Now that American Idol is over I should have plenty of time to catch up on my blogging.

So, I guess I'll start with last Sunday and work through the week. We dropped in on Emilie's family last Sunday for a quick Mother's Day visit. Chase and I took some allergy medicine before heading out there so we enjoyed our stay much more than we have on some occasions in the past. We then headed back to my parent's house for a ham and funeral potato dinner. We have Wendy's family to thank for the delicious ham. Boy, was that ham delicious. The kids behaved perfectly, so all was well.

Jaxon and Mason both added interesting words to their vocabulary. I'm not sure why, but Mason started saying "yes" and at the same time Jaxon started saying "no". A typical discussion may go something like this:

Me: "Jaxon, Mason, do you want a granola bar?"
Mason: "Yes."
Jaxon: "No."

It's pretty much the same conversation when talking about baths, food, bedtime, etc.

Jaxon has been expanding his vocabulary fairly well. He'll say things like "nose", "balloon", "where" and "door". He's been able to identify things for months, but he finally starting to be able to say their names.

Jaxon has been pretty grumpy the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure if it's a phase he's going through or if he's just really full of toddler angst. Mason on the other hand is almost always very happy and playful, which is a full 180 degrees from his life as a baby. One trait that he still exhibits occasionally is that when he snaps he snaps hard. He can go from a state of bliss to full-fledged tantrum in a split second. He also doesn't tolerate being hungry - another carryover from his baby days. Hunger sneaks up on him and when it hits the situation becomes critical fast.

Mason is by far our best eater. He'll eat pretty much anything we give him and he'll eat lots of it. Jaxon eats modestly, although he's starting to become pickier. Chase hardly eats at all. He loves cereal - especially disgusting kinds like Life and Rice Chex. He even likes Shredded Wheat. If we have Marshmallow Mateys (or "Marshmallow Ladies", as Chase calls them), Fruit Loops and Shredded Wheat, he'll usually go for the Shredded Wheat over the others. He really, really likes Life, though. He'll peck at lunch if it's something he likes, but he won't eat more than a bite of dinner. That's probably why he's so excited to get cereal in the morning.

Bryce is developing quite nicely. He enjoys being on his stomach much of the time, which is good because he still can't roll onto his back. He's starting to eat rice cereal and he's sleeping through most of the night the majority of the time. He usually gets up around 5a and is really noisy between about 6a and 7a. He loves to play with his toys and is generally very happy and easygoing. It's a good thing, too, because otherwise our house would be out of control. I mean, even more so.