There once was a kid from Nantucket...

...who crammed his body into a bucket. That's right folks, Jonathan decided to abandon the freedom the full bathtub allows, opting instead to enjoy his bath time in the bucket I use to store the 1.5 million bath toys. He was so nutty this weekend that this was no surprise. It was, however, a much-needed reprieve from the strong-headedness that plagued our household for much of the weekend. If only bathtime could have lasted a whole afternoon...

Ice, Ice Baby

Who doesn't love Vanilla Ice? But even better, who doesn't love getting to leave work at 12:30 due to an ice storm? That is the happy position Bryan and I found ourselves in today and it ROCKED. Jonathan's disposition was much better than during last week's snow day. This time, I think he got it--comfy clothes, snacks and a movie, Ratatouille. I loved every minute of it and so did he.

Happy (Belated) V-Day!

I tried to do a post on actual Valentine's Day, but Blogger and I were in some sort of fight and my dinner arrived courtesy of my precious husband, so I scrapped blogging for steak and wine.

Jonathan had a Valentine's party at school. In preparation, not only did we purchase Backyardigan's valentines, we also had "homework" in the form of decorating a shoe box to hold the valentines from his friends. The project was a collaboration between Jonathan, Nana (Bryan's mom), Bryan and me:



When I picked Jonathan up from school, I asked him about the party. He replied "it was fun." I would guess so considering that he got this loot:



He also got Valentine's cards in the mail from various family members. Jonathan LOVES to get mail. Here he is with the card from Grams (my mother):



And Jonathan enjoying the Sesame Street stickers Grams thoughtfully included:



I'll end with a funny Jonathan story. On Thursday morning, I went into Jonathan's room to get him up. He was rubbing his eye, probably due to some eye crust. When I asked him if he was OK, he said "yeah, I just have a ladybug in my eye." Who knew ladybugs were so intrusive?

Snow Day

Finally, after two years of crazy-cold-but-nonetheless-snow-free winter weather in the 'ville, we had enough snow last night to have a snow day. Unfortunately, after it snowed about four inches, a bout of sleet came through, making the whole landscape resemble a pie crust. Definitely not the "noman" making weather Jonathan wanted. Also unhappily is the fact that the snow apparently brought with it a monster that replaced my normally sweet child. I know he was in time out ten times today. Luckily Beanie Weenies and Blues Clues brought some whine-free time, but I'd better type quickly as I am certain it will be short lived.

Due to the general crankiness, I was not able to take many pictures. In fact, only two. First, Jonathan as we were heading outside despite the fact that it was raining on top of the snow and ice:



And here is a glimpse of the ickiness outdoors. I stayed for two seconds but Jonathan enjoyed it and hung out with Daddy while he cleared the sidewalks.



One bright spot is this cake that I did for our Valentine's luncheon at work tomorrow. The inside is three layers and is supposed to be checkerboard pink and white but I will not know for sure until tomorrow:

I Never

Andrea has done some really great "I never" posts, mostly centering around all those things you say you will never do when you have kids. I was reminded of her words recently when, upon telling Jonathan we were taking him to a dinner party, he insisted that he needed to wear a party hat. So he wore an Elmo birthday party hat that evening to our friend's house. The next day, though, he insisted that he wear it through breakfast and then, continuing on the theme, to the grocery store while also insisting that he continue wearing his pajamas. I used to see kids dressed like that before having one of my own and wonder what in the world their parents were thinking. Now I know it's a battle they did not want to fight and now I AM ONE OF THEM.

Here is a taste of what he looked like at the grocery. In all fairness, it was Wal-mart on a Sunday morning so he didn't really stand out:





Yup, throw on a LL Bean barn jacket and there you have it. Oh, and a package of mini powered doughnuts. It made me think back to the first year of Jonathan's life, when I was certain that he would be a healthy eater, sure that he would not be one of those kids who only eat chicken nuggets. I actually scoured every jar of baby food for hidden sugars. Looking back on the poor innocent new mother I was, I chuckle. Now, it's PB&J, hot dog and chicken nugget central at our house. And when we're shopping, all bets are off. I'd rather give him a dose of good old red dye and high fructose corn syrup than have a screaming monster in my cart. Life with a two year old has definitely changed my ideals!

Coming soon, to celebrate my 100th post (just a few away!), I am giving away a treat courtesy of my lovely and crafty husband. It's pretty awesome, so stay tuned!

Building Blocks

I've had a to take a bit of a hiatus from blogging due to the fact that a hefty storm front came through the 'ville on Tuesday night, killing our electricity and, more importantly, our computer. It wasn't all bad, though, as our desktop was almost four years old and just about in need of replacing anyway. We've upgraded to a new HP laptop and, hopefully, will add a wireless router in the near future. I am still getting used to Vista, but so far it's pretty cool. It was one of those unexpected life things that can be a bad situation, but we turned it into a positive. I reminded myself to be grateful that we were not like the folks just a few miles from us who had a tree fall on their house.

The night before all that, however, Jonathan was having a great time with his wooden Pottery Barn Kids blocks. He got these from one of my co-workers before he was even born. They are some of the nicest wooden blocks I've ever seen. He is currently very much into stacking the blocks as high as he can.





As you can see, he is quite proud of his mad block-stacking skills:



When it gets higher than him, Daddy has to help:



Stacking blocks like this is such hard work that Jonathan had to take a time out:



Alas, gravity and wooden blocks are not friends:



Even the canvas storage bag is great fun:



Not too much else has been happening around here. Jonathan is doing FANTASTIC in his new bed. We have not had a single issue getting him to sleep in it and, since it's been a week since he moved to the toddler bed, I feel confident in saying that the transition was seamless. Jonathan never ceases to amaze me in his ability to adapt to change. Our last big hurdle will be potty training; once we do that, he will be a full fledged little boy. I am so proud of him as he grows up, but it makes me a bit sad, too, as he is definitely not a baby any longer!