Understanding Oklahoma

Driving down the highway with Uncle Aaron, Tristan said, "Mom, I saw a small crane with a chain on one side and a bucket on the other that was going up and down and up and down!" I started explaining what it was, but Aaron said, "If you're going to explain it to him, you should explain it right." So I asked Aaron to explain it to him. He explained that it was a Pump Jack. After they drill down to the oil, the pump jack pumps the oil up out of the ground into a storage barrel. When the barrel is full, they take it by truck to an oil refinery. Tristan asked, "If they pump the oil out of the ground, wouldn't it get dirt in it?" Aaron said, "That's why they take it to the refinery, to clean it." Tristan said, "They must be really smart people."

A few minutes later, he saw a red and white structure with a light at the top. He said, "They're almost done building that light house!" We explained that it was a radio tower and that there are no oceans or bays around here.

We saw a beaver house in the dried up creek out at Uncle Aaron's.

Tristan climbed a REAL huge tree for the first time at Uncle Alex's.

We went to the best Science Museum ever in OKC with Grandma and Uncle Tye.

It's been fun, so far. We'll post some pictures next time.

Daredevil Dorian

Dorian likes to climb up and jump off of the furniture now. The other day I saw him doing it, and although he thought it was very funny, I felt compelled to put pillows down in front of the chair. After seeing him flop on his belly, land on his face, hit and roll, laugh every time and keep climbing back up to do it again and again, I finally got the camera out. (The heavy breathing you hear in the video is a very excited and happy Dorian).

We had a bin in the kitchen to block Dorian from the cat's water dish because he would not stop playing in it. That worked for several weeks. Then one day, he figured out that he could climb over it... or better yet, climb up on it and see if there's anything to eat in the microwave. Yes, he's strong enough to open it!

Our First Snow of the Season

Last week, we had our first snow of the season. It was Dorian's first snow ever. He was quite unsure about it at first, but then set off like a great explorer. Tristan on the other hand has been asking regularly for months when it would snow again, and we could hardly get him to come inside. He did a good job shoveling snow and although our attempts at a snowman failed, he built a nice snow castle. You'll see from the pictures that it got rather dark, and yet he stayed outside, even eating snow when he got thirsty instead of taking a break indoors!

Captain Silvertooth and his Clamorous Crew

Tristan had to get a crown on one of his baby teeth. Since it will eventually fall out; it is the less expensive metal variety. It reminded us of Hippopotamus George's gold tooth from George and Martha. It replaced his favorite right front tooth that fell out in a rollerskating incident on his way to visit Hippopotamus Martha. Tristan is quite proud of it, however does not like being called "Captain Silvertooth" or "Ole Silvertooth" we found.

Dorian is very adept at climbing. He had taken to climbing up on Tristan's desk for awhile. Then he started climbing higher! He'll sit on the pen-holders and put his feet on the desk top. Then he'll whine because he can't sit up straight. Or he'll stand on the desk and grab the underside of Tristan's loft bed. He's really trying to figure out how to climb up into Tristan's bed. He tries climbing the ladder, but doesn't get very far before he's stuck with his head or leg through it in some weird way he can't undo.

Dorian loves to eat. Tristan does not. Tristan takes hours to finish a meal. Dorian chows down and gets it over with. Yesterday, we all sat down to eat a KFC lunch. After about 20 minutes, Eric, Dorian and I were all done and we cleared our table except for Tristan's plate. Then we turned on a Thomas the Tank Engine show and I went to take a nap and Eric went somewhere else in the house. Then I hear Eric exclaim, "Where did you get that?!" So I ran into the living room to see Dorian sitting on the floor in front of the TV with a drumstick in his hand, going to town on it. Tristan was sitting on the couch watching the show, oblivious that his brother had swiped his food off of his lonely plate. Eric said, "Look at him, he's like some sort of viking!"

Boys with Hats

Hats are good for rainy service days.

Tristan and Tyler

Tristan's cousin, Tyler, visited us for a few hours on his way from L.A. to Canada. We spent a few hours together. Tristan is especially fond of Tyler. And Tyler likes Tristan's coloring ability.

About 6 months ago, Tristan told me that he thought his uncle Thomas should have kids. We had a long discussion about how Thomas had to have a wife first because it would be sad if Thomas had kids and they had no mom. At the end of the conversation I asked him if he knew what Thomas' kids would be to him. He said no. I told him they'd be his cousins. He said, "Noooooo, cousins are grown-ups!"

Spin, Spin, Spin

Tristan and Dorian love to spin.

New Haircut

Grandma Brenda came to visit and gave Tristan a much needed haircut. A few days later I gave Dorian a haircut too. His first one with the buzzer.

Kitchen Cabinet Destroyer

What? A boy's gotta make himself a place to sit while he's emptying the cabinet.

I Love Barry the Berry-colored Bear

Tristan's Prince of Persia

Tristan was reading Lego Magazine and wanted this Prince of Persia set. I told him that he had plenty of Legos. He said that maybe we could make the set from what he already had. We got pretty close. I was especially impressed with the way he made it look like the prince was flying through the air to fight the soldier guard.

Lopsided Smile

I love that lopsided smile. We found a baby picture of Eric with the same lopsided smile with 3 teeth on the bottom. If it weren't for the eyes, you'd wonder if it was the same baby. (These are all pictures of Dorian though).

Happy Anniversary

On the first anniversary of Dorian's birth, he gave his parents an amazing gift. He wore the same cloth diaper all day long! It was dry when it was put on in the morning and dry when we took it off for the night. He went pee-pee in his little potty every two hours like a big boy. We were so proud. Of course he's not potty trained, but it was a good day.

Walking Video

He Walked!

So, last time I posted I mentioned that Dorian took his first unassisted steps. But I had to trick him into that, holding my hands just out of reach until he finally reached me and collapsed, with big sighs, into me like he'd been scared to death! Then a week and a half ago, we tried to get him to walk at Eric's parents house. He took maybe 2 or 3 steps. All of those instances, Eric calls "falling steps". That is because basically, Dorian continues stepping even tho he's in the process of falling all the way.
SO, ANYWAY...
Today, I was sitting on the couch, minding my own business, and OF HIS OWN FREE WILL, Dorian took 3 steps to me from leaning his back on the ottoman to grabbing onto my knee! I was so excited.
BUT THEN...
Shirley came over with her brother, mother, and another friend. Tristan also had a friend over. So there were a lot of people in the living room. Dorian was in his favorite spot, standing with his back against the ottoman. Then across all the people in the room he noticed his current favorite person (me) and decided to go to her (me). He started walking, and I dropped to my knees and exclaimed. He walked all the way across the room to me! He was so proud of himself. He was grinning with his lopsided 6-tooth smile. (He has 3 teeth on top and 3 on bottom, both center fronts and then one extra one on the right side on both top and bottom). Tristan and Colton both ran over and applauded. And Shirley said, "Oh, is that the first time he's walked? Wow."
Just a little piece of history.
Love,
Us

Share Bears

These boys get along really well. Dorian's finally old enough that he and Tristan can play a few games together and SHARE things.

And there are so many more cute things I could SHARE with you, but then it might get to be like a reality TV show which would not be cool. :) Oh that reminds me... Dorian says a few words now, but we haven't caught it on video yet. Coming soon, to a reality TV blog near you...

More Cute Stuff

I love these boys.

With Daddy.


Dressed up.

Our Little Garden

The neighbor kid and his cousin were very interested in what I was doing when I was first digging up the area for the garden and putting in the concrete blocks around the edge and dumping in the compost. One of them said, "That's a pretty small garden". I told him that I have 2 kids and that a friend was over watching them so that I could do this part and I don't have time for a bigger garden because I said, "gardens are a lot of work". The 9 year old replied, "Yah, so are kids". That's right!

A Whole Month!

It's been over a month since I've posted anything. I'm very sorry about that, but life has been busy. Since my last post, the boys had their first camping trip, Grandma Penny moved back to Oklahoma, Dorian took his first 6 steps and got several teeth, and Tristan had a burst in interest in literacy. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Last story time with Grandmama. (For awhile, anyway).


Their first sword fight. Aww, isn't that sweet!


An example of Tristan's practice writing.




I took this picture secretly from the kitchen. They were so cute in there watching TV.

Tristan's Amazing Art

Tristan was busy dragging his toys all over the yard, so I thought. Then suddenly, I realized what he was doing! See for yourself the grand talents of Tristan Boy: