winter wonderland

This winter has been brutal.  We've had cold, cold, cold days, and more snow than I've seen in a long time.  Today is Dexter's 3rd snow day from dental school in about a week and a half.  I don't mind the snow days because I like having him around, but boy, I'd say we're all tired of this snow!  I think we got about 14 or so inches in this most recent storm.  It snowed heavy from 7:30 am - 12:30 pm, and I think we may get more tonight -- after a bit of rain and ice.  Joy!

We made it outside this morning towards the end of the snow.  30 minutes of layering for 30 minutes of outside fun.  To be honest, I didn't think we'd last even that long.  Kyalo and I have been stuck inside the past couple of days because he's been sick, so it felt good to get out - even just for a little bit.

Here are some shots from the morning.

 poor little buried Honda - Dexter's outside digging it out right now.

 my footsteps on our front steps

 our street, prior to being plowed

 Kyalo's standing on the covered porch trying to catch snowflakes

 helping

 and loving it!

 Dexter did all the hard work of actually shoveling. I was supervising

Trying to build a snowman

We came in for hot chocolate, of course.  Kyalo's sleeping now, and I'm hoping that the fresh air and exercise means he'll sleep a long time.

I will say this, all this snow has been a great way to see neighbors.  Everyone's out trying to dig themselves out right now. There's more activity on our street than usual.

How many days til Spring?

34 months

Well, here we are.  Another month closer to three.

I have to say, this winter is slowly sucking the life out of all of us.  I don't think we've seen the sun for more than about 12 hours in the last month - or more.  We have had bitter cold days we've had to hunker down.  Or, it takes 30 minutes to get bundled up to head outside, and then we only last 15-20 minutes.  The hot chocolate is always good, though.  We're all ready for some sunny days.

The month start out like a lion...Kyalo was not napping.  He also decided that sleeping in our bed was preferable to his, so he'd wake up in the middle of the night and climb into ours.  Which meant that we had limbs in our stomachs, elbows in our noses, and Dexter was on the couch.  So I wasn't sleeping at night, and then Kyalo wasn't napping.  Which would be fine if he'd play quietly in his room for a bit but instead he just ran around the house laughing.  I tried everything I could think of to get him to stay in his room for 30 minutes so I could have a rest.  I begged, bribed, pleaded, cajoled and nothing worked.  I was sure that naps were behind us and was quite distraught by this fact.  I relish that hour or so I have to myself.  I am not ready to give it up just yet. (Let's be honest, I may never be.) So the beginning of this month got off to a rocky start, and I wasn't sure my relationship with Kyalo was going to survive.

But we kicked the sleeping in our bed habit, and suddenly he started napping again.  I'm not sure what changed to make him suddenly nap, but I am rejoicing.  It isn't every day usually, but 5 out of 7 is manageable, esp since mostly they're about an hour and a half.

And I can love him again.  Besides, how could you not love this face?

Kyalo is especially excited about his birthday.  I've heard him singing 'Happy Birthday' in the bathtub, and he has said to me several times, 'I'm so happy for my birthday! April Sird!'  I'm feeling a bit of pressure to actually plan a party for him since we haven't done anything too big for him yet.  Who wants to come help me plan?

Other things from this month.

Being home bound hasn't been all bad.  Last week his friend Griffin (just 2 weeks younger) came over for finger painting while his mom, Gina, and I chatted.  It was mostly a success.

pals

And, unlike last time, Kyalo painted the paper, not himself.  Bonus.

On Saturday, he and Dexter did some cleaning of our kitchen floor.  We have the world's worst mop so Dexter used some old t-shirts instead.  Kyalo thought it was pretty great.

He didn't last too long, but it was still a good activity for him.  Start 'em young!

Other things:

Potty Training

I can't believe we haven't nipped this in the bud yet.  It is becoming slightly frustrating...because I know he could do it, but for some reason, he refuses to poo in the potty.  He'll tell me, 'I'm not big boy, I'm little boy, poo in diaper.'  Kind of hard to argue with that.  Still, there has been some progress. We're no longer doing diapers at nap time, and he'll climb out of his crib and announce 'I have to go pee' even before coming to see me.   We've been working on this since last summer (when he was taking his diaper off and peeing in his bed, remember?) and I can count on one hand the number of accidents he's had.  The best is when he suddenly disappears and then we hear the toilet flush.  We're not all that involved in it that much in some ways....I recently tried to get him fired up for pooing in the potty, but that resulted in tears and anxiety, so realized I needed to just leave it.  I'm trying to avoid using candy as a reward, but have promised him both stickers and a new drawing book if he does it.  Some days he'll talk about how he'll poo in the potty, but then nothing happens. We continue to talk it up and live in hope that it will happen by his birthday.  (And that was more information than you needed, right?)

Talking

I've had a few people ask me -- or comment about -- his talking lately.  He was (very) slow to start, with barely 10 words by the time he turned 2, I think.  But sometime over the summer it just exploded, I guess.  He may still be a little behind in some ways, but not in any noticeable way, I think.  This is a huge relief to me, of course.  I love hearing his thoughts, and the stories he tells.  He tells a lot of stories that start with 'One day. . .' which then morphs into a retelling of his entire day, or some specific event from that same day.  We really can communicate easily with him now and it is just so much fun!  And makes life easier, too, of course. 

Reading and numbers

I admit, I haven't worked hard on getting Kyalo to read or recognize numbers or letters.  We sing the ABC song, and have plenty of ABC books.  I point to the letters as we read them, and what not, but there haven't been flash cards or specific times to drill this into his head.  I figure he doesn't need to know his letters yet, so why rush it.  Still I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when we were at a friends doing some stamping and he'd say, 'I need H' and proceed to get it from the jumbled up box of stamps.  Sometimes, I think he is just holding out on us. . . 

Some other cute things he says:

adocado for his afternoon snack of avocado

'I DO have. . . ' and then he'll tell me what he has (hiccups, a book, whatever.)  The emphasis is so cute to me.

And here's a funny story.

A few months ago while Dexter was reading him bed time stories some fireworks randomly went off in our neighborhood. It wasn't the 4th of July or anything, so we don't know what the point was.  But it freaked him out and he didn't want to watch them.  And ever since then, several times a week as he's heading to bed he'll tell us, "I don't like fireworks!"  I think he is a verbal processor, because he can't seem to stop talking about them.  

Thus ends another long-winded post.  

Spring, come quickly!!

cold days

Gosh, January has been cold.  And snowy.  I'm already looking forward to the warmer days when we don't have to wear 500 layers, and my toes don't freeze in 10 ten minutes.  But I'm not really wishing for time to go TOO fast, because life here is good and soon we'll be packing up and moving out.  (This seems to be the story of our life. Hoping the next place we stay put for more than two years!)

There really isn't too much to report on, but still I thought I'd pop in with a little update.  A lot of our activities are on a bit of a hiatus right now, and it is too cold for walks to the library or playing outside for extended periods of time, so we've been making due with other things.

First up, was a home-made vanilla making play date with two friends. I met Takisha and Marie in the Holistic Moms group I joined pretty soon after moving to Belleville.  In the last 6 months or so, it has really taken off - play dates, moms night out, etc etc.  Takisha mentioned on Facebook that she wanted to make Vanilla, Marie and I chimed in that we thought that would be fun, and a little impromptu (ish) party was formed.

 all you need is vanilla beans and vodka or rum.  Easy peasy.

 Marie, hard at work

oh, and then you have to wait at least 2 months.  In the near month since we did this, this is already a nice, dark, vanilla-y looking color. Can't wait to try it in March!

 Axel, Marie's 15 month old

Takisha and Johnathan

That was a great way to start the week off.  The next week I hosted an official Holistic Moms 'Holistic You' Play date.  Together we made our own laundry detergent.  It was also pretty easy, but grating a bar of soap is hard work.  Together we're learning about ways to reduce our consumption, our waste, and the chemicals we use in our homes.  It has been highly educational, to say the least.  No good pictures of the day, but the house was full - five women and five kids two and under (Kyalo's the oldest at almost 3).  To say it was a bit chaotic would be an understatement. 

I made the mistake of not unpacking my suitcase quickly enough.  One Sunday afternoon, we heard Kyalo get up from his nap earlier than we hoped.  But he didn't come out to us - he went into our room and was quiet.  Since we were both enjoying the quiet on the couch we didn't get up to investigate for almost 30 minutes.  This is what Dexter walked in on:

That would be my bare escentuals make up all over the floor and all over Kyalo

This is what I get for not investigating the suspicious silence sooner!

 does he at least look a little guilty?

A few weeks ago, we had a real Kenyan meal for dinner - sukuma wiki (kale or collard greens), beef stew, and ugali which is a staple in Kenya, a corn flour dish that is used as a utensil.  Kyalo tried his hand at it and looks like a pro!

and now, I want to eat all of that again!

Another note, Kyalo gave up his high chair this month.  This is probably later than most kids his age, but our table is on wheels, and our chairs are folding chairs, so I have not been keen to let him out.  The chair he's in above never seems very stable, and he has to sit on his knees.  Looking forward to some day having a 'real' table in our life.

He also discovered a love of vacuuming while in Essex.  While our vacuuming needs aren't so great here, we do have a little hand-held vacuum he likes to use.

Today, to kill the morning, we made zucchini cookies.  Kyalo enjoyed grating the zucchini.  It was a little painful for me to hand it over to him and just let it be (the mess! the slowness!) but it worked out when when he said, 'I'm having fun.'  So, grating zukes for the win.

Lastly, and I'm sorry to go on and on, yesterday a group of us once again from the Holistic Moms group got together - this time, to exchange freezer meals.  Everyone made two meals four times to exchange, and we had a big swap last night.  It was harder work than I expected (have you ever chopped 10 cups of carrots?)  and I vowed to never ever do it again.  Then, last night, I heated up Marie's white bean, sausage and kale soup, and made a pot of rice, and thought, I might never have to cook again! And, since I did my math wrong and made five of each of my meals, we have my two offerings as well.  Tonight we're having a shepherd's pie-type meal. All I have to do is pop it in the oven.  I'm in love.

Here's my freezer:

All in all, it has been a good month.  I can't believe February is on Saturday.  Hoping February is as fun-filled (but warmer) as January!

round up

This Christmas vacation wrap up post is weeks later than I expected. I blame getting back into the swing of things here, and the fact that Kyalo's refused to nap most days for this.  Today, he's napping (I don't know why - but I am so thankful!)  so I'm taking advantage of the silent house!  I promised we'd make cookies when he wakes up.

So, Christmas. It already feels like a distant memory!  It was a fairly low-key affair for us, I'd say.  No big meal, no rush to get into presents, a pretty easy pace. Kyalo's not really into gifts yet, and didn't really pay any attention to the wrapped gifts.  I think we didn't open presents til 10 or 11!  I hope it is always like that.  Unfortunately, Christmas Eve day I woke up sick.  Some weird random stomach bug hit me hard - fever, aching, cold, etc.  To walk from the couch downstairs to the couch upstairs totally exhausted me. I am SO grateful that I was home so my mom could take care of me, and Dexter was on vacation to take care of Kyalo.  If you're a mom and you're going to be out of commission, I recommend that's the way you go.

Here are a couple of random shots...

 there wasn't a lot of snow, but there was enough to make a tractor-pulled sleigh (ok, sled) ride a fun experience for Kyalo.  I think we get more use from the tractor by pulling Kyalo around than actually cutting the grass. What a great 'toy'!!

Kyalo got a little golf set from Grandma, and Grandpa wasted no time teaching him the finer points of golf.

Christmas wrapped up with gifts, a brunch, and our usual grab-bag festivities with the Hammons.  All in all, a wonderful day!

On the Friday after Christmas, we had the Olatundes over for a pizza party.  This being the second year to do this, I think we can declare it a Christmas Tradition!  It was great to be with them again. Covenant has completed his first semester of college - he has hopes and plans of being a missionary pilot and so has an interesting life ahead of him!  Can't wait to see where he ends up.  The time that we have with them is always sweet and special, and I think how far we've all come from our days together in the UAE.  I love that we have so many round-the-world connections!!

 Master Chef, Covenant

 My parents got iPhones for Christmas, so Praise was giving my dad some tips!

 Peace, 9, read to Kyalo a lot

Praise had my camera most of the night. I love this goofy picture of her and Kyalo

(she may not be too pleased I put it on my blog though.  Sorry, Praise!)

I'm already looking forward to our next Christmas Pizza Party!

And then right after the New Year, a blizzard blew in, keeping us in town an extra day and a half.  It was fun to experience the blizzard. We built a fire, had hot chocolate, worked on puzzles. The usual things. But we also got out in it, too.  It was C O L D.

Essex Marsh, covered in snow

 pretty sure I'm wearing everything I own

We didn't last long outside.  Since it was a cold, miserable day, we decided to let Kyalo try his first movie.  'The Swan Princess' was not a hit - he's either too young, or just didn't like the story. Either way, he lasted about 20 minutes before he was looking for something else.  Still, I like this picture of him and Dexter snuggled up together.

So there you have it, more or less, a wrap up of our three week vacation.  Wonder what next Christmas will look like for us??

33 months

This is another belated monthly post.  I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things here in Belleville and hope to get all caught up on Christmas posts and other things, before we really jump into things for this new year.

It has been another full and busy month for us.  We spent most of it up in MA thanks to Dexter's longer-than-expected vacation.  Kyalo loves being with Grandma and Grandpa, and can never get enough of them.  And Dexter and I are quite happy to let them take center stage.  :)

We got to the doctor today for the first time since May. Kyalo is now 35 inches and 29.4 pounds. Quick story.  The nurse who measured Kyalo had him stand in front of the measuring tape and then quickly declared him to be 36 inches.  She didn't put her hand on his head, to make sure that was accurate.  I could see, just by looking that there was no way it was right. So I did that, and determined him to be 35 inches.  His hair just adds an inch or two!  Still, he's grown over two inches since May. I have no idea if that's 'enough' but it makes me happy.  

He continues to be a sweet, loving boy, who loves to draw, paint, do stickers, etc.  Grandma got him this awesome IKEA table and chair set for Christmas and we're putting it to good use.  Got to let the genius come out some how.

Still, we have our challenges.  He is obstinate, strong-willed, defiant.  It can sometimes take an HOUR to get him undressed/dressed for the day.  He thinks it is really really funny to run away from me after an article of clothing is on.  This is going to be extra fun now that we're in the coldest winter ever and he's wearing tons of clothes.  The other night, he took two bites of dinner, said, 'I'm done,' and then dumped it on the ground.   Naturally, he went to bed without any more food.

I assume most of this is typical toddler behavior, and that he'll grow out of it. He's testing limits and boundaries, or can't communicate fully for things yet.  But boy, when I'm tired, or worn out, it can truly be the end of me.  

And then, just when I think I'm at the end of it, ready to put him on the curb, he'll do something so remarkably sweet that I decide to hang on to him another day.  Yesterday, he said to me -- without any prompting, asking, prodding, or expectation from me -- 'Mommy, I love you so much. So, so much.' Today he gave me a tight, long hug for no apparent reason.  He's really stacking up points!!

He had a great time in Essex.  Grandpa let him do all kinds of fun things in the kitchen, things that I just don't have the patience for yet.  There was shredding cheese, and (carefully) cutting things.  Helping make an omlete, etc.  Do you see his happiness here?

I have friends who have their toddlers helping in the kitchen, so I guess I need to jump on board.  He can do more than stir flour.  It is just a matter of me enduring how s l o w the process becomes.

We gave it a try when we came back, and he made his first scrambled eggs.

joy

Another thing Kyalo is loving these days is puzzles. Sirisha gave all the kids a box with 5 big puzzles at our little holiday gathering last month.  They have gotten endless use already.  The only problem is that Kyalo generally needs one of us to be there with him to 'help' him.  This was another thing Dexter and I were happy to pass off to Grandpa while we were on vacation.

working hard.  

Hercules kept Grandpa home Friday morning - thanks Hercules!

Hard to believe that we're a mere three months away from Kyalo being three.  I think this year I will try to do a little something (party?) for him since we'll be moving so soon after his birthday (most likely).  Plus, he spent his entire bath last night singing, "Happy Birthday, Dear Kyalo," so I think he's primed and ready to go for a party!