Winter. It is lovely and beautiful outside today - but oh-so-cold for the third day in a row. I feel like Halene and I do a good job of getting outside most days, but lately it has been tricky. Last week brought ice - which coated everything, and the town was out of salt, so our street was deadly for about three days. (I bought some Yak-Traks - things you put on your boots to help with grip - so now I am prepared for the next bought of iciness.) And now I'm sitting here in my super sunny kitchen, a perfect blanket of undisturbed whiteness just waiting for little Halene's boots to plow through, but it is negative 12 degrees and going to be even colder tomorrow. Does this sound like whining? I apologize - the winter here has been great so far and I have no complaints really. Last weekend we went to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Winter Festival - the weather was awesome and we all had a great time. We are putting it on our schedules for next year - Halene LOVED it all - the sled dog race, the ponies pulling the sleigh, the kids ice skating or sledding or participating in an ice cream eating contest (she didn't actually do any of those last three things, but loved it anyway). The chili cook-off and bread bake contest was delicious. Snow-shoeing in the valley was beautiful (Halene slept in the back-pack-carrier the entire hike)... I guess all that winter outdoor fun can be a balance for the last 3 days indoor marathon.
Actually, these new days of 2009 have been filled with lots of fun and learning and loving. Our apartment has mostly south facing windows so we do a lot of indoor sunbathing - H likes it best when she gets to take her clothes off. Lately, H is very into playing with her dolls - feeding them, undressing them, making them kiss, and putting them to bed. She has also become a good kitchen helper. She wants to help Nate make pancakes or eggs or "shawshawgees" almost every morning. And anything happening in the kitchen must be witnessed from a chair pulled up at the end of the counter - she even wants to help dry the dishes - yeah!
Potty training has come to a stop for now it seems. H wants nothing to do with it. I'm not sure how she came up with it, but when I ask if she would like to sit on the potty her reply has been, "No, on Monday." -What, where how? We just wait patiently and try not to give her any Freudian complexes.
H also said her first naughty word - "Dammit". Visiting mouths be aware that someone little is listening to your every word and mimicking your every move! Yikes.
H got a new vest for Christmas from her Great-Aunt Shelley. She sometimes even wants to wear it over her pajamas - she really likes its "pockeees". And this is a photo of Halene and her neighbor friends, Malana and Faith. They are "taking a bath" together - I promise, I don't make this stuff up...
2 comments:
Thanks for the update! We missed visiting all of you last weekend, so it is great to hear how everyone is doing, especially Halene.
How are you feeling, Alesa? Are you getting prepared for #2? We'll have to plan a rendezvous this spring and get all the kiddies together.
I remember when Carson got his first dirty mouth. He was mad at me and called me a "poopy butt"!! And since then there has been worse.....
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