Brycen's big announcement!

Brycen is excited to announce he will be a big brother in March!

We had a gal from Kirkwood make us a cake with the sealed envelope from our ultrasound tech. We had tried this with Brycen but our plan backfired... We're wiser now. 

Our gender reveal cake:

Burke , Brycen and Mom cut open the cake on Wednesday, Nov. 6th!

It's a boy! 

We've made it!

Brycen has completed quite the potty training journey!  He first started going on the potty last year in September at just 1 1/2 years old.  Of course, we knew this was just a fluke, but he continued to go daily, sometimes multiple times per day for months afterwards when we would sit him on his potty seat.  At first, we thought he would be a breeze and he'd be completely potty trained by 2 years old! What an accomplishment... then reality set in.

We had multiple potty books and at first had fun reading while sitting in the bathroom. Well, he was never quite ready on his own terms.  There was a time between February and April that going potty was a point of contention and he refused to go.  It was frustrating for us, but we knew he was still young yet.

During the summer, he had the opportunity to see Addie and Peyton going potty at Jean's house all of the time and he would often go as well, but was never to the point where he told us before he needed to go.  From the beginning, we rewarded Brycen with stickers and we had gone through multiple sticker boards for his hundreds of stickers.  We would bring the potty seat with us on trips to Grandparent's houses and he would go at routine times.  He got in the habit of always going after every meal and before bath time.

The big change came when two different events happened- new school and moving to the new house.  Brycen was still in cloth diapers when he started his new school but I am sure his attitude changed a little bit in his new environment.  He noticed all of the other kids in his classroom lining up for potty time and going to the bathroom multiple times each day and I'm sure he wanted to be classified as a big kid like those who wore underwear, too.

When we moved to our new house, we finally had time to commit to Brycen's potty training efforts.  Before we were split between two homes on the weekends and our new house didn't have plumbing until days before we moved in.  It was difficult to provide consistency at that time.  After we moved in, we started setting the timer on the microwave for every hour and made a habit of going when the timer went off.  When we were doing this we let him wear his underwear and he loved it!  There were times where we by-passed the sticker and rewarded him with candy corn and he caught on pretty quickly.

I'd say within two weeks of the timer and reminding him to go after a length of time he was potty trained.  We've taken long car rides, been to church, and out in public shopping or at a restaurant multiple times without any accidents.  That is of today, November 5th.  :)  We still use pull-ups at night, not necessarily because he's had accidents (only one) but because we have a package of them to use and it provides a safety net.

We're proud of Brycen!

Trick or Treat!

This year Brycen really enjoyed Halloween and had a funtime getting into the whole holiday. This year he went as Superman because he is very interested in all of his capes and super heros. 

We carved pumpkins to make a jack-I-lantern one night. 

The finished product.

Showing off all of his candy!

He was so proud!

It's a bird, it's a plane, no... it's Superman!

We went trick-or-treating at our old neighborhood in Swisher. It was familiar and fun to see old friends and neighbors. Most of all, it was a short trip on a very cold night!

Brycen liked picking the design when we drew the face but didn't like to pull out the cold slimy seeds...

The Wrestling Show

For about 4 months at least, Brycen and Burke have had fun wrestling after Brycen's bath.  Just recently Brycen has started calling it "The Wrestling Show."  The normal routine is after Brycen's bath and when he's finished brushing his teeth, he yells for Dad asking if he wants to wrestle... or sometimes just saying it's time for the wrestling show.  

This show takes place on Mom & Dad's bed always starts with a hand shake and consists of many take-downs, reversals, escapes, among other wrestling moves.  Over the summer, when Burke was working late at the house, Brycen really missed this time with Dad but that soon was forgotten after we moved and Dad was home for the nightly event.  

Recently, they have been wrestling occasionally on the spare bed and Brycen has told Burke to be "the great sleeping bear" from one of his favorite Bernstein Bears books.  While Burke is pretending to sleep, Brycen will climb the bed and attempt to crawl over the great sleeping bear.  It's then that Burke wakes up and they start all over again.  No matter the nightly routine, Brycen likes to have his last burst of energy right before settling down for bedtime books and stories.  

Pumpkin Patch!

The first weekend of October, Brycen spent the weekend with Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard while Daddy went to a Hawkeye football game and Mom worked at Kirkwood's Family Day.  We took Brycen over to their house on Friday night and Brycen immediately went over to the kitchen set that Dan & Jo have and started cooking.

After supper, Brycen had a slight meltdown when he realized that Mom & Dad were leaving.  It had been at least 5 weeks since he'd had a night away from us and a lot of change had happened in those weeks.  After some long good-bye's he was fine a few minutes after we had left.

Even though the weather was less than desirable, it being cold, cloudy and a light drizzle in the early morning, Brycen had fun being outside.  They fed apples to the horses and cows right away in the morning and it was a good thing that he had his rain boots packed!

Later on, they drove to a pumpkin patch in Grinnell.  Brycen had so much fun going on a hay rack ride, jumping on a large trampoline and seeing animals.  They also stopped at another farm to pick out pumpkins.  Brycen came home with all sorts of stories about what they did and he was very proud of the two large pumpkins, painted pumpkin, smaller pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn that he strategically placed on the front porch.

I think Grandpa and Grandma had just as much fun as Brycen and will cherish the memories forever!

Being 2 1/2

In September, Brycen was officially 2 and a half years old... already!  I thought I'd do a quick blog post about him being 2 1/2 years old.  :)

- Brycen continues to amaze Burke and I with what comes out of his mouth (in a good way).  His vocabulary is amazing and his ability to use words in the correct context is so much fun.  Jolene even made a comment recently saying conversations with Brycen can be compared to having a conversation with a 40 year old man.

- Brycen is decisive (always has been) but now that he is going through more aggressive stages, the mind games and word twists are harder and harder to pull off.

- We no longer have to have matching clothes every day.  (Whew!)  For a while there, it was difficult to dress him because he'd be convinced things didn't match.  He's more concerned if the shirts fit comfortably over his head when putting them on and taking them off.

- Brycen is still a mama's boy. At 9 months old, someone told me that it would wear off... and at 2 years old I was told that it was just a phase... I think he's stuck in this "phase."  He truly loves his Daddy but whenever times are tough or he gets the slightest bit emotional- it's Mom that he wants.  This is very apparent at bedtime when reading books.

- Brycen loves to wrestle his Daddy!  He's started calling it "The Wrestling Show" after bath time.  He has been doing this for about 6 months now, but it's an expectation every night.

- Brycen wears all 3T clothes, size 8 shoes, and wears baseball caps that nearly fit on my head.  He has been weighing between 37-39 pounds for about 5 months or so now but continues to stretch out.  Since his 2 year checkup in March, he's grown over 2 inches!

- Brycen's favorite books are The Truck Book, I-Spy books, Mouse Soup, Tractor Power & What's New on the Farm, and The Spooky Old Tree.  We try to keep our bedtime routine short, but it usually lasts at least 20 minutes.  It involves about 3 books (depending on length), a prayer, and a story or two.  It always ends with "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

- His favorite toys are his many tractors, wagons, sprayer, combine, and other farm machinery.  He plays with these daily.  He still likes his dinosaurs that hid under his bed, but they're a distant second to the farm equipment.  He loves riding his bike, digging in the garden or dirt, helping Daddy with work around the house, sweeping, and helping Mom with laundry.

- Brycen is now potty trained! Yay!

- His favorite foods are still fruits, that has not changed.  He enjoyed the late summer harvest of pears and apples from Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard's trees.  He eats a lot of mandarin oranges, tortillas, bananas, and toast.  His favorite meat is a pork chop.  Especially Fareway meat counter's smoked chops- he could almost eat an entire chop to himself if we let him.  He still won't eat things that don't look physically appealing to him (rice, some veggies, hamburger meat).  His most recent cravings have been chocolate milk and candy corn.

- He has been drinking out of normal cups for a few months now.  We've put away all but one "sippy" cup to clear room in the cupboards.

- He goes to bed around 8:30 pm and wakes up around 6:30am.  He naps usually between 12:30-2:30, depending on when he goes down for a nap it could be later but it is usually about 2 hours.

- Brycen knows left from right, and is starting to recognize more numbers.  He understands his traffic lights, turn signals, the difference between an interstate and a highway (in his mind) and which side of the road we drive on.  He's learned that he can get up after the first number on the clock says "6."

- Brycen has really started to grasp feelings, too.  He understands how things make him feel and does a very good job communicating his feelings now.

- Brycen loves his super hero capes!  He's caught on to Spider Man, Batman, and Superman just by the hype that Burke and I give them.  He's got a Spiderman tooth brush and shoes, Batman hat, pajamas, and shirt, and he has Superman capes, pajamas and will be Superman for Halloween.

- He's a smart, loving, caring little boy!

The BIG Move!

The time had finally come and we were ready to move.  It came down to Friday's (September 20th) electrical inspection and even at 5:45 pm when Alliant Energy turned our gas heat connection on.  We were set to go, and Brycen was having fun packing up his things to move.  Since we first started framing the new house, Brycen knew exactly which room was his.  It became even more exciting when the first coat of paint went on and he was special enough to have a blue wall in his room.

As shelving went up in the closets, and carpet was laid earlier in the week, we started taking more and more each day.  We kept telling Brycen how he would get to take a nap in his new room on Saturday afternoon.  Grandpa Fara drove over on Friday night and was there in the morning when Brycen woke up.  He was EXCITED!  We started packing up the two trailers, three pickups, and two Highlanders that morning.  Brycen got to help with a few things in his room and had fun directing traffic.  We had already moved quite a few of his toys to the new house and had them in a corner of the basement so he could play out of the way.

Once lunchtime came, we had the bedrooms set up and Grandma Blanchard was able to stay at the house while Brycen took his nap in the comfort of his bed in his new room.  By Saturday night, we had most of our possessions at the new house stuffed in the garage and corners of the basement.  We were blessed to have wonderful helpers!  Waking up on Sunday morning was a new experience getting used to the train whistles in Walford.  No one told us about those!  Brycen luckily slept through them until a little after six.  We took another trip over to Swisher and gathered the rest of our things and spent the rest of Sunday settling in.

Otis spent two nights with us at the new house before going to Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard's house for a while.  We needed to have black dirt delivered in order to have the lawn seeded.  He spent about a week in Belle Plaine before going to Chris Riddle's in Grinnell for two weeks.

Burke and I took the entire next week off when transitioning, which was a very smart move.  There were two days where Burke and I were able to go to Brycen's school together and Brycen really liked that.  We closed on our house in Swisher on Friday, September 27th and ended the week when we both picked Brycen up early from school.

Brycen had very few moments where he missed our home in Swisher.  There were about three or four times where he had cried because he missed his old home and neighbors.  He was always full of questions why we have a new house and why we don't live in Swisher anymore.  Overall, Brycen took moving very well.  By the time our move day finally came, he had spent countless hours on weekends and week nights at our new home.

It was early on when he decided he needed to bring his tool bench and all his tools over to help Daddy, Grandpa, and Aaron.  Grandma Blanchard was a big help when she brought two tubs full of old tractors and other trucks to have in the basement to play with.  The tractors had many hours outside in the dirt while we were putting in the underground fence and building the screen porch.

Now Brycen likes to listen for the trains that go through town and race toward his room or the front door in order to see them.  He loves his new room and all the places that he now keeps his toys.  Although he doesn't get downstairs very often, he has spent many hours in the basement playing with tractors and other toys.  He's got full rein of the basement and enjoys the very long run of open space to ride in his car or take a stroll on his bike.

Another challenge is keeping Brycen concentrated on his supper rather than distracted by everything else.  We now eat at the kitchen table for supper every night and we pull up to the bar-height counter for breakfast every morning.  There is something about the lower height of the chair that tempts Brycen to get out, but he does alright.

We couldn't be more proud of the little guy going through so many changes at one time.  He had his last day at Jean's house, said good-bye to friends he'd known his whole life, started a new daycare, and moved to a new house within three weeks.  We're lucky to have such a good little guy who really "gets it" and asks a lot of questions.