Fond memories of skating

After I picked up Pete we drove around the campus to miss a long light. Peter first asked to go pick up Mama from her office (but she had her car so we didn't). Peter then pointed to a building and said "Peter was there". I asked if he remembered what we did there. He said "I went on the ice with Diana and Mama and Daddy". I said very good Pete, that is where we went ice skating. Would you like to go again? He said "No. I fell down and didn't like it. I want to go there with my bike and melt the ice all up!" He talked quite a bit on the ride home about melting the ice so he could ride his bike at the BC Ice Center. Then he started talking about getting a trampoline at home so he could jump on it and bounce on it.

We might not have a little hockey player.

Is there any money in bouncing?

Cooking up a storm

4 days down.

Tera and I have been cooking every day this week. Rachel can't have iodized salt, egg yolks, seafood or soy (and chooses to not eat meat). That means we have to start from scratch. Pesto, egg white and avocado salad, eggplant, chili con corn, tortillas and spaghetti sauce. At least we can buy some brands of pasta. And use the bread maker!

It is a lot of work for Tera and I, but I can't imagine keeping up with it if we didn't have a dishwasher. We've run it every day.

Getting the giggles

2 things cracked me up the last couple days.

Duncan was outside, came in with wet feet, charging past me like he know I would want to check him for mud. About halfway through the living room he hit the brakes... and slid about 10 feet, just like in cartoons. Toward the end he started to try and run backwards, but kept sliding towards Peter's table. He fell with crash and came to a rest just before he hit the table. The crash brought Rachel up from her bedroom and Tera out from the kitchen. Tera and Rachel were trying to find the source of the clatter and I was laughing too hard to explain.

Tonight Pete took a late nap. I decided to try and take a nap also in case he decided to be up half the night. After a while Pete woke up, came in and climbed up on the bed. He started talking a mile a minute about something, but I was still to groggy to pick up any of what he said. I was still giggling when Tera came in. She laid down and he kept right on talking. No I could tell it was bits and pieces of a wild Kratts episode, but Pete was in the show. Evieva gave him something for his power pod, and "Look!" Jimmy Z was over there.

Fun times for a funny little boy.

Potty Training

As part of potty training, We bought some pull ups with a design that fades when it gets wet (form the inside).

Unfortunately, cheering when he still had the design and went on the potty didn't do the trick. So we added m&m's as a reward. It works better, but still not perfect. And Pete doesn't totally get it. As we put on a clean pull up after discovering a wet one, Pete looks down and exclaims excitedly "I still have my design! I get a piece of candy!"

Still have to dial in the task / reward system.

Snow!

Not everyone is happy, but winter may really be here.  This is the first real snow of the year, so it's getting an exclamation mark (sorry Tera). The roads weren't too bad, and I got the driveway and steps done in less than 30 minutes when I got home. Peter was ready to go sledding, but not in the dark. He will have to wait until tomorrow to try out the new cold weather gear.

Yep, that's Rachel

We went to the board of education meeting tonight. She (and others) were being recognized for awards they had received this year. Yay Rachel!

  She also got points from her social studies class for attending. Or course we left after the award presentation and didn't hear anything that would be useful to a high School student.

Spreadsheets stink

One of my monster spreadsheets started acting funny a few weeks ago. For no reason, the look up function I've used for years stopped working on random rows. I figured out another way to do the look up that worked. Today the whole spreadsheet stopped working, both ways. A friendly co-worker helped me get most of the rows working, but I still had to manually type about 50 rows of 5 columns. 1/2 the day shot. Whee.

Peter and Diana make Dinner

Peter really likes to help in the kitchen.  I think mostly because he gets to use the step ladder to reach the counter.

Last Friday Diana helped Peter punch out the pre-made dough and put the cheese on it too. Should have grabbed the camera, but I was busy keeping the cheese out of the boys mouth.

Yesterday Peter helped make pigs in a blanket. Lost almost a whole hot dog due to quick hands and Daddy not paying enough attention (it's OK, they were pre-cooked).

It's fun, but doesn't really save time.

Duncan on guard duty

The neighbor across the street has a yellow lab. Both take a "if I can see it,  it's mine" approach to land. Strangers and other dogs get barked at if they are in the road or even if they are on their own property across the street. So if both dogs are out they must bark at each other.

Duncan was out yesterday.  After a while he started to bark. Sure enough neighbor dog was out. We brought the dog back in. A minute later the guard dog is standing at the window barking at the dog across the road. We closed the curtains.  Ahh. Quiet. A few minutes later, he's barking again. We look around and just his head is poking through the curtains so he can see the dog and let him know who's boss. Such persistence is pretty good for a dog who won't go near new or moved furniture.

Wild Kratts

We've tried to keep Pete from spending too much time watching cartoons.

Diana introduced Peter to one of her favorite shows from when she was little. Wild Kratts is an educational and entertaining show. Peter is pretty hooked. He asked to watch daily, and he has his favorite episodes. Sometimes it seems too much, but the other morning he was telling me about how the birds carry bones up into the sky, and they drop the bones on the rocks so they can eat the little pieces (It a vulture of some sort). He then told me that a crocodile buries her eggs and the monitor lizzard tries to eat them. He also acted out the burying process with his back legs (think Downward dog yoga pose)

Too Cool for Halloween

This Picture was pretty cute. This "boots" are tall Toy Story slippers.

This one is better. Of course you can't here him singing Baa Baa Back Sheep, but he was doing it.

Peter and the trip to Saugerties

We left the house and Peter started pointing out the houses that were not train yards. It was all of them. He stopped when we got to the highway and there weren't houses.

We got some Wendy's about 1/3 of the way there. Pete and I split chicken tenders and fries. Pete started with tenders and after several we switched. After a while I asked for a french fry. Pete said No, because he was going to share with Grammy and Pappa. I said please, he said OK... when we get to Grammy and Pappa's. Tera tried to talk him into letting me have one. I even called them to get permission, but Pete stood strong. No sharing until we get to Grammy and Pappa's Or course he kept sneaking some himself until he accidentally dropped the box. Then we pointed out some houses that weren't train yards.

At some point he started calling Rachel Rachely. It was pretty cute.

Mama has cold feet

Tera's feet were cold. Rather than drag out the Snuggie she won in a Woot BOC, I just grabbed one of Peter's little blankets - the perfect size for the job.
Until Peter noticed it. Then he needed it for the big box her was playing in. As her took the blanket away, the following discussion happened:
Pete: "This is mine."
Tera: "Can Mama Use it?"
Pete: "I need it"
Tera: "But Mama's feet will get cold"
Pete (excitedly as he took the blanket): "Daddy can get you a blanket!"

He was so proud that he had solved her problem.

Tada!

A few days ago Pete found an old cell phone and found the button to turn it on. He raised his arms up and shouted Tada!

Today he was watching Wild Krats on YouTube. He wanted the snow feature (simulated snow flakes on screen) turned on. He took the mouse, pulled up the menu and paused it. I clicked the correct icon and Pete shouted "I got the snow on! Tada! I did a good job! "

Such a fun boy.

2011 in review, part 1

Tera said in her Facebook status that 2011 kind of sucked. Rachel asked why she said that. Tera pointed out that after a couple months of testing, numerous trips to Dr in Rochester and surgery we found out Rachel had (relatively mild) thyroid cancer.

Tera spent a couple multiple day trips to the hospital getting her gaul bladder out and a subsequent infection.

Winter hung on late and faded into a long, cold, wet and muddy spring.

A storm that caused vast flooding in our region also brought some water into the basement. We spent a lot of time and money getting the drainage and room fixed.

Well that's the low lights.