Our own little Mater

For the past three weeks, I've been telling this story to anyone who will listen so I figured I'd finally put it down for posterity.

The other day, Moses and I were playing with a battery-operated car in the driveway when it fell off the driveway into the grass. I heard Moses say something under his breath and then he bolted into the house. He reemerged, with his tow truck, and proceeded to tow his car onto the driveway! It. was. the. cutest. thing.

By the way, Moses calls tow trucks "car ups."

A boy and his bike

Moses loves his tricycle these days. So much so that this was the scene at nap time today:

My little tadpoles

I'm not sure if it was the tree and snail motif on Milo's pajamas but Moses thought Milo's belly was a good place for his frogs. Then, he found the superfluous little pocket and had to put a frog in there too.



I was able to snap some of Moses and Milo together, which is usually a pretty tough feat. Strangely, it's Moses who is the difficult one to photograph: he's usually a big, weird mouthed blur.



Milo was enamored with Moses the whole time we were playing on the floor. He just kept watching and smiling at his big brother.

Car-razy

Moses has always been car crazy, but after receiving some Matchbox cars over the weekend, he's taken it to a new level: he doesn't let the cars leave his sight and has slept with a front-end loader at least once this week.

Below he is transporting dirt in his dump truck from one end of the bench to the other and swinging with cement mixer and the same dump truck. I'm getting pretty good at naming vehicles.

Me and Moses: On the Road

Last weekend, Moses and I ventured to Wichita Falls for my sister Raychel's high school graduation. This trip marked our first road trip as a duo, sans daddy and other companions. I was worried how he'd handle nearly four hours in his rear-facing car seat so I scheduled our departure for his nap time. We left Lubbock on Friday morning around 10 a.m. and it was easy sailing for most of the trip. He napped for an hour-and-a-half after we left town and woke up at our halfway mark just in time for some leg stretching and diaper changing. The rest of the way I tried to keep him busy with random toys and miscellaneous things found in my purse. It worked and we got into Wichita Falls without a single fit.

Raychel's graduation was very sweet and intimate since she went to a small Christian school and graduated with only 7 other kids. I only got to see the beginning of the pomp and circumstance though because Moses insisted on running around and not playing nicely in the seat beside me. We ended up walking the perimeter of her school umpteen times in the terrible humidity, but it was better than having "that kid."

Lots of family was in town for the occasion so Moses got to see, and, in some cases, meet for the first time, great-grandparents, grandparents, great aunts and uncles, cousins removed or something like that, and aunts. With that many people around, he received oodles of attention and gifts that left him both super busy and exhausted. He played from sun up to sun down for the most part, enjoying the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, tricycle, and wagon my mom has been saving since my sisters' days on them and a lawn mower than his great aunt bought him. Thankfully, my family played with Moses a great deal and I was able to relax a bit. That heat was very tiring and my body did not want to keep up.

We left the following Monday, Memorial Day, and the return trip wasn't too bad either. He slept just as he had on the first leg and woke up in time to "mow" for a bit in Guthrie, the midway point. He really started get restless towards then and I pulled out all I could from my "mommy bag" by the time we got home.

Sadly, I left my memory card in our computer at home (but took my camera on the trip) so I couldn't take any pictures. The following were taken by my Aunt Sheri:



I'm hoping I'll get some more pictures from last weekend. There were some great moments and I wish I had had my own camera to capture them!

-Lindsey

Straw! Cups!

To complement my previous post about weaning, I thought I'd talk about Moses' new cups! We've been trying to ditch the bottles for sippy cups, but Moses hasn't been a fan of that idea. He'll occasionally drink water or juice from a sippy cup but not enough to constitute change. And, the idea of drinking milk from anything but a bottle, puh-lease!

The only "in" we have is that Moses loves drinking from our cups, especially when a straw is involved. I even bought Dave and myself some neon, bendy straws to encourage Moses to drink from cups more, but that creates a fair amount of drink-hogging on Moses' part. So, yesterday I went on the hunt for some straw cups for Moses and found some great ones from the Take N' Toss line.

When we got home, I filled one with water and gave it to Moses. He smiled so big, as if saying, "This. cup. is. mine?" I wish I had captured that first meeting on camera--he could have been the new poster boy for all things strawed. He hasn't completely mastered the cup and attempts to hold it up like a bottle from time to time, but luckily, it doesn't spill and he's learning that he can't drink with it elevated like that.


The cutest thing about yesterday's meet and greet is that he kept putting the straw cup on his favorite toy, a miniature wooden chair, and pushing it around the house. If he's already introducing the straw cup to THE green chair, he's smitten.


Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a beautiful relationship and we can soon move beyond bottles.

-Lindsey

A Story in Pictures: Mobility

-Lindsey

A Pool's Paradise

Today at Wal-Mart, I picked up a baby pool for the Mos-meister. I don't know why I hadn't bought one before, but with such a hot summer, it's better late than never.
When we got home, I set up the Rainbow Baby Pool in the shade and filled it with a teensy bit of warm hose water. It felt lovely, bath time lovely.
Since we were in the privacy (and shade) of our backyard, Moses played "Nude Beach" and enjoyed some diaper-free time. It was a riot. He thought he was taking the BEST BATH EVER.

-Lindsey

Kingpin

Today at Target, I picked up a plastic bowling set they had in the über-fabulous dollar aisle. I could not have made a better purchase: in just the three hours we've been home, it's proved itself invaluable in terms of teaching him cause and effect. He ceaselessly swats at the erect pins and then watches them scatter and spin on our wood floor.
The only downside of such an economically-minded purchase: the bowling balls. They do not follow the accepted behavior of all things round and, instead, teach him that balls behave as boomerangs and magically return after each roll.

-Lindsey

Mmmm, elephant...

What can I say, the kid's got an appetite! Who can blame him? Purple elephant is so rare in these parts.

Whew, I'm glad this week is over! It's been a doozy. First, Dave and I are back in school, and we can't say that we missed it. Second, I passed a kidney stone on Wednesday. I was home alone with a napping Mos, which was scary, and I only assumed that I was dying and wouldn't live to see another day, let alone that evening's episode of LOST. Thankfully, Dave and Sally (Gran) rushed here right away. Gran took care of Moses while Dave went to the hospital with me. I'm better now, but I'm really hoping that my right kidney purged itself of all calcifications in that one instance. I don't know that I could stand another attack!

On the growing baby boy front, Moses is doing fantastic. He's really using his hands and understanding how beneficial those strange appendages are. He's really been into playing with his activity mat, especially that purple elephant, which has crinkle-paper ears and vibrates when manipulated just right. Today, for the first time, he tuckered himself out and fell asleep right in the middle of playing. He'd wake, attempt to play, but then nod off before any success. It was hilarious.

Before


After

Moses' new schedule is progressing well. Today he's taken 3 naps, two of which met our one-and-a-half to two-hour goal. And yes, in the picture he's asleep on his stomach, but we monitor him carefully. This weekend we'll start his transition from bedtime in my arms to bedtime in the crib. Wish us luck!



-Lindsey