Tucker - 3 Years Old

Tucker,

You are a magnificent little boy. You are so goofy and are such a weird kid! I love it. You are always talking to yourself and making the funniest faces for no reason at all; then laughing hysterically when you are "caught". At home you are hardly ever quiet. You are always talking or singing. You are absolutely content to play by yourself most of the time and you are always in your own little world. 

Your favorites right now are Batman, PJ Masks, Paw Patrol, and Legos (mostly Ninjago and Batman). You also love stuffed animals. You got 4 small stuffed Paw Patrol Pups for your birthday and you love them so much! Plus you have this small baby cougar that you call "your kitty", as well as a Build A Bear dinosaur. All of them sleep in your bed with you, no exceptions. 

Demanding has been your new thing and it drives us nuts. We have to correct you so often that Trenton now says "Mommy...Tucker is demanding again...!" Also I've just noticed that you are a huge backseat driver. It goes with your need to demand, definitely, but we have been driving way longer than you've been alive, kid! However, watching you and your brother interact and talk just melts my heart (when you aren't fighting). The conversations you two have are hilarious. I really hope you boys include your little sibling in things and are all this close to each other.

At school you don't talk at all. Your teachers say you are finally starting to open up some and you said a whole 4-word sentence one day! I just laugh because that is exactly how I was at school and opposite at home. When you come home you always talk about what you did and are always singing songs you've learned at school. You told me today that you like to chase the girls at school with Trenton.....too young for that, kid!! 

Sometimes you are excited about having a baby sibling but I think you have no idea. Every time you hear a baby cry or babble loudly, you always cover your ears and say it's too loud. You have no idea what's coming, sweet boy. You ask multiple times a day where "our baby" is and I have to tell you over and over that it is in my belly still.

Your ultimate favorite "person" is still Roosevelt. You missed him so much on our last vacation! The few days since we have been back, if we aren't home, you ask to go back to him constantly. He is your BFF and it is such a sweet relationship. 

All of our guys just love you so much and love to play with you. You have your favorites of course, which is usually the ones who are willing to play with you the most. You really do love having "our guys" and you always get so sad when we are off. Every day you ask, "are we off today or on today?" And when I tell you we are off, you get sad. 

Your motor skills have gotten so much better this year. You are able to keep up with Trenton and bigger kids his age a lot easier now, though you still jump like a baby and I absolutely love it. You are so good at putting tiny Legos together and puzzles are one of your favorite pastimes. Your teachers were so surprised to see you sit and do a puzzle for 30 minutes straight at school one day. 

Eating habits are still horrendous. We really do have no idea how you are still alive. All you ever eat is peanut butter sandwiches, fresh fruit, and all the crackers and sweets you can sneakily get your hands on. You have gone an entire day without eating before because you refused to eat what we gave you. When will this end??? The past couple weeks though you have even been refusing peanut butter so I seriously have no idea what to feed you that is even remotely nutritious. 

For your birthday you got a singing card and $10 from Gigi and Pimpa so we took you to Toys R Us to do some birthday shopping! We let you pick out your gifts from us too. Daddy and I love letting you guys pick out your gifts at the store and seeing how you choose items. Also how asking "is this expensive?" Is a lot of times the first thing you ask. That's my boy; I'm raising you well 😊

I also made you some Batman cookies! That was way more work than I imagined and sadly I ran out of time and patience to make some for your entire class like I wanted. But we ate lunch at Chick Fil A where the only thing you eat are "shries", and every time someone sang you Happy Birthday, you got this huge goofy smile on your face. It was adorable. You got to choose a lot of things we did in the afternoon and you definitely loved all the attention on you!

I took you to the doctor for your 3 year old check up the day after your birthday and you have a clean bill of health! I am fully surprised that you are in the 50th percentile for all your measurements. You don't eat!! I guess last year your iron levels were low so the doctor wanted to draw blood again this year to see if you have an iron deficiency still. He said you just need to eat more meat but then I just laughed and told him you were a self-proclaimed vegetarian 😏I did ask if he thought you needed to drink Pediasure but he said it isn't necessary. It definitely won't hurt but it's also not necessary. You also got a flu shot for the first time ever so hopefully that goes well! Flu shots always make me nervous. You were such a big boy though and didn't cry at all!!! They did a preliminary vision test though and you failed so now we have an appointment to see a pediatric ophthalmologist at the end of November. I hope you don't need glasses this young! However, you would be one darn cute kid with glasses! 

I am so excited to see how you grow over the next year and how you change. Hopefully eating better 😏 you are an amazing little boy and I am in awe every day by your cute little voice (when you aren't whining or demanding) and your adorable little face. You amaze me, kid!

 Always falling asleep anywhere! You used to especially love playing with your "boo-boos"

 

 Christmas 2016!

 

 Asleep with your "boo-boos" again!

 

 

 Had to do the class sit-on-dad picture!

 

 Asleep again...Roosevelt was so sweet to let you sleep on him!

 

 BFFs!

 

 You both grew so much from the first day of school 2016 to the last day of school 2017

 

 Our first trip to Kansas City....licking the ice cream statue....

 

 Cotton Candy for the first time at your first baseball game

 

 We went to Chicago in July and it was so much fun! You got to ride a train and bus numerous times

 

 Easter 2017. So cute and handsome

 

 Easter family photo

 

 Always making silly faces

 

 There were a few weeks where you just couldn't stop hurting yourself. You got this same nasty welt in the same some on your poor head 3 times within just a few weeks

 

 Not only are you the slowest eater alive, but also the messiest

 

 You look like a bobblehead

 

 Cousin Kaiden! You weren't too thrilled with another baby around :)

 

 You love your costumes! This day you were Owlette John Cena

 

 Super heroes to the rescue!

 

 That cute little smile...already it is used to try and get you out of trouble. I know it'll only get worse

 

 Angry Eyes

 

 Daddy time

 

 We went to the Broncos stadium while in Denver on vacation

 

 One of our favorite places to go while in Kansas City! Sadly it shut down :(

 

 

 

 Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs with GiGi and Pimpa

 

 Your favorite person to talk to on facetime, Kennedy! Or Chicken. You all call each other Chicken and think it is the funniest thing in the world. You and Kennedy are kindred spirits and are just alike

 

 It was the beginning of June, but still snowing on top of Pike's Peak

 

 Okoboji time!

 

 Had to wear your floaties even though you refused to go in the water

 

 Our neighbors went with us this year and you became Avery's little pet. For some strange reason you let her "bathe" you by continuously dumping buckets of water on your head. You won't even let me do that in the bath without screaming your head off. But you were soaking up all the attention she was giving you. You even let her spoon feed you at the table!

 

 Happy Father's Day!

 

 Chicago at the famous bean

 

 Chicago

 

 Cool dude modeling in front of the Bean

 

 First day of three year old preschool

 

 have to get my annual backpack picture on the first day of school

 

 It just so happened that you were angry with me when I wanted to take this picture, so it made it extra funny :)

 

 We went to Branson, MO right before your birthday and these sting rays kept jumping up on the glass

 

 Your favorite part of Branson was the zoos and being able to feed and touch all the animals. I think I may have my animal lover child in you :)

 

 We met up with some Boys Town friends while in Branson and you missed your friends! Whitney and I have already decided that you and Badynn are going to marry one day. Look how cute this photo is!!

 

 The four BFFs back together again!

 

 Gotta give your puppy loves on your birthday

 

 My attempt at making your Batman cookies didn't turn out too bad

 

 Happy birthday sweet boy!!

 

 Your are three years old now!

 

For Halloween you were Gekko and Trenton was Catboy

 

Baby 3.0 - 12 Weeks

Well little baby, last month you gave us a scare! I had an ultrasound at 7 weeks and it went well, then at 8 weeks I met with my new midwife and she told me the ultrasound showed a possible twin!! Now, while being family teachers, we are only allowed 3 kids because the job is so hectic with 8 teenagers. If we had twins, we would have four! I had to have a repeat ultrasound at 9 weeks so for a week I was freaking out about the possibility of having twins, and at the same time, the possibility of losing a baby. I know miscarriages happen and they have happened to friends of mine, and it's a terrible, devastating event in life that I wish no one would have to go through. But I never thought I would be in that unwanted club. I am the woman who has been blessed with being able to get pregnant immediately. Miscarriage is a hard thing. On one hand, if it turned out that we had twins but one died, that's really sad. We never thought we would be able to have twins; we never thought that a legitimate possibility. Then what a gift it would be if there were two viable fetuses! I mean, I've always wanted twins, sure. And how beautiful would it be to have identical twins to add to our sweet boys? But then on the other hand, our lives would change dramatically. Both of us would lose our jobs, we would lose our house, I would probably have to go back working in a corporate office while Joseph stays home with four kids. FOUR KIDS. Two newborns. I feel horrible saying this, but that's not the life that I want right now. I don't want to struggle to pay bills and not live comfortably anymore. As family teachers we have been able to pay our bills off and still be able to take vacations and live comfortably. Plus I love what we do. I don't really want to go back to the corporate world. So as you can see, it's been a huge internal battle for a week! 

But I had my follow up ultrasound on week 9 and the tech didn't see the extra clump of cells she saw two weeks ago, and still only saw one heart beat. So unfortunately we will probably never know if it was in fact a second fetus, or something else. But right now, there is only one baby. So that is what we are going with.

At our 12 week appointment as my midwife was trying to check the heartbeat, little baby was swimming and doing flips all over the place! She had such a difficult time getting the heart rate. We could hear the kicks and flips on the Doppler which was pretty neat. I just hope you cooperate when trying to get the gender! 

Toward the end of September, we decided to tell our boss. And of course it just so happened that our boss's boss came to our consultation. He has NEVER, in 3 years, come to our consultation. It was weird and of course great timing. Our boss what great and his boss told us we had to schedule an appointment with his boss to talk about us having a 3rd baby and him pretty much trying to talk us into leaving family teaching. But we have no plans on leaving this job for a really long time! Little Baby, you will also be growing up with 10 big brothers!

We also decided to tell Trenton and Tucker right before the guys got home from school and then tell the guys after dinner. Trenton and Tucker were super excited because they've been wanting a baby sister for months now. However, I told Trenton that we need to keep it a secret from the guys for a little bit. So of course, what does he do? As soon as each guy walks in the door he screams "WE'RE HAVING A BAAABBBYYYY!!!!" 😐😐

Luckily we were able to play it off since he's been saying he has a baby sister for the past 4 months so it wasn't anything new they've heard.

Once we did tell the guys, they were all so excited!! The guys leaving in December are really looking forward to coming back in May to see. 

As for me, this pregnancy has started out weird. At first I just wasn't hungry, so I wouldn't eat. Then by 6pm my blood sugar would be so low that it was difficult to even lift my arms, and I'd realize I hadn't eaten anything all day. The next phase turned into me be nauseous all the time (luckily no vomiting though! Yet.) and even the thought of food made me want to throw up. Salads seemed to be the only things that didn't make me want to hurl just by the thought. Chick fil a was the salad/wrap food of choice because 1. Chick Fil A has amazing salads, and 2. Homemade salads just weren't cutting it for me in the nausea department. So I don't know if that counts  as a craving or not, but I've given a lot of money to Chick Fil A over the past week weeks 😊 now I'm in that phase where I need to eat a small something every 45 minutes or else I'll get nauseous. I still have struggles with the thought of food, but I am able to eat a little more  of what I actually cook for dinner for everyone else. 

Since I lost a good amount of weight before getting pregnant, my "fatter" jeans still fit my growing belly and I haven't needed to buy maternity pants quite yet! Most don't button anymore, but I can still wear them, hopefully for at least a few more weeks! 

Trenton has been so sweet recently. He is always asking me to sit down so he could "cuddle the baby", and wants to hug the baby. He also says that we don't need a crib because the baby will sleep in his bed with him. Trenton is probably the sweetest big brother when it comes to babies. He absolutely loves holding other people's babies and I can't wait for him to be a big brother again. Tucker on the other hand, he talks about "baby", but he doesn't quite understand what that will mean for him. He is going to lose his baby status! We have been really working with him on his baby status which has led to a ton more tantrums, but hopefully he will figure it out 😊

Everyone is so excited for Baby 3.0! And we really cannot wait until we find out if you are a boy or a girl! Trenton will be devastated if he has another brother though. That is a non-negotiable term of agreement with him. It MUST be a girl😏 

 

 

 

 

Baby West 3.0

Dear Sweet Baby,

We just found out you existed a few days ago. It still seems unreal! So unreal in fact, I took 6 home pregnancy tests within 3 or 4 days because I just couldn't believe it! Granted we planned to have you and knew in the past I got pregnant right away, so we figured you would come along within the first month, which is why I wanted to plan your birthdate 😊 You will be born sometime in the end of April or beginning of May! I'm kind of hoping it's the beginning of May because we have a lot of end-of-April birthdays in the family already. Plus, how cool would it be to have your birthday on May 4th since we had already planned to have your nursery a Star Wars theme?? Coolest baby ever. 

For the first couple days (especially the first day) of finding out you were coming, Daddy was in a pretty grumpy mood. But don't worry, he was pretty grumpy when finding out your brothers would be born too. With your brothers, I surprised him in finding out I was pregnant. This time he "forced" me to tell him before I was taking a test, so sadly I wasn't allowed to come up with a fun way to tell him he was going to be a daddy again. But to make up for it, I was just extra annoying and obnoxious toward him all day while he was in denial. It was definitely a plan that sufficed :)

We told our families pretty much right away that you were coming, but we won't tell anyone else for at least another 6 weeks or so. Family was of course so excited to have another baby coming! Your Aunt Karynn will be having a little baby sometime in January too, so you will have a cousin just a couple months older than you! We haven't told your big brothers yet. They don't know how to keep secrets :) But we have been talking about having a baby brother or sister with them for a few months now. If they had a choice they would chose a sister, and Trenton would name you Seekapoo. Clearly he is not choosing the name :)

 

So far things have been going well in the few days since finding out about you. I have been getting some pretty sharp pains in my side, but nothing too out of the ordinary. With Tucker, the round ligament pain was so bad I had to wear a support belt the last half of my pregnancy. I'm hoping I won't have to do that this time around. The pain prevented me from doing ANY exercise...! Not like I do much now, but I know I need to :)

We are so excited for you to be here. There are 3 other babies that will be born at Boys Town within 6-8 months of you, so it'll be great to have friends your age! 

 

This first week has been going by so slow! I have been doing a lot of research on where I want to have you born. Here in Nebraska, you cannot have a midwife assist you at a home birth. It is a felony for the midwife if she is caught. There are "underground" midwives, and I luckily did find one thanks to my contacts in the midwifery world! But with my history of bleeding so much and passing out at my previous births, we decided it probably isn't best to attempt a homebirth. I truly hope some of the laws change by the time you have kids. Nebraska lawmakers suck. Also in Omaha, the pediatricians have pushed all of the hospitals to not allow full water births. You can labor in the water, but cannot birth. So that was another huge downfall of what I really wanted. The third unfortunate event is that the only birthing center in Omaha that allowed full water births closed! I was devastated to find that out. However, after some more extensive research, I did find that a brand new birthing center just opened last month in Lincoln! I do have to travel almost an hour to get to the center however, so that is not ideal. But I will get to have a water birth like I wanted and not in a hospital, which is also what I wanted. I have my first appointment with the midwives in Lincoln in about 4 weeks and I have my first ultrasound to see exactly how far along you are in about 3 weeks. Thankfully, being at Boys Town, I can have all of my blood work and ultrasounds done for free at the clinic :) I think that is why this week has been going by so slow, just waiting until the first ultrasound and appointment, and then waiting until we are ready to tell our boss and everyone else that you will be arriving.

 

Your daddy and I have talked about names a bit already. It helped I still had my list of names from your brothers on my phone. We are so excited to meet you, little baby. I pray that you will be a healthy, happy little child. You will make our family officially complete :)

 

 

I love you sweet baby,

 

Mommy

 

 

Trenton - 4 Years Old - August

Trenton,

Well my sweet little boy....your wish has finally come true. Trenton, you have been asking for a baby sister for months now. Granted, we don't know for sure if you will have a baby sister or another brother, but you will have a baby sibling!!! Maybe that will make you want to stay in Boys Town instead of move to California; which you have insisted on doing for two weeks now. I know you will be the greatest big brother because you are already one to Tucker. Even though you can be mean for no reason but hey, what big brother isn't? You definitely love your brother. I cannot wait to see how much you love your new baby sibling, especially since you will be FIVE when he or she is born!! You love babies so much, but we will not let you help name him or her...You would pick Seekapoo. You keep saying you have a baby sister (for months now) and that her name is Seekapoo :)

I know it's been a long time since I've updated. It has been quite the year so far! We have been fortunate enough to go on one big vacation and a few different mini vacations this summer. We went to Colorado and Kansas City in May with GiGi, Pimpa, Aunt Brittany, Uncle Montez, and cousin Kennedy. Then Okoboji with the guys in June, Kansas City again and Chicago in July, we will be going to Branson, MO in October, and I will be spending my first time away from you since you were one in September when I have a girls weekend in Kansas City :) I've NEVER left Tucker before, so that will be interesting; for Daddy....We have been very blessed this summer!

I think one of the biggest things about you is your incessant reminder that you are indeed moving to California. You apparently have a new mom there and you will live there with your friends, Tree and Traintrack, but I still need to pay for your plane ticket, and I'm not allowed to cry, because he is leaving and I can't come. But I can call though! Yes, I have been fired from being your mommy. This has been going on for 2 weeks and you are still adamant about it! Silly, silly kid....

You will also be starting four year old preschool next month!!! Next week we get to meet your teachers. You will be going to school all day for three days a week! Mommy and Daddy are so excited. One, to see you thrve and grow and learn so much more, two, to help you continue making new friends, and three, because Mommy and Daddy will have three whole days with no children! Win for all of us!

This summer you have started to really love swimming, though you still won't put your face under the water. While we were in Okoboji, the water was still pretty cold but you were out in the water playing during every session! You love going to the pool at the field house as well. Hopefully we can get you in swim lessons soon too.

Your imagination gets better and better every day and I love to hear the stories you come up with and see your little personality (and attitude) come out. We are working on talking on the phone (or Facetime) more since you really don't like that. However, the other day, you did SUCH a great job! not only did you insist on calling everyone on Facetime and talk to them yourself, but the next day you called your friend (our neighbor) and asked him to come play. All by yourself! We were so so proud of you.

With school starting and a new baby coming, I am excited to see how you grow and change over the next few months. You are my sweet first born son who is so energetic, loves to wrestle, loves your Guys, and has such a wild imagination. You amaze me every day.


I love you my sweet boy,


Mommy

Tucker - 2yrs - July

My sweet Tucker,

It has been a very long time since I've last written. Almost a year! (I also didn't publish this apparently, so I actually wrote this in July but didn't publish until August) My little baby will be three in just a few months. Obviously you have grown up so much in the past nine months.

As far as school goes, you finally started to open up to your teachers toward the end. Back in January, your teachers told me that you were so quiet and never talked. Well just a couple months later, they happily reported that your personality finally came out and you were being really goofy and just talking away! That made me so happy that they could finally see the little goofball that you really are. One day, your teacher told me that there was a spider and she was afraid, so the rest of the day you would point behind her and yell "Spider!" then laugh hysterically.

Your goofiness has come out even more and you are such a weirdo. Your silly faces continue and now that you are talking more, the stories are coming as well. I love it. Keep embracing your weirdness :)

I keep wondering if you are going to grow up to do something with animals. Your puppy is your all time favorite thing in this world, it seems. You love to lay on top of him, grab his face and hug him, let him lick your face....and you walk around saying "Puppy! Puppy! My puppy! My Rose-a-bout!"

This May, our last two original guys graduated. You practically grew up with them and they watched you grow. But it seems that you don't really notice the change too much. You have more guys to paly with after all :) I'm sure that at least Michael will be back to visit while he is at college though. You love playing with all the guys and they love playing with you.

We also got to take a lot of vacations this summer. We met Gigi and Amelia in Kansas City and they took you to LEGOLAND and T-Rex Café. Both of which you loved! We also drove and met Pimpa, Brittany, Montez, and Kennedy in Colorado Springs for a few days, and also met up with Aunt Sue Sue for lots of fun in the beautiful Colorado Springs! You had a great time playing with Kennedy and spending some much needed cousin time with her.

A few weeks later we got to go back to Kansas City and meet up with Great Grandma Norma and Aunt Sherry who were driving through. They took you to LEGOLAND and T-Rex Café again and you had a blast! We love it when family can visit.

We also got to spend our annual trip in Okoboji with the guys! Of course you aren't a fan of water, but you did go on a kayak with me! One of the little kids who were there was our neighbor named Avery. She is five years old and she is a little mini-mother figure. She baby-ed you SO much and you just soaked it all up. She rubbed your back, held you, tried to pick you up, even spoon fed you! My sweet little boy, you were in heaven to have so much attention. You even let her pour buckets and buckets of water on you in the kiddie pool! You hate the water! I was amazed.

Trenton - 4 years - July

Trenton,

It has been awhile since I've wrote to you. Nearly six months! (I also didn't publish this apparently, so I actually wrote this in July but didn't publish until August) You finished your first year of 3's preschool and still talk about your friends during the summer, especially your best friend Korgan. At school for Mother's Day, you made me this very sweet necklace and I wear it every day! You drew a self-portrait and then your teachers shrunk it down and put it into a necklace. I love it so much! You always comment and laugh about how you drew yourself with pink shoes :)

This May was also the time of graduation for the big guys. The last two of our original guys left us! Surprisingly you do really well when guys leave for good, however you do still talk about Michael. I'm sure Michael will be back to visit while he is in college. You have been able to play a lot more with the guys which makes you happy. You've also been learning how to play video games....you are actually pretty good for a four year old at Minecraft and you also like to play a skateboarding game. Luckily though, you still fully enjoy going outside and playing and playing with your toys.

At the end of May, we also went on our annual big vacation. We met Gigi and Amelia in Kansas City and we had such a great time! We went to Legoland and to T-Rex café and now those are your favorite places to go. We had so much fun with GiGi and Amelia! Then we all drove to Colorado Springs and met Brittany, Montez, Kennedy, and Pimpa for a few days. We got to spend a lot of time with Aunt Sue Sue too and show everyone all the cool places around Colorado Springs. We really could live there. It is so beautiful. It was so nice being able to spend time with everyone and you and Tucker had a great time playing with Kennedy! You love your cousin time.

We also got to go to Okoboji again with the guys and this was your best year yet. The water was still pretty cold since we went in June, but you clearly didn't care. You spent the entire time in the water! You got to practice your swimming and I took you on a kayak, which you thought was so fun! Luckily this year there were a lot of other little kids, especially your Boys Town BFFs, Emery and Badynn. One thing I learned is that I need to clarify some things when talking to you. I told you at one point it ws okay to pee in the lake. However, I apparently needed to also explain that you keep your pants on :) You were caught TWICE walking up to ankle deep water, pulling your pants down, and peeing! Out in the open!

This summer has been full of vacation. We got to go to Kansas City again for a couple days to visit Great Grandma Norma and Aunt Sherry since they were driving through the area. We had a great time and they took you to Legoland and T-rex Café again :)

My sweet little boy, you have continued to amaze me. You can be so sweet and gentle and caring sometimes, and I love to see you genuinely care for your brother. It really does melt my heart. I also see you growing up so much! You love to help me cook (though I have to admit, I need to let you more often). I even worked on teaching you how to cut with a sharp knife and learn the safety skills needed in the kitchen. Another thing you are improving on is your swimming. The lake is one of your favorite places to go and just the other day in the bathtub you put your entire face in the water and held your breath! I was so proud of you. I love to see you learn new things and improve on the things you already know.

You are an amazing little boy. I love your crazy stories you tell. I love your (seldom) cuddles and kisses. I love your laugh, I love to see you play with your brother. I especially love every new phase you come upon. You will do great things, my child.


I love you,


Mommy

Trenton is FOUR!!

Trenton,

Even though it's been about a month since you turned four, It has been a fantastic few months! You had a PJ Masks birthday party at Backyard Playworld, which is an indoor playground equipment company that opens their showcase floor for playdates and birthday parties. It was filled with numerous playground equipment structures and trampolines. We invited a few friends from school and the rest were Boys Town family teacher kids that you play with. You had SO much fun!! It was our first birthday party and I have to say, it wasn't that stressful. I didn't have any party favors so I think that might've helped :) I did have fun making your cupcakes, and we just re-used some décor from Tucker's party. So big win there!

You and your brother are just too funny. Daddy and I have adopted the parenting style where we choose sleep over fully monitoring, especially in the early mornings. Sometimes you both wake up at 6am or earlier so I just turn on the TV and give you a snack and go back to bed. Sometimes you make huge messes like wash your stuffed toys or find dry erase markers and color on the TV, walls, and dog crate, or find a box of cereal or crackers and dump it out all over the couch and grind up the crumbs into the fabric. But I figure its a lot easier to deal with these inevitable messes when we have had enough sleep. Great parenting, right?? But most of the time you and Tucker are best friends. It's really funny when you try be the parent and teach him things. Until it backfires and he yells and you get extremely upset. Part of the time you guys are best friends and get along great, part of the time you are getting into trouble together, and the other part of the time you are trying to kill each other. It's always moving in the West house!

You and Tucker both know how to get on each other's nerves. Tucker doesn't like for you to sit on his bed, so a lot of times you will deliberately sit on his bed and this conversation ensues:
     Tucker: "off MY bed! Eat now! [Right now]"
     Trenton: "hahahahahaha"
     Tucker: "funny!!!" (meaning NOT funny) "Off MY bed! Eat Now! You're bed!"

Then it goes the other way. You get mad at Tucker when he doesn't accept a car or toy you are trying to give him, then you growl in frustration and throw a major fit because he won't accept your "kindness". We need to work on what that means :)

Sometimes when you go to school, I send you with a big mixing bowl of popcorn for breakfast.  One day you (or your wife) will understand the struggles of toddlers in the mornings :)

Most kids have very vivid imaginations, but you are such a literal kid! Its quiet funny. If someone says the dog is saying something, you will argue back that animals don't talk; among other silly things people try to tell you. You are just too smart I guess :)

When it comes to the guys, you just love them so much! There are times where we have to really teach you to be nice and that you are not the boss (that comes with your brother as well). We are working on you not bossing them around and yelling at them for no reason. However, you have stopped spitting and throwing toys so that's great news! When you do play with them, you love jumping on them and wrestling with them, and your favorite pastime is to steal their shoes and throw them in the apartment, or even the apartment trash can, because you know they aren't allowed to go into the apartment. You can be so ornery! You still love the guys and have even called some of them your brothers and you love spending time with them.

As far as school, you just love it. You are also a major homebody and if you had a choice, it would be to stay at home and play. However, as soon as you get somewhere else, you love it. We got your spring progress report from preschool and your letters and numbers have improved some. I think living at Boys Town has helped you in your adult conversation skills because you excel at talking with adults, but we need to work on your sharing with friends a little more. Listening was also a struggle sometimes but the past few weeks you have been doing a fantastic job listening and following instructions the first time without arguing. It has made Mommy and Daddy's life way easier!

Potty training has been a struggle as well. But apparently we just needed to bribe you with big expensive toys instead of small Hot Wheels cars, because as soon as we got toys worth at least $15, there has been A LOT less poop accidents! Well played, son :)

I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming and I am always so excited to see you grow and watch you learn. I am so grateful for being able to watch you grow up and be home with you.