Holy moly, it's May already. We’ve been busy in the Wieking household, working on…oh wait, that’s right! We finished the big house projects!! In January, we saw light at the end of the tunnel so we sucked it up and hired various contractors to knock out the remaining big projects - windows, doors, covering up the oh so fashionable popcorn ceiling, removing the last of the metallic rose themed vinyl wallpaper that had been painted over and repainting the whole house since the new ceiling drywall oozed down every wall by about a foot. So at this point we’ve replaced, refinished, renewed or removed 98% of the surfaces in our house…the last two percent can wait a few years. We've lost the urge to jump ship and move to something needing a lower level of energy to maintain, since the pros of our location still vastly outweigh the cons.
During the month of chaos in the house, we discovered that our sweet baby boy is now a curious and potentially hazardous toddler. He managed to find a quart of test paint that mommy had remembered to hide but "somehow" forgot to put the lid tightly on. And being a sensory-input motivated young lad, he shook it to see what was inside and managed to dump the whole thing onto our bedroom carpet and then play in it, covering himself and our displaced computer monitor in the process. An hour of using the "we now bow to you" little Bissell green machine, left-over diapers for absorption, and a professional-grade carpet cleaner the next morning removed all traces.
So, paint spills and a broken cell phone aside (Pavlov would not be keen on me as a test subject. I've failed miserably imprinting the cause and effect of leaving things out in the C-zone), Colin is doing great. He's 27lb and 35" tall. He is a very busy little guy who has a distribution system that would rival UPS. We find stuff that belongs in one end of the house in the other, and vice versa. But we've learned he has a welcome new skill - he likes to put things away too! Who knew that it's just as fun to stuff the dishtowels back into the drawer as it is to pull them out. Over and over and over again. So I try to remember to ask him to put something away rather than just following around after him picking up. I'm not so crazy about the picking up. I'd prefer the "let's just leave it out since it will get out again" approach, but the mister isn't so keen on that.
Colin loves exploring outside and we're glad that the weather is starting to lean more towards "Clear with chance of showers" rather than "showers with chance of sun breaks." He's pretty quick on his feet and is starting to climb pretty well too. He's starting to walk the talking track, and has a dozen or so words (that we understand). The phonics might be a bit out of place, but he's into the spirit of the conversation. We've figured out that "oo dah" means what's that, and love naming things for him. He still signs for "all done" and now says "all done" for when he's had enough! of a meal, a book, or in the case of this weekend, shopping for patio furniture. We were cracking up to see him frantically saying "all done" as he sat in his stroller when we were in the Home Depot discussing the merits of wrought iron versus a conversation set. Wrought iron won out and we're looking forward to dining al fresco with friends this summer.
Rob and I are both enjoying our jobs and looking forward to some vacation in the coming months. Rob has a busy schedule of track days and race weekends and I've been able to find time to plant a garden this year. Soss the cat and Colin are still working on their truce. Half the time Colin likes to play "whack-a-cat" and the other half he loves to give Soss hugs. Soss is just as bad. He likes to be in the same room as Colin, but out of reach and he's learning that when the high-chair is occupied, the chance for treats falling from the sky improves dramatically.
A few recent pics can be found at this link.
Hope you all are enjoying the Spring!!
Hugs,
Laura, Rob and Colin
During the month of chaos in the house, we discovered that our sweet baby boy is now a curious and potentially hazardous toddler. He managed to find a quart of test paint that mommy had remembered to hide but "somehow" forgot to put the lid tightly on. And being a sensory-input motivated young lad, he shook it to see what was inside and managed to dump the whole thing onto our bedroom carpet and then play in it, covering himself and our displaced computer monitor in the process. An hour of using the "we now bow to you" little Bissell green machine, left-over diapers for absorption, and a professional-grade carpet cleaner the next morning removed all traces.
So, paint spills and a broken cell phone aside (Pavlov would not be keen on me as a test subject. I've failed miserably imprinting the cause and effect of leaving things out in the C-zone), Colin is doing great. He's 27lb and 35" tall. He is a very busy little guy who has a distribution system that would rival UPS. We find stuff that belongs in one end of the house in the other, and vice versa. But we've learned he has a welcome new skill - he likes to put things away too! Who knew that it's just as fun to stuff the dishtowels back into the drawer as it is to pull them out. Over and over and over again. So I try to remember to ask him to put something away rather than just following around after him picking up. I'm not so crazy about the picking up. I'd prefer the "let's just leave it out since it will get out again" approach, but the mister isn't so keen on that.
Colin loves exploring outside and we're glad that the weather is starting to lean more towards "Clear with chance of showers" rather than "showers with chance of sun breaks." He's pretty quick on his feet and is starting to climb pretty well too. He's starting to walk the talking track, and has a dozen or so words (that we understand). The phonics might be a bit out of place, but he's into the spirit of the conversation. We've figured out that "oo dah" means what's that, and love naming things for him. He still signs for "all done" and now says "all done" for when he's had enough! of a meal, a book, or in the case of this weekend, shopping for patio furniture. We were cracking up to see him frantically saying "all done" as he sat in his stroller when we were in the Home Depot discussing the merits of wrought iron versus a conversation set. Wrought iron won out and we're looking forward to dining al fresco with friends this summer.
Rob and I are both enjoying our jobs and looking forward to some vacation in the coming months. Rob has a busy schedule of track days and race weekends and I've been able to find time to plant a garden this year. Soss the cat and Colin are still working on their truce. Half the time Colin likes to play "whack-a-cat" and the other half he loves to give Soss hugs. Soss is just as bad. He likes to be in the same room as Colin, but out of reach and he's learning that when the high-chair is occupied, the chance for treats falling from the sky improves dramatically.
A few recent pics can be found at this link.
Hope you all are enjoying the Spring!!
Hugs,
Laura, Rob and Colin
