A Merry Christmas and some funny Brenner-isms

We had another wonderful Christmas with the little guy. We had two family Christmas parties and visited our good friends Jerry and Itati. We will get to more of those stories with the pictures below. First, I thought I would share a couple of funny stories with Brenner that have happened while I have been on vacation. I made some pie for Christmas and Brenner wanted some. Matt and I told him he had to eat his dinner before he got treats like pie. BHP was dilly-dallying around the table when I asked Matt if he wanted some P-I-E. Brenner pipes up "Brenner wants some P-I-E" for which we busted up laughing. Guess he knows it must be good if we spell it out - anyway he liked the key lime over the chocolate in case anyone is interested! Brenner also got a set of toy food. While I was making dinner he gave me a bottle of soda (which he refers to as "Guinness") and then used a smaller bottle for him. When it was done, he set them on the counter and said "cyclables" (for recyclables) - too funny! And now for the story that happened today....I can sort of laugh about it now......it was 11 am and I let Emi outside. She started barking at the neighbors so I stepped outside to make sure she didn't go out of our yard. I turned to go back in and the door is LOCKED! I don't know how Brenner did it.....so there I was in my pj bottoms, t-shirt, hoodie, and slippers....did I mention that it didn't get above freezing today? Brenner is screaming as I try to coax him to unlock the door. Matt is at my folks and my cell phone is inside. After some time checking sturdiness of doors I run through the snow to the neighbors - luckily they were home and came to help. They let me borrow their cell phone - no answer from Matt but got a hold of my mom. She offered some great advice - "did you ask Brenner to unlock the door?" - DUH! Anyway - by the grace of God we had left a window unlocked that the neighbor found and got the screen off. So after 45 minutes, I finally made it back inside with frozen toes and a screaming child. So you may ask why we don't have an outside key....we used to but it was in Matt's wallet.......not saying anything else about that!

Brenner in his new safari tent at our family Christmas! Although he liked the PlayDoh and scissors the best! BHP also got a zhu zhu pet from Aunt Theresa and Uncle Chuck - he likes to watch it as does Emi. I must admit it is pretty entertaining to watch!

Krystee, Colten, and Brenner at Grandma Val's Christmas bonanza! Brenner got a train set and table from Grandma and Grandpa. He loved it - he saw the box and jumped up and down shouting "open it, open it". Matt and I assembled it at our house the other night - it took about 4 hours but that includes Matt play time :) Aunt Lynnie and Co. also gave BHP some cool stuff - view finder, coloring books, Uno Moo game! He was very entertaining and loved playing in the empty boxes - go figure!

Opening presents at Grandma's house is hard work which led to a well deserved nap! They were too cute!

Christmas night we braved the 8 inches of snow and headed to Aunt Janet's house for another party. Here is a picture of Matt, PawPaw Floyd, BHP, Grammy Vo, and Aunt Janet. Grandpa Bob was also there. Brenner had a great time! Interestingly, Matt side of the family is more into big, loud toys.......

Aunt Janet got Brenner a drum set......Aunt Susie gave him a toy guitar....Grandpa Bob gave him a tricycle with lots of noise buttons.....Grammy and PawPaw gave him a remote control car (number six in his collection and he is only 2!)....needless to say - our car could not fit all of the BHP gifts! We are very thankful for our wonderful families and the time we get to spend with them. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas as well!

Christmas Break

We are enjoying our Christmas break with Matt out of school and Jo on vacation! Brenner doesn't seem to mind having Mommy and Papa around but still asks for Grandma daily. And when he is lucky enough to see Krystee and Colten pull up in the car with Grandma, Brenner can hardly contain his excitement!
Brenner's first time playing in the snow. He had been sick so we bundled up - about the only time he didn't mind putting his coat on. Once he was walking around in it, Brenner kept saying "raining". He enjoyed sitting down in it.

Papa's new purchase and Brenner couldn't be more happy. If Matt asks Brenner if he wants to go for a jeep ride, Brenner's response is "Brenner drive" - but only on our private road is this done!

Story time with Mommy. His favorites have been Clifford and Elmo books along with a potty training book and a construction machinery book. If we are running behind, I tell him "two books". Now when it is book time, he walks over to his bookcase and says "two books, mommy" without me having to say it.

Brenner and his stocking. If you ask him about it - he shouts "Frosteeee Snow Man".

This picture cracks me up! We had a Christmas dinner with our friends, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Stephie, and the girls. They gave BHP a cool book that Brenner asked Shawn to read - although when I took this picture he seemed to be saying "why am I up here"?

Our 2009 Christmas pictures. Hard to believe this is number three for BHP.

Brenner leaving some cookies for Santa and carrots and celery for the reindeer. According to Matt, Santa's favorite cookies are coconut macaroons....who knew?

Santa and the Christmas Program

Brenner seems to be understanding both Santa Claus and the Jesus and the Manger. The other night at dinner, BHP started saying that Jesus asked for a knife for Christmas. I asked him why Jesus wanted a knife and Brenner simply responded to cut down a Christmas tree.....so maybe he doesn't quite get ALL of the details yet! Brenner is also very social - shocking to those of you who don't know him that well :) At a Christmas party, Matt and I told him we needed to go so that we could get a shower bath before going to bed. Brenner then proceeded to tell everyone "Brenner take shower bath at home - bye, bye". It was funny!
The local PAT group had Santa Claus at their event last Saturday. Once we got there, Brenner got scared and wouldn't sit on his lap - but he did slap him a few fives. BHP also wouldn't tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas but at home he told us "glasses" (because he broke his sunglasses that morning), "horsey" (Grammy Vo - that is your department), and "baseball" (already has one of those).

At the church Christmas Program, Brenner put some ornaments on the tree. He usually is in the nursery the entire time so we didn't know how he would behave in the sanctuary...okay that is a lie - we knew he would probably be entertaining. So right before he is ready to go up - he is wiggling and pops me in the face while sitting on my lap. I taste a little blood - but am determined to help him put his ornament on. Brenner did a great job. Then he had another one to put on at the end of the program.......but decided that he was tired of sitting on my lap. So in a nice quiet moment between readings - he loudly says "no like mommy" for the entire church to hear! Yes - there were some chuckles and probably some thoughts of relief that it wasn't their child.

Maw, PawPaw Hinckle, Aunt Lynnie, Uncle Chris, CoCo Bean Dip, and Key-Key all came to the Christmas Program and enjoyed BHP's "performance". Everyone came to our house afterwards for some chili and cornbread. Apparently, Matt is quite impressed with my cornbread.

Mission Impossible....

Start theme music....dun, dun, dun-dun, dun, dun, dun-dun. Na-na-na, Na-na-na, NA-NA! BHP - this is your mission if you chose to accept it (okay - anyone reading this knows that he will)....
The culprit......a rogue corn cob kernel......

The target....BHP's nose.......yes - it happened, yes - after 5 pm which prompted a trip to the emergency room. Luckily - Brenner sneezed it out just as we were approaching the ER. From the outside, I would ask myself - what idiot gives their kid a corn cob to play with?!?!?! Guilty, as charged (will not try to ratinalize how the incident came to be). It was in the car and it kept him occupied until we heard - "uh-oh - nose!". I turned around to see it in his right nostril and proceeded to do the second dumb thing of the night. "Brenner - don't put your finger up there" which prompted him to immediately shove his index finger so far up his nose that I don't think any knuckles were visible. So this was our first near visit to the emergency room!

Brenner is quite the little engineer. Grandma Val had a series of pictures showing his creation from the ground up. I think he was in charge of demolition as well as construction.

Brenner working on his exercise ball with mommy. Notice the Hinck trait of his tongue sticking out to concentrate!

Giving thanks

It was another busy Thanksgiving! I had a work trip to New Orleans early in the week and then we hopped in the car to go to Grammy's for some of her yummy food. Brenner was battling a cough during this time which made the nights a little rough. BHP was also exhibiting his terrible twos - throwing food, pouring out his milk, temper tantrums, "No likey ____" (you fill whatever name you wish because Brenner said it at least once over the past few days. But it was gorgeous weather the past few days so we were able to get some fresh air including some time on PawPaw Floyd's 4-wheeler. He had a rough night last night so we put him to bed early - Brenner hit, scratched, screamed...it was awful. But he FINALLY went to sleep and that is where the story turns humorous......the little guy was so tired. He was doing alligator rolls on the bed. Grandma Val, Matt, and I all checked on him and I thought I will put him in the crib. I quietly entered the room but the bed was empty...hmmmm...Matt must have put him in the crib. I checked the crib....empty. So I went back into the bedroom and found that Brenner had rolled off the bed, knocked over an empty cardboard box, and wedge himself on the floor between the bed and the box, which is where I found him sawing heavy logs. Was he breathing - check. No blood - check. Did he seem hurt - no way - the tumble didn't even cause him to cry out. Thank goodness for Grandma's new carpet! No matter how frazzled Matt and I get from BHP's shenanigans, we love him so much and are thankful for him....but we are also thankful for bedtime :)
Love these jammies - they say "Who are you calling a turkey". Isn't BHP getting big!

Brenner and Grammy Vo decorated her Christmas tree. I think only one ornament got broken. He said his favorite was the angels.

Brenner being attached by a ferocious predator :)

Brenner attempting to eat his first taco - he didn't do too bad. We made sure to leave an extra good tip though because of the mess he made!

Pinto Bean Ice Cream

We have been on an ice cream kick - well at least talking about it. Tonight Brenner had containers out and I asked him what he was doing. His response was "making ice cream" when I asked him what kind he said "pinto bean ice cream"! Brenner has also learned what eggnog is. When he first tried it he broke into a big smile and shouted "yum - ice cream". When we entered the store this afternoon, he told me to get "eggnog for Papa", we were out so I obliged. Oh - and an update on the the "dang it" issue....problem pretty much solved after 3-4 days. Once the buddies were taken away, Brenner was a bit more careful on what he was saying. He even caught himself halfway with "dang-" then would put his hand up to his mouth. Smart little booger.....which reminds me that he has also also discovered the wonders of the nasal passage...hope that ends soon!
Brenner creating his own original Mr. Potato Head. Yes - that is a stick in his head.

Brenner insisted on eating his cereal with mittens on - it was quite funny!

Papa, BHP, Grammy Vo, PawPaw Floyd, Mr. Buck, and Brice. Grammy Vo shot an 8-point at Hilbrenner Lake opening morning. The boys got skunked. Brenner loved looking at the deer and was pretty impressed by Grammy's ability.

The Tape Recorder

That is what Matt calls BHP - the Tape Recorder because he repeats EVERYTHING! Lately it has been "Dang it" which is driving me mad. Now every time Brenner says it, he gets a buddy (stuffed animal) taken away for which he has to earn it back (by not saying it). Funny how quickly they catch on when there is a consequence. Tonight he slipped and said it and immediately he said "oh no"! Brenner had his two year checkup with Dr. Swofford and it went excellent - 26 lbs 12 oz and 34 1/16 inches. He passed all of her tests...she asked if he was speaking sentences and I told her yes - he even said "No like Dr. Swofford" before you came in. She got a good laugh. Brenner even impressed her by stacking 8 blocks - a test they give kids ready for kindergarten - go BHP! His vocabulary expands daily - he even told me in the car this evening "MOMMY - calm down" while pointing his finger at me.....by the way I was calm just merely talking with Maw. Although yesterday afternoon was the BEST - we were riding home from visiting friends in KC and listening to The Judd's Greatest Hit. Grandpa, tell me 'bout the good ole days is my favorite because my Grandpa Hilbrenner used to sing it with me. So I asked BHP to sing with me and sure enough he did - I was surprised how many of the words he knew - it almost made me cry thinking about Grandpa! Sweet, sweet boy. Oh yeah - he can also sing hilarious editions of "Three Blind Mice" and "Oo-ee-oo-ahah-ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang"!
The little ham himself - BHP is still a big fruit fan. Tonight Brenner threw a fit when he didn't get any raspberries because he didn't finish his pasta...so mean, aren't we?!

Brenner fell asleep on Maw while she read him Mother Goose.

I was making dinner the other night and Brenner calls up the stairs "Mommy - Clifford ride". When I went to check it out Brenner had his big stuffed Clifford riding on a tiny wagon. What a little problem solver.

Brenner and Key-Key on the Gator. One day, Brenner, and your feet might be within a foot of the pedals!

I don't know what was funnier - Krystee not looking forward while driving or Brenner covering his ears. I wonder what she was saying.......

The big No. 2

We had a super busy week! Grammy Vo and PawPaw Floyd came for a couple of days to BHP-sit. They arrived at 6 am with bags and bags of birthday presents on hand. Who says you can't open presents first thing in the morning! Brenner had a ball with them. Then later in the week was our 5th wedding anniversary - we will be celebrating that next week because we were too busy preparing for Brenner's big second birthday bash!
Brenner, Grammy Vo, and Clifford taking a nap - I don't know who wore who out! I really liked having them visit - meals ready when I got home - nice! I could get used to that - but Matt said we probably couldn't afford her hourly rate!

The whole tribe showed up to Brenner's party. Grandpa Bob, Aunt Janet and Tom, Aunt Susie and Vince, Aunt Lynnie and family, Aunt Stephy and the girls, Maw and PawPaw Hinckle, and Kim and buddy Grant. It was great fun - we had nachos and cupcakes. Brenner wanted chocolate cupcakes with green icing. BHP picked which one he wanted and that is the one we stuck the candles in. He ate the icing right away and didn't care about the cupcake itself - just more icing (yes - like his mommy!). So much fun - BHP liked opening the presents and got some really cool toys and clothes. It was funny - each piece of paper Brenner tore off he had to put in the trash bag....hmmm...wonder which parent that he gets that from :)

Brenner not sharing well with his buddy Grant - but Grant was a good sport!

The end of a fun weekend - big parties, lots of sugar, and a time change - but we still ended Sunday with big smiles on our face!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

What a fun weekend celebrating Papa's birthday! Brenner was so excited to see the cake being made (carrot cake - papa's favorite). When it was on the table with candles, Brenner kept saying "Brenner's cake" and got quite upset when I said that it was papa's cake. I reminded him that his party is next weekend.
We kept telling BHP that we had to eat dinner before cutting the cake. So he finished quickly, then told us to hurry up. Then we said we were going to open presents first - so then we got more bossiness about finishing our meal. Such agony for the little guy! BHP helped decorate the present with some crayon pictures - good job buddy!

Look at them go! Brenner did really good helping Papa blow out the candles. He then proceeded to climb onto the table to try and take a bite out of the cake - we stopped him just in time!

Early in the day we had a Harvest Celebration at church. Brenner got his face painted by one of his favorite buddies, Marney. He wanted a pink nose so we told him he looked like a little piggy.

There was a cupcake walk in which Brenner won a cupcake with yellow icing - notice it all over his face. He liked to dance to the music more as eating a cupcake requires him to stop for more than one second!

Brenner's first hay ride - not sure if he put the straw in his mouth or if Papa gave it to him. Papa didn't enjoy the hayride too much - a ton of kids for a looong ride! Brenner liked it for the first two miles :)

Our persimmon take on Satuday. Yum - yum!

"Han Dur-Dee!!!!"

Have I mentioned that BHP is a little quirky? For a while now, Brenner hates to have food on his hands. When he gets some food on them during meal times, he says "han dur-dee" (Hand dirty) with some drama. It really gets us laughing. Mealtimes have become a battle zone with "no likey" starting before the first bite enters his mouth. So adjustments have been made - the booster seat is back to strap Brenner in. Otherwise he kept getting down to "go git som-ding". Unfinished meals are snacks later in the day - Grandma listen to this one because I know he will beg for bunnies (graham crackers shaped like bunnies).
Brenner help me fix "Brenner-sized" (mini) pumpkin apple muffins yesterday. He has also been doing a good job of drinking out of a big boy cup. Check out the race car jammies - Brenner loves them.

Spoon use is also better. Here is another quirk....one day last week he decided we needed to sit at the opposite end of the table. Strange.....

Brenner got this blue whale from Cousin Colten, I think. We told him to name it Josie....get it....Josie the Whale.......The Outlaw Josie Wales.....yeah - Matt and I are dorks!

Brenner make "cho-cho" out of his Hotwheels. He also likes to line them up and push them so that they are in a simulated race.

We were getting ready to leave the house and Matt jumped in the shower. I was trying to pack bags, etc when BHP comes out with some discarded boxer shorts....I told Brenner that I would highly recommend not putting that anywhere near his person. The pictures shows how well he listened to me.....yuck!

Where is the sun?

It has been cloudy and raining and as BHP would say "No outside - cold". Then he still wants to wear his gloves around the house - silly boy. Brenner and Papa have both been sick but are on the mend! Brenner now does a pretty good job of covering his mouth with his hand when he coughs.....then he sticks his hand on you but hey - we are proud of baby steps. Grandma Val got Brenner some Dora the Explorer books......so we get to hear lots of "no swiping" (guess you only get that if you have read these books and know about Swiper the Fox). He loves them but we are a bit tired of reading them so before bedtime we have to preface book time with "no Dora books for night-nights".
Brenner spent one day last week with "Aunt Stephy" which is all he could talk about the day before. He got to go with her to a MOPS preschool which he loved. He became particularly partial to a little girl named "Julie-an-na". Sorry Reagan!

BHP loves to wear my head bands around. At least he can color coordinate! And he still loves his raisins.

"Colten Bean Dip", Brenner, and "Key-Key" went to an area craft festival with mommy and Aunt Lynnie. It was brisk. Brenner loved the band playing polkas and marches and gave a little girl in a stroller lots of pine cones off of the ground. Bet her mom was glad when we left! The highlight was buying apple butter that was still warm. We fought over who got to hold it to keep their hands warm!

Brenner clapping to the band - suppose the tongue helps keep the beat. I was actually a little worried he was going to chap his lips as there was a good breeze that day.

Brenner trying to pull Colten. I heard something that day I thought I would never hear. Krystee and Colten were playing ball and BHP was running around - it seemed to go one forever. Finally BHP came up to me and said "no more play". Who would have thought!?