Words

Sawyer didn't start really talking until he started preschool last fall - he was already 26 months. I even had him evaluated by a speech therapist when he turned two, who agreed that while he struggles with pronunciation he met the basic milestones of a 24 month old. That's not to say he isn't a genius in his own ways. He somehow knows which teachers are absent from school on any given day with a single glance at the parking lot - even though he never sees them entering or leaving their cars and he knows every turn we take on the way to any of our regular destinations. While his language skills have vastly improved over the past few months to the point where he and I can have complete and complex conversations, I still have to act as translator for most people and when he's tired or sick will revert to grunting and pointing like a Neanderthal. I chalk up much of this up to the whole boys are slower than girls thing, but we may end up in speech therapy yet.

So, it's a welcome change that at 15 months Arden already has more than 30 words and she's busting new ones out all the time. Here's a running list of some of the things I've heard her say:
Mama
Dada
Baby
Doggy
Bye
Hi
Shoe
Night Night
Outside
Please
Thank You
Bless You
I'm Gonna Get You
"Row Row Row . . . ."
More
All Done
Cracker
Bird
Tree
Flower
Milk
Water
Juice
Hungry
Dirty
Happy
NO!
Mine
Me
You
MMMMMwwwah!
(Okay, not sure that last one counts as a word but she blows kisses at anyone - even the cars we pass on the road!).

Its Party Time

These videos are three weeks old and almost too short at 13 seconds to be worth posting but I can't help it. I want to remember how excited Sawyer gets about birthdays now. I'm such a party pooper. We never go to his little friends birthday parties, and I've been going off lately about how I don't believe in big birthday parties for kids. We got an invitation to one this weekend and I tried to call to RSVP but never got through - and it KEPT ME UP AT NIGHT because Sawyer was so excited about going. In the end - who gives an rsvp number with no voicemail? - I was a little relieved to not spend the afternoon at a wild card party where I knew nobody. But I was a little sad thinking about how much Sawyer wanted to go. A few months back, when Sawyer was going through his tough spell at school - bad behavior at naptime and such - they didn't let him have a cupcake to celebrate his friend Nora's birthday. He was so saaaad when he told me about it that night that I was ready to pull him out of the Baptist School then and there and forever. He's TWO for Christ Sake! Give the kid a cupcake! So what if he said "no" and threw his blanket across the room. A few weeks ago he went for a ride in the truck with Scott and they saw a bunch of cars at the end of the street and Scott made the offhanded comment that it must be party time. Sawyer's eyes were saucer-wide when he came back into our house. He came up to me with a wild look and yelled: "It's party time!"Then he ran into the pantry, looked around and asked: "Where is it?" What? "Cake?" Like I had one made. Or like I'd EVER made one. I appeased him by having an impromptu Oreos and Milk party. I'm starting to rethink my 'no parties until age 5' motto - but I'm putting my foot down when it comes to moon bounces, clowns, pony rides, or anything of that ilk.

My birthday

Turning 35 was far from momentous. I slept on the couch at my parents house nursing a fever while Scott was stuck in traffic. My kids ate the cake and enjoyed the card, which I promptly lost. Here I am, trying my best to be festive. Arden is saying Mmmm, yummy! which is her new favorite thing to say. We give her sweet things to eat, just to hear her say it over and over with every bite. She can also count to three and sing some approximation of the words to Row Row Row Your Boat. Far more exciting than anything that happened on my birthday. As for 35, it's a nice age. Old enough without being too old. 38 - now that's my scary age.

Happy Easter

It's Done!

It's History!

Day 5: Charlottesville. No Virginia is for Lovers tour would be complete without a least a little bit of history. Today we visited Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Built atop a hill, the historical property is teaming with vegetable and herb gardens, flower beds and orchards. To get up to the house, the average modern human catches a shuttle - you know the kind, think car rental company shuttle. But getting my country bumpkin son to board that bus was like trying to convince a cat to take a bath. You could see the panic building as the doors folded open for us. Sawyer is typically tentative of new situations but this beat anything I've ever seen. He started clawing at the doors as I climbed in. As more people started boarding he starting shouting 'Get Off! No Bus!" louder and louder until I was certain everyone else was going to think he was some sort of special ed kid screaming and banging his head against the wall in a confined space. Scott eventually covered the child's mouth with his hand to muffle the protests until we started rolling. Once we were on the road and Sawyer realized that the shuttle bus was not, in fact, a roller coaster or a space ship, everything was fine. In the end, he even declared that the bus was good. Ask him today what he did on his vacation and he'll tell you one thing: "I rode the bus."

It's another night!

Day 4: Peaks of Otter. Scott has fallen in love with the Peaks of Otter. It reminds him of something from his childhood, he said. This morning, on a whim, we canceled a night at a hotel in Charlottesville and added a third night here. I will admit that there is much to be said for finding a central location and using it as a home base when you are traveling with young kids. Justin was clearly disappointed that television would be another night away. I think Scott was secretly enjoying the lack of communication. I actually had to use something called a PAY PHONE to call and cancel our other reservation. I also love that they have Chinese checkers and Lincoln logs in the main lodge for the kids. Scott thinks they must have bocce ball lessons and arts and craft in the summer (nobody puts Baby in the corner - or something like that).

It's wild!

Day 4: Virginia Safari Park. If hiking a mountain in one day wasn't enough, I insisted we also squeeze in a trip to the Virginia Safari Park near Natural Bridge. Now here is a freaky place. The animals run wild and you drive through the park in your car with buckets of food to entice the bravest to come over for a visit. Many animals will eat the food right out of your bucket. We've all been to the petting zoos with the goats. There is no way to compare that to the experience of having a 1,000-pound beast with a 10-foot horn span clunk against your car door. Ostriches craned their long necks into our passenger seat and white reindeer came right up to the kids' windows. You are allowed to feed almost every animal in the zoo except the zebra. There is a very specific note to NOT feed the zebra. That's fine and good, unless the zebra sticks it head into your window and starts eating the food you are holding between your legs. When Scott pushed this particular zebra out of the way it bit him on the arm. It was totally worth it. How many people can say they've been bit by a zebra? About halfway through the ride I was bamboozled by an emu who came up all sweet and innocent, took a few bites out of my bucket of food and then grabbed the rim and jerked it out of my hand, making off with a bucket half full of food. Scott ostracized me endlessly for letting go. Later in the ride, a large camel grabbed Justin's bucket, slammed it against the roof of the car and dumped about half of it into my lap. See? I said. When an animal decides it's going to take off with your bucket there isn't much you can do. "Well," Scott replied, "Justin was overwhelmed by a 5,000-pound camel. You were overpowered by a bird!"

It's Tops!

Day 4: Sharp Top Mountain. 1.5 steep and strenuous miles to a 360-degree view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It took us about 4 hours, which would have been pathetic by Colorado standards. But, Sawyer hiked about two-thirds of the way himself over rock outcroppings and steep stairs. It was impressive. Justin bounded up the thing like he was a mountain goat. Scott carried Arden the whole way up and Sawyer the whole way back down. I spent about 15 minutes at the top scoping out all the other places I want to climb. I was just so proud of everybody. Next time, more water, more food, sunscreen and bug spray. I may have slightly underestimated the East Coast mountains.

It's Amazing!

Day 3: Amazement Square, Lynchburg. Why can't every town have something like this? It's the nation's tallest indoor climbing tower set into an old warehouse on the riverfront in Lynchburg. Every level has something for kids of all ages to explore. It's by far the coolest kids museum I've ever been to. Sawyer loved the roller coaster demonstration where he sent golf balls flying over a 30-foot section of the room. Justin was fascinated by the water table with its demonstration of how locks work along the James River. Arden was into the building room with giant blocks and a playhouse. There were also rooms where you could paint on glass walls, jam with a band, experience what it like being inside a heart, put on a puppet show, experiment with light, or learn about virginia history and archeology. There was even a zip line inside and the best skatepark ever outside. I was personally taken with Lynchburg and dragged the rest of the family around while I photographed the old churches built into the hillside.

It's a mountain!

Day 2: Peaks of Otter. It's a mountain! That's the first thing Sawyer said when he woke up this morning. We had arrived at the Peaks of Otter late last night when all we could see was the yellow-eyed reflection of the deer outside our window. I stayed at the same place with my family one Thanksgiving when I will in grade school. I don't think a thing has changed. There's still a slot in the bathroom tile where you are supposed to dispose of your razor blades. Justin was dismayed to find that there also isn't a tv in the room. And no cell service. No internet. I'm in heaven. This morning when we opened the curtain the beautiful ragged peak of Sharp Top Mountain was perfectly framed in the window along with a mountain lake and picturesque little bridge. We are planning to summit the mountain Sunday with the kids. It blows me away that my kids have never summited a mountain.

It's Grrrreat!

Day 1: Great Wolf Lodge. Can I move in? I'm pretty sure we could have spent the whole week here if we'd had about $5,000 to spend on our vacation. I would definitely have enjoyed the Aveda spa and Justin, I am pretty certain, would have pulled an all-nighter in the Wii/Xbox 360/Guitar Hero room and Sawyer probably would have worked his way through about $50 in tokens riding the toddler fire truck ride in the arcade. And we all would have visited the Starbucks ice cream shop. Everything about this place is family friendly right down to the suites which have separate sleeping areas for mom and dad - some even have forts for the kids to sleep in. But one day of keeping two toddlers from the brink of drowning was all I could take this time. This is a place we are sure to return when we have deeper pockets.

Va. is for Lovers

We are setting off on the Va. is 4 Lovers 2009 Grand Tour Road Trip. Wanna see where we are going?


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