Big House Project!!

   We lost a beloved member of our household last winter. Our 20+ year old pellet stove, that we'd been using for 20+ months finally died. Its burn pot cracked beyond repair. After much weeping and introspection, I hauled it out to the garage, and started to look for a replacement.

When you walked into our house, there was kind of this shrine to the ancient pellet stove. As it should be.

   The Wife really wanted a gas fireplace instead of another pellet stove. The Man Of The House wanted more of that hot, dry heat that the wood burning stove provided. After a long, thorough, spirited discussion, The Wife won. So not only did I have to get a new fireplace, I had a project to do.

   I've done little projects around the house. Flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms, building planter boxes in the yard, mounting a TV and hiding the cords in the wall, and helping Wyatt draw on the walls. These are all pretty simple and just require following some basic instructions. The project I had before me was a whole new beast. Luckily, it required cutting lots and lots of wood with fun saws.

He really wanted to play in the sawdust. For some reason, he really wanted his shirt off, too.

Mission Accomplished.

Now let's see how this sawdust tastes!

Ahh!!! Dad's running a saw!! I need to shut my eyes to completely keep the sound out!!

Oh good, dad's done. Dad's the best.

   The above pictures remind me of one of my favorite Wyatt moments ever. Whenever I was about to run a saw, I'd let him know and he'd try to hide from the noise. A couple times, as I was ready to turn the loud suckers on, I'd warn him and he'd run to a box of pellets and bury his head in them. He'd hide his head in the pellets until I was done cutting, then go about playing. This happened three times. I never got a picture of him ostriching, but sheesh it was cute.

   Speaking of "Sheesh that's cute," here's some videos of Wyatt helping us build, starting with his paint job:

   Here he does some critical measurements, and you get a good look at daddy's tramp-stamp (which - I'm pretty sure that's why you are here in the first place). Hurry! Watch it before my wife makes me take it down!

   Wyatt measuring things is really no surprise. This was taken back when he was just learning to walk (so, I don't know, he was maybe 9 days old?). It's from an early blog post, but I've gained like 8 new readers since then (up to 15!), so I'll share it again:

What a stud. Also, this picture was taken with what appears to be one of those cameras you make in a high school Intro To Photography class.

   And here's Wyatt working with Papa G.

   With all the construction and finish work done, it looks like this:

This isn't a DIY blog, so don't expect a bunch of perfect pictures of clean houses, okay. We still need to paint it, and by "we" I of course mean "not me." Painting is hard.

   If you look closely, you can see that the inner, decorative walls are falling over. We can't get them to stay up. I've tried Silly Putty and gum and even a whole roll of Scotch tape, but nothing works!! You'll notice we wasted absolutely no time cluttering that mantle shelf. And we still need to find the right picture to place in the white space above,. Probably an oil painting of me with my chin resting on my fist. That I'll paint myself. I'll be looking right at you as you come in to my house. Saying "I'm here and this is kind of creepy, so check yourself."

   I couldn't have done this project without my dad doing some last-minute electrical and wood cutting heroics, Cara's dad helping with all sorts of little things, and all the tools that both of those men have given me over the years or loaned me for this project. Thanks so much. I also couldn't have done it without Cara screaming at me "If you don't get this done I will throw all of your Nintendoses in the lake!" It was too bad that her pronunciation of "Nintendos" as "Nintendozzes" kind of ruined her moment, but she had a point. Although, in my defense, summers are for napping or playing and nothing more.

My mood: proud and relieved and also kinda gassy
Wyatt's mood: wanting me to play with him ALL THE TIME
Cara's mood: got bit by a spider, so, she's about ready to call the National Guard on our drive to the hospital.
Listening to: Sam Cooke

Three!!

THIS. CUPCAKE. IS GETTING. MASSACRED.

   My special little kid just turned three years old, everyone!! This is huge news and will have a great impact on your day because of the importance that my child holds in the world!! I can already imagine how you are planning on incorporating this information into your plans for the near future!!

   You've seen how we really did up his first birthday, as well as the absolutely wonderful video that came with it. Then, last year we pretty much just gave him a doughnut (but it still produced a funny video). This year, since Wyatt is probably the most important kid who has a name that isn't a color or a plant or something, he's really had a birthweek instead of a birthday. Celebrations started on Friday with Cara's family (including the special little cousins).

Here's cousin Elsie with her pretty earrings, all ready to move in on Wyatt's present. It looks like ... is he getting a cuisinart?

   Festivities continued into Saturday, where my great friend and True American John took Wyatt and the cousins for a ride on his fire truck out at Camp Harlow.

Yes. Wyatt got to sit in John's lap and drive the firetruck, making Grant the best dad in the world and John the new favorite person in Wyatt's world. Yes, John kind of looks like Grant when they are both wearing the exact same shirt, but John is in his 30's so they are in super different stages of life.

Absolutely perfect.

   We were all set to go swimming at Amazon Pool. We'd fed the kids, changed them, and psyched them up for the slide, fountains and splashes at the pool. When we got there, however, it was closed because a pipe had burst. I really think this is code for "all the lifeguards were hungover," which is unsettling because they are like 16, but whatever. We were super depressed. Birthday ruined, right?! Wrong!! All-Around Hero and True American Grant said "Let's just go to the wave pool at Splash!" and the day was saved.

Wyatt's favorite thing at the pool is of course his dad. This is no surprise, because dad's the best. But his ACTUAL favorite thing is the slide. The whole way down, he laughs, smiles, says "oh whee fun" and then says "again?" before we even hit the water. It's such a blast.

   Wyatt was loving all the fun, attention, and presents, and a huge grin on all day. Cara and I gave him some little flashlights and a couple of cars. Whenever he gets a new car he says "Oh poop car!" because we give him cars when he goes poop, which is like twice a month. No, seriously.

   A few days later, we celebrated with my family.

Wyatt, Papa G, Ash and Kirk Beast. Wyatt's playing with the elevator that Ash and KB gave him

Wyatt, KB, Mama, Some Girl Who's Not Sure Why She's There, and Grmma. Uncle Bear was there too, but was offscreen playing with the lego set he gave to himself Wyatt.

   We're all sure blessed to have such great family around Wyatt. Wyatt's also blessed to have his birthday last for like six years. Wyatt and Mama get birthweeks instead of birthdays, and Dad gets a great birthhour.

   I will say, time hasn't "flown" over the last three years, and I don't think he's "grown up so fast," but already I can see that he's going to start really getting older fast. He's talking more, starting to fake read, like's to act things out in his imagination, and is learning new things all the time. He repeats whatever he hears and loves big kids. I think time is going to start flying now, so I'm going to try to hold on.

   I am sad that he's three, because things are free for kids that are under three at a lot of places. I wanted him to always say "twohalf" whenever he was asked his age. But alas, yesterday after successfully pooping in the toilet, he said "Dad! Two cars!! Two poop cars!! Wy not little boy, Wy big boy. Wy not twohalf Wy three." He then said "Hulk smash!" over and over.

   At least he's not yet too old to cuddle with his mama. He will be someday. I hope. Oh gosh what if he's always cuddling with his mama!?

My mood: happy and proud.
Wyatt's mood: will think it's his birthday every day, I fear.
Cara's feeling: like the little one in the belly is kicking too much and needs to nap more.

Best Christmas Present Ever!!

   Okay, ladies and gentlemen. I am going to clue you in on how to make the best birthday present for a baby imaginable. I mean, it's crazy good. Apparently, bettering your lives through explanations of things you should already know how to do is my thing these days. Just like before, you only need to follow the easy steps I lay out in front of you and instant status as "favorite ________" will be earned (You can fill in the blank with "uncle" or "cousin" or "stalker" or whatever).

Fair warning: If you are facebook friends with my mom, then you will have seen all this stuff like five times already. If you are not facebook friends with my mom, then you are missing out on having your grammar corrected on your status updates, and at least one message per week saying something like "You can't make fun of boys named Benedict I have a cousin in Des Moines whose son's name is Benedict and she won't like it." It's ironic because her grammar is bad in those messages, I know.

1)   Have some really nice photos taken by someone who takes really nice photos (in our case it was Kaela Mae). Like this:

I honestly just picked one at random from the CD our photographer gave us. So, yeah.

2)   Put those photos on facebook for anyone and everyone to see, copy, steal, use, and fawn over.

3)   Have an extremely artistic and clever sister in your family.

4)   Have that sister do this:

That's right, she got Wyatt a book for Christmas. A book that she made.

Christmas #2!!

   Oh gosh is there anything cuter than a matching dad and baby?! I wish we had a tie for the little guy, but I feel like that's probably illegal or dangerous or something. Know that we were both wearing cords and brown shoes, so we were the definition of "precious."
   Also, know that Cara looked pretty too but wasn't really matching the rest of us boys, and know that my nose looks very pointy and my arms very pale.

   Christmas!! The boy is still a bit too young to really know that Christmas means presents, despite getting lots of them this year, but we did take the time to tell him the story of Jesus today. Cara did the talking:
   Jesus was born in a manger and there were sheep and poop everywhere, and then he was left at the temple but that was okay and then he got some disciples and made some bread.
   Way to go, mom!!

   We went to church on Christmas Eve, and Cara and I helped watch all the toddlers and babies. Don't get the impression that we are wonderful people, please, because we just wanted to get out of sitting through the service in "big church." I learned something shocking while in the nursery:

   Wyatt's a bully.

   It's true!! He walks up to kids and takes their toys, he demands to be held by Cara or I when we are holding or playing with anyone else, and I think I saw him take protection money from Autumn as well. How did this happen!! It's society's fault. It must be, because Cara and I and mostly me are doing everything we can to raise a good kid! It's all those bad tv shows and music that he's exposed to. We need to take it all down!! It's the only solution!! Stop exposing my kid to these things that I have no control over!!

   But on Christmas morning, while opening presents, Wyatt had a lot of fun with his brand new baby Ipad!!:

   That positive reinforcement we've been trying has really paid off. He expects applause whenever he does the littlest thing!! This can only be a good thing as he gets older, I'm sure.

   How do I know that Wyatt is a super advance baby!? Because all of the presents he got were for kids 3+ (or older)!! Look at this!

LEGOs ages 5 - 27 12

LEGOs ages 4+ (it feels like I am yelling LEGOS!!! at everyone, which is weird, but that's how it's spelled!)

Pokemon Cards ages 8+

   plus a MagnaDoodle and some other LEGOs and a knife from his creepy uncle. Now, I know what you're thinking "Come on Grant, obviously all of those presents were for you and not the baby..." No! You're wrong! Leave me alone!!

   Merry Christmas everyone!!

   My mood: festive and jolly
   Wyatt's mood:  center of attention forever!!!
   Listening to: Wyatt's Grandpa's Christmas music

Mandatory Halloween Post!!

Wyatt's first Halloween, 2011. Sheesh, I think we've all forgotten how cute that baby was.

   We really blew it last year, and we know it. It's like, next thing we knew it was halloween and we didn't have a costume ready for Wyatt at all. We had thought about turning the baby into an adorable little crayon, but we dropped the ball. It was embarrassing and Cara was appropriately ashamed. I scrambled and we had that photo you see above, trying to be all artsy-fartsy and clever, but we weren't fooling anyone.
   Not this year. This year we came prepared. After having all the fun and set-up of Wyatt's Zelda themed-birthday party, just getting a bit of a costume to parade about town was as easy as a college girl dressed as a "bunny."

   In sticking with our general Wyatt looks like any blond character philosophy, we decided to dress him up as Calvin. We tracked down an appropriate enough hobbes, a red wagon, and pulled our transmogrifier out of the attic (cause we hadn't used it in years). I think it was a success!

   So what'd we do next!? Go visit people and show them how clever we were!!

   We saw grandpa:

   Grandma came out and played too. We went for a walk down to Joel and Nikki's house to meet their new baby girl, (who is doomed to have a crush on Wyatt forever), saw auntie Ashley and a few other friends too! Wyatt loved playing in his wagon and squeezing his tiger, and people could not stop commenting on how good I looked in my costume. ("what, this old thing?!" was my well rehearsed reply whenever someone said "you look like a movie star" or something similar).

   How can we top these wonderful birthday parties and costumes!? I really don't think we can. I think we've peaked. It's a shame, but it's good to know when to walk away. So next year, we'll dress wyatt up as a "cowboy" by purchasing a stupid, cheap costume at Toys R Us, and that'll be that. 

My mood: tired

Wyatt's mood: tire

Listening to: Everybody Talks by the Neon Trees

Favorite Toy!!

   Oh man. You've heard about the big party. What you didn't know was, before the party, we simultaneously made Wyatt very very happy and very very sad. I'll show you what I mean.

   We headed to Fletcher's to buy a baby shower present for a friend (Fletcher's is the local baby store in town). While there, Wyatt was fairly interested in all the toys and clothes and everything, but when he got his hands on this thing, there was no turning back:

   In fact, when we tried to turn back, this happened:

   It's only like a three second video, but it happened over and over and over. He cried on our way out of the store. He cried the whole drive home. He cried at home, then found his fire truck and tried to make due:

   Sure, it looks like it could work, but we ended up wit this, just a few moments later.

   We weren't sure what to do. It was obvious he really enjoyed the wooden lawnmower thing, and wanted more time with it. We weren't sure if we should get it for him, as it wasn't cheap and we don't really want to spoil the kid after all. The last thing you want is a kid who gets whatever he wants when he cries. That's why sometimes I don't even feed him or change his diapers. STOP CRYING FIRST!!
 
   As you saw from the party, though, he got lots of presents. Two of those presents were just like his lawnmower!! In fact, one of them was a lawnmower!!

   Okay, no more videos. Thanks for putting up with all that. If you look in the background, you can also see a walking popper as well. The lawnmower was from Cara's grandma (Wy's Great-grandmother), and the popcorn popper was from my mom and dad (Wy's grandma and grandpa). Wy loves them both dearly and plays with them all the time. It's fun for me to mow the lawn while he's on the deck mowing the lawn. Thanks everyone!!

   Sometimes people think that having toys that make a lot of noise are going to be really annoying. I'm sure at some point they will be, but right now, I would much rather have a happy baby playing with a toy that clicks a lot, than have a baby who is fussy and wants my attention. Leave me alone! Also, it's great being able to hear where he is in the house, so that I can feel like I am watching him while I am watching 30 Rock reruns.

My mood: Go ducks!

Wyatt's mood: new toys!!

Listening to: Neon Trees

Wyatt's First Birthday Party!! Wahoo!!

   What a great day!! Cara and I wanted to throw a fun little party for Wyatt's first birthday. By now you've probably seen the infamous moment that came out of the party, but there's still more great stuff!! We chose the theme "The Legend of Zelda." Now, people seem to question using the word "we" in that last line. I can honestly say she was the one that pitched it, and I was the one that ran with it. Since you probably don't know, and jokes are funniest when they have to be explained to everyone at the party, "Link" is the main character, the one pictured above (image found at zeldapedia, which is of course a real website). Link is trying to save Princess Zelda. 

   Cara had a lot of fun making his little tunic and his cute little hat. We even toyed with the idea of giving him little elf ears, but, really, he already has them (you're welcome, Wyatt!!) But, did you know that there are lots of things about The Legend of Zelda that translate really well to a birthday party!? Of course you didn't! You've never played the game, just like how none of the people that were actually at the party had played the game, save for my brother!! So, I'll explain everything in excruciatingly precise, embarrassing detail like I did to them, and you'll love it!

The Year of the Wyatt

In celebration of Wyatt's first birthday (only three days away!), I have sifted through our catalog of baby photos and tried to grab the best one from each month. Here's the growth of our little superstar in 13 adorable pictures:

September 2011

I actually took this on the day of his birth, with my not-at-all-a-smartphone. I know it's a bit blurry, but it might be my favorite picture ever.

 Also September, 2011

Okay, I am going to cheat and pick two pictures from our hospital stay. This one was also taken with my phone, and is probably my favorite picture ever.

October 2011

November 2011

It's like he's starting to wake up...

December 2011

Pretty mommy!!

January 2012

We'll assume they are looking at Baby Einstein stuff...

February, 2012

The infamous newsie outfit.

Also February, 2012

keep scrolling

 March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

"Wyatt and Isla are best friends!" says oldest cousin Elsie.

June 2012

July 2012

Ignore the, um, lack of a left hand here...

August 2012

Okay people, August was a ridiculously cute month for this kid. I had such a hard time picking out one photo. I know you've seen this one before, but sheesh.

September 2012

Gah!! Look at how big he's getting!! It's really started to hit me these
last couple weeks how not-really-tiny he is these days.

   Thanks for the memories, little guy!! We can't wait until you start talking and pick up dirty words from your mom, it will be so fun!!
   If you feel like you want more pictures, I will upload the whole file of top-pictures-of-the-year to My Kid Is Special's Facebook Page. Yes, the little baby has his own page, get over it. You can click this link to find that page, or you can also use the "like" button posted on the right somewhere. What fun we've had this year!!

My mood: nostalgic
Wyatt's mood: sleepy sleepy
Listening to: the dishwasher

Back to Basics

   Ok, I get it!! I'm reading you loud and clear!!

   You're saying Grant, every other mommy blog I read is actually about the baby. Most of your posts center on you, your minivan, and your lack of friends. I don't care about that stuff!! It's depressing!! Show me some more of your cute baby!!

   Yeah, yeah, I get it. No one ever wants to see me any more. When I get invited to dinner parties help someone move, they always end with "can Wyatt come too?" I'm like "yeah, he can come, but he won't be helpful in the move unless you need some laundry scattered."

   So I've done some research. I've tracked down some other mommy blogs, and now I see what this is supposed to be like. Let me start fresh:

A Day With The Grandparents!!

   Were super fortunate in our household. Wyatt is surrounded by people that love him and want to play with him. While I've been hindered by the temporary loss of an arm, my mom and dad have been watching Wyatt more than usual. A few days ago he and I spent the whole day at their house!!


   Wyatt loves playing with his grandparents. With Grandpa, he tends to be much more grabby. Noses, glasses, eyeballs and shirts. Grandpa likes to make different sounds and poke different parts of Wy's belly.

 

     With grandma, the interactions are still playful, but of a much more cuddly variety. She's the one that changes diapers and clothes and feeds him and puts him to bed.

Wyatt's obviously never happy with his grandparents

   They watch a lot of Sesame Street, play with Beanie Babies and other toys, and take lots of naps. While I was over, I managed to get the cutest video since that baby panda sneezed:

   I like spending the day at my parents. They clean up Wyatt's sneezes, change his diapers, feed him, play with him, and offer me food - all while I sit on the couch. It's pretty great. I'll talk about Cara's parents someday, maybe when they stop talking about Travis. I get it. He makes more money, you liked him better. He probably has the use of both of his arms as well!! However, I doubt he has a killer blog like I do, that gets over twenty page views per post. Think about that.

My mood: I hate hearing my voice on camera!!
Wyatt's mood: wanting to climb on everything!!
Listening to: Mumford and Sons

Eating the Lion

     Well everyone, Wyatt is handsier than ever!! We wish that he would spend most of his nights like this:  

by which I mean sleeping or at his grandpa's. Or both. But, when he isn't sleeping like an angel with nightmares, he's getting more and more active every day!!

     When we put him in his chair and have some dangles for him to play with, he is much more interested in them today than he was a couple of weeks ago.

He's always aware of the camera!! It's
tough to get a good, candid shot.

He loves to eat the lion, which I think means he's going to be a fighter and not a lover. Just like his daddy.

Doing his best Chip Kelly, side-of-the-mouth grin.

     Just look at what a good time that happy little baby is having!! It's just too cute for words!! He tries to crawl on his belly when I put things he wants just out of reach. He can't do it, but he tries.

     Couple all of that activity with the cooing and talking he's doing, and every day couldn't be more precious!! 

Wyatt's mood: energetic!!

My mood: Trying to finish blogging before I do some math tutoring!!

Listening to: Music from Final Fantasy 6 (it counts as classical, so it's good for the sleeping baby!! Don't judge me!)