Utility Belly

Rich laughed and then grabbed the camera when he caught me like this:

A good use for the belly, he said. I quite agree!

you.

Hayden has always been quite the talker, but it's really been getting fun in the last few months as his vocabulary and observation skills have improved. He remembers things from books and previous conversations and loves to point things out about his surroundings. Car rides are especially entertaining as he doesn't miss a single pick-up truck, construction vehicle (correctly identifying bulldozers and loaders and cherry pickers, etc), school bus, garbage truck, or mail truck. He also points out every bicycle, runner, dog, bird, or other animal we see. And he typically recaps our itinerary while we're on the road, "we're taking Daddy to school!" or "we're going to the library!" or "we're going grocery shopping then we'll go to another store!"

With all of his understanding of the English language, though, one area that still causes him trouble is pronouns. Specifically "I" and "mine." He just doesn't use them, preferring to substitute "you" and "your." For example, we'll see him pause and start to take care of business and then he announces, "you pooped." We go to the door to get dressed to leave and he announces, "your hat" and "your shoes" as we put on his outdoor attire. He plays with "your trains" and if he drops a utensil on the floor at mealtime he pleads "your spoon," reaching for it and begging for us to pick it up.

I know why he does it, I mean for months we've been asking "did you poop?" when we suspect he's done just that. Or we say, "let's put on your shoes and hat" before we go outside. Or, "do you want to play with your trains?" and "here's your spoon." And I'm really guilty of referring to myself in the third person, always saying "Mommy will get that" or "give that to Mommy please." I've been trying to make a conscious effort to say instead "I will get that" or "give that to me, please."

I must confess, though, that I'm not super eager to correct his poor grammar. It's incredibly cute when he refers to himself as "you" and I love that the word "mine" isn't really part of his vocabulary (like it is for so many 2 year olds). When he does finally start getting it right, it's just one more step on the road to growing up and I'm surely going to miss that toddler-ness.

Love you, my boy!

Snow Day

After a warm start to the spring, mother nature dumped about 6" of snow on us. So, we pulled on our jackets and headed to the backyard for some play. We did some shoveling (which Hayden just loves) and I pulled out the "Snow Art" kit he got for Christmas. It consists of powdered dye that you mix with water to "paint" on the snow.

Hayden had fun, but he mostly just poured the colorful fluid into puddles. I got into the spirit and put my art skills to use, though:

After emptying the bottles of "paint" Hayden dug into his outdoor toy bin and found the bottle of bubbles.

He insisted on opening it. . .

Despite his best efforts, he just couldn't produce many bubbles. He then announced to me that "Maggie wants to blow bubbles!"

She wasn't really all that excited about the prospect so Hayden gave it one last go before I took over and created some giggle-worthy bubbles.

We had a fun morning, but I have to admit that I'm ready to see some green grass and flower buds rather than all this white stuff on the ground!

Ten on Tuesday: Me through Hayden's Eyes

Many of you have see this list of questions on other blogs or facebook recently. Basically, you ask your child the questions and get some telling, and often humorous, answers. At first I thought Hayden was way too young to actually understand most of the questions. He responds best to yes-or-no questions and on top of that, two year olds tend to be pretty self-centered and have no concept of what "famous" means, let alone what his Mommy would be famous for one day (one of the questions).

Never-the-less I decided to run down the list and just see if he'd even answer any. He surprised me and actually did respond to about half of them. So here's what Hayden thinks of his Mommy:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
sleep

2. What makes mom happy?
sorry (I think he meant to say, "when I say sorry." But often, if he says "thank you" without being prompted I'll say back to him, "You're Welcome! And I love that you said 'thank you' that's so sweet!" So maybe he was getting sorry/thank you mixed up?)

3. How old is your mom?
4

4. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Mommy plays cars

5. What is your mom really good at?
cooking

6. What does your mom do for a job?
presents

7. What is your mom's favorite food?
cereal

8. What do you and your mom like to do together?
we like to play trains

9. What does your mom like best about your dad?
(he) sings songs

10. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
go to museum (we usually go to the Children's Museum and the Museum of the Rockies once a week)

Spring Break Fun

Rich had spring break last week, which meant a nice break from classes and the chance to spend a little more time at home with us. We didn't make any plans for a big trip but early in the week Rich remembered that his childhood neighbors (who still keep in touch with his parents) own a vacation house in Big Sky and had said we'd be welcome to use it. Big Sky is a world class ski resort about 45 minutes south of us and I had yet to explore the area. He gave his old neighbors a call and the house was available, so we packed up the skis and left town for 2 nights.

When we pulled up to this, my jaw dropped:

Our little getaway was in a house that graced the cover of Log Home Living back in 2002 (the big windows are on the backside of the house, so you're afforded a view of that majestic mountain):

The interior of the home was stunning. . .

Hayden immediately wanted to look around for toys and also spent some time watching Thomas on the big screen TV.

Our little turkeys enjoyed playing around in the loft, too!

And as gorgeous as the interior of the home was, I think I spent more time gazing out the windows at the view to the South:

To the North:

And to the East:

Since we were in a ski destination, we of course spent some time on skis. The first day we headed to Moonlight Basin, which is on the back side of the mountain Big Sky Resort is on. In their beginner area, they have a "magic carpet" which we thought Hayden might enjoy.

Rich certainly enjoyed the magic carpet, which was much easier than trying to ski uphill with Hayden on his shoulders! Once at the top of the little hill, Hayden got some slalom lessons:

They also took several runs down the wide open beginner slope.

By the end of their ski session, Hayden had graduated from the chest hold to just a hand hold. After being on his skis 5-6 times this season he's really started to get the hang of it and just lights up when we tell him we're going skiing!

The next day, with temps in the 50's we checked out a few of the cross-country ski trails at Lone Mountain Ranch.

Hayden enjoyed the ride, but I think he had just as much fun playing on the snowy "beach" with his sand toys. It was just so warm!

We wrapped up our activities with a short hike. Our destination was Ousel Falls, which was supposed to be 0.8 miles from the trailhead. We set off down the trail and Hayden insisted on hiking himself.

Soon, we encountered snow which made for slow going. Hayden still wanted hike on his own two feet.

We saw some beautiful scenery. . .

. . . and 30 minutes later we still hadn't made it to the falls. It was the longest 0.8 miles of my life! Since Hayden was determined to hike all the way back on his own we decided to turn around before reaching the falls. We did find a consolation destination with a small frozen waterfall alongside the creek, though.

We ventured home after our fabulous getaway, refreshed and ready for spring. And after washing the car on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon we woke up to 6" of new snow this morning. So you may see more skiing pictures around here afterall!

mittens

Just 2 months ago, no matter how cold outside, we couldn't get this boy to keep his mittens on. Now, he loves to wear them. Even inside. Even while practicing his throwing skills.

As you can see, he loves playing ball. Rich has been working on teaching him throwing and catching skills and he's been a quick study. I'm not thrilled that he throws the balls inside, but soon enough we'll have weather warm enough to do some throwing outside. And until it does warm up out there, I'm just happy he won't have cold hands!