Snow Day!

We've had some winter weather come through this weekend resulting in 7-8" of snow. This is our second big snow of the year (how unusual!).  We ventured out for a little while today (yesterday was too blessed cold to leave the house) and found out that Jeremiah is just like Mommy & Daddy - not a big fan of the snow. He enjoyed a few minutes, but then was ready to come in and get warm!

So glad Mimi picked up these snow boots for Little J - much better than the Ziploc bags I made him wear last snow :)

Love, love, LOVE that little boy!

Attempting to "sled" with Daddy's help.

We decided we need to invest in a sled - the laundry basket just didn't cut it (watch the video below).

Such a cute face!

Happy Birthday G-pa!

Even though we're not with you on your birthday to celebrate, we wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday, G-pa!

I know this is not a recent picture, but it's still my favorite picture of the two of you...EVER!

We hope you & Mimi enjoy a "white birthday" together. Love you lots!

Sick Boy

Jeremiah woke up this past Monday with a fever of 103.5 - probably his highest temperature yet. After a trip to the pediatrician ruling out EVERYTHING, we came home to rest, get plenty of fluids, and keep the Motrin flowing. Sweet boy drifted off to sleep on the couch while watching TV.

 Even though I hated him not feeling well, I really enjoyed the extra snuggles. He was so stinkin' sweet!

I want to play OUTSIDE!

Jeremiah does not care what the temperature is outside, he just wants to be OUT! Seriously, this kid loves the outdoors. Fine by me (except when it's exceptionally cold or scorchingly hot) because it wears his little hiney out & he sleeps GOOD. We've had an extremely cold winter with many daytime highs in the 30s. Yuck! These pictures are from a 30-degree day. I took J out with the intention of playing for just a minute or two (to corral Baxter back inside). He threw a toddler-fit when I wanted him to come in. He didn't care that he was just in sweats & his runny nose was starting to freeze to his face!

He is loving his new NB Sesame Street Tennis Shoes.

These next two pictures just make me laugh a lot. He was tripping over some tree roots & trying not to fall. But his face & stance looks like it's telling a different story...

Thankfully he let me dress him warmly so we could go back out & play for a while longer without worrying about frostbite!

I'm so thankful we've enjoyed a few days of spring-like weather recently to remind me why I love NC!

Of course tomorrow's high is 39 again...bummer.

Children's Museum

Jeremiah received a membership to the local Children's Museum as a Christmas present. What an awesome present that keeps giving all year! We have already been taking advantage of this by going on Mondays when the museum is just open to members. It's so nice because there are so few people that J can really just run & enjoy himself without Mommy worrying about losing him or getting toppled by older kids. The museum has lots of different themed rooms to play in, but during this visit we mainly played in the Krispy Kreme "factory" and the mini-Food Lion.

I'm definitely like Pavlov's dogs...this sign makes my mouth drool. How disappointing that there are only plastic donuts available? :(

Here is J (in his KK apron) looking up at the conveyor belt. You have to turn that big wheel to get the donuts to go up & to the next part of the "assembly line".

After we finished making the donuts, Jeremiah needed to deliver them in the KK truck!

The steering wheel was a bit too far away from the seat so he had to stand. Who needs to see out the windshield anyway!

Right next door is the Food Lion.

Complete with check-out lanes

and pint-sized shopping carts.

In true Jeremiah fashion, he just wanted to play with the fruit.

He spent most of his time opening & closing these half-doors. He loved it because (1)it was his height and (2)he could see me through the big circular glass.

There are lots of other fun rooms at the museum too (including a "Build-it" Room that has LEGO!), but these were the only pictures I snapped so far.

Bear Hat

It's no surprise that it's been COLD around here lately. Jeremiah has gotten great use out of the hats his Nana knit for him. My favorite is this bear hat. It's fitting since we sometimes call him "Bear," plus it looks so cute with all of his blue & brown clothes. Jeremiah absolutely loves to wear these hats. He'll keep them on even when we're not outside. He's just too much sometimes! :)

I just love those big blue eyes!

What a cute Daddy our little bear has! ;-)

Practicing for Turning Two

Jeremiah,

Last week you decided you really wanted to practice being two (see photo above for proof). FYI buddy - you won't turn two for over 6 months. Thank you for turning back into my sweet, 1.5 year old. Let's put off those "terrible twos" for as long as we can.

Love you to a million pieces,

Mommy

Sleepy Boy

Jeremiah has never been a child to just fall asleep anywhere. It has always had to be in someone's arms (when he was young) or in his crib. He's not a carseat sleeper & I have no cute photos from where he's fallen asleep in his highchair, exersaucer, or even on his playmat when he was young. Just not his thing. Well, today I finally got one of those cute pictures!

I put him in his room with the gate up so he could play & I could clean the bathrooms in peace. He was happily playing when I told him I'd be right back upstairs. I just needed to clean the downstairs bathroom (very small half-bath - short & sweet to clean). Well, this is what I found 3 minutes later once I was finished downstairs and ready to give him some lunch (because it was only 12:20):

I guess the sleepiness just overcame him! The lights were on & the radio was loud, but it obviously didn't bother him one bit. Thankfully, I successfully turned off the lights & radio and moved him to his crib. Here's hoping he takes a long nap - he must need it!

Holiday Season Wrap-Up

We spent our last long weekend of the holiday season just hanging out at home with our little family. Sunday, the Wolfpack played Florida in basetball. My men were all dressed in their red & white. They look so cute!

This is what they looked like after we lost the game in OT with a STUPID fouling strategy.

Check out the last few seconds of the game...

I can't believe that kid made that shot. Ugh...it's going to be a LONG season.

I just think this picture is ironic since Josh & I went to "Cow College" or as some like to refer to it, "Moo-U"

I finally upgraded all of J's Duplo blocks out of that hideous orange container and into a basket suitable for our family room. He's loving it...can't you tell?

And yes, that is the TV remote in the basket with him. Silly boy! "Like father, like son" I suppose.

Speaking of the father, or as I sometimes call him, my LEGO Lover, he has created his own blog. He's already hi-jacked a few of my photos, so I thought I'd take one of his. Hope on over & read about his meanderings.

Getting so smart!

Some days it's just hard to believe Little J is growing up so fast! He understands everything you say to him (is not a fan of the word "No") and "talks" so much everyday too. He wants you to understand what he's saying so bad and will repeat the same thing over & over emphatically to get you to understand. Some of his words are actually starting to become a bit more clear so that I can understand him - yay!

We're having a lazy morning today (the last of our holiday break), so Josh got up with J & let me sleep in - he's a good man! I came down to find them playing with the big basket of Duplo blocks. Just in the last few minutes I have been amazed at what J can communicate & do!

1) J had something in his hand & I wasn't sure if he built it or if Daddy did. It was pretty simple, but very colored coordinated. So I said, "Jeremiah, did you build that or did Daddy build it?" His response was a very emphatic sentence of his "words" with a very clear "Daddy" thrown in there. And he was right - Daddy did build it!

2)  A few minutes later, Josh built him a Duplo airplane and handed it over. He immediately picked it up & flew it through the air with a "whooshing" sound, just like a plain does! He'll also take the Duplos that have wheels and roll them on the ground like a car/truck does. I certainly don't talk much about how planes & cars go (I'm much too girlie to even really think about that), so I guess he's just picked it up from his surroundings.  Or maybe it's just an innate boy thing.

I'm in amazement at his constant growth & develop with basically no "academic" teaching or pressure from me. Despite my early thoughts on him needing lots of academic growth & guidance, I've really come to a great mental place lately where I just want him to be a kid, play, & have fun! He'll learn through all of his experiences much more so than if I make him sit down and "learn" a different letter/number/color/whatever each week.

We received a family membership to the W-S Children's Museum for the next year & I'm so excited. This will be a great place for him to learn through play and interact with lots of other children.  Plus it's a great, now FREE to us option to get out of the house. If you are someone local that reads this blog & has a small child, I HIGHLY recommend going. And we'll be up to going with you too if you want a playdate! :)