Frog and Toad

"Mama, tell me again about Frog and Toad on the way to Bethlehem."

Come, Betsy.

My friend Carrie stayed with us today. Daniel heard her call me "Betsy," so he's decided that's what he wants to use today. After Carrie and her boys left, Daniel called for me while he was in his "train."

"Come Betsy. Listen. I need to tell you some important thing. You can ride in this (train). You can come and be attached. You can ride in it ever you want for a long long time. You too big to really get in, but you can ride in it with me for a long, long time. You ready?"

Don't worry 'bout your branches

Here's what Daniel sang all around the house today, "Oh Christmas tree, o Christmas tree, don't worry 'bout your branches."

Daniel talking to himself

Daniel was talking to himself, holding a letter from his Rita, making up a new letter. "Dear Mama, thank you for going on your date so you can play with me and may with me. Talk you later, Daniel."

Sunday 2 am- how many pounds I weigh

I think Daniel may be going through a growth spurt. He is eating a huge amount at meals, and then also having several snacks. Sunday morning he woke up at 2am and said, Eat! Eat please!" He wanted pretzels, so we sat in his bedroom floor and had pretzels and water. While he was eating, he laid over on the floor. I said, "What are you doing?" He said, "Just thinking about how many pounds I weigh. Daniel just growing and growing!"

Hello Kitty

My parents gave me a kids' Hello Kitty birthday card with nail stickers. Daniel was playing with it tonight and decorating a little pumpkin with the stickers. As he played, he decided Hello Kitty had come to our house to play with him. She stayed with us through bath time, pajamas, and going to sleep. He taught her how to do our routine.

When it was time to get in the bathtub, I said, "Tell her you have to wait on the mat for a minute for the water to get warm." (he told her). Then I said, "Okay, let her know it's safe to get in the bathtub." He responded, "She not getting in yet. She have to take off her bow so it not get wet."

Mullanoyah

This may seem a little hard to follow, but here is one of today's conversations. We were playing in the backyard. Daniel had some pieces of bark that he was pretending were helicopters. He was putting them into a flower pot tray that had some rain water in it.

D:Here my helicopters. Floating away like a midsummer night.
B: What? Could you say that again, please?
D: My helicopters. There they floating away like a midsummer night.
B: That is an interesting thing to say. What story is that from?
D: Mullanoyah.
B: Oh, Mullanoyah. What is that story about?
D: Mullanoyah not a story. She the one who wrote it.
B: Oh, Mullanoyah is the author?
D:Yeah.
B: Did she write any other stories we know?
D: No, she in the office.
B: Oh, okay.

Later, when we were reading The Extraordinary Egg for probably the 50th time, I noticed one sentence that said something like, "and a full moon like a midsummer night." The story is by Leo Leonni. One of the characters is Marilyn. So, I said,-

B: Oh, there is "midsummer night." Is Leo Leonni 'mullanoyah?'
D: No.
B: Is Marilyn 'Mullanoyah?'
D: (hesitating and smiling at me really big) nooooo?
B: Okay. Well, I really like this story.

I am curious if Mullanoyah will return. :)

Interesting Solution

My mom gave Daniel a cloth Advent calendar in the shape of a Christmas tree, with numbered pockets for the days (1-24) of December. I told him it was an Advent calendar, to count the number of days until we celebrate Jesus' birthday. I said it has the days of December on it. He's been playing with it, and we've been reading the numbers to him. He's had it for three days or so.

Tonight in the family room after dinner, my mom asked what day of the week Christmas was on. She thought it was Saturday. She asked Joseph if he could look on his phone and tell her. He said yes. Daniel popped up and said, "I'll go get my Christmas tree, then I can tell you." I told him that was a really great idea. His Christmas tree does have the days of Christmas on it, but it doesn't have the days of the week.

Oh!

Twice a year we have Wednesday night church with a sister congregation in Chapel Hill. For this event, there is no nursery childcare. In the middle of the offertory (quiet piano music), Daniel says (in a normal voice) "Oh! I forgot to tell Mr. Craig I was a pink pirate for Halloween!"

Mama's birthday

I asked Daniel how he wanted to celebrate my birthday. Here is his response-
D: Go to Chick-fil-a!!! They have b-i-i-i-g-g-g (showing with his hands) playground. Dan want to sit close to playground (in) case I need to play. If I need to pee-pee.....they have bathroom! It goooood place.

A few weeks ago, he randomly told me he would buy me a Spiderman cake for my birthday.

Emmies

Daniel's favorite candy is emmies (M&M's). I'm not even sure how he knows what they are, but he LOVES them. When he found out that you get candy at Halloween, his first question was, "You might get emmies?"
Even a small amount of candy really influences him, making him super-excited and easily upset, sometimes for a long time. I have found that if I get candy without food coloring and high fructose corn syrup, we usually (not always) have a better time. Also, if he eats it in the morning, that works better than other times of day. We have developed a rule that we do not eat sugary foods at night. But, we can have them after we eat some normal breakfast. He is actually pretty understanding about this. If we have cake at church on Wednesday night, he gets to bring some home and have it after breakfast on Thursday. Since we started talking about Halloween, we reminded him that our family will eat our candy in the mornings.
So, I found some "natural emmies" called Sunspire. We tried them this morning, and they were a hit! I think he actually liked them better because they had lots of pink emmies. It was hard for him when his little bag of emmies was empty, but he created a solution- he decided to pretend that o's cereal were emmies. He did it three different times today. It was funny. He'd hold one up and say, "this emmie blue!" or sometimes "this 'tend emmie pink!"

My pirates- Halloween 2010

Library Halloween Party 2010

Library Halloweeen party was a TOTAL bust in reality- we got there at 7, and they were already finished and cleaned up. One librarian found some candy for Daniel. Daniel thought it was FABULOUS because 1. We were at the library. 2. He got candy. 3. They had spider web decorations. 4. He and Joseph were dressed up as pirates. Applause for Joseph Watson for being the only costumed adult in the whole place.

Daniel started using "I" instead of "Daniel" or "Dan"( 29 months)

I realize that I am supposed to know the age range that children start using the personal pronoun "I." I have known this. I know which book I read it in during graduate school. Doesn't matter because the reason I care right now is because "Dan" is finally using it! He's been using it for about three days. The first time was during a conversation about some horses that when we drive into Chapel Hill. We were on our way to a yard sale on Saturday. We were talking about items we find at the yard sale. We passed the horses, and Daniel said, "Hi horses! We going to yard sale!" He went on to say that the horses might need a hay blanket. I said something like we might find a blanket at the yard sale, but it probably wouldn't be big enough for a horse. Daniel said something back to me that I couldn't understand. I had to ask him to repeat it three times. I finally got it. "I horse, Daniel would use it." (If I were a horse, I would use (the blanket from the yard sale.) I thought that was a pretty cool way to start using "I." Since then he's used it several times, although he still uses "Daniel" and "Dan" some.
I'm waiting for him to assimilate "I" into his most famous and frequent line these days. "Dan toooolllll (tell) you." He says that with a very serious expression in response to my query, "Do you need to go to the potty?"

He's my fend! He probly fine!

Found a giant wolf spider in the house yesterday. Started to put him outside with a tissue and this conversation ensued-
D: No wipe him up! He probly fine! He my fend (friend)!
B: Well, he is a big spider. He needs sunshine and dirt and water and the chance to eat other bugs. He belongs outside. (I toss him out the back door, into Calvin's area)
D: No!!! No put him in Calvin's ehwa (area)! He might get in poop! He my fend! He probly fine!
B: Now he's outside with his other spider friends. I hope he is happy.
D: (muttering to himself and walking away with a sigh): No do dat. He probly fine.

Giraffe Starts with G

Daniel came running into the kitchen just now and said, "Giraffe starts with G! Giraffe starts with G! Daniel didn't know Giraffe starts with G!" I said, "What?" He said, "Daniel show you. Daniel reading Clifford." He ran into the family room and showed me his Clifford ABC book. He was on the "G" page, and he pointed to the picture of the giraffe. "See. There giraffe and it starts with G. Daniel not know that."

Always 'Tending

Daniel: Pooh's here, and he invite me to play at his house, but Daniel say Daniel eating right now so he's waiting already.

Lime in the Coconut

The new songs Daniel learned yesterday were "Mamma Mia" and "Lime in the Coconut." This morning at breakfast, he told us that Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit, and Owl were here and he will teach them to put the lime in the coconut.

Football

This afternoon D and I were working in the yard. D was pretending that his modeling clay was a football. He said, "Touchdown!" I said, "You made a touchdown!" He said, "No Mama, you not involved in football."

Pink Pirate

Daniel wants to be a pink pirate for Halloween. He thinks that a skeleton with an eye patch is a pirate. His favorite color is pink. So, I need to design a pink skeleton costume, with an eye patch. Hmmm...this is going to make for some GREAT photos. It will take us 20 minutes at each house at Halloween to explain what he is and why. Last year, he wanted ice water at each house, instead of candy. I'm pretty sure he understands about candy this year. Joseph is intent on going to lots of houses. I think we're in for it.

Daniel's Japanese Word

Daniel: Badu-ba, badu-ba, badu-baaaa!
Me: What are you saying?
Daniel: Badu-ba. It's my Japanese word.
Me: What does it mean?
Daniel: Don't know yet. Dan just saying it.

Why you not know any more whys?

Daniel started asking "Why????" several weeks ago. At first he would accept the first thing we said and go on to the next subject. As time goes on, he just continually asks why after each explanation. Finally, I just had to say, "That's all. I don't have any more explanations about that." That seemed to stop him for a few days. Then, he came up with a new comment- "Why you not know any more whys, Mama?"

Potty Learning

Daniel has been learning about the potty for at least five months, but he's been seriously practicing for the last week or so. I had small potties from Ikea around the house, but he was not interested very often. Two times he voluntarily tried the small potty. I thought he might be ready for serious action, but that was two months ago. Then, two weeks ago I found some potty seats that sit on top of the adult toilet at a yard sale. He was thrilled. We made a big deal out of it. We stocked the bathroom with snacks, water, and books, and we set up stools so he could do everything by himself. Daniel loves to be naked at home. I told him that if he could put his pee pee in the potty, then he coud be naked. That seemed to do the trick! He's been pee peeing at home, with only two accidents, since we started. Also, he's done several poopies on the potty. I don't know who is more surprised when it happens- him or me! At first, we had to sit on the potty a lllllooooonnnnngggg time. And once, he woke up at 2 am, and we sat on the potty until 3:30 before he was finished. Most of the time, though, it is really exciting. He knows when he has to go. He yells, "Pee pee!!!!!" And we all run into the potty. At first we were singing and dancing when he did it, but he quickly said, "No sing dat, Mama." And later, "No dance, Mama."

At the beginning, it made his kind of nervous to poop in the potty. Once he said, "Mama, my heart is beeping!"

Okay, ha, ha. While I'm typing this entry, we have company. We just went into the kitchen for a snack and Daniel wet all over the floor. So, make that THREE accidents since he's started using the potty. Still great.

It is interesting to see how he is learning and changing every day. And, it's nice to wash fewer diapers!

"I" can call whenever I want to

This is a fun sentence because Daniel usually refers to himself as "Dan." Today he said "I."

He said this to us as he sat down to dinner.

Daniel: "Here's Dan's cell phone. Dan can call whenever I want to. Ho-tay (okay)?"

Heart Hair

I got my hair cut today. I haven't had a haircut in awhile, so it looks much shorter. I got probably three or four inches cut off. They "texturized" it on the ends so that it doesn't flip out to the sides. I like it very much when they do that. I think it frames my face well. When I got home, Daniel said, "Mama, you got heart hair?" I said, "I got a hair cut. Do you think it looks like a heart shape?" He said, "Yeah. You got heart hair."

Come on, D's!

Daniel and Joseph were playing with Joseph's ipad the other morning. Daniel knows that the screen has a "lock" on it. You have to type in a four-digit code to open it. Daniel understands that you have to type something in to unlock the screen. He was typing and typing to try to get it open. He started talking to himself, saying, "Come on, D's!" (like, come on, I'm typing my letter, now let me in!)

Birthday note so Mama will remember

What I got for my second birthday-
lots of cards
some nice monies
a pool and splash area for the yard
a beach towel
Uno cards
Legos and bath blocks
real tools- rake, shovel, and hoe
a wooden puzzle
dinosaur magnets
art easel

Oh Lord

Yesterday at the museum, we ate lunch in the cafe. After lunch, I was putting D's high chair back and getting ready to go out the door. We weren't talking to each other. He was just looking around at the many moms and kids seated around us.

All of a sudden, he said in a quiet voice, "Oh Lord." I didn't really understand what he said, so I didn't reply or look at him. He continued to repeat, in a louder and louder voice (very calmly), "Oh, Lord.......oh, Lord................ooooohhhhh Lord!.........oooooooohhhhhhh LORD!"

All I could do was laugh. I looked around at the other moms. They were all laughing and giving me a look like, "Yes, they all tell on us. It happens to all of us. Just laugh about it."

Not sure just which time Daniel heard it, but I'm pretty sure my reaction to Joseph on the phone after he said his toe was broken was, "Oh, Lord."

Eat cream cheese hurts

Daniel is fascinated by any kind of cream or body lotion. He wants to put it on his face and legs, and sometimes in his mouth. He has two tubes of cream that are sealed closed that he plays with and pretends to put on. Whenever he holds real cream (diaper cream or lotion), I always remind him that he cannot eat the cream. "If you eat cream it might hurt you. Cream goes on your face or your body."

My mom likes to eat cream cheese on graham crackers. On the way to the airport on Friday, I made her a baggie of graham crackers with cream cheese. I also made one for Daniel because he likes to eat "matching snacks" with GG. When I gave GG her snack, Daniel said, "Dan eat GG snack too!" so I passed his back to him in the car seat.

When I got out of the van at the airport to help them take their bags in, I told D what I was doing. He said, "Eat cream cheese hurts." I couldn't imagine what he meant, but I was not really paying attention to him, so I said "Well, if it hurts you, don't eat it." Then, I went along with helping my parents get into the line.

When I got back in the van, D was quiet, and I thought he was eating. As I drove away, he rode quietly for a few minutes, then exclaimed, "Cream! White cream! Seven creams! Yay!" I looked back at him, and little by little, he had dipped his index finger in the cream cheese and put it on his body. He had painted his face and legs with cream cheese. He was holding two plain graham crackers, completely stripped of all cream cheese. Then he started munching.

It took me a few minutes to piece it together, then I figured it out. He thought I had given him crackers with body cream on them. He knew not to eat it (if you eat cream, it might hurt you). So, he did what he was supposed to do- put the cream on his face and legs.

The next time I looked back he was sound asleep, covered in cream cheese, holding half a graham cracker. It came off much easier than I expected.

Daniel's second birthday- Musical Instrument Party

Super Cow

Daniel has these fisher price little people toy scenarios that are fun, but can get a little boring. He has one that's a castle with a king and dragon, and a second with a farm (pigs, farmer, cow, etc). I get a little bored with traditional farming stories so I've turned one of the cows on the farm into Super Cow! Today, Super Cow was flying around the room and Daniel said, "No fly. Dragons fly." I said, "This is super cow. He has special powers. Did you know he has x-ray vision?" At this point, I squinted my eyes at him and made a buzzing sound. Daniel's response was, "No be do dat eyes." Just wanted to share :)

Joseph

Haircut March 2010

Easter 2010

Daniel at Easter last year (2009)

I wanted to put these in just to remind us how much Daniel has grown.

Mama, Tell Daniel Please

We were reading a book the other day, and there was a picture of cattails in it. We had a big time playing with cattails at the park one day, so I wondered if Daniel would remember the word "cattails." I showed him the picture, and said, "Look! You have played with this before. Do you remember what it is? What is it called?" He thought for a minute, then looked at me and said calmly, "Mama, tell Daniel please." So, I told him and we talked about our day playing with cattails.

When we came home from Tn, Daniel's friend Ariana and her mom picked us up at the airport. I told Daniel that morning that we were having a surprise friend pick us up. Then, when we got to baggage claim, I told him to guess who was coming to pick us up. He guessed Buxton and then Bob. I said, "Nope, it's not them. Guess who it is. Who do you think is coming to pick us up?" He said, "Mama, tell Daniel please." So, I told him. He was thrilled because he loves Ariana's snacks.

With me

I usually say to Daniel, "I'm going to the bathroom/in the kitchen/upstairs for a minute. Do you want to stay here or come with me?" His reply is almost always, "With me!" Today we dropped Joseph off at work on our way to the grocery store. Daniel hated to see him go. When Joseph got out of the car, Daniel yelled, "With me! With me! With me!"

Nah One....Two Dogs!

When we drive we look for things like stop signs, horses, and recently daffodils. Today I happened to see someone walking a big dog, so I pointed it out to Daniel. He got really excited and said, "Pet! Pet!" which is what he always says when he sees a dog. I told him that we can't pet dogs from the van, only when we are out walking around. I tried to distract him by reminding him about the dog we saw at the park yesterday. He only got upset and said, "Nah one! Nah one!" At first, I couldn't understand when he was saying. Then, he said, "Nah one!.....Two dogs!" I realized he was saying, "Another one---two dogs (yesterday's dog and this dog). I'm pretty sure that's the first time he has said, "Another one."

Jesus, Help Calvin

Daniel can say two prayers- 1. Thanks Jesus 2. Help Jesus. We pray for our food and our families and friends this way. We have one friend who is getting ready to be an older brother, and we are praying frequently for him and his family. Sometimes I ask Daniel if he wants to pray, and we both pray. Sometimes he says, "Pray!" Then, I ask him who he wants to pray for, and we pray. Sometimes (less often) he spontaneously prays by himself.

The other day we were in the grocery store and Daniel was happy and active. He had been singing very loudly one of his favorite made-up songs, "Bob And Elaine's House" at the top of his lungs. We had gotten "compliments" from four people already. I was shopping as fast as I could. Then he started talking to himself. I listened at first and then got distracted. Later I realized he was repeating the same thing over and over. So, I listened for a minute and heard him say, "Jesus, help Calvin. Amen." (Calvin is our dog). I said, "Are you praying for Calvin?" He said, "Yes. More." and he continued.

Here bird.....worm!

Most of the time Daniel feeds himself. However, if he is really into artwork or a book at the table, I will poke food in his mouth. I call it "baby bird style." I will say, "Let me give you some waffle baby bird." I have explained to him that the reason I say this is because that is the way mother birds feed their babies. They go find an earthworm, get it in their beak, take it back to their baby bird in the the nest, and poke it into the baby's mouth. Last month there was a poem in Highlights Magazine about a baby bird. We've read it a thousand times, and Daniel likes to say "worm" when we read it. Yesterday, we walked down to Bob And Elaine's House. In the driveway, I looked down and saw a long, fat earthworm wriggling around. I showed him to Daniel and told him this is what the mother birds feed their babies. I asked him if he wanted to hold it gently, and he said yes. I put it into his hand, and he held his hand up, turned toward the road, and said, "Here bird....worm!..... Come bird.....worm!" When no bird came immediately to take the worm out of his hand, he passed it back to me and said, "No like it." (the birds don't like it). Now I don't think he believes me that baby birds eat worms.

No Like It....Cold

We planned to go swimming with our friends tonight at 6 pm, after an early dinner. We waited to tell Daniel until the last minute because we thought he might be too excited to wait. We haven't been swimming at the pool in several months. When Daniel was very small, he got really cold and shivery in the water, so we couldn't stay very long each time. We thought since he was bigger it wouldn't be a problem.

We got everything ready, then we said, "We're going swimming." Daniel said, "Beach!!!!" We said, "No, we're not going to the beach. We're going to the swimming pool." He looked at us seriously and said, "No like it.....Cold!" We told him it would probably be okay this time because he is bigger. But, when we got there, there was a malfunction with something in the pool, and it was 8 degrees colder than usual. So, his teeth chattered the whole time, and we only stayed in the water for about 25 minutes. We'd say, "Are you cold?" He'd say, "Yessss (teeth chattering)." We'd say, "Do you want to get out?" He'd say, "No.....more!"

Hopefully next time the water will be warmer, and we'll go in the daytime. Then, maybe he can play.

Tonight we ended up going to Chick-fil-a and playing in the kids' area until he had used up his energy.

Possum.........or R.O.U.S.?

You will only understand this post if you have watched the movie (or read the book) The Princess Bride. If you haven't, please turn off your computer and rent the movie. It is excellent.

We have an ENORMOUS possum living under the shed in our back yard. It is AT LEAST three times the size of Calvin (11 pounds). It is completely hideous, and it comes out every day at dusk (or earlier if it is cloudy) to repulse and taunt me. I am serious, it looks just like a R.O.U.S.

Tomorrow I am going to check around and see if anyone will come and trap it and take it away for me. At church, some older men said that if I tried to poke it, it would faint. Then, I could pick it up and take it somewhere. I said, "Oh, I won't be picking it up!" They said, "Well, your husband could pick it up." I laughed even harder at that. I said, " I am MUCH more likely than my husband to pick up a possum. And I am NOT picking up a possum."

We will see what happens. Too bad we don't live next to the fire swamp.

No Say Dat

The other night before bedtime Daniel yawned really big. I said, "Wow. That was a big yawn. It looks like your body is really tired." He replied, "No say dat." I said, "Don't say you are tired?" He said, "Yeah. No say dat."

Tonight on the way home from church he was unhappy, so I said, "Let's play the word game." It's just a game where everybody in the car takes turns saying a word. Any word. We played a few rounds. I said words like "duck," "game," "dog," and "G.G." Then I said, "bathtub." He said, "No say dat!" I said, "You don't want me to say bathtub?" He said, "Yeah, no bathtub." Then, when it was time for him to get in the shower with Joseph, he said, "Bathtub! Bathtub please!"

First Earache

Last night Daniel had his first earache. He had a little runny nose in the morning, but it was better after his nap, so we went to eat dinner at church. We came home after dinner, played, took a bath, and he was asleep by 8:30. He woke up at 10:15 crying. At first he said his eye hurt, but then he realized it was his ear. He was just screaming and he couldn't stop. We gave him some Tylenol, and it didn't seem to help. He would scream, "Mama!.....No!.....Help!.......Ear!.....Hurt!...." We called the pediatrician line and our own wonderful nurse neighbor, Elaine. They said all we could do is give him tylenol and wait. Meaning, he had to just cry himself to sleep. He cried from 10:15 until 12:30 with two short breaks. It was so awful. Elaine came down to sit with us while Joseph went to the drug store for children's ibuprofen. I just held him and walked around with him. He screamed and screamed, and he would pull at his ear and hit himself on the head. Then, at 12:30, he sort of fell asleep in the chair with me downstairs while i was rocking. I rocked and rocked. When i stopped, he would stir from sleep and say "rock" in the saddest little voice. He flipped and turned and changed sides from 12:30 to 3:30, and I rocked the whole time. Then at 3:30, he stood up and said, "Upstairs." We went upstairs, got in the bed, and he slept until 9:00 am. Then, he fell asleep again around 11:30 and slept until 3:00pm. He seemed fine this morning. I said, "Last night was hard." He said, "Sad....ear....hurt. Aine (Elaine) help." I said,"How are you feeling now." He said, "happy." We laid around most of the day and watched our home videos and some Wonder Pets. We will see what happens tonight.

Saw That

I have a precious Christmas gift from my Nashville friend, Kerry. She sent me a photo magnet featuring a picture of me and friends at the baby shower my advisor and office mates gave me. Daniel is very interested in magnets right now, but I didn't want him to play with this one because it is special, and sometimes the magnets he plays with disappear or get teeth marks. So, I put it up high on the refrigerator and behind some papers. Today my Durham friend, Carrie, came to visit me, and I noticed the magnet and wanted to remember to show it to her. So, I put it out in view on the fridge. Soon, Daniel found it and grabbed it. I said, "Oh, you saw that. I want to show it to Carrie. This magnet is a special treasure. Please be careful with it." I told him about the picture and pointed to my belly and told him he was in there, etc. He carried it around for about 20 minutes playing with it. He sang and talked to it, saying "SAW THAT! SAW THAT! SAW THAT!" I guess he thinks "SAW THAT" is the name of that magnet (he knows the word 'magnet'). I giggled at him and he heard me, so he just said it more and more.

Three Bananas

Yesterday's conversation about the peeling of banana #3. Standing in the yard.
Daniel: Eat peel (banana peel).
Mama: The last time you tried a banana peel, you made a bad face. We could walk to the compost pile and you could throw the banana peel in.
Daniel: Eat, eat peel.
Mama: okay. I don't think it tastes good.
Daniel: Try.
Mama: Okay, try it.
Daniel takes a big bite of banana peel.
Daniel: (making bad face) post! post! (compost!)
Mama: Good idea. Let's throw it in the compost pile.
Daniel: More mana (banana)!

Snow January 2010

Snow January 2010

We got 5-6 inches of snow in Durham on Friday night and Saturday. Daniel has been loving SNOW! OUTSIDE! We walked around in the snow, gone sledding, and his favorite thing so far.....eating the snow. He thinks he is eating a snowman. He says, "Eat! Snowman!" and bites down on a big hunk of snow. I cut a hunk of snow for him and brought it in to his plate at lunch. He ate it and played with it for an hour.

We found animal tracks in our yard today- bird, rabbit, raccoon, and giant dog. It's supposed to get up to 45 degrees today, but I don't know how much the snow is going to melt. Our road is still a sheet of ice. Joseph got a snow day from work today. Our church was cancelled yesterday. All the schools around are closed.

Here are some photos of our snow play.