The Park

We went to Manito Park in Spokane last weekend. The Japanese garden was the only one that was sporting any pretty blossoms. But pretty it was.

Miles has been the biggest drooler of all time lately. Maybe because he's had a cold and he's breathing through his mouth more? Maybe he's getting some more molars? At any rate, it's real slimy and thick and gross... as you can see.

Miles thinking, "Wow. This is so much cooler than that stupid apartment."

Miles was in heaven. He didn't want to go home. I think Miles enjoyed this park more than a park with a slide and swings and stuff to climb on. It's interesting to watch his personality develop. I see a lot of both me and Dave in him.

How he's like Me: he takes after my OCDness. Always making sure drawers are closed all the way, shoes are lined up straight, rugs are straight, things are where they belong, etc. Poor child. He has a puzzle of colored fish to learn colors, but all the pieces are the same size so any color could get mismatched. Whether or not Miles knows the colors, I don't know, but he definitely can match them and has been able to for a long time. One night, Dave put all the fish with the wrong color and in the morning the first thing Miles did was put them all back in their right spot.

How he's like Dave: he's super observant. He's always real careful and scopes out his surroundings before he gets into anything or plays with any other child, etc. In these instances, I think Dave is the better one to take after. Although, his wife may adore him one day for always picking up little pieces of fuzz to put in the trash....

Checking out some fish.

Weirdo girl walking around with no shoes. Don't really know why the cops were there...

Tulips are my favorite flower. These were particularly awesome:

Red and yellow are also my favorite colors. What a day!

We'll have to go back when its warmer and this is all filled with flowers.

Fun in the tub

Recently, while in the tub, Miles starting saying "uh-oh" over and over. Nothing new-- he usually repeats everything he says until you say it back to him, but on this day in the tub, he kept saying it even after I repeated it back. Then I realized, he was farting and saying "uh-oh" every time he let it rip, which was quite a few. It was a great time had by all-- no poop, lots of bubbles, a good laugh and definitely worth jotting down.

Spring

I can count the number of times Miles has fallen asleep in the car. For whatever reason, the kid does not sleep in the car unless he is beyond wiped out, and even then, sometimes he still won't fall asleep. Anyway, about a week ago, Miles and I had a really busy day, he missed his nap, and we had about a 25 minute car ride home. Remarkably, he fell asleep-- around 10 or 15 minutes into the drive. When we got to our town I decided to drive around a bit so he could sleep a little longer. So we're drivin' along, drivin' along (you know it don't you? Tommy Boy.), and I turn the corner to this gigantic bunch of yellowest blossoms I ever saw. Then I decided to take pictures of all the pretty spring blossoms in our town. Enjoy.

P.S. The arrival of spring (more or less) has brought me to a realization. I am a Californian. Great realization, right? Just kidding, that's not the realization. Although I was born and raised in the flaming hot summers of the desert of Southern California, I think just about every bit of Californian has left my blood. I'd rather be cold than hot any day, and I was sweating in 70 degrees a few days back. I guess 5 years in Rexburg, a sweltering, bloody hot summer in Dallas while pregnant, and another year and a half in the Pacific Northwest can really do it to ya. Make you hate the heat, that is, and not mind the cold so much. Stuff happens.

The best parenting advice I ever got

Here's the dealio:

I've mentioned before that I watch my sister's kids every Monday, all day long. I despise Mondays for one primary reason: I have to get up early. That's right, 6:45AM. Too early (I'm a loser, blah blah blah-- I know. But someday, I'll have to teach early morning seminary for 10 years and then I'll be glad I never set an alarm and slept in all these days. Just you watch.). I've also mentioned before that I am a pathetic morning/lack of or "inadequate" sleep person. So, every Monday, I wake up on the wrong side of the bed to the wrong sound of my alarm. Starts the day out just right.

Recently, on a Monday, I was implementing my promised punishment for the 2 year old crapping his pants. I have a very strict no-crapping-the-pants-when-Ashley-babysits rule. Every Monday, the two year old and I have a conversation that goes a little something like this:

Me: You MUST tell me when you have to go poop today.
2yr old: OK.
Me: You promise?
2 yr old: nods head.
Me: Cross your heart?
2 yr old: Nod.
Me: Hope to die?
2 yr old: Nod.
Me: Stick a thousand needles in your eye?
2 yr old: OK.
Me: If you don't tell me, and you poop in your pull-up, you're going to be in big trouble. You have to wear your pull-up on your head (a clean one, of course-- I'm not that evil) and clean up all the toys.
2yr old: Tries to hold in a smile and commits.

Two year old never tells me when he has to poop. I either catch him or just make him sit on the toilet. We have a pretty good success rate after lunch. Indeed, success on this Monday too-- right after lunch as scheduled.

Then... then, after his nap, two year old comes out and what has he done? That's right, crapped his pants. So we take care of it and then I tell him, "OK, time to put a pull-up on your head and clean up all the toys." Even though he thinks it's funny to have to wear a pull-up on your head, he's determined to be mad and throws a fit. During his fit, older siblings come home and rush to his rescue: "What's wrong? Are you OK? Can I have a hug?" Two year old storms off and closes himself in his room. Ten year old brother follows and lovingly knocks on his door, "Can I come in? Are you OK?" A few minutes later, ten year old and no longer flipping out two year old come out. And, here's the punch line-- the best parenting advice I ever got-- ten year old says,

"If you're just nice to him, he'll stop crying."

Duh.

Offended

This nephew of mine called me a "swimming pool head" the other day. Rude.

Yeah

Miles figured out how to say a real big word. All you have to do is ask him a question to get him to say it. Enjoy.

Yum!

Some good ones

By Jack Handey

“I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're having a good idea but it's just eggs hatching.”

“I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people.”

“The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why I didn't get more meat, I'll just say, 'Oh, you mean this?' and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where I've hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?”

“If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in the mirror, because I bet that's what REALLY throws you into a panic.”

“To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, 'Hey, can you give me a hand?' you can say, 'Sorry, got these sacks.'"

"I think a good product would be 'Baby Duck Hat.' It's a fake baby duck, which you strap on top of your head. Then you go swimming underwater until you find a mommy duck and her babies, and you join them. Then, all of a sudden, you stand up out of the water and roar like Godzilla. Man, those ducks really take off! Also, Baby Duck Hat is good for parties."

"Better not take a dog on the space shuttle, because if he sticks his head out when you're coming home his face might burn up."

Poor Miles

This sweet little face...

...got a little sad.

And that little round forehead got a little rounder.

Nothing that a wooden spoon and some cups can't heal.

Dear Mom and Pops

Thanks for the package of Easter goodies, Mom and Pops! We are putting everything to good use. Take a looksie.

Miles is the master of puzzles. They are way up there on the favorite toy list and he can do them all-- shapes, colors, numbers, the alphabet-- it's loads of fun.

He also really loves these blocks that a very generous secret Santa gave us.

How delighted he was to put all his favorite things to a new use.

Mask on floor...

Mask as a new puzzle. I found the mask like this a couple times throughout the day. Little smarty pants.

Choo Choo

Trains are used for standing... of course.