets from watching the movie Dispicable Me.  He was always flying things to the moon.  Now he's into Volcanos, thanks to an episode of Wonder Pets and the Pixar short Lava before the movie Inside Out.  Though the volcano fetish is starting to wind down.  He liked volcanos, but is also very scared of them.  Sounds accurate, right?

Anyway, more about Malcolm:

He just started preschool.  He goes to Plymouth Elementary down the street 4 days a week.  We all get our exercise taking him there, and I haven't taken him grocery shopping since it started.  It's nice having just one to haul around with me again!  He was nervous for a while, but never cried.  I think he's really enjoying it.  I ask him every day what's something he liked and something he didn't like about the day.  He can usually come up with lots of things he liked and the something he didn't like is ususally that someone wasn't there, or that they didn't get to play on the playground.  He's getting pretty good at holding a pencil and using it. He also does a program online called Utah Upstart.  It prepares kids for kindergarten.  I feel like he learns a ton from it.  He gets the social aspects of school from preschool though.

Malcolm is a full blown 4 year old, and he asks me a thousand questions a day.  Why this, why that.  All. Day. Long.

Malcolm is still a good eater.  He will eat almost anything.  Fish tacos, curry, you name it, he'll eat it for the most part.

Mal has picked up a habit of yelling.  ALL THE TIME.  He's constantly trying to have a conversation with me from the basement.  I can't stand it.  He doesn't even look for us when he needs us, he just walks into a main area of the house and yells "MOOOOOOOMMY!"  even if I'm in the room.  I try to enforce it by never yelling from another room for him.

Malcolm can be quite sweet, I try to remind myself of that when he's challenging my patience.  He has turned into quite a snuggler.  He likes to sit next to me on the couch and put his arms around me or hold my hand or arm.  He likes to lay his head down on Ryan's lap when it's meal time and it drives Ryan crazy.  When we were on a recent vacation in California, Malcolm would often come up behind me and put his arms around my neck.  He's never been much of an affectionate kid, so it's nice sometimes.

Mal still loves all things that go, like cars and trains and airplanes.  He loves to see construction equipment out on the road.  He also loves to draw and paint.  He loves Legos, though we have only a few of them.  He also likes to play hide and seek, or as I like to call it, mommy takes short naps in hidden places.

I feel like my biggest struggle with Malcolm lately is trying to teach him that we don't get everything we want simply because we want it.  That "I don't want to", isn't a viable reason for not doing something.  That sometimes it's just what Mommy or Daddy says that goes and that things aren't up for discussion.  Though, I forsee this being a constant battle over the course of his life under our care. Like always, some days are better than others.

This summer, we went to Lagoon frequently thanks to season passes from Grandma.  We made a goal that he had to try a new ride every time we went.  It was fun to watch him be brave and try something he might be scared to do.  He of course, always liked the rides after he tried them.  He's also impressed me with his bravery getting into the ocean when we were in california.  He was plenty nervous but after several days, he was jumping in the waves and having lots of fun.  Malcolm will still mention the beach to me every once in a while.

Malcolm has a great imagination.  He's always pretending things and telling me all about things he's thought up.  he's also still a very resilient kid.  He handles long days and long car rides and things off routine really well.  Malcolm is also great with Elliot.  They manage to play together most of the time.  He is on the look out for her and comes to her defense with other kids/cousins, etc.  He's kind of protective.  He also is the one causing the most problems with her most often, so you know, you win some, you lose some.  Malcolm will often seek Elliot out and get upset when she doesn't want to play with him.

Malcolm is definitely an introvert, and doesn't like big groups or singled out attention.  It's been nice to see him still be okay at preschool after he's warmed up and gotten used to things.

That's about all I can think of for Mal today.  We sure love him.  He's his own little person and brings us so much joy.

Elliot, 19 months old

This poor poor blog.  So neglected.  I'd planned to catch it up, but after almost an entire summer and being behind before that, I guess some memories are just going to have to be lost.  There's other social media that's captured most of it anyway, at least snippets.  Good 'ol Chatbooks will save us all.
Anyhoo...  I've decided I'm just going to push forward.  I was looking at older blog posts and I started feeling bad for my also poor neglected second child.  Not that she's actually neglected, but with the blog neglect, she has significantly less documentation about her than her big brother got at her age. So here's a happy little catch up about Elliot now at the ripe 'ol age of 19 Months.

Where to begin?  At her 18 month check up, she was still weighing teeny tiny, but was all on track for everything other than weight.  So, her usual.  Her hair is growing and it's been fun putting it into little hairdos, though there's not much of it.  She just switched to a front facing car-seat, which I think she likes quite a lot.

Elliot is so happy.  All the time.  She is always good for a happy greeting and an enthusiastic "hi!"  She loves to smile and say hi to strangers we pass at the store.  She's so enthusiastic, they always answer her back.  She's starting to really pick up on words, and obviously understands far more than she can say.  A sampling of words she knows off the top of my head is: Hello, mommy, daddy, banana, apple, car, kitty, doggie, more, nora, grandma and grandpa, malcolm (prounounce bah boh), body parts like eyes, ears, nose.  She also says "there it is" or "there you are" in a slurred together sing song word. If you pull out a camera or phone to take her picture, she'll stop and say "cheeeeeeeee!" (cheese).

 Elliot loves books, but has a short attention span for them and often stops me half way through to get another one.  She recently prefers to walk rather than be carried or in a stroller, which is kind of a relief, because she has always loved to be carried.  But it's also an issue, because she doesn't want to hold your hand in important places like parking lots and crossing streets.

Elliot and Malcolm play together a lot.  Though they fight plenty, they also spend a lot of time together laughing and playing.  They like to yell at each other across the room at increasing volume levels.  Elliot also likes to provoke Malcolm all the time by just walking up and yelling "mine!" at him.  She doesn't even have to claim anything, and he'll fire back with "mine!" and it goes back and forth until Mommy's patience completely explodes.

Elliot is a screamer.  So much drama comes from that girl.  I say she is most often happy, but when she's not, you know.  She will let a blood curdling scream out at the slightest provocation.  Any time she's remotely unhappy, she's screaming.  She also happy screams, so there's no quiet.  ever.  She's screamed other kids off of toys at the park that she has claimed as her own.

Elliot loves bananas.  I have to limit her to only one a day.  I have to make mid-week grocery runs not just for milk, but for bananas.  She also loves pizza, and can eat more than you'd ever expect her to in one sitting.

Ellie is a tease and a nut.  She is always doing something because she thinks it's funny.  She will yell "mommy" and Ryan because he will correct her over and over and she'll just laugh.  When I'm in the front seat of the car, she'll repeat my name over and over until I look at her and then she just rattles off a bunch of gibberish and laughs.  Then when I turn back, she's back repeating "Mommy mommy mommy mommy" until I turn and she can babble at me and laugh again.  Ellie loves to hand you something just to take it away last minute.  She's one silly little girl.

All in all,  I'm really loving the age Elliot is at right now.  She's so fun and is a nice break from her brother's attitude sometimes.

And to top it all off, here's some pictures of Elliot I took after a random Sunday drive we took around the Alpine Loop that ended at Sundance where an outdoor concert was going on.

A Colossal Conglomeration of Random Photos From Contemporary Green Life

Yes, I frequent Thesaurus.com while writing blog posts, why do you ask?

I'm so terribly behind on my blogging, that you get to have this giant picture vomit of a post to make up for all the smaller posts I should have been doing instead.
If you make it to the end-- there's a prize!

We're taking it back people.  WAY back!  To FEBRUARY.  Yeah... a 4 month blogging hiatus is far too long.
Anyway... I got a pass to Planet Fitness so I could start weight training.  It really has made all the difference.  I've been feeling awesome now that I'm getting stronger.   

Random moments in a filthy mirror.  Matching colors! 

Mal and I made Valentines and gave them to his cousins and friends, just for fun.  Now when he sees twinkies at the store he calls them minions. 

Couldn't help myself with the googly eyes from the minions!

new closet organization from the Container Store!  It's been so nice to have.

Ryan's valentine from me.  I thought it was pretty good for a man Valentine.

Malcolm at the Lego Store.  He was obsessed with the Lego Movie at the time.  They have Lego sets of movie scenes! 

Speaking of Valentines, I ended up being put on call and we all went out for brinner--or breakfast for dinner at Village Inn.  Ryan secretly paid for the ladies dinner next to us after over hearing them talk about their financial problems.  Now THAT's romantic.

Sitting in the sun one Sunday Afternoon.

Our first time playing 7 Wonders!  Now we're a bit obsessed and even own one.  (JVo and KevLi bought it for me for my birthday)

Earned a cookie for successfully cooperating at the doctor's office for his height and weight.  He won't ever do it and his inaccurate measurments made it look like he hadn't grown in 6 months!  Don't worry, he had grown afterall.

I have no idea... probably he was just cute in his suspenders.

Crawling out of her high chair onto the table to play in Malcolm's cereal bowl.  She's trouble!

Blech!  Back when Ryan's beard got long enough for a pony tail!  So gross. 

He has some books memorized so well you'd think he could read. 

One day, I had told both Laura and Brenna I could watch their kids, but had neglected to notice they were the SAME day.  So I had all 7 Dearden grandkids at my house at once.  Seven kids under the age of 6.  Holy Crap!  But we made it through!  In fact, at the end of the day, I decided I want to have more children of my own!

"look!  Olaf has glasses!"

And then there was the playdough phase.  Malcolm would play with playdough EVERY day.

I started having regular Girls Nights Out with these lovely ladies.  It's been so nice! 

Starting sippy sup skillzzz.

Painted my dad some shoes.  They feature the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers and the Chocolate drops rock formation in the maze + compass rose.

We got hardly any snow this winter, so when it snowed one day, we headed out for a snowman!  it was almost fully melted by the end of the day.

Then hot chocolate mustache.

See?  All sad and melted.

Joshua Radin concert with Mary!

Too small jammies.

Back when she used to eat less picky and was eating eggplant parm.  She's SO picky now. 

Ryan fixing the leaking sink.  He didn't have the right tools so...

My dad came later and finished up.

Temple night with all my siblings.  it ended up being 8 years to the day since I'd been through the first time.  I found my old newbie badge in the bottom of my temple bag.

Malcolm's first friend party!  He went over to the neighbors house for a party! 

Anniversary present! 

Ah... look how little she was. Climbing up there and I put a pillow behind her because I was sure she would fall.  Now she's EVERYWHERE.

Dirt dirt dirt.  Always playing in the dirt.  Now we've planted a garden in that dirt, so he's dirtless.

Probably the best picture of these two ever.  So cute and silly in the bath!

Ryan went with the Titensors and my parents with the kids down to Moab one weekend when I had to work.  He watched the Titensor's kids while they ran the Moab Half Marathon.

She learned to go up the stairs.  So she'd go up to the top, then scream to be taken back down to do it all again!
 

Shoes I painted for MiQuelle

I finally stopped resisting having toys in the front room and just organized them. 

She loves to play in the shower when someone is in there!

Some random day we went to City Creek with Brenna and Laura.

Malcolm's "backpack"

I told Mal Daddy would be home soon.  So he went outside to wait.  SO CUTE!

The very last snow!  It was April, I think.

Date night!

Learning to use a spoon!

Started my new calling: Primary Chorister.  This is my creation!

"Mommy, look!"

New tent!

Painted the front door.

Daddy's homecoming. 

I had several days where I watched Mike and Brenna's kids.  I got Quinn to nap by telling her she couldn't leave the couch until I told her.

Went bowling with the Titans!

This is our neighbor friend.  he came over to pay while his parents were working one day.  Mal and Sterling had lots of fun. 

One of the days I was watching Quinn and Asher, I HAD to get to the store.  We were headed out of town to Freemont, and we needed food!  So I hauled them all to Costco.  We made it unscathed.

Brenna sent me this photo one day when Malcolm and Elliot were at her house.  Kissing Cousins!  It was even Malcolm's idea: "Quinn, come over here and give me a kiss!" 

Made two posters for Employee Appreciation week at work.  It was Lego Movie themed, can you tell?  I've since been redcruited for other things both at work and at church similar to this.  Enough that I've grumbled to myself how I should have been hiding my talents under a bushel.  :)

Celebrating hard core at Taco Bell.

She'd put each raspberry on her finger and then dropped them into her tomato soup.  She didn't eat them after that.  Go figure.

AAAAALL THE BINKIEEEEES!!

Our Aquarium pass expired in May.  We decided not to renew and get a Thanksgiving Point pass instead.  I was amazingly sad to say goodbye on our last trip there.  It had been a fun year of many many trips to the aquarium.

She learned how to get into this chair on her own and was so proud.

We had dinner with the Saudi Arabian guys that Laura has befriended.  The food was awesome, and they are all so nice!  It was a fun evening.

Malcolm made me this "beautiful animal bead necklace". (His words)

Ryan being a trouper during a night out. He loves Charming Charlies.

We had another date night where we ate at Cubby's for the first time, then saw Pitch Perfect 2 with the Titensors, Brenna and Bridget, the Ovesons, and Mallory and her date.

At the nursery for our garden plants.  It's still thriving!

a cake I made for dinner with KevLi and JVo.

planting the garden.  Malcolm loved to help!  It was fun.

Exactly what it looks like! 

Ryan took a day off work because we didn't have a babysitter for my work day.  Then I ended up being put on call!  So we spent the day riding the trax train to City Creek.

We took a drive on a Saturday (so nice to have those off now) up to Brigham City.  We stopped by Smith and Edwards and fullfilled a long time dream of Ryan's.  (He's always wanted to go there) Then fulfilled a recurring long time dream of mine, of eating at Maddox Steakhouse.  Their rolls are amazing!  and really all their food is awesome.  Sasaparilla!  Ah, So good!  I remember it now...............

We got this from Smith and Edwards.  It's a magic paint sort of thing that uses only water.  Malcolm LOVES it.  I need to get like 3 more.  Elliot likes to use it too.  Best car/church/quiet toy ever. 

This girl seriously thinks she's hilarious.  And most of the time-- she's right.

You made it???  Here's your prize!:

Yeah, a whole lotta nothing.  Sorry!  Made you look! (bwah ha ha ha ha!)