January Happenings

Yes, I am entirely aware that it's almost March, but I'm still proud of myself for getting our pics from January up here at all!  :)

Stuck Inside

We are SO ready for spring.  West and I really don't like the cold, so we have had lots of time inside to paint...

clean...  (he totally insisted on cleaning the toilets.  It's one of his favorite ways to help me clean the bathrooms!  Don't worry, I just use vinegar and baking soda to clean it - no harsh chemicals.)

play make believe...  (these are West's favorite stuffed animals.  The dog on the far right he affectionately named Rocko after I told him some stories about my childhood dog.  The polar bear is Rocko's dad and the panda bear is Rocko's mom.  He takes them all over the house and plays with them - here they were running from the big bad dinosaur in the foreground, and then he asked me to take a picture of them all.)

and lots of hide-n-seek...

Big Boo-Boo
While we were watching cousins Silas, Atticus, and Elias one night, West fell from his chair at the table and broke his fall with his forehead.  :(  It was definitely the worst he's ever been hurt and left a nice goose egg for a few days.

Built-Ins

Before we can start in on baby brother's nursery, we have to make room for everything that needs to be cleared out of there.  One big project is creating built-in bookshelves downstairs so we can get rid of the old, unstable bookshelf that is currently in the future nursery.  Thankfully Papa Johnie and Grandma Dee came down for the weekend to help us out.

Here's where we started:

 After the shelves are up:

 After adding some trim boards to beef it up a bit.

Unfortunately, we haven't made much more progress than this.  We've been stuck on the caulking/spackling stage, and then we'll prime and paint it.  I think we're going to go with the same white as the trim throughout the house, so that it doesn't look too busy once we fill it with books.

Small Group Murder Mystery
Our murder mystery theme this year was an old west poker tournament and thankfully we were able to borrow pretty much everything from Brad's co-worker.  Once we came out in our costumes, West just had to get the cowboy hat that Grandpa Kenny got him for Christmas.  Such a cute little cowboy!

28 Months

He can count to ten on his own and sing his ABCs.  He's counted all ten of our fingers without missing any numbers but he definitely doesn't have a 100% accuracy rate when it comes to counting most things.  He's getting there, though!

He recognizes and can name a few letters:  W, T, O, P, C (totally random, I know)

He consistently knows the colors green, red, blue, orange, grey, black, and white.  It's really just been in the last week or two that he's finally "getting" it.  He still struggles with yellow.

His favorites things lately are running laps with Daddy when he gets home, playing with the Lego blocks he got for Christmas, playing with his train table from us and train set from David, reading books, playing hide-and-seek, watching Super Why, playing with his stuffed animals (dog he named Rocko, polar bear, and panda bear), and playing with friends and family.

His sleeping is much less consistent lately.  Starting around Thanksgiving and until the beginning of the year he was waking up 2-3 times every night and coming into our room.  He's finally getting better but it took a LOT of work, tears (mostly on his part), and sitting outside his door in the middle of the night.  Most nights now he only gets up once and goes right back to sleep when we walk him back to his room and he usually sleeps from 8 to 6:15.  His naps are anywhere from 1 hr 15 mins to 1 hr 45 mins.

West Conversations:

I think the biggest change the past few months has been in how much he's talking.  We have so many back and forth conversations and he's using lots of expressions.  It's so fun!  Here's a sample of some of the things he's said lately... I think they paint a better picture than any additional explanation I can give.  (Note the attitude he's developed lately... definitely something we're working on!)

Kayla:  West, how are you feeling?
West:  Very well.

West:  Mommy, play in my rice tub with me.
Kayla:  Sorry babe, Mommy can't right now.  I'm working on the computer.
West:  Sorry, Mommy, but you have to.

West, in response to being told to stop doing something:  You don't tell me that.
Kayla:  I am the mommy and I CAN tell you to stop doing that.  You have to follow directions.
West, in the most serious and firm voice while shaking his finger at me:  You are NOT the mommy.

West, completely out of the blue:  I do not have a big attitude.
(Can you tell he hears that lot?)

West, after barely getting "hurt":  Ouch.  I got hurt.  A brownie will make me feel better.
Kayla, while laughing:  Oh really?  Can mommy's kiss make you feel better?
West:  No, mommy's kiss can't make me feel better.  Only a brownie can make me feel better.

Kayla, as we're driving to a friend's house:  Jones and Jacelyn will be there.
West:  And a cookie?
Kayla:  No, I don't think they have any cookies.
West:  Well, you think about it.

Kayla:  How about we put your pants on, West?
West:  How about, no.

Kayla:  West, stop arguing with Mommy.
West:  I'm not arguing with Mommy!
(Seriously kid?)

West: Sorry Charlie

West:  Oopsy daisy

West, while eating some animal crackers:  This one looks like a bear.  Bears say "roar!".  And dinosaurs say "roar."  And lions say "roar."  And Papa says "roar."  Nooooo, Papa talks.

West, while picking out a book before nap:  Hmm, let me try to think about what is my favorite..."

West, crawling into bed with us one morning:  Hi guys.  I love you guys sooooo much.

West:  Mommy, can you please play blocks with me?  It would make me soooo happy if you play blocks with me right now.  Please??
(I kid you not.  The kid has got the adorable-and-hard-to-say-no-to begging down pat.)


Here are some pictures from a walk we went on earlier this month.  I'm making a renewed effort to take more pictures of our family and day-to-day activities since I was slacking horribly on that at the end of last year.  I'm making it a goal to get my camera out at least weekly... of course that doesn't mean I'll post them weekly!  ;)

Practicing his big brother responsibilities

 I asked his to stop running and smile at the camera.  This is what I got of course.

 And he was off again in a flash.

 Exhausted little boy needed a quick break.

New Camera!!!

Well I finally made my very long-awaited jump out of the Canon Rebel line into a more professional camera.  I just never thought my first jump would be to my DREAM camera.  Brad and I discussed it over the course of many in-depth conversations (where I was always freaking out and he calmly but firmly reassured me that this was the best decision) and now I am an extremely proud of my dream camera - the Canon 6D.

I plan to take some side-by-side comparisons of the same shot and settings on both my cameras so you can really see the difference.  It's incredible.  But for now, here are some of the first shots I took with my new love yesterday.

 There is no way I could have gotten these next two shots with my Rebel!

 He loves this polar bear.  

 Here he is putting the polar bear down to go "nigh nigh."  He kissed it, called it sweetheart (no joke), and then laid it down on his pillow.  So precious.