Capturing the Ordinary

Some of the most common words of advice/warning I receive about raising my children sounds something like this: "don't blink or you'll miss it," or "before you know it, your kids will be grown and gone." While I know these older, more experienced parents are only waxing nostalgic and trying to be helpful, my initial reaction is always to plug my ears and run away screaming.
You see, I get it. I really do. At the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last Sunday, President Monson said, "time flies as if on wings of lightning," and I was immediately reduced to a puddle of tears. I know my time with little ones is fleeting and some days that breaks my heart. That's one of the main reasons I try to keep up with this blog. Sure, I hope friends and family enjoy hearing updates and I hope someday Bryce and Aubree (and future children) appreciate reading about themselves when they were young, but I have a much more selfish motive as well. I don't trust my memory, and when these ephemeral moments have passed, I want a record I can turn to time and again. I don't just want to capture the highlights, but also the day-to-day routines, sorrows, frustrations, and joys.
So, with that background, here are some of the little things about Bryce that I hope never to forget because he's at such a fun and rapidly changing age. (Aubree will get her own post later.)

Communication:
The last couple weeks Bryce's vocabulary has exploded and his articulation is improving dramatically. Every day he throws out new words and phrases and I'm not sure if I'm just finally understanding him or he's learning new words super-quickly. Regardless, it's made for a much happier, less frustrated boy and it's had a similar effect on his momma.

Routines:
Bryce is a kid who seems to love routines and now that he's speaking better, he likes them even more as he tries to dictate each and every step. For example, since Bryce was about six weeks old, 6:30 am was when his internal alarm went "Ding, time to wake up." 6:30 was a bit too early for my liking, but I tolerated it. Then that stupid daylight savings came along. Apparently we didn't do a good job of letting Bryce know about the change, because his internal alarm still hasn't switched over. We're making slow progress, but now every morning shortly before 6:00 am I hear "Momma!" (I wish I could somehow bottle up all these early mornings and save them for his seminary years...)
I'm selfish (I mentioned that earlier, right?) and I'm not willing to get up with Bryce at that time, so I get him a sippy cup of milk and make him cuddle in bed with me. He goes along with that plan for a little while before demanding, "Up! Get up!" Once I finally roll out of bed, he points me to the bathroom and says "potty" (for me, not him). Then lately he's been telling me, "I stinky, I stinky!" and runs to his bedroom for a new diaper. After that he lets me know, "I eat! I eat!" Every morning. Except for the early part, I love it.
His bedtime routine is similarly predicable. He gets the signal that it's time for bed when we put on his pajamas. Then he runs to the bathroom chanting, "teeth! teeth!" After getting his teeth brushed, he runs to the kitchen to get his sippy cup (water, of course), then runs to say and wave goodnight to Dad and Aubree. Aubree sometimes doesn't wave back, but Bryce won't go to bed until she's waved and said "good night." Then he's ready for bed.
Another funny routine occurs when Mark gets home from work. Usually Mark will make a cheese burrito as a snack and Bryce has appointed himself "assistant burrito-maker" and "primary burrito-eater." The other day, Mark got busy on his way to the kitchen. I soon heard Bryce chanting, "Up, Up, Up!!!" and found him in the kitchen trying to get up on the counter. I stood watching and laughing until he saw me and said, "no, NO, go out, Mom. I-do-it-with Dad"). When I didn't heed his orders, he came running over and pushed me out of the kitchen. Clearly, I'm not part of that routine.
Here's one final routine that I love- when I take a shower in the morning, Aubree and Bryce sit right outside my bathroom and read books. Bryce hasn't always loved books, but he does love Aubree and she loves books. He wants to be like her and by emulating her actions, he's become a bibliophile as well. When I say it's shower-time, both kids run to gather a stack of books. And they'll read happily for the duration of my shower. Aubree often reads Bryce his favorite books during this time and it's always a highlight of my day.

Playing:
Bryce loves to play. He's especially fond of careening Aubree's stroller wildly through the house, dumping out all the Little People, building block towers, riding bikes, and pretending to cook and eat all the play food. He's surprisingly good at playing independently. Lately he's developed a love for all things related to transportation- notably trains, tractors, and trucks.
Sometimes Bryce makes up his own games. Take, for instance, the "Make Aubree Squeal Game." It's a very simple game with just a few guidelines:
Step 1: Wait for Aubree to be playing independently and happily.
Step 2: Grab away one of her toys.
Step 3: Step back and watch with pleasure as she squeals and tantrums.
Step 4: Hand the toy back.
Step 5: Allow her to calm down before returning to Step 1.

Helping:
Bryce also LOVES to help. Most evenings after dinner it's his "job" to carry the food from the table to the fridge. He also loves to help put his clean clothes away in his drawer. In fact, I usually fold his laundry at night when he's sleeping and when he wakes up to find piles of clothes ready to be put away, he's giddy with excitement. Yes, I know - he's his father's son. Another time he really likes to "help" is when I'm putting on my make-up in the morning. When he notices I'm getting ready he begs, "up, please," then proceeds to point out any red spots on my face he thinks need to be covered up. It sounds something like this, "right there, right there, right there..." Thanks, son. :)

Loving:
Bryce has always been a loving kid (see the side picture from a year ago) and it's continued to the point where his most common nickname from me is "lovey." He gives fantastic hugs and has recently learned to give real kisses (complete with the smacking sound). When we were standing in lines at Disney during our most recent excursion, he kept himself entertained by kissing one of my cheeks, then moving my head so he could kiss the other side.
He has also developed a great love for babies. Unfortunately, that love is usually manifest by trying to lie down on top of them. Likewise, when he gives hugs to his peers, he typically holds on too tightly and pulls them to the ground.
Misc.:
* Bryce is doing MUCH better in nursery. Last week he only cried for just a couple minutes after I dropped him off. Hurray!!
* Yesterday morning Bryce had unscheduled "surgery." Some of you might be aware that in Bryce's mouth his frenulum's are attached both under his tongue and between his two front teeth. We've gone back and forth about whether or not to get these two clipped and have received conflicting advice from a variety of experts and non-experts. Well, yesterday we went to a party for Aubree's preschool friends and Bryce decided to give his friend a hug. His friend fell backwards and hit her head on a table. Bryce didn't seem to hit anything, but both were crying. However, I soon noticed blood- lots of it. It turns out it was all coming from Bryce's mouth. Somehow in the fall his top frenulum was severed. The bleeding stopped after a short while and soon Bryce was back to playing again. So, I guess we don't have to wonder what to do about the top frenulum! In fact, I wonder if that wasn't less traumatic than a professional "clipping" might have been.