Amari at 4

(Some of this is repetitive because I just found it on my phone)



We just celebrated Amari's 4th birthday.  He wanted to celebrate his birthday with his closest friends, Josiah, Braelyn and Khilyn at Chuck E Cheese (he LOVES Chuck E).

He is all about hot wheels and Transformers.  He has watched this hot wheels show a thousand times.  And he has just about every transformer there is.  He is still so obsessed with cars, he will play with them all day.

Right now he is in the imagination stage, so he will play make believe with his transformers.  He is pretty good at occupying himself but he is still really busy so its hard to keep his attention for a really long time.

He is starting to get to that stage of making more friends and loves being around friends.  He tries keeping up with Becks and the older neighborhood kids.

He loves riding his bike

He is the biggest comedian; he loves laughing and he loves being silly.

He LOVES running around naked; every chance he gets he will take off his clothes and run around the house completely naked.  Once I was napping and he was walking outside completely naked.  An old lady came into my house yelling "excuse me"'.  I was half asleep, came out of my room and there she was laughing and holding onto his hand, telling me he was out in the middle of the road naked (I about died).

He is a climber, he is always climbing on the kitchen counters, turning on the water and playing in the  water.

He has just started to love playing chase.  He will say "try n get me"

I love when he says "whoosh (while wiping his forehead), that was a close one"

He takes forever to fall asleep, he fights it like nobody's business.

He is still doing in exercises for his brain development that Jared gave us, he hates doing them.  He had his audiology testing done for a scar that Jared saw on his right ear drum.  He passed the test just fine.

He loves swinging on the swings at the park.

He is still a daddy's boy.

Lately he has been waking up multiple times at night, comes into our room and tries to sleep with us (we have an extra bed by our bed that he crawls into).  I think it's just become a habit like it was with Beckham for a year.

He loves playing in our car

He is still such a foodie, hungry all the time

His speech has gotten better; but he definitely has a language all of his own.

He tried Karate with Beckahm and I was impressed at how well he did for not knowing anything.  He started feeling a bit overwhelmed and the instructor allowed him to leave.  I was so proud of him for trying.  He is so awesome at trying new things.  He's such a brave kid.

Amari was drifting off to sleep the night before his birthday and he was looking up at his ceiling with this longing gaze and glimmer in his eyes. His lips were smiling....I had a feeling come over me that he was seeing something. When he was really little he would do the same thing before bed every night, his eyes would dance, looking at the ceiling as if someone was talking to him or he was seeing something. 

I could'nt help but wonder and hope that he was remembering life before he came into this world 4 years ago--Remembering the important choice he made to come here and 

Amari loves music. He loves singing and he loves dancing. He is so good at mimicking others 

Right now he's obsessed with hot wheels and transformers. He will spend hours playing make believe with his hot wheels and transformers. 

He loves watching the hot wheels movies. 

He has been so grown up and so sweet to his friends brea and Khi. He has been so nice sharing his toys and playing with them.

He has been waking up multiple times a night and coming into our room to sleep and then waking up again to come climb in bed with me. 

Amari takes such a long time to put to bed. You'll see his eyes get droopy and he is so tired but he will shuffle his feet, raise his eye brows to try and get his eyes to stay open longer....lay there and Cheese it at me, it's so comedic to watch. 

Amari has been so in love with his bumblebee costume, he has to sleep in it and wear it all day long. Today after church he said "let go home, take shirt off, put bumblebee on." 

He's a sunbeam now and he doesn't really enjoy going to his classes :) 

Today the primary kids sand "I love to see the Temple" in sacrament, Amari ran right up there with beck--no reservations—and sister Morris held him and he belted out the song—singing his little heart out :) and waving to me the entire time. Everyone was laughing, it was adorable. 

Amari has been such a helper, he is getting better at cleaning up, he will help take the trash out, and today after church he loves helping me make all of these raw treats for the week (he's such a good taste tester). 

The boys have their moments, that's for sure, but there been getting along better. They love to wrestle each other.

About Amari at 3

Amari has the funniest sense of humor, and his laugh is so contagious and infectious.  The things he finds the funniest the most right now is throwing things on the floor and laughing out loud or watching someone hurt themselves (pretend to bonk their head, etc.)—he gets the biggest kick out of it.  Lately his FAVORITE show to watch is The Great Pumpkin Patch (Charley Brown) (it is still so funny to me how much he loves the classics).  The other day he was watching it and I was getting out of the shower and all I could here was him laughing hysterically out loud.  He was, no joke, laughing like this for half the movie.  He thought it was so funny when Lucie tries to convince Charley Brown to kick the football and Charley misses it and falls on his head.

Later that night, during bed time, I was singing him to sleep (he was so tired, mind you), and all of a sudden he starts busting out laughing.  He went silent and then out of no where he started laughing again in hysterics.  I couldn't get upset one bit, his laugh is so infectious, I started laughing out loud.  And then when he saw me laughing it only ignited more laughter within him and pretty soon both of us were crying we were laughing so hard.  I could just tell he was envisioning something so funny in his mind and it was giving him quite the case of the giggles :).  Then right before he'd go into another laughing streak he would fold his arms, then open them and yell "ahhh boo!" and start busting up laughing.  It by far was my favorite moment spent with him.  If that kid doesn't grow up to be a comedian, I'll be surprised :).

Amari has this new fascination with hiding under the sheets . . . he cracks me up.  ADD VIDEO

If Amari doesn't become an actor I will be seriously shocked; he LOVES reenacting movies.  He is so good at mimicking sounds, behaviors, expressions, etc.  All day long he will come up to me and reenact Charly Brown's Great Pumpkin patch when Linus and Sally are waiting outside for the great pumpkin to arrive (and it turns out to be Snoopy).  "There he is," he will shout, "there he is!!"  He is so serious about it and completely in character; it is such a riot to watch him! ADD VIDEO

Tidbits on Amari at 2 years

Amari is getting so much better with his words and understanding you when you talk to him

He loves it when I ask him if he wants to hear me tell him all the things I am proud of him for at the end of the day.  He nods his head with excitement and says "yes!"

He has a hard time saying the word we ask him to say (even though I know he can say it because he knows plenty of words and is so smart); he always says "pleeeease" in replace of the word :).  It is the cutest please ever!

He is definitely going through the "terrible two's".  He still struggles with listening when you ask him to do something.  I had the hardest time one night asking him to clean up toys, he just wouldn't listen.  I put him in time out 4 times and he just sat there on the chair laughing and smiling at me.  If I wasn't so irritated and upset I would have burst into laughter; he definitely has a gift to make people smile.

When he goes to bed he looks off some where and just cheeses it . . . makes me wonder what he sees (a bit of heaven?) :)

Amari is one that needs focus and attention with touch and eye contact.  If you sit and play with him, talk to him while looking into his eyes he will connect with you.

Right now he loves playing pretend with his stuffed animals (giving them food, putting them to bed, rocking them).

He still loves his cars, and he doesn't like to see them crash (I think ever since the Cars movie he thinks cars are real).

He is a little wanderer but he doesn't really like to explore much, he just walks around looking for things to do.

He loves playing on the iPad.  He is getting so good at his games; he really likes the puzzle games.

I was so impressed one day when we were outside playing (Beck's was in our blow up pool—Amari didn't want to get in—and I was working in the garden), he did something so out of character: he came over to me and wanted to help me shovel dirt.  Then he followed me around with the tools and used all the tools after I showed him how to use them.  He has never really had an interest in doing things I am doing or having much attention span to do things for a longer period of time.  It was so neat to see.

He got on Beck's scooter that same day and I pushed him down the driveway.  He wasn't scared one bit.  One time he fell off and without me even telling him to get back up and try again he walked back to the scooter and got back on.  He even started using his foot to push himself.  I was astonished; I have never taught him how to ride; he just did it all by himself.  He is such a learner by way of observing and mimicking people.

Every time we get on the freeway he makes it a point to look for the big trucks and he points them out

At almost 2 1/2 years Amari is learning so many new words.  It is so cute to here him repeat the words you ask him to repeat, he LOVES doing it.

He is still so obsessed with cars, trains, planes.  He has started showing an interest in Beck's shows (even his Ninjago and Scooby Doo).  Right now he LOVES Toy Story.

He is getting a lot better going to the gym.  They did have to put him in time out the other day because (as Lisa told me laughing), he kept knocking down the legos and giving her this devious grin like "ya, right I am going to pick those up!".  "Welcome to my life every day," I told her.  He is still pretty stubborn when it comes to cleaning up messes and listening to you, but he IS doing better.  He will now usually stop when I say stop.

Him and Becks still have an estranged relationship; they play by themselves more than not and when Beck's asks Amari to play with him he ignores Becks.  It is still something I am hoping will change on a daily basis.

He doesn't really like being around a ton of people; when we go to big events like the 4th of July, he likes to stay close to me and Mike.  The more and more he grows up the more I see just how alike he and his daddy are (which explains his obsession towards him...he LOVES Daddy).  He is chill, goes with the flow, rarely complains unless he is hungry or wants the iPad, he isn't overdramatic, he doesn't like authority, and he is generally happy.

He wrote on his furniture for the first times just a few days ago during naps.  I told him it was great art work but that he can't write on anything but paper.  Ever since then he will go and point to his drawings and say, while shaking his finger, "no, no."  :) But you can tell he is ever so proud of his artistic abilities.

Ever since he climbed out of his crib and we changed his bed he has struggled a bit going to sleep, he will play with the door stopper, or kick the door like crazy.

He did well for the very first time since entering nursery after I put a male teacher in there.  He does so well with male figures.  When we were at Oak Mountain a few weeks ago it was so funny to watch him run up to this man who was watching over his own kids; he immediately adopted him as his dad.

Amari has the best sense of humor.  Lately he has wanted me to do the following over and over and he cracks up like crazy: give his monkey kisses (eskimo, butterfly, and regular), make loud monkey noises (he will come to me first thing in the morning with his monkey, making monkey noises, telling me he wants me to make mine :), talking in a weird voice and doing scenarios and then saying "I am just going to go and cry" while rubbing my eyes like I am crying; pretending to bonk heads on each other or any thing.  There was one day, after quiet time, when he had the giggles and was hysterically laughing till literally bed time.  I love these moments with him, they make me smile. I hope and pray he always keeps his great sense of humor! 

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Amari said his first sentence in Sunday (during sacrament while playing with a transformer), "there it is!" :)

Amari said some new words this week: tunnel, spider, star. He's understanding so much better. 

He loves trains. He is always listening for them outside and pulls his fist up and down and says "choo choo". 

He loves the cat and mimics me by smacking his lips together and saying "here kitty kitty". 

He has the funniest sense of humor. If you make believe you are crying or being ugly he cracks up. He has the funniest most devious little chuckle.

 He loves going to preschool with becks and gets bummed when we leave. 

He has gotten so much better not pounding on his door and just reading his books/playing with his toys till we come and get him. 

Him and becks have such a better relationship now--it's sweet to see becks play with him, and Amari follow him around. And to hear brother call him his buddy or try to let me know what he needs

He loves hanging out with Becks and their new buddies Braelyn and Khilyn.  One playdate he got his feelings really hurt because they were leaving him out.  He started to really sob, it broke my heart. 

Amari is learning his words better, he now gets excited that he can say "moo--vie", which he says all the time . 
He loves pointing out letters and numbers and trying to say them. He also loves singing the ABC song and pronounces the M, S, and W so well. He also loves singing along with his favorite show tunes like Super Why and paw patrol and he tries mimicking what they are saying. It's so adorable to watch. 

He is so sneaky when it comes to candy, he will try to sneak candy at all costs. The other day I found him in Becks room with the door locked, hiding behind his dresser eating a sucker. When I walked in he had such a guilty look on his face I just laughed. 

When we came back from Cancun he became a little bit more of a mamas boy. He wanted to keep hugging me and following me around where I went. 

Amari has such a funny relationship with jack--he's always pestering him and messing with him laughing like crazy when jack tries to attack him. 

Lately he has been sneaking plain ice cream cones out of the pantry to eat...so funny.

Him and Becks have FINALLY been getting along better; they actually play together at times and wrestle, laugh, chase each other around the house, and Beck's doesn't seem to mind that Amari follows him places.  Becks even said one day, "come on Buddy, let's go play . . . you are my best buddy!" Totally made my day. They could seriously get away with anything when I see that they are actually getting along. 

Things About Me: 23 Months

Amari is such a little cuddle bug, he love coming up to me or dad and laying down on us and giving us loves at random times throughout the day. He also loves doing this on certain stuffed animals and books he loves, for example, whenever he gets to read his sound book with Whales that Grandma E sent, he leans into the page and kisses the whale.


Just in the past week he has started to get better at communicating and showing signs of really understanding what you are saying.  He uses his sign language for "more" and "all done" really well, and he has started to say more words: yellow, hippo, whale, purple, oil, and some more.

He learned how to hold his nose and say "ewe" when he has a stinky diaper :)

He LOVES the TV show Maters Car Toons; I think he has watched it about 60 times.  He also loves Postman Pat, and Animal Mechanics. He has actually become quite addicted to watching shows (he points to the DVD player in the car every time we get in and shakes his head no and says "no" because he knows that I won't let them watch a show unless we are going a long distance but he still tries asking me :)

He still has the hardest time listening; he has his own agenda and he pretty much sticks to it (it is especially frustrating when it comes to trying to get out the door).

For the past month he has seemed really lethargic; even after waking up from naps or bed time he just wants to lay down on the floor with this blanket.

He loves water; he will try and play in any body of water he can (lately he has loved playing with his trucks in the bathroom sink after I have filled it up with water for him).

When he is trying to decide something or doesn't know what to do he will tap his lips and say "hmmm?" It is so adorable; absolutely one of my favorite things.

He is so content playing on his own for the most part; he doesn't seem to require a ton of attention and he doesn't seem to be a conformist whatsoever—he sticks to doing what he wants to do and doesn't seem to care what others are doing. He is however a super busy boy and likes to move from one thing to the next.  He also gets restless easy so if we are not out the door by 8:30 or so he starts whining.

He loves wrestling and playing chase (I run around the house with the boys and night and chase them, saying "I am going to pinch your bum" and they squeal with delight :).

He is a machine when it comes to eating; it seems I can't go more than 2 hours, some times even an hour and a half without him wanting food.  He would much rather eat food than be immersed in play of any sort.

He still enjoys watching sports.

He still loves male figures; we were at the library for story time and the room was filled with dads, and only one dad and he went straight up to the dad and stood in front of him smiling, wanting attention.

He loves Whales; if I get a book about sea animals he will turn to the Whale page and look at it for 20 minutes.

Whenever we are playing outside he will randomly leave whatever we are doing and go touch and look at cars parked in our parking lot; he is obsessed with vehicles.

He is a little ladies man; the other day we were at the gym and one of my friends and her friends came to talk to us and they started flirting with Amari and he just stood there smiling at them, raising his brows, and being attentive to what they were saying—he'd go give them high five and pound it when they asked...it was so cute.

He seems to be doing totally fine without his brother in nursery; in fact he has been better in general at adapting to nursery each Sunday.

Him and Becks have their moments but they pretty much keep to themselves.  He can't stand it when Beckahm gets up in his business and is bossy or takes things from him.  He holds his own most often by pushing him back or just leaving the situation.  Some times I am amazed at how patient and unbothered he can be with his older brother.  My heart still longs for the day that they will be best buddies.

He LOVES to be thrown on the bed in a blanket by me and Mike.  In fact this is both the boys favorite thing and we do it every Sunday.

He loves looking at planes or helicopters in the sky.

Right now he loves pushing buttons and opening doors.

Amari Turns 2!

What a blessing this blonde haired, blue eyed, little man has been in our lives for the past 2 years! I can't believe it was 2 years ago that I found out I was pregnant with this little guy–whom I actually thought was a girl—my how time flys! He has blossomed into such a sweet, fun loving and energetic little boy. We love you so much little August Amari!! Happy birthday big boy! 

I love this little man so much; just in the past few weeks he has started understanding more, listening a little better, and saying more words.  It is so fun to see him grow into his beautiful self.  I love what  snuggle bug he is; multiple times a day he will pause from whatever he is doing, come and find me and lay his head on me.  He seems to be so happy just doing his own thing, not minding what others are doing around him.  He is so active, he moves from one thing to the next.  He loves being on the go; in fact I feel like when I don't get out the door by a certain time in the morning he is ansey.  He loves watching shows, when I allow it, especially the ones I listed above and he loves sound books and his toy cars/planes.  He has such an infectious smile and laugh, I love hearing him grunt out a laugh when I tickle him.  He has such an easy going demeanor and really when it comes all down to it just wants to know he is loved and receive love by others.  So grateful for the two years I have had to be his mother! 

The road we have walked 

 From 0-9 months in my womb

 Birth

 1st's 

 1st birthday 

 This picture captures one of his great loves: music 

We took him to the Bham Aircraft museum, which he loved

Amari is obsessed with anything that has wheels, especially any character from the movie Planes (aka Dusty Cropper) and Cars (aka Mater).  So we gave him a "things that go" birthday party.  We woke him up with the morning with song and cheering and he was so happy and felt so special.  The moment he saw the table decorations he flipped out.  In fact he kept revisiting the table decorations throughout the day; he couldn't get enough.  

He was spoiled this year by us and by his grandparents and Auntie Michelle who sent him 4 gifts (one from every person in her family).  He loved every single thing he opened! 

It was freezing cold outside so after a french toast breakfast and letting him watch his favorite movies: Cars and Planes, we took him to the pet store (he loves looking at the fish and all the animals) and then to lunch.  After naps we got to face time Grandma Moncur and then we had his favorite dinner: spaghetti and meatballs and surprised him with his Cars cake and ice cream.  He thought his cake was so awesome and yummy! 

What a wonderful birthday he had.  Although he did end up throwing up (his first time ever) in the wee hours of the morning (poor thing).  We strongly believe it was from all the dairy we let him have for his birthday (bad parents).

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Something he started doing recently: laughing for no reason at all :) :)