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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Old Man Winter

Winter is officially upon us here in Iowa.  Yes, I realize it's almost February - but (gasp!) so far Old Man Winter has been a little slow.  The effects of cabin fever are slowly creeping their way into our household - but nothing like I remember it being last year.

One thing that creep Old Man Winter did bring this year was a whole lot of Sickness.  We are (knock on wood) finally on the mend after 6 weeks of sickness at our house.  In the past 12 days we have had 6 ear infections between the two kids (for those of you that are parents you know that this constitutes 5 visits to the pediatrician - something I wouldn't even wish upon my worst enemy).  Add that to: Two Severe Diaper Rashes, Two Rounds of week-long Diarrhea (thank you amoxicillin), Four Colds, Two Stomach Viruses (mommy and Drake) and sixteen bottles of wine and you've about summed up the month of January!

Ok, Pity Party for 1 = over!  I'm just thankful that (as of now) everyone is feeling good.

The past couple of months have brought many changes for the two monkeys.  Drake is crawling and this kid is 24/7 on a mission.  If he gets something in his line of sight - there is no stopping him.  What is REALLY awesome is that usually his main targets are:  Kinnick's dog dishes (icky dog water is SO fun), Gabby's ponytail (payback are a....) and anything that remotely resembles a ball.

He also talks - all. the. time.  It's quite funny as he has mini-conversations with himself, especially if he's falling asleep for a nap or just waking up.  It's like he's giving himself mini pep-talks: I WILL have a good day - I CAN dump the dog water out of the bowl 47 times in one afternoon, I WILL poop my pants...etc.

Gabby is still my #1 ornery, sassy diva.  She enjoys shoes (putting them on, taking them off...repeat, repeat, repeat).  We still love Dora and Boots and puzzles.  There was a nice day recently and she got to go sledding with Daddy - she loved it, which isn't surprising considering the child is absolutely fearless.

She is talking more - this week she counted to ten (skipping four and five - apparently these two numbers are irrelevant when counting to ten - who knew?).  She received an easel (among 138 other things) for Christmas from Grandma Dawn and enjoys coloring pictures (and her brother).

We are embracing the cold weather as we know Spring (and baseball) will soon follow!  This is a new experience for us because - Yes, even this exhausted, ragged, emotionally drained mommy of two under two is a little sad that for the first time in two years, there wont be a baby to bring home this Spring.

Oh, and then I snap out of it as I look over and SCREAM with excitement that I get to retrieve a pink crayon from a little red-heads nose.

Enjoy some pictures of G & D: