Morning routine

Nils has started a new routine. He gets up at, say 5:30, turns on all the lights, plays around for half an hour or so, then falls asleep on the cold hard tile floor outside our bedroom door. I've tried to coax him to go back to his nice warm bed, but he won't hear of it. I figure if he wants to sleep on the cold hard floor, then by all means, go right ahead. It's easier to wipe drool off of tile anyways.

Good Morning Mom!

I poured some cereal for you!

Bunk mates

The View Reprised

Awhile ago this was the view from my bed in the mornings. Now it looks more like this:

Hooded Scarf

Sure, it may look goofy, but it is really really soft.

Swinging is fun!

We went to the Niels Petersen house in Tempe to see the Danish-style Christmas Decorations. Afterwards we went and played on the swings outside. As you can see Nils and Walter both enjoyed the swings.

Prizes

I only had two takers on my Pay it Forward exchange. Oh well. Anyhow, I now present for your delectation and delight.... a genuine Oven Door Towel! Oven door towel has been a standard fixture in American kitchens for years. And now you can have one of your very own!
With coodinating hot pads!
It also comes in cool blue (but this one has already gone to live with Grandma Anderson)

New Boots!

The other day I was at Target and found some great boots for Nils. They were comfortable, sturdy, the right size, and on sale. They also had bright pink flowers on them.

After 20 minutes with a seam ripper they now have a light brown outline of flowers on them. But you can't even tell, especially when Nils strikes his boot pose.

"That's right punk! I'm talking to you!"

What's the Password?

Walter gets the Giggles

Nils and I were pretending to be dogs and Walter thought it was the funniest thing in the world. (Sorry for the shaky video, Nils kept grabbing the camera).

Pay it Forward Exchange

Well it looks like I might be a joiner after all. Geneva did it and now I'm following suit:

I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (So, you must have a blog to participate.) I can't wait to see who I will be giving to. To join, just cut and paste this on your blog and comment away. So get posting!! 'Tis the season for giving...and blogging :)

How to Model a Hat

First put on the hat, and smile at the camera:
Then do something cute like pull it down over your face.

Blanket

I made a blanket!

Here it is from another angle. (HA! get it?)

Damp

For some weird reason Nils likes for his cloth (his blankie) to be damp. He'll sneak off with cups of water to get his cloth wet. When we tried to prevent him doing that he'd 'spill' things on 'accident' and then happily use his cloth to wipe it up with. He throws a fit if we take away the damp one and replace it with a dry one. I just don't get it. Anyways, it was raining yesterday and Nils was super quiet so I went to look for him, and this is what he was doing.

Pomegranates

Nils loves pomegranates. Yesterday he helped me pick out the seeds from one. He got sprayed in the face.

Teeth!

You can just barely see his two little teeth under his tongue.

Dual Purpose Photograph

This photo could be submitted to both Cats in Sinks, and Stuff on my Cat.
Stuff on my Cat in a Sink.

Primary Importance

The Primary Program was last Sunday in our ward. It went splendidly (I'm the Chorister). A few people complimented us on how well the children knew the songs, which made me very happy because I have a hard time gauging that sort of thing. Anyhow I conducted from the congregation (I sat in the middle of the third row) which meant that I got to sit with my family.

When I sat down after the first song Nils turns to me and says "again!"

Halloween

The pictures we took for halloween came out a little dark. I did what I could to brighten them up. So, here they are

Hobbes: (He whipped the hat off every time we put it on him)


Calvin:
Calvin and Hobbes (with a tail shot):

Walter Crawling

He has some trouble getting traction at first, but then he gets going.

Mobile

He's crawling, and he's happy about it.

Helper

I cleaned our pantry out today and Nils helped. His job was to move all of Walter's food from one closet to the other. He did a very good job.

Seeing how neatly he lined up all the food packages I'm not sure if I should be happy or nervous.

Fun!

Everything is fun when you're the happiest baby. Even just sitting on the floor.

Toddler Chef-Updated

Nils made pasta, he got the bowl out and everything. When I found him he was shaking pepper into it. I hope he likes cooking this much when he gets older.

Update: Those packages in the pasta are some of Walter's teething cookies.

Visitor

Nils thought Christmas came early this morning. He went outside and there was a doggy in his yard! Oh joy!
She dug under the gate and Nils was overjoyed. We've got her trapped in the yard now and are waiting for animal control to come pick her up. The poor thing is skinny as can be, and ate quite a bit of our cat's food. The cat is not pleased with the house guest.

Hat and Horse

We went to visit Mormor and Morfar yesterday. Nils had a great time watching the chickens and running around with the dogs. He also got to ride the horse for a little bit.


Walter got to try on the old Swedish hat that Mormor just fixed.

Center of attention

I was trying to take a picture of Walter. Nils had other plans.

Lap Cat

Shock

Nils is shocked that he was willing to wear the sweater long enough for me to take a picture.

Lunch

Nils tried to feed Walter today. While I was in the bathroom he found a tupperware thing of rice cereal powder in the diaper bag, managed to open it and dumped it all in a pile under Walter's head. I'm not exactly sure how it got all over Walter's face, so Nils may or may not be responsible for that. Either way they both seemed to enjoy it.

Hooray

There's no story with this. I just thought it was a nice picture of Walter.

A Sweater!

I made a sweater for Nils. When I tried it on him he hated it. He cried and moaned and tried to pull it off. I think that he might like it better when it's a bit colder out. Hopefully it will still fit him. (Also visible is our new rug!)

Distractions

Nils is proficient enough with the Toaster that we can give him a piece of bread and he'll put it in the toaster and start it toasting by himself. Yesterday we gave him a piece of bread to toast, but the bread never made it into the toaster. Instead it got covered with a mound of sugar from the sugar jar sitting next to the toaster. Nils was disappointed when we put most of the sugar back in the jar.

Boh

Once again, Nils point out his brother for everyone in the audience. Meanwhile Walter just enjoys his brother's company. Hanging out on the floor sure is fun.

The view

Walter's crib is right next to our bed, so this is what I see when I wake up in the mornings. I think it's a pretty nice view.

I feel pretty!

Nils found my lipstick and knew just what to do with it.

Just today

He showed Walter how this toy thing works. Then he fed Walter some crackers.
Then he decided that he totally still fits in this highchair.

And a few minutes ago his dad caught him trying to eat butter with a straw.

Well Rounded Dinner

Here's a picture of Nils' plate before he started eating:
And here's a picture of his plate when he was 'done.'

Sneaky

I did put this blanket the ground for someone to lay on, but the cat wasn't who I had in mind.

Big Helper

I finally coaxed Nils into holding Walter.

ticklish

Very Merry Unbirthday

Nils' birthday isn't for another week and a half, but we're going to be travelling, and all over the place so we had a little thing for him tonight. He blew out the candles like a pro:


And then he got his present from us- toy cars from the pixar movie. He liked them a lot.
After he opened them he didn't want ice cream, or anything. He spent the next two hours lining them up, rearranging them, lining them up again, showing them to us, and saying "car!" In fact I still hear him playing with them in his bed and he went to bed two hours ago.

High Rollin'

Walter is now a pro at rolling over. He first rolled onto his tummy a few days ago, but now he does it all the time.

Helpful

Nils is very helpful, and tries to make sure Walter always has his pacifier- even while he's eating. However, Nils hasn't quite grasped the concept of 'right-side-up'-- Every so often I'll find Walter calmly sucking away on an upsidedown pacifier.