Coupla Things

Hi!

I know, I know–it’s been forever, we should do lunch, the kids are getting so big, etc etc…but, I’ve got many blog things on my mind and thought that we better get back to it.

1. Asher Walton. This kid is just…he’s doing so much. We were at the park this weekend and Drew and I couldn’t stop talking about how something has changed again in the last few weeks and suddenly his toddler body is looking more like a boy’s body. He loves to climb on anything and is especially good at hanging from stuff (see picture below) and he’s using all kinds of words that aren’t overly surprising, but it catches us off guard that he’s able to put so much together. I offered him oatmeal for breakfast last week and he said quite clearly, “no, I had oatmeal for breakfast yesterday. I will have cereal today.”

Oh.

He does a lot of things that make him seem like a two-year-old and I have to constantly remind him to say please and ask him not to do that and please don’t touch that and blah blah blah, but more and more I find that we just talk. I ask him about his day and he tells me about it. This has to be one of the most rewarding phenomenons of raising a child. A word to the wise though…don’t ask Asher (or any of this little buddies) to keep any secrets for you–if he knows it, he’ll share it. We’re having a little issue with him talking on his mat during nap at school (who on earth could he have inherited this habit from?) so every day when we pick him up we will ask if he talked on his mat. He always tells the truth, and the unapologetic response is so funny.

“Asher, did you talk on your mat at naptime today?”
“Yes! Yes I did talk on my mat today!” >>unbridled enthusiasm<<
“Baby, you know that you’re not supposed to talk on your mat.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s disruptive to the other children. That means they can’t sleep when you talk”
“OH! OK!”>>as if it’s the first time he’s ever heard this<<

So much truth. If only we were all governed internally like the toddler nation–what a world it would be.

2. New Interests and Old Interests. Asher loves airplanes first and foremost. Whether or not this will stick as a life-long love obviously remains to be seen, but if Asher had to pick a spouse right now, I’m pretty sure that he would ask if it would be cool to marry a jet engine. That being said, he’s also getting really excited about animals. For the first time in his short 36 months of life, when given the chance to pick out his own toy at the store last week, instead of reaching for an airplane or digger, he walked out with two whales which he named Beepo and Geeko. He’s also loving dinosaurs and nightly we read the deeply moving and intellectually stimulating tome, Dinosaurs Dig. I don’t want to blow the plot for all of you, but it’s basically about a bunch of dinosaurs who work with diggers. It was written by someone who has probably become a millionaire.

3. Young Love. These kids…I mean–it’s just a lot. And it’s cute overload whenever Asher is with any of his little buddies. There’s the occasional outburst of frustration, but mostly we see a lot of playing and hugging and telling each other things. It’s the best form of entertainment that I know, and is even better for the other parents that we get to share it with. We have good friends.

Also of note? We will often go to a local greasy spoon type diner for breakfast on Saturday mornings (known largely as the Pancake Store in the Walton house) and Asher proudly tells the waitress that he would like pancakes and milk. Then, as any true connoisseur would, he enjoys his pancakes with ketchup. You read that correctly. He does not do this when we make pancakes for him at home, but as soon as the plate lands in front of him at the restaurant, the kid reaches for the ketchup. We do not question this because we do not choose that battle. Mmmmmmm. Ketchup and pancakes.

4. Louie is growing like a weed still (still!) and at 9 months is better behaved than many puppies, but still very much a puppy. Drew takes him on a near daily run which helps curb a little of his four-legged enthusiasm, but we’re pretty sure that he’d be up for a marathon if there was a human taker around. He’s dominant trait is his sweetness, he’s an incredibly cuddly and sincere little guy, and does amazingly well with Asher.

For our part, Drew and I have been kind of burning the candle at both ends and moving at mach 12. We are hoping to have some very exciting news about a ‘new’ house in the coming weeks which has been dominating a lot of our free time and brain energy, and in the meantime we’re both plugging away at work and play, and feeling incredibly grateful for the warm weather and seemingly longer days. I’ll be back with more soon–

More Peace Making Walks

We walked in the snow last weekend. It wasn’t sticking so it was kind of like walking through really fancy rain, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

A note about Asher and train tracks:

Asher is the Safety Police in our family. He was very concerned, as he always is, about Drew and I walking on the train tracks. We have to stand at the side and look both ways about 10 times to determine that there is no train coming, and then he warns us repeatedly that a train might be coming. When it occurs to him, he is also this way about the street and we can generally (but not always) disuade him from doing things with the severe warning that It’s Not Safe or, You Might Bonk Your Head.

And now a note about my feelings about Asher and train tracks and other safety concerns:

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

That is all.

Scenes

Lately:

And my current favorite:

I’m feeling a little cabin fever despite the fact that we’ve been outside more this winter than any winter in recent history. I actually think it’s because of that–I’m so acutely aware of how cold it is all the time because we’re in it. Maybe there’s a little hint of delicious in that, but mostly it just makes me think about how badly I can’t wait to walk out the door barefoot and bare shouldered and relaxed. My zen exercise of the winter is trying not tense up when I open the door. Folks, I’m failing.

But these pictures remind me what treasures come from being cooped up and I think daily about how thankful I am for all the warmth that’s in our lives–I’m not kidding about that one. A down coat, a hot bath, thick walls, 15 kinds of tea, bourbon neat, friends to crowd in, anything at all bubbling on the stove, the fuzziest dog around to sit on my feet…who am I to complain about winter?

Please, please remind me of this. As the great state of Wisconsin so proudly declares: cold nose, warm heart.

Chewy Louie

There is a new Walton in the world. He is fuzzy and soft and has a cute little black noes and four of the softest little feet I’ve ever felt. He has salty breath and floppy ears and a perma-expression that seems to be saying, “Wh0? Me?”.

We named him Louie because I was thinking of our sweet Grace and the fact that Drew always called her Gracie Lou which lead me to thinking that Lou wouldn’t be a bad name for a dog at all, but of course no puppy is up to the task of such a serious sounding name and so it evolved into Louie. Or, in honor of this family’s New Orleans roots, Louis. Either one works. Drew and I never have agreed on how we spell our cat’s name, might as well maintain the tradition for the dog too.

Initially I was pretty dead set on adopting an older dog. I didn’t really want to deal with the chewingpeeingpooping mess of a puppy and we already get up in the middle of the night plenty with the one petit choux in our midst. But then we started talking about Grace and how a little part of us always knew that Grace was never all that interested in being a family dog and our concern that if we adopted an older dog there was a very good chance that it would be seamless, but there was also a chance that that dog also wouldn’t care all that much for life with a two-year-old.

So we thought about it for about a month.

And then we decided to go for it and start from the ground up with a puppy that will never know anything other than a floppy jumpy kid who’s prone to spontaneously hugging animals even if he’s not much of a tail puller. They seem to be getting on with one another just fine, but of all of the family members, I think it’s fair to say that I’m the most gonzo over Louie.

Clearly Louie struggles with relaxing

Other than my dorm years, I’ve never lived a day of my life without at least one dog in the house. Within a week of graduating college I was at the SPCA cozying up to Grace, and so the months that  just passed without the presence of a dog in our lives were kind of long ones for me. For whatever the trials of living with dogs might be, there are few things as comforting as that constant companionship and they always seem to be up for all of the good things in life–walks, naps, laughs, hugs, treats, play, and a little dose of conspiracy. Living with a puppy is about what we expected it to be, but I’m happier too, and as an added bonus, I’m loving all of the earrings that I can now wear courtesy of Louie’s pointy little teeth. Well, kind of. I’m kind of loving that. I do know that we’re all pretty smitten with this (increasingly bigger) little guy.