So, you think that your day was a mess?

Check out ours......

KA.....

 

 BOOM!

Westin Goes to the Basketball Game

Tonight we took Westin to his very first basketball game: the USD Coyotes v the Midland Lutheran Warriors. I think that we have a young basketball fan in the making. It was old school tonight; we were sitting in the wooden bleachers. It was like we were in the movie Hoosiers or something-super cool!
 Here we are concentrating on pregame warm-ups.

 

I wasn't fast enough with the camera, but West started to giggle with each dunking basket. The Monkey enjoyed Dakota Dome food, including pretzels and a Dome Dog (definately NOT kosher).

 

Kicking back with a cold beverage.

And of course: the Coyote himself.

 

 

In case you were wondering, the Coyotes decisively won 93-69.

In the 'new trick of the week' category: we are now able to roll (yes roll,  not throw) cars down the ramp of the Little People Garage...very exciting!!

Christmas is Here!

 Santa was very good to us yesterday, and Westin had a fun day! He started the day by listening to G-Pops read the 'Night Before Christmas',

then he watched Dada construct his Radio Flyer.

 
(OK, yes, it would have been way cooler to have had this done the night before, but would you willingly hammer while your 13 month old fought going to sleep? Didn't think so...wouldn't be prudent!). We made the rookie mistake of giving him his very own remote control first (I don't know if you knew this, but remote controls actually do control the universe--just ask Westin)-which meant that we had to pry him away from it so that he could appreciate other presents.

   He played on the new rubber mat that Noni sent--oh and the red cheeks,

 

Yes, my poor little monkey was running a low grade temp-those darn teeth! He cut a canine on Christmas Eve and is working on another one and a couple of molars. His current tooth count is 11! One of the unexpected highlights for Westin were the bows. Until yesterday, we didn't have any bows under the tree--and as I suspected they didn't remain there very long. Westin stole them and crawled around with his new treasures-he even took a ride in his Radio Flyer with one in his hand.

 

We had a lovely Christmas dinner. Dalen made smoked salmon with basil oil and hollandaise sauce, wild rice with shitake mushrooms and a salad.

We tried to share some salmon with Westin (who only months ago gobbled it down) and sadly I did not have the camera to record the nasty little face that he made before he spit it out. Finally, we gave in and gave him what he really wanted: bannanas and buttered wonder bread (at least it was whole wheat) and some cheerios. No milk, no juice, just water, thank you very much.

 

When Copper wasn't looking, he even played with the squirel that Charlie and Lola (Aunt Shannon's dogs)  sent to CopperDog.

Oh, we had one tired happy mess of  Monkey last night! 

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night! War Eagle! (What? That's not at the end of your version of 'The Night Before Christmas'?)

Lunch!

So, I am cheating a little bit...these pictures are from Saturday. Westin and I had perogies (yummy little dumplings with a potato-based filling that are both tasty and apparently, make excellent hair gel). Please note that my son is eating happily--this is a rare event these days--somewhat akin to seeing a patch of grass or a ray of sunlight in December in South Dakota, but I digress. As Westin enters toddlerhood, he is becoming more and more picky about what he eats. I have been warned of such things, but always dismissed that worry, as 'not my kid'..HA! The joke is on me AGAIN!! HA HA! Food items that used to bring him joy--cheese, for example, are now being spit out like we are feeding him something that we scraped off of the bottom of our shoes. Yes, that disgusting. Dalen is seriously worried about his vitamin and nutrient intake. So when I bring up something like: 'Hey, at least he still likes wagon wheels', I get a response like, 'Lisa, that doesn't count. There is NO nutritive value in wagon wheels.'. Eh, so Dalen is right. What do I know? I subsisted for YEARS off of Kraft macaroni and cheese. AND despite all of the lack of eating, the little monkey is fitting snugly in 12 month clothes and is often wearing 18 month clothes. Go figure! One new trick of Westin's is that he has learned that he can put something in his mouth and still crawl around on all fours! Ah well, that will be something for the dentist to worry about.

Favorite Reads of the Week: Dr. Seuss's ABC's; Dr. Seuss's One fish, two fish, three fish; That's not my Dragon

Lost in a Drift......

Well, almost. A small snow event that was supposed to drop 1-4 inches, turned into a blizzard and dumped 8+ inches of snow with snow drifts up to 2ft. Way to go Meteorologists; you really nailed that one! So we missed out on rushing to the grocery store and emptying the shelves of milk and bread (a time-honored Southern tradition). BUT, Dalen did go to Wal-Mart for the shear adventure of it. He saw 3 cars stuck in the middle of the road and visibility was low (shockingly). After shoveling out, we have become inspired to fix our elderly neighbor's snow blower.It has been a busy December. We are becoming more steady on our feet, learning to use a spoon, broadening our ever growing appetite, learning that boxes are way more fun than what comes in them, how to topple grand towers, and that in our jungle, tigers always eat the elephants (even if you spot them 24). At Westin's 1 year appointment we met a new doctor, who swiftly put Dalen and I in time-out for introducing peanut butter, but conceded that Westin was healthy after all. Westin is 31" long and 21 lbs 3oz...long and lean :)
Favorite books: Dr. Seuss's ABC's; One fish, two fish, three, four, five; That's Not My Dragon (tied with Very Hungry Caterpillar)