Christmas in March: For Christmas, James bought me the porch swing I've been wanting forever. Because of the wonderful winter weather, it has been sitting unopened in its box in our "office" aka junk room. On one of our teaser good weather days, and while Enzo was taking a nap, I dragged the box out to the front porch and put it together all by myself! I did have to wait until James came home to have his help putting the frame together and hanging the swing. Now Enzo and I enjoy sitting on it on a regular basis - watching the boys across the street play "ball! ball! ball! ball!" or watching the garbage "cruck, cruck, cruck, cruck" or looking at the birds, finding the helicopter we heard from his bedroom, or hoping to see the "dog! dog! dog!"s when they are barking across the street. (Yes, Enzo likes to repeat himself. In case I didn't hear him the first time or two...or fifty.)
In March was also my birthday, where I turned the big over-the-hill 30. James was fantastic enough to throw me a surprise party, to which he invited pretty much everyone I knew within the state of Utah. He hacked into my facebook account to find out how to contact everyone, and then sent so many messages to my friends from his own account that he got blocked out for over a week for sending too many messages to people who weren't his friends. He got my wonderful friend Chrissy to take me out for a much needed girls night. He cleaned the house (yes, with my help) the night before, and bought plenty of cake, chips, and treats to feed every person I've ever known. I did start to get suspicious of the plans when I had to help him clean the house from top to bottom, but I didn't say anything to him. I was tempted to send a text while I was out with Chrissy saying, "See you in a few minutes at my surprise party" but unlike James, I don't like to ruin the fun for the surpriser. Even though I was pretty sure about what was going on, I was still very grateful for the time and effort James put into it - and for all of my friends and family who came. I love "entertaining" and having people over for social gatherings, and I know James doesn't care for it all so much - so it was a big deal that he did this for me. I was even grateful for the "Over the Hill" balloons that he had everyone bring. (They kept Enzo entertained for a week afterwards.) The only thing James neglected in his party planning was picture taking. I was so sure of the upcoming surprise that I left the camera sitting out on the table that afternoon just in case. But James just moved it out of the way in all of his setting up, and no pictures were taken.
No pictures were taken of me on my actual birthday either, so you'll just have to settle for some that I took of Enzo that day. (They're much cuter than any pictures of me would be.)
Here's my little Chip 'n Dale dancer:
Here he is pushing the pink stroller with Minnie Mouse in it. I think he monopolized this stroller for most of the time.
He also loved Maggie's new toy DOG, of course.
Besides me turning 30 and Maggie turning 1, Enzo's been up to a few things of his own. He LOVES to help. He'll pick up his toys and put them away if I point at them one by one (and he's in the right mood.) He loves to throw things away in the trash can when we ask (and sometimes when we don't ask.)
Enzo is now not only walking all over the place, but running and dancing too. He LOVES music, and one of his favorite things to do is watch music videos or theme songs over and over and over again on Mom or Dad's phone. So you can have a taste of what it's like in our household, please watch the following video, and then watch it again, and again, and again, and again. Imagine my cute little boy's face yelling "Dog" repeatedly if you pause it for even a moment.
That video is his all time favorite, and he will walk around the house with the phone up to his ear listening to that song. And if it's not the OK GO dogs, we might be lucky enough to listen to the "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" theme song repeatedly. We just have to be careful not to let the song transition too long into the actual program, or we will receive a verbal chastisement immediately.
Whenever Enzo hears music, or anything at all with a beat, he will begin to dance around. I captured this short video of him dancing at the Saturday Night Dance, which is for adults with special needs that James and I work at twice a month. Enzo's been going with us ever since he was healthy enough to leave the house, and he's finally old enough for him, and us, to enjoy it. (The movie is sideways - I recorded it on my new phone, and I can't seem to figure out why it will only show up sideways - so I apologize. I don't think you'll get a kink in your neck, it's only 20 seconds long.)
He even dances to his favorite book, Skippyjon Jones, when the rhyming has a little bit of rhythm or if Skippyjon starts to sing in his "muy, muy soft voice." His favorite part of the book, however, is when Skippyjon "half whispers, half sneezes the secret password, 'AaaaaaaaaahhhChoooooPICHU." When we turn the book to that page (which is often the only page we get to read), he starts to whisper "aaaahhh" and can even point along the word as I read it to him.
For those interested since my last post, potty training is coming along. Or I thought it was. Enzo will now tell us "potty" probably a third to half the time that he goes. He just tells us as he is going in his diaper. We will rush him off to the potty, and if he hasn't gone already, he will hold it while he sits on the potty for several minutes, then go immediately in his clean diaper when we put it back on him. (Or in the bathtub, or on the carpet, whatever happens to be his next destination.) So now he knows when he is going potty, and he tells us, he just pretty much refuses to actually go in the toilet. So I'm not quite sure where to go with that, although I'm thinking it's time to step it up a notch, and Spring Break next week will be spent in training pants and sitting on the potty every 20 minutes or so. Who knows.
Spring break will bring some rough changes for Enzo. He used to sleep through the night, but with various illnesses has gotten out of that habit - and into the habit of waking up several times a night crying for "bottle, bottle, bottle." He then wakes up SOAKING wet from his overfull diaper. (And of course, if that happens to early in the morning, we get woken up with crying then too.) So come Friday, when I am off of school for a week, the night time bottles (and the bottle in general) will disappear completely. And if he wakes up at night, he can cry him self back to sleep, even if it takes several hours (which, from past experience, I'm sure it will.) Poor Enzo. Poor Mommy and Daddy. But it will be fabulous when I don't have to get up twice a night to fix a bottle, and when I don't have to change pee-covered clothes and sheets on a daily basis. So Enzo will be forced to grow up a little next week, since he will have to give up the baby bottle, and perhaps even the baby diaper, and move onto big-boy things like sippy cups, underwear, and full-nights of sleep. Since he acts like such a big boy now in other areas (like climbing, talking, and getting into things), it's time Mom and Dad get some benefits from the growing up as well. Here's hoping it works (without too much trauma)!
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