Stephen builds

The local Lowe's has a program for kids to build something every other Saturday... Joe and I have always talked about taking Stephen because he's so enamored with tools (and with Lowe's). We actually remembered this week and since Stephen has been stuck at home for days with a cold, we figured it was time for an outing. The project was in a little room with some long tables at the front of the store. Some of the kids were already hammering their "ball toss" games when we got there and a long line of kids were behind us. We signed in and got the materials and safety goggles and Stephen was already whimpering "No..no...no..." The hammering sound intensified and tears started rolling down his cheeks. We decided not to torture him and the Lowe's folks were nice enough to let him take the kit, goggles, an apron and a patch home with him. So, Stephen and I made the game at home, where his own boisterous hammering didn't phase him. He's using his plastic hammer.... we took turns hammering and I used a real hammer :-)


Later, Joe and Stephen had fun throwing the soft balls that came with the kit at the board.

Snow days

We've had a few nights' dusting of snow here in Kentucky and chilly temperatures. Joe had off the first two days of the week, giving us some family time and me some R&R.

Stephen likes to climb up on the couch and watch the cars go by, narrating what he sees. Before he could talk, I used to try to teach him colors by saying "There's a red truck. There's a white truck" as the pickups drove by. Now he does it himself. :-)

Stephen quote of the day:
Me: Did you have a nice dream?
Stephen: There was a PUPPET show at the NEW CHURCH wif a DOGGIE!

A couple of Munchisms

This morning, Stephen's first words to me were: "I wanna hug an OSTRICH."
Later in the morning, we were reading one of his many Richard Scarry books. Stephen observed that Lowly worm didn't have any hands. This was quite troubling to Stephen, who repeated "Wowly Worm doesn't have any HANDS!" about twenty times. Then he directs his conversation to Lowly, saying, "Hold on, Wowly. I'll be right back." "Here, Wowly, here's some hands," he says while giving some imaginary hands to Lowly on the page.

He's also been forlorn over the departure of my mom (Grammy) and Jellycat, seen in these photos as the frontcat to Stephen's band. Don't tell Steve, but JellyCat is actually hanging out in the closet until my mom comes back in three weeks to help me with No. 2.

Stephen's new room

My mom is visiting again, and we're in the process of putting the finishing touches on the boys' room. I've had those Sterilite drawers since I was in college... they still looked pretty good, but I didn't like the way the drawer fronts were see-through. It made the room look so cluttered. We stopped at Hobby Lobby on our way home from the airport on Wednesday morning and picked out some fabrics in greens, blues and cream. I liked all three equally, so we got some of each. We opened and cut cereal box cardboard to fit the drawer fronts and used double-sided tape to wrap them in fabric. ...And voila! No more clutter and a really cute color-scheme to boot. Stephen happened to get in the photo. I think he's stuffing some toy tools under the changing pad.

This is their room from the door. Stephen's tools are strewn about, but you can get an idea of the layout. New Baby's crib is ready to go!

Things I'll want to remember

I really don't get the term "Terrible Twos"-- Admittently, we're only a little less than halfway through Stephen's Twos. But other than the ocassional tantrum, which for Stephen usually consist of him sitting or lying down on the ground and refusing to do something, he's been so much fun. He says the funniest things, his creativity is coming out more and more each day, and he's relatively obedient.

This morning, Joe's Blackberry went off around 5:30. Stephen started to cry, so Joe went in to see if he could coax him back to sleep. Stephen says in an accusative tone: "I heard a PHONE!!!"

Later, when it really was an appropriate time to wake up -- 6:30 -- Stephen pops out of his bedroom and makes a beeline for the kitchen. I give him some milk and this puts him in a good mood. We say good-bye to Joe around 7:00 and Stephen catches a glimpse of the huge swarms of blackbirds that make our skies look like an Alfred Hitchcock movie this time of year. I hear him whimper in the other room.

Me: What's wrong, Stephen?
Stephen: I'm afraid of the BIRDS!
Me: Why are you afraid of them?
Stephen: They won't BITE me.
Me: No, they won't bite  you.

After eating breakfast and "helping" me wash dishes, Stephen entertains himself.
Stephen: I made a ROBOT!
Me: I like him.
Stephen: Yay! Yay for my ROBOT!

Pretty good, huh?

New room, new bed

Joe and I recently swapped the office/guest room with Stephen's room to make space for Baby No. 2. I'll have to try to get a good shot of the new arrangements when there's some bright afternoon light. But, for now, I'll leave you with something I snapped yesterday morning. Stephen has transitioned to a toddler bed in the last couple of weeks. He has rolled off a couple of times, but the transition was far smoother than I imagined. And while he does seem to wake up a lot earlier now that he's got the freedom to get out of bed when he wants, he doesn't really resist naps or bedtime. It's awesome :-) Originally I put the pillow at the other end of the bed, but Stephen would always want to sleep with his feet under the pillow and use a wadded up blanket for a pillow. Eventually, I caught on and stuck the pillow at his preferred end. This shot shows Stephen's favorite comfort-- his "bee-bo" (Thanks a lot, Sandra Boynton. I don't know when my son will ever say "Belly button.")

Nonna and Aunt Patti's visit

Joe's mom "Nonna" and aunt Patti came to visit us the Monday after my folks left on Sunday. We took Stephen to the Nashville Science Center, where we met up with the entire Bixler clan: Dave, Penny, Luke, Mark, Claudia, Isabella, Tim, Joy, Madison, Brooke, Gracie, & Marianne, Guy, Aleithia, Ethan, Acacia and Raina Uechi. Stephen didn't pay too much attention to our friends... but he did enjoy playing with things that go... such as this train table.

And this ambulance....

And Joe and Stephen posed in the guitar for Nonna.

At home, one of Stephen's new favorite play things is his "boat"-- actually a toy bin I got at Big Lots while my mom was visiting. Notice Stephen is talking in this picture. He's saying: "Here, Tigger. I'll fix the ball for you. Here, Tigger. You drive the BOAT! I WUV you TIGGER!"