Sing Song...

Wes is now singing! Out of the blue.

Yesterday Neil said Wes saw a picture Neil had drawn of Allie and said Spider! (heh) Then he just lit into "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." The whole thing. News to us that he knew this one!

He sang it for me when I got home. Every time he sang, he got a bit bolder, louder, more confident. Finally when we were putting on his PJs, he belted it out and even added a little sing-song tone to his voice. After two rounds of Spider, we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (the song that caused the tears last weekend), the Good Morning Song (a preschool song that Neil and I don't know), and Max and Ruby. Then he started requesting, "Cars song! Cars song! Drive!" I asked, "Life is a Highway?" and got a "YES!" So we sang Life is a Highway from the movie Cars about three times before bed, too.

I will be visiting Itunes later today to download some of these songs for him! I only know one line from Life is a Highway and it's getting a little old. :)

Aldersgate Preschool Dedication...and the saddest little face ever.

You just have to love this picture of Wes.

His preschool dedication was Sunday at Aldersgate Methodist, and the children of the preschool sang songs in front of the whole congregation.  This kind of stuff makes my heart palpitate, and I'm 30.  So I had no idea what to expect from a slightly shy two-year-old that's just like me.

We sat down at church and Wes was a little wiggly, but good.  I loved seeing him get excited to see his friends and wave.  The threes class sang first and did a great job.  They stepped aside and the twos class was called up.  I watched in shock as Wes climbed down from the pew and walked up to the front of the church all by himself (I was sure I would have to take him up there).  All the little boys went up and took their places at the church - they certainly had practiced.  When they started Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the boy beside Wes belted it out in a scream...and that's when Wes lost it.  His face turned all red, the lower lip puckered out, and he did his silent cry....the one that means, "Hey.  I'm really upset here."'

Thankfully, the lovely Ms Julie swept him right up in her arms and he made it through the rest of the song and the next one.  I met him at the back of the aisle when it was over, his face streaked with tears, and swept him up in a big hug.  I told him how proud I was of him, just for making it up to the front of the church.  And I really meant it.

-Kristina

Cooking...

Wes loves cooking these days.  All I have to do is ask if he wants to help in the kitchen, and he comes running.  He'll yell over his shoulder, "Daddy, get chair?"  Neil will get him a chair and he stands with me and helps put in a pinch of salt, spices, or a can of tomatoes.  He loves to stir when everything is in the pot. And if you give him a task, he'll take it very seriously and do it well - whether it be washing cherry tomatoes or handing them to me, one by one, so I can chop them in half.

The chair one morning while we made a crockpot meal:

Adding some spices.

Stir!

The happy chef!

Our Nashville Visit.

We had such a fun time in Nashville for a long weekend (Thursday evening until Monday afternoon!). Wes is still an incredible traveler. On the plane ride over, I was clutching Neil's hand and doing a little deep breathing, and Wes was just laid back looking out the window. The rest of the weekend was great. Wes continued to prove that he is the sweetest boy alive. He took right to his other grandparents, and started calling them "Bapa" (Neil called his grandpa Bompa and this is Wes' version) and "Marme" (Bapa, play trucks, too? was heard many times over the course of the weekend.)

And Wes LOVES his cousin Diem. His first word every morning was, "Diem." We heard a lot of "Diem, sit here. Play trucks." Of course, Diem just wanted to take the trucks and run, and he didn't even mind that too much. There were lots of hugs and kisses, and even more chasing and laughing. We laughed about how much fun they are (and how tired we were) and how quiet it used to be in the house.

The plane ride was so much fun.  Wes is the BEST 2 year old flyer in the world.  "Mommy, I like airplanes!!!"

We got right to playing when we got there.

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The park was fun...

We also ate a LOT (this is 9 layer dip...)

Wes got his very own pumpkin.  

We played some more (Bompa can make these cups spin!!)

Bompa loves to carry sticks to the park, too!

We tried to take a picture of the two cousins but it didn't quite work out.

The Nashville airport has a great playground!

We can't wait to go back to Nashville and visit at Christmas!!!

Halloween '09

So much fun this weekend on Halloween! Last year, Wes was sick as a dog and we ended up having to cancel our plans. This year, he announced that he would like to be a fireman, so that's what we did.

We were in Salisbury on Halloween, so we dressed up and went uptown to trick-or-treat with the downtown merchants. I think Wes enjoyed looking at the kids in costume, but wasn't too sure about going up to people for candy. When we got home we trick-or-treated with neighbors and then called it a night.

Wes looked so adorable in his fireman costume (mom cleverly bought a fireman raincoat and rain boots so they could be worn again).





He learned that he likes suckers.



And was very excited with all the CANDY!!