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...

When we DO get out of the house...

...we tend to get a little goofy.

Happy Belated Birthday, Chris!  We obviously had a great time at your party!

What do you do when you're stuck inside??

It's been snowy.  Very, very snowy.  So we've been spending a lot of time inside.  A LOT of time inside.  It's driving us all a little mad.  But we've been trying to keep busy regardless.  What all have we been doing?  Well, let's see...we've been reading:

Building caves:

Busting out of caves:

Playing in our new pirate ship (and saying "arr, matey!" repeatedly):

Pretending to be one of the Beastie Boys:

And playing "beautiful butterfly" (ala "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" - note the "cocoon" off to the right on the couch):

Just how much snow have we actually had?

Yeah, that was 3 snow storms ago.  Sigh.  I am so done with winter...