Grand Finale

This will be, I think, our last Vash memory for the blog. I'd set out to write until I couldn't remember anything else about before we started our family blog, and I wanted it to last about 19 months, the age he was when I started all this. I figured a memory a week for that long, would be just about cover it. Especially when you consider how little babies do almost nothing the first three months of life. (Not knocking that either. I know almost no one who adores little babies the way I do.) It's been great reliving and sharing all of our treasured moments about our first child. Vash really is a special and unique boy. (BTW, Rhyla is an exceptionally sweet and sensative girl.) I'm so grateful that he's come first, to set the example and help me with his younger siblings. I've learned so much already, and feel that I'm a better person because I am a mother. I'm even grateful for the hard days. They teach me about true, eternal, everlasting, love and devotion. I understand more fully the love Heavenly Father has for each of His children despite what they do and where they are. I love Vash with my whole being, whether he's spitting at me, or giving me kisses. I know that Heavenly Father loves His children, whether they're singing His praises, or denying He even exists. It's a great privilege to be a part of a family and to see life from this point of view. I look forward to welcoming more children to our family, and learning more and different things from each one of them.
A story for the road?
Vash was in nursery. He didn't want to sing because the toys were much more interesting to him. They started to sing "I am a child of God" one of his favorites. He has the words memorized. In his hurry to protest, instead of saying "No Singing! Not I am a child of God!" He mixed up and ended up hollering something like, "No, No singing! I'm NOT a child of God!"
:)
"Where are you going, my little one, little one?
Where are you going, my angel, my own?
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four,
Turn around and you're a young [groom] going out of my door." -Malvina Reynolds

Not so fast, OK bubs? I'm loving you as my little boy for as long as I can!

My Stubborn Boy

Based off my experience and interaction with several toddlers over the years, I would dare argue that my son is the most stubborn and strong willed child you will ever meet. That being said, I love him and would never trade him. But sometimes I wish things were easier. Like brushing teeth. Why do I have to sit on him and pry his mouth open to get the job done? Why do we spend an hour fighting to get clean clothes and shoes on to go play while he insists on wearing a dripping wet diaper, pajamas, and flip flops several mornings? Why does he cry when I offer him sugar cereal in the morning, push it away and then scream for sugar cereal when I bring him toast or something else? How many times have I drug him out of a play area and taken him home because he refused to say he was sorry for pushing? If I want a light on, he turns it off. If I keep the light off he turns it on and glares at me, like he's saying "that'll teach you." If there are ten cars and only himself and one other boy playing, why can't they each have five cars? Why does Vash insist that even nine of the ten aren't enough. He needs all ten. He'll scratch and bite when it's time to get into the car if he's not ready to leave. I'll make him sit on the potty for 20 minutes because I can smell that he needs to poop, but he doesn't and then the second he's off the potty and has his pants on, he drops his load without any hesitation. He'll holler at me, roll his eyes, and sarcastically say "Fine," when I've upset him. I'm hoping his teenage years will be better because he's gotten it all out of his system. Anyhow, now that I've painted a picture of our worse days, let me lighten the mood with a funny story. Our bedtime routine consists of getting into pajamas, brushing teeth, reading scriptures, saying prayers, and singing a few songs. Every night when Craig says "Alright it's time for scriptures," or "Ok, let's get changed into pj's." Vash just looks right at him and says. "Vass's aweek." (Vash is awake.) Maybe it's only funny to us... Don't have to say a word about bedtime, but as soon as he knows that's where it's headed, he's ready to alert us to his non sleepy condition.

Too Many P's

Vash is a smart boy. He has a great memory and he loves nicknaming things. He's still learning to talk though, and will make small, but hilarious, mistakes. Papa took Vash to visit Grampi in the Recovery Center after a surgery. Papa wanted to bring Grampi a pepper plant. So if you were to ask Vash what it was they did, he would have told you that Papa took him to give "Peepee" (Grampi) a "Poo Poo" (Pepper) plant.

Relief Society

Before Vash was old enough for Nursery, he used to come with me to Relief Society most Sundays. We'd sit in the back, nicknamed Mommy Row, and snuggle. He's sit on my lap and eat treats, look at books, and  occasionally play with a toy. I remember, I'd always wait until the last fifteen minutes to give him a mish mash, his favorite treat. They're like applesauce in a pouch, but you can have lots of flavors and different ingredients. I remember thinking, if I can just hold him off until then, he'll take the rest of the time eating and then we'll go home without any fussing! It was an art form. Getting through Relief Society with a toddler and no tears or whining. He really enjoys nursery now, and I'm glad he's there. But I sort of miss those days of mish mash. (Rhyla has always just napped or run around during Relief Society. She's a pleasant baby, but there's no sitting there for her if she's not sleeping.)

Who needs an Ipod?

We sing to the kids every night to help them fall asleep now that we're in our new place. We sang before, but they seem to like it better now because it's something familiar in a world of change. When Vash was a baby he loved all the Disney classics, particularly songs from Pocahontas( Colors of the Wind), Hunchback of Notre Dame(God Help the Outcasts), and Willy Wonka's "pure imagination". Now we sing a mix of kid song and adult songs because Vash understands more and wants more complicated words than Twinkle Twinkle can offer. Our current playlist:
You are my sunshine
One Song (Snow White)
Meet me in the middle
Song Bird
Reflection
A dream is a wish your heart makes
Rainbow connection
Death cab for cutie's "Follow you into the dark"
Dashboard confessionals "Hand down"
I am a child of God
As I have loved you (Rhyla's Fave)
If ever I would leave you (Camelot)
When you wish upon a star
and Vash's current fave, the Beatles "Blackbird". He calls it "Black eye." and thinks the words are "fly into the light," instead of "Into the light of a dark black night." *smirks*

Artist

Vash is really getting good at drawing. He's always been interested in coloring and the like since he was able to grasp a pencil. But now he's actually drawing things that you can see what he's trying to create. When he tells me he drew a whale, I can see the head and tail. He puts the eyes, nose, and mouth in the right place on all of his people. He drew a Vash pumpkin and put hair on top. He draws lines of different heights, and explains that the tallest line is a daddy line, the next is a mommy line, the next a Vash line, and Rhyla is always the shortest of the lines. My three year old is into impressionist art! LOL. His love for art has actually rubbed off on Rhyla. She'll put down her books occasionally to sit and color with us. Sometimes she scribbles all over the pages, but usually she tries to stay in the lines and color like me and Vash. We joke that if he get's an art degree he could go and work as a story board artist for Pixar or something one day. We only joke because as parents we hope his art is a hobby that he finds much pleasure in, but chooses to get a degree and work in a field that's a little more stable. They don't call them starving artists for nothing!

Vash the Builder

Vash loves building things. He loves making legos into a house, he loves stacking boxes and using them as slides. This week Vash got to help Craig build a step attachment that he will use with a ladder when he paints areas from the stairs. Vash enjoyed this activity immensly. He was sweating, handing Craig his tools. He learned what a screw is, he learned that a square is not only a shape but a tool. And he learned to step far back when Daddy uses the saw. (He didn't get hurt, he just knew by the sound it made that staying away was a good idea.) It fills me with joy to see my son spending quality time with his dad while he learns to do something productive and fun. And Craig had so much fun teaching Vash that I think he'll be letting Vash helped whenever something needs to be built in the future.