Weird Kid or Artistic Genius

Daddy assembled Wesley's new easel before work this morning. Wesley has now discovered the joy of chalk, or as he puts it "chalks." When he was ready to leave Grandma and Grandpa P.'s today he told me he had to go home and get his chalks. So what does he do with his chalk? He puts it in his toy refrigerator and puts his play food in the tray of the easel. Note the eggplant in the right hand tray -->

G.H. & F. Widow

Why do I have a suspicion that I may never see my hubby again? The first reason is that NFL football starts tonight. I don't consider myself too much of a football widow, because I also like to watch the games - it's just that Duane likes to watch every game, regardless of who is playing. I keep up the best I can, but to be honest, if it isn't the Buckeyes, the Browns or the Super Bowl, I"m not horribly interested.

My more immediate widowhood has to do with Guitar Hero. Ever since Duane was exposed to it at Kirk and Susan's he's been obsessed. Playing it at Kate and Greg's the other day only fueled the fire. Last night we went out and bought a PS2, a wireless guitar and Guitar Hero 1 & 2. Oh! And a memory card to save the games! Duane's cousin came over last night to play. I have no idea what time Duane came to bed, but I know he was happy.

Please know that I am grumping good-naturedly about this. Duane NEVER buys anything for himself. In fact, he tells me he'd prefer I buy things for me. But he works so hard and is such a good man and daddy. If he wants a new game and gaming system, he should have it. Of course, we're calling it his birthday present too - that sucker wasn't cheap!

Daddy's Job

You may remember that a few weeks ago Wesley told me that his daddy was Superman. Well, it seems that Duane has switched jobs. This morning after Duane left for work, Wesley crawled into bed with me.

Wesley: "Daddy gone."

Mommy: " Yep. Daddy had to go to work today."

Wesley: "Daddy at work. He saving baby armadillo"

Mommy: "Daddy is saving an armadillo?"

Wesley: "Yes! Daddy save armadillo in trouble."

Guess Daddy's new job is being Diego.

Great Aunt, Great Day

Wesley and I took at trip to the north to visit Great Aunt Carol today. As a kid, I always thought Aunt Carol was the best. She always had time to play a game, read a story and she always had Certs mints in her purse. Best of all, she always had time for me and Kirk. I'm so glad Wesley gets to spend some quality time with her - it's like having one more grandma.


Wesley behaved himself so well considering all the running around Carol and I did. We went to the post office, to Ollies (a terrific discount store where I bought way too many books) and then had lunch at the golden arches. Bless her heart, Carol even volunteered to sit in the play area so Wesley could run around. There's something special about going to a McDonald's in my aunt's town. My grandpa used to work as a customer relations person at a McDonald's and I always associate eating there with him - even though we weren't at the one he worked at. I think he would have gotten a real kick out of seeing his great-grandson having such a good time at Mickey D's.


After lunch, we headed to the Ohio State Reformatory. It's a beautiful old building that has not only been used in several movies (most famously, Shawshank Redemption) but also has some family history for me. No, no one in my family was an inmate - that I know of - but my great (or great-great) uncle used to work in the mail room there. When my Grandma M. was a girl, she and her sisters were friends with the warden's family and would sometimes perform concerts there, or picnic on the lawn. Aunt Carol currently works in the gift shop. On the other side of the family, my dad's stepdad (my Grandpa D.) once worked as a guard in the dairy at the reformatory, so I definitely have some family ties to the old place.


As soon as the building was in sight, Wesley said "Look at the castle! I want go in castle!" He's right too, the old reformatory really does look like a gothic castle.


We didn't take a tour per se, but Carol took us into some of the cell blocks and into the solitary confinement area. Supposedly the place is haunted, and it's very easy to believe in ghosts when you are walking around there. The whole time we were there Wesley kept telling us he heard something. "What's that noise? I hear something," he'd say. It started to creep me out a little, but then I reminded myself that yesterday in the car he told me he heard something and when I asked him what it was he said "Ants."


Once we were finished at the reformatory, we headed into town to the carousel. Wesley was so excited when he heard the music that he ran into the pavilion. We had to ride it twice and both times, Wesley chose to ride a cat. For the first ride the cat was orange and resembled Sanders. For the second ride, Wesley chose a pirate cat. During the ride I asked Wesley what a pirate cat said. His reply? "Arrr. Meow matey!" That cracked Carol and the carousel operator up!








This is so much fun!






Aunt Carol liked it almost as much as Wesley!








Arrr! Meow Matey!







We managed to squeeze in a visit to a very sweet dog named Betty Wiggles before Wesley crashed. He slept the entire ride home (about an hour) and I had to pry him out of the car seat. All in all, it was an awesome day. Thanks Aunt Carol!

Labor (Day) of Love

What a busy busy Labor Day the W. family had! When we left the house this morning, I had no idea that we'd be gone for 10 hours! It didn't seem like that long though, the day flew by!

We kicked off the day with a trip to the flea market in Duane's hometown. The flea market is held on Memorial Day and Labor Day on the town green. In my humble opinion, the Labor Day flea market is far superior because that is when they also have the ox roast. Now don't freak out on me, no one sees an actual ox being roasted, but we all enjoy the yummy ox sandwiches for lunch, followed by homemade ice cream made by the Methodist church.

We always make a few small purchases at the flea market, but this year we came home with a real prize - a small upright piano for Wesley! When he first heard it, he broke into a huge grin! Maybe we have a little musician on our hands.

Since we were in Duane's hometown, we stopped in to see Grandma W. and while we were there, a miracle occurred. Wesley FINALLY - after 2 years - warmed right up to her! They talked and played dinosaurs and looked at all of Grandma's knick-knacks. Wesley even cuddled up with her on the couch.

He further impressed his Grandma W. by singing her his tiger song - and "composing" a bear song right before her very eyes! Wesley discovered that his tiger song can become any kind of song by substituting another word for tiger. By the end of the day we had sung a tiger song, a bear song, a Stinky Bear song, a rabbit song, a puppy song, a cat song and a Mommy song. Whew!

After visiting we Grandma W. for a while, we drove on up the road to visit Great Grandma. Wesley made sure to turn on the charm and even shared his goldfish crackers with Great Grandma. To top it all off, he blew her a kiss as we were leaving.

On our way back into town, we accepted an impromptu dinner invitation from Grandma and Grandpa P. Wesley spent the evening begging Popsicles from Grandma and being absolutely smitten with Uncle Stacey. In fact, at the the end of the night Wesley told us he was going home with Uncle Stacey! When Uncle Stacey gets his basement "man room" finished, I think he'll have a frequent visitor!

Oh! In case you are wondering where Grandma and Grandpa H. are (since we normally see them almost every day) they are vacationing in Seattle to visit Uncle Dave, Auntie Sam and cousins Greg and Geoffrey. Wesley asked to see his Grandma and Grandpa H. this morning and I told him they were not home, that they were in Seattle. His response? "I want to go to Seattle."

Toddler Times Two

We finally got the opportunity to spend some time with our friends Kate, Greg and Colin today. Even though we don't live very far apart, I think it's been nearly a year since we've spent some good quality time together. They were kind (read: brave) enough to invite us to spend the afternoon with them and we had the most wonderful time.

Colin and Wesley are almost exactly nine months apart and considering they are both two and don't really know each other, they played pretty well together. Yes, there was some grabbing and some whining and a few tears, but there were also hugs, smiles and giggles.

What didn't we do today? The boys played in the bounce house. Daddy and Greg played guitar hero. Wesley LOVED Colin's twin sized bed. Wesley's bed is a converted crib and I think he feels a little cheated. When he had the inevitable meltdown, he ran straight to Colin's room and climbed into the bed. Colin followed him with his boo-boo bunny to make Wesley feel better.

For Wesley, the highlight of the day was finally getting to go to the bunny park with the fountains. We stayed until he was good and pruney, but I think Wesley would have been content to stay for hours more.





Check out all the really cool fountains!








Colin and Wesley shared some of Wesley's special "coffee"











One happy kid!





Kate and Greg - thank you so much for having us over. We had a fantastic time. Let's please do it again soon!

Cozy Cousins

Yesterday Wesley and I tagged along with Grandma H. to visit my stepbrother, his wife and their youngest. Wesley had a great time visiting Uncle Greg, Aunt Polly and his cousin Charli. They have a great yard and since Charli is only a couple years older than Wesley, there were lots of toys to play with. Not to mention the fact that Charli is an absolute cutie pie and Wesley really has a thing for cute older girls. It was great watching them play together - I just wish they didn't live almost an hour away.








Playing hopscotch. Wesley didn't get it, but he loved following Charli.







Charli took Wesley for a tour of the yard in her jeep.








The swings are always a big hit








Check out the climber!











Charli and Wesley check out the riding mower. I think they were cooking up a yard work business.







Thanks for letting us visit Uncle Greg and Aunt Polly. Hope we can see you again soon!

Let the Terriffic Twos Begin!

Happy Birthday to Wesley!!! My sweet little boy turned two today. While the rest of the nation was holding it's breath as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast, I was bearing down in a completely different way!

Wesley kicked off his birthday with his dinosaurs. It was the best bit of imaginative play I've witnessed to date. "Come on dinosaurs," he said. "I have some food for you." Wesley then went in the kitchen, got a loaf of bread out of his play food drawer, put it in a play skillet and took it to the dining room table where all his dinosaurs were waiting. He climbed up in a chair and proceeded to feed each dinosaur.

After Wesley and the dinosaurs finished their breakfast, we went to see Dr. Matt for the boy's two year check up. Wesley stands a whopping 34 1/4 inches and weighs in at 28.5 pounds. He's in the 50th percentile for weight right now - which is the highest he's ever been on the chart. He got a clean bill of health overall and didn't get any shots. Whoo hoo!

We accompanied Grandma H. to the mall where she needed to get some clothes for her upcoming trip to the west coast. Wesley picked out two polo shirts for himself - one orange striped and the other a very bright yellow. Trust me, I'll be able to pick this kid out a crowd. Of course, Grandma and I began the true spoiling of Wesley while we were shopping. First of all, we went to Von Maur (swanky). Wesley had a fantastic time in their dressing room while Grandma was trying on clothes.






WOW! Check out all those good looking guys!










I know Mom put a snack in here somewhere....










FOUND IT!








Grandma, aren't you done yet?





After we finished at Von Maur, Grandma and I stopped at the Godiva chocolate store for a little treat. Now, it would be especially rude to eat chocolate in front of a toddler on his birthday, so we got him a piece too. Wesley's first piece of high-end chocolate was a white chocolate starfish with raspberry filling and let me tell you, he quite enjoyed it! I hope this doesn't mean he starts to turn his nose up at Hershey's!

Wesley's birthday dinner came in the form of his first ever trip to Chuck E. Cheese. He was quite enamoured of the toddler play area - especially the slide - and even said hi to the big mouse himself! Not bad.

Down the slide of the millionth time

Wesley's first video game. It lasted all of 20 seconds.

Taking a ride on the fire truck was cool!

YUM! Pizza and juice for dinner!!!

We went back to Grandma and Grandpa H.'s for pupcakes and ice cream with them, Great Aunt Carol and cousin Al.

Happy second birthday Wesley! We love you so much! You are the greatest!

Shades of Jurassic Park

Wesley has spent part of the evening coming up with new and interesting ways to combine his birthday toys. First the dinosaurs ate all the plastic food, then they took over the Matchbox construction site. He's been calling it the "dinosaur playground." Jurassic Park, anyone?

Lesson Learned

There is definitely such a thing as "too much party" for a nearly two year old. We celebrated Wesley's birthday yesterday - a few days early. Somewhere I got the bright idea that we should just have one big party for all our family and friends, which amounted to way too much. Wesley was overwhelmed and completely cranky by the end of it. But there were some bright spots.Trying to blow out the candle.

Open wide!

That's some good cake, Daddy!

No! I never like parties!

He's a Smooth Operator

Little girls of the world better look out! Wesley is becoming quite the smooth toddler. I told you about him trying a pick up line at the zoo yesterday, right? Well, last night he tried a new line on Mommy. I changed into a new brightly colored nightgown (white with hot pink, lime green and black in a very funky floral) while Wesley was taking a bath. When he saw the nightgown, he literally looked me up and down, waited a moment, then said "New dress is pretty, Mommy."

The compliments kept coming this morning, as Wesley complimented my shirt for work. He loves this one because it has some sparkles on it. "Like shirt Mommy. Like coins." He calls the sparkles "coins." Looks like I'll have my own fashion advisor in a few years.

Zooperific Day

Wesley, Grandma H. and I ran around all day long - but what a great day!

The first stop of the day was the zoo. Wesley was really excited about heading to the zoo today. In fact he was so excited that he willingly got dressed (including shoes) and hurried out to the car. The zoo wasn't very crowded - go figure with 95+ degree temperatures. Grandma and I decided we would just visit the North American and Asia exhibits. That way we wouldn't be walking all over the place and Wesley would get to see all the animals he wanted to. Oh! I forgot to mention that in the car he told us he wanted to see "giants, bears, cats, otters, elephants and tigers" at the zoo. We saw everything except the giants and even sang his "tiger song" to the tigers. It's a very complex song that Wesley composed earlier in the week. Let me teach it to you. It goes "La la la tiger song." The tigers were very impressed.

Wesley had four favorite things at the zoo today.

Favorite thing one was the train. Yep! Wesley had his first train ride today. He wouldn't sit down the whole time. He stood and held onto the rail with a huge grin on his face. The train ride was such a hit that Grandma and I had to physically carry him off the train. I think he would have stayed on the train all day if we let him. The picture is of him waiting for the ride to begin.

Favorite thing two was the water misters the zoo puts out when the weather is really hot so the visitors can cool off. They are heaven to a toddler! Wesley was a little shy about the first one we encountered, but I walked through it and called it a shower, which made all the difference. Wesley would first walk through it slowly and lift his face to the mist. Then he'd take off running as fast as he could, back and forth through it. He insisted that "Mommy run. Get wet." and "Gramma run. Get wet." I think we managed to go through every mister on that side of the zoo.

Favorite thing number three was also my favorite thing at the zoo. We spent a very long visiting the river otters. When we first arrived at their habitat, both the otters were sleeping and we had to be content to watch them snore away in their den. But after a few minutes, one of the otters woke up and decided it was time for a swim. It was love at first splash for the boy. He giggled and talked to the otter and even banged his head on the glass a few times while trying to keep the otter in his sight.

Equally cute in the otter habitat was watching Wesley try and pick up a little girl about his age. And I don't mean he physically tried to pick her up, I mean he pulled the whole Joey Tribiani
"How you doing?" pick up. Seriously, he went up to this little girl and tried to hug her and said "How you doing?" Boy, he's starting young.


Favorite thing three was the water monitor in the Asia exhibit. Of course, Wesley has no idea what a water monitor is, so he called it a crocodile. Close enough. Wesley was both fascinated and scared by the water monitor. He couldn't take his eyes off it, but had to be practically sitting on me the entire time. If I moved even an inch, so did Velcro Wesley. My favorite part was when the water monitor started flicking his tongue and Wesley did the same thing. I wish I could have peeled him off me long enough to take a video of that! BTW, the picture at the right was NOT taken by me.


After the zoo we stopped at a new cupcake bakery. Wesley slept through that stop, but he'll sure love the "pupcake" after dinner. Then we went to a used kids clothing store to look for a puppy costume for Halloween. I can't believe I was lucky enough to find one for only $6 in his size!! He's going to make such a cute puppy!



We grabbed lunch and Wesley chowed down on chips, grilled cheese and an Oreo. This is only the second Oreo he's ever had and he probably doesn't remember the first one. He REALLY enjoyed it. Especially when the top cookie fell off and he discovered the creme center. Then he busied himself licking the creme out of the middle! Definitely his Mommy's kid.

We ended our errands by going to the toy store. Wesley was an angel there! He entertained himself the entire time by singing Laurie Berkner songs from the CD we had listened to all day. Wow! I love that boy!

Tushie Monster

Wesley is enthralled by the polka dot pajama bottoms I'm wearing. He keeps chasing me around the house, poking my rear end and chanting "Tushie, tushie, tushie. We want tushie!" Eeeek!! He's turned into a Tushie Monster!

No Takers

Thank goodness there were no takers on my "Toddler for Sale" posts. My lovey sweet little boy is back (for the most part). Duane went in to check on Wesley at about 10:30 last night and discovered that he was STILL awake and reading in bed! Maybe a night up was the way to go, because Wesley was actually pleasant this morning. Poor Sanders bore the brunt of the improved mood. Wesley kept putting his hard hat on the cat and telling me that "Sanders is big and strong." Hummm....perhaps there is a direct correlation between my cat's happiness and that of my toddler's?

Toddler for Sale - Price Reduced

Wesley's mood has not improved since my last post. This was the scenario at our house this morning.

Me: Let’s get your shoes on to go to Grandma and Pops
CrankBiscuit Beaster: No! I never go Gramma Pops!
Me: Do you want to take your water with you?
CBB: No! I never take water!
Me: OK, let’s go outside and get in the car.
CBB: No! I never get in car!

Wesley acted better when he got to Grandma and Grandpa H.'s, but he had no use for me. There was no hug for mommy. No kiss for mommy. When I called mid-morning to check on him, Grandma tried to put him on the phone.

Grandma: Want to say hi to Mommy?
CBB: No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

And just to make certain I felt good and rotten, when I walked in the house to pick Wesley up he started screaming "No Mommy! No Mommy! No Mommy!"

Dinner tonight was a painful repeat of last night. Could someone please find the sweet little boy that use to live here and switch him with the CBB? Please!?!?

Toddler for Sale

OK, not really, but Wesley is fully embracing his almost two-ness this evening. He threw such a fit at dinnertime! I would have been impressed if I wasn't so appalled! We put him in his highchair for dinner and he threw such a fit I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa P. and Grandma W. could hear him a county away. Wesley informed us that he was "never" going to eat ("never" now follows no as in "No. I never change diaper"). We told him that was fine, but dinner was family time and he had to sit in his highchair while we ate. Enter the screaming and the tears for a good 10 minutes. He finally asked to get "down please" so we let him down. Once the tears finally stopped, Wesley consented to eat a couple tablespoons of freeze-dried veggies and fruit, which is better than nothing, but he can forget about that pupcake tonight!

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Daddy!

Did you know I am married to a superhero? It's true! We were riding in the car today when Wesley very calmly informed us, "My dad is Superman." Guess Duane's secret identity is a secret no more.

Happy Birthday Caitlyn

Today we went to Caitlyn's 2nd birthday party! Duane works with Caitlyn's daddy and she and Wesley were born 11 days apart. Too bad Wesley was fairly anti-social during the party. While the other kids played outside, Wesley preferred to have daddy read to him or to play with the pretend food you can "cut" in half. Wesley sure perked up during the singing of "Happy Birthday" though! He looked at everyone and grinned his biggest grin. I think he thought it was his birthday! He was pretty impressed with the cake too.

Thanks to the birthday party we also witnessed a fairly major miracle - Wesley willingly wearing sunglasses (they were a party favor!)

Gifties

We have been talking a lot about Wesley's upcoming birthday. I'm not sure he gets it yet, but that doesn't stop me from planning. We've been reading Spot's Birthday Party nearly everyday. At the end of the book I sing "Happy Birthday" to Spot and then I tell Wesley his birthday is coming soon. Apparently at least part of the message is getting through to Wesley. This morning he handed me his plastic cups of pretend milk and juice from his kitchen set. As he handed them to me he said, "Milk. Juice. Happy Birthday to you!" I guess calcium and vitamin C are pretty good gifts, at least from a toddler.

Toddler Talk

Wesley's conversational skills continue to surprise me. I was craving some chocolate BIG TIME today, so we made a quick stop at Target on the way to Grandma and Grandpa H.'s. Wesley was in full "big boy" mode and was not interested in holding my hand or riding in a cart. He was being good and staying close to my side, but I must have taken too long in the candy aisle because he darted away from me. I retrieved him from the next aisle over and told him that I would just be minute longer in picking out my chocolate. At the word chocolate his little ears perked up he began to study the shelves intently. I decided that it was as good a time as any to spoil my son and kill his appetite, so I told him he could pick out some chocolate too. "What kind of chocolate do you want?" I asked. Wesley looked over the shelves again, then noticed a poster of some M&Ms. He pointed to it and said "Want chocolate boons (balloons)!" Chocolate balloons it was! He munched happily on a couple in the car and a few more after lunch. BTW, in case you didn't know, at 23 months Wesley is already a a full blown chocoholic.

The bribe of chocolate balloons must of paid off for me because I got a surprise visit from Wesley and Grandma H. at work today. Rumor has it he kept asking to go see Mommy. Sigh, melt, melt. Wesley must think I spend an awful lot of time at work though, because as they pulled into the parking lot, he told Grandma they were at "Mommy's house." Oh well, there are days I feel I live there.

Pupcakes

There is one dessert Wesley likes almost as much as Popsicles and that would be cupcakes. Or as Wesley says "Pupcakes."

Pupcakes require a serious clean up!

Anyone Have Bug Spray?

Wesley and I went to a local park with Grandma & Grandpa H., Sho and Kei today. Daddy wasn't feeling well so he stayed home and Aunt Cathy had a meeting to attend. The park we went to has a special exhibit going on of giant wooden bugs. I wasn't sure if Wesley would like them or be scared of them. Turns out he really liked them.


Wesley's favorite bug by far was the giant spider - which is very appropriate considering our last name. We spent a great deal of time standing in front of the giant web singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider." When the rest of the group was ready to move on, Wesley continued to stand in front of the web and talk to spider. Of course, we are speaking of Wesley, it would be more accurate to say he talked and talked and talked and talked to the spider. Grandma H. finally had to pick him up and carry him off. Too funny!


The boys favorite part of the afternoon though was when we wandered into the kids area and found a water table. Sho and Kei were pretty content to splash around and try to put rocks in the table. Wesley on the other hand, thought it looked like a fantastic place to get a drink. Now, you all know that Wesley is obsessed with dogs, right? Take a look at how he decided to get a drink:

Wesley, Sho and Kei really liked playing in the "ant hill" too. Wesley was a little afraid of the tunnel at first, which is kins of strange considering that he calls everything a tunnel! Once I went through it a few times he fine.

After the park we met up with Daddy and Aunt Cathy for dinner. Wesley ate a lot, but was so badly behaved in the restaurant it was embarrassing! He finally turned to me and said "Go home and see our kitties." I can take that kind of hint. We packed it up then and there and said our goodbyes. Wesley fell asleep in the car. He woke up about 20 minutes ago. I think we're going to do a quick tooth brushing, bath and bed - for all of us!