Getting my Creative Juices Flowing Again

A couple of months ago I decided I needed to make Geddy some curtains for his bedroom. To help block the light we had put some blankets over the curtain rod. They did a great job of blocking the light and they matched his superhero room decor. But they weren't very attractive.I let Geddy pick out the fabric. Then I became a slacker and stuffed the fabric in the cupboard and the curtains never got made. Every day I would go in his room and see the curtain rod getting more and more bent in the middle, but still never did anything about it. Finally today was it! I got thinking how much of a pain it would be if the whole thing fell while Geddy was sleeping and then to have to go buy a new curtain rod and how ridiculous it was that I hadn't gotten around to making something so simple as a pair of curtains.
So here they are! It took less than an hour and they look so much better than those blankets. True his walls are still nasty and desperately need repainted. His carpet is still a lovely pink color. But at least he has nice looking curtains. They don't block as much light as the blankets so hopefully it won't affect his sleeping. He was ecstatic when he saw them. He kept saying "Thank you Mama, thank you Mama".
There was enough fabric left over to make a pillow. Geddy helped me stuff it! (You knew I couldn't do a blog entry without a picture of Geddy)! He was so pleased with the pillow he had to use it for his nap. He fell asleep listing off, "basketball, football, baseball, soccer ball, other balls, basketball, football, etc . . ." Other balls is for tennis balls and golf balls. They are not quite so high on his list of favorite balls. It felt good to do something creative, even if it was an extremely simple and basic project. I haven't made any type of craft for several years (before Geddy). I have so much stuff in the basement I can use! Let's just hope this is the first of many craft projects to come! Maybe I should start on everyone's Christmas gifts now!

Who knew sarcasm started so young?

Here is a conversation Geddy and I had yesterday:

Mama: How old are you Geddy?
Geddy: Two!
Mama: Do you know how old Mama is?
Geddy: OOOOOOOOld!

A Singing Sensation!?

Geddy loves to sing even if he doesn't always know all the words. Sunday morning he watched (off and on while doing many other things) a Scooby-Doo marathon on Cartoon Network. He kept singing "Scooby Dooby Doo Where are you?" all afternoon.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is one of his favorites, but here he got it mixed up with the Scooby song.

Then there is the "Bear went Over the Mountain to see what he could see". That is what he is trying to sing in this one.

Another favorite is the alphabet song. His favorite part being what you see in this next video. He will sing this over and over and over . . . Geddy laughed so hard he was hiccuping watching himself in this video.

All the videos are very short, just a few seconds. Hopefully no one has problems viewing them.

Making Progress

Geddy made some great progress in potty training yesterday! He told me twice he had to "go pee-pee right now!" And he did. The first time he was quite upset because he missed his little toilet by about an inch. Once I reassured and praised him he got over it. The second time he did it perfectly and was very excited to flush it down the big toilet on his own. Unfortunately we weren't able to duplicate success today as we spent all morning waiting for our car to get fixed (again)! He tried to use the toilet at the Sears Auto Center, but he was a little too intimidated by the size and ickiness factor. I realize we are still beginning the process of potty training and it will be some time before there are no more diapers. But I am quite excited that he was able to tell me two times before he actually did anything! Geddy has been interested in going for about 7 months. He has spent considerable time in the bathroom attempting to go. And he is very good about telling me when he is done going in his diaper. I am so proud of him and can't believe that he is getting to be such a big boy!

Day at the Zoo with Grandma Cheryl & Aunt Shauna

Saturday August 2nd was Cheryl and Shauna's last day with us. We decided to head up to Salt Lake with them and spend some time at the zoo and go out to dinner before they continued north. Scott drove his mom's car to save her a little bit of driving. Shauna and Geddy rode with me in our car. I'm glad Shauna came. Geddy was asleep within a few miles of leaving home and wasn't very good company. Shauna and I had a good visit and she was able to help me get accurate directions to the zoo. I didn't take too many pictures that day. I did get some as you will see in the following slide show. I hope you all aren't sick of slide shows. I love being able to use them as I can include so many pictures and not make a novel-length blog entry. This should be my final catch up entry. I think I have covered all the major things that happened around Geddy's birthday and with all of our company. Geddy did have his 2-year check up the last week of July. Dr. Kennedy was quite pleased with his progress in all areas. Geddy is now 3'1" and weighs 30 pounds. Geddy practiced saying "Hi Dr. Kennedy" all morning and was happy to finally be able to use it when we got there. Geddy proceeded to show off his climbing and jumping skills all over the office while the doctor talked to us. I guess we go back in 6 months for the next one. Luckily Geddy didn't need any immunizations this time (we are still trying to get the billing figured out from his 15 month visit). Actually he won't need any until it is time for him to go to school. That is way too far away for me to even think about right now!

What happened on July 26th?

(Yes, I am still playing catch-up. I am almost done, then I can get back to real time).

July 26th was my Dad's birthday. It was also the day before Geddy's birthday and a Saturday, so the best time to celebrate Geddy's birthday. Dad was fine with sharing his day with Geddy. I think we all know that birthdays are much more important and exciting to 2-year-olds than 61-year-olds! We decided to head out to Lehi to Thanksgiving Point. We had been promising Geddy that we would go see "dinosaur bones" when Papa and Grandma were here. Geddy loved every minute of it. One of his very favorite things was eating lunch in the museum cafe. He had chicken nuggets which were shaped like dinosaurs. Now every time he eats chicken nuggets he calls them dinosaurs and growls at them - even if they look nothing like dinosaurs. We also watched a 3-D IMAX dinosaur movie. Geddy loved the glasses, but fell asleep before the movie even started.

Then we made our way over to Farm Country. It was supposed to be a petting zoo, but you only got to pet anything if it was near the fence and not trying to bite your fingers off. Geddy got to pet some baby goats and some big goats. A calf tried to suckle on his fingers. The pigs put on an entertaining show for us, they were in a very playful mood. Other than that there wasn't much to pet. Then we found the pony ride! I thought for sure Geddy would be at least a little bit scared, he sometimes doesn't do well with heights. He was ecstatic and laughed the whole time. We were able to let him ride a second time. He even wanted a third ride, but the line was too long so we told him we would go back another day. Even now, more than three weeks later (which is a long time for a little kid's memory), if he sees a picture of a horse he always says, "Geddy ride horsie". And I know it is quite an unflattering picture of me with Geddy on the horse. I have Scott to thank for taking it from such an unattractive angle, he could have stood up and it might have turned out better. Oh well, Geddy looks adorable as usual.

To finish the day off we went to Chuck E. Cheese in Orem. Geddy had a blast trying different rides - including this one with Chuck E that took his picture. He tried a variety of games, but his favorite (as if you had any doubts) was the basketball shooting game. He racked up quite the high score every time he did it. We ended up with enough tickets to get a small frisbee and some Tootsie Pops. The pizza was decent too.

Birthday Videos

Geddy gets lots of helpful advice while trying to blow out his birthday candle.

The first attempts at shooting his new basketball at his new hoop.

After about five to ten minutes of practice he was really getting
the hang of it.

Birthday Cake and Presents Too

I know it has been two weeks since his birthday! It is just taking me awhile to get everything on here.
I let Geddy pick out the cake mix (Funfetti) and frosting for his cake. He also selected the toy for the top and the candle. I was fine that he didn't select anything too fancy. I am grateful to my mother for icing the cake for me. It has been years since I made a layer cake and I remember the cakes always tearing on me. So thanks again Mom, the cake looked lovely.

Geddy certainly enjoyed it. But the ice cream was his favorite part. I had planned on making homemade ice cream for Dad's birthday (which was the day before Ged's) and Geddy's combined but I decided against it. I do love homemade ice cream, but the preparation and expense of ingredients made me decide to just buy a couple of cartons that were on sale at the store. Geddy is going through a "green" phase so I picked out mint chocolate chip as well as vanilla for the rest of us.

For the past few months Geddy has been fixated on globes. Every time he sees one or a picture of the earth he gets excited. When I started asking him what he wanted for his birthday he kept saying globe. So when he got his birthday coupons from Toys R Us, we went and bought a globe (and a light saber - no pictures of that yet). I put the globe away until his birthday. He was very excited and decided the globe needed a hug. He quickly learned where on the globe Papa Bruce and Grandma Rayne live, as well as where we live.

Another favorite present was a pillow that his Great-Grandma Darlene made and sent out with my parents. Geddy decided he needed to try it out immediately. He has used it as his pillow every night since then.

And of course, a slinky. Scott taught Geddy the Slinky Song which Geddy loves to sing while playing with his slinky. Unfortunately our basement stairs aren't quite right for the perfect performance of the Slinky, but Geddy doesn't really mind at this point.

A must-have for all toddlers - the Red Tricycle! Papa Bruce and Grandma Rayne made sure Geddy got his. His favorite place to ride is in our unfinished basement. He works on it a bit each day and is really getting the hang of it.

The ultimate gift for Geddy? A basketball hoop! He has been bored with the little Nerf hoop in our kitchen for quite some time. Scott and I decided this is what he needed. The hoop adjusts from 4 1/2 feet up to 6 1/2 feet (I think - maybe higher). It came with a mini basketball so now Geddy has two of those. The best part of the hoop, though we haven't told Geddy this yet, is it is a full size rim so he can shoot Daddy's basketball as well. It didn't take him long to get the rhythm of the ball and the new height of the basket (about two inches taller than the one in the kitchen). He wants to play "basketball outside" all the time now. I just need to get the garage cleaned out so he can play no matter what the weather and there is more room for him. Videos will be on here soon!

Papa Bruce and Grandma Rayne

In our backyard watching Geddy play with his new basketball hoop!

(More on that in another entry:)

Geddy and Grandpa read many comics together.

Geddy especially loved it when Papa Bruce said "Moleman" while reading the Fantastic Four Comic.

He just found it hilarious and that is what we had Geddy say to get him to smile for pictures for the rest of the week. I will probably continue to use it until it stops working.

I wanted to get some more pictures before Grandpa and Grandma left. Geddy was pretty cooperative. I think he was happy that he had a balloon that matched his shirt!

This is my favorite of the pictures I took. At least it would have been had Geddy not decided to "honk" his nose right as I took the picture.

Geddy is sad that Grandma is getting ready to go bye-bye.

One last comic book, please Grandpa?!

2 Years old!!!!!!!!!

While my parents were here we took Geddy to JC Penney for some pictures. He was so cooperative and did pretty much everything the photographer asked him to do. He even gave us some cute photos by doing what he wanted (the ones with the football helmet on his head and laying his head down on his hands). The pictures turned out great! I ordered so many pictures but it seems I didn't order the one Scott likes the best. I don't know how I missed it, it is a great picture (the one with dark background and mostly just a head shot towards the end of the slide show). It was so hard to choose the ones I did. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to order all of them.

We have done so many fun things in the past two weeks that it will take me several posts to get everyone caught up. Geddy turned 2 on the 27th. He was ecstatic because Papa Bruce and Grandma Rayne were here for about 5 days. The day they returned to California his Grandma Cheryl (Yeryl) and Aunt Shauna (Yauna) arrived from Canada. They too stayed for about 5 days. Geddy was quite sad when everyone was gone. He was very spoiled by everyone. It didn't take him too long to get back on his schedule of ten hour nights and 2-3 hour naps (thank goodness).