The Last Few Weeks

Following are a bunch of pictures and videos from the last few weeks. First, we have Mr. Wyatt wearing his Oregon Ducks jersey. It was a sweet gift from Aunt Lori and Uncle Bruce. Paul had to get his head around this act of defiance, but he finally was won over and Wyatt wore it for the first time during the Rose Bowl. Go Ducks! And this was a very important game for Wyatt because it was during the Rose Bowl that he took his first steps! About one week ago, he began actually doing what I'd call "walking". When I dropped him off at school last Monday, I told his teacher that he had begun to walk about 70% of the time - just over the weekend. When I picked him up, his little daily report said, "Wyatt is not walking - - he's RUNNING!" But his first little steps were during this game. We've had the warmest winter I can remember, and so Paul and Greta took their time in raking the leaves this year. It was just as fun in January as in November, though.

Wyatt has reached the sorting stage, I guess. He loves to put little items into larger buckets or pans. He's also reached his "tupperware" stage - - and his favorite thing to do in the kitchen is to empty out the drawer full of kitchen utensils and tupperware.

Greta is still very handy around the house when we have projects. Here she is with glasses and cleaning supplies helping me clean up our stairs after doing some painting.

Love the goggles. Safety first!

Wyatt has been trying his hand at feeding himself with a spoon. We basically strip him down for this activity, though, since he's not a great shot yet. He's one interesting fellow when it comes to food and eating, in general. When Wy first started eating finger foods, he was so into it that he didn't want any part of anything that required a spoon. Then he switched and would only eat foods that were pureed - - this, long after his first birthday. Now he's kind of going back the other way again. Wy seems to only be interested in spooned food if he's the one in charge of the spoon.

Go State! Sorry, Sarah. We had a little party with these ladies a few weeks back for the U of M v. MSU basketball game. Greta and Wyatt love Kelly and Sarah and always look forward to their visits!

Greta has been very excited about writing and tracing during the last few months. Her 3's class focuses on a new letter each week and they do all sorts of activities and crafts with the letter all week long. She comes home each night very anxious to write her letters and to think of things that start with that letter. Greta is also starting to pick letters out on street signs and on all sorts of writings around her. She knows the starting letter for most of the members of our extended family - - E is for Emma and L is for Lori, for instance. Greta is also beginning to "read" books to us. She knows several from memory and it's a little bit uncanny how accurately she remembers what she's heard. It's almost as if she is really reading them. Speaking of her memory, Greta pulls bits of conversations we've had weeks or months prior and she recalls them during later conversations. For instance, we drove by some kids playing lacrosse the other day, and Greta said - - Parker and Uncle Bruce play lacrosse. The last time she talked about that fact was probably Christmas time. I told her that Lindsey hurt her ankle and Grandpa hurt his jaw, and Greta mentions the two of them about every other day to wonder if they are better and to send a prayer out for them. She's smart. That's all there is to it.

Wyatt - - well, he's pretty. Tutu and all. ;)

Greta has been keeping this collection of pinecones, leaves, and nuts since early fall. She was very interested then in the leaves. How they were changing, falling, and why it all happened that way. We got her a book on the process and learned quite a bit ourselves. Likewise, her interests in music and dinosaurs have led me to seek out things to stoke the fires a bit. She still listens for the trumpets in the orchestra and she loves T-Rex best. Greta's most recent obsession: birds. I got a bird feeder for Christmas (thanks Bridget!) and we hung it right outside of G's window. She can identify Cardinals, Robins, Doves, and Finches now. Paul cleaned out some old bird houses and then hung a new one outside of Wy's window. We check them every day or so - - but so far, no birds have moved in. I love what I'm learning from my three year old. I also love this collection of Greta's "special things" which includes items from nature right along with old stickers, random parts of toys, and plastic jewelry.

A few weeks ago, we had our two favorite families over for dinner, and we carefully posed them for a kid photo. Since Camille can't yet sit up - - she's being held. Sorry you are upside down, sweet Camille!

Wyatt thinks G's train set is fun!

Just thought this was a cute one. Every few Fridays, we have movie and popcorn night. This particular movie was Peanuts circa 1970-something. Pretty cute watching them sit together to watch.

Wyatt's growling at me! He's become really animated lately - doing a great deal of pointing and gesturing. He's also been biting and hitting, but we're working on that part. He's saying several words including, Greta, Mama, Dada, dog, thank-you, and more. And in a pinch, he can do the sign for "more" as well.

Wyatt's latest hobby, though, is hoarding! This is a photo of a most obvious example. He takes little toys and hides them in very specific places over and over again. Under Greta's bedroom chair is one of Wy's favorite places. But beyond that, he hoards other things as well: food under his legs or behind his back as he eats; anything he grabs goes between couch cushions or behind pillows; and tub toys get stuck behind shampoo bottles. If I have to go clean this kid's house one day because he's has newspaper floor to ceiling, I'm going to remember that this is how the hoarding began.

Here are four vidoes. The first one is of Greta and Paul during the Rose Bowl. Paul has stepped it up a notch - - now when they watch football, they get into position and tackle one another. The next video is of Wy's first steps. The third is one of Wyatt playing with Greta's train cars. You can see him looking for a car and then realizing that it's under G's chair. He plays with it for a bit and then sticks it back under her chair. Finally, the fourth video is just kind of a day in the life. This is a great summary of how these two are playing right now. And it's bound to change soon. As I mentioned earlier in this post, Wyatt is enjoying placing small items into larger bins, baskets, or in this case - in a little toy cooking pot. For upwards of four minutes, Wyatt takes a piece of play jewelry in and out of the pot. All the while, Greta is playing one of her many current scenarios. We know that she's deep in imaginary play when she calls me "Traci" and she calls her dad, "Paul". That means that she's either pretending to be our friend, our mother, or our sister. Or, in this scenario, she's playing preschool. I am the teacher and she is Wyatt's mom. She's dropping him off at school. In one part of this, she says something about how many bottles she's leaving for Wyatt and she tells me, the teacher, not to give Wyatt any cookies. :)

This is a large post, and it rather amazes me that all of this happened during the last few weeks of our lives. All of this will pass and change in the coming days or weeks and some new adventures, rhythms, and phases will begin and then begin to pass as well. I love capturing these moments so much. And thank you for paying attention, too.