++Random Jottings++

Wyatt lost his toenail on his middle toe. Does this really happen to one-year-olds? I thought that only happened to old people. The funny part is that there was another one already underneath...I think he was born with two on that toe. Good thing that's the worst defect we've discovered so far.

We still have about ten pictures left to hang in our house. I feel like we have been hanging pictures ever since we moved in. Mark did promise me that there was a point in our previous house when we no longer had anything left to hang. I'm sure we'll reach it just as it's time to sell this house.

I've had a stretch of sad news recently. Nothing too close to home, but close enough to get you a little down. First I learned that one of my new friends down here, Sarah, lost her brother in a car accident. Then I saw this really sad story in the Strib. I knew the name sounded familiar and Mel confirmed that he went to Hopkins with us. It's a sad story either way, but seems that much worse when it was a classmate. Then I learned that my friend Linda's new baby Chloe has been in the hospital twice now in her short life. She's going to be fine, she just needs to learn how to gain weight. Then today I found out an ECFE friend of mine is getting a divorce because her husband was having an affair. Her son is Wyatt's age. So sad. Can't imagine what she is going through.

Glad to see the magnolias are about to bloom here---it will be like a giant bouquet of flowers every time I turn around. How can that not cheer a person up? I'll be sure to take a photo of them as it's a southern thing...

Another random jotting. In my effort to be more green, I took a lamp that was broken in the move to a lamp repair shop to see if it could be fixed rather than just throwing it away (they gave us the money for replacement). They can't make it good as new, but for $20 they are going to turn it into a different kind of lamp! How good am I for recycling broken things? Mark thinks I am nuts for getting excited about this. Did I mention that I had to drive to a place where all the parking lots are fenced in with barbed wire? That's something else that we didn't have in Minneapolis.

Finally, for those of you in MN: Mark your calendars for the great Pacyna northern trek. I booked our tickets tonight. July 2-8. We'll spend some of the time in Point but will be available for gatherings Sunday and Monday.

++19 Months++

So, who pushed the fast-forward button on our life and how can I get pause instead? I feel like I just finished typing the 18-month entry and here I am again. Wyatt is so fun right now that we really wish we could stop time and just sit around and laugh with him all day. As he gets better and better with talking we're able to really know what he is thinking...and realize that we should watch everything we say. Not because we have dirty mouths, but because if we don't want to go outside, or bye-bye, or upstairs, those words should not exit our mouths in any context. This morning I told Wyatt he couldn't go outside because he didn't have shoes on. This afternoon, he spent five minutes walking around the house saying "shoes" until he finally found them and handed them to me.

We're getting to know more and more about our little boy's personality. He's a showboat and a jokester, but only at home with his parents. He signs "more" when we tickle him or cover him up and pretend to look for. He loves to run around with his dad. He rides on his back and tells him "stop" and "goooo". He loves to hide in his dad's closet. He loves books. I often find him sitting in a chair or on the couch just looking through a book by himself. We finally got a library card and he loves going to the library to pick out new books (and Mark and I enjoy the fresh reads). He still loves all things with wheels. He has now made the distinction between types of trucks: there are diggers and there are bulldozers. Don't worry if you drive by one and don't happen to see it. He'll be sure to point it out for you.

He is detail-oriented and serious about his "work". He loves to scoop and dump stuff (water, sand) and seems to have a serious three-step process of filling one cup to another to another and then into the flower pot. He would prefer to be outside all day long. He loves nature. Grass, weeds, mulch, mud puddles...you name it, he likes it. He has also become enamored with the friends he has found outdoors: birds, turtles and the neighborhood dogs (much to Mark's dismay). He loves to go "bye-bye" and requests in frequently. I'm not sure exactly what he has in mind, but he loves to get out and see new things. The grocery store is a favorite (perhaps it's the truck carts). We drive by it on the way to school and he always whines when we don't turn in. He has also charmed the deli lady who now gives him a piece of turkey every time. He knows to expect it. I love it. It keeps him busy for half the trip. When it's daddy's turn to do the bedtime ritual, he does nothing but request "mom-meeee". When Mark is at work during the day he is always asking for "dad-deeee". When we're both around he has a cute combo word for us "mommy-daddy" perhaps his way of saying, "I don't really care which one of you...but will someone do this for me?"

I think Mark and I say to each other on a daily basis how lucky we are to have him as our kid. I am sure every parent feels this way...and that is the way it should be. Who knew my best buddy in all the world would be a little pint-sized blue-eyed puddle-loving giggle-happy kiddo?

Here are a few highlights of life with Wyatt these days:

Lovey (a.k.a. "wah wah") is still his best friend.

Hiding in the closet.

Playing in his sandbox after he helped his dad build it all day. It was hard to coax this smile out of him. Digging in the sand was serious business!

As for the rest of us. We're getting along just fine. Each week seems to get a little easier. It's nice that the weather has really turned and more and more people are outside. We're meeting more neighbors and getting to know people better. The pool opens soon as well! Saturday night I headed downtown with a couple of neighbor friends for a girls night out. We saw a broadway show and went out to eat. It was fun! Mark and Wyatt went to Chick Fil A. Mark starts training this week. He has completed the first part of his job down here (can you believe he's been doing this job for 7 months already?) and now is in sales training. He'll be able to tell us far more than we care to know about how our spines work.

++Wyatt at work++

In our effort to instill a strong work ethic in our son, Mark and I have decided that it is important that we put him to work around the house sooner than later. Here are some of the jobs we have him doing.

Helping mom cook dinner.

Fixing his trike. This comes with a lot of sound effects that can't be captured in a photo.

He even has been hired by the zoo to be a cheerleader at the Sea Lion show!

Is there something wrong when one of your child's first 100 words is "weeds"? Notice the garden gloves as well.

We've been having a lot of fun outside now that the weather has really warmed up. I hear that April and May are the best time of year here so I've been trying to enjoy it while it lasts. All of the azaleas are blooming and it's gorgeous. Of course, we don't have any pretty flowering stuff in our yard...figures. Speaking of pretty flowering stuff. Here's the "after" project. It doesn't look like much yet but we see this view out all the back windows of our house and it is such a treat to have color. The phlox in front are already done with their blooming for the year but the rest of the stuff should keep color for most of the summer. I was promised that the roses in the back were easy to care for. We shall see! As for the rest of the yard. We're taking a break for now and contemplating hiring it done.

++Back in Business++

My best friend arrived home today. Delivered by the FedEx man. I was so glad to see him. He appears to be all better again so we should be back in business. I haven't taken many photos lately (gasp!). I better get on the ball so I have something to post. Did I tell you Wyatt does a fabulous fake smile upon just seeing the camera (and on command when you ask to see his smile)? I need to capture it on film. It is too funny. Those of you who knew Mark in high school (or have seen the wall of shame in his house) know which side of the family that trait comes from.

One more note: the baby I was waiting for has arrived. Little Chloe Ann was born last night. Can't wait to see more pictures! We have lots of little girls in our near future. And one big boy for my friend Tiffany (as seen in shower photos below). So sad that I'm the far away spectator for all this fun!

++Unplugged++

I didn't last very long without a computer. Mark brought me a spare from work. It means I can post a few things but you won't likely get photos. We had a chilly weekend but ended up getting one of our gardens dug out...and half planted. It's not easy digging in the clay soil we have here.

Mark is outside now putting our Tennessee license plates on our cars. We held out as long as we could but decided it was best to do what we were legally supposed to. I kind of liked driving around having everyone know I was from Minnesota. Now I'm just one of them.

We had big news in our family on Friday. Mark's brother Matt got engaged! We're excited because we really like Taylor and it was so complicated now that Wyatt is learning to talk to not call her Aunt Taylor. Now that's she's official we can slowly make that transition. I'm also so excited to add another girl to that side of the family.

As I post this I am thinking good thoughts for my dear friend Linda who is being induced with baby girl #2 tomorrow. I can't wait to hear her big news (and so sad I can't go cuddle the bundle myself!)

++Famous Last Words++

I spoke too soon...before I was willing to pack my computer in a box and send it away, I decided to back-up all my photos (something we all know we should do more often). The process proved far more difficult than I thought. Not sure if it was user error or my computer. So, we are now the proud owners of a new external hard drive. It seems slick. I'll let you know the final verdict after tonight.

So...I decided I would treat everyone to one last entry before I go dark. We've had some exciting things happen here and I don't want to forget about them.

Exciting event #1 was the visit from the Dusoskys. The weekend was pretty much full of rain but we did our best to make the most of it. It was just really great to spend some time with our dear friends.

I had fun playing photographer with miss Emily...who loved playing model. It is so much easier to take pictures of someone who is not constantly trying to get away from you!

Here's my little buddy being chivalrous. Aren't you so proud? I would be lying if I said that these two played together this well all weekend.

Here are the kids (Mark included) playing in what Emily called the "big room". It's not that it's so big...it's that it has nothing in it. It's supposed to be a dining room. We did the paint. It used to be bright yellow.

This is the soggy Dusosky family checking out the pandas. No joke, we had the zoo to ourselves. Likely because it basically rained all day. It was nice not to have to fight the crowds though!!
Mark brokering a high five.

Exciting event #2 was the acquisition of some new wheels for Wyatt. I have been haunting Craig's List trying to find a Little Tikes car...to no avail. On Monday someone down the street put this beauty out for the trash. We took it home...gave it a little car wash (and a few repairs which involved nuts and bolts that I did by myself and was very proud of) and it is good as new...ok, maybe not good as new. But, Wyatt thinks it is just great. Total investment: $0.

Exciting event #3 is that tomorrow I am going here to have plans drawn up to do something with our back yard. I have always enjoyed a little gardening here and there and I didn't realize how totally depressing it would be to have a backyard with nothing in it. I am not exaggerating here...there is not a thing planted but grass (and a whole lot of weeds). It is so unappealing that we really don't go back there. Let's just hope we don't get in over our heads. It seems to be a theme in this family: start out looking for a a couple of flower beds and end up with a three-tier koi pond or something.

The drab and depressing "before".

Exciting event #4 is that I am the proud owner of a new book on how to do stuff with my Photoshop. Expect to see amazing results posted here sometime soon...ha ha. One can dream, right? Losing my computer for a while is really going to put a damper on all my fun.

Exciting event #5 we will call "man overboard!" Last Friday the little one climbed out of his crib. Imagine my surprise when I returned from getting the mail to see a crying boy...with a large bump on his head...standing in the hallway. I'm hoping it was scary and traumatic. He hasn't tried it again.

We've been enjoying some fabulous summer-like weather. I love seeing the little guy in shorts. The legs aren't nearly as chubby as they were last summer. Perhaps there's hope for him yet.

++Going Dark++

Sadly, I will be sending my beloved computer in to HP today. This will be it from here for a little bit. I have been challenged by my husband to see if I can go computer-less for a couple of days. We'll see how that goes. It's amazing how much I rely on it to see what time something opens or where something is located. I might just have to do things old-school and pull out the phone book. I'm a little behind on posting stuff...I still have photos of last weekend with the Dusoskys to share. It was just too nice out this weekend to be inside.
I just didn't want people to worry when they didn't hear from me that it was due to riots in Memphis. We're prepared to have some uproar either way (win or lose) tonight. I purchased extra food and water so we won't need to leave the house for a while.

Wishing a safe journey for my little computer buddy...but busy backing up all my photos just in case...

++3 Month Report Card++

April 1 means that we have been down here for three months. Feels like forever and like no time has passed all at the same time. I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my Memphis report card. I'll put on the most positive hat I can find for this one.

:)

• For the most part we really like our house. The layout works great for our lifestyle and having some modern perks like our own bathroom and closets and an attached garage has been nice.


• Our neighborhood is great as well. I always feel good when I turn into it. The houses are beautiful (ours is one of the least expensive to give you an idea) and everyone takes good care of them. I also love that there are kids everywhere. Last week Wyatt and I spent an hour outside watching the next door neighbors try to fly a kite.


• This whole "Mothers Day Out" phenomenon is quite easy to get used to. I wish there was a small component that allowed us mothers to meet each other but I can't complain about childcare at less than $2 an hour.


• We love our health club. There is always room to do what you want. It's super nice and clean. The day care is nice (they greet Wyatt by name now---which makes me feel good...that means I must be working out enough). I hear the pool is great for the summer. And, when Wyatt gets a little older there are classes for him as well.


• BBQ. We liked it before we moved here and don't mind being in the home of barbeque. Mmmm...tasty.


• The temperature (notice I didn't say weather since it storms and rains too much) is quite nice. Can't complain about low 70s in March!


• We have this great park not far from our house. Wyatt loves it and I love that it is handicap accessible (which also means toddler accessible). Lots of ramps and things Wyatt can safely do on his own. We visit there often.

:(

• The news here stinks. We miss KARE 11. Not only is the content disturbing but the quality is not so great either. I guess it's not easy to get people to move here to report on the fun happenings in a town like Memphis.


• Getting around is not so easy. I miss all the highways we had in Minnesota. They just don't have those here. We also live REALLY far out so maybe that contributes to it as well.


• I'm not loving our yard. I was not prepared for the swampiness to last for three days after each time it rains. Since it rains every other day, it's always wet. This is the joy of clay. Also...we have weeds everywhere. I was trying to spend my time "playing" outside with Wyatt pulling weeds but I can't keep up. We're trying to avoid the chemical spray people but we may end up down that path before we turn into "those people with the weedy lawn." Mark reminds me when I complain about this that our lawn in MN would have been covered in snow right now. Hey---at least that's kind of pretty!


• SHOPPING. 9.25% sales tax. No Anthropologie. No Pottery Barn Kids. No Nordstrom. No Crate and Barrel. Need I say more?

There's a quick little synopsis. I'm interested to see how my feelings change at 6 months. I'll report back then to let you know. It will likely be 150 degrees out on July 1 so I can already predict now that I may not have too many nice things to say. Time will tell.

As an aside. We finally got our driver's licenses today. We went to a new place and were fully expecting it to take 4 hours or so. We were out in an hour and that even accounted for the 15 minute wait for the broken camera. So, please ignore my previous rant. We also found a much closer place for the license plates. We need to do that too. Don't tell the authorities.

note from the publisher: our technical difficulties our more serious than previously thought and require us to mail in our computer for who knows how long. Mark is bringing home his old work computer as that is easier than having me committed. I can still blog from that but I probably won't be doing many photos. Sorry. I know seeing Wyatt's smiling face makes your day...ok maybe just for the grandparents.

++18 Months++

Here we are at 18 months. A little late due to technical difficulties (which left me internet-less for a few days...and twitching as a result.) I said last month that this post would come with tears. I had no idea it would mean Wyatt's tears. We are in the process of breaking in the eye teeth (I can say "we" as this process has consumed the entire family). I know, most kids probably got these at 9 months but our little one was toothless until he was almost a year old. The result is buckets worth of drool and lots and lots of crying in the night (something we are not used to since Wyatt slept through the night at two months and never went back). The worst part is that we have had a few episodes of inconsolable crying. Also something that we haven't seen since about two months. It really breaks your heart.

Now onto the positive stuff. Here's a little about our character at 18 months:


He's only marginally cooperative when it comes to having his photo taken (gasp!). This was the best shot I got and I took over 100.


He is a self-taught whistler. After his weekend with daddy (who whistles all the time) I find him attempting to whistle in the backseat on the way home from the airport. I wasn't able to catch this hilarity on film until now. Believe it or not, a very slight sound does emerge.



This boy is RUNNING. This is what he did in response to my asking "can you show me how you run?"

We've also made great strides in the language department. On the morning of his 18-month birthday he said an unprompted "thank you" to his dad in response to his sharing of his banana. A nice payoff for me since I have been saying "say thank you" to him for about nine months now.

Likes:

• Sesame Street. Bob the Builder and Thomas are so last month (for now).


• Ketchup. We have to remind him that he has to eat the food he dips, not just lick the ketchup.


• Driving things (especially his dad's car).


• "Helping" us. Which includes reminding us of the exact steps in his morning and nighttime routine.


• Reading books. He has yet to pass up an offer for us to read a story. He will, however, offer an opinion on which story we read.


• Wearing clothes with his favorite things on them (trucks, trains, dogs, etc.) That will explain why you may see more and more of those things in his wardrobe.
• Coloring. Preferably with pencil or pen on a piece of paper that looks important (junk mail works very well for this).

Doesn't like:

• Dirty hands. Ironically this includes whining if he gets ketchup on his hands.


• Trying new foods. He doesn't even like them on his tray. It's fabulous.


• Sitting still (not sure this will change for a long time).


• Getting out of his crib in the morning. Now this does not mean that he is sleeping quietly in the pre-dawn hours. No, no. He is up and hosting a party. He just isn't ready for it to end when we go in his room to finally get him up.


• Conforming. This means at Little Gym when it is time to sit on the mat, or walk in a circle or do whatever the instructor wants...he is the only one on the other side of the gym climbing on stuff.

We saw a new pediatrician down here. Wyatt was very shy but it was confirmed that he is healthy and growing right. 27 lbs and 32 1/2 inches (which I think is a little short because his neck was kind of bent). He's making a dramatic tumble down the size charts from his prior position upwards of the 95%-tile.