everyday things

Today is a winter day with some snow on the ground, but we can see a lot of grass showing through. We woke up around 6:30 a.m. (well, Scott woke up earlier to the sound of his alarm) to the sound of trucks arriving on our street to start the day of building not just one, but two houses! There have been many dump trucks along to unload dirt all around the foundations. They are actually putting together the house on the corner -- it's like the rooms are pre-fabricated and are put on like blocks. I saw the kitchen complete with island and cabinets go in, then the front of the house with the stairs going up. Now they are putting the second block on the upstairs. It's interesting! 

I'm surprised Wren is sleeping through this for his nap today. Yesterday Wren didn't end up falling asleep for his nap, and I thought it could have been because of the construction noise, so today I tried putting him down in a room on the back of the house in the pack 'n play with a fan on for white noise, but that didn't work. I thought he was going to sleep there because he kept doing the sleep sign as I put the pack 'n play together and was trying to climb in before I was even ready! But when it became apparent I was actually going to leave him there to sleep and take his nap, he was not happy! But he went right to sleep in his crib, sweet boy. Now it's two hours later and I'm starting to hear some sounds of waking.

Scott went this morning to work in his office for a few hours before teaching his two classes. This semester he is teaching on Tuesday and Thursday and is teaching History of the English Language, and also a course he created called the Northern World. Maybe one day he will log in and write here, telling you a couple of interesting facts about his life! :)

This morning Wren and I went to the library for a program called Toddler Learning Center, which runs once a week for five weeks. We play with about ten other toddlers and parents in a room with lots of fun toys and then clean up and sit in a circle with dixie cups of Cheerios and water for a snack while listening to the librarian read a short story and we do a short song together, like the Itsy Bitsy Spider. This was our second week and it was fun! Wren and I got there a little bit early so we could check out some books first. Wren did a good job both weeks playing and having fun. He's tired by the end of it and sits nicely on my lap, enjoying his snack. During the program, Wren likes to climb on a small slide thing and push a little stroller around and sit at the little picnic table they have. He also likes to point out the CD player and the "Dee Dees" (CDs) and listen to music. His friends Xavier, Henry, Sophia, and Jeffrey are also in the group, so it's nice for us mommies to get to hang out too.

Wren was pushing other kids for a little while, but it seems like that is getting better. He didn't push at all last week, and today he pushed a couple of times, but only when another friend got right up on him in his way (instead of running over and pushing as hard as he could, which is what he was doing before). 

At home, Wren's favorite things to do have been pushing his play vacuum cleaner, giving his baby doll a "drink" and having us put on his little doll hat, finding hats of his own to put on himself and his stuffed animals, asking for snacks at the pantry (he likes raisins, Kashi heart to heart cereal, goldfish, craisins, um... cookies of course, and anything else he can get his hands on!), looking at lights (especially our new lamp in the family room which we bought yesterday), playing with a little play veterinarian kit -- a carrier with a dog and some other things inside. 

There is a stethoscope that Wren likes to take out and he sits up on our comfy chair in the family room and has me get right in front of him and we put it on him and he holds it to his chest and I say "thump thump, thump thump, thump thump" and he gets a sweet smile. It's really cute! And he's getting into putting some things away -- yesterday he put all the objects back into the carrier and put the carrier in the cabinet before we went upstairs to take a nap. Then he noticed the little can of dog food still on the floor and said, "uh oh!" and took out the carrier and put it back in... but then didn't want to put it away after all... oh well! 

Wren also likes to have his hands free of mess while he's eating, so if he gets stuff on them we wipe it off. Wren likes to get the dishrag or napkin from us and "clean" the table in front of him and down below his booster seat on the chair.

He's still been into books and it's so sweet when he picks out a book to read with me or Daddy and backs up until he hits our legs then sits on our laps on the floor. It's a nice time to snuggle, which Wren doesn't ordinarily do. 

It's been tough changing Wren's diaper lately. He just doesn't want to lay there. When Wren is frustrated, he pushes at our face and pulls my hair or throws toys or food and it's not nice. He has had a couple of "time-outs" for throwing larger items (laundry basket, diaper box) over the banister upstairs. 

Tonight we're supposed to get a few inches of snow mixed with ice and sleet, so we'll see how that actually turns out. Some days lately have been really really cold! 

I went ice skating the other night with two friends, which was really fun! I've been taking pilates at the YMCA, but haven't been getting there at other times to work out as much as I would like to. I've been reading a little bit more lately -- I read the Twilight books, which were fun! I also just read the Crosswicks Journals by Madeleine L'Engle, who is the author of A Wrinkle in Time (and LOTS of other books). I'm looking forward to reading President Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father.

We're still getting a share from a local farm; we signed up for the winter share and we're glad we did. We split a box with another family every two weeks (it's every week in the summer) and today in our box we'll have potatoes, carrots, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, cabbage, onions, celeriac, rosemary, chervil, and salad greens. It is interesting to find recipes and ways to use the different veggies! We have two cookbooks that are good for using with local veggies: Simply in Season and From Asparagus to Zucchini. We also will get eggs, grapefruit, and mushrooms today. Wow!

Time to change the laundry and play with Wren this afternoon. Scott's coming home at 5 today instead of his usual 4. I guess I'll start thinking about dinner soon!

Love,

Emily