A List for Tuesday

The Five Greatest Things About Las Vegas: From Dutch's Perspective

1. Cousins!  They are the greatest thing ever and I loved spending time with them.  My aunt and uncle are cool too, but nothing beats cousins!
2. I waved to a garbage man and he HONKED back!  It was the coolest thing ever!
3. There are lots and lots of planes that take off and land and I like to point to them in the sky.
4. My cousins have lots and lots of different cars. And I wanted to play with all of them.  At the same time.
5. Riding in a shopping cart is way more fun if someone sits next to you.

P.S. I didn't realize until we got home that we took exactly zero pictures of our trip to Vegas.  Suffice it to say, we all had a great time, even if there is no proof.

Dutch's Evaluation

Last week a very sweet speech pathologist named Sarah came and evaluated my little boy.  Here are the results after she played with him for an hour.

Gross Motor: 84%
Fine Motor: 57%
Cognitive (Attention/Learning Tasks): 33% (she said she suspected this was a lot higher, but he was pretty much done by the time she got to these games)
Receptive Language (what he understands): 50%
Expressive Language (what he uses): 1%
Self Help: 62%
Social/Emotional: 61%

I'll be honest, I have no idea what any of this means, except that he is going to have someone come once a week to work on his expressive language.  Anyone have any information to enlighten me?  (I'm looking at you Ms. Hayden Jensen!)

Tune in tomorrow for the best things about Las Vegas, from Dutch's perspective.

Cabin Adventures

We've been able to spend several weekends up at Grandpa Morgan's cabin in Midway.  It's been a lot of fun and Dutch loves having the extra time with Grandpa Greg (otherwise known as Baba).  One lucky Saturday he got his hair cut at the cabin: his least favorite activity by his favorite person in his favorite place.

Donut Face

The other day Chris got home from work early, a rare treat, and he brought me some powdered donuts (which I secretly love more than just about anything).  Dutch wanted some, of course.  Hilarity ensued.  And, just for the record, he would smile every time the second AFTER the picture had been taken.

This is after Dutch looked at Chris through the donut.  Notice the powder all over his eye.

Bear Lake

A couple of weeks ago we went to Bear Lake for the Morgan family vacation.  We stayed at Uncle Joe and Aunt Marilyn's cabin in Bear Lake West.  Everyone in the family was there: Grandpa Morgan, Pat, Ken, Kim, Steve, Lex, Greg, Kellie, Josh, Dawn, Zaque, and the three of us.  Because it was Chris's first week of work we were only able to stay one night, but we packed as much fun as we could in the time we were there!  (Not to mention, the drive through Logan Canyon was gorgeous!  If it wasn't so cold there in the winter I would move there.)

Here are the pictures from our trip.  There are none of me because me in a bathing suit is something no one should have to suffer through.

Dutch was very good in the car.  It's about a 3 hour ride, and he was in a good mood the whole time.

Chris was the driver, of course.

From left to right: Grandpa Morgan, Steve, Ken, Zaque, Greg.  They were blowing up the tube.  Chris and Dutch and I all rode on it together.  The water was SO warm!

Chris and Kellie relaxing on the beach.

Steve helping me get a shot of Dutch on the boat, with Grandpa Morgan looking on.  (Do you like his life jacket? Greg bought it for him at the beginning of the summer and we spent some time breaking it in, anticipating Bear Lake.)

Dutch making faces.

Dutch on the tube, with Chris about to get on.

Standing in Bear Lake.  Isn't his swimsuit so cute!  You can't tell, but his rash guard and water socks match each other, they're both brown and orange!

The three of us on the tube.  I'm the white blob to the left, Dutch is in the middle, and Chris is on the right.

We had a lot of fun.  I don't have any pictures of him in them, but Kellie bought Dutch an adorable pair of John Deere scrubs at one of the Raspberry Days booths.  There's a scrub top, pants, and shorts!  He looks so cute in them  I also don't have any pictures of Kim and Lex, Pat, or Josh and Dawn, because they showed up a little later and I am not very good at remembering to take pictures.  (But I am trying to be better.)

More summer fun blogs coming soon!

A List for Tuesday

Five Questions About Toy Story 2:

1. If Woody is an "old family toy" why doesn't he remember any other owners besides Andy?
2. Why don't any of Buzz's friends realize he's been replaced?  He sounds totally different from the "real" Buzz!
3.  Where did the hole in Woody's head go from Sid's magnifying glass in the first movie?
4. Why doesn't Bullseye talk?
5. Why does Andy own Bo Peep before he has a little sister?  What little boy is going to own, much less play with, a Bo Peep doll?

Pictures to Follow

Okay, so I have a bunch of pictures in the queue to be posted on the blog, but I've been too lazy to find my camera and/or scan the pictures.  So those will come sometime later, but I wanted to share the big news:

Dutch is sleeping in a toddler bed!

His crib was converted to a toddler bed last night.  Chris and I decided to do this because yesterday morning when Chris went in to get Dutch he was asleep on the floor and two nights ago he slept on the couch.  See, he could get out of his crib, but not back INTO it.  So we decided it was safer for everyone if he had a big boy bed.

As you can imagine, he's very excited about it.

A List for Tuesday

3 Things I Did Today I Haven't Done in a Long Time

1. Went grocery shopping without Chris (but Dutch was there, and it was a very interesting trip, let me tell you)
2. Ate Ramen noodles, which we used to pronounce ram-ee-on, and my cousin's always said it looked like my sister Carianne's hair.
3. Watched "The Slipper and the Rose."  Jealous?  You'll be more jealous when I tell you I own the soundtrack too.

Tired

I am tired.

Tired of Dutch never listening to me.  Tired of Dutch escaping from everything: his crib, his room, the apartment.  Tired of him giving me bruises when he gets mad because I won't let him do something.  Tired of having to be the one to set up limits and then have them questioned, refuted, and ignored.  Tired of being a stuck-at-home mom.  Tired of feeling like a failure.

I'm just really tired.

Trouble, With a Capital T and That Rhymes With D and That Stands for Dutch

I'm in big trouble.

Dutch has figured out how to get out of his crib.  He's never been a great sleeper and now his naps and bedtime are going to be impossible.

What do I do?

A List for Tuesday

Five Reasons I Can't Come Up With a More Creative List Today:

1. Our upstairs neighbor feels it's important to vacuum every day between 7am and 8am.
2. I had an upset tummy most of the night and didn't sleep well.
3. Dutch was extra turd-riffic yesterday and sucked all my energy like a vampire vacuum (see, the vacuum haunts me).
4. It's really hot.
5. I'm using my creative juice on something more productive, like, um, making excuses!