"Auul Wight!"

"Auul Wight!" That was the Two Year Old's response to opening presents early. The Two Year Old is now officially our family's present opener--all gifts wrapped in shiny paper are apparently for him. (pretty sure he's not grasping the real meaning of Christmas yet. . .pretty sure we finally are) Since we are flying to Idaho this year, we decided to do Christmas in stages. We opened Colton's bigger gifts from us and the presents from The Man's family here in Iowa (darn those airline baggage rates!). We all feel very spoiled and anything else that happens from here on out is icing on the cake. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Calaway, the siblings, and Great Grandma Calaway. We miss you so much and hope you have a Merry Christmas!

Winter Wonders

First Time Playing in the Snow

What a Bunch of Turkeys

Sorry I'm behind on my blogging--two bouts of illness at our house have found us down and out. We're back now though, and happy to report that we enjoyed a great Thanksgiving Holiday. My parents and little sister joined us for the break and while they were here we went to the Omaha Zoo. We stayed at a fun hotel with a water park inside (favorite part of the Two Year Old's Thanksgiving! refer to pics below) We are grateful that we could spend the holiday with family and appreciate all of the love and support they've shown us.

Are we positive there's no connection here?

The Two Year Old and his beloved 'Aunt Haa-yee'

'Oh no! Cover your eyes Grandpa! Lions and tigers and bears oh my!!'

Wrong end there buddy.

Lo, an angel appeareth!

I have been down and out for two days with a nasty cold so you can imagine my delight when a mysteriously wrapped package addressed to the Two Year Old showed up at our front door. An angel in the form of my mother-in-law sent a Little People Nativity that has engrossed our child's attention and kept him from clinging to my hip as he has been doing since I've been bed-ridden.

No matter that it isn't even Thanksgiving yet--we are whole-heartedly ushering Christmas in early this year.

THANK YOU GRANDMA!

"babee jee-shush!"

"yu-yoo yae-baech"
('love you grandma'--we know, a little off. working on it.)

TOOT! TOOT!

The Two Year Old has a mild obsession with Thomas the Engine and Friends. The first words out of his mouth in the morning, (before I've even lifted him out of the crib) are either, "EMMOO!" (Elmo) or "TOOT,TOOT" which we both represented this holiday. Anyone offering 'can-ee' got a happy 'toot-toot' from the kid and a 'wuv u' upon confirmed possession of sugary goods.

"I will not use candy as a bargaining chip, I will not use candy as a bargaining chip".

This is my new mantra. yea. right.

Nice To Meet You. I'm The Two Year Old

A trip to the local bounce house (that kind of sounds bad--it's not), and a 3 day work trip with The Man (correction, The Man worked, Mom & Two Year Old partied) served to broaden the Two Year Old's horizons as he was introduced to a few new concepts.

**side note: i personally don't remember teaching the following to my child. as his nursery leader related,"he's all boy" (code for 'your child is one of the crazy kids'). I blame it on The Man (in all senses of the word). okay, onward.

strangling: he thinks it's funny to sneak up behind people, jump on their backs and give them a big bear hug around the neck. not the way to win friends buddy.

"Beep, Beep": the bus does it in the song Mommy sings and The Man's 'twuck' does it too.

Two is Better than One:

'Uh-DEN' (again) & 'Poo' (pool): the words we heard a minimum of 40 times once he went on the water-slide at our hotel.

and finally 'Mun-EEE' (money): The Two Year Old has been introduced to the wide world of commerce thanks to what my husband calls the 'child carni rides'. one of these suckers:
I personally believe these were strategically placed across shopping areas by an organization affiliated with mothers in general to serve as a bargaining chip for inducing children the world over to comply with Mommy's requests. i hate it, but oh i love it. 50 cents is all it costs for 1.5 minutes of pure freedom for all parties involved.

and here's some extras from our adventures:

BBBBrrrrrrrrrr!

Remember Randy from "A Christmas Story"?

This kid:

That image came to mind Friday when my friend and I finished bundling our two year olds up.


Well, that image and this one:





It was FREEZING! We were visiting a pumpkin patch and despite the coldness we had a great time going on a wagon ride, picking out pumpkins, playing in the corn swimming pool, and touring the farm. By the time we piled into our cars and hit the road we were tired, cold, hungry, a little cranky and definitely ready for a nap. Who knew having fun could be so much work!

. . . by the way it's snowing right now. oh florida, dear florida. . .