This is Ethan and this is Mommy!

No one tells you how funny an almost three year old can be... I often wish I had cameras following us around so that I can replay all those funny little things the kids say and do, so here's a small recap.

Late July:
Camden was so excited to see Grandma and Papa and spend a week at the farm in Iowa. When Grandma opened the door Camden was shouting "Grandma, this is Ethan and this is Mommy!" Over and over. It was hilarious.

Early August:
At Perkins for lunch, Camden flagged our waitress down and when she bent over he said, "Excuse me, we need more froot".

Mid August:
To beat the heat, we headed to Long Lake McDonald's play area for pre-nap play. Camden is able to scramble to the top of the two story play gym with agility that I continue to be surprised at, even though I really shouldn't be.

Kidding Around!

Just Kidd-ing

Screamer, Screamer; Ethan Beaner - Beaner

There's never enough hours in the day and blogging seems to fall farther and farther down the list....

The boys are 33 months and 21 months old... and it's a whole new era in the Nguyen Household. Mostly, it's wonderful! Sleeping is improving and the interactions between the boys is most often priceless. However... there are moments when having two boys that are 12 months apart test one's patience. And you have either just watched it or are about to watch it!

Ethan is totally a little boy now, with very little traces of babyhood left. He's sweet and sturdy; affectionate and opionated; a little bit shy and yet very loud! While most of the time, Ethan is very into copying his brother and tolerates Camden's bossiness very well, there's a little rebellion streak that is starting to show. He has discovered one of big brother's buttons: by screaming at the top of his lungs, he fully annoys his brother. And when does this screamming occur, you may ask? Well, it's starting to take place in the van and at the dinner table. Camden retaliates by screaming back at Ethan to be quiet and it leaves mom and dad speechless. It started a couple weeks ago, when we in the middle of a 3 hour trip to central Iowa. It has steadily grown worse and worse.

Today (July 12, 2010) I actually pulled over and put Ethan in a time out on the curb before continuing on to the park. I don't think it worked; At snack, Ethan was banished to the step for another time out; and at least two more followed. In fact, at bedtime when we told the boys to say their night-nights, Ethan hugged Camden and said "Sorry Brother" instead of night-night

So, now I need to get to bed but I'm trying to figure out a better way to do a double time out for two toddlers who think sitting for two and three minutes has become a game.

One silly little boy! Our little Ethan Beaner-Beaner :-)

Busy Boys

Camden and Ethan are very busy, very independent little boys. They love being loud, getting dirty and making messes.

Brotherly Bonds

Camden and Ethan definitely share a unique bond. They are 12 months apart, which makes them quite a unique sibling set. At 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 they play together amazingly well and spend all their waking hours (and not to forget many hours when they should be sleeping) together.

Words cannot express how sweet they are together. Camden is a bossy bit of goods, always dictating the morning ritual of sending daddy to work with kisses and hugs. He also relishes in dictating the night night ritual. It really is heartwarming!

Today (5/30/2010) Camden really was in fine affectionate form. While being buckled in the car seat, he asked "Can I give you a Kiss?", I nodded and leaned in for a snotty kiss. After that, he said "I Love You, Mommy". Melted my heart.

Tonight, while reading "All About Buses"; Camden comments: "Cam-nen and Et-an are going on the school bus.... someday. Mommy and Daddy will stay here at home." So Sweet! Then we proceeded on to Tractors, in which Camden indicated that he would be in the driver seat and Ethan would be riding on the back. The two are inseparable and really do enjoy playing together.

On the flip side, Ethan literally follows in big brother's every footstep. My Little Man, will choose his activity based on what big brother is doing. If Camden is mowing, Ethan must mow. If it's time to tricycle, then Ethan will agree wholeheartedly. They have their own "favorites" that are unspoken untouchables (well, this momma has to speak to whose is whose), Ethan's favorite is blankie and Camden is very possessive of his Rock n Roll Tricycle (the one w/o the sticker peeled off). Everything else is shared. Aside from occasional "Mother of All Tantrum" episodes, reigning champion is Camden, but Ethan is giving it all he's got to overtake the title.

The boys have mastered conversation, with Camden doing all sentence speaking and Ethan adding his own one, two and three sentence dialogue. Ethan just started calling Camden "Nan-nen" this week... although his most repeated sentence is "NO! No! Bro-ver".

Beaner, Beaner!

The ever adorable Ethan has acquired a nickname: Beaner -Beaner (or Bean Bean as I often shortner it). There's so much that I wish I had captured about Ethan this last year and since I didn't do a blog post, I'll just have to rack my brain and browse my facebook updates to get it all out there.

My little koala baby


As soon as Ethan could hold his upper body up, he spent a lot of time on my hip with his arm hooked just over my shoulder. It was a perfect fit... until he was ready to be on the go himself!

My little hand holder:


Not long after his first birthday, Ethan was all about mastering his walking. One thing I really enjoyed, was Ethan's desire to hold hands while walking. He would automatically reach out for a hand to toddler from destination to destination. It brought me such pleasure! Camden seemed to stand up, take off and never look back. I really enjoyed Ethan's enjoyment of walking with me wherever he wanted to go.


Fabulous sibling for a bossy brother!
Ethan does not have an overly gentle big brother. Ethan takes it all in stride. Ethan, at this moment, happily switches whatever big brother wants to switch and usually redirects to another toy.


Arranger Ethan!


Ethan likes to arrange and organize things. One afternoon he created a masterpiece of clementines and dog biscuits in a small cake pan. Other times, he's stacking miscelaneous toys into an appropriate arrangement. He has also taken to putting his sippy cups in very hard to find places!


Some other little Beaner notes. The kid is not a morning person. He frequently sleeps through the night, which we enjoy, but seems to wake up in a bad mood. He's not one to sit and cuddle much in the morning. He wants you to carry him and his blanket around and generally do his bidding! Quite the task as he's 31 pounds!



Stay tuned for some Ethan videos. I got Ethan's first ice cream on video and Ethan know's all his sesame street characters. He currently loves to sing and act out "the wheels on the bus"...






Ethan is 31 pounds this month! He's quick to smile and a very flexible sibling (thank you, thank you!). He brings all of us such joy!

Magical March: Pi Day & St Patrick’s Day

Celebrating Pi Day and St. Patrick's day!
So, in my new gig as stay at home mama, I will admit the days blur together and there's no such thing as "run out quick" with two tots in tow. So Sunday, March 14 arrived and there was no pie to be had in this household. So, we combined Pi Day and St Paddy's day all together. What special celebrations did the Nguyen Family do today? Not much, we wore green, ate peach pie and took a family picture!


The boys and I had a truly magical day though. We headed out to Costco as our first stop and were waiting for the doors to open at 10. Both kids sat for me so well in the cart. Love them!

Next we went to the Plymouth Play dome for PreK play. The city of Plymouth sets up a two story blow up slide, two bouncy castles and a variety of toddler and youth gym activities. The boys and I love it! Camden hung out with the five year olds on the slide... racing after them and trying to outdo some of their antics (such as taking a running bounce to gain speed at the top of the slide). Ethan ordered me around with his terse "GO", "UP", "Faster" and squeals to be put down as he wanted to go down the slide himself at the top. We had sooo much fun today!

Finally, after naps, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the yard. I had purchased a bubble machine at Costco and they really enjoyed racing through the bubbles and mowing through the bubbles and wheelbarrowing through the bubbles.



I get such joy out of their bonding. Today Camden had my iPhone and was using it like a camera saying "Say cheese, E-tan"; Ethan would respond with "Ches"; Then Camden would sing song: "Say Oscar, Etan". Ethan responds with his adorable little "Oss Kar". Camden also asks Ethan such adult like questions: "You want to work together, E-tan?"; Or my favorite -- when Ethan was throwing a tantrum at the dinner table a couple nights back: "E-tan, you got to tell Cannen what you want" . They are just a blast!

On a side note, I will never dress them in the such similar colors for awhile! This evening at the park, I saw a flash of red at the two story tornado slide and before I know it Ethan, not Camden, was squealing with delight on his way down a very big slide. He was oblivious to the near heart attack that caused!

Bob the Builder

We seem to have progressed...From Sesame Street to Bob the Builder. Thanks the the wonders of Netflix steaming video, we discovered "Bob the Builder Live!" Camden and Ethan are now well versed in the ways of Bob, Wendy, Dizzy, Muck, Lofty, and the rest of the BtB cast.

O-H-I-O!

One on One with E

We've decided that want to make sure to spend dedicated one on one time with each of the boys. So Kim and I will each have nights every so often where we split time with the boys, one on one. Tonight was my night with Ethan. Fairly uneventful as far as what we did, but sometimes things don't have to be eventful to be enjoyable.

We took a trip to CostCo to pick up a few things. Kim thought it would be a good idea to take E to get a Valentine's gift, so we picked up a few things for Camden there. I won't say what we got him in case Camden checks the blog.

We went to Punch for dinner. E took down an entire pizza by himself. Okay, it was the Bambini, but still. All the while he would laugh, giggle, and smile at anyone that would look his way. As we left the restaurant, he waved and said "buh-bye buh-bye" to everyone. When we arrived home, he could barely keep his eyes open. We went straight to his room, read his Elmo pillow book, and within minutes Ethan was out for the count. Recap of Kim's night with Camden to follow soon.

Double Take

Funny story from daycare today. Oh yeah, maybe I didn't mention that we are still sending the boys to daycare on Tuesdays and Thursdays through the rest of this month. Anyway, Camden has been spending a little time in the Transition room, the next age group up. At the same time, Ethan has been spending some time in the Toddler room as well.

Well, today while Camden was gone and Ethan was in the Toddler room, one of the girls, Kylie, was playing with Ethan and calling him "Camden". She was convinced Ethan was Camden. Until Camden returned to the Toddler room. Kylie had this stunned, confused look on her face. As if she couldn't believe there were two of them. The teachers thought it was hysterical. I can only imagine. It's stories like this that we will miss when the boys aren't interacting with the school kids on a regular basis.

Happy Birthday, Ethan?

This past Saturday, the family celebrated another birthday. I thought it was mine, but if you asked Camden he would tell you, "Happy Birthday, Ethan!" Regardless, Camden loves celebrating birthdays, no matter who's it is. On Christmas, we sang happy birthday to Jesus...and Moses...and Moses again, "Happy Birthday TOOO Moses!" Camden would sing.

I had a fantastic birthday weekend. Kim surprised me on Friday when I got home from work by having a babysitter all lined up so that we could go out. We went to Om in downtown Minneapolis. Basically, it's upscale Indian food. It was very good, but would recommend you steer clear of the mango cheesecake.

Later that evening, Grandma and Grandpa Sindt arrived. Always nice to have them around helping out with the boys and the boys love playing with them. It was especially nice to have Grandpa's help putting some IKEA bookshelves together. Kim is much happier with the extra organization and storage as a result. Grandma Sindt made me a Boston Cream Pie from scratch, which the whole family enjoyed.

I have to give Kim credit. She does birthday's right. She has always made birthdays an event to be appreciated and treasured. Our boys are lucky for that.

A New Era

Today marked the end of an era and the start of a new one. Today was Kim's last day of work and marks the end of corporate life for her. She now begins her new career as a stay at home mommy. We're really excited and a bit nervous about the new change. We know it's the best for our family and I know Kim will be very happy being at home with the boys.

For me, it took me some time for me to come to grips with it. I really started to come around after having a discussion with a friend of mine, Nevin. His wife Sheila stays home with their two kids. Sheila, like Kim, plans to go back to work at some point. Nevin helped to put everything in perspective by reminding me, "We figure, by the time Sheila goes back to work, she's going to work another 30 years! So a few years at home with the kids without the extra income is small in the whole scheme of things." That made total sense to me and helped me put my head around the whole idea of Kim staying home.

In the end, we're very excited about the change. Kim is a fantastic mother and she'll do great. We have several friends that also stay home with their kids so play dates will be a plenty. We've received lots of encouragement and support from family and friends. Thank you to all of you for your support and well wishes.

Happy New Year!