Hope You're Comfortable...

This is one of those, "gee, I should have been better about writing shorter updates all along-" posts. There has been a lot going on lately - some good, some bad - all busy. I've wanted to blog more, but I recently got a new calling (Stake Young Women's secretary) that has been taking up substantial chunks of my evenings. Hopefully I've gotten things set-up now so it won't be quite as time-consuming. In the meantime, here's a collection of mini-blogs wrapped into one.

Franken-Bryce: Bryce is now an exclusive walker. Since he started walking on his birthday he has not gone back to any form of crawling or scooting. He's getting better every day, but he still often walks with his arms stretched forward doing a great impression of Frankenstein's monster. After just a couple days he even learned to stand up without pulling up on anything. Admittedly, it's been a steep learning curve; who knew walking could be so dangerous?! I've seriously wondered if his head is a magnet for walls and floors; he's hit his head so many times in the last couple weeks that his goose eggs have goose eggs! I just hope there's no permanent brain damage. Here's a video from a week ago (I really need to take a new one...now he can easily walk the length of the house and back.)

Eyes in the Back of my Head: As a kid, I remember wondering how my mom always knew when I was doing something naughty. Now that I'm on "the other side," I imagine Aubree might have the same question. The secret is, there's really no secret; Aubree is delightfully transparent with her misdeeds. For example, she'll often come out of her room and announce, "Mom, don't come in here!" Which, of course, means, "I'm doing something you don't want me to do." Other times she'll say come up to me and say, "Mom, I didn't do anything." Translation: "I did something naughty." Many times she'll be sitting next to me and she'll use one hand to cover up her nose as she digs for gold with the other hand. I'm looking right at her, but she thinks she's being so sneaky. She's genuinely surprised when I comment and it never fails to make me chuckle.
Life with a Piranha: Now that he's sporting five fabulous new teeth, Bryce has apparently decided they should be used for more than just mealtimes. He's become a biter. Thankfully he doesn't bite while nursing - for some reason he likes to bite my shoulder. His biting peaked in frequency about a week ago and seems to be getting better. One time I was holding him on my hip during my cub scout meeting. I was standing and had one leg up on a chair. He bit me hard! I tried to immediately put him down on the ground and say loudly, "No Biting!" but somehow in the process I got tangled up on the chair. After a split second trying to regain my balance, I fell *smash!* back against our wall. Everyone was fine (although the scouts were quite alarmed), but since then Bryce hasn't bit nearly as often...
Speaking of Bad Habits: Most parents realize that their children are very aware and are always watching them. Parents realize that someday their children might copy their bad habits. Well, I didn't expect "someday" to come so soon. I'm sad to report that Aubree has become a nail biter and it's all my fault! Most articles on nail biting suggest it's related to anxiety. Perhaps that's how my bad habit started, but now I think it's just a bad habit. And for Aubree? I think she's just a little copycat. Grrr.
Like a Weed (a very cute weed): Bryce had his 1 year check-up last week. His current stats are as follows: Weight = 21 lbs. 10 oz. (50th percentile). Length = 30 3/8" (90th percentile). Everything seems right on track and it was a nice change to be able to answer "yes" to all of the developmental questions. He is falling a bit in the weight statistics, but I think that's because he's just become mobile and is go-go-go all the time.
Word Decor: A while ago Aubree and I finished learning the lowercase letters. We had such a good time doing the daily letter-crafts. Aubree's favorites were the "King k", the "mini-marshmallow m," and the "Uncle u." My favorites were the "pizza p" and the "caterpillar c." I got some of the ideas from the website notimeforflashcards.com, but some of them I thought of myself (shameless brag - sorry!). Last week I was playing with the alphabet letters on the fridge with Bryce. I wrote a word and called, "Hey Aubree, come see the word Bryce and I wrote." She walked up, cocked her head to the side and casually said, "puh-eh-tuh ... pet." After I picked my jaw up off the floor I yelled to Mark, "Mark! She just read a word! She READ!" "Yeah," he responded, "she's been doing that for a few days now when we read bedtime stories." Uh, thanks for sharing.
Little Hepper: Bryce continues to enjoy putting things away. He especially likes to help Mark unload the dishwasher. Bryce pulls out the silverware and hands them up and Mark just tries to keep pace. Unfortunately, Bryce's new favorite place to put things away is the trash can. Aubree's gotten very good at frequently checking the trashcan in her room for "treasures." A few times I've even had to wash toy building blocks that Bryce "put away" in his diaper pail.
Deathly Afraid: For the past couple weeks Aubree has been quite anxious about death. One day last week she cried all through lunch, "I don't want to die! Mom, I don't want you to die because I love you SO much." I'm not sure whether to be flattered or worried. One thing that helps me not be too concerned is that other friends (& their blogs) suggest similar tendencies with their same-age kids. Mark and I spent some time discussing where she might have come up with her concerns (since she doesn't watch regular TV) and our best guess is that she gets it from the illustrated scripture story books that Mark reads her nightly. There really is a lot of violence and death in the scriptures.
Portend: Perhaps Aubree's interest in death has been helpful in light of recent events. Sunday morning our ward's Bishop passed away unexpectedly. He was only 41 and leaves behind a wife and six children (ages 7-16). Needless to say, it's been a difficult and emotional week and our hearts break for the family left behind. I am so deeply grateful for the knowledge and peace the Gospel provides. As Aubree has asked questions or expressed fears about death, I've had the opportunity to talk with her about the simple truths of the Atonement, Resurrection, and Forever Families. Today was Bishop's funeral and as all those doctrines were reiterated I felt great comfort in knowing that death is not the end. These children will see their father again; this is just a temporary separation.