Wyatt Reed Should Have Been Owen Christopher...

Then his initials would have been O.C.D.

I have mentioned Wyatt's OCD tendencies in the past. I am not a fancy schmancy blogger so I don't know how to link you to the original post from 2009 but here is the picture.



At 3, he took it upon himself to organize the juice box drawer.

So yesterday I was up in Wy's room going through all the bins of Wyatt's hand me downs for Chase.



Wyatt came up to see what I was doing and decided to busy himself in his closet.

At some point Wy started begging me to look at his closet. He was so proud of himself because he had "organized it."

He had put all the long sleeved shirts in the back, then put the sweaters together, then he put church clothes/polos together, and then the short sleeved t-shirts together.



He explained each section to me and then looked at me and said "And I want to keep it this way." AKA - don't be slinging my clothes in here and messin up my system.

I hear you loud and clear Buddy.

Of course, part of me is thrilled he likes order.

Like me.

Here is J's side of the closet.



I organize his t-shirts by color:

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Brown, Gray, Black, White.

Because I love him like that.

Wyatt also has issues with his stuffed animals that he sleeps with - all 6 of them.

Each night he sleeps smack dab in the middle of them.

And they must all be present and always be in this order. I realized early on it was just easier for me to learn the names and the order than to try to ignore it and listen to his protests.

So here they are, from left to right:

Mr. Raccoon, Silly Billy, Monkey, Jack, Donald Duck, and David Aaron.



Mr. Raccoon was made by Wyatt's GREAT-GREAT Grandmother for Jeremy when he was little.

Silly Billy is also from Jeremy's childhood.

Monkey came from our attempt at Build-A-Bear when Wyatt didn't give a flip about any of it. He didn't even think enough of him to give him a proper name - he is just Monkey.

Jack has been his lovey from the beginning. I have pictures on the wall of Wy with Jack when he was just 6 months old. Jack is ole numero uno among the stuffed.

Donald Duck was his souvenir from Disney.

And David Aaron is named after his cousin and was a bear he got as a baby.

I am not sure of the criteria a stuffed one has to meet in order to make it to his bed but I'd say auditions are closed. I've got a new closet system to memorize.

Chase is 14 Months!

Happy 14 months Chase!



Here you are one year ago at 2 months! You look so little and have changed so much!



We had to skip last month's post because I was super sick. In fact, I don't even think I saw you on the day you turned 13 months. So I am going to post every other month until you are 2 and then see from there.

Speaking of being sick, you finally had your first bout of sickness last month too. You had some type of virus that turned into an infection which required an antibiotic. You were snotty and grumpy for 2 weeks! I know I had it coming but still - it was a miserable time for both of us.



So, it has been 2 months since the last post. Surely you must be walking by now. NO?!?!? Well, perhaps that will be your big milestone for this month. I know your Type A mama is certainly hoping so. You have started walking behind your Toy Story push car which is definitely progress.



You are weighing in at 22.5 pounds and are about 30 inches in length.

You are wearing size 18 - 24 months in clothes, wear a size 4 diaper, and have 6 teeth.

You are totally on table food now. You LOVE a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - thank goodness. That is easy peasy for me and I know it fills your tummy up. Right now you aren't that picky at all. You LOVE sweets - especially anything made by Little Debbie!

I also introduced you to Cheetos Puffs.



You literally start smacking your lips when you see the bag.

But you also like grapes, bananas, yogurt, green beans, broccoli, potatoes, and other things that have nutritional value.

The only down side to you feeding yourself is that there are days that you need a bath after every meal.



You tend to get it all over you and I prefer to rinse you in the tub versus trying to clean you off with wipes.

You can say Mama and Dada. You babble all the time to us and to people that you meet. You love to wave hello and bye bye. You still clap when you are happy and like to tap toys together. My parents have some Maracas my dad brought back from Mexico and you could play with those for hours. You love to listen to music and sway back and forth.

Here is your Lovey that you sleep with every day and night.



I am worried you might actually chew his ears off but so far they are hanging on.

As much as you love me, I think you are partial to your Dada. You light up when he comes home. And the word you say the most is Dada. Anytime the door opens, you crane your neck, say Dada? and start heading for the door. I think you two are gonna be tight. Both Dada and I think you look like him. You both have the same expression in this picture!



We love you sweet Chase. Here's to 16 months and being able to post that you can walk!

Mechanical-Botanical

A slew of us (in my family, sometimes it is just easier to refer to them like that) went to the Botanical Gardens on Friday to check out the live animal exhibit and to just enjoy the beautiful day.

I went because my son loves to be with his cousins and I like any excuse to be around other adults.

We had to stop for Wy to get a haircut before meeting up with everyone. Then there was the stop at Starbucks. So towards the end of the drive over I hear an impatient little boy ask "Mama, when are we gonna be at the mechanical garden?"

"Son, there is NO WAY I would be taking you to a place like that! Mechanics - ewww. It's 'Botanical' but don't ask for any further explanation because I obviously didn't pay attention to the life science portion of the class. Something about botany."

So we arrive, meet up and are excited to be outside.




This was Chase's first outing as an aware & awake (almost) toddler. He didn't want to miss a thing.

The bigger kids got to see some interesting animals (reptiles? amphibians? Again with not paying attention) up close and got to touch them which is all any kid wants to do.







I gave Chase a free pass from the stroller to sit in the ball pit...




...until an aggressive she-toddler globbed on to him and he began emitting the distress signal. I may have possibly mumbled a "Watch it sister" at her as I was prying her hands off his arm.

With it only being March, the mechanics at the garden didn't have all the fun water works going in the children's play area. They did have the water rocks and some misters going.

This was Chase's first impression of the water rock.




But I knew if I just left him there long enough he would chill out and enjoy it which he did. He liked playing with the pebbles and smacking the water to make a splash.




I love his expression in this one. It is like he is thinking "Great. There is that pushy broad from the ball pit."




We also checked out a couple of the tree houses that they had leftover from last year's exhibits, the butterfly house (sans butterflies) and the train.

My sweet parents took all the big kids to lunch and I took Chase to their house for his nap.



He didn't even make it out of the parking lot - he was GIVE OUT. :)

Hodge-Podge Post

My little man went to school last week looking like a rock star!

It was crazy hair day at school and he wanted a mohawk and blue hair.




We went to the circus that night with my SIL Erica and her kiddos. He wanted to go with the blue hair but we compromised on just the spiked look.


We had a great time at the circus. We took Wy when he was 3 but he wasn't really old enough to enjoy alot of it. This time he had a perma-grin on his face - of course he was sitting by Carter and Jack so that was alot of it.




My friend Lori and I had taken Morgan and her older sisters to the circus when she was 3 as well. She does not remember going but definitely loved it this time around.




YouYou gave it two thumbs up. I had a great time sitting by her and getting to see her little face light up at all the performers and animals. She takes gymnastics so she was especially wowed by the acrobats.




When we were leaving, Wy wanted to show off his acrobatic skills.




On a totally different note, I wanted to share a great blog that is a joy to read. My friend Paula Claunch, who used to be Paula Wilson, started her blog a few months ago. Her blog posts are totally random and get this - she blogs every day. She doesn't just regurgitate her day to day doings like I do. She will just pick something totally random and blog about it. And she uses pictures - lots of old pictures from trips, college, and when she was a kid. Anyway, I love reading it and thought I would share the address as I think some of you know her too.

www.akajanerandom.blogspot.com/

So That is What He Does All Day

I find joy in the little things. Finding the dishwasher empty when I open it. Realizing I remembered to send all required items with the kiddos to school. Finding money in Jeremy's jeans when I am doing laundry.

And the thing I enjoy everyday?

Looking through Wyatt's school folder when I pick him up.

I know - don't ever let anyone tell you I am hard to please.

It is like a little piece of Christmas everyday.

Why?

Because this is how our conversations about school go:

Me: Hey bud - how was your day?

Wy: Good

Me: What did you do today?

Wy: mmmm...played

Me: Anything else?

Wy: Nope

I mean it is like he is already a teenage boy who doesn't want to talk about it. Narrative is not his thing unless he is trying to tell me some random story about something that happened a long time ago that I never even realized he processed. Yeah, he has that kind of memory but doesn't want to regurgitate his day for me.

So when I get little pieces of his days sent home in his folder, I learn all kinds of things that I would otherwise never know.

Like he has a best friend.




Now I know if a birthday invitation comes home for this boy, Jacob with a B., we better be there.


I also get to see how he has progressed over the year.

Here is an early stick figure drawing he did.

Check out that uni-leg. And no nose or mouth! But an A for effort for sure.




And then they did some type of lesson about drawing people and this was the result.




I love the belly button. And that the arms come out of his head.


It also gives me insight to how he sees his day.

My guess about this assignment is that the teacher asked him to tell her the steps he follows in the morning. A lesson in First, Next, Then - sequencing I believe it is called.

I have to admit I was a little embarrassed that this is what he listed as numero uno.



He should have come up with something more meaningful like milking the cows, writing his memoir, or taking groceries to the elderly. What sets him apart by saying he watches TV? Then he illustrates it with a clear pic of him sitting on the couch watching the TV. Drat.

At least the next step is evidence that he is given food for breakfast even though to look at him one could wonder about his accessibility to food.



Again, though, with the honesty. He said "There I am sitting with my Pop Tart." DANG IT. I knew I should have been whipping up eggs, bacon, biscuits, and freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast. Now the teacher knows all our secrets.


I love his final step. I can totally relate.



I would think he would say something like "Then I go to school."

Oh no. Then we get in the car.

And that is the end of the story.

And we stay in the car. And then we do it again that afternoon.

And sometimes I throw in a trip to the grocery which involves getting out and then back in the car.

I think he has a love-hate relationship with the car. I know I do.