Baby Boy #2 Update

Mom is finally in her third trimester and is happy to be at this point. She is feeling pretty good as long as she gets a good night sleep and doesn't feel as huge as she did when I was inside of her. I'm sure that won't last as my baby brother is growing fast and could be anywhere from 2-3 pounds now! He is quite a mover just like I was and mommy loves it most of the time. Once in a while he tries to actually break the skin of mom's belly and she doesn't like that very much. BTW my brothers due date is MARCH 5 and not the 7 as many thought before. This was even news to mom at a past doctor's appointment.
Over the Holidays we are first flying to Oakland to celebrate Christmas. Then Daddy heads to Dallas, TX for the BYU bowl game and mom and I will fly to Montana to see the Schlenker side and celebrate new years. Daddy will join us after the game and we will drive back to Utah in time for school to start again. We are SO very excited to see so much family but that much travel with me (a two year old) and mommy 7 1/2 months prego will be interesting.

Life with a 2 year old

Like Elmo much?


Well mom and dad cannot believe the strides I have taken in the last year. Between the walking, talking, listening, learning and everything else, mom and dad are just in awe. I have developed into quite a polite boy; I say please and thank you without prompts now! I can also count to ten with ease and can recognize most letters of the alphabet and numbers (up to ten). I have had my shapes down for a while, and we are still working on colors. I seem to be best when I am naming colors of vehicles.
Because of the cold, mom and I have not been able to spend as much time outside. Once in a while we brave 30 degree weather and go out for a bike ride, but my little hands get pretty chilly pretty fast. Since we have more time inside, mom uses me more around the house. I have become quite fond of Laundry day as I help her organize clothes and load/unload the washer and dryer. If you know my mom, you know that she won’t let me near the folding part yet as she is a very meticulous clothes folder. Both mom and dad make me clean up all the messes I make during the day now too. I must take after mom when it comes to cleaning because I like certain things put in certain spots: trucks go in the Elmo basket, cars go in the shoe box, shoe box goes right beside the toy box and my fire truck goes right next to the shoe box. Mom thinks this is so cute and definitely encourages me to stay neat and tidy.
A couple of things I am pretty into right now are buttons (belly included), animals of all sorts but especially monkeys and elephants, and garbage trucks. I am just mesmerized whenever we get to see a garbage truck in action.


The animal obsession probably started when mom started taking me to an animal zoo on BYU’s campus (animals that were once alive but have since been stuffed). If you want to see me get excited to the extreme, mention going to see the animals.
Another obsession I have is with Dad's Iphone. It is quite amazing to watch me operate it because I pretty much know now to get to my favorite parts: watching elmo videos and listening to different animal noises. Unfortunately we are to the point where I get mad every time dad says "no" so we are working on that.
Because mom and dad are still learning about new found independence, I continue to have temper tantrums about 1-3 times a week. Mom still considers this a blessing because she knows other kids are a lot worse but when I have a tantrum, look out! In the little research mom has done about them, she understands that they are a healthy part of my development and, if handled well, can help teach me a lot about my self. Mom tries to think positively and appreciates that, even though I am a fairly mellow child, a strong will can be a great strength as I grow.

Since we are a little behind, I haven’t told you about our awesome Thanksgiving yet. Grandma Cari and Granddad came to visit! Unfortunately I had a stinky cold most of the time, but considering my condition, I was in good spirits. One project Grandma Cari and dad wanted to complete during the visit was stripping and re-painting a bunk bed for me. Dad got it free on a classifieds add but it was pink and purple so we had to something about that. After getting all the supplies, they started stripping the thick paint but it was turning out to be a bigger job than they anticipated so they ended up just sanding and painting brown. They worked so hard in just a couple of days and were feeling pretty sore afterwards. However I am so grateful and I love sleeping and playing in my very own big boy bunk bed. This is me sleeping in a very comfortable position.

Dad had also gotten me a free dresser that they also wanted to re-paint but after experiencing how much work it was, grandma and granddad just decided to buy me a bran-new one! Luckily they thought of it on Black Friday and got a great deal. On Thanksgiving we made reservations to go Magleby’s, a fancy restaurant that serves a delicious buffet. Everyone got stuffed to their heart’s content and we all had a very enjoyable time. I even got a chocolate covered cookie sucker for dessert! YUM!


Another fun thing we did was visit the Provo Indoor Beach. It is a huge facility with tons of activities. I enjoyed a couple rides on a carousel where I got to ride a huge monkey and play in a play ground made especially for toddlers.




Daddy was able to test his skills on a huge and very high ropes course. He did pretty good if I say so myself.


The biggest sucker I have ever seen.


After thanksgiving, mommy was excited to put up the Christmas decorations. She did most of it but saved putting up and decorating the tree for everyone. I was quite taken with all the ornaments she had. My favorites were the Santa ornaments that grandma and granddad had given me each year since I was born.

After Grandma and Granddad left, mom decided it was time I met Santa again. I wasn’t too sure of him at first, but he gave me a coloring book and his beard and clothes were very soft so he turned out to be pretty cool. Mom was having a hard time catching me with a smile so the pictures are not the best. At least I didn’t cry.


For BYU’s last regular season football game, daddy got to go to Hawaii! Mom and I were super jealous and he had a great time. They didn’t get tons of time to spend on the beach but they did visit Pearl Harbor, the Polynesian Cultural Center and even attend a real luau. Of course they had lots of work to do too and the game turned out to be a blow out so we were happy about that. This is a view from his hotel room.

Here is a slideshow of the rest of his pictures:



The other night, we babysat my friend, Julliette and mom caught some romance on tape:

First Snow of the Year

This morning was day light savings and since I woke up at the time I felt was normal, we had an extra hour to kill before church. After mom showed me the new snow on the ground, I asked her to go outside but not really knowing what to expect. We had lots of fun however and I found the snow quite fascinating. Mom is glad because she plans to do a lot of playing in the snow this winter!

Non-Stop October FUN

One of the pumpkins dad and I carved.


BYU finally had a day game and mom decided to take me even though it was right during my nap. I was a good boy during the game even though I was very very tired; after we got home though, I was a mess. By 5pm mom finally was able to calm me down enough to have a nap. The rest of the games are in the night so mom probably won’t take me to another one.


Last weekend was positively amazing!! We did so much fun stuff and what made it even better was that Grandma and Papa Schlenker were around to enjoy it with us. They came last Thursday night after driving all day from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Daddy was still in TX with the football team but arrived at about 3:30am Saturday morning. It didn’t take long for me to become best buds with both grandma and papa. They are so fun and loving and we all just ate it up. Friday, we did some shopping then met some other Canadian friends for supper at the Pizza Pie Café (Grandma and Papa can’t come here without indulging at least once). I was having some bowel movement issues and ended up pooping my pants once on the drive over and then again at the restaurant. Luckily mommy had one change of clothes with her but by the time everyone was finishing up, I was running around commando style in soaked pants and mommy’s clothes were covered in poop. We later discovered that the grape juice mommy had been giving me for the last couple of days was the cause of very runny diarrhea that was impossible for me to hold in. As soon as we got home she dumped it out and I have been good ever since…phew!
After I went to bed, mom and grandma got busy doing final preparations for my overdue birthday party which was the next morning. With Grandma and Papa’s very generous help, it was a huge success and I had tons of fun. Since it was the weekend before Halloween, my friends dressed up in their costumes and everyone looked so cute! Between the visiting, Houston slideshow, crafts, game room and all the food, everyone was able to stay busy and have lots of fun.
(This is the slideshow daddy made for my party… just to warn you it is 12 minutes long, so I understand if you don’t want to watch the whole thing)


Each family was able to go home with treat bags for the kids made by grandma and pumpkin favors made by mommy.


Papa and Uncle DeeJay guarding the great abundance of food.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to celebrate with me and giving me so many awesome gifts!

The next day, after church, we drove up to Draper to spend some time with Smiths. As usual, I played with Larissa and Daria most of the time and Richelle and DeeJay made an amazing meal for us all to enjoy.

The next day was Halloween and I think my new favorite thing is Trick or Treating. I was so cute running around in my Dinosaur costume while mommy and daddy trailed me in their “cave people” costumes. Neither of them wanted to miss a moment of this momentous occasion. I was also very polite when I said “trick or treat” and always said “thank you” after wards. The thing I most struggled with was accepting the amount of candy given at each door; I always reached in for more. At one house, I got a little carried away with knocking on the door and actually fell inside the person’s house when they opened the door. Look at all the candy I got; I can’t wait for next year!


Ever since mom and dad taught me about prayer, I have become very vigilant and always remind mom and dad to pray before every meal and before bedtime. I even started prayers before nap time! Mom and dad definitely appreciate this and love when prayer fills our home. We need all the prayers we can get right now as we hope mom’s pregnancy continues to go well and that dad will be able to find a good job after he graduates. The other day, dad taught me how to "say" the prayer and I am quite good. I just repeat everything dad tells me and it is the sweetest thing to behold.

Baby #2 Ultrasound Results

We are happy to report that the results of our ultrasound are very good. The baby is developing healthily and mommy’s due date has stayed the same (March 7). We are also extremely happy to announce that the ultrasound revealed that we will have a baby BOY!!!!! We are over overjoyed with all the good news and are so excited for our new addition.






Mommy can really feel the baby (boy) move now and loves how active he is!

So I realized bit ago that I forget to tell you all the story of how mom told dad about the new baby. So after mommy had taken a few positive pregnancy tests, she kept all her excitement in until daddy got home so she could do a special surprise. In passing she mentioned having her pre-made lasagna in the oven ready to cook for dinner. After a few minutes, she yelled from the other room and asked daddy to take it out. Much to his surprised he found a stale hot dog bun on the racks of the oven. Very confused, he called to mommy, “what’s in the oven?”
Mommy replied, “I don’t know, what is in the oven?”
Dad: “a bun.”
Mom: “So there is a what in the oven?”
Dad: “a bun.”
Mom: “so there is a what in the what?”
Dad: “a BUN IN THE OVEN!?!”
(Much hugging and laughter)

TWO YEARS OLD!

I AM TWO!! Isn’t that awesome?? The actual weekend of my birthday (Oct 9) , Grandma Cari came to visit. We had so much fun and she spoiled us rotten. For my birthday, she bought me some little Tonka trucks and a cool “slide” for them to go down.

One of the highlights was going to the pumpkin patch to pick out some Halloween pumpkins. There we also enjoyed playing in the corn pit, petting the animals, climbing on the old fashioned tractor and finding our way through the hay maze.


Grandma and mom also got to go to a BYU football game. Since it started when I usually go to bed, I went and spent sometime with some friends and fell asleep there. If you were watching closely, we heard that mommy and her Canadian gloves made it on TV!


Last weekend was super busy but I think it was a good thing because mom was getting awfully anxious for the ultra sound. Daddy was out of town in Oregon with the football team so it was just mommy and me. Over the two days, mommy babysat 5 different children (from 4 families). Amongst all the, what seemed like constant babysitting, on Friday mommy was able to make 2 pies, and a huge crock pot of soup. This was in preparation for a ward party we went to on Saturday. Mom had the crazy idea of taking 2 kids she was watching along with me to this ward party by herself; probably not the smartest idea. There was a lot of people there and between carrying around a very mobile 18 month old boy, dealing with some of my temper tantrums and trying to hold a constant conversation with a very bright 4 year old girl, needless to say there were a couple of stressful moments. Mom was relieved when we finally made it to there friends house to put all of us to bed. However that was a struggle in its self; finally by about 9:45 there was silence and mommy could relax. Even though this sounds a bit crazy, mommy LOVES babysitting and overall had some great learning experiences (and maybe a taste of the future). Plus, any of these families mommy helped out are always completely willing to watch me at any time which mommy is VERY grateful for. We are lucky to have so many nice, trustworthy friends around!

Poll

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Big Boy

Mom: “Our routine ultrasound is scheduled for October 19 and we are very excited to see our little baby! We anticipate a report that there is healthy development and we also hope to have the gender be revealed. Feel free to vote for which gender you think it is.”

This video is from back in August; our family enjoying a warm summer rain. Mom and dad love that I love the rain.



I have improved so much on my bike and here is a little clip of me riding with my favorite partner.



Check out my huge muscles.



Well mommy got really brave and decided it was time I was potty trained. One huge motivator is the fact that we will have an addition in our home with diapers of his or her own. Mommy does not want to change or buy two sets of diapers! One of mommy’s close friends and neighbors shared a method that had been successful with her two boys so mom decided to give it a try. Another reason we did it so young was this method recommended training at 22 months (we waited an extra month and did it when I was 23 months). The method pretty much had mommy stay within feet of me in my t shirt and undies for 3 days straight. On the first day, mommy told me about a million times to keep my undies dry and praised me every couple minutes for doing so. Then when I inevitably wet my undies, mom rushed me to the potty. Since she loaded me with liquids I had to go a lot and eventually gained some muscle memory. What also helped was that she reminded me pretty much every 30 seconds to “tell mommy when you have to go potty”. The first day was very hard with lots of accidents and lots of messes to clean up. Mom was lucky to have her experienced friend just a phone call away for lots of answers to questions and moral support! By day 2 and 3 I actually caught on and mommy and daddy were so proud of me! BTW mommy strayed a bit from the method because she kept me in diapers at night but at this stage we thought that was the best for everyone.
When going potty on the toilet actually became part of our daily routine it was quite an adjustment and mom struggled a bit with the patience she required with my control of our day. But now since I am pretty much fully trained and very good at holding my potty in until I am at a toilet she is loving life and hasn’t changed a poppy diaper in weeks!! One struggle we face is that I am scared to go on public toilets (can you blame me, they are scary places). We are working on that but luckily have had no accidents while out and about yet (I have held it for all three hours of church multiple times). There was a lot more than I wrote here that made our potty training experience successful thus far so if you are interested in the method we used, talk to mommy. She highly recommends it!

Potty training sort of ruined my awesome sleeping habits so mom and dad have had to get me back to putting myself to sleep. Night time was easier but mom struggled with my daily naps. What ended up working was quite surprising. Mom didn’t like the idea of locking my bedroom door because she asked me to tell her when I had to go potty so instead she left the door wide open. She doesn’t know if I feel more secure this way or what but it works and she is relieved I can put myself to sleep again.

This is a picture of my friend Juliette and me. My mom and her mom switch off babysitting quite a bit because neither of us have family really close. We also go on walks with her and her mom almost every morning. When other friends join us we take up the whole road and others refer to us as the “stroller brigade”.


Here is a clip of mommy and me just playing (sorry it is long an may be a little boring). I love to sing and this shows some of my favorite songs. I am much better at the actions to the songs than this video shows however. I have found that doing “Row Row” with baby is better than with mommy because her belly is getting bigger and she can’t assume the proper position for the song’s actions.
Ever since I taught this baby how to use the potty, we have been best buds. Before I used to carry her around by an ankle but daddy taught me how to properly hold her and hopefully I remember when our real baby comes around. She doesn’t have a name and I just call her “deedee”.


Me playing with mommy’s cousin, Larissa. She is an excellent play mate and mom loves going to Smiths because Larissa often gives her a little break from me 


Playing at the park with daddy on his day off.

Another Play

I forgot to mention another awesome play that mom and my cousins put on while we were in Yellowstone. Mommy helped Cousin Marin write this play and it was called "Tales of Vacations Past". It was a story about a little girl with a bad attitude about family vacations until a ghost comes in her dreams and shows her the fun she had in past family vacations. Marin played the little girl, Troy played the ghost and Kit Kat played the cousin. I can't wait until the next one!

Yellowstone 2011

Sorry this entry took so long to get posted. I was waiting on some more pictures but it will have to do without them for now.

July was a very busy month for our family. It started out in Yellowstone National Park with Daddy’s side of the family. Mommy and I had a nice drive from Salt Lake to Island Park, ID with Cousin Sarah and her son, Peyton. Daddy drove the truck with Uncle Ike so they could haul some quads. Besides grandma and Grandpa Cooper, we were the first ones there. The whole family arrived later that night and it was a fun reunion. Mommy couldn’t remember the last day I didn’t have a nap and this was the first of many on this trip.
The first day we drove into the park and stopped by a Fishing bridge to have lunch.



Then we headed back making many stops at some cool sights. Next we saw some huge, fast rapids. Unfortunately, Cousin Kit Kat lost her hat in the rushing river. Seeing Uncle Tim chase after it, throw a huge log into the water and only miss the hat by inches was an unforgettable sight. Kit Kat was pretty sad that she lost her hat, and seeing this, Cousin Marin offered to buy her a new one. How sweet!



After the rapids we stopped at some really stinky mud volcanoes. At this stop was the closest we ever got to a buffalo and they are amazing creatures.




The next two stops were mommy’s favorite. First we walked (I was carried) down over 300 hundred steep steps to see a beautiful waterfall.



Next we went to a huge canyon called “Artists Point”. A long time ago people would come take pictures of this location and send them to government in hopes that they would make it a national park, and obviously they got their wish. It was here we finally discovered why the park is called Yellowstone: the cliffs were actually yellow. This view was breathtaking, and if mommy and me wouldn’t have been so tired, we would have loved to stay there for hours.



The next day was 4th of July and it turned out to be a crazy day. Some of the family went back to the park we our family stayed at the cabin. After my nap, we drove to a near by lake so see if they were lighting off fire works later. We ended up spending a good chunk of time there and daddy, Marin and mommy even swam in the cold water.



A while after we got back, out of nowhere, a crazy storm began and we enjoyed watching that bright lighting and listening to the booming thunder. We even saw hale close the size of a quarter.


Wednesday was a really fun day for both me and for mom and dad even though we were apart for most of it. I stayed at the cabin with granddad and we had a very relaxing day. Granddad was so nice to watch me for the day and it was great to spend some one on one time with him!! While we relaxed, mom and dad had an action packed day and went white water rafting down Yellowstone River. Even Grandma Cooper braved the adventure! Here is what mommy said about the experience:
“When we first got to the loading docks, we were surprised that we had to wear full length wet suits. We soon learned why however; the water was freezing and even though they were uncomfortable, they were worth it. The first half was the most exciting has we hit some nice sized currents. The latter half was relaxing and informative (our guides were very knowledgeable). We got to see some cool sights and even swim a bit in the freezing water. Afterwards, we drove back to the loading docks on a bus, peeled off our wetsuits and grabbed some yummy ice cream. Gardner, Montana is such a cute little town and I hope to go back someday.”

Thursday I was able to go back to the park for the big Old Faithful day. Before we actually saw it erupt steam and water, Grandma Cari and Granddad Tim treated the whole family to lunch at the Old Faithful Inn.

No one had ever seen a structure like this. Here are some pictures mom found of the Inn off the internet.




After lunch we walked a quick hike around Old Faithful and sat to watch the magic.


Before we went back to the cabin, some people wanted to go see wolves and others wanted to go on another hike. Our family decided to go on the hike but I fell asleep on the way there so our car decided to go home. This was the first time this trip I had fallen asleep in my car seat and was mom ever relieved!


The last day was spent at the cabin. Daddy took a couple of groups out to go shooting and mom did a lot of organizing and packing. The next morning we said good bye bright and early to drive with Grandma and Grandpa Copper to Ashley Lake.