Wanderlust

Letters to the O

Twenty-Two Months

This month you began potty training with renewed interest. Dad and I were so excited when you managed to poop and pee in the potty several times in ONE day, that we actually ran out and bought a little potty, pullups and a large dose of never neverland. And as soon as we did that, you immediately stopped.

We recently discovered you could count to 20 unprompted. A few weeks ago you launched into a rendition of the ABCs and sang it so perfectly from beginning to end that Dad and I were awed. Since then you've sung it hundreds of times. IN A ROW. I'm sure all that clapping and cheering and smiling we did the first time encouraged this. With each rendition it's gotten a little sloppier until today, when you managed to hum the whole song and skip from B to W. Impressive. Still cool and much, much shorter.

Your relationship with Miles and Timber has gotten complicated, especially with the latter. You seem to think it is hilarious to chase him. And while he limps from room to room, gruffing and panicking at the sheer though that you might actually TOUCH him, you follow laughing manically. I've started giving you handfuls of treats in an effort to have the dogs associate you with something positive and pleasant. Timber has discovered that if he noses his way into your fist he can pry out five or six little treats instead of just the one you dole out to him and this is the only time he will make an effort to be close to you. To actually bore himself into your skin. For the love of food. And that's good enough for me.

A new love of music and rhythm has brought many hours of dancing to our living room. You twirl, you jump, you dip but mostly you run in place like a maniac. Favorite tunes include songs from Arctic Monkeys, Feist, White Stripes, Black Eyed Peas, and Silversun Pickups. You've also found a new passion for tickling and every time we goof around you bring your fingers close to me and wiggle them, repeating "Tikka, tikka," and giggling foolishly. You've also become quite adept at building with big block legos and you and your babysitter build enormous towers with all the available blocks that you can dig up. You stare at it proudly all day and once, when Daddy came home and accidentally knocked one over, you forlornly exclaimed "Oh, no!" and began to cry.

Daddy and I have realized that for the next year, anything we do in front of you will be repeated. Many times. Recently, overjoyed with the result of something you exclaimed "Sweet!" That might be cute, but when the dogs bark and you scream "Shut up!" and then follow it with a sigh of consternation, I feel remarkable inept as a parent. The other day you looked up at me after I had scolded you for fussing in your highchair and said, clear as day, "Stop bitching!"

One of my favorite things this month has been your intense interest in your books. You'll sit for long periods of time in a chair in the living room, pouring over the pages filled with trucks or other beloved characters in your lap, eerily silent and entranced. You've begun to pretend to read and I'm amazed how many of your books you already know. I've begun to read longer titles to you before bed and nap and occasionally you'll punctuate the story with exclamations like "pretty!" or "Oh, no!," pointing to the on page disaster unfolding.

Recently, I had curled my hair and put on makeup in preparation for going out on my birthday. I picked you up and was helping fix you dinner and you put your hands on either side of my face and said "Pretty, mama... pretty." Sometimes it's like living with a parrot and I'm not sure exactly when somebody's home. But right at that moment, I knew you were describing something to me that you were feeling and I was grateful just to do be there to share it with you.

Freebies

So recently we've been experiencing a strange phenomena known as free stuff. I'm not exactly sure why we've been chosen by the gods of commerce but hey- I'm not complaining.

Just before my birthday, George got invited to a fancy dinner for the Utah Manufacturer's Association. This is mostly because he is partly responsible for making shit and he just happens to reside in Utah. Totally a coincidence. And of course I'm up for any excuse to wear a party dress, so we got a babysitter and went out to SLC for the evening.

Not only was this dinner and evening's entertainment free, but on top of that they give you free stuff. To take home. This may have been the only reason I didn't walk out in protest when the evening entertainment turned out to be a cutesy, Mormon group who started off singing "God Bless America," then moved straight into Christmas songs immediately followed by Christmas JESUS songs, which is just adding insult to injury in my opinion. Also, the free open bar helped tremendously. But the gift box was so enormous that George could barely carry it and we had to ride down to the car in the elevator. A picture of the full spread is included here. You'll see cards for free gas, free turkey coupons, ski goggles and more flashlights than we'll ever use in a lifetime. Prize for the strangest but most useful gift goes to Xlear, who supplied the Xylitol nasal spray. That shit is awesome.

Just this past weekend we were out late doing some grocery shopping and decided to stop by Rumbi Island Grill to see if they were open yet. We had noticed they were opening a new branch near us but the last time we looked, it was still in the works. It appeared to be open but when we approached with Owen in tow they said they were only open for a family and friends event by invitation. And then they let us in anyway. And the food- it was totally free. For everyone. How cool is that. Owen got an enormous bowl of rice, so incredibly large that he could have stuck his head in it and drowned in happy, contented bliss.

I hope this recent trend towards good fortune stays- I could use a little holiday cheer come early.

Moab Revisited

Yeah, so remember that trip we took camping in Arches National Park back in... oh what was it? April? Yep. Finally finished those pictures and have transferred them to the gallery for your viewing pleasure. If we look cold- we are! This was a trip in the early spring so the nighttime was still very chilly. This was also when Owen first got RSV and we weren't getting much sleep when we were there as he coughed and struggled with congestion. But we stayed for four days and it was a really beautiful trip. We'll go back again soon.