No Pictures

I wasn't feeling well today so I couldn't go see my sister and her new baby. So no pictures to post. I will probably see them after Christmas, so I'll be sure to take some pictures then!

We celebrated Christmas with my family this past Saturday. It was a very relaxing day and fun to be together, although we always miss the Colorado crew. Mr. Mister had fun opening gifts, but I don't think he totally understood it yet. I'll post pictures of Christmas next week.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Another New Arrival!

Now I have a new nephew! It's baby-mania around here. My sister delivered her second son 4 weeks early today. He still weighed in at 7lbs 10 oz! His gender was a surprise, but his early arrival was not. Her first son came 5 weeks early and she actually went into labor with this baby 2 weeks ago but they gave her medicine to stop the labor, trying to make her wait a little longer.

I am so excited for another nephew! I can't wait to go see him tomorrow. I'll make sure to take pictures to post!

The grand total is now 5 grandsons and 1 granddaughter.

Poo Poo

Sorry for all the posts about bodily functions, but I guess that's life with a toddler. Today, Mr. Mister was playing in the family room while I was straightening up. All of a sudden, he walked up to me and said (his version of) "poo poo." I smelled his bottom and sure enough, he had pooped! I can't believe he knew and told me. Maybe it was a fluke. We'll see.

The Great Art of Fort Building

Today was a cold, snowy day. With nowhere to go, Mr. Mister and I were getting a little stir crazy and needed something new and fun to do. Remembering a list my sister recently emailed me about things to do with toddlers, I decided we would build a fort. This brought back vivid memories of my childhood, when building forts with my brother and sisters was a regular and favorite activity. I remember one that covered our entire basement and had different rooms and hallways and everything. So how hard could it be to make a fort out of a sheet and two couches? Harder than I thought.

Apparently, my creative play skills need to be reawakened from years of lying dormant. I could not figure out how to make it work the best and it took me a few minutes to get it right. After some deliberation and readjusting, our fort was acceptable (not excellent by any means, but we'll work on it). Mr. Mister loved crawling under there and we read books for quite a while under this sheet stretched between couch cushions and the coffee table. Amazing what new scenery can do for making a normal activity into something exciting!

I'm sure this winter Mr. Mister will help reawaken my creative playing skills. I may even perfect the art of fort building.

He Peed on Me!

Last night as the bath was almost filled with water, I took Mr. Mister's diaper off. As he stood next to the tub, ready to get in, I reached over to turn the water off. All of a sudden, I felt a warm stream of pee hitting my foot! I yelled in surprise, which scared him, which made the pee stop just long enough for me to move my foot. When he realized everything was okay, he relaxed and kept peeing, this time onto the floor. I haven't been peed on in so long! It was very funny.

Standoff

Mr. Mister and I had a battle of the wills this morning. He would not go up the stairs on his own...he insisted on me carrying him. But I wouldn't carry him up. I realized the other day that I always carry him up and he no longer wants to do it on his own. (Of course, he quickly scrambles up when he's trying to escape us or be michevious.) So this morning, I decided to wait it out and make him do it on his own. Easier said than done.

During our twenty minute standoff, I tried putting toys, books, and even off limit items at the top of the stairs for motivation, I tried sitting at the top encouraging him, and I tried disappearing to put laundry away, hoping that if I ignored him, he'd want to come find me. None of these worked. He just sat at the bottom whining and eventually got bored with that and went into the family room to find something to play with. With nap time coming quickly, I decided to compromise.

I put him on the steps, about 4 stairs up. Then I pretended I was chasing him up the steps. He laughed and crawled one step up. So I chased him again, and he went two steps further. This progressed until we finally reached the top!

Mr. Mister has one strong will! I am proud of myself for not giving in and carrying him up...I came close many times. Hopefully this helps make the next time easier.

A New Arrival!

Mr. Mister is no longer the youngest grandchild. I have a new niece! My brother and his wife welcomed their baby girl on December 12. She is the first girl in that generation of our family and I was very excited to buy a pink sleeper for her. Having Mr. Mister and three nephews, we're not used to buying girl clothes. Sadly, she's in Colorado, so I don't know when I'll see her. Although I suspect that my husband may try to convince me that we need to take a trip out there this winter...to see my niece, of course, not just so he can snowboard in Breckenridge!

Here are some pictures.

I wish my blog wasn't anonymous because she has a beautiful name.

Playing in the Snow

It snowed all day this past Saturday and we were excited to take Mr. Mister out to play. You can see in the pictures that he didn't have quite the fun we thought he would have. I don't know if it was because it was close to his nap time and he was tired or because he kept picking up snow with his bare hands and not letting go (see picture). He wasn't happy, but he sure looked cute all bundled up!

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Birthday Party Fun

We took Mr. Mister to his friend's 2nd birthday party last week. It was a lot of fun and Mr. Mister loved running around and playing with all the balls and balloons. He even got to eat like a big boy...sitting at a picnic table, eating a hot dog, and drinking a juice box. And he tried to steal another boy's hot dog bun (see picture below)! He was the yongest one there and I think he liked having a whole gym to run around in more than he noticed the kids to play with. He loves being the master of his own domain!

Great Parenting Advice

Check out this blog I read for some excellent advice about how to keep calm when your child makes a mess!

Mr. Mister in Action

Life is non stop action around here these days. Mr. Mister continues to be curious and excited about exploring everything possible. Here are the latest updates:

• We had his 15 month checkup. He's still in the 90th percentile for weight and 50th for height. For the first time, he didn't entertain the doctor. He knew where he was and kept knocking on the door, trying to get out!
• Timeouts are in full effect here. The doctor talked to us about how to best discipline our "strong willed" son. Head butting is the leading cause for timeouts, followed closely by playing with the garbage can and the DVD player.
• He keeps us entertained with his words. He recently learned that a horse says, "neigh" and that Santa says, "Ho, Ho, Ho." He says both with a cute smile, knowing that he's making us laugh.

ENJOY THESE PICTURES!

Playing Rock Band with Daddy over Thanksgiving.

Daddy and Mr. Mister on the first day of Buck Season. We took this picture for Grandpa T who was in the PA woods that day.

Practicing his owl call.

Helping us pick out our Christmas tree. I guess that one was his favorite!

We're Dorks

My husband and I came to the realization tonight that we are dorks. He can't stop reading the book The Foundation of XML, some computer book that has a lot of words I don't even know. I get excited every time I read my Systems in English Grammar text book.

We also realized how different we are (not that this is a necessarily new revelation). He thrives in the face of the chaos and challenge of starting and running his own business while I love learning in the structured classroom environment. Neither of us would last very long in the other's current situation. That is just one of the many ways we complement each other so well.