Snow Day

 

It snowed in Austin! When we moved here we were told this never happens...

 

It's really not much, but all the schools were cancelled and several roads were closed. Tyler still went to work, but he was one of the few. Just another day in the south :)

18 mos

In December Winston turned 18 mos and he is quite the big boy now. He is running, climbing, kicking, talking, and everything else. I don't think I can begin to cover everything he is up to, but I'll still list a few of the highlights.

We recently bought two of these wing-backs, and this one has become W's chair.

• He loves to kick and is really good at it. He'll line the ball up (and you), dribble it or jog in place for a minute, then kick it perfectly straight with a follow through. No idea where he got his amazing skills from, but he practices 24/7 so I guess we'll be putting him in soccer before long.
• He is talking a lot and says quite a few real words including ball, hot, hello/hi, dada, mama, baby, yes (several variations here), no, oh no, bye, whoa, all done, thank you, Pa, Ben, & Dane (the neighbor boy). I know there are a few others, but I can't think of them all right now. He also does a million animal sounds, my favorites being butterfly, dolphin & donkey.
• His face is extremely expressive, so you always know exactly how he feels about something. He gives stink-eye like no other.
• He is all boy- balls, tools, legos, rocks, sticks, cars, and scooters are his favorites.
• He also loves to read. His current favorite books are There's a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Suess, Peter Pan, Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle, & The Zoo I Drew by Todd H. Doodler.
• He is VERY particular. He always knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it.
• He is also very clean. He frequently picks up his toys and books on his own and whenever he finds trash or crumbs, outside or inside, he says "oh no" and hands it to me to dispose of.
• He is still a pretty picky eater, but has recently started to eat more of a variety. I'm crossing my fingers it sticks :)
• He loves it when Daddy tosses him "high in the sky" and asks for it over and over again.
• He also loves to watch Daddy throw anything else (mostly balls) high.
• At night when we do his bedtime routine, he always asks Daddy for a kiss, then tells him to kiss Mama, and then gets a big smile on his face as he waves goodbye. He is such a sweet boy!
• When he's not really eating we'll ask him to do airplane and he'll do it to himself to take a bite each time.
• He is very proportionate- in the 85 percentile for head size, height & weight.
• He still loves baths; especially bubble baths.
• He is obsessed with putting lotion, shaving cream, chapstick, hand sanitizer, & deoderant on.
• I think his favorite food right now is probably graham crackers.
• He often dances/prances around on his tip-toes when he's really excited or having a lot of fun. We call it his 'happy feet'.
• If he could spend all of his time outside, he would.
• He likes to sing and dance and he loves it when Tyler and I sing "If You're Happy & You Know It" & "Jingle Bells".
• When we give him a bite of something (anything!) he'll often slowly close his eyes while he takes the bite as if he is savoring every moment. It's an eyes rolling back in the head kind of thing.
• He likes to help out around the house; especially emptying the dishwasher and putting clothes in the dryer.
• He started nursery in December and seems to enjoy it and do just fine so far.
• He is still pretty attached to his swaddle- he takes it everywhere, sucks on it and plays with the tags, & can't sleep without it.
• When something doesn't go his way he furrows his brow and smacks his thighs with both hands or stomps his foot.
• When he colors he only wants to use blue and orange.
• He is a sweet, well-behaved little boy and we love him!!

 Always happy with a ball

 

 He learned to blow kisses and I think it is the cutest thing ever :)

We couldn't love him more!

Holiday Re-cap

Sorry for the 2 month hiatus, but I promise it will all be explained shortly. In the meantime I thought I'd better do a quick holiday re-cap before I forget everything. Tyler and I hosted his older sister, Kelly, for Thanksgiving. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and had a pretty quiet meal at home. Kelly was our first visitor to Austin, so we also checked out a few local places we hadn't been throughout the weekend. Those included Lady Bird Lake (very pretty to walk around) and Walton Fancy & Staple (owned by Sandra Bullock). On Saturday we headed down to San Antonio to see the Alamo and Riverwalk--a first for both Tyler and Kelly.

For Christmas this year we flew up to Utah and spent some time with my family as well as with Tyler's mom at her Midway cabin. While we were there Winston got to play in the snow for the first time. He mostly liked walking through it and hearing it crunch beneath his boots, but he also liked throwing a few snowballs. Tyler fit in a day of skiing with some friends, we went to the Timpanogos temple, had lots of good food and sweets, we went sledding twice, and of course celebrated the birth of our Savior. I think Winston's highlight was seeing his Uncle Ben (my 16-year old brother). Winston has been pointing at Ben's picturing and saying his name for a long time, so his was pretty excited to see him and play with him for real. Every morning he woke up and started wandering around the house calling for Ben :) And since we've been home he asks for Ben several times a day.

First day in the snow- we didn't have boots for him yet, so we just tied plastic bags over his shoes.

 

Winston's first bubble bath

 

Ready to fly! Winston was a great traveler on both flights :)

When we came home from Utah we did another mini Christmas here because we hadn't taken a bunch of gifts with us. Winston got a little scooter from Santa and rides it all around the house all the time. He also really likes the blocks, books, and tools he got. Tyler got some new tools as well and he also got a new bike so he can ride to and from work which he is excited about. Tyler gave me some shoes and a necklace, but I mostly got gift cards because it was one of those Christmas' when I just couldn't think of anything I wanted :)

 Santa came!

 

He was so excited about daddy's tools that we got him his own set a few days later.

 

 New bibs & a cheesy smile

 

 New dump truck and blocks

 

 Winston modeling mama's new necklace :)

For New Year's our good friends the Killpack's drove down from Dallas. They brought their dog, Prez, with them and Winston loved playing with the dog... eventually :) It was a quick trip, but we managed to go out for a dinner & a lunch, watch a fireworks show (which Winston did NOT love), play lots of games, and eat Amy's Ice Cream twice. At midnight we all jumped into the new year and popped some poppers, followed by a sparkling cider toast! It was quite the party :) We loved having the Killpack's visit though- there is always lots of god conversation and lots of laughing!

It was a great holiday season and we hope everyone's was just as good!