Do you know what a brumming truck is?

I bet you don't.

But we four here at the Chesser house sure do.

A brumming truck is a toy truck of any size or shape that can spontaneously be transformed from a sedentary child's plaything into a fast-moving, fear-inducing, wrecking ball of Henry-propelled destruction. Said object is most often aimed directly at an unassuming 8-month old who offended his older brother by taking too much of mommy's time and attention. Or for no reason at all. You really never know with a brumming truck.

Brumming trucks are 'not allowed in mommy's house'...for the record.

Yesterday, we experienced the motorcycle variety of the brumming truck. Baby James was trying to finish up his afternoon meal, and Henry took it upon himself to provide the dessert - a face full of brumming. As per the house rule, the brumming motorcycle was taken outside and put into the trashcan for Luis (remember the nice man in the garbage truck blog post?).

Yep, as mean as it sounds and as much as I NEVER thought I would tell my babies that I was throwing their toys away, brumming trucks are taken straight outside to the trash. It's what works, people.

Within a few minutes of the motorcycle being sent to pasture, Henry became apologetic. He hugged his brother, he hugged me, he said he was "sooooo sorry," and then he asked for his little brumming motorcycle back. I asked him if he thought the motorcycle was ready to stop brumming. He said that it was. So, out we walked to retrieve it. I reminded him on the way that "brumming trucks aren't allowed in mommy's house, and if he does it again, the motorcycle will go right back into the trash."

As we came in the backdoor, Henry told me he needed to 'put the motorcycle over here [on the kitchen table] for safety.' I told him that would be a good idea, and then I proceeded to wash out a few dishes on the kitchen counter. As I'm doing that, I hear a little brumming coming from the table. You know, as in, "bbbbbrummmmmmmm....bbbbrummmmm". I turn around to see Henry (sans motorcycle) running straight at me making his very best brumming engine sound.

By the time he got to me, he was full-speed ahead...and not stopping. Crash, boom, bang...he dramatically fakes a fall to the floor after clobbering me. I kneel down to make sure he's okay, and he's got this at the ready: "I brummed mommy. Throw me in the trash, please, mommy. Do it. Throw me in it. Brumming things aren't allowed in mommy's house."

I guess I'm glad he was listening...sweet little literal two-year olds. Gotta love 'em (and make sure they know that human brummers NEVER go out with the garbage)!

Oh...there you are...

This past weekend, Jared and I left the kids with my parents and had a few days 'away.' It was our first night to spend away from the boys since James was born in March. We stayed in the beautiful Houstonian hotel, and Jared planned many, many romantic surprises for our time there. It was beyond perfect. Just what we needed. I know that I will treasure the memory of it forever.

The only part of it I want to share is this. At some point on Saturday, we were driving along and the hubs says something like, "doesn't this all just remind you of that scene in Hook where the kids realize Robin Williams really IS Peter Pan?" I hadn't really thought of it that way, but once I did, I could only agree that it was a perfect analogy.

Sometimes, in the humdrum of everyday life, we can lose sight of the magic. Isn't it fun to find it again - to see that it's right there under the surface...buried under bills and babies and life...BUT THERE just the same?

As much as I hope and pray that we can remember the magic through the mundane, I am pretty sure we'll continue to hit obstacles that will make it impossible. And when those come along, I'm pulling out my mental rolodex and flipping straight to this...

Eight is great.

Guess who's 8 months old already?

Yes, it's true...the littlest little is 2/3 of the way to his first birthday. Is your head spinning yet, because mine sure is.

At 8 months, sweet baby James has certainly staked his claim on our hearts (and most of his brother's toys). He is still a perfect little angel baby. I've never been around a more content, calm, affable, smiley, sweet, cuddly child in my entire life, and I am just so thankful for his disposition.

Mr. Littles has seven teeth, and number eight looks to be just under his gums. He is cruising my furniture (and those pesky bricks), and he has learned how to climb the stairs. His favorite thing to do right now is crawl after his big brother. Actually, if he can do ANYTHING with Henry, he loves it...the crawling/chasing thing is just his most fave. We tell him, "Where's Henry, James?!? Can you get Henry?!" and with that, he's off to the races. Screeching and chasing and sitting up to flap his arms and screech some more before crawling after him again. Needless to say, Henry is loving that the baby is big enough to 'play' with him finally...and he's been having such a fun time letting James chase and catch him. Big brother has also become quite the comedian, as he's figured out that James is his easiest audience. Jump up and down...baby laughs. Play peek-a-boo in the curtains...baby laughs. Hide behind something and peek over the top of it...baby laughs. Spin in a circle...baby laughs. Blink your eyes really fast...yep, you guessed it...he laughs some more. He's also been trying to teach James to play catch with him with a ball-pit ball, but Baby J just takes the ball away and eats it...a few more months, Henry, just a few more months. All this brotherly love around here is just too sweet for words.

Over the past month, James has started saying lots of little words. He is still good with 'mama' and 'hi' and 'bye-bye' (with a waving hand), and he's added 'da-da,' 'Paw Paw,' 'ball' (sounds like bahh), and I swear I heard him say 'dog' when he was petting my brother's dog last week. He hasn't said it again since, though, so maybe that one was just a fluke...maybe. His eyes are gray - not really blue and not hazel...just gray. In good light, I guess I'd say they lean towards blue, but I'm not sure how they'll end up. Oh, and this month, his hair really started to come in, and it's SO wavy and sandy blonde! I am hope-hope-hoping that it really curls up, because isn't curly baby hair just the cutest thing ever?!

As for big brother, he's grown into such a REAL PERSON since the summer. Not only has he grown inches and inches, but he looks and sounds like a (boooohooooo) pre-schooler. The conversations he can have and the things that come out of his mouth are just frightfully grown-up, which is so bittersweet for us. I mean, nobody really likes watching their baby turn into a big boy, right? 3-year old pre-school is only 10 months away. I can't believe it's almost time already.

It would also seem that he has turned a corner on whatever that hot mess was from a few weeks ago that we were politely calling his 'terrible twos.' Looking back, I think that H was really thrown off by James' newfound interest in and ability to get around the house and play with all-the-toys-formerly-known-as Henry's. While I know he adores his baby brother and he can be very affectionate and loving with him, it just hit him hard that the baby was suddenly a force to be reckoned with and not just a blob that laid around babbling.

The acting out, tantrums, and destructiveness had reached a fever pitch before I blogged about it last time, and for several weeks, I would certainly say that I felt like more of a bodyguard than a mommy.

When it all first started ramping up, I can admit that I panicked at the freakish severity and approached it entirely as a behavioral issue in need of stern and consistent reproof. And, for the record, that's exactly what he got. However, it didn't take long to realize that my discipline was being met with worse behavior and indescribable frustration. And, guys, he wasn't frustrated at being punished...he seemed to be more and more frustrated by everyone's general misunderstanding of him. So, here I was, for days on end, KNOWING that his hiney needed to be in time out or spanked but also KNOWING that all of that was making it all worse...and not in a 'it's gonna get worse before it gets better" way, either, okay.

To that end, if anyone ever tells you that parenting isn't hard work requiring positively supernatural discernment at all times, please go ahead and punch them in the stomach from me.

Anyway, once I had determined that disciplinary tactics were failing, I decided to get way outside the box on it all. I tried to put myself entirely in his shoes. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. And, after a few days of that, I made the realization that this entire outburst was more of a developmental issue with behavioral side-effects, and as such, I needed to change MY ways.

Since that day, he has not been given a single spanking. He also has not been 'time-outed' in the traditional sense. Instead, I've opted more for the "Well, if you need to act that way, then mommy can't play with you anymore. Please let me know when you're done being mean/rough/etc., so I can come back and play with you." Also, we've all been doing everything we can think of to help him feel more secure. He has a few toys that are ONLY his, and he has a few places he can go that we don't let James follow. Also, when James is sleeping or pre-occupied, I switch into quality-time mommy. No matter what, during that time, the H-man has my complete attention. Yes, that means no computer, no TV, and no telephone, but it's a small price to pay for a happier and better-adjusted (non-brotherkilling...ahem) kiddo. And, that's exactly what he seems to be...happier and better-adjusted. Phew.

My apologies for all the detail and length to that part of this post...it just doesn't read true without the details.

In other news, I decided to start potty-training about a week ago. I am so happy to say that it's going really, really well. He's a quick study, this one. :)

I've got lots more to blog about and many pictures to share, but that'll have to wait until next time. This post is already way too big. Hope everyone is doing well and getting excited for the holidays. I know we are.