18 month check up

G is a wonderfully healthy 26.6 pounds and 35.5" tall.  He is huge for his age.  He's behind in language but only a little bit.  I'm pretty sure he's going to start spouting off things anytime now, which is why I am trying really hard to eliminate curse words and things like butthead from my vocabulary.  This is not an easy task, trust me.  He got 2 shots and he was MAD.  He turned red and cried so hard he gave himself the hiccups.  The good news is that he doesn't have to have another checkup for 6 months.  He has what the doctor suspects is mild eczema, but I am not convinced - I think it's just dry skin related to the weather.      

According to the handout given to me by the doctor:

Here's what you might see your child doing between the ages of 18 and 24 months. 

Daily Activities
-Begins to eat with fork.
-Enjoys imitating parents.

Motor Skills
-Walks skillfully.
-Enjoys pushing and pulling toys while walking.
-Runs awkwardly and falls a lot.
-Walks backward a short distance.

Cognitive Development (thinking and learning)
-Understands that something can exist even when hidden.
-Can picture objects and events mentally.

Language Development
-Speaks from 3 to 50 words.
-Wants to name everything.
-May use a few two-word combinations.
-Repeats familiar and unfamiliar sounds and gestures.

Emotional and Behavioral Development
-May begin to show frustration when not understood.
-May show strong attachment to a toy or blanket.
-May resist bedtime, prefers predictable pattern of bedtime events.
-May respond with "no" constantly.
-Likes to show some independence (feeds self, undresses self).
-Begins to develop a self-concept.
-Responds to simple requests ("bring me your book").

Each child is unique.  It is difficult to describe exactly what should be expected at each stage of a child's development.  While certain behaviors and physical milestones tend to occur at certain ages, a wide range of growth and behavior for each age is normal.  These guidelines show general progress through the developmental stages rather than fixed requirements for normal development at specific ages.  It is perfectly natural for a child to reach some milestones earlier and other milestones later than the general trend.

ISP Region 2 Christmas party!

Ed, G, and I drove to Lewiston (about 3.5 hours away) where Ed's office is actually located.  We checked into our room at the Red Lion Inn, which conveniently is where the ISPA Christmas party was being held!  I bought a nice new dress (on clearance for only $31.99) and a little cardigan and some sexy earrings, etc and I was excited to get to get away from my G for a few hours.  My Sarah came down from Moscow and spent the evening alone with G (God bless her I don't think she knew what she was getting herself in to) and then stayed in the hotel with us for the night.

I got an iron for Ed so he could iron his shirt and as he was ironing it he found a big grease stain right on the pocket.  "Is it noticeable?" he asks me.  Well, you could say you are lactating and you leaked I told him.  So off we went, with a few hours to the party, to buy him a new shirt.  We got back to the hotel with plenty of time to get ready then.  I ran across the parking lot to Skippers and got dinner for Sarah and G (hey I'm not that cheap it's what Sarah wanted!) and then Ed and I left. 

The party was okay.  There weren't very many people that I know left in Region 2.  Most that I did know didn't remember me, but 3 of them did, so I guess that's better than none.  It has been 7 years since I quit ISP after all.  We sat by Ed's sergeant (and what appeared to be his 16 year old girlfriend but who am I to judge?) who I used to work with and who Ed went to the ISP academy with.  We also sat by Mr. & Mrs. Koopman.  He remembered me, which made my night.  His wife is pregnant and due any day now and she has to have been one of the cutest pregnant ladies I've ever seen.  I did manage to keep away from asking to rub her belly but it was so tempting.  Some days I really do miss being pregnant but other days I'm sure glad that I'm not.  The dinner was great and the conference room we were in was decorated so pretty!!!  Neither Ed or I felt very comfortable or welcome there, it looks like maybe it's a younger group and we don't exactly fit in with that type.  But we enjoyed each others company!  It was a no host bar so we spent $30 on drinks, but it was nice to have a few of those and not have to worry about who would be the designated driver. 

The White Elephant gift game was alright - we took crap to it.  Ed had "won" a door prize at his IARS conference in Boise a few months ago and it was a set of two calculators.  A big one and then one of those that has a paper tape.  Yeah, like we want to keep that around.  So we wrapped that up to pawn it off on someone else.  Unfortunately, it was Ed's sergeant that ended up picking (and getting stuck with) that gift.  Ha!  We walked away with something that we can give to someone else for Christmas this year.  Mark another gift recipient off my list!  There was a lot of alcohol at the gift game and it was a hotly desired item.  I guess Region 2 is a little different than Region 5 which was mostly Mormons who didn't drink.  Ed and I were the minority in Region 5.  Ed and I were back in the room by 9:45 pm and we decided that since G was still awake (and had been a little rough on Aunty Sarah) we should probably skip the After Party (they hire a party bus that takes party goers to all sorts of bars and clubs in Lewiston) so we were all asleep by 11 pm. 

G slept terribly, waking up screaming at 1:30 am.  I got him back to sleep.  Then he woke up screaming bloody murder at 2:30 and I couldn't get him back to sleep.  I could tell that he had pooped, which is unusual for him to do at night.  I got his diaper off fast but sure enough his tushy was all burned in that dang diaper rash that keeps creeping up on us.  His pj pants were leaked on so I just took those off and I made Ed wake up and go get us a wet washcloth to wipe G's poor ouchy bum.  While I was doing that it hurt so much that G pee'd all over himself.  So I stripped his shirt off of him (thankfully it absorbed all the pee and didn't get the bed) and wiped him down with a clean wet washcloth.  I got his butt gooped up and laid him down between Ed and me and finally got him back to sleep.  I feel sorry for whatever patrons were near us in the hotel because he screamed like he was dying for almost 10 minutes.  I eventually got sweated out by G and Ed so I crawled into bed with Sarah and got some sleep there instead. 

Ed woke the 3 of us up at about 8:30 am the next morning!  Eep!  We hurried up and packed our things after showering and all that jazz.  G was a terror though - he was whiny and crying and throwing temper tantrums the whole time.  At one point Ed and I both went out to the parking lot to load stuff in both cars (ours and Sarah's) and I came back in maybe 5 minutes later.  I was walking down the hallway and saw two housekeepers peeking their heads into a room down the hall and saying something like, "can we help you with him?"  I didn't pay much attention to it because I just assumed it was someone in a wheelchair or who had fallen or maybe had a dog that wouldn't come out from under the bed.  I opened the door to our hotel room and immediately noticed that it was quiet...too quiet.  I walked in further and no one was there.  That's when it dawned on me...I opened the door and started down the hall towards the two housekeepers and sure enough, there was Sarah and G.  G had opened the hotel room door and he ran off!  Poor Sarah had just one of her boots on and she tried to catch him!  G thinks everyone wants to play chase with him so that's what they did.  She chased him around and around a housekeeping cart while he pulled toilet paper rolls off of it, then he darted into a room that housekeeping was cleaning.  Yeah, that's my boy.

We took poor Aunty Sarah out to breakfast and then sent her on her way back to Moscow.  We headed back up the river and saw that plenty of snow had fallen!  We saw 3 bald eagles and 4 cow elk on the way back up.  When we got home we found that it had snowed about 12" while we were gone.  It continued throughout the day and night and we now have a total of about 18-24" of new snow.  More on that later... 

Firm & gentle discipline

So, either I'm not firm enough or I'm too gentle, but this approach is not working.  G runs right over the top of me and I don't want a child like that.  He doesn't care when I say no, he goes right back to doing whatever it is I'm telling him not to do...repeatedly.  I can redirect him 20 times and every single time he goes right back to doing whatever he wants.  What is working?  A swat on the butt and me putting him in his room.  But then he comes out and does it all over again.  The time out in his room is to keep me from exploding most days.  He doesn't listen to a word I say to him. 

He gets into everything and anything you can think of.  He has a ridiculous obsession with the dog food (oh yes he eats it every chance he gets) and the toilet plunger.  I had to take away all his fridge magnets because he decided that they shouldn't really be sticking to the fridge but should be housed under the stove and the fridge.  Tonight he pulled so hard on the cabinet doors on the entertainment center that he managed to pop off two of the child locks.  I will take him down from something and he will immediately go back up to it and climb up.  He shuts off the TV and turns it on whenever he wants to, he opens his diaper bag and empties it, he tries to pull ornaments off of the Christmas tree, he takes utensils out of the child-locked kitchen drawers (he reaches his hands in just enough to get to them and pull them out), he throws clean laundry around like it's confetti, and probably most irritating of all, he throws a full on screaming tantrum when made to stop a bad behavior.     

I'm sure it has to do with his age of course but I think more than anything else he is just really frustrated with his inability to communicate.  I think he's on the verge of a language explosion of some kind and I don't know whether to be worried or excited that it's coming!  He was such a mellow and sweet little boy so I don't know if its frustration or boredom or something else - but I need to take a new approach because this isn't working for him or me.  I don't want to spank him and I don't want to yell at him every time I turn around but I also don't want to have to be a step behind him at all times. 

I'm not feeling like a very good Momma right now.

he stood still!!!

He is so gorgeous.  I can't help it.

"Find the green frog!"

You know the story, toys are really alive and just pretend to not be when we humans are around.  We've all seen it, in fact G loves watching all the Toy Story movies.  I am not a fan any longer.  The other night (late late late Tuesday night) G was sound asleep in his bed, the dogs were curled up on their bed and Ed and I were curled up asleep in our bed.  I thought I was dreaming at about 11:30 when I heard someone talking in the living room.  I ignored it for a few minutes but it didn't stop.  I woke up startled because, truly, there WAS someone talking in the living room.  I nudged Ed and asked him if he heard something.  He just grunted and started snoring again.  "Did you leave the TV on?"  He kept snoring.  I got up and followed the noise and stood in the middle of the living room until I figured it out.  I heard, "No, that's a number, find the green frog."  Oh geeze - not that damn Leapfrog train thing.  I got it out of the toy basket and hit the "off" button which also happens to be the "on" button.  I put it on the coffee table and went back to bed. 

Six hours later I was woken up by "Find the green frog!"  WTF?  This time Ed got up since I just laid in bed and groaned.  I heard him pushing the "off" button and the toy kept saying, "Find the green frog."  After about the fifth time of the possessed toy saying, "Find the green frog!" I thought for sure I was going to hear the front door opening and I would find it buried in the snow in the front yard but when I finally did get up that morning I found it on the kitchen counter, sans batteries. 

I don't like possessed things in my house.  It's creepy to be woken up like that!

He said Momma!!!

As of Saturday the 5th G now says Momma regularly and knows that it's me he's talking about!!!  He spent a few hours with my Mom and when I woke up (she was visiting and let me sleep in) she said, "Hey Garrett, who is that?" and he said Momma!!!

He also says:
Shoe (and he tries to put it on)
Dada (he's been saying that one forever now).
Ouch (and he puts his hand on his head)
Uh oh (after intentionally doing something)
Doggy
Taser
Num Num (which is anything edible but not necessarily boobuh)
Eye (and he points to it)
Two (and he holds up two fingers)
Hi (accompanied by a wave of course)

When I think of the rest I'll just update this post.  I was just excited to finally hear him say Momma and mean it!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Ed let me sleep in this morning and when I woke up it was almost G's naptime.  I put him down for his nap and Ed took off to find us a Christmas tree.  G and I would have gone with him but we are having a crazy cold snap and we didn't want to take G out in it if we could help it.  Ed returned and G woke up from his nap and we put the tree up.  We have to put it in the "dining room" because we don't have room for it anywhere else.  There is a crappy light fixture hanging in front of it, but oh well.  The tree that Ed got was probably about 10 feet tall but very pretty.  He had to cut some off the top and some off the bottom before it would fit into the stand.  We gave away the majority of our Christmas goods so that we wouldn't have to move them and I'm afraid to say we probably gave away more than we should have!  We had two sets of lights and some ornaments and that was it!  Oh and of course my Beartivity, because that's not leaving me until I die.  Maybe next year we can expand on our collection but for now it's good enough! 

We put the wooden gate up to block G from the tree but he can still reach out and touch it.  I'm taking bets on how long it will be before he manages to pull the whole kit-n-kaboodle over.  While we were working on getting the tree in the stand I said, "Um, where did he go?"  Come to find out, G somehow made it out the backdoor and I busted him in front of the house.  In a t-shirt, pants, and socks.  In 7 degree weather.  And he laughed and ran away from me as fast he could (on snow packed ice).  This kid is going to give me gray hairs long before my time!

 

 

With the wooden gate now being used to rope off the dining room, G has free reign of the kitchen again.  So we spent the majority of the evening keeping him out of the dogs food and water dishes before we gave up and put them on the washer and dryer.  Why is it that the boy loves kibble so much?  He hardly eats any other food.  He was walking around carrying a pretzel (he was sharing snacks with Daddy) and he went over to the dog's water dish, dipped his pretzel in it, said "Num Num!" and ate it.  Um, EW!  He also gets down on all his hands and knees and licks out of the bowl.  Now the dogs have no escape from G.  This should be interesting.  He was insane though, pulling all his magnets off the fridge, pulling stuff out of baby locked drawers and cupboards (thank you Safety 1st for your crappy products), and tormenting the dogs.  I have got to figure out a way to get him to listen to me when I say no!!!

To My Parents on Their 60th Anniversary:

I can only hope that I can give my son an example of a good marriage.  Ed and I don't always get along but we never fight in front of G.  We are physically affectionate, which is one of my favorite parts of us.  My parents' marriage taught me that no marriage is perfect but a good marriage is worth fighting for.  There were plenty of times where we figured that Mom and Dad were fighting and the older we got, the more of that we witnessed, but what really mattered was that they loved each other and we knew it. 

So, thank you Dad for teaching me that my marriage and love is worth working and fighting for.  You were such a beautiful counselor and somehow you are still teaching me even though you aren't physically in my world.  I miss talking to you.

More treasures found in amongst Dad's stuff

Awesome find!!!

This article is in the August 1960 edition of the J. Neils Lumber Company newsletter.  I'd never seen it before we found it in some of Dad's paperwork.  It slays me to read how little was known about OI even back then.  A calcium deficiency that he should outgrow by age 7?  Ha!  It surely makes me glad for modern technology.  I would have loved to have known/been around my Dad when he was a little boy - I bet he was a hoot.  If he's anything like his mini-me Ben, I would have been head over heels in love with him too!

Dad's message to us...

Mom and I found 4 copies of this same cartoon in amongst some of Dad's paperwork.  He always told me that us kids were his greatest accomplishment in life and that all he ever wanted to be in life was a Dad.  He was everything that the word Dad entails and even more.  He was not perfect but he was/is still my parenting hero. 

Happy Birthday Dad

Dear Dad,

I know you don't technically get to celebrate your 54th birthday today but I celebrated you in my heart.  Mom came to visit and I think maybe to escape just a little bit.  I'm so happy to have her here with me today.  I miss you.

what a difference a year makes!

Holy fast growing baby Batman!  These Santa pictures are almost a year apart to the day.  Santa didn't bug G last year and he didn't bug him this year either.  Last year his picture was taken in Pocatello and this year it was taken in Missoula.  This years Santa was pretty darn authentic - which is probably a good thing because last year G almost ripped the fake beard off.  This year he was a little more leery (sp?) and he was much more interested in the fake gingerbread house that was sitting to Santa's right.  It had big gumdrop looking things around the doorway and G managed to tear 2 of them off before Santa's helpers got to him.  Bwahahahaha!  The helper led G by the hand to Santa and G immediately sat down on the floor and looked at Santa like he had two heads.  I just scooped him up and plopped him in Santa's lap.  He just sat there looking at me and the helper while she tried to get him to smile for the picture.  I guess it wasn't fair of me to forget to mention that he won't look at a camera because there is one in his face all day every day (uh, me).  I did bring my camera with me but there were no less than 4 signs all over saying "no personal cameras."  It cost $15 for ONE 4x6 photograph but I figure it's just one of those things you gotta do.  Anyway, back to Santa, we couldn't get G to smile and I saw that his eyes and nose were turning red and I knew he was about to blow.  Just then Ed jumped out and started to act like a dork and that's how we got G to smile here. 

My baby is growing up so fast!!!

Daddy rocks G's world

Unless he's tired or not feeling good and needs Momma snuggles and booby - life is all about Daddy.  They play horsey all the time, and chase (G's favorite).  They play dinosaurs and trucks and sometimes Ed reads to G!  When Ed goes to work G cries (just a little until he realizes its not SO bad with Momma around) and when Ed comes home from work G utters an excited, "DaDa!"

I love seeing my two guys together!!!

 

hunting

I bundled G up the other day and sat him on his sled and we took off from the house in search of a Christmas tree!  We didn't find one but I did get a few cool pictures...and then I saw wolf tracks and heard what sounded like a wolf howl.  Siren & Taser seemed like the were on high alert so I decided that it was time for me and G to head home.  Just as we were coming out of the woods into the yard Ed pulled in, coming home from work.  You should have seen the fit that G threw when he realized that he had to come inside with us.  Oh Em Gee the temper tantrums have started something fierce!

 

 

 

 

Ah yes, the acrobatics of a little boy!

He keeps me hopping, that's for sure.  I need to start lifting weights to strengthen my arms before he gets much heavier! 

17 months of booby

It's a beautiful gift to him, and with a face (and eyes) like that, it's a beautiful gift for me too.  I never thought I'd last this long, but I'm proud to say we are on 17 months of breastfeeding success!  Pumping was the hardest thing I think I've ever had to do, but I am so proud of myself for getting through it for 7 months before I got to stay home with him full time.  Now he crawls up into my lap and pounds on my chest with one strong finger as his signal for booby.  He's been asking a lot more lately which makes me wonder if doing baby-led weaning is going to happen anytime soon.  Considering he hardly eats solid food now it makes me feel good to know he's at least getting some nutrients from booby and it's great that when he does get sick (knock on wood, only once so far this cold/flu season) I'm providing that to him as well.  I just wanted to share a sweet picture :)

the moon

On our way home from town tonight (we left at 10:30 am but that's a whole other story) we were accompanied by a full moon.  It's beautiful how it lights up everything!  I kept thinking there was a car behind us and I'd look in the rearview mirror and realize it was just the moon shining, again.  G woke me up about an hour ago (it's 0415 right now) and when I opened the door to his room I was shocked that his room was almost completely lit up...from the moon just outside his window!  GORGEOUS!  I can just imagine how much the animals must be milling around out there in the trees!!!

we tried

I wanted to go have a family picture done for our Christmas cards, but Ed wouldn't hear of it - he said that I could do just as nice of ones.  I'm glad he had that confidence in me but I knew he was wrong.  I knew he wouldn't have the patience to let me get more than one or two shots - and I was right.  G wanted to get down and play in the snow but he wasn't dressed to do that.  It was hard to get the lighting right since we were in the middle of a snow covered field and I didn't have time to get it right since G was throwing a hissy fit and Ed was getting mad at him.  So, as I predicted, it was almost impossible to get any good pictures.  Here is one from when we got home and the madness continued until I gave up. 

Catch up

I know - I'm taking forever aren't I?  I "update" so much stuff on Facebook lately that I forget to blog.  Garrett keeps me so busy all day long that I have to kind of pick my battles.  Besides, I'm starting to feel like my blogging is boring regurgitation of nothing much.  But here we go anyway.

G loves the snow even though enough has already fallen that he can hardly walk in it because it goes up beyond his knees!  We went to Missoula looking for a sled so that we could at least pull him around in that.  We bought two!  On Ed's first day off after we bought the sleds, Ed let me sleep in and he got up with G.  I woke up and the house was too quiet so I went outside and found them playing outside.  Ed would take G and lay him on the sled on his belly, then start running while pulling the sled, and then shoot the sled out in front of him, sending G flying down the road.  The first time I witnessed this, G someone leaned too far forward and crashed face first into the road.  Holy heck that gave me a heart attack but G rebounded and took another few trips down the road.  He keeps warm in all the winter gear that I got him but he has a hard time moving around in all that! 

The snow here is beautiful but it does worry me a little bit!  The snow roof above the house is metal and so the snow that accumulates comes sliding off the roof intermittently (sp?).  The first night it started doing that it woke G up a few times if that tells you how it sounds.  I wouldn't worry except if G or the dogs are anywhere near the house when the snow comes sliding down they could get buried or at least hurt.  Right now the snow on the roof has been there for a few days and it's rained a little bit so that snow is going to be snow and ice.  I'll just make sure that G is nowhere near the eves of the house if there is snow on the roof.  I wonder if I can position Taser there though, I don't mind if she gets buried by it.  I'm a terrible person, I know - but that dog drives me crazy. 

I would love to share some Christmas things I'm doing but I can't because people who are receiving these gifts will be reading this blog (if anyone still does).  Thanks to some of my Mommy forums I have found some great freebies.  For example, I got 100 photo Christmas cards from http://www.seehere.com/ for $3.19 in shipping costs.  I got that deal from a mommy friend from a forum - thanks Becky!  I also scored big time when on another mommy board someone posted that http://www.photoworks.com/ was giving away 25,000 free 8x11 photo books (shipping was free too!).  Even though the site was difficult to work with (I'm guessing they were overloaded by people getting in on that 25,000 offer I think they are going to turn out great.  Since the site didn't go off of IP address and instead went off of email addresses, I used 6 email addresses (oh and a few of Ed's) to create 6 books.  The books are valued at $39.99 each and with shipping and tax the total was $52.47.  So 6 of them saved me over $300.  I love making photo books because I get to go through all my photos and pick out my favorites and put the book together my way.  It's thoughtful but well done and classy - my kind of gift!  I haven't gotten the cards or the photobooks yet but I won't post anymore about them anyway since they are gifts!  I wrote a Christmas letter to go with the photocards so look for those someday soon! 

Our Thanksgiving was nice.  I took the turkey out of the freezer on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday Ed told me that Ron and Ruth (our neighbors) wanted us to come over to their house for Thanksgiving.  I'm not one to turn down Ruth's cooking so of course I told Ed to tell them we'd be there!  We cooked our turkey on Wednesday instead and have been enjoying it since.  We went to Ron and Ruth's on Thanksgiving and had dinner around 5:30.  One of Ron's daughters, who is my age, along with her husband and their 3 children were there for the holiday.  All of the ITD workers that are staying up here in the bunkhouses came as well.  They had turkey AND ham and her stuffing was AMAZING and I want the recipe for it!  G was in heaven because there were other kids there, twin boys (I'm guessing they were 5 or 6) and a 3 year old girl.  They had fun doing what G wanted - playing and chasing each other!  It was nice to be included in their holiday celebration since we couldn't be with our families.  Ron's daughter, after spending a few hours watching G be G, looked at me and said, "I had two of them at once (she has twin boys remember) and Garrett would tire me out more than my two ever did!"  There's a reason we call him Dr. Destructo!

G has 6 new teeth that have cut through the gums now and 2 more molars coming in on the bottom.  So, he hasn't been sleeping ver well.  He doesn't like to brush his teeth but I make him let me brush them at least once a day, most of the time it's twice a day.  He is literally a language explosion waiting to happen and I can't wait.  He is still not saying a whole lot of discernable words or copying what we say, but it's only a matter of time now.  I still can't get a "momma" or "mom" or "mommy" out of him but now he says and identifies "cookie."  How fair is that?  He's not doing much else language consistent, but that's alright because he's way ahead in his motor skills. 

We're trying to decide if we're going to change G's crib into a toddler bed sometime soon.  I put the space heater (a necessary evil) up so he can't get to that but I hate the idea of him being "free" in his room at night.  I can't believe that he hasn't started trying to get out of his crib yet.  He climbs on everything but he doesn't try to climb out of his crib.  I'd love to not have to get him in and out of his crib though.  Maybe after the first of the year.  When he outgrows his toddler bed we'll get him a cool twin bed of some kind but I dno't see that being necessary for awhile still. 

Getting G to eat has become a battle of sorts.  I know he won't starve or anything but he hardly eats at all.  I don't know how he continues to gain weight because he just has milk and booby all the time.  In fact he's boobying more in the last 2 weeks than he has in the 2 months prior.  I don't mind too much though, since I'm home and I can afford to stop and just let him boob.  Ed keeps making suggestions that its time to wean but he won't push since he knows that my goal has always been to let G booby until he's 18 months (which is only a month away) and then I'll stop offering booby and let him wean himself gently.  If he's not weaned by his 2nd birthday then we'll probably go cold turkey.  I never thought I'd be able to make it this long and I'm so proudo f myself.  The relationship between mom and baby is special but I think there's an even deeper connection when breastfeeding is involved.  I love that even when he's sick or just not feeling good, or upset about something, booby takes care of him.  If it wasn't for the fact that he's still breastfed I would really worry about him not eating much for solid foods.  I know he's getting nutrition from the booby so I won't worry too much for now. 

We haven't decided what we are going to do for Christmas yet this year.  I would REALLY like to stay home and make the new house a Christmas wonderland for G because I think he's going to really get a kick out of decoration.  But, I also want to go home to Libby and spend Christmas with Grandma Elsie.  I hope I'm wrong but I don't know that there are too many Christmases left in her future.  I haven't been to a Christmas in Libby in at least 7 years and I miss sharing that with my extended family.  So my heart is torn - which do I do?  Travelling itself is easy with G but being places other than home are not so easy.  He is into everything and it gets tiring to keep him out of things.  I don't have to decide yet though.

It's time to get the Boof down for a nap now! 

Why?

Why in the world are people doing this?  How is it that they are getting so incredibly angry that they want to take the lives of police officers like this?  This is one of my great fears when Ed is working - that someone is goingto  target him and hurt or kill him just because he's wearing a uniform.  It's cruel, disheartening, and so unnecessary - why?

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OFFICERS_SHOT?SITE=IDCOE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-29-13-10-41

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- Four police officers were shot and killed Sunday morning in what authorities called a targeted ambush at a coffee house in Washington state, a sheriff's official said.




Officials at the scene told The News Tribune in Tacoma two gunmen burst into the Forza Coffee Co. and shot the four uniformed officers as they were working on their laptop computers, then fled the scene.



Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said investigators believe the officers were targeted, and it was not a robbery.



Troyer tells the newspaper "it was just a flat out ambush."



He could not immediately say what agency the officers were from. Police were searching for two suspect and interviewing witnesses. The coffee shop is near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle.



"We hopefully will have answers, but there is nothing more we can tell you," Troyer told KING-TV. "That's as cold-hearted as it is."



Roads were blocked around the attack. A witness driving past told the newspaper he saw an officer on the ground just after the shootings.



Last month, Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed Halloween night as he was sitting in a cruiser with trainee Britt Sweeney. Sweeney was grazed in the neck.



Christopher Monfort, 41, of suburban Tukwila, was charged in the shooting. Days after the shooting, Seattle detectives attempted to question Monfort at his residence. Police say that Monfort then ran from the detectives and tried to use a gun. The detective shot him.



Authorities also linked Monfort to the October firebombing of four police vehicles, with prosecutors saying Monfort waged a "one-man war" against law enforcement.



Monfort remained hospitalized.



© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

SNOW!!!

Starting late last night, the snow fell!  We got about 11 inches.  When G woke up this morning I opened up his curtains and showed it to him and he just stared and smiled!!!  He loved watching the snowplow come and move snow out of the way for us but he missed his Daddy, who was out working all day (because of course people can't slow the heck down).  The sad part is that I now realize that the more snow we get - the less I'll be taking G out into it!  In 11 inches of a snow a 35 inch Boof can't get around easily!!!  And because of the metal snow roof over the house, snow comes sliding down and falls off the eaves.  It's like a little avalanche, which makes me slightly nervous but of course G would never be out in that alone.

First thing this morning I had to put on a pair of Ed's boots (that go up to my knees) and trudge out (in my pj's) to the satellite dishes and brush them off (both TV and internet are satellite).  I can see that I'm going to get very tired of having to do that.  Why they didn't install them closer to the house is beyond me!

This is Tasers first snow and she ran around like a crazy lady everytime she went out potty.  In fact, I have to wonder if she actually pottied because I never saw her do it.  I could literally read Siren's mind when I let them out, "Oh crap - not this stuff again!"  Poor old girl!

All things considered, it's beautiful here with all the snow!  When the sun came out this afternoon it felt like God was stopping for just a minute and saying, "Yup, that looks good."

Snow!!!

We've had a few dustings of snow here and there but last night it was snowing heavy and it stuck around!  When G woke up this morning I had to feed him breakfast and let him wake up fast so that we could get out in the snow before it melted on us.  He LOVES the snow.  I probably over bundled him but it was pretty chilly so I hope he stayed warm enough.  I let him stay outside until he started coughing, I decided that was my cue to come inside.  We came in and he napped for 3 hours!  I guess that fresh cold air (and lugging around all that snow gear) wore him out!

Wow!

Yes, I suck.  For the longest time I haven't gone a month without updating my blog.  We have been busy, but never too busy to blog.  I am getting terrible about this.  I know that over the last month I have said to myself, "oh - I'd better blog about that" and then I just never get around to it.  To be fair, the two times I did sit down to blog my desktop wouldn't let me because I have to use Firefox and for some reason Firefox and Blogger aren't getting along?  Well I fixed that issue so now I'm coming to you live from my desktop!

October was a busy month but I can't tell you why it was busy - just living life I guess!  I had at least one trip to CdA for doctors visits and there is nothing to report on that front.  My Mom JUST came down the other day because I found her a camp trailer in our area!  It's a 13 foot Fun Finder trailer that is just perfect for...JUST HER!  She bought it from a woman who lives south of Stevensville.  I'm so proud of her for making the leap to doing something for herself and by herself.  I know it's not easy for her to think about how to live life without Dad here to live it with, but she's slowly trucking along.  James (Ed's son) was down here at the same time to go hunting with Ed but after 2 days out in the woods he went home empty handed.  Speaking of hunting season, neither of us (me or Ed) has been able to find anything to shoot either.  Hunting here in the Lochsa is harder than we anticipated.  We do have 2 days left of hunting season though, so we'll continue trying to fill the freezer!

Sarah and a friend of hers named Morgan came to Powell on a weekend break from school.  They are in the same classes together at the U of Idaho and Morgan is a HUGE help to Sarah.  G fell in love with Morgan before she could even get her coat off and he never left her alone the rest of the time the girls were here.  Everytime the girls tried to study, G would be in the middle of their notes and books, tearing them up.  He loved having them here almost as much as I did!!!    

Last week I decided to get G's potty chair out of the box and just put it in his bathroom so that he could see it and get used to it being around.  Well he wanted to sit on it, so I went ahead and took off his diaper and voila - peepee in the potty!  I took that as some kind of cue and continued to sit him on it.  There's no pressure, this is pretty early for potty training, but he's done amazing with it.  I'm not expecting much because he doesn't seem to know to tell me that he has to go peepee and he doesn't seem to realize "oh - I've got to go potty!" but when I sit him on his potty, 8/10 times he pees in it.  I am so impressed that I went and bought him some unnerwears (underwear) and some pull-ups and he absolutely loves wearing them!!!  I think his favorite part is that he has easy access to play with his twig and berries whenever the mood strikes him.  We've had a few accidents here and there, but he really is doing awesome!  I can tell when he has to poop because he won't peepee on his potty even though I know it's time for him to.  That's alright - he'll get there.  The hard part is that when we are not at home I can't leave him in his unners because he's nowhere near ready for that!  I'm very proud of my little monkey - he is growing up so very fast!!! 

G's technically got 9 teeth up and very visible right now, but he's got one lower one that is broken through, 2 top molars that are broken through, and 2 other upper teeth that are bulging under the gums.  He's been drooling like crazy and he seems to find his own drool hilarious.  He's not napping very well but he's sleeping good at night if we give him some Tylenol.

Well, that's all for now because I have to go attack my ever growing pile of laundry to fold.  Sorry for the delay in updating! 

Radio Flyer

I've been looking at trikes for a little while and knowing G's affinity for things with wheels I knew it would be a hit.  I was right and he LOVES his Radio Flyer tricycle.  He can't reach the pedals and I doubt that he'd really know what to do with them even if he could reach them, but he can walk his trike backwards...we'll have to work on the forwards thing.  He only goes backwards in his Little Tikes Police Car too so this is no surprise to me.  He was a good sport about tipping his trike over, he'd just get up and pick it up again.  He can't quiet get on it on his own but he is sure trying!  We figured this would be good for him to have in the house this winter and so by next spring (or whenever the snow melts here in Powell) he'll be ready to ride like a professional trike rider!!!

Not much

Life in the Lochsa trucks on.  We went to CdA for a day while I had some doctors appointments and tests done.  No reason for the blood in my urine could be found which isn't a big surprise to me.  Medical tests and I don't get along very well for some reason.  The bummer was that on our way home I started to not feel good again.  I had a full blown cold raging by the time we got home, and Ed and G had caught it by the next day.  It's been a week and I've gotten over it and only G's runny nose lingers.  But poor Ed is still trying to shake the cold.  G got his 15 month vaccinations and he weighed in at 25.12 pounds and is 34.25" tall.  His weight is in the 69th percentile and his height continues to be above the 95th percentile.  He is a big boy!!!

Ed had to go to Boise for CVS Refresher for 4 days and G and I hung out at home, never feeling the need to go do much.  We did make a trip into town one day but it was only for some necessities.  We were very happy when Ed came home though!!!

Children who are spanked have lower IQs

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33013187/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

Children who are spanked have lower IQs



Physical punishment slows kids' intellectual growth, researcher says


By Jeanna Bryner



Senior writer


updated 7:01 p.m. PT, Thurs., Sept . 24, 2009


Spanking can get kids to behave in a hurry, but new research suggests it can do more harm than good to their noggins. The study, involving hundreds of U.S. children, showed the more a child was spanked, the lower his or her IQ compared with others.


"All parents want smart children," said study researcher Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire. "This research shows that avoiding spanking and correcting misbehavior in other ways can help that happen."


One might ask, however, whether children who are spanked tend to come from backgrounds in which education opportunities are less or inherited intelligence lower.


But while the results only show an association between spanking and intelligence, Straus says his methodology and the fact that he took into account other factors that could be at play (such as parents' socioeconomic status) make a good case for a causal link.



"You can't say it proves it, but I think it rules out so many other alternatives; I am convinced that spanking does cause a slowdown in a child's development of mental abilities," Straus told LiveScience.


Intelligence quotients


Straus and his colleague Mallie Paschall of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Maryland studied nationally representative samples of two age groups: 806 children ages 2 to 4, and 704 ages 5 to 9. The researchers tested the kids' IQs initially and then four years later.


Both groups of kids got smarter after four years. But the 2- to 4-year-olds who were spanked scored 5 points lower on the IQ test than those not spanked. For children ages 5 to 9, the spanked ones scored on average 2.8 points lower than their unspanked counterparts.


The results, he said, were statistically significant. And they held even after accounting for parental education, income, cognitive stimulation by parents and other factors that could affect children's mental abilities.


Straus will present the study results, along with research on the relationship between average national IQ and prevalence of spanking around the world, Friday at the 14th International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, in San Diego, Calif.


Spanking science


Whether or not spanking equates with dumber kids is not known, and may never be known. That's because the only way to truly show cause and effect would be to follow over time two groups of kids, one randomly assigned to get spanked and another who would not get spanked. Barring that method, which is unfeasible, Straus considers his study the next best thing, as he looked back at a nationally representative set of kids who were followed over time.


Jennifer Lansford of Duke University's Center for Child and Family Policy and Social Science Research Institute called the study "interesting," and agrees the method is a strong one. Lansford, who was not involved with the study, said following kids over time as this study did rules out the possibility that children with lower IQs somehow elicit more physical discipline.


However, unlike research showing the link between spanking and a kid's aggressive behavior, in which kids model parents' actions, this link is less clear to her. She added that a question still left unanswered is "what are some of the other mechanisms that could be responsible for this link between physical discipline and lower IQ?"


How spanking harms


If spanking does send IQ scores down, Straus and others offer some explanations for what might be going on.


"Contrary to what everyone believes, being hit by parents is a traumatic experience," Straus said. "We know from lots of research that traumatic stresses affect the brain adversely." Also, the trauma could cause kids to have more stressful responses in difficult situations, and so may not perform as well cognitively.


By using hitting rather than words or other means of discipline, parents could be depriving kids of learning opportunities. "With spanking, a parent is delivering a punishment to get the child's attention and to get them to behave in a certain way," said Elizabeth Gershoff, who studies childhood development at the University of Texas, Austin. "It's not fostering children's independent thinking."


So when a child gets in a bind, he or she might do the right thing to keep from a spanking rather than figuring out the best decision independently, added Gershoff, who was not involved in Straus's current study.



And then there are genes, as some kids are just born smarter than others.


Even though spanking has been shown to cause negative consequences, Gershoff said many parents still fall back on the behavior-shaping tool. As for why, she says it's a quick fix, though its seeming success is short-lived and the negative consequences often outweigh the positives. Parents also might have been spanked themselves and so continue the tradition.


© 2009 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Noggin' Time

He loves The Backyardigans, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, and Yo Gabba Gabba.  He also loves Moose and Zee, the narrators between cartoons.

We Danced

G hardly napped today because we were out scouting for hunting and he hasn't been feeling really good.  I could tell, after he ate a big dinner, that he was so so tired.  I hurried up and got him in the bath and after a few short minutes he started asking to get out.  I picked him up out of the tub and he laid his head on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my arms.  I got his pajamas on him and took him into his room to read a book or two.  He just wanted to booby, which he hasn't done before bedtime for a few weeks now.  When he was done I went to put him in his crib, since he was falling asleep anyway, and he immediately popped up and started crying. 

Something told me he just needed more Momma time so I picked him up out of his crib and rocked back and forth with him.  I had turned his Glo-Worm on and soon I found that I was dancing to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  He hugged me tighter than I have ever felt him hold me and we continued to dance until I felt his little body relax against me.  I continued until his Glo-Worm shut off and reluctantly put him in his crib.  He wasn't asleep but he looked at me and sighed and closed his eyes.  Heaven.  

G vs. Garnier Nutrisse Chocolate Caramel

I was dying my hair the other day (yes, Chocolate Caramel hence the title of this post) and I got a VERY important phone call.  Important enough that when she said "is this a good time" I said yes, knowing I only had about 10 minutes of "processing" left.  I had to interrupt the woman 10 minutes into what turned out to be a 25 minute phone call so that I could hop in the shower just fast enough to wash the dye out of my hair (not that I told her this). 

I spent less than 2 minutes in the shower and hopped out just in time to find Garrett happily paddling his sock covered feet in a very dark puddle.  He turned around and I saw that he had been garbage can diving, finding the half used bottle of hair dye!  He was holding it upside down and happily squeezing hair dye out all over the floor.  "Shit!" I exclaimed which in G's world means, "they're on to me - RUN!"  And he took off gleefully, continuing to squeeze the bottle of dye all over the carpet as he headed for my bedroom door and into the living room. 

I caught him just as he got to the doorway and immediately started stripping his clothes off him, since in that nanosecond I was in the shower he had managed to get the dye all over his onsie, pants, and socks.  It was futile for me to try and get the dye out of the carpet but I was able to get it out of the linoleum in the bathroom. 

I managed to get back on the phone with my caller, trying to not let onto the disaster going on at my house, answering her questions while on my hands and knees naked, scrubbing furiously at the flooring.  All the while, G was giggling so much in the background that the caller paused to say, "well he's a happy little guy isn't he?"

Catching up again...

Life gets busier one day and then slows down another, I need to be better about keeping up with this blog, for my sanity more than anything else! 

Closet
Ed finished the closet project and it's awesome.  We have more room than "stuff" even!  I was unable to unpack a the big huge wardrobe boxes and get some of our winter stuff out.  The master bedroom in this house is a good size and we were able to put our treadmill in here since we really don't have room anywhere else in the house now that we bought a big sectional couch. 

Couch
We were "just going to look" at couches in Missoula and ended up picking and purchasing the one we both wanted.  It's part leather and par microsuede and I love it!  We had to borrow our neighbors flatbed trailer to go get it since they wanted to charge us $150 to deliver it to Powell.  It pretty much takes up the whole living room but it makes it cozy and we can all snuggle up together and there is room for 3 or 4 more people!  I went ahead and took one for the team and test drove the couch's napability and it gets two thumbs up from me!  Super comfy!!!

Napping and Bedtime
Speaking of napping we have a huge development in G's sleep patterns!  He used to get up around 0600-0700 every day, then take a 1 hour nap about 1.5 hours after waking up, then every 3 hours he would take another 1 hour nap until going to bed at about 2100-2200 hours.  One day almost 2 weeks ago he was tired so I laid him down (even though he wasn't asleep) and he didn't even fuss, he just went right to sleep (right around noon).  And that nap lasted 3 HOURS!!!  He went to bed that night the same way, awake, and he put himself to sleep again.  Me, being the observant person I am, said, "Hhhhmmm...let's try that again" and now for almost the last two weeks his schedule has been beautiful and simple.  He gets up between 0700 and 0800 hours every day, I put him down for a nap right around noon (some days he fusses for a minute or two and then crashes), he wakes up 2.5 to 3 hours later, and then after dinner and a bath and reading time, he goes to bed awake around 2000 hours.  He's sleeping wonderfully and so are we!!!  People keep telling me it is a growth spurt but I hope by the time the growth spurt is over he'll be settled into this as a routine!

Absence makes the Heart grow fonder
Now that we live so much further from POST (9 hours instead of 3) Ed has one whole day to travel to Meridian and one whole day to travel back home.  That of course takes him going away from home for longer.  He had to go to POST for a Recon conference this last week and it's the first time he's been away from home for so long!  It was only Saturday-Friday but it seemed like such a long time.  G noticed that first day that something wasn't quite "right" in his world and for that whole time I heard, "Dada...Daddy...Da?"  He'd wander the house looking for Ed and when I would tell G no or make him mad, he'd go looking for his Dada to save him from Momma.  But thankfully the beauty of technology made it possible for us to get on webcam at night and see Ed for a few minutes before G would go to bed. 

G and I took the opportunity and went up to CdA and saw Grandma for a few days.  My older brother John came up for a few days too so G got to see his cousins Ben and Keith.  G loves loves loves to play with other kids, especially ones close to his size.  That's why he seemed to think that Ben was the AWESOMEST person he had ever seen!  Oh yes, my 15 month old is nearly the same size as his 7 year old cousin.  But I guess that's not strange since G is big for his age and Ben is teeny for his.  Ben is a very sweet and gentle little soul and he does much better with G than 4 year old Keith does.  When G is playing with Keith I usually find G crying and Keith saying, "I didn't push him down but I pushed him down." 

G also adores his Uncle (Josiah).  They would go outside and play football while the dogs got exercised and Uncle likes to jump out and scare G, which G just loves (only if it's Uncle doing it though). 

Mommies Day Off!
I came home from my Mom's sick.  The drive home was miserable for me but only because I had to stop to puke and or have the ass vomits.  The dogs enjoyed lots of breaks in the 3 hour drive and G would have...if he hadn't slept the ENTIRE drive.  That was heaven for me because I had a headache that was particularly sensitive to noise.  When we got home to Powell Ed was home from POST!!!  He helped me unload the truck, looked at me and said, "you don't look good - go lay down."  And I did.  And I napped.  Ed took over G duty, doing dinner and bathtime and bedtime.  Then this morning Ed got G up and fed him, and cooked french toast, etc...and then they went for a drive for 4 hours and I napped some more.  Ed just brought me dinner and he's feeding G and he'll do bathtime and bedtime again.  What a treat this has been.  I love my G, I hope that's apparently clear to any and everyone, but dang this "day off thing is amazingly refreshing (well, except for this flu thing I've got going on)!!!  I hope I feel better tomorrow so I can spend some more time with my husband and son - I'm missing them!!!

Well, that catches me up to today.  I think I'll go work on a slideshow to add here too! 

House Work

Ed talked the Captain into letting us go buy new peel and stick linoleum tiles since he has to fix the subfloor in the laundry room. We did that yesterday and we were able to get the tile for the laundry room and kitchen (have to do the whole kitchen if we're doing the laundry room) and both bathrooms. I want to put them in now (so bad) but Ed wants to "save it" for a winter project. The linoleum in here is n.A.s.T.y stuff, white and blue and from the mid 90's if we're lucky. It shows every speck of dirt and Ed's boot scuff marks. I can't wait to put the new "faux stone" beige colored stuff in. Maybe I can do the bathrooms myself...

Today Ed is building major shelving in the closet in the master bedroom. It's a good sized closet (walk-in) but the people who "finished" it out used really really poor space planning...or no planning at all. We devised a plan yesterday, went to town and bought supplies, and my task today is to keep G out of Daddy's way while he builds, and to help with the heavy or awkward stuff when he needs me. I'll post pics of the finished project when he's done!!!

My Puddin!

Well, chocolate pudding is officially a big hit. I'm into letting G feed himself now, even though it can get really really messy. I thought for sure that I would never be able to let him get this messy, but I do. How else is he going to learn to feed himself if I don't hand him the spoon?

See Momma? I'm a big boy!

Ed couldn't stand the mess anymore so off G went to the bath. Ed didn't want to let G close to him - can't tell can you?

I have been Kindle-d

And I love it!

The Kindle is this: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Generation/dp/B00154JDAI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252000120&sr=8-3

This will save me from buying books that we have to pack again in 3-6 years (I already have plenty) and I won't have to drive back and forth to Missoula to hit the library. It's super easy to use, as evidenced by the fact thave I've already downloaded 14 books! I can't use the wireless "whispernet" thing since it goes off of cell service, and I have none here. But I can hook it directly to my computer and download books that way. Or, like yesterday, I can just pack it into town with me and when I hit cell service I can get on the Whispernet and download books that way.

My next goal is to sew some kind of cool padded envelope kind of sleeve thing to transport it to and fro in. I can buy a little portfolio like thing for $30 but that's just not my style. I am hoping to be able to find some of the discontinued Amy Butler fabric that I love so much!!! Off to Etsy I go!!!

Artsy Fartsy

In the real world, Garrett might not be old enough for crayons and markers yet, but in my world he is. I've got a whole little art supply started for him, complete with some Tadoodles which are age appropriate. He prefers to eat the crayons and suck on the markers, which in itself leads to some interesting art (on his face) but he'll get there eventually. Ed especially likes that G preferes to color/draw left handed. But sssshhhh don't tell Ed - G switches back and forth. For now I put G in his high chair and let him color on paper but usually he just rips the paper and colors on his high chair. God Bless washable markers huh?


Another cool thing about washable markers is that you can write on skin and it washes right back off. Or so I found on an experiment...! G liked having his belly drawn on (it tickled) but I kind of had to pin him down to draw on his face. I laughed everytime I looked at his little buddha belly - it was the perfect surface to draw on. He also got a heart "Mom" tattoo on his arm.

Window crayons. Oh yeah. This house has lots of big windows so I gave these a try. The window crayons are MESSY - as you can tell from the window sill and G's right hand. They make window markers too - maybe I'll pick those up next time. And yes, he got it on the curtains. Brilliant of me huh?

G's evil twin! He didn't like me drawing on his face but whenever I looked at him I would start laughing and that would make him laugh too. We have a big mirror in the laundry room that we haven't hung up yet and he kept going to it and looking at himself and giggling. I didn't say a word to Ed when he came hom on his lunch break and when he found G he busted out laughing too.

My little Picasso! I found this easel at Walmart.com, it has a dry erase board on one side and a chalkboard on the other side. I just hung some paper on it and let him go to town. He colored nicely on the paper until he decided that crayons were much better suited to be his lunch. Then I gave him markers and he decided that it'd be more fun to color everywhere but the paper. When I put a stop to that he decided he needed to just chew on the tip of the marker. At one point it looked like he either put on some lipstick or drank a lot of Kool-Aid.

The Tadoodles, which make the very best mess! They are made for little toddlers supposedly. I can buy an 8 pack of washable markers for $2.99 or spend $6.89 on 3 Tadoodles. I only did that once. He gets his hands so covered in the paint from the Tadoodles that I can make his handprint several times without re-inking him. Ha!

Fingerpaints are next...when I figure out how to control them. We'll be moving into the kitchen for those though...

B.R.A.T.!!!

Terrible Two's? How about Terrible Misnomer...unless by Two's they mean 13 Months. Holy crap G has turned into a B.R.A.T.!!! I didn't think my sweet, loving, little Zen baby could be like this. The whining is incessant, the fit throwing consuming, and the attitude is out of control! If I say no he throws a fit, if I take something away from him he throws a fit, if we redirect him, he returns to what we're trying to keep him from doing. If he wants to go somewhere (i.e. out to the highway) and we get in his way - watch out - then the punching, hitting, and kicking starts. Why can't he just understand that we know what's best for him right now and accept that we are not telling him no to ruin his life? Oh, how my Dad would love to be reading this right now!!!

I was on the toidy the other day taking care of some business and G came in with one of his story books. I tried to sit him on the floor but he insisted that he HAD TO sit in my lap to adequately read his book. So here I am, pants around my ankles trying to take the Browns to the Super Bowl, and there is a 14 month old in my naked lap laughing and pointing at a picture of airplanes. When I went to politely remove him, oh the fit started. He was on the floor kicking, screaming, and throwing his book. I'm sorry Son, I said, But I need to wipe.

This too shall pass...right???

North Idaho Fair - 08/27/09

G's eye

The other day G and I were outside playing and I noticed that he had a little red mark on the lower lid of his right eye. I just assumed that he had scratched himself with his fingernails and we went on with our day, which included a hike, playing in the sandbox, and checking the compound for criminal moose.

When G woke up the next morning his lower right eyelid was very red and swollen. I went through and tried to figure out what the problem could be - pink eye? stye? allergies? I decided that since the eyeball itself was fine and not red, and the eye wasn't weeping or oozing or anything, that it must be from the scratch that he'd gotten the day before. When I had pointed it out to Ed the day before he decided that it was a bug bite and not a scratch. I watched it and decided that if it wasn't better by the next day, that I would take him into Lolo to see a doctor.

The next morning it did not look any better so I went ahead and took him in. The doctor gave me antibiotic eye drops for G and said that she thought it was either that it was a bug bite that he had an allergic reaction to or that he had scratched his lower eyelid and then got some dirt in it. Today it looks much better after using the eyedrops only a few times!!!

Hands on Art

Garrett and I went to a place in CdA called Hands on Art. You pick out a piece of pottery (from mugs and plates to napkin holders, ring holders, piggy banks and general knick knack pieces of crap. You then take the perfectly blank item of your choice and you paint it however you'd like! I went in knowing what I wanted to do, that I wanted to put my handprint on something with G's handprint on mine. I chose to paint a mug since Ed is a big coffee drinker and I decided to paint it in greens and browns, as close to camo as I could get without painting it camo. G did awesome - I handed him a loaded paintbrush and let him go to town on the inside of the mug. He was happy until it came time to take the paintbrush away so we could finish up and get going. They glazed and fired the mug and we paid for it and picked it up a few days later.