Twister

I love how when I call Tristan, Twister, he tells me, "me nah twisser" - Yeah, right, lol. I love his beautiful brown eyes! He doesn't share them with the camera very often though.

And often when he does, this is the scared-caught-in-the-headlights look I get.

This is as close as I've gotten to capturing his look when he's told no. He gets this scrunchy face, only when told no, it is really hilarious and hard not to laugh at.  Each time I tried to catch it, he either turned away or stopped doing it.  But he will scrunch the left eye totally closed and that part of his mouth goes way up and his nose gets crinkly.  He's too adorable!

Technology

I'm so thankful for technology, specifically cell phones, they kept me in touch with my teenagers and now they entertain the grandchildren. We found a cool app for toddlers that both the babies love. Addy decided to see if anyone was on the line though. You can see brother's hand reaching out, wanting the phone too.

So, we handed Tristan my phone, with the same app, but it wasn't long before Adrianna had both phones - just look at that joy!

He makes my heart swell

My grandson is full of energy and life! It is so hard to get him to sit still long enough for a photo.  Trains are one of his passions though so it worked in my favor. . . momentarily.

I get lots of goofy grins or closed eyes - that's his idea of a great pose, lol. Check out the dirt on his knee. I chased him all over the place trying to get a few decent shots, then I gave up and took what I could get.

This is Twister at age 3, and that's exactly what I'll tell 10 year old Twister when he asks me why he has funny faces in all his toddler photos.

Apparently, he has an affection for huge rocks too.  Can you see the orneriness in that face?!

At least he slows down long enough to enjoy the dandelions.  This was near the end of our time in the park, can you see all the yellow on his shirt?  That's from rolling in the yellow dandelions, he had the pollen all over him, lol.

I could use a little joy today, this, my 4 year survivor anniversary, it will be a full day - seeing the oncologist this afternoon and getting my 4th butterfly tonight - but the joy this boy brings to my heart can wash away my worries and fears.

If you give a boy a shovel. . .

. . .he will smile incessantly.

Do I have to come in?

Snow + Kids = Fun!

Kids and snow go hand in hand.  We had to take Tristan out to play in the snow, he was thoroughly bundled and I was pretty impressed that when he came in over an hour later the only thing cold on him was his cheeks and his hands - they just don't make good toddler gloves - or we haven't found them.

I bundled Adrianna in a too little snow suit thing, one that had been her brothers and I couldn't get it all zipped up, so she and I only stayed out about 10 minuted before we left Twister to his PaPaw.  Since my arms were full of Addy I just brought the little point and shoot with me to snap a few shots.

I leaned down with Addy and asked Tristan for a pose, well guys, the snow was calling, with one eye on me, as soon as he could tell I had snapped he was off.

Nearly an hour later I leaned out the back door and snapped a few more.  His cheeks have pinked up.

"Tristan are you cold?"

BIG head shake, no.

"Do you want to come in?"

BIG head shake, NO!

He absolutely enjoyed eating snow off his coat.

"Tristan are you cold?"

BIG head shake, no.

"Do you want to come in?"

BIG head shake, NO!

I stepped a couple of steps closer to him and he noticed his baby sister standing at the back door.

She was watching her PaPaw and Uncle Haden working on a fort.

I tried to get a better shot of her through the glass but the reflections still interfered.  She noticed her brother and smiled.

Tristan ran back to help with the fort and I went back in the house.   A short time later. . .

"Tristan are you cold?"

BIG head shake, no.

"Do you want to come in?"

BIG head shake, NO!

"I think you should come in. "

It appeared that the boy would never be ready to come in so Uncle Haden scooped him up and carried him.  I was able to shoot this through the window, from the warmth of the kitchen.

His eyes seem to be pleading for more time in the snow.

He quickly forgot about playing outside when he started helping PaPaw with the gingerbread house.

Addy & Twister

Every now and then I just have to share my sweet little grandchildren.  I get to play with Tristan and Adrianna every week, but I usually don't have a spare hand for a camera.  They keep me hopping.

It's so amazing to me how quickly the time is flying!  Mr Beautiful Brown Eyes is getting SO big!  Although he's 2 years old, he's about the size of a 4 year old.  He love Max & Ruby, but he calls it Two Maxes.  He still isn't talking much.  I'm very anxious to carry on a conversation with him, sigh.

Can you believe that Ms Bright Blue Eyes will be a year old in a couple of weeks?!  She's still pretty tiny but she's about 18 lbs now and wearing size 6 month clothes.  She is toddling around just preciously!

This particular day she was all smiles!   I took these last week, when she was still toothless, now she has three teeth poking through!

She loves hugs and kisses and helping me cook.  It's amazing how much she loves being held, she doesn't wiggle at all while I hold her on my hip and cook with the other hand.  And every time I kiss her she giggles.

Tristan likes to close his eyes when he sees the camera.  But at least he's quit running from it, lol.  For this photo, I thought the closed eyes worked; he's lost in his song.

I love to see her smile!

This table sure has made her mad a few times.  Before she toddled, when she crawled, she would crawl between the couch and this table and get stuck, then stay squished and squealing until I "saved" her.

Playing patty-cake and watching brother.  She has a lot of patience with her older brother and all the ways he "helps" her. :)

However, she would not let him hold for any photos.  She kept tugging away from him and I ended up with legs, or arms. . .well you get the idea, nothing usable except this one.  She's looking and smiling and appearing to sign "more", but Tristan looks distracted by the bear's Santa hat.

Twister sure tried to hold her down.

She decided to take a whirl at being a singer.

I bet she's going to love her birthday cake!  Her birthday is exactly 1 week before Christmas.

O.M.G!  He smiled!  Can you believe that he smiled, with eyes open, for the camera?!

Eventually, all that walking wears a girl out and little Addy needs a snuggle and a nap.  The funny thing is, now that she has become a snugglebug, Twister has decided being cuddled isn't so bad.  So I end up with two on my lap.

Then he's back to playing with his cars - vroom!

Naptime's overrated, so after a quick snuggle, she's off and running again.

At least she's still smiling.

The Birthday Party

My Precious Pumpkin had a birthday!

The puppy watched on.

Twister, Tristan, first grandchild of mine is now 2 years old! I’m still trying to figure out where the time has gone, it has went so fast!  (Sidenote: See that rolltop desk in the background?  I got that when I was 11, that was uh. . .um. . . -math gets harder the older you get- 31 years ago!  It lives with Britney now)

I swear just yesterday I was watching him come into the world, all 8lbs of him! He has grown into those hands and feet. And now he’s a big brother!

Of course we celebrated with presents and you can probably guess what we got him. No? A camera of course! No, not a Canon 5D, just a little kid camera for starters but I can’t wait to take him on photo safaris.

And lots of cars! Oh how he loves cars!  And I'm more than happy to play with hot wheels again.

We managed to pull him away from his toys long enough for cake.

Even the cake sported a car, one with turning wheels and such that he is able to play with. Yay!

Uncle Haden lifted him up to blow out the candle but I guess he thought we were trying to burn his face off and he wanted no part of it. Daddy blew it out for him.

I bet you never knew the proper way to eat ice cream. But now you know, you pick the glob up with one hand and pinch pieces off with the other.

And the proper way to eat cake is, of course, to get a piece on the fork then pick it off with the other hand. Check out the face in the background. All in all I’d say he had a great birthday!