Christmas memories - part 3

A few more pictures from our Santa visit earlier in the month...

Santa is actually a very nice man named Poppy. He and his wife run one of the seasonal campgrounds by the water in the coastal city of Seward (2.5 hours away from Anchorage). I told him we'd try to come and see him next summer! I've known him from many years, ever since we hired him to come to my workplace annually in December. He's THE BEST Santa. So sweet and always knows just what to say to the kids.

Boyd was SO MAD when we sat down with Santa. OMG!

OK, all better now.

Christmas memories - part 2

More photos from Christmas morning!

D was a gift-giving rockstar this year. He gave me extremely thoughtful presents - some that I didn't even expect. I was really touched.  Boyd wasn't too into opening gifts - he would rip the paper once we prompted him. His favorite gift of the day? The $0.50 pack of crayons that D slipped into Boyd's stocking. It was really comical to see our kid pass over the cool stuff we bought him, just to go back to coloring!

The magic of Christmas morning. Daddy put crayons in everyone's stockings, so Boyd got to check them all out.

A mini-Drift figurine from Daddy! Crayons in hand.

Seriously, all he wanted to do was play with the crayons all morning.

Cool Pillow Pet from Grandma and Grandpa Patrick. I love these things - Boyd sleeps with his every night.

Na na na na na na na Batman (hat)!

Unveiling our big gift for the kiddo...

Melissa and Doug wooden play kitchen! It took me hours to put together (by hand). I'm sure D could have completed it faster but I'm glad I did it.

He likes it!

We also got him some nice wooden kitchen accessories, and added some play food that he already had in the house.

Super cool learning toy from Jim & Barbara. He loves the buttons. :-)

Big thanks to our families and friends for the gifts and edible treats that we received. So generous of you all to think of us, and especially to provide wonderful gifts to our son. We love you all!

Christmas memories - part 1

Christmas was really lovely. A quiet one, and we were missing Gabe (who was on the slope), but nice nonetheless. My mom and sister joined us on Christmas Eve for our annual holiday jambalaya dinner. This is the 3rd or 4th year that D has cooked up this dish on December 24th, so I think it's officially a Patrick family tradition! The next day they were back again and we relaxed while a prime rib slow-cooked in the oven. Dinner was so delicious: prime rib, mashed potatoes, zucchini, brussels sprouts, and cherry pie/ice cream for dessert. And of course, watching a marathon of "A Christmas Story" on TV!

These are just a few of the photos from Christmas Eve/Day - the rest are on my regular camera. Will download those soon!

Boyd assisted me in putting together his big Christmas present! He's a super technical toddler - something he gets from both the Whalens and Patricks in his family.

Holy moly - for those of who think our kid is a perfect angel all of the time, I present to you: this photo from Christmas Eve. Boyd was super cranky after a late nap that we had to cut short. 

He finally calmed down and helped Risha draw some kitties at the counter.

A great present from his great x2 Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim. He loves this learning toy! His new play kitchen is in the foreground of the photo.

Modeling Risha's fun hat.

This was so funny - we took a few selfies with Risha holding up her mustache finger tattoo to Boyd, then.....

...he held up his finger to his own nose to imitate her!

Uncle Gabe very helpfully purchased a disc-shooting gun for Boyd to torment his parents with.

Kisses to Grandma Mim and Grandpa Don for Boyd's cool new Batman hat! Super warm and snuggly with room to grown.

Friday update

So much snow has arrived - we're flush with it! Two big snowfalls within a week, with very cold below-zero temperatures in between. I am hopeless when it comes to estimating depths. I'll say to D, "what do you think we got, like 6 inches?" And he'll reply, "Audry, that's at least a foot of snow." Rish and Gabe got a snow blower, so Gabe stopped by to do our driveway. What a guy!

I waited until after we visited Santa to start on our Christmas cards, so we'll be a bit behind on getting those out. But not to worry, you all will receive a card chock-full of adorable little Boyd photos!

My friend at work took this camera phone photo of my boy and I after meeting Santa.

Other news: we have a new CEO at my workplace, a dynamic lady from out of state. Really have high hopes that she'll re-energize our staff and bring morale up! We also filmed some TV commercials this week to promote one of our service lines - those spots will start airing next week.

On the travel front, D, Boyd and I will hop on an airplane and visit San Diego to see some of my family members. Wish us luck with this new experience!

Being silly. The thing he's sitting on is a PlasmaCar. I got it for free (plus free shipping!) from Pampers Rewards. All of those diaper codes finally paid off.

Trying to stay warm in cold Alaskan weather. We've been reminding Boyd to put his hands in his pockets when it's cold.

My supper club met this week  Great minds apparently think alike, because 4 out of 8 of us gave a gift having something to do with a mason jar! It was funny to see all the canning jars being exchanged. There were jars filled with candy, hot chocolate mix with snowman poop (marshmallows), and even a redneck wineglass (mason jar with a candlestick base). I packaged a Starbucks hot chocolate packet with a mini bottle of Bailey's Irish Creme (the liquor store sales girl didn't blink an eye when I asked for 10 mini bottles of the stuff) inside of a jar, complete with daisy-cut metal lid, striped straw and holiday tag.

My holiday gift to friends at work.

The good stuff to go in the jars!

Boyd did this all by himself! We looked down and he had pulled all of the bottles out to line them up in a curve.

Boyd has been teething for the last couple weeks, plus this week he picked up a cold from somewhere. Those nights of uninterrupted sleep have been few and far between lately! Last night he was just so restless, tossing and turning with a stuffy nose and asking for water every 15 minutes. I tried to sleep on the couch with Boyd but we were both pretty exhausted this morning. D and Gabe left super early to take the boat out for a winter hunting trip to Prince William Sound. Please send good vibes their way for a successful and safe deer hunt!

Boyd - 22 months

The Anchorage area is slated to receive anywhere between 8 to 12 inches over the weekend. And then it'll get cold, below zero, by the early part of next week. I'm happy D will be home this weekend - no snow shoveling for me.

• Terrible twos are staring early! Honestly, everything challenging always starts early with our kid. Talk about meltdowns...Boyd really has those all figured out. Get upset about a trivial thing? Check. Cue the tears? Check. Stomp those feet? Check. Act like the world is ending? CHECK!
• Second molars on the bottom are beginning to show. These usually arrive between around 23 months but Boyd is continuing to get his teeth ahead of schedule. Bottom left tooth is almost completely in, no sign of the bottom right as of yet.That leads us to...
• Sleep disruptions at night and refusing naps during the day. All of last week was...fun (and I say that with the heaviest of sarcasm). How on earth did I function during his first year when I slept less than 6 hours and still worked a full-time job?
• Obsessed with books, especially at night. He'll bring us book after book after book (I suspect he knows that this will put off bedtime for a few minutes more). But he definitely has opinions on which book he prefers for us to read to him. I love seeing him stand at his bookcase, seriously pondering the stacks of books, pulling one out and looking over the front and back cover to determine if it'll make the cut. He's a real connoisseur. 
• Still a very mechanical baby and tends to lean more towards fine motor skills as opposed to gross motor. This week he spent about 20 minutes "helping" D put together a toy, and would push D's hands away to get more solo construction time. I love when we find something to keep his busy mind and hands occupied.
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Boyd insisted on carrying this little stool in and out of Risha's dressing room last week.

Boyd and Simon, Risha's new cat. Well, I think she's getting rid of it, so her temporary feline house guest.

Cheese! We visited Santa again at my workplace. Boyd was not as impressed with the big guy in red this year.

Half of Boyd's meltdowns occur after we deny his request to wash hands (which he motions by rubbing his hands together) or play in the sink.

A Sunday drive-induced nap. Last Saturday he refused his nap and the next day looked to be going down the same path. I popped him in the car and 30 minutes later achieved sleepiness!

Randoms

More freezing rain and icy streets this week. Local schools were closed yesterday. Our driveway is like an ice luge - one misstep and you could slide all the way to the street!

I've been to the chiropractor twice this week after I threw my back out last Friday. I was in a hurry to meet Risha for coffee and a little shopping, so when I bent down to pick Boyd up before I left I didn't bend with my knees. I could feel something just snap in my lower left back. It was excruciating. I couldn't move or sit down at all for an hour. It took a whole day before I could get off the couch. These were my first-ever chiropractor visits and it's a little disconcerting to have someone jerk your neck around. But I definitely felt looser and much improved after the alignments.

In other Boyd news, he is refusing to go to sleep at night - basically screaming for me after about 10 minutes of laying down. I am hoping this is a SHORT phase and he goes back to falling asleep in his own!

Awesome sunrise a couple weeks ago. This is the view from my mom's front porch.

When it's cold here, it's COLD!

A friend of mine at work has this "Dammit Doll." I think I need one.

We sort of house-sat for Rish and Gabe while they were in Hawaii. I saw this photo in Risha's dressing room and took a pic of it with my iPhone. I remember being in love with that fishing pole - it was Snoopy!

Little Dude is slowly growing his hair out after his annual shave.

Boyd - 21.5 months

It's pretty amazing to see how far Boyd has come since a year ago. I'm just in awe of how much hair has grown since last December! Here are my posts from this time last year. 

• Through numerous books, Boyd has discovered that walrus have whiskers. He feels his face to see if he has whiskers (no), then mama's face (I hope not!) and then he says "Dada!" and I say "yes! dada has whiskers!"
• Sometimes Boyd will hang out in our bedroom while we take get ready. For the last month, I've caught him with a white washcloth on his head after I step out of the shower. I finally figured out that he's been imitating me with the white towel wrapped around my hair.
• Quite a bit of jibber jabber coming out of his mouth. I feel like he may be regressing with his speech a bit though. We'll ask him to repeat something and many times he'll say "yeah" instead of the word. As in, "can you say toothbrush, Boyd?" and he'll respond with "yeah."
• In gymnastics, Boyd has been trying to (hilariously) jump - which basically consists of him bouncing on his feet and sometimes lifting one foot in the air. My mom attended class with us on Monday and he actually participated in parachute time, which is great because the parachute is one of my favorite parts of class!
• This kid gets the biggest belly after meal time - HUGE! We're talking major pot belly. 
• Lately we have reading the same books over and over (toddlers love repetition apparently) while tucked in to the glider with Boyd's favorite blankets. We get "cozy" (ze-ze) and relaxed while snuggling with "Mama Do You Love Me?" and "Where the Wild Things Are." Then he goes into his crib - surrounded by the owl and ladybug pillows, cow and lamb lovies, and covered with his warm blanket.
• Boyd begs to be lifted onto the bathroom counters so that he is able to rifle through the medicine cabinet and flip on the hot/cold water taps. All he wants to do is wash his hands. Over and over and over. He'll lead us over to the sink and rub his hands together with glee. Which is super cute until we pull him away from the sink and a full scale tantrum erupts.
• "Applies" lotion and cream to his face
• Last month he was under the weather with a nasty cold and we discovered that he loves taking liquid Tylenol. He BEGGED for it before bed. 
• I have never seen a more adorable expression than when Boyd's face lights up after we give him something he really wants.

At an event a few weeks ago for members of the construction industry and their families. They offered food, games and prizes. Boyd will love it next year!

Boyd went down for a nap one day and was coming up on 2.5 hours asleep. He rarely sleeps that long and almost always wakes on his own. I went in to get him and found him still passed out and posed like this.

Cruising around Home Depot.

This pose and smile of his is giving off a politician / news anchor vibe.

Selfie. He is surprisingly good at manipulating my phone.

Looks like Superman forgot to ditch the glasses during his costume quick change.

Shoveling Grandma Ann's driveway.

"He did it!"

MUSH, puppy!

He had a huge happy smile on his face throughout the duration of our walk. He was loving this sled ride!

Drift was a good sport as D pretty much buried him under the soft, fluffy snow.

"Helping" daddy make dinner.

Our dog and cat are the sweetest, most patient pets to ever live. They endure kisses, hugs, pats, squeezes, tumbles, costumes and everything else that Boyd heaps upon them. And not once have they ever bit or hissed or barked at him. Here is Boyd applying a cupcake liner to Little Dude's head - it stayed there for at least 5 minutes.

Planking!

Sideways hand washing.

Thanksgiving! It was delicious.

Again, a great example of the extreme patience of our pets.

Another selfie. Why do kids love taking photos like this?

"Cooking."

At least we know he's good at stacking.

At gymnastics class.