Climbing, climbing, climbing

I have known for a while that this kid is a climber.  Even though we have child locks on our drawers and cabinets, he learned very quickly the drawers still open enough to climb them like a ladder to reach the goodies on the counter.

He will dump his toys out and climb into his bucket.  He thinks this is really funny.

We took him to the park back at the beginning of January and he climbed the rock wall!  My hand is purely in case he falls and I didn't help him at all.  He climbed the wall a few times before looking for something more challenging.

When he can't climb on something to achieve his goal, he finds a tool that can assist him.  He has learned a stick can turn on the Christmas lights on the balcony.

Did I mention he's doing dishes?  He climbs into this position, turns the water on, and rinses his bowl, plate, and silverware, then places them in the drying rack.  

I love watching this kid grow and explore and test his strength and abilities.  He is a pretty impressive little guy.

Snow Days

Our residence thankfully doesn't get snow but we don't have to go far to find it.  We had our first attempt at playing in the snow at Echo Summit (just west of South Lake Tahoe) in December.  Wesley wasn't to sure about the cold, wet, white stuff.

 We worked on a snow man someone else had started.  (I know, he doesn't have gloves... perhaps one of the reasons he didn't like the snow too much.)

Signaling a touchdown?  No, this is how he lets us know he's done with the snow, or as he says, "dah!"

Our next attempt yesterday was with a bigger coat and gloves for the Wee Lad and he still wasn't too sure about the snow.  It was very slippery.

I'm not a big fan of snow myself but enjoyed watching the Little Man try to understand it.

Christmas and New Year

We enjoyed a wonderful holiday season.  A dear friend who lives in our complex invited us over for her annual cookie making afternoon.  We rolled and cut and baked a ton of gingerbread cookies.  

Wesley stole a few off the counter when he thought I wasn't looking.  Not only was I looking, but I had my camera ready!

An early Christmas present for the Wee Lad was a new car seat.  It came out of the box and Wesley loved sitting in it in the living room.  Here he is with Gil's winter beanie; we call him Darth Wesley.

We had a nice dinner with my parents a few days before Christmas and Wesley was spoiled with gifts by his grandparents.  

We then traveled to Utah to spend Christmas with Gil's mom.  We stopped in downtown Salt Lake to see Gil's youngest brother at work and enjoy the lights on the plaza outside.

Sitting in Uncle Bryan's guard chair!

I decided it was time to say goodbye to my NPS uniforms.  Golden Spike National Monument in northern Utah said they would be thrilled to take all my winter stuff.  We picked the right day because they rolled one of the engines out.  Wesley hated the train.  Showing him the video I took of it chugging down the track still makes him screech and run away.  Not a fan of trains.

We next ventured to Texas for a quick visit with Gil's dad, his wife Judy, and Gil's sister and her family.  I was able to drop off all of my summer NPS uniforms to the fairly new Waco Mammoth site.  

Wesley loved this back-stretching thing Oma Judy had.  Big fun!

Three generations: grandson, son, grandpa.

Wesley discovered Opa's riding lawn mower and was in heaven.  This lasted until he realized the keys were in the ignition and I said it was time for bed.

It was a fast and furious trip but so good to see family.  Wesley is still in a very clingy/stranger-danger phase which meant he wasn't too thrilled about his grandparents who wanted to play and give hugs.  He did warm up fairly quickly to his youngest cousin (4 years old) though.  Who wouldn't if she's sneaking potato chips to you under the dinner table!

18 months

A few months ago I commented to Gil that it seemed out little man wasn't a baby anymore.  It was as if some switch had been flipped and he was a toddler.  It was a perceptible change too.  Don't know how to describe it.

Crazy to think he's 18 months.

Gil's senior design project is a module that can be attached to an HVAC unit that will monitor air quality and sanitize the air using a UV light.  He uses the HCAV unit in our apartment for testing his sensors and running the light.  Wesley likes to look at the readings with him.

He has learned how to wriggle out of his shoulder straps in his car seat.  (I've started crossing them so he can't.)  One morning after he'd wiggled out and was getting sleepy on the drive home, he was twisted around trying to see out the windshield and his head just dropped where it was.

Wesley as himself

Sitting on the bottom steps, enjoying the shade on a hot day.

Looking so handsome in his tie after church one Sunday.

He crawls up onto our bed and goes straight for the tablet then snuggles himself between our pillows.

At my parents, he again goes straight for the tablet, then sits on the little stool which is perfectly sized for him.

Hiding in an empty diaper box.

Testing the water.

Wanting to be like his daddy in every way, he hasn't quite mastered drinking out of a cup, but he's close.  Next best thing is to put his sippy cup in Gil's cup and pretend.

One of my friends made some homemade apple sauce.  It was really good.  Wesley thought so too.  We did not teach him to lick his bowl.

The kitchen chairs have long been pinned against the wall by the table but Wesley can still climb onto the shoe cubby and reach quite a few things on the kitchen counter.  He grabbed the bag of gingerbread cookies, opened the baggie (I didn't know he could do that), and started munching on a cookie until I caught him.  I love that face!

Making a decision

 My dad shared with me to following quote:

Alexander Fraser Tytler
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government.  It can only exist until voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.  The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.  These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."

The question I have been pondering for a handful of years now is how do I/you/we help without enabling?  I have yet to find the answer and I doubt there is an answer that will satisfy every situation.  

Macrame

I was chatting in the breezeway with a neighbor in my complex when I noticed through her partially open door a beautiful macrame wall-hanging in her living room.  I did some searching on line and discovered some really pretty items.  I decided to give it a try.

I first got some books from the library for information on tools, fibers, design ideas, and most of all, knots.

Then I drew out my pattern and figured out how many strands, length, etc.

I decided to practice first with some regular twine.

I bought cording and a dowel rod and went to work.

Ready to start tying knots.  

The knot tying was the best.  It was so relaxing to stand (or perch on the edge of our kitchen table) and tie knots and watch the design emerge.

I estimated the cording in feet then bought that many feet in yards by accident.  (It was fairly cheap so I didn't feel too bad.)  I cut my dowel in half and made two hanging shelves.  

I am absolutely delighted with how they turned out.  A really fancy shelf for baby wipes and butt paste.

Will I do this again... I don't know.  I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I enjoyed it enough to order more cord.  I still have one whole skein left so we'll see what I do with it.