Pushed to the Limit :)

This weekend, we took a little stroll to the park at the end of our brand new sparkly street and we introduced Wyatt to the swings.
It was such an experience - all smiles and belly laughs...from Jason, me and Wyatt.
It is so much fun to uncover things like this, that you've forgotten about, and to share them with your kiddo. Thanks, Heidi, for the reminder!

Crayons: A Horrible Fail

So I thought it would be a brilliant idea to give Wyatt some crayons. I mean, how hard is it, really, to put pen to paper (so to speak). This was back during the snow days a few weeks ago when we were trapped inside for FOUR days and were desperate for things to do.



Apparently, we can't color with them, but we can smoke them? Is this a mini-George Burns, or what?




...and back in the mouth...


Guess we'll try again in a year or so. :)

Welcome to Our New Home!

Our new place is unpacked! I just finished collapsing the last four boxes before lunch. The media room still needs work, but that is Jason's domain, so I'm staying out of there. Thanks to such great support from our family and friends, we were able to get everything else squared away ASAP. Of course, it's not perfect and until we sell our other home (which will go on the market Tuesday), we will be short a few items - like a kitchen table, etc...

But...the dogs have a yard that we've played fetch in twice now, our neighbors seem very kind, our internet is connected, and W has tons of space to explore. On top of all of that, bulk trash pick up was Monday, so the unsightly masses of moving boxes are gone. We are very lucky!

Here's a look at Wyatt's playroom! He's a very busy boy.

Peek!


He loves this play table. Look at that concentration!

Trying out a delicious foam letter

Zoom! Wyatt crawled through this tunnel about a gagillion times yesterday!

Figuring out how things work...

Come by for a visit! We'll be here!!

What We're Reading

Which book should I choose? Hmmm...


To begin, one for the babies:

Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith is pretty darn funny. It has a nice rhythm to it and the pictures are hilarious. When I read this to Wyatt, he did that little bouncy-bouncy thing that he usually does when music is playing. I could only find this book in paperback, which I normally don't like due to how easily they are destroyed, but it was worth the price. The best part, however, is that if you visit www.scholastic.com/wonkydonkey, you can hear the author singing this book.
That is the real fun!
WARNING: the donkey only has three legs and one eye -
which makes him a winky, wonky donkey.


For the mamas:

I adored this book and highly, highly recommend. It is full of information that I found fascinating about family dinners and their importance to raising a healthy, happy family. We had family dinner almost every night at my house until I graduated; I know about two other people who can say that. Aside from great information, fun questions to ask at dinner, and interesting stories, author Laurie David also gives us some great & quick recipe ideas - ones that even your kids can help prepare. By visiting her website you can subscribe to The Family Dinner mailing list - I also recommend that.


So that is what we're reading this week. Enjoy!

My Son, The Wrecking Ball

Everything is packed up - the big move will be in 8 days, if all goes according to plan.
This means that Dub is consistently confined to his room for playtime.
...Which would be fine, except our OCDs are at odds. He can be across the room embroiled in squishy crayons and pacifiers and I'll start putting things back in the box. He'll immediately come over to investigate, find that things aren't strewn about to his liking, and upend whatever I was tidying. I want to put things up in their proper place. He thinks the proper place is on the floor in no particular order. On this, I assure you, we will butt heads continually. :)

He likes to get into everything. He recently learned how to unplug the monitoring camera - because that will likely get a parental response ASAP. His crib now resides in the center of the room where he can't get his little monkey paws on anything.

In this photo, he has just figured out how to twist and turn to get out of his bouncy seat. I guess we will be packing that up soon since it's pretty much ineffective now. And what a precarious perch!

Here he is helping me pack up a few things. And by "pack up", I mean take things out of the box that I just finished up with.


He likes the changing table as a place to crawl in and out of. He will push off and tip over all of the baskets, then crawl up onto the table and hang out. Notice, also, the grace in the dismount.




But, he's still a sweet boy. Just a few minutes ago he conked out in my lap. That's the sweetest time - because I can get everything back where it belongs before we ring the bell for Round 2. :)

January is already over? What?

Eating a green pepper!


Swimming lessons have kept us busy this month. We've just completed week 3, and Dub can now flip over and float on his own...but he sure doesn't like it. :) We have one more week of structured lessons and then the instructor will decide if he's ready to move on to other things, or if he needs more rescue practice!

And swimming has given our boy a huge appetite. He eats like a horse when he comes home from lessons: cheese, green beans, applesauce or a banana, bread with hummus, watermelon, yogurt, 4 oz of water/juice and 4 oz of milk...and that is every single day!
What are his teenage years going to look like?
(All of that eating, and he's still only 20 lbs, which is 46% for boys.)

He is also moving around like a mad man. Diaper changing has become quite a feat - trying to find something to distract him while I one-handedly change a diaper is difficult. He has no sense of danger and has decided that diving, head long, off of the changing table would be a blast.
He will no longer be confined to the quilt - he wants to crawl all over the house and stick his chubby-dub fingers in every single light socket. He even thinks the covers I've put on the sockets are a personal challenge to him - "how can I get these out of my way?".

He's a real people pleaser, though (unless the "people" is mom). This makes him a pretty good little kid who always likes to laugh and smile and, now, blab. We'll probably keep him.


With Da-da (yes, he said it first...) at Bass Pro. Both Jas & Dub enjoyed watching the fish!

Danger? I laugh at danger...

Godzilla stomping Japan. And yes, I do put legwarmers on my boy - but that's because his little knees get all chapped up with his constant movement. He's a maniac, man-iac, on tha flo-or.

Swimming Lesson #1

Today Dub started his first swimming lesson. We're taking a swim-rescue class through Texas Infant Aquatics so that if W were ever to fall in the pool, he would "know" to roll onto his back and float until help came.

Before W's lesson started, the kid in the lesson before us was throwing an awful tantrum & I think it freaked W out a little - as seen on his face in this picture.


I handed him right into the pool, they put him right under the water, and for 10 minutes, he worked on not being so freaked out. Then the lesson was done. We repeat this Monday-Thursday for ten minutes a day - four weeks. If Dub gets it, then he graduates on to swimming lessons, not just rescue.
Very proud of my little swimmer!

Mr. Giant Head - taking it all in

You want me to do WHAT???

In the pool - where's my mom?

Live Action Shot!