April 2011

Ahh, April. What a month! We had four sets of visitors, Michael had the neck surgery he has so badly needed, we celebrated Easter and Michael’s mother had surgery. What a month! Did I already say that? Here are some snapshots of our life this month, mostly inside despite the beautiful weather, because Michael’s recovery has kept us housebound. He is doing well and is better everyday but it is not a quick recovery. Poor thing has not been allowed to lift anything over 10 lbs., raise his arms above shoulder height, take the hard collar off for more than a few minutes each day to wash his hair and shave, or drive. As for the kids, Heidi’s vocabulary and motor skills are evidence my baby girl is no baby anymore. She tries to say everything you do and remembers it all, can slide down the stairs and climb anything now and is becoming more and more independent. Wyatt has mastered both army and traditional crawling styles and can pull up on anything and is starting to cruise down the couch while holding on. He also is in the process of rejecting baby food or being fed; he too wants to do it himself. The trouble is, he likes to savor what food makes it to his mouth, making for very lengthy mealtimes. These new skills of his make him no less a clingy baby and as such, he happily spends a lot of time on my right hip because I can’t bear to hear the cries of anger and deep hurt when he is put down. Enabler? Whatever. Right arm muscularly bigger than left? You bet! I can do curls with a very squirmy 22 lb weight all day long. I can actually do curls both arms at one time, 26 lbs on one side and 22 lbs on the other. My little Heidi looking at me with puppy dog eyes and saying “Carry you?” is hard to resist even if I am already loaded down. No wonder all of my pants are falling off of me, too much exercise! Good thing I don’t supplement with real exercise! Pfft. In an effort to remedy the pants situation, I’ve taken to eating energy and meal replacement bars when I have a minute and, you know what? They are pretty good. I’ve knocked them for so many years and now I know better. Enough of this jibber jabber, here are the pics…

Messiest Eater Ever Award in combination with Best Eater Ever Award. Seriously, I could hose him, the chair and the floor down three times a day, after every meal.

At least he earns his keep by helping fold the clothes.

Until break time, that is.

Post raspberry blowing. That’s a skill I could live without.

Aunt Keira and her friend, Becky, came to visit for the Cooper River Bridge Run. Aunt Keira brought Easter goodies and again, poor Wyatt had to wear a girl accessory. Remember the tutu picture? Poor kid. Honestly, I never do it to him; it is always someone else. I guess if he wasn’t so stinking cute they wouldn’t feel so inclined to dress him up. It’s a good thing he is a big strong boy; Heidi won’t be able to force him to play dress up.

Heidi got some fruit cutting lessons from Aunt Keira.

Enjoying some outside play. By the end of the afternoon, they were both soaked, as two kids playing in the water table make bigger splashes. I had to refill it with water twice!

Wyatt loves chasing Heidi through the tunnel.

Aunt Kim and Cousin Samantha came for a visit over Samantha’s spring break. Heidi was worn out after a morning at the beach. Sweet girls.

Come on, Daddy, let’s play the Playstation!

He’s big time now! Look how serious!

Mmmmm, wagon wheel.

Poor Michael. About five days post surgery, Heidi decided she was no longer scared of his hard collar and found that the pain-medicine-induced-deep-sleep was too good an opportunity to pass up. She put EVERY bow she has in his hair. There were way better pictures, but he would only let me share this one. 😉 She said “Pitty, Daddy.” (Pretty)