PHLD

I think I have a case of PHLD.  (Post Holiday Letdown Disorder)  I get it every year.  It starts the day I finally give in and take down the Christmas decorations, then it lifts somewhere around springtime.  I think it's the end of all the holiday excitement, then you realize you won't see any of your family again until summer (or spring break, at the earliest), plus it's so hard getting back into the routine of things with everyone going back to work.  Sigh.  

But I am trying to focus on all the positives...and all the wonderful blessings God has put into our lives!  Such as this little gem (see picture below-note title of book).  My parents ran across this book and asked if I was interested.  Reid has been such a toot (literally and metaphorically, hahaha!) lately that I'm willing to read whatever.  Ironically, he hands the book to me every time he goes past the coffee table.  And the other day, he used it as a parking lot.  You can't help but laugh!

 I also made the mistake of showing him starfall.com during the last few days of Christmas break.  Obsessed?  That's an understatement.  We literally built pumpkins, rather, built the same pumpkin ("tall punkin, fancy eyes, mustache nose, scary mouth") for two hours one day.  He can't independently manipulate the mouse yet, so I downloaded the app to my phone, but his fingers and the tiny screen aren't the best match either.  We're wondering if Santa should have brought him an iPad or tablet...

Santa did bring him Cars slippers, but he's had no interest whatsoever, until I put his Elmo slippers halfway on my feet and did a little dance.   He wore the slippers for about three steps and that was it.

 It's been so cold lately that we've had to do a lot of playing inside.  On Tuesday, it even sleeted and then snowed about two inches.  Did we get a day off?  No.  I slid three times on the way to work (with my snow button on in my car AND going 20 mph, mind you) and Reid was wailing, "No work, Mommy!!!! NO work!!  Play in snow!!!"  I felt like the worst mom in the world.

Driving Finn McMissile (from Cars 2) on the wall while watching the fish eat, a new favorite.  He also loves to watch Dixie eat and drags out the bag of cat treats/brushes at the most inopportune times, such as when we are literally walking out of the door.

He also likes to give Dixie other things, too.  When I was packing up the Christmas ornaments, he insisted that Dixie have his harmonica.  He took it out of the box, demonstrated how to play it, and gently set it right in front of a mildly amused Dixie, slobber and all.  "Dixie, play!"  I guess he wasn't impressed with her lack of enthusiasm, so the next day we found Lightening McQueen and The King trying to play his harmonica.  They looked a little more excited, but we never got to hear any tunes.

 He has been really interested in music lately.  If I dare to skip a song on a cd in the car, I suffer the wrath of Reid's, "No, Mommy!  More music!!!"  If we sing along, he gets mad, but he is allowed to sing along himself.  The only song he'll really sing with me is "The Wheels on the Bus," but only if he's in the right mood.  And as soon as the camera comes out, that's it.  No more.  So I was surprised when he actually requested "Thank You, God" (one of the songs they sing at Junior Jam during Sunday School) and sang along.

 

 The kitchen center Aunt Lala gave him has been a hit.  But he doesn't really cook in it.  He'd rather climb on it recently...

...or through it...

...or squat on the table...

 Our crazy boy!

Thankfully, Grammy and Grumpy sent Reid some car stickers in the mail (which helped us pass some indoor play time during the witching hour) this week.  I was kind of surprised...he was actually more excited about seeing his own name on a piece of mail than he was about the actual stickers, which of course he loved.  Not surprisingly, he wants to check the mail every day, sometimes multiple times a day.  

And we finally made it through a haircut without screaming bloody murder the whole entire time.  How, you ask?   I fed him mini M&M's the whole time.  Bribery works!  I don't normally do his hair like this, but it was a cute little faux hawk.  The cut is VERY short, but I'd rather go longer between haircuts!    I think it also made him look older.  People lately have had the "What?!" reaction when I say he's just 2 1/2. 

Jason's Company Party

Jason's company didn't have a Christmas party for the adults this year (man...I'd already found a gorgeous dress on clearance a few months ago...), but they held one for all the kids of employees, which was really sweet.  Given Reid's rambunctiousness and anti-camera outlook, I was quite nervous to see how this would pan out.  Plus, there was NO way I was willing to stand in a Santa line this year, so this was it!!

Santa was very sweet and patient about it.  Reid, on the other hand, was not.  At all.

They got input from employees on what the kids liked and purchased each of them a present.  Reid loved his--three Cars cars and a digger.  He was all over the place, in everyone's way, and I was so worried that he would end up tripping someone.

Or knock over a tree...or hide behind a sign...

Or run and slide under the rope chain leading to Santa...and then decide to haul right through it and knock it down, poles and all.  That's about when I was done.  And then he decided to sneakily put one of his new cars in the balloon lady's big box of balloons.  FANtastic.  That was the final straw.  I don't know if this kid will ever settle down.  He is exhausting!!

Another holiday picture I found was my ugly Christmas sweater getup.  The teachers at school had a contest...with gift cards and good prizes, so I was quite motivated.  You can't tell from the picture, but Jason and I worked quite hard to get little blinking LED Christmas lights poking out throughout the sweater (which looked like a cross between a grandma's afghan and macrame' wall art), an attractive jingle bell Santa door hanger attached to the back, and Christmas picks of tree/holly/poinsettia attached all over.  I was hoping to win the "ugliest sweater" and still feel a bit robbed...several parents stopped in to say they agreed.  Oh, well.  Time to think ahead to next year!

Snow!

Happy New Year!!  It sure feels weird to think that it's 2013.  As our pastor said on Sunday, it's time to close one chapter and open another.  I'm hoping this year will be full of special family time, lots of good health, and our little guy will grow spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally.  Potty training wouldn't hurt, either ;)

I was soooo disappointed to hear that we had indeed missed the snow (a really, really good snow!) in Dallas while we were down in Houston.  We never had any good snow last winter (if you could even call it a winter...no freezes, either, which translated to a horrible West Nile mosquito problem and an even worse allergy/ragweed season this past summer), and I was bummed Reid never got to play in it since he was mobile.  So I was hoping this winter might be different.  But snow while we weren't there?  Not so cool.  I had very low hopes as we drove back north on Thursday morning, but as we got closer, there was indeed a little snow left on the ground.  Past downtown Dallas, however, there seemed to be even more...not just under overpasses and behind trees, but everywhere!  We stopped at Freebird's so Reid could devour half of my burrito (and a good portion of Jason's, too).  There was a sheet of ice all over the parking lot and it was cold!  But I still didn't want to get my hopes up...the sun was out and shining brightly.  My disappointment, however, turned into delight when we pulled into the driveway and still had two to three inches of leftover snow. 

Jason started unpacking the car while Reid and I investigated the "crunchy" snow.  We weren't dressed for this cold, but I figured he could play for a few minutes before nap time.  At first, he went running out of the car, then stopped.  I said, "What is that?"  and Reid answered, "Snooow?"  He went over to inspect it and when I inquired, "Do you like it?" he responded, "No!"  Quickly after, however, he changed his mind.

We weren't dressed to be outside for very long and it was nap time, so we hauled him inside.  He threw an absolute fit, "Noooo!!  More snow!!  MORE snow!" Normally, it would be nap time, but we weren't sure that the snow would make it through nap time with all the sun.  So we bundled him up as quickly as we could and got back outside.  I'm still amazed he kept the hood and gloves on, but that was the deal--no gloves, no snow.  A whole yard of snow, and what does he do first?  Wants to play in the sandbox.  Really?  And the snow that had been in that back corner was all melted.

After showing him ALL the other things he could do, he finally decided to slide.  FAST!

But what was his favorite?  Snowballs...being aimed right at him!  Apparently, that makes them hilarious.  I threw a couple and accidentally got this one right on his neck.  Jason got a great action shot with our new little camera.

I had the big camera, so tried out a few settings I hadn't experimented yet.  The flower setting was good for this close up on the little icicles on the elm tree.

Waiting for more snowballs!

We knew the outdoor toys would have to come out as some point.  He didn't seem to mind the two inches of ice in the seat, but it was awfully hard to maneuver in and out of the door, being the Stay Puft marshmallow boy with all those layers on.  Not a happy camper when he couldn't move it easily, either.

But he managed to get all the toys lined up to his liking...

Then it was time to terrorize the tree.  He loves to squeeze through the trunks, get stuck on purpose, and yell, "HELP!  Help me!!" until one of us comes to help.  The neighbors probably think we beat our kid, or something...

Snowcone, anyone?

Back to the front yard to run around.  Make that our neighbor's front yard...  Reid loves their bushes, for some reason.  Peekaboo!

And then back to the back yard once again.  "Hugging" the snowman...

Then the fun was over.  Someone needed a diaper change.  You know it's bad if he comes to lie down and asks for it himself!  If we were going to wrestle him out of all those layers, it was nap time!

We are hoping we will get more snow to play in this year, but if we don't, then we are thankful.  And we all need to get some kind of snow boots so our toes don't freeze next time!