15 Months

I was snowed in all weekend, and surprisingly, we all survived without argument!  I even had to cancel a haircut on Saturday, which to me, is like cancelling a vacation.  Wahhh!  Will woke up at 5:50 on Saturday morning, which I thought was awesome compared to the 4:40 garbage he has been pulling a few other times this week!  I try to rock him back, but he just wiggles out of my arms, and makes his way to the stairs, signing for food.  Pre-parent Jackie would have wondered who is in charge here.  Hahaha!

 But seriously, my goodness this is the coldest winter I have endured in my life.  Tuesday we're going to reach a high of seven, and then it looks like it should get back to close to normal.  Our gas bill should be lovely.  This 58 year old house has a hard time staying warm!  And this is how I really feel:

I took Will to his 15 month well visit on Friday and it was a doozy!  I think he's starting to have a prolonged memory, because as soon as I put him on the scale, he lost it!  Measuring his head and length caused hysterics, so you can guess how the shots went!  The dr. tried to give him a lollipop, but he didn't know what to do with it...so no help there.  I tried to put Thomas on my phone, but it was just too rough a situation to cure.  Poor buddy.  But he is 30lbs now and 33.5 inches...so still off the charts, but not as far away from average range as he was at the last visit.  I think it is because he gives Patton 1/2 of his food.

Speaking of food, I've been participating in an online childhood nutrition class and it has really helped me realize how easy it can be to make more of our own food.  Last week, I tried homemade bread and pasta sauce.  Neither were spectacular, but it's a start, and I'll get there!  As a family, we're working to "clean up" our diet and start spending a little more to get better quality food.  I don't think Billy is ready to give up his Pop Tarts or hot dogs, but I never ate that garbage to begin with.  And luckily, Will is still young enough to think raisins are treats.

And for the weekly humor:

-As we were going to bed, I was showing Billy a video of Will's animal sounds.  He noted that Will is getting "...a little lazy with his monkey sounds."  Hmmm...I guess we'll work on that.

-I was tossing Will's diapers into the wash and out of the bag came a book, my belt, and a puzzle piece.  Perhaps I should keep a closer eye on him!

Will on the loose

We're suffering from a little bit of cabin fever here.  Will ended up with a stuffy nose this weekend and was pretty pathetic yesterday.  When I woke up to it on Sunday, I had a flashback to the kids he interacted with last week and it could have been from any one of them - or even the play gym.  After I was done being angry about it, I realized that he's going to get a little sick eventually and the benefits of him socializing really do outweigh a little snot.  And really, for 15 months, only getting sick one other time, this is pretty minimal.  I'm sure this a concern of a one-kid mom...my friends who have 4 or 5...it's just another day!

This crazy kid.  All of the sudden likes boxes on his head...and it's all his doing!  He'll walk around like that too.  And now, he has started running!  Watch out!  He dumped Patton's water bowl three days in a row because he's too quick...I can't react fast enough!  Or he'll do it while I'm pouring coffee.  This weekend we also had to take the large bookcase out of his room and replace it with shelves.  He's a climber and that bookshelf was going to end up on the ground in a matter of time!

The before picture below is the only evidence that our basement is ever without toys covering it!  How thankful I am, to have this space.  I hope we never have to move into a house without a basement or playroom!  I love having an area that is all his, and I don't have to clean it up every day.

Some other funny things...

-When I'm rocking him to sleep, he has to have both of his hands suppressed, so one is usually behind my back, and the other is in my armpit.  What a weirdo.

-He'll point to the cabinet where we keep Patton's treats if he wants to give Patton a bone.

-After dinner, we let Will open Patton's gate to help clean up and it is a MAD DASH between the two to get to the high chair which is littered with food.  Patton is running to eat the leftovers and Will is running to try to hand Patton the food.  Will's running is the most hilarious thing to us - his hands straight down or behind his back, with his belly out.  We die every night.

-I now can't even say "Sesame Street"

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

This time last week, the wind chill was -25.  Today it will be 55.  ABOVE ZERO.  I'm in favor of the latter.  A lot of people have been asking if we have been affected by the Kraton spill and if our water is ok. To my knowledge, it is fine.  I don't watch the tv during the day, so I usually have no idea what's going on.  When the first person asked, I had to go online to our local news to see what was up.  I think for most of our family and friends, we are the only people they know in WV, so when they hear about it on the news, we're the first people that come to mind.  So yes, we're fine.  But in the event of a similar disaster, we have close to 2 weeks worth of water in the basement.  We are "prepped", if you will.

I have started letting Will watch Sesame Street after breakfast.  Because many times, he gets up at 5am and I am just not with it enough to entertain him.  And it seems that he has become quite fond of the Sesame Street crew.  I was telling Billy about this, and how he knows some of the characters in books now.  So my dear husband, not really believing me, thought he would ask Will if he wanted to watch Sesame Street.  Will doesn't say much, but he KNOWS what you are saying.  He ran to the tv and started pointing.  When Billy wouldn't turn it on(bc he doesn't know how to access saved shows), a meltdown ensued.  Luckily, I came to the rescue.  This kid amazes me every day at what he is understanding!  I don't blame him for crying in this instance, because it was a bit of a tease.  A similar situation: I started singing the Thomas the Train song, and Will ran to the tv.  I didn't need to turn it on though.

 Another funny Billy-related story: as we were getting ready for church(I was getting everyone ready), I asked Billy to give Will some peanut butter toast.  I hear the shout from downstairs, "He is so messy!"  I guess he's never had the pleasure of watching Will pick all the peanut butter off the bread with his hands and then eat the bread.  I see it every day, so I'm just not phased by the mess anymore I guess!  Everyone is learning!

And last night, while Billy was getting Will ready for his bath, he took off his diaper and clothes while they were waiting, and Will peed on the floor.  Billy says, "I can't believe he peed!"  Really?  Our non-potty-trained kid peed on the floor while he wasn't wearing a diaper?  Shocking.  Of course, I laughed and left him to clean it up!

Never a dull moment around here - and that is fine with me!

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's weeks like these that we really miss living in Florida.  It will be a high of SEVEN degrees on Tuesday.  I don't think Billy has ever felt that temperature, and I surely have not on the east coast.  I think I have when I worked for Alpha Phi traveling through Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.  His grandmother was saying that even though it's cold, it is nice to have seasons and something to look forward to.  Billy disagreed and said, "No, I would look forward to tomorrow, which will be another sunny day!"  Well said.  I won't be leaving the house on Tuesday!

Speaking of Alpha Phi, The Bachelor starts tonight and there is a contestant who had my job two years after I did working for our sorority.   Even though I haven't watched in a few years, I'll be tuning in.  Oddly, I have known, or recognized a lot of people on TV and Billy is always bewildered.  A couple weeks ago, we were flipping through the channels and a girl I knew from college was on WWF - as a wrestler!  A proud ECU alumni, indeed.  I have seen people I know on "Say Yes to That Dress" three times, "Property Virgins" twice, "Bar Rescue", "What Not to Wear", "Hotel Rescue", "Undercover Boss" and "FourWeddings"...just thinking off the top of my head.  Crazy, I know.

 This was such a fun weekend, despite the frigid temps and snow.  A friend and I took our kiddos to the local Winter Market where I spied a vendor selling alpaca wares.  I was so intrigued as she was telling me that she raises them, shears them in the spring, and then weaves these beautiful poncho capes.  Downside was they were $200.  A little rich for me.  But she did offer a tour of her farm for Moms Club in the spring.  I really can't imagine what Will would think of these animals.  But I got her card, and we're going!

After the Market, we took the kiddos to the mall play place.  Not a place I ever imagined myself frequenting, but it is a saving grace on cold days!  As long as it's not overrun with too many big kids, it's a good time!  There is another place in town, that is open for free play two mornings a week, and it's $5 an hour.  It has a foam pit, a ton of things to climb on, trampolines, a bounce house...totally worth five bucks to me.  And it means a good afternoon nap for Will.  I will pay for naps. ;)

Today was my first day volunteering in the church nursery.  I have been looking for something to do, to give back, but options with a one year old are pretty limited.  Last week the sermon was about making 2014 our break-out year, and then I saw the call for volunteers in the bulletin.  I know it's small potatoes, but it's something, a start, and more than I was doing before.  I had a great first day and Will stopped clinging to my leg when he realized I wasn't just dropping him off.  Ha!

Here's to hoping for smooth sailing through the arctic temps this week!  (Seriously, I think it will be colder than the North Pole.)