Snow Week

Winter arrived in Seattle last week leaving us with six-seven inches of snow and ice.  It was a rare snow event for Seattle and probably the only snow we'll see this year. We live on a hill, so Huxley and the neighborhood kids went sledding down the street.  He sounded like he was on a roller coaster.  To maximize the experience, the older kids packed snow into a ramp for sleds to go flying over on the way down. 

Snow in Seattle means the city shuts down no matter how little or much it receives.  Busses switched to snow routes and Seattle Public Schools cancelled classes every day last week. State troopers responded to 553 car crashes in and around Seattle when it first started.  Seattlites get a bad rap for not knowing how to drive in snow, but considering the hilly terrain and numerous bridges, it's not surprising drivers don't do well. The one day I managed to get out of the neighborhood, I noticed cars sideways in the road and stuck into the rear or side of parked cars. Others were just stuck in deep snow on the side of a hill.

Since the city doesn't plow residential streets, we were homebound until the snow melted.  Huxley didn't mind.  When he wasn't sledding, he was having snow ball fights with us in the back yard or taking a winter walk to Matthews Beach Park.

One week of snow was enough to satisfy us.  Huxley is eager to get to the beach and look for starfish and crabs. See you next year snow.

Huxley at Four

"I don't need to hold your hand now, Mommy.  I'm a grown-up," Huxley says while walking across the street.  I love the confidence his birthday gave him, but I do insist on holding his hand. 

Huxley is a delightful child.  He can have extreme mood swings, but most of the time, he's the life of the party.  If I let him, he'd dance on our kitchen table. 

 

He loves airplanes, super heroes, play doh, making cookies with Mommy, weekly trips to the comic book store with  Daddy, and fixing anything that looks remotely broken.  And, if it's not broken, he'll fix that too. 

He's shy for a minute, and then his brain opens revealing everything inside.  He'll tell you how he lost a raggy on an airplane two years ago when he moved to Seattle, how pumpkins rot, how the squirrels took the apples in our backyard, and his address.  But, he'll say it so fast, you won't understand a word of it.  As Thadd noted on our visit: "Everytime I see Huxley, he talks too much." 

He loves to pretend and most days lives in a different universe.  The couch cushions are ripped apart daily and turned into airplanes, boats, bat caves, space shuttles, lunar rovers, and pirate ships. When he's wearing clothes, it's normally one of his costumes or at least a cape.  He's never Huxley, but make sure you get his name right. 

We are excited to see what adventures year four brings.  No doubt, many more memories and a lot of fun
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Christmas in Indiana

It's 4:30, pitch black outside, and raining. I must be back in Seattle. We enjoyed our trip to Indiana and wish we could have stayed longer. I prefer snow to the ongoing Seattle drizzle.

It was a super hero Christmas for Huxley with Captain America pajamas worn every night of our visit, super hero figures, and super hero books. Huxley received a Spider-Man mask for his birthday and has decided Spider-Man is his favorite super-hero. Tomorrow, it will be Green Lantern, and the day after that it will be Hotman, more commonly known as Hawkman.

Christmas morning started at his cousins' house. Thankfully, they let us sleep until 8. We arrived late Christmas Eve. The only time Huxley slept on the airplane was after landing in Indianapolis, allowing him a one minute nap. When he saw his sleeping quarters, he got his second wind as he contemplated the possibilities of a bunk bed and an air mattress.

Grandma Nancy's basement was an arsenal and heaven for a little boy.  Ten nerf guns and one-hundred bullets.  Everyone got shot in the face at least once.

When it started snowing, I knew our trip was complete.  Huxley helped Grandpa shovel his driveway.  When that got old. He started throwing snowballs at Grandpa.  That's what you do with snow, right? Throw it at people?  Maybe if you're four.  

The final stop on our tour was Aunt Kellie's horse farm where Huxley got to ride Foxy.  I think he preferred galloping around the horse stalls to actually riding a horse.  I'll post YouTube videos as soon as I can remember the password.  

Huxley had a blast visiting his family and can't wait for everyone to come see us.  

Our busy elf

Huxley decided to liven up the bottom of the tree with some presents of his own.  We sent some presents to Indiana and left some here in a secret location, so that our very eager almost-four-year-old won't open them early.

Huxley used construction paper for wrapping paper and paper towel for bows.  Target receipts and a bread coupon are the surprises.  Huxley  expects Santa will pick up his gifts and give them to good boys and girls.  

Huxley has made gifts for his grandparents and is excited to give them, but don't be surprised if he tells you what is inside before you open the gift.  

Fun in the leaves

It was a chilly 32 degrees in Seattle this morning. Our house smelled like we had a fire going even though we didn't. The dogs came inside from their two-minute morning potty break smelling like a campfire. I think our neighbors tolerate the cold as well as Buffy. She's normally content to take her time outside, smell everything she can, and waddle back up the stairs when she's done. But, when it's cold, she runs up the stairs. She probably trips over the first couple steps as she's not used to running. When she makes it to the door she gives out these indignant barks and tries to pretend she's been waiting patiently.

Despite the cold, today was a perfect day to rake leaves. By perfect, I mean, it wasn't raining. And, we have a backyard with leaves to rake! We piled the leaves in front of his slide so he could crash into them, which he did, and then he threw them at us. There was a heavy frost on the ground, so the leaves kind of hurt when they were thrown at our faces.

Even with Huxley helping, we didn't make much progress. The yard looks the same as it did before we tried to rake. Hopefully Seattle will surprise us with another sunny day.

A Super Hero Halloween

Huxley's first words to me this morning were: "Mommy, I want you to wear your Halloween costume!" Huxley's been wearing his Halloween costume for a month and doesn't plan on stopping now that Halloween is over. Mommy, on the other hand, will reserve the Wonder Woman costume for October 31st.

The title to this post should be, "When mom and dad were cool." I don't think Huxley will be begging us to dress up when he is nine. If we do, he will probably hide in his room until we remove our costumes.

Halloween was a lot of fun. We indulged in Huxley's super hero obsession by donning outfits of our own. Huxley was Robin. Jason was Batman, and I was Wonder Woman.

We started a countdown to Halloween at the beginning of October, and it was hard to wait. As Huxley would say in a whiney/constipated voice, "I'm trying so hard to be patient." He was well rewarded. Lollipops were his favorite.

We began trick-or-treating at Daddy's office. Some employees open their cubicles to offer candy. The cubicles that didn't have candy had beer, but I don't think they wanted to share. Walking through Amazon was like looking at our house after a gaming party - empty beer bottles everywhere.
After filling his orange jack-o-lantern, Huxley went back to Daddy's office to watch a friend of ours make balloon animals. Huxley requested a spider and batman. Mommy even got a Wonder Woman crown.

Then we took Daddy home, so we could start the real trick-or-treating, which lasted 20 minutes before our little super hero got tired and weighed down with candy.

To see more of Huxley's Halloween adventure, check out my photo gallery.

The Sweetness of a Three-Year-Old

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated our blog. Other things always seem to win my attention, like sleep and making sure everyone has clean clothes.

A few weeks ago, Jason went to West Virginia to see some friends. This is the first time he has been away in over a year. Huxley was confused and sad. I'm reminded of how differently time worked when I was a kid. A five day trip must have felt like five months. Every two minutes Huxley would ask when Daddy was returning. I'd repeat what I said the last time he asked, Wednesday. Then we'd have a discussion about when exactly Wednesday is. I'm relieved that my repetitions were not in vain. He can now recite the days of the week.

After droping him off at preschool Wednesday morning and returning home, I see Jason's face has been stuck to the refrigerator and a picture of Huxley playing in a ball pit has been tossed on the floor. When I picked Huxley up later that morning, I asked him why he did that. He said it was because he missed Daddy.

On days filled with whines and sometimes angry words, it's important to remember what a sweet loving boy he is.

His latest trick is asking what time it is.

Huxley: "What time is it?"

Me: "12:30."

Huxley: "Now what time is it?"

Me: "Still 12:30."

Huxley: "Now what time is it?"

Me: "12:31. How much longer is this going to go on?"