Now and then

Lovely, lovely day yesterday, and while I did have to work most of the day, we were able to spend a little time in the nearby park in the late afternoon.  Dashiell was so thrilled to be able to run around, pick up sticks and acorns and chase squirrels (he claims he was trying to feed them acorns, but really I think he just wanted to say hi).  I caught this funny picture of him amidst all the acorns:

You can almost hear him making a rocket ship noise with that acorn cap... :)

Then as I was looking through a file of old photos, I noticed that I had a picture of Dashiell from almost exactly 2 years ago in the same park and nearly the same pose:

Oh my!  Look how much he's grown!  From cute little new-walker to handsome little boy! 

Can you tell I'm feeling a bit nostalgic?  D will be 3 in just a few weeks, and while he will always be my baby he is definitely no longer a baby!   *sniff*  But while I do miss those little baby days (at least the good parts of them!), I'm so thrilled by the little boy he is now.  He's so much fun to be around, and I love his imagination and sense of humor.  Even though he might be challenging some days, I wouldn't change him one bit!

I'll try to post more "then and now" photos as his birthday gets closer, but, well, you all know my posting record as late...

Hodge podge

Yup, that's right.  It's been a month since my last post.  So this is a catch-up post with lots of pictures and not much else.  I can't think of much to post about so hopefully the photos will make up for the lack of content. 

Dashiell helping daddy work on the computer.  I'm positive he was very, very helpful.

The weather has taken a turn for the better, however after my last post I felt the need to include some pictures of Dashiell playing in all of the snow that we had in the back yard.  These were taken a few days after my last post.  

 Here's our kiddo relaxing during story time at the library.  That was the day that a photographer for a local online newspaper was taking pictures, so of course D did not make himself available for photos. 

One morning Dash decided that he needed to play with all the balls, all at once.  Big Bird and Cookie Monster had to get in on the action, too.

Sometimes it's exhausting being a superhero.

Bzzzz...

Auntie E and Danny B were in town a couple of weeks ago, so everyone had to pile in the shark tent for a photo.  It was made extra cozy with the addition of Big Bear.

We can't get enough birthday parties!  Happy belated birthday Grandpa!!

And one final birthday we celebrated the other night - Dr. Seuss!  I think we need to come clean - we just really like cake.

So that was a month in the life of Dashiell!  Whew!  One last cute Dashiell moment:  Last night we were sitting at the table eating dinner and I mentioned to Rick that I turned on the radiator in D's room that morning so he should try to remember to turn it off before putting Dash to bed (it's REALLY loud).  So Dashiell holds up his hand, fingers close together, and says, "My hand is a radiator!  WHSSSSHHH CLONK CLONK CLONK!"  Which is exactly what his radiator sounds like, and the reason we turn it off before he goes to bed. 

Why we find it hard to play outside right now

That's our backyard.  The porch, which stands about, oh, 3+ feet high, is almost completely covered with snow.  And this is not snow that we've been piling on from shoveling (though there is a little of that at the very front of the photo), this is fell-from-the-sky, hasn't-been-touched-since, pure snow.  It's just incredible.

Dashiell finds this pretty amusing - the other day when we walked past his fort/slide I mentioned that D might not get to play on this until next summer, and pointed out its "hat".  Now every time we look at that he laughs and says "we're not playing on this for a long time!"  I don't know why it's so funny, but to an almost 3-year-old it's hilarious.  

Last week Rick tried to take Dashiell sledding in the little park near us, and it was impossible!  The snow was up past Rick's knees, and Dash couldn't walk through it at all.  That's good for one slide down the hill, but getting back up the hill?  Not so much fun anymore.

And this snow has been truly awful for my new Usborne books business.  2 canceled home parties in 2 weeks.  One of them has been rescheduled for this coming week, but guess what's in the forecast?  More snow!  Can you say "frustrating"??  Sigh.

Ah well.  The winter has to end someday, right? 

I'll leave you with this cute picture of Rick and Dashiell enjoying "breakfast" last week:

At least we're getting good use out of all of Dashiell's toys!

What is he saying?

Some toddlers/preschoolers like to ask "why" repeatedly. Not Dashiell!  What does he like to ask instead? "What is he saying?" Not as in, "repeat what was just said"--no, Dashiell likes to help us keep our minds sharp, so he wants us to make up things for the people, animals and toys he sees to say. Take this picture, for example:

We happen to have a package of these baby wipes at our house.  Dashiell started obsessing over it a couple of weeks ago (until the package mysteriously disappeared).  Our conversations about it went something like this:

Dash:  "What is he saying?"
Me:  "I'm a cute naked baby!"
D:  "What is he saying?"
M:  "Put some clothes on me!"
D: "What is he saying?"
M:  "Brrr!  It's cold out here!"
D: "What is he saying?"
M:  "Where's mommy with that diaper?"
D:  "What is he saying?"

And so on.  Seriously, he'll ask about 5-10 times per picture.  He's never satisfied with my first answer.
There are certain books that take 4 times as long to read because he won't let us turn the page until he's asked what each person on the page is saying 5 times.  If I try to read a magazine around him, he'll fixate on a picture and not let me turn the page until I've satisfied his knowledge about "what he's saying".  Which is sometimes never.   I don't read as many magazines around him as I used to.

And in case you're thinking, "well, why don't you ask Dashiell what he thinks he's saying?", believe me, we've tried.  Case in point:

D:  "What is he saying" (pointing to Wallace)
M:  "It's the wrong trousers, Gromit!"
D:  "What is he saying"
M:  "Get me out of these crazy pants" (yes, I know he doesn't actually say that...)
D:  "What is he saying"
M:  "I don't know, what do you think he's saying?"
D:  "You tell me!"
M:  "I'm not sure, why don't you tell me."
D:  "You tell me!  You tell me!  You tell me!" (laugh)
M:  (laugh)
D:  "What is he saying?"

He's relentless, I tell ya!

I am happy that he has an inquisitive mind, and that he's interested in how others think.   Really I am.  But some days it takes all my strength to keep from telling him that he needs to stop asking questions.  Of course I don't tell him that since it's important for him to know that he should ask questions, but sheesh--enough already!  I have no idea what he's saying!

All this and we still haven't reached the "Why" phase...yikes...