Berry Picking

Wes refuses to eat berries.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries...won't even try them.  I asked him what he had for snack the other day at school, and he said, "Chex and Blueberries."  I said, "Oh!  Did you eat blueberries?"  Wes:  "No, I had raisins.  I roll my blueberries on the table to Elliott."  Heh.  And sorry, Ms. Julie.

So, I didn't know how berry picking would go over.  Fortunately it was a big hit.  It seems that while eating strawberries is out of the question, traipsing around in mud and digging through wet and dirty plants to pick them was right up his alley.

We met a few friends out at the berry patch as well, and I'm excited to be able to do some of these outings during the week and make some new friends!

Rain, Rain Go Away

My first day at the "new job" started early - 5:50 a.m.  Someone thought we should go ahead and get up (hint:  it wasn't me).

The day was great.  We visited the library and the indoor playground at the mall, mainly because outside it looked like this:

A torrential downpour all day long.  Driving rain.  The kind of rain that makes you want to put your feet up and put on a Lifetime movie.

Thankfully, Wes had a long afternoon nap that allowed me to recharge as well.  (Rain makes kids cranky.  Getting up before 6 makes kids and adults cranky, too).

Luckily after his nap, the rain slowed down enough for us to put on rain boots and a rain coat and go stomp in some puddles:

We ran into our friends Sara and Megan (2 yrs) and they came over for some inside play.

The best part of the day was when daddy got home and we got to play on the porch, with the driving rain all around us:

Aaaahhhh...heaven.  But now, I'm going to bed.

~Kristina

Our Big Boy.

Everyone that sees Wes lately remarks, "He's not a little boy anymore!"
He is growing up fast these days. The baby fat is gone from his face. His monthly trips to the barber shop for haircuts mean that his hair is now wavy, not curly.  He's tall and thin and talks in full sentences.
We took these pictures this weekend of our big boy:

Catching up...

Wes' blog has really been neglected lately!  Big things are happening in our world:
During the holidays we decided to rent a bigger house while we're saving up to buy a place.  We checked out a new place on Christmas eve, and by the Monday after Christmas we had been approved with a move-in date of Jan 16th.  So we've been busy.  Packing, moving, setting up everything.  We moved Saturday and we are absolutely loving the place so far.  We have four bedrooms, a playroom, screened in porch, and a Den and living room.  Wes can run circles around the house (and he has been!). Also of note - Neil started his new job today.  Hooray!  He is in Richmond at orientation until Thursday.
I still need to catch up on Christmas posts, but until then, here's a picture of Wes this morning.  I was taking pictures of the place to send to Neil's parents, and he wanted to get in one.  Notice the Crocs and fireman hat - his favorite attire...so glad he's getting opinions about what he wants to wear! :)

~Tina

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. :)

"Mommy, reach. Too high."

Wes' language development really took off at the beach. I don't know if it was the fact that he was surrounded by family chatting him up all day, the new experiences, or if it was just time, but something clicked in his head. He's now asking for things in sentences and it's so weird. Yesterday he wanted a cookie for breakfast (of course). He went to the pantry, tried to reach it (they're on the top shelf for this very reason), couldn't, then turned to me and said, "Mommy, reach! Too high." I laughed and said, "No cookies for breakfast, Wes." (We did make a deal for a cookie later in the afternoon in exchange for him eating two good meals.) Anytime you try to reason with him now, he thinks about your offer and then says, "Um.....Deal."

This morning instead of the usual, "momaxruby" when Max and Ruby went off, he said, "Watch. More. Max Ruby." (How can you argue with that?) I'm loving this phase and watching him learn more and more by the day...and being able to reason with him is an added bonus.

A beach post will follow soon...I left the photos on my mom's computer, so I have to wait for this weekend when she returns!

A new pair of shoes.

Wes' feet have really grown - so much that his brown Chuck Taylors (my favorite!) were getting a little hard to put on. Luckily, Grandaddy came to the rescue and ordered these Chuck Taylors in a size six. They're really cool because they're blue with Carolina blue straps. Wes loves them.

I took these photos during Max and Ruby, which is why Wes seems to be in a trance, staring at the TV.