I neglected my schoolwork for the long holiday weekend and had a fabulous time. However, I now need to get back to it and have no time to post all of the fabulousness from the weekend. Also, the collision of such forces as Pen, Ash and Nik completely knocked out the Internet at the lake and our virtual friendship was forced to exist in reality. It was #Epic.
I can’t resist a few* of my favorites…
More thoughts I’ve been compiling, but not actually posting:
Dellaina’s pants have been fitting a little snug! I thought we’d be packing them up for the summer and pulling them back out in the Fall, but some are already tight around the hips and tush! Thankfully, a lot of them have adjustable waists with buttons I had cinched way in and can let out, but some are moving on! Maybe that’s why everyday when I ask her what she wants to wear she replies, “ummm, I thiiiink. . .a dress!”
She is already in the phase of asking “why?” constantly. Previously, at least her constant questions have been varied and specific enough, not just the monotonous and seemingly arbitrary refrain or “why?” upon “why?” Frustrated one day, I asked her, “why do you ask why all the time?” and she simply answers, “because I don’t know why” Right you are.
She wants water as soon as she wakes up, just like her Daddy.
We are really enjoying checking out books from the library. The first time we were limited to 3 books because we just got our card, but after that we were told we could get up to 30 at one time! Seriously?! So, we got 6. And, then on Sunday, we got 11! I was able to drop Wyatt off with Greg and have time with just Dellaina to sit and read and pick some out, so it was nice.
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more words Wyatt uses regularly:
“scuse me” (“excuse me”, especially when walking around the dogs sprawled out! impressive.)
“butterfly” and “flower” both can sound like he’s saying “firefly”
“beep, beep!” when I’m moving his high chair into the kitchen and trying to get him out of the way. or as Greg told me, when they were going around people in the aisles at the grocery store.
He’s recently started saying “yes” with enthusiasm like Dellaina.
He’s definitely stretching out. .he can open doors and drawers he hasn’t been able to and it’s causing issues. ugh.
He wants to be just like Dellaina: *he built a little block stack and went to put it on the TV console, because that’s where she puts them. .only, she puts them there, so he can’t reach and destroy her stacks! *I catch him sitting on the couch, just like her. *She raised her hands and said, “I did it!” about something on her little laptop in the car the other day and for the rest of the car ride he was raising his hands, saying excitedly, “I did it!” She was so absorbed in her games, she hardly noticed. And tonight he pressed the buttons on the microwave (also beep, beep) and then declared, “I did it!” *He comes running into the kitchen “help, help!” when Greg is making his salad, because he wants to help. He learned standing in the chair and pressing the salad spinner from Dellaina, too. He uses his forearm, though, because it’s hard to do. karate chop! *he’s also learned that he expects an acknowledgement or response when he says something. You can’t just keep reading or talking, you have to pause and acknowledge what is being said or it will continue to be said with increasing volume and frequency. The other day, I was driving and distractedly said, “hmmm” to Dellaina and she immediately snapped, “don’t say ‘hmm’” I laughed and asked her what I was supposed to say and she replied, “oh, that’s a good idea’ or ‘yes, it’s green” both more specific responses to what she had said! I’ve created a little monster.
We’ve been working on learning colors and he’s starting to have some (very minimal) success in picking them out correctly. He says/repeats the names well, but picking them out on his own is definitely not happening quite often enough to say he’s really definitively getting it. But, every now and then, he gets a couple right in a row and gets me excited.
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I had an awesome Girl’s Retreat over the weekend in Boone, NC with my Smartini ladies. It was such a nice get away! I’m so thankful to have great friends and that Greg was so willing and supportive. I scheduled the get away assuming my folks would be able to help out with the kids, but later realized they had a conference in San Antonio. oops. But, Greg was still willing to take off work <gasp> and hang out with the kids alone for 3-4 days! He went into work normally on Thursday, but after putting in a couple of hours, took off to take me to meet up with Megan, so we could carpool and then he took the kids to the Zoo! Very impressive. Friday, he stayed home with them until after naps and then took them to day care for a couple of hours, while he went into work. They went to the grocery store and the park and McDonald’s over the days I was gone. It was great and I’m very happy they all got that time together. Wyatt was headed to bed when I got in on Saturday night and Greg walked outside with him and tried to let me hold him, but he just cried and cried for his Daddy. After a good night’s sleep, they were excited to see me again. Not sure why I didn’t think to just pack them in my suitcase, they are pretty cute.
There has been so much talk on Facebook about races and running and I was inspired to run a 5K. . on the treadmill this week, just to see if I could do it. It might have taken me 35 minutes, but I didn’t collapse or anything. The treadmill definitely makes me go faster and push myself, but I just enjoy running outside so much more.
We were fortunate the storms that came through our area just missed us. Less than a mile down the road there was a lot of damage and they danced around calling it a tornado, but that’s what it was that ripped through one street/neighborhood. The news helicopters were hovering all day long.
Yesterday, we met up with Cassi, Maggie & Micah at McDonald’s for a lunch playdate. It had actually been a while since we’d been to the old standby. It wore them out sufficiently and was a good outing.
Today, we took a walk this morning and Dellaina wanted to snap pictures. I have a lot of pictures of houses in the neighborhood, but I thought this one of her view of Wyatt’s head was amusing.
Bubble time!
After naps, Dellaina was complaining, “I drank milk, but it didn’t help” and holding her throat. I felt her and realized she was pretty hot. We changed her into a short sleeve shirt, gave her Tylenol and a cool patch for her head. She and Wyatt BOTH zoned out watching Elmo. I could just see in her eyes (even in the pictures above), she doesn’t quite feel right, but I’m hoping it’s short lived!
I’m working on a possible solution to the picture issue, thanks to Pen’s suggestion. Hopefully, it will mean minimal adjustment on the part of the readers.
I went to make one for Samuel, because Emily & Daniel have an appreciation for art and I was so excited that there were playground options, an easel and almost jack-in-the-box wind up handle to make it more like a kid's room, even though it's a sophisticated look. I don't think it's the route they are going after all, but I'm still excited to share. 
There are several different options ranging from nature, to industrial, to rustic, to sports, so it's easy to create something for different design styles. (Pen, if you like it at all, there were some definite "transportation" pictures - at least in some of the letters I looked at) If it wasn't quite so expensive and personal, it'd make a great gift, but I think part of the fun is picking out the images that speak to you the most. Enjoy!
