Flying Solo

Ashton wasn't supposed to start going to nursery until this past December, but I was called as a Nursery Leader, so he has been going with me since September. Unfortunately, even though I've been with him the whole time, he has not enjoyed it so much. He screamed and screamed the whole time and clung to me like a koala bear in a tree. It's only been a few weeks now that he has been brave enough to get down and play with toys, but he still keeps one eye on me to make sure I'm not going anywhere.

Well, this week my assignment has changed. Now I am the Secretary of the Primary, so I have a hundred things to do during class time, and I can't be in nursery with a clingy boy. I was so worried that he would freak out, but today I just dropped him off and left when he wasn't looking...and he did great! He stayed and played, and every time I peeked through the window to check, he was having a great time!

What a big boy! We're so proud of him! Hurray for the first day in nursery!

Shoe Thief

Ashton has become a shoe thief.

His favorite ones to steal? For some reason, it's my red ones.

If I leave them lying around for too long...

...he always finds them!

Yes, Ashton, I definitely think red is your color!

Bye Bye Hill

When we first moved here, our backyard ended with a big, steep hill and a barbed wire fence on top, and we were told that a farmer lived back there and he would never ever sell his land. Well, after living here a few months a construction company knocked on the door and said that there is no farmer, and that they have owned the land for the last ten years! (Weird...) Now they are doing a bunch of digging on all the land back there to level it and turn it into another subdivision of homes within 5-10 years. They offered to leave our backyard hill the way it was, or to take out the barbed wire and level the hill for us--for free! So we said go for it.

A big backhoe came to knock the hill down during breakfast one morning. Ashton was so fascinated by the big tractor that he pushed a chair to the door and stared and stared the whole time. He kept saying, "Bye bye hill."

Now the hill is gone, there's no more barbed wire, and we have another 2 or 3 feet of flat ground added to the backyard. Yay!

8 Ways You Know You're Grandma and Auntie Are Visiting

1. You get to do all the fun things that you're never allowed to do! Like not wearing pants, sitting on the counter, playing with Mommy's keys, or wandering around the house with two sticky apples! Or having breakfast from Burger King, watching "Reba" episodes all day long, staying up late to talk, and getting foot massages when your morning sickness makes you wants to shoot yourself.

2. Ashton gets hyper and starts doing crazy things. Like putting buckets on his head and screaming.

3. You clean up more messes than usual. Like the time Grandma April let Ashton hold the entire bag of fruities, and he proceeded to happily shake them all onto the floor.

4. Ashton is so exhausted he falls asleep before we can even put his pj's on.

5. Ashton learns new things. Like drinking yogurt instead of just eating it.

6. You can wear whatever you want, whether it's pajamas, church shoes, or nothing at all! And did I mention messes? Like the time Grandma gave him her (very full) cup of juice so he could have a taste. The stunned look on his face says it all. That woman is far too trusting of small children... :)

7. Ashton would rather nap with See-Saw (Sarah) than in his bed.

8. They always try to take us home with them.

Ha ha! My mom and sister came to visit us for a whole week, and we had a fabulous time. Too bad they don't live closer so that we could be together more often. We miss them and can't wait for them to visit us again!!!

To Use the Tray or Not?

This week I've tried taking the tray off of the booster seat and letting Ashton eat at the table like a big boy. I'm not quite sure if this will stick, though, because not having the tray presents us with a couple of problems. First, he makes a bigger mess when it's on the table. I'm not entirely sure why, but when seated at the table it becomes exponentially harder for the food to make it in his mouth. And once it's spilled all over the table, he feels the need to lick it up.

At least he's not wasting food, I suppose. :) Another problem is that the absence of the tray gives his feet more freedom. And where does he think his feet need to be? On top of the table. (Yes, in the same spot he was previously licking. Eww!) Even if we push him in so his feet are under the table, he pushes himself out and pops them up back up there.

So, I'm not sure if the tray will stay off for good, or if we'll revisit it for a while, but at least we're trying to be grown up here!

P.S. In other news, Ashton decided he likes ranch dressing! He swiped a tomato from Daddy's salad that was covered in it, and it was a hit. He quickly followed with a cucumber and a ranch-soaked piece of lettuce. Maybe there's hope that he'll eat real food after all!

Ambidextrous

What's better than eating yogurt with a spoon? Eating it with two! Ashton insisted, so I thought, what the heck, let the kid hold a spoon in his other hand. He probably won't even do anything with it. But I was wrong! He was alternating bites between hands like he was a pro at using either one.

Pretty impressive, actually.

Mommy's New Toy

Remember when I said I got everything I could have wanted for Christmas and more? Well, one of the things I was referencing was my new camera lens! It's a 50mm f/1.8, which I have wanted for quite some time, but haven't been able to justify the expense. Lucky for me, Alycia got a new one and was willing to let Tyler buy her old one for me! And I didn't even know. Yay!

Unfortunately, its seems that baby #2 is trying to slowly finish me off, because I have been SOOOO much more sick and nauseous and awful than I ever was when I was pregnant with Ashton. Some days it's all I can do to change Ashton's diapers and give him food and water. Poor kid, I hope he doesn't feel too neglected. So that would be why I've not only been very behind in blogging, but also why I haven't taken too many pictures with the new lens. I have done a few, though.

Yay! I love my new lens! I can't wait until the morning (bah! try all day!) sickness wears off so I can stage a few photo shoots. Woohoo!!!

5 Things That Don't Really Work

1. Drinking out of two bottles at once. Especially when they appear to be empty.

2. Stealing the remote control when you don't know how to use it.

3. Stripping all your clothes off in the middle of winter. (I suspect he figured out that it's freezing cold, hence the blankets.)

4. Cooking naked. I've never tried it, but I imagine it could be disastrous.

5. Cheap diapers. They sag a little too much under a heavy load.

Winter Colds

After Christmas it seemed like every person in our family, as well as the rest of the Hintons, was suddenly sick with the same HORRIBLE cold/flu bug. It was awful. Just when we thought Ashton was starting to get better, he spiked a very high fever and woke up screaming in the night several times, so we headed for the doctor. Turns out the kid had a double ear infection--the first he's ever had, in fact. Poor little guy! He was a trooper, though, and smiled through the misery.

Pretty impressive to be 19 months old and barely get your first ear infection, I think. I've heard of some kids who get them all the time. That would be terrible! Get better soon, buddy!

The Little King

I think Ashton's new year's resolution was to be treated like royalty! He had a bowl of grapes, but apparently he didn't want to feed them to himself. He put the bowl on Daddy's lap, climbed on top of a mound of pillows, lounged like a king, and waited for Tyler to place them in his mouth.

He seemed pretty pleased with this new plan.