The Story of My Morning

As told by Jeffrey Anserson Wallace.

What? Who's out there? It is morning? Why am I still in my overalls and shirt from yesterday? Did mommy get me up and change me and I don't remember or did daddy put me to bed in my play clothes? I'm not even sure my diaper got changed. Oh well, I think I hear someone coming towards the room. Yay, it's mommy.

What's she doing? Oh yeah, she still lets me snuggle with her in the morning. Maybe I'll have a little drink. Thanks mom. All done. Wait I haven't even had breakfast yet, where are we going? It's cold outside mom, you forgot my socks and jacket. Ooohh I'm going to get to ride with daddy. Here comes sister. What's she fussing about? Oops mommy didn't put shoes on her either. Silly mommy. Wait where's mommy going? Oh there she is, daddy's going to give her a ride too. Are we going back home already? I didn't even get to go inside the garage. Let's go back inside now. Bye daddy, see you later.

Ok, now breakfast. Milk in a cup again, what does she really want me to do with this, am I supposed to drink it? Maybe I should spit it out like this. Ooops, mommy didn't like that trick very much. Let's see if she likes it better the second time. Nope. But here come some Cheerios - Yummy. Oooh, she's got cereal too - my favorite. Ok time to get down and play mommy.

Wait what's this - not the exersaucer again. I can't reach the remote from here. Wait time to watch cartoons - OK. What's mommy doing? Ahhh - taking a shower I just saw her peek out of the curtain at me. It is time to play yet mommy? Yay done in the saucer. Play time. Let's go down to the basement.

What's this? Sister must have left it sitting where I could reach it last night. She seems to think it's fun to play with. If I hold the bottle upside down does anything come out? Oooh yeah, that's kind of soapy, I think Erin calls them bubbles. Oh well the're on the floor now. Oops, mommy's not very happy again. Maybe I'll go up and ask for a snuggle. "Pick me up, pick me up". That's nice. Hmmmm where are those sucky fingers, ahhhh much better. Wait where are we going? Not my room, I'm not really tired yet. Well maybe just a short nap...

What was that? I hear my sister. I think she's playing outside. I love playing outisde. If I scream loud enough mommy will come get me. "HEY MOMMY!!!!!!!!!" Here she comes. No I don't want my diaper changed, I want to go outside. No No No. Fine if I lie still can I go outside after that? I'll just play with this little thing between my legs until the new diaper comes. Yay I think we're going to play outside, mommy's putting my sandals on.

Hi sister. Can I play in the sand with you? Thanks for the shovel. I'm going to throw it on the ground, is that ok? Wait what's that? Pthbbbbt. There's something in my mouth and more on my head. It's starting to go down my shirt. Uh oh - mommy's really not happy. She sounds kind of mad. What's she saying, she seems more upset at sister. Mommy wants to know why sister dumped a bucket of sand on my head. Is that what this is, because it's in my diaper too. It's kind of itchy. Wait where are we going? I want to play outside.

No No No, I don't want to take a bath. Mommy says I have to. OK, well I can have fun there too. Let's see how much water I can splash. Wheeeee. Oops, maybe that was too much. All done already, well that wasn't very long.

What's she trying to do, I want to get to my toys now. I don't want a diaper on, I want my toys. If I roll my hips and shoulders all the way over, maybe I can get them. Oooh maybe mommy doesn't want me to do that. She keeps rolling me back over. Grrrr, she's going to make me put a diaper back on. No fun.

What's that? Lunchtime? OK. I'm ready now. I love you mommy.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

We had a very lovely Easter here. Oma spent the week with us so Erin was very excited to show her all of the fun we have. Our Easter activities started on Thursday when the library had an egg hunt after story time. The library here shares a building with a senior daycare center. The seniors in the center hid eggs for the kids to come find. Erin found 4 all by herself and on the way out stopped to share her bounty with an older lady in a wheel chair. The smile that they two shared - Erin and this older woman was one of the most precious things I have witnessed in a long time.

Saturday was a beautiful day and Oma and I took Erin and Jeffrey into town for the annual Egg hunt. It looked dreary when we left the house so I dressed Erin in sweats and a t-shirt and Jeffrey in jeans and flannel. Well - by the time we got to town it was bright sun and over 80 degrees. Needless to say we were all a little warm. I was able to take Jeffrey's flannel off as I had put a t-shirt under it. Nevertheless they had a great time picking up the candy eggs. Even Jeffrey ran around with his little bucket - although he kept falling in the muddy spots. Erin got sidetracked by every marshmallow egg and Tootsie Roll she saw and never made it to the back corner where all the prize eggs were apparently scattered. Next year we'll know better and start her out closer to the cool eggs. But when there are 50 1-3 year olds accompanied by parents (all crouched on the ground taking pictures) things can get a ittle chaotic.

Noni and grandpa came down to pick up Oma later Saturday afternoon and everyone played outside a little longer. Erin had lots of fun with some new bubbles. She's getting really good at blowing bubbles. She can eve catch them back on the wand if it's not too windy outside. She will chase after all the bubbles and try to pop them before they hit the ground. Because of this though bubbles are now solely an outdoor activity or by carpet ends up with a free soap cleaning from all the spilled bubbles.

Sunday morning was dreary, but not too cool. We dressed the kids in their new Easter outfits (thanks Grandma and Grandpa) and had their baskets ready in the morning. Erin got lots of things for playing dress up. She got some new hair ribbons, a necklace and plastic rings and new sunglasses. Plus some chocolate of course. Jeffrey got a little train to push around, a soft ball and some sippy cups. Both kids also got new shoes (don't get me started on finding cute sandals for boys in size 5 grrrr). We headed into church which was very crowded but a nice service.

When we got home, Tom slipped outside and hid the eggs I had put together for the kids. Then we had our little egg hunt at home. There was only 1 egg that Jeffrey saw right away. Just as he reached his hand out to pick it up, Erin charged in and grabbed it from him. She was able to find all the rest with a little help. Jeffrey just liked crawling/stumbling around on the ground. We thought Jeffrey would be able to find some of the ones hidden in the grass near the house of along the side hill, but he wasn't really interested in it. Maybe if I had given him his own little basket so he could be just like his sister it would have helped a little. Inside Erin shared the eggs (which were filled with jelly beans). Jeffrey thought they made the best sound when he shook them so he played at shaking the eggs while Erin struggled to open them up and eat as many jelly beans at one time as she could.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. I made a ham for dinner and Tom added some rolls to the mix. Erin spent the afternoon playing dress-up with her sunglasses and rings and went outside to blow some more bubbles. Jeffrey tried some milk in his new sippy cups and played around on the floor. What fun we had on a special day.

Spring has Sprung

Yay--Spring is here!!!! Finally. It's starting to be warm on a regular basis here in Virginia. We are spending a lot more time outside either just playing in the yard or heading into town to the park. We also walk around the lake a couple of time a week - well not exactly around the lake, but down to the lake and back so Erin can see the ducks, geese and swans (as well as the cats, dogs, squirrels, birds and other animals along the way). Erin can't quite make the whole long loop yet, so we walk down the road that cuts over to the lake and then back up our hill to the house. I think she is just starting to realize that the swans are there. It's hard to point them out to her because they don't live down by the beach but behind some people's homes so we have to look at them from the road and I think for the longest time she just couldn't pick them out. But the other day one was right by the shore and she got really excited when she saw it.

At the house Erin is obsessed with all the flowers. I've got pansies in the pots along the front steps and in a large pot at the bottom of the stairs. The daffodils we planted last fall are finally blooming and Erin goes out with me every day to check on them and sniffs each one individually. I cut some of the daffodils to bring inside the other day so now she thinks that every morning we need to go outside and get some flowers for inside. It's very cute.

Jeffrey also likes to be outside. He just climbs around on the grass. Sometimes he goes around the corner to check out the flowers at the house. He's much better about putting dirt and other stuff in his mouth than I thought he'd be. He likes to swing and slide on the little set Erin got for her birthday last year. But mostly he just likes to sit in the grass. When we go to the park he does really love the swing though now. Erin will often push him while I just get to stand back and watch them play together. It's great. Jeffrey also likes to try and walk or climb the steps of the jungle gym at the park. When there are fewer people there I let him explore a little more but since the weather's just starting to get nice it's been pretty crazy there each time we go.

Anyway I'm looking forward to it getting even warmer so we can spend lots more time outside. Hope everyone else is have as nice a spring as we are.