I am the Banana

I had my toughest 'Dad moment' tonight with Deven. I usually give Cami a hard time about catering to his eating habits and therefore enabling his pickyness, so I decided early on that I was going to give him some food and he was going to at least have to try it. Period. Cami was in another state tonight so there's no check. While watching the A&M / K-State game, I fixed his banana (a food he likes) and water during the conclusion of the 4th quarter. The game would go into quadruple overtime...foreshadowing my back-and-forth with Deven.

We started with the plate on the coffee table. He walked up to the plate, reached for a piece and for a brief moment I thought "This is going to be easy! I am the man!", then he ran away to play with his cars. No problem; I've got time. That went on for about 15 minutes, but I needed to start encouraging a timely dinner. So I sat him down in his high chair (where he always eats his meals) and nothing. Maybe a couple of sips from his cup. Another 10 minutes and I put him down. More running around. When he came near the coffee table this time I offered banana and he knocked the plate out of my hand. End of our regulation.

I put the banana away and figured absence would make the stomach grow fonder. The kid has to get hungry enough some time. While I was basking in the brilliance of my plan Deven opened the cubbard and found the the crackers (pronounced "cah-cah"s). Probably his favorite. And this is when the real battle ensued. I put the crackers back, sat him in his high chair, and he let me have it. "Cah-cah!!!! Cahhhhhh-Cahhh!!!" "Deven, eat your banana." "Cahh cahhh!!" "Banana." Eventually he was too upset to function so I put him in his room for a bit. End of overtime 1.

After he calmed down we tried again. This time was noticeably different though. I could just see the stubborness in his eyes. I tried to squint my eyes just slightly so he could see I was up to the challenge. Blue steel. "Cah-cah" he said calmly. "Banana" I replied in the same tone. Silence. His eyes shifting. My eyes locked on his. Deven scratches at crumbs on table. "Cah-cah meh meh cah-cah." I actually said "Deven, I know you think you can be stubborn. But you don't even know stubborn." Then things went wild again and we had a freak out. End of overtime 2.

I retrieved him from his room and held him for a bit this time until I was sure he was totally ready for another round. "God, please help me figure out how to make this kid eat and not be a bad father." I sat him in his chair and I didn't speak this time. "Cah-cah." Lee points at plate. "Cah-cah!!!" More of this. Before he got too ramped up I put him down on the ground. He walked away cautiously. End of overtime 3.

As he rolled his cars around on the step between our dining room and living room, I watched him from my chair. Everything was much calmer now and I decided I probably had one more shot. I picked up the plate from his high chair and held it about knee-height. He looked at it for a good 5 seconds, then set his car down and walked towards me. "Maybe, just maybe this is our chance." He sets his car down at my feet and grabs a piece. Sets that piece down and grabs a different piece. Sets that one down. Then he touches two more pieces and looks at me with eyes that have been crying for about an hour. I nod my head to encourage one bite. Just one bite Deven and I'll stuff you so full of cah-cahs you will pop. He turns away but it's not over yet. He walks about 5 feet away, faces the hallway, then looks back at me. My eyes widen just a bit as I picture him running to the plate, eating a handful, and us celebrating together. But instead he just looks at me. He's not upset anymore - now he's deeply disappointed. Like I should have done better. Like that look your Dad gives you when you screw up. He turns away and leaves the room while I cry for the first time in a long time, taking the rejection of the banana as a rejection of myself. Man that hurts. End of overtimes.

Don't think he didn't understand this exchange - I am his father and I assure you he did. And don't think I didn't love on him during it because I did. And I don't need your advice on what I should have done differently. He'll live skipping one meal and we'll pick it back up again tomorrow. This was just my first taste of how ridiculously hard parenting is and will be. The moments of these first two years have been either rewarding or written off as "He's not yet capable of rationale thought." With the ability to say "I love you Daddy" also comes "You failed me, Dad".

Prayer time must increase. - LM

A few random pictures

I was going through pictures on my phone and thought I would put some of them on the blog for you. I apologize for not being better about putting pictures. His hair is super curly right now and that's the first thing everyone talks about when they see him. Strangers are always commenting on his curly locks. They ask us, "where does he get the curls from". They also ask us, "where does he get the blonde hair from?" This kind of shocked me the first few times I heard it. My hair was blonde growing up and started turning darker in college but it wasn't until I got pregnant with Deven that it turned a definite brown. I don't dislike brown hair but I've always thought of myself as a blonde, so it kind of hurts my feelings when people ask where he gets the blonde hair from. I am starting to come out of denial and admit my hair is no longer blonde and never will be again, naturally anyway.

At the zoo on a rainy day.

Watching Daddy play ball with the guys. Deven really wanted to play, too.

Look at those blue eyes!

Since writing the last post, Deven's obsession with cars has increased. Is that possible? He became aware of the movie "Cars" and asked to watch it about three times a day for about two weeks. He's totally over the movie right now but he still only plays with his cars. He also loves to read books and make all the animal sounds and point to familiar objects. He hears everything and when he hears an engine, he'll say what he thinks it is. If it's a loud engine, it's a "momo" (aka motorcycle). He can also name a choo-choo and plane by sound.

The last couple of days, he's been practicing all the names of people he can pronounce. This is how he usually says it: mama, dada, kaykay (aunt Kate), Nanno (aka Nonna), Papa, FoFee (aka Sophie, Nonna and Papa's dog), Neenee (Granny), Papa (he can't say Grandpa) and "Kah" (aka car) is randomly thrown in there somewhere. Don't worry Brunts aunts, we are working on your names, too. He just hasn't figured out an alliterative way to pronounce your names.

Also, I'm sure everyone knows by now but Deven will have a little sister in March! We ask Deven where baby sister is and he usually points to my chest. We are very excited and I'm looking forward to decorating her nursery. We do not have any names picked out currently.

I'll try to post some more pictures/videos later.

Deven is Surprising

I have been amazed at how attentive, aware, and sweet Deven is lately. He's 18 months and learning so much. Lee always says a prayer before we eat dinner and we've made it a habit to hold hands with Deven. Recently, he held our hands for the prayer and bowed his head. It was really precious. Yesterday, I was having a sneezing fit and he brought me a tissue. Wow! He has also been pretending to blow his nose a lot. Guess my allergies have kicked in. I just put him down for the night. Sometimes I say a prayer out loud with him while we're rocking in his chair. I said a prayer tonight and started it, "Dear Lord" and said my prayer. Then I was about to say "Amen" and Deven beat me to it! How did he know I was done praying? Furthermore, how did he even know that's what I was doing? It shows me how attentive he is to what Lee and I do and I had no idea he was watching that closely.

He has been learning lots of knew words although, he can't say them. If anything has the "K" sound in the word, he pronounces it "cah", which means car. Everything is still a ball or a car, except for people. He knows who Nonna, Papa, Granny, Grandpa and his aunts are in pictures. Although he can only say Kate and Chelsea's names at the moment.

Whenever I carry him, he immediately starts combing his fingers through my hair. Very sweet unless he is sticky or sweaty...ouch. He loves it when he hears the garage door open/close at 5:15pm everyday. He says "dada" and runs to greet him. He also loves to climb anything. Thankfully, he hasn't tried the crib yet. I'm hoping he never figures that one out.

We've got some really cute video clips of him recently, which I will post as soon as I figure out how to do it. They are on our other camera, which I can't transfer data from yet. Sorry there aren't pictures this time. I'll put that on my to-do list for next week :)

Summer Time!

It is HOT this summer! We spent a lot of time in the pool during the end of May and beginning of June. The temps have been consistently in the 100's lately so we don't go outside nearly as much. Give Deven a couple of cups and put him in a pool and he'll be entertained for hours!

Deven loves to read these days. He regularly brings a book to someone and climbs into their lap to hear them read. It's pretty cute until he brings "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" for the tenth time. I have a quiet Bible that we save for Sundays, but he manages to find it every week and bring it to me saying, "Baba". So, of course we sit down and look at it. He also loves to take all the bookmarks out of the books Lee and I are reading. I have started memorizing what chapter I'm on - good exercise for my brain :) He also has more words. He says "ba-ba" and waves to daddy every morning when he goes to work. "Ba-ba" is also the word for Bible and his sippy cup. "Caw-caw" is his word for dog, duck, chicken, cookie, cracker. I know he has more words but I have not figured them out yet.

Deven is very good at drinking from a cup and he loves to practice whenever he can.

"More, please!"

Deven is also getting better at using the spoon. He'll at least try everything once if he can use his spoon. If he doesn't like it, he stirs it.

catch up time

Deven has been lots of fun lately. His hair is very curly and we get more comments about his hair than anything else. Deven still loves to be outside, take baths, go for bike rides/walks, and climb on things. Here are some pictures of our fun times.

The petting zoo at OKC zoo. Deven loved the goats and got very close to a couple of them fighting.



There is an area where kids can play in the water.

Looking at the flamingos

Baby on a mission.

Deven following Grandpa and Uncle James.

Family Easter pic 2011

Where did the eggs go? It took Deven about 3 minutes to figure out they were on his ears.

Yay! I'm on the stairs

Every morning and after every nap, Deven hands us his stuffed animal before we can get him out of the crib. Lately, he has been in the habit of handing us every item in his crib (blankets, socks, animals) then he's ready to get out.

Hard-working Daddy

Deven LOVES to play outside. However, our backyard has not been a safe place for him to play. It has this unusable in-ground hot tub that fills up with water every time it rains - lots of possible accidents. The backyard has been Lee's priority so that Deven has a place to play. Here are some pictures of the process. My Father-in-law and our friend Keegan Terry also helped get rid of the hot tub. Thanks for your help!

Here is Deven watching his daddy and Keegan destroy the hot tub. This was happening right outside Deven's bedroom window. Amazingly, Deven took two naps with the jack-hammer running outside his window.

Here is a picture of the in-ground hot tub prior to the destruction. Lee siphoned the water out with a garden hose (brillian!) and then used a pump to get the rest out.

Looks like they had fun destroying it.

I'll post more pictures once we get it filled in. Lee worked really hard to bust up that cement. The cement was like four inches thick. His arms were sore for many days. Deven is so lucky to have a Dad who works so hard to provide for him.

Deven Walks!

Deven is learning to walk! He looks like a little zombie the way he wobbles around. He also graduated to a forward facing carseat (thanks to Nonna and Papa). He seems to love it. He is consistently feeding himself now and he's actually a pretty clean eater. He is obeying very well lately, too. Deven loves to stand up in the tub but he got a black eye last week from falling. So, now he obeys me when I tell him to sit on his bottom.

Deven is also a big helper. He always likes to play in the dishwasher when it is open. One day I was unloading it and he handed me the silverware one peice at a time. What a helper! He is also very social. He points to other kids and babies and I can tell he really wants to interact with them. His newest form of entertainment is climbing on things. He likes to climb in/out of his car, climb off our bed (he can't get on it by himself), climb steps, etc. I took him to the zoo and they have a wood fort and he LOVED that. He cried and threw a tantrum when it was time to leave the fort. Thankfully, he hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib.

His favorite foods are pancakes, sandwiches (esp grilled cheese), applesauce, any kind of bread, bananas, orange juice (only for special occasions), and yogurt. Sandwiches are probably his very favorite. Lately, I've been noticing that he'll smack his lips while I'm getting his meal ready. Really cute! Well, enjoy the videos.

Deven's First Birthday!

Deven loved being the star of the afternoon for his first birthday party. Here are some pictures of the afternoon. I thought I would also update you on what Deven is doing nowadays. He has taken a couple of steps here and there but still prefers to crawl. He started feeding himself on Friday, just in time for his birthday, but he hasn't done it since. He's babbling all sorts of sounds. He loves to play with cups, puzzles, stuffed animals, and his car. He loves looking at pictures of people that are on the fridge. His favorite foods are yogurt, grilled cheese sandwiches, bananas, pancakes, applesauce, vegetable soup. He really loves his OJ in the morning. The little rascal won't drink milk so I give him OJ with calcium, yogurt and cheese instead. Deven is lots and lots of fun and I'm so thankful God gave him to us. I am especially thankful that I don't have to work during the week. Being a stay-at-home-mom is the best job I've ever had!

Me and Deven with Flat Chelsea. Chelsea is on the World Race with the AIM program and is currently in Cambodia. Meagan made a flat Chelsea to bring to family events.


Here is Deven eating his birthday cupcake. I don't think he likes to get messy. He got frosting on his hand and kept trying to shake it off. He LOVED the cake.

A new puzzle he got from Granny and Grandpa.

The Lion from Nonna and Papa.

Family picture!

Deven's new car from his aunts and uncles.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Dec 2010 - Jan 2011

Here are some pictures from December and January.

We took Deven outside on the first day of this snow storm. He did not like it. We bundled him up pretty good and set him on a plastic bag so his pants wouldn't get wet.

Deven loves to watch Daddy build a fire.

Deven playing in his bedroom. He likes to throw everything off the bookshelves.

The weekend before the current snowstorm, it was in the 80's. Deven loved the bike ride. He was bouncing in his seat, kicking his legs, and squealing.

Happy Boy!

Deven is pointing to the equipment he's not supposed to touch.

"Can I touch it today?"

Matching ACU sweatshirts. This is in my Mom and Dad's backyard in Shreveport, LA.

Reading time with Daddy right before bed.

Sitting inside his race car track. He has way too many toys.

This is from Christmas. Deven enjoyed licking the snow globe.

Ready for church!