Latest and greatest accomplishments....

Here's what the little guy's been up to lately...

Singing:  He sings A-G, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Baby Bumblebee & Baa Baa Black Sheep

Counting:  He can count from one to ten.

Dressing himself:  "I do it!  I do it!" is commonly heard in our house.  He can get on mittens, hats, and shoes but is still working on getting on his shirts and pants.  He likes to put his shirts on his legs.  Then he tries to walk and falls over.

Grocery Shopping:  Now that he knows the names of everything, grocery shopping is lots of fun.   As we go down each aisle he's leaning out of the cart shouting: Cherrios! Chips! Cookies!!!!

Crazy things he says/does:

• Calls the dogs Fuffy & Fike.  At first he thought all dogs were called Fuffy, but he's now realized Spike has a name too.
• One morning he was watching me make the bed and said, "Mommy's making the bed for Fike."  Every morning I make the bed and Spike comes along, digs through the covers, and makes himself comfortable. 
• Says bye bye to the tools and the snow blower in the garage when we leave.
• He imagines his toy lawn mower is a snow blower, but it's only a snow blower when he turns it upside down.
• He acts like our little enforcer when the dogs get rowdy.  "Hush doggies!!"  And, when they won't come inside he forcefully yells, "Now!" and pats his leg.   
• He likes to exercise.  He'll do sits ups and say 'cise, cise."

School:  He's adjusting to school.  We have good mornings and bad mornings.  We went through a week where he threw fits when I was getting him ready.  I'd lug him into school without shoes or a hat, because he kept throwing them across the room.  He's always happy to see me in the afternoon and gives me a hug.  Then, he dashes for the door.  We've had a couple of "incident reports."  The first one he fell into a table and cut his lip.  The second he was hit in the head with a puzzle.

The joys of toddlerhood

Sunday, I thought we had successfully worn Huxley out for his nap.  We ate lunch at his favorite restaurant, Red Robin.  He drank chocolate milk and ate fry fries. Afterwards, we romped through the snow and visited the doggie store while Daddy shopped.  Huxley and I went through our normal nap-time routine.  We read books and then snuggled. I left his room, turned on the baby monitor, and started some homework.  He was happily chatting for several minutes, and then I heard a scream, like he had pinched his finger, stubbed his toe, or maybe fell.  I never found out why he was crying.

I ran to his room, and as I got close, I noticed it smelled really bad.  I figured he had pooped, and I would change his diaper and plop him back in bed. As I opened the door, I see several wet spots on the floor.  Then a poopie diaper resting atop his dresser caught my eye.  For a moment, I'm shocked and horrified.  I look over towards Huxley, and he's diaperless, pants at his knees, and still peeing on the floor.  

I don't know how I'll ever potty train him if he really pees that much.  

Cookie Decorating

Huxley's school had a cookie decorating activity for the kids at Paradise Bakery Cafe last night.  The kiddos were treated to a free kids meal when they purchased a cookie to decorate.  Huxley wasn't interested in the kids meal, just the cookie of course.   Instead of sitting down and putting the sprinkles on his cookie, he picked out his heart shaped sprinkles, and began eating them immediately.  Once he noticed the icing, it was everywhere - in his hair, up his nose, in his ears.  He hardly bothered to put the icing on the cookie, but used the knife as a spoon.  Sometimes he even put the icing container up to his mouth and licked directly from the container.  He went straight into the bathtub when we got home.  It was certainly a fun evening for Master Huxley.  He's got a big sweet tooth just like mama.

Family Pictures

My cousins and siblings had a group picture of the great grandkids taken at the Purdue Union last October.  There are 16 great grandkids, with four more on the way.   I've posted some photos from this in our photo gallery.  Unfortunately, Huxley didn't smile in any of the photos.  He had just woke from a short nap and wasn't pleased.  He refused to get his picture taken unless his cousin Austin was holding him.  It certainly was difficult to get the little ones to cooperate, but the photographer managed to get several good photos.

The Tiguan

On a somewhat lighter note, we had quite an adventure getting home yesterday.  We were attending Grandpa's funeral services in Lafayette when snow started falling.  As we drove south on I65, conditions worsened quickly until we were stopped. A car in front of us had slid off the highway and emergency crews attempting to reach the vehicle caused traffic to slow down considerably.   Not long after we stopped, we were struck by another car.  The Tiguan was not drivable, so we were stranded alongside the highway for over an hour.

Did I mention Huxley was with us?  He did fine and was not injured in the accident.  But, a two year old can't be contained in an unmoving vehicle very long.  After exhausting all toys, food, water, and games, he was irritated and on the verge of exploding.  Then, Aunt Carrie (my-sister-in-law) saved us.  I clapped and cheered when I saw her car drive in front of us.  I think I was the only one.  Huxley might have joined me.

She drove us to Sheridan where we did another vehicle switch, and Jason's mom and step-dad drove us the rest of the way.  It took us four hours to get home from Lafayette.  We were very glad to be home last night after our long adventure.

Great Grandpa-Brown

I'm sad to say my Grandpa Brown passed away last Monday. Before he left us, all of his grandchildren gathered at the hospital to say goodbye. It was poetic that in his final moments he was surrounded by the family he created. He is at peace now and being reunited with his wife, son, and all others. He will be missed.

Sock Hands

I told Huxley to put his socks on, and the picture below is  his version of getting his socks on.  He's been interested in putting on his clothing lately and is able to put his socks and shoes on his feet.  He can even get a shirt on his head, but he prefers to wear his shirts on his legs.  He'll put a leg in each sleeve and then try walking around.  He inevitably falls and gets mad.