Things I Never Want To Forget.

There are so many things that Maverik does that just absolutely tickle and delight me. He has the funniest little personality and he truly is my little buddy. He loves to make people laugh and he knows just how to do it. I cannot imagine my life with out him. Every so often I think to myself, "_________ is the cutest thing he has ever done and I will never forget this moment." And then I am shocked when a few weeks go by and I'm lying awake in bed thinking, "What was that super cute thing Maverik said/did?" 

He is growing and changing so much every day. I am starting to see glimpses  of the big kid, teenager, missionary and adult Maverik is going to be. He is changing so rapidly into the person he will become. 

Some of Maverik's greatest loves:

• Basketball!!! 
• The other day we went into a friends house and after a few seconds of exploring his surroundings in silence; Maverik held his hands up, shrugged his shoulders and asked 'No hoop?' He was totally puzzled that someone could exist without a basketball hoop in their house!
• He shoots hoops in his room for at least a full hour every day
• He gets super excited when he sees basketball on TV
• His favorite books include a picture of a basketball (or occasionally an orange which he always insists is a "bacaball")
• Speed bumps
• We do not go into the grocery store without Mav pointing out every speed bump in the parking lot. 
• He gets very upset if he sees a speed bump and we do not drive over it. 
• He also loves going over speed bumps when we go for walks or runs.
• When we tell him it is Sunday and we are going to church or that we are going to an activity at the church, he gets very excited! We have to drive over 4 speed bumps on the way and he never forgets this very exciting fact! 

• Tortillas! 
• Seriously this kid goes through SOOO many tortillas! 
• He calls them "cheese-a" 
• Cheese
• Well he is my son after all! (:
• Marshmallows
• Randomly referred to as "pon-yuck" 
• Even when we correct him and say, "no Mav these are called marshmallows," he turns around and says, "Uh-hmm pon-yuck peez mama!"

• Books- Mav has never met a book he didn't like but his favorites are:
• Anything Curious George
• Anything about colors
• My First Book of Mormon Stories
• More of My First Book of Mormon Stores
• My First Latter Day Prophets
• Love You Forever
• The Llama Llama Red Pajama series
• Any Elephant and Piggie books
• Snowy Day
• Caps for Sell
• Corduroy
• The Very Hungary Caterpillar
• Little Boy

• George
• Curious George that is! He loves the TV series and the books
• Before Maverik was born, Josh and I went to Build-A-Bear and made a monkey who we coincidentally named George. Mav loves his George and must sleep with him every night. 
• Stufty George is an intricate part of our family and he often accompanies us during diaper changes, long car rides and new experiences. He is one of Mav's best buddies! 
• Nursery- Maverik has never been one to be afraid of strangers. He barley cried his first time in nursery and he never has since. Infact some Sundays Mav is half way out of the pew before the closing prayer of Sacrament is said. 

• PeeDee the Pirate- ECU's Mascot is The Pirate and his name is PeeDee. Mav recognizes EVERY. SINGLE. PEEDEE. IN. TOWN!  He is obsessed! 
• He also makes the cutest little hook with his index finger and says "rrr" Peedee Pirate!
• Unfortunately PeeDee sounds an awful lot like a certain potty training term so every time Mav goes #1 he relates it to pirates... this is especially confusing for babysitters.
• Bunnies/Cuddles- For some unknown reason when I was little I thought blankets were called bunnies. The name stuck and it wasn't until middle school that I found out other families didn't call blankets-"bunnies." I have decided to make Maverik an equally confused child and we call all special blankets- bunnies. 
• He has a Grammy Jerri Bunny, Auntie Ann Bunnie, Grammie Del Bunnie, Mommy Bunny (the quilt I made for him before he was born), and our family favorite "the Joshey bunny" (or very old ratty blanket that Josh gave to me (after he had been using it for the past several years) before we parted for our 6 month engagement and that I cuddled under for all those many moons and all the many moons the past three years). He often comes out of our bedroom dragging the rag-a-muffin bunnie behind him and saying, "tuddle mama a bunnie!" or "dada tuddle wis bunnie!"
• Mav has recently decided he needs to sleep under layers upon layers upon layers! He sleeps with at least 4 bunnies and his bed sheet and comforter. I don't know how he doesn't sweat to death!!! I would be dying!

• Keys
• Mav loves to hold our mailbox key when we walk out get the mail
• He has a toy with lots of doors with different locks and color coordinated keys that open only one door each. He has a love/hate relationship with this toy, but he always goes back to it! 
• He also likes to carry the key ring around with him and try the little plastic keys on every lock and door he comes too.
• Forward rolls
• We signed Maverik up for a gymnastics class a couple months ago and he has grown greatly from his experiences there. He especially has become even more coordinated and can already do a perfect somersault.

• Running
• Josh is trying really hard to get back into running and exercising. He takes Mav on a run at least 3 times a week and Mav adores it!
• He always asks if he gets to go running fast with dada
• He has also started to insist on going for his own little "run" at the end of his runs with daddy. Josh will take him out of the stroller and Mav will go- "sast sast, watch mazergic (Maverik) run sast!"
• Swimming
• Last year I found a home swimming lessons outline that we used to help Mav get comfortable and even hold his breath under water. This year we realized we need a little more guidance and we signed him up for some Mommy (and/or Daddy) & Me Swimming Lessons. We went every Tuesday and Thursday for two months. Mav learned tons!
• We live right across the street from our community pool and Mav asks almost daily to go "simMING!!!'

• Cars
• He loves toy cars, especially the Chevron Brand cars with the moving eyes and doors that open and close.
• When he goes on runs with Josh, he loves to point out all that cars they pass.
• "A Cah Mama! Cah go sast!"
• I take Mav on walks a few times a week and he often points to every car we pass and tells me what color it is. He gets the color right about 6 out of 10 times! 
• Hot Dogs
• This kid could eat hot dogs all day! It's almost gross how much he likes them.

• Getting dressed
• I call Mav my little diva because he already has a very mature fashion sense. He would much prefer to wear a button up shirt than a t-shirt. 
• He picks out his shoes nearly everyday and he almost ALWAYS chooses the pair of shoes that will best match his outfit. 
• Every now and then I find myself feeling a little embarrassed as I walk the isles of the grocery store with Mav wearing a cute top, cut red shorts and an entirely different shade of red TOM's. (sometimes you just have to pick your battles)
• Wearing Ties
• This goes along with Mav being a little fashion-mister! He gets so excited when we tell him it is Sunday because he knows he will get to wear a "ky." He LOVES wearing ties and would probably wear one every single day if we let him!
• Looking at Family Pictures
• Mav points to the family pictures displayed in our family room at least once a day. He will often tell me by name the family member he was thinking of and point to wear they are in the picture. 
• If he is playing with a toy like a car that he played with when Poppy was here visiting he will say "Possie play wis me, cars go vroom vroom" then he will run to our sofa jump up on it and point to a picture with Poppy in it and say "see Possie right there!"
• He can point to every Jones family member when we name them and a handful of our Clapp side family members too. He is generally most interested in those we have seen or talked to on the phone most recently. 

• Babies- When Mav turned about 18 months he started saying things about a baby living at our house. He even went as far as to poke me in the stomach and say- "baby! mama? baby?" (we never told him that babies grow in their mama's tummy's, but somehow he figured it out)
• He gets so excited when he sees a baby when we are out and about and he especially gets thrilled when we will have friends over and one of them happens to be a baby. 
• When Mav is telling us the names of our family members in pictures he will often say "Piper, Sosie (Sophie) and the baby" when talking about my sisters 3 little girls and "Kiss, Tia, Sosie (Sofi) and the baby tato (Pato)" when talking about Josh's brother Chris's family. (I wonder if he will stop calling them both "the baby" now that they are each nearly 1 year old!) 
• Although I don't think he fully understands what having a baby brother or sister means, he is super excited about my pregnancy and I know he will be a great big brother!
• Music and Dancing-
• Mav and I go to a Kindermusik class once a week where we sing and dance and play basic instruments. He loves his "Cass!" and often wants to know how long until we get to go again. 
• After he fell so in love with music class we decided he needed some musical toys at home. He comes out with his music box all the time and and will hand who ever is here an instrument and then tell us to play and have fun. 
• If Maverik hears 30 seconds of music he is up dancing and this kid has got some serious rhythm and moves! 

• Srends (Friends)- Maverik is a pro at sharing! He loves having friends over! He runs to the front door when the bell rings and he squeals and shouts "srends srends! yay!" He then will escort our guests to our family room and show them the chair and sofa and then run off to his room to get them a toy to play with.
• When my visiting teachers are over they always end up with a lap full of toys of every different genre. I think Mav must think they don't like what he has brought out unless he sees them playing with it in some way, so keeps bringing out something new to try to make them happy. 
• At the park if another child wants to play where he is playing Mav will move out of the way and say "turn turn" - this ususally backfires as most littles around his age don't ever give Mav his turn.
• He generally doesn't take another child's toy from their hands and he almost NEVER gets upset when someone takes toys from him. He just moves on to a new thing. He really is just SO. SWEET.
• Coloring- What little kid doesn't love coloring, right?
• Dinasaurs, monsters and things that rawr- Yup! All boy! 

There are so many things Maverik loves- more than I could ever write about! He is so sweet and kind and obedient. He loves to help and he truly wants to do the right thing. You can see in his eyes that he cares for other people and wants everyone to be happy.

Mostly Maverik loves life! He wants to experience new things and he is always excited about the things we get to do, even the everyday things like laundry and cleaning.

We are so incredibly blessed to have Maverik. He makes me a better person every day. He helps me to notice all the little things in life that are truly wonderful. I hope he can always have his positive, excited, curious, up-for-anything, caring, kind, helpful personality.

I love you, Mavs Man

-Mama