Trimming the Tree

checking to make sure the lights work.

when asked to smile he does this sometimes. He calls it his "silly boy smile".

helping Daddy put lights on our lovely little fake tree.

Dancing around in excitement because we are finally decorating the tree.

Still madly dancing around!

I finally realized when he was still acting crazy that I should have had the camera on video. I am lucky I got the photos I did considering I had a temp. of 102 and a bad case of strep throat. I almost boycotted the tree this year.

And we are done. Geddy thought the tree was so cute that he gave it a hug and kiss. Someday we will get a bigger fake tree. Or maybe if I am feeling nice and wanting to test my allergies after all these years, we will get a real tree.

Where does the time go?

Once upon a time, not so very long ago . . .


I had a little baby making faces at me every time I tried to take his picture.

Now, exactly two years later . . .

I have an almost 2 1/2 year old

making faces at me every time I try and take his picture!

Geddy and Santa

This is last year's free picture from Wal-Mart. Geddy was not too happy about sitting on some strange old man's lap. He is crying and reaching out for Scott. Even the candy cane would not console him.

I wasn't too sure how he would react this year. He was pretty upset by various costumes at Halloween time so I thought maybe a big guy in a weird suit with lots of facial hair might remind him of that. I think he was better because we have read lots of books about Santa and watched lots of movies. He also has a better idea of the fact that Santa is going to come on Christmas Eve and leave him a present and fill his stocking. He even knows that Santa is going to find him in Calgary. We bought one of those huge stockings from Wal-Mart for all of Santa's goodies. As you can see in the picture below, he had no problems with the visit this year. In fact, his whole face lit up as we approached the Christmas area. He has since asked if he gets to see Santa again. Though that may just be to get another candy cane. Apparently he did not inherit my dislike for them. A few weeks ago we were looking through our boxes of Christmas decorations so I could use some for a display at work. There were some old candy canes in the ornament box that Scott and I have been putting on our tree our entire marriage. When I wasn't looking, Geddy opened one and had it half eaten before I realized what he was doing. I can't imagine it tasted all that good after eleven years!

I had to look through a huge stack of these pictures tonight just to find ours. As I flipped through at least a hundred of them I realized that very few kids actually looked happy to be there. Most of the little kids were crying and screaming or trying to get away. A lot of older kids had an unhappy look like they didn't really want to be there, but mom and dad were making them. Then I found Geddy's! He was in the extremely small percentage of children that were actually looking at the camera with a happy look on their face. Yeah!!!

Just now when I logged onto my blog I saw that my co-worker Sheila had updated her blog. She has some great links to photos of kids and their traumatic experiences sitting on Santa's lap. Apparently someone has collected several into a book - not one I would buy, but it is pretty funny to look at. In some of the pictures I don't blame the kids for being freaked out, some Santas are kind of creepy looking! If you want a good laugh, just click on her link to the right.

Finally!

It's snowing!!! Will it stick??? Geddy is excited because we found a great deal on Spider-Man Winter boots at K-Mart the other day and he can't wait to wear them (outside). I will get pictures on here someday, if we ever get caught up on sleep!

Follow-Up

In case you are interested, Geddy did not sleep through the night. Neither did Scott. So of course, neither did I.
I told Scott just a couple of days ago that Geddy had grown again. His pajamas were shorter in the legs and the arms - and no they hadn't just shrunk in the laundry. Sure enough, when they measured him at the dr. office he has grown an inch since he was there last in October. And gained more than a pound. I guess he hasn't been eating too poorly after all. He is now 3'2" and weighs 33 pounds!
We did venture to Wal-Mart in Springville today. Geddy had his picture taken with Santa Claus. I was expecting some reluctance and tears but he surprised Scott and me with a huge smile. He even said, "I see Santa. I am happy." He told Santa he wanted a guitar for Christmas. We will have to see what Santa can manage, especially since he will be visiting Geddy in Calgary this year. I should have the picture later this week and will try and get it scanned. It is even the same Santa they had last year.

Explanations

Sorry to those of you (grandparents) who want more Geddy pictures and Geddy stories, but we haven't done much this past week. All three of us have been a bit under the weather. Scott hasn't been able to sleep much. Geddy has been sleeping and eating poorly also. He has had congestion and a yucky sounding cough for about a week and a half. His glands in his neck have been swollen for a couple of months (one extremely swollen). So since we were up in Provo/Orem area I decided to take him into the dr. I am glad I did. Apparently Geddy has an ear infection, throat infection, and bronchitis! You would never know he was sick to look at him, his energy level is quite high (just ask anyone who was at my work Christmas party today)! The dr. said not all kids react to symptoms the same. His throat might bother him when he wakes up in the morning or is falling asleep at night, but during the day there are enough distractions that he doesn't think about it. Anyways, he is on antibiotics now. Hopefully that will help.
The doc also had the nurse give Ged a flu shot while we were in there. I really didn't think Geddy would remember the word "shot" as it has been several months since his last round of immunizations. But let me tell you, the nurse that gave him the shot thought we were going to need a couple other people to hold him down. As soon as she came in and said, "Is he ready for his shot?" Geddy started screaming "No, No, NO!" at the top of his lungs. Dr. K had given him some tongue depressors to play with and he launched one of those at the nurse, hitting her on the forehead - almost her eye! I had to struggle to get his pants off. I held both of his arms and one of his legs down while she held the other leg and put the shot in. The funny thing is, I don't think he was crying so much about the shot itself hurting, but about being pinned down like that. All is well now, he is asleep and will hopefully sleep through the night tonight!
Scott will hopefully sleep well also. Upon the recommendation of a few people he is trying Melatonin supplements. Last night it definitely seemed to help. Tonight could be a different story as he just got called in to work to deal with a frozen food machine that was melting down. Thank goodness he gets a campus vehicle when he is on call so we don't have to pay the gas money for these extra trips into town. And to top it all off, I had to come home early from work with a migraine. Don't ask why I am on the computer, I can hardly focus on the screen. If this entry doesn't make sense, that should explain it. So, short story long, I am sorry for no new photos or videos. Hopefully tomorrow I can get something organized.

A Week in the Life of Geddy Scott Hirsche

I have been trying for several days to post something. After many frustrated attempts, this is all you are getting. Sorry for the red-eye and darkness in some of the photos. I didn't take the time to edit them yet.

Just Gas!

Playing hockey in Daddy's hockey jersey (a dress for Geddy).

We have discovered another way Geddy is like his Daddy. He loves to quote funny sayings from movies or TV shows, or even just create his own catch-phrases. For example, he and Scott watch the new Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon on Cartoon Network. Geddy thinks the voices are hilarious for the battle droids. At least once an episode a battle droid will say "Roger Roger" in response to some command from General Grievous. Geddy laughs his head off every time. So now he likes to say it to us, trying to imitate the tone of voice as well.

Ready for Church, practicing his dance moves to show-off for the girls in nursery.


Another show that Scott and Geddy watch is an old, practically unheard of, show from the early 70's called "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein". Scott remembered this from when he was young and we tracked down the DVD collection through Amazon Canada. Parts of the show are very familiar to me, so maybe I saw it too as a kid. Anyway, there is a character in it that is like a wildlife explorer or something and he always says "Ooga Booga" with a bit of an accent. Geddy loves it and frequently pops his head around a doorway just to say, "Ooga Booga".

Pretending to be Spanky (our cat) playing with the shoestring.

My personal favorite, though not from any show, is "Just Gas". A few months ago Geddy was emitting some pretty powerful odors so I asked him if he had poopy pants. He quickly responded with, "No, just gas". I admit, I laughed pretty hard because I wasn't expecting that answer. Since then he uses "just gas" to answer any and all questions. I will ask him what he wants to eat, "Just gas" is his reply.

"Look Mama, has a zipper".

Or if you have been one of the lucky few to talk to him on the phone, he will usually greet you, "Hi! Just gas!" He also uses it in place of "just joking". He will say he has an ow or he is tired. I will start to do something to remedy that situation and he will laugh and say "Just Gas". If only I hadn't found it so funny the first time, he probably would have never said it again.

New Names and Self-Portraits

I downloaded the photos from our camera last week and was surprised to see some pictures that I hadn't taken on there. One night when I was at work Scott and Geddy had fun taking pictures of themselves. When Geddy saw them on the computer he wanted he and I to take one also. Scott's turned out way better than mine, but Geddy was happy with them both.

Geddy took it upon himself to give us new names last week. We are no longer Daddy, Mommy and Geddy. He decided to flip the syllables and we are now Dee-daw, Mee-maw, and Dee-ged. He is quite consistent with calling us by these lovely new names. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

Geddy the Skeleton

One thing to add to last post.

I forgot to mention a quick cute story in the last post. We decorated our house a bit for Halloween. Geddy is "a little bit scared" of some of our decorations. So Scott asked him if he was a chicken. Geddy promptly responded, "Yes, I am. Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk."

"Little Bit Scared"

He loves having his basketball hoop in the garage so he can play whenever he wants.

Geddy is, in his own words, "a little bit scared of 'alloween". (He doesn't pronounce his h's). I take most of the blame for this. He wasn't too bothered by things until several weeks ago when we were in the Salt Lake area and took him into a huge Halloweentown Store. Everything would have been fine if they hadn't had all of their life-sized, motion-sensored people around. It seemed everywhere we turned there was a killer clown, Jason from Friday the 13th, a zombie taking its head off, and so on. I though it was kind of cute that he was a little scared of it even though we told him they were pretend and robots and couldn't hurt him, so I wasn't in a hurry to leave the store. Ever since then he is very wary of Halloween decorations.

Outdoor adventures in our front jungle, I mean yard. He had just witnessed me killing a huge black widow and a hobo spider.

He hates going to the grocery store by our house because they had a skeleton with a top hat that would sing and dance. He didn't care that it was trying to be funny and not scary, he just always clings to me while chanting "go away, go away, go away". Luckily someone paid the $100 and bought the thing so it no longer torments him when we go to the store. Or so I thought, after a few days of it being gone they put a freakier looking zombie butler there. It is still relatively mild compared to the ones we saw at the Halloween store, but he once again never wants to go to the store. Every time I say we need to run to the store he asks if we can go to Wal-Mart instead. Pretending to sleep on his bookshelf on the bottom of the entertainment center.

He doesn't seem too bothered by some of the small decorations where he can push the button himself to make it do its thing. I guess he isn't as startled by them. One of the cutest things was a time when we were in K-Mart. He was playing with a little space blaster gun while I shopped. When we got to the Halloween section he insisted on shooting all of the scary things so they couldn't get him. After all of this he decided he is going to be a skeleton for Halloween, a scary one. It will be interesting to see how he does trick-or-treating with all of those other kids around in costumes.

Showing off his new haircut.

(none of the pictures in this entry have anything to do with the text, but I thought I would break up my ramblings with some recent pictures of Geddy.)

I'm not sure what caused this expression. He just kept going up and down the front steps waiting for Daddy to come home.

Jeepers, Creepers . . .

Where'd he get them peepers?!

Geddy's Idea of Work

Sorry no photos with this one. I will try and get some to add later.

Geddy has a good knowledge of how Mom and Dad go to work to make money to buy the things we need. If you ask him where his Daddy works, he will tell you, "BYU work". If you ask him where Mommy works, he will say, "at library". If you ask him where Geddy works, he will most likely respond with, "Geddy work home, in kitchen". He is completely right. He loves helping me around the house, but most especially the kitchen. He particularly loves emptying the dishwasher - after I take all sharp knives out. Sweeping is another favorite, though he is much less proficient at this task. I let him do it and then I just do it over. It may take more time, but he loves feeling helpful and important. While I was mopping the floor today I gave him one of those Magic Eraser pads and had him cleaning the wall in the living room where he left marks from his baseball bat. I did have to do it myself afterwards, but he was so pleased with himself that he told me "Geddy happy, helping Mama".
A couple of days ago I completely cleaned out our massive garage. We don't really have a lot in there, but what is there was really disorganized and messy. One particular corner of piles of boards that we inherited with the house, had never been touched in the years we have been here. Needless to say when I moved them I found quite a little black widows nest. The purpose of cleaning it out finally was to bring Geddy's beloved basketball hoop inside for the winter. I don't think that boy would survive several months of not being able to shoot a real ball. Geddy woke up from his nap partway through this adventure. I was tempted to just quit for the day and come inside and play with Geddy. Then I thought about it and asked if he wanted to help me. I told him what I was doing and why, and he enthusiastically said, "Yes, I do help Mama". After getting him bundled up (it's been close to freezing for the past couple of weeks) we headed out and finished the project. He was such a big help carrying boards (I removed all black widows) and letting the air out of his wading pool and many other projects. We now have a fantastically clean garage with a huge area for him to play basketball in. We were both pleased with the end results, as was Scott when he got home from work.
So the point of all this rambling is to let you all know that Geddy really does "work at home"!

Photo's from Uncle Brian's Visit

"Thank you, Mom!"

I finally remembered to buy a step stool so Geddy can wash his own hands and face at the bathroom sink. He can also turn off and on the water, he quickly learned to only touch the one that has a "C" (for cookie he says - thank you Sesame Street). He even can flip the light switch on and off.
He very enthusiastically brushed his teeth. He wants to brush his teeth constantly now, a definite improvement. I hesitated for so long because as you can see, our bathroom is quite small. I didn't want a stool being out and in the way, we already have the Elmo potty chair doing that. Then I finally had the brilliant and oh-so-obvious idea of keeping the stool in the cupboard under the sink when it wasn't in use. So after cleaning out the cupboard, I taught Geddy to get it out himself and put it back himself. It has only been a couple of days but so far he is doing great.

This simple purchase of a step stool has allowed Geddy a lot more freedom and independence. After using it to brush his teeth the first time he gave me a big hug and kiss and said very exuberantly and sincerely, "Thank you, Mom!"

I was tagged (kind of, not really)

I haven't officially been tagged. Scott's cousin Heather didn't have anyone to tag so left it open. I took her up on the invite mostly because I want to see what everyone else has to say.

8 TV shows I like to watch:

1. House Hunters/House Hunters International
2. Design on a Dime
3. Designed to Sell
4. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
5. Flintstones
6. All in the Family
7. Incredible Hulk
8. Three's Company

8 favorite restaurants:

1. Applebee's
2. PF Chang's
3. California Pizza Kitchen
4. Magelby's Fresh
5. Bajio
6. Papa Murphy's
7. Tsing Tao
8. Sconecutter

8 things that happened yesterday:

1. Geddy and I cleaned in the basement
2. Geddy took a nap
3. I read Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne Duprau
4. Geddy and I watched Scooby Doo meets the Boo Brothers
5. I went to work and came home from work
6. I created a crock pot meal for Scott and Geddy's dinner - Scott liked it, Geddy didn't
7. I almost hit a stupid pedestrian
8. I killed a spider in the kitchen and a beetle in the living room within five minutes of each other

8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. Being Healthy
2. Seeing friends and family in Canada
3. Losing Weight
4. Christmas Vacation
5. Carrie's Wedding
6. Geddy's willingness to listen when I say "stop" or "please don't do that"
7. When Scott has a new job
8. When I don't have to work anymore

8 things on my wish list:

1. A brother or sister for Geddy
2. Scott having a better job that he enjoyed
3. Moving away from Utah
4. My family was closer
5. Losing Weight
6. Being able to travel
7. A Master's Degree in Library Science
8. Money

8 People I am Tagging:

1. Beth
2. Sarah
3. Carrie
4. Chantelle
5. Jenny
6. Kristine
7. Anita
8. Stacie

Not much going on.

"Geddy have glasses now"

Last Saturday we went to Salt Lake City to have dinner with my Uncle Brian. He drives a tour bus and happened to be stopping for the night in Salt Lake. It has been awhile since we have been able to see him so we jumped at the chance to visit for a few hours. Geddy loved that we got to go for a ride on the "big big bus" when Uncle Brian had to refuel. Then we went to Applebee's for dinner - Geddy loves that restaurant, at least the name of that restaurant. We didn't take any pictures, but luckily Uncle Brian did. As soon as we get those I will post them.

Having fun with a red Sharpie.

Other than that, we haven't had a lot happen the past week worth blogging about. Geddy is currently sick, again. I am sure it is courtesy of nursery at church. He always seems to get sick late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The doctor said there is usually a 2 or 3 day incubation period for colds, so that goes right back to Sunday. I don't think it is entirely due to other sick kids coming, but the toys are filthy. We have suggested many times that someone clean them. Don't the Young Men and Young Women need a service project? I am tempted to borrow Scott's key to the building and go do it myself one of these days. Hide and seek - pretended blanket was an egg he broke out of.

Luckily Geddy's fever isn't too high. But he is extremely congested and it's draining out his nose and down his throat. He doesn't have much of an appetite, but drinks constantly. He will feel better for a few hours and play like normal, then he will crash. He is taking his second nap right now - he usually only takes one, if that.

"Helping" mom clean pantry - thought he would sample the goods.

Hopefully he will improve over the next couple of days. It is just too bad that there isn't anything out there for little kids to take to ease the congestion and cough. He hates when I spray the saline nose spray in his nose. But that seems to be about all I can do to help him. The pictures in this post are just random ones from the past week or so of our Ged being silly and/or cute.

Escaping into his room.

Spanky has decided Geddy's bed is a great place to nap, as long as Geddy is nowhere around.

Ace

Geddy wanted to type for this entry. He typed out a couple of sentences (I just tell him what letter to push and he finds it on the keyboard and types it). He did pretty good, then he told me he was "typing like Mama" and moved his fingers all over the keyboard. I have no idea what all he hit, but he deleted this whole entry. I ended up having to restart the whole computer because he had froze it up. We will try that another time.

Being the sports nut that he is, Geddy is always wanting new sports equipment. He has played around in the garage with mine and Scott's tennis rackets a few times. He watched a lot of the US Open a few weeks ago. So tennis was the request of the past week. I guess he figures since he has tried golf once he is ready to move on to something else. We took him to Toys R Us on Saturday. He still had some birthday money he wanted to spend. He couldn't decided between a new hockey stick or a tennis racket. We helped him decided on the tennis rackets. He got two child size tennis rackets and two tennis balls in a cute little case for only $9.99. So of course we had to go play right away. Actually, Scott and I have wanted to start playing again for some time. We just weren't sure what to do with Geddy. We went down to the courts at the high school and were glad to have the whole place to ourselves. Geddy actually let us show him how to use his racket. (And yes, he is definitely a lefty). He then took a ball and hit it all over the court. He got quite a workout chasing it and hitting it, chasing it and hitting it, etc. . . It kept him occupied so Scott and I could play a bit. I really need to play a few more times to reacquaint myself with my racket. It has been three years since I last played. We hope to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather and play a little each Saturday.