Thursday, October 28, 2010

Books, Books, Books


We love books around here. Who doesn't love books? I think I get more excited to get new childrens books at the library than Weston. There are TONS of good ones out there, but here are some of our favorites:

Lulu The Big Little Chick by Paulette Bogan
Cha Cha Chimps by Julie Durango
Good Night Train by Julie Sobel
Moose on the Loose by Kathy-Jo Wargin
Jesus Story Bible
Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car by Eileen Christelow
Llama, Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney

What are your favorites?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

And I Quote...

Last night it stormed and Weston was fascinated. It brought up the subject of the things God has made (i.e. thunder, lightning, etc.).

This morning at the breakfast table, he drops this line:

"Jesus made poop, Mom."

Ya'll can go ahead and jot that in the "Notes" section of your Bible for free. Right next to where God created the sound of farts.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Weston at Two

Weston was 2 1/2 this month and I find myself pondering over his second year so far. There are so many things I want to remember about him at this age.

Here are a few...


Weston is obsessed with animals. He knows the names of critters from yaks to triceratops. He also has quite the collection of animals figurines and plays with them like a girl would dolls. They have conversations and go places and sometimes I have to remind one of the animals that his voice is getting a bit cranky or unkind. When we're out and about, everything looks like an animal, whether its the clouds or a blob of mud. You can imagine what our trips to the zoo are like.


He has a sensitive spirit.

He is fairly uninterested in balls, throwing, catching, kicking, etc. This makes dad a little sad sometimes, but I think he'll come around eventually.

He is a good friend.

Weston was a really early talker. At least once a week someone in public will comment on his speech. He talks a lot and is articulate and has a pretty nice vocabulary. Someone recently asked if I thought Lily would be as verbal and my response was, "if she can get a word in edgewise."



He loves books. Which may explain the talking. And we LOVE reading to him.

He is so curious. I would say 80% of our day is spent answering questions.



Weston has a contagious smile. And eyelashes that make every woman jealous.



He hates leaving places. This sometimes involves me leaving a playground or friend's house holding an infant in one arm and a screaming toddler in the other.

Weston has a healthy fear of feathers, fuzzies and shadows.

He's getting better at climbing.

Weston is a great big brother. He hugs and kisses Lily, brings her toys, keeps her from danger and is on 24 hour spit-up alert duty.

He thinks that everyone that is "at work" is with Daddy. Like its a big party or something.

Speaking of Daddy, Weston loves him. Most of the time when we pull up to the house, even if it's 11:30, he asks if he's home. He also thinks Dad knows everything (which is mostly true). If he asks me something and I say "I don't know.", he will often reply, "We'll ask Daddy." or "Daddy will fix it." And, of course, there is much glee when he arrives home.

His favorite foods are yogurt with honey, fruit, PBJ's and treats. No vegetables.

Weston is really good with names. He knows his friends names, their siblings and their parents and knows who goes with who. He remembers little Donovan who we met at the library a month ago and he will probably wake up from his nap today talking about Bruno, Max and Mason who we met at the playground today. I forget someone's name one second after shaking his hand so this trait must be inherited from Dad.

He's a great sleeper. I am reminded of this every time Lily wakes up at 2 a.m.

He's pretty organized for a two year old. Kurt blames me. I just like things in their place, you know?



I think he's the sweetest kid ever. Because I'm his mom. And because he is.

(photos courtesy of Erin Duggin Photography)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Checking in With Lily

Lily has been busy lately and its time we checked in to see what she's been up to.

The biggest news is that she started crawling at 7 1/2 months.That's a good 5 months before her brother, so I'm a little unsure of how to deal with her.



So far I've caught her chewing on television wiring, pulling apart the underside of an ottoman, trying to get her hand stuck in the air vent and generally getting into whatever her brother doesn't want her to.

She likes to attack most things with her mouth. Especially your face.


She's puffin' it up finger food style...


She pulls up to her knees...



And her favorite game is to play peek-a-boo through the cube-shaped shelf in our kitchen cart...



Overall, she's the sweetest thing since chocolate cake and is melting our hearts with each passing day.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Jesse Bear

My crafty, creative friend Allison led me to a book called Five in a Row which is basically reading activities for tots using already published books (you can buy or wisely visit your local library). Anyway, Jesse Bear What Will You Wear is the first book. You can read about Allison's experience here, but I also had to post about Jesse Bear because it was such a typical toddler activity progression.

We started here with the initial thought of playing a matching/sorting game of clothes on Jesse Bear (yes, I realize the shortcomings of my teddy bear making...cardboard is difficult to cut, yes?)





But then Weston wanted to color on the bear. Having worked perilously on the cardboard cut-out, I decided to trace a different one on construction paper for him to color. So here we are...



However,when I got into the craft drawer to get the construction paper, Weston saw our package of balloons. So now here we are...



From matching/sorting to balloons in less than ten minutes. That's pretty much how it goes!

Monday, October 4, 2010

IKEA

My nearest and dearest friend Erin and I headed to Schaumburg, IL this past weekend with an empty mini-van. Empty of children and seats so that we could get a mother load of IKEA bounty. We were gone less than 36 hours, but we came home with a full van, full bellies and full of sleep.

I meant to take more pictures but only got this one of us eating in the food court of IKEA...



Here are the pictures I wish I would have gotten: the advertisement for meatballs in the women's restroom of IKEA, my face when I realized the high chair I had driven 400 miles for was out of stock, Erin and I not realizing that you can't take carts to your car and thus attempting to carry all of our loot in our arms which resulted in dropping a salad spinner several times and chasing it...and it was raining, us at dinner with our friend Kristi (who lives minutes from IKEA) at a yummy microbrewery, Erin at Target with her pajamas on so we could get Tylenol PM, toothpaste and magazines.

I mainly did some Christmas shopping. My favorite find was an easel for Weston. However, Erin got nearly everything she needs for her little one to arrive in April...woohoo!

Erin found a great deal on a nice hotel. It was pretty nice to sleep ten hours! And then stay in a cozy bed with coffee and a muffin while watching "Say Yes to the Dress" on cable? Amazing.

And a huge shout out to Kurt who is always gracious in letting me get away!

Friday, October 1, 2010