Ruby

We 'dogsat' our neighbor's dog, Ruby, for a few days a week or so ago. She is possibly the best-behaved dog I've known...probably a pointer/lab mix (they adopted her from a shelter). I think her 'dad' gave her some tough love her first year to train her well, but she is gentle with kids, sleeps next to you all night and doesn't get up until we do (which, granted, is early), she can walk with you off-leash, plays well with other dogs, has energy when it's time for a walk or hike but will lie around when you're hanging out at home. And she is really pretty! Witness Freddy with her, here...he had the greatest time feeding her dog food, one kibble at a time, each day we had her.

Belated Valentine's Day

Since Feb 14th has become such a hallmark holiday anyway, I think it's ok that I'm sending these pictures a week late. They were actually taken ON the 14th, when my friends Julie and Anne Carson and I had an impromptu Valentine's Day gathering that morning. We had great intentions for the boys (all boys - Henry, 2 1/2, Charlie, 2, Freddy, 1, and Will, 3 months) to decorate cutout cookies and make some kind of creative cards for their dads. HA.

What they did, instead, was play with trains the entire time. We managed to slightly distract them (especially sweet tooth Charlie) with cookies that we half-decorated for them with icing...but of course, tearing the sprinkles out of their death grips was no fun, and they lost interest after about 1 1/2 cookies. That only left about 4 dozen undecorated hearts and flowers for us to eat. Oh, and the craft project? Again, HA. We had the supplies, but when we really thought through the idea of 3 toddlers with glue and paint, we wisely decided to let them continue uninterrupted with their trains. Next year, dads - sorry.

All Thomas, All the Time

Once Freddy realizes that his middle name is Thomas, his head might explode. Of course, this is bound to happen well after he's through with his Thomas the Tank Engine fixation.

Somehow we went from no TV to a morning routine chant of "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas" followed by a small meltdown if I don't put a DVD in...sometimes before breakfast. This from a kid who LOVES to eat. Maybe our trip to DC/NJ at the end of March can help wean him off this ridiculous silly train whose stories aren't even all that positive or fun.

But in the meanwhile, I'll try to keep taking pictures of our cuddly little guy snuggled on the couch or in a blanket, watching Thomas. I guess there are worse things, and I don't ALWAYS give in, I promise.

Catching Up...

So, I have NO IDEA how I let an entire week go by without any blog posts. For those of you who are entertained by the photos (like Bill and Jan), I blame Doug and Christine and our friend Josh, our long-weekend visitors. 'Cause they were so much trouble to get ready for and entertain. :)

If you're my sister, you're probably somewhat thankful for the extra room in your inbox. ;) Just kidding, Mary!

So, I have some catching up to do and will bring you all up to speed. But for tonight, here are some photos from Doug and Christine's visit that you might enjoy. Sleep tight!

So Stinkin' Cute

How do you resist a kid like this when he asks you to put Thomas on the TV? Freddy has been interested in imitating and pretending lately. He'll lie on the floor, say "nigh - nigh" and pretend to snore (really just with the "shew" part of the fake snore). Do kids just keep getting more and more fun?

Little Buddy

Our friends and former neighbors Virginia & Chris came over for dinner last weekend with their kids, Emmett (7) and Roxy (3). We had a great time catching up, and Emmett was VERY patient with the little guy. E is becoming quite the reader, so he helped put Freddy to bed with a few books. Roxy is spunky and has a head full of blonde curls. She is ADORABLE. At one point, we were sitting around the table with dessert, and she came up to me and whispered in my ear "can you please stop talking?". I have no idea what I was saying, or why it annoyed her, but it was the cutest thing (and a little embarrassing).

Yum, Rabbit Food...

I thought I needed a red pepper for a recipe the other night, and didn't - so I left the pepper on the counter while I was cooking. Freddy spotted it, and although he had plenty of good toddler food on his plate, he decided that what he really wanted was a raw red pepper. So - fine- go for it, kid. He ate about half of it. I won't tell you what his diaper looked like the next morning.

We had a pretty good weekend. Got a lot accomplished, picked up some things for the house, took Freddy to the pool...and Bill is pretty sure he tore his MCL (knee ligament) skiing on Saturday. That might mean no more Sunday night hockey and we really hope it doesn't mean no ski trip to Romania at the end of March as planned. He's going to have it looked at tomorrow. if that's what it is, there's no surgical 'fix' - he just has to go easy on it and let it heal. Raise your hand if you think it's possible for Billy to go easy on it?

I'm Ready...

For some new snow! Come on!

Long-Haired Freaky Boy

Well, as I've mentioned repeatedly, Freddy really needed a haircut. I meant to post these photos BEFORE the posting with the 'after' photos, but I accidentally hit 'post' before I changed the date. Here you can see the full demonstration of how long it was in the back (that, plus the two people at the museum last weekend who thought he was a girl).

Voila!

I guess we could have gone shorter, but considering that he screamed as if Scott, the hair cutter guy, was actually scalping him, we thought we ought to just make sure we took off enough to avoid my putting in a ponytail this weekend. :)

A Rare Quiet Moment

Freddy quietly reading some kind of adult book with no photos. Bill calls this the Abe Lincoln photo (reading by candlelight).

Yogurt

Freddy got to feed himself some yogurt on Sunday morning. As you can tell, he had a great time giving himself a goatee.

Here are a few photos from our trip to the children's museum last Saturday. You can see that Freddy looks a little stunned in the first few photos...but he had a great time in the end! You'll also see his buddy Henry (who has a new little brother or sister due in a few months) hanging out in the kitchen. :)

The Up and Down Weekend

Well, no new photos today. There are some on the camera, but not yet downloaded, so you'll just have to be ok with a verbal report today....

All in all, I'd say we had a good weekend! The weather was good (blue skies, although the inversion pollution is creeping back in). Bill had a 24-hour bug that kept him on his back for, well, 24 hours. Although I wasn't feeling great early in the weekend, Freddy seems ok - for now. I took F to the children's museum downtown on Saturday, where we met up with some other friends. It was his first time there, and after he got over his initial paralysis brought on by being completely and totally overwhelmed by the amount of fun things to do and the number of kids there, he had a great time for about two hours. I'll upload some photos as soon as I can, although I know they won't capture the insane fun that is the Gateway Museum. I think it's most ideal for kids who are a little bit older (at least 2), but F definitely had fun. They have a membership special going on now, so I went ahead and joined because you make up the membership fee with 5 visits.

I got to hit the gym while Freddy and Bill napped, which is always a happy day.

We had a mellow Sat. movie night with Bill still on the couch, but by Sunday we were all feeling well enough for our regular Sunday ski day. Freddy had a great time at Olivia and Tripp's house - their playroom (courtesy of our friends Michael and Robin) is like a kids' museum all by itself! They have a lot of cool toys, and F was in heaven. Then we stayed there to watch the superbowl. Or, at least, it was on TV and we caught glimpses of the game as we played with the 5 kids who were there. So much for my dreams of watching all the commercials.... Oh, and I discovered that Freddy might be the only kid in the world who really isn't interested in pizza.

I got a nice long conversation in with Mary (sister) while at our friends' house last nightk, which might have been rude, but we haven't talked in so long and I was happy to hear that she and Erik had a rare nice weekend away at a cabin in western Virginia. Big thanks to Mom and Jack (brother) for helping take care of their kids so they could get away on a SERIOUSLY DESERVED break!

All in all, a solid weekend, and everyone is more or less healthy this morning! (knocking on wood right now)

Cuddly!

Freddy has been so cuddly and cute lately, with everybody. He was reaching out for hugs from Uncle Doug and Billy, and although he's also a little more needy for attention, this is the first time he's really actively seeking hugs and kisses. No complaints here!

What to do?

HAPPY FRIDAY!! And yes, that's Uncle Doug in the background.

Big Helper

He really does like the vacuums, sweepers, etc. Too bad he's not good enough that we can just hire him! Notice the awesome partly-unzipped PJs. What a stud.

Beautiful, but Doug is in Bed at 9 pm Tonight....

I think Billy showed Doug the best of the mountain today, but also the hardest...lots of hiking/skinning for some beautiful vistas (but D is clearly beat tonight!!). Doug leaves tomorrow morning, and we sure will miss having him here. I think he's a calming influence. Somehow, since I got back from San Francisco last Friday, it just doesn't feel like we're running around with too many things on our plates and too many places to be. It might also mean that Doug has been a little bored (who knows?), but it's been nice for us!

More Doug!

Yes, Freddy loves Uncle Doug more than mommy or daddy right now. :)

Uncle DOUG!

Freddy's new favorite thing to say might be..."s'Doug" [where's doug]. Or "bye bye, Doug". Or just "Doug". Over and over. I don't know what he's going to do when Doug leaves on Wednesday!

We had a heck of a day. Our 'ski Sunday' babysitter showed up almost on time, and with a quick stop by the hospital for Bill to check on a patient, we got up to Alta at about 11 am. We got 2 runs in, hopped on the lift for a third, and the lift promptly stopped. Of course, when we were loading on, we were smelling diesel fuel, and Bill said "that's not usually a good thing, they must have the generator running." That must have jinxed it, since we got stuck at just about the highest point where there was no chance of jumping off. 50 minutes later, they finally got it going but made everyone get off at the midpoint. I guess the lift was then closed the rest of the day. :( So, while we were on the lift, we got text messages saying they were closing the canyon at 3 pm for avalanche control. Since we only had our sitter until 4, we got moving to hit the road...only to get stuck in such bad traffic that we couldn't get out before the gate came down.

Bill and Doug turned around and went back to the lodge. I walked a little bit to catch up with our friends Michael and Robin (with whom we share the Sunday sitter) so that the three of us would be in the car, in line, ready to rush down when the gate opened. Our sitter was nice enough to stay late, and luckily, we got home around 5:15. Whew! Not a great day. But it did snow like CRAZY, so Doug and Billy will get a good ski day or two in early this week. :)