Me and Mow-Mow

It was a dark and stormy day in Memphis, Tennessee.  Walt and Mommy were staring gloomily out the front door wondering what they would do to pass the time on this soggy Saturday, when all of a sudden, a little ray of sunshine appeared on their doorstep -- it was Meredith! 

Yes, since toddlers are rarely helpful when it comes to manual labor, Meredith came and spent the day with us as her parents worked on moving into their new house and sprucing up the old one for the open house tomorrow (adorable 2BR, 1 BA with incredible backyard, in case you're interested).   We spent the morning playing  in the tent, shooting hoops, reading books and dancing our little hearts out to Jack's Big Music Show.   

After a nice, long nap for Walt and Mere, we reconvened around the train table (aka, the coffee table)  this afternoon.  It was then that Meredith decided that she wanted to play with the red Jeff Gordon car.  Now, while this is one of Walt's favorite cars, he had not so much as looked at it all day.  However, once Meredith wanted it, of course it was all Walt had eyes for.  A tantrum ensued and Walt was sent to a two-minute time out to cool off.  It seemed to have done the trick because he came back all smiles and seemingly willing to settle for another vehicle.

A little while later, I caught a whiff of something and once I had identified the culprit, Mere and I were off to powder our noses.   I was taking care of the situation when Walt strode purposefully into the room and reached up to Meredith with an offering.

"Mow-Mow wan fire-cruck?"

What a sweet, thoughtful boy I have raised, to have worried about Meredith's boredom on the changing table.  I entertain visions of sitting proudly at the Nobel Peace Price acceptance ceremony, as my son humbly accepts his trophy (I'm assuming there's a trophy).  But I hadn't even gotten to the part where I quietly dab at my eyes with a delicate hanky (no mere Kleenex will do for this important occasion!), when it hit me . . . that fire truck was the vehicle that he had settled for after being punished for trying to take the #24 car away from Meredith earlier.  That little rat had swiped her car while she was lying helplessly getting her diaper changed!

Sure enough, Mere and I return to the living room to find Walt sitting on the couch, clutching the little car and grinning from ear to ear.  So much for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Meredith was none too pleased and Walt, quickly sensing another time-out in the offing, gave it up without a fight this time.  But a few minutes later, Meredith, being a bit more of a rookie at the toy hoarding game, put the car down in order to retrieve an apple slice from the train bridge, and in a split second, Walt scooped it up again.  At this point, Meredith seemed to have forgotten about it, so I decided to let it go too.  But apparently she was only feigning disinterest because in a couple of minutes when Walt got distracted and let the car out of his sweaty little fist, Meredith swooped in on it triumphantly.  All in all, I think the car changed possession about five times before things started getting heated and I confiscated it.  I guess all's fair in love and Nascars.

25 Months, or Yakkety Yak

Although he was doing a lot of talking even last month, Walt's vocabulary has skyrocketed this month.  He talks about . . . well, about anything he wants to!  He is regularly speaking in four to six word sentences, asking me questions I wasn't expecting until he was at least three and a half feet tall.  I swore that I was going to start a list of the hilarious things Walt says, but in this, as in so many other blogging tasks, I have failed.  So we'll have to rely on my poor memory:

"Elmo cuh-ur wah (color wall).  Dat bad beehavur?"  Asked as he watched Elmo write "Elmo's World" on his window shade.  Yes, indeedy, Walt.

"Bar-a-choo?"  Said as we passed Central BBQ on the way home the other night.  That's my Memphis baby.

"Puh ca-rah on ta-buh -- ca-rah go night-night." Walt ordering me to put the camera down and play basketball with him.

As I write this, Walt is lying in bed, just talking away.  I don't know if Blanky, Slicky and Puppy (the triumvirate of lovies) talk back to him, but I have a feeling that even if they were to try, they wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise.

Besides talking, his other current loves are "taying" basketball, "red cah" (from the movie Cars -- we watch it at least twice a week), and lining up all of his trucks. 

He shoots, he scores!

Walt's newest Red Car shirt -- now he can wear one at least two days a week.  Yippee!

His red car Valentine from Nana and Putty.

Small vehicles to the left, large ones to the right, please!

The first organizing task of the day was accomplished five minutes after his feet hit the floor this morning.  He looks so pleased, doesn't he?

On Basketball, Dutch Girls and Governors

It was a chilly weekend in Murray, best spent near the warm, ventless gas logs of Gram and Deedaddy's house.  When Walt wasn't playing with all of his Murray trucks (yes, he has a stash there, too), he was watching some big-time college basketball at the Regional Special Events Center at Murray State.  The Racers easily handled Moorehead State in a cross-state rivalry attended by none other than the Governor himself.  More on that later.  Here Walt is taking in the halftime show performed by the ZooperStars.  It cannot be described and must be seen to be believed.  Although you can't tell it from the photo, Walt was dancing like a crazy man and loving every second of it.

Near the end of the game, he and Harriet moved in a little closer to the action:

After the game, he got to run around on the court for little bit:

And finally, the reason for the trip was to visit with Aunt Harriet, who was in from Holland.  She and Walt had a big time playing, coloring and giving high fives to the Murray State players as they left the floor after the game.  Sorry, but Daddy wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a good photo of that.  Harriet and Walt did slow down long enough for this lovely photo this morning before church:

And now for the Governor story.  Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher was in the house for the game last night.  This opportunity was just too good for me (and Walt, although he didn't know it) to pass up.  So, at halftime he and I lit out to get a photo with the Governor and possibly Kentucky's First Lady.  We even took the Crouch's lightweight camera to make things easier for the lucky photographer, whoever that was going to be.  I gradually herded Walt, who only wanted to "wat arund" (that's "walk around" in Waltese), toward the Gov and his entourage.  As we got close enough to them for me to begin thinking about who I was going to ask to take the photo, Walt broke into one of his legendary sprints, elbow in the air and all, directly toward the Governor himself.  Or should I say directly toward Kentucky's First Knees.  I'm not sure if ol' Ernie ever played sports in the Bluegrass State, but I have to say that he made a deft little move to Governor's left to avoid my dear son.  I sheepishly grinned, muttered "Hi" or something and took off after Walter.  No picture to be had.  For a minute, I thought Walt was going to be in trouble with the Kentucky State Police, but luckily everyone seemed to recognize it for what it was, a two year-old on a halftime energy burn and not an attempt on the Governor's ACL.  Commonwealth emergency averted.  I guess we'll have to wait for the photo.  Maybe he'll be at the horse races in Keeneland this spring.

The Snowy Day

This is one of Walt's favorite books:

However, unlike Peter, the hero of the story, Walt had never had a chance to make tracks in the snow because, well, we live in Memphis.  We don't get a lot of powder here.  But we went to bed Thursday night with a forecast of an actual accumulation of the white stuff and for once, the weather guy didn't lie.  It may have been only about an inch (and that's probably generous), but it was enough for schools and courts to close, so Mommy and Daddy took the morning off and we all enjoyed Walt's first snow day.

First, Walt saddled up in the wagon and we headed to breakfast at the coffee shop.

It's a good thing Nana and Putty got the "all terrain" version!  We met up with Kate, Meredith and Mow Mow's Uncle Matt (not pictured) at Otherlands.

After consuming a good deal of "the world's best" cinnamon toast, Walt was ready to hit the park, where he made like Sir Edmund Hillary and blazed new trails in the snow.

For an even better pic of his trailblazing, check out Meredith's blog.  (Mow Mow herself was not as crazy about the snow as Walt was, but it was hard to blame her, as the snow kept caking on the bottom of her adorable little pink, fur-trimmed boots and making her fall down.)

Daddy commented on how tough it was to hit a two-and-a-half foot tall person who never stops moving with a snowball.  But he kept trying . . .

. . . and eventually was successful.

But Walt just laughed 'cuz Daddy was nice enough to aim for his feet.  Some more pics from the day . . .

No, he did not have his thumbs relocated to the outsides of his hands -- they just wouldn't stay in the thumb holes.

A special thanks to Gram for picking up these sweet bibs on the clearance rack at the end of the season last year.  I wasn't sure he'd get a chance to wear them, but they came in very handy and fit like a glove!

Unrelated to the snow day, but something I must share:  The three of us went over to the Hunts' house tonight to watch the Super Bowl, and Josh and I took separate cars so that I could bring Walt home and get him to bed before the game was over.  As we were going home, Walt asked several times where Daddy was and I explained to him that Daddy was watching the football game with Chuck and would come home after it was over.  We got home, had a bath, got PJs on, and read stories, and as I was putting him in his crib, he rolled over with all three of his lovies, smiled, and said (not perfectly clearly, but enough so that I could understand him),

"When I wake up, I see Daddy."

What can I say, the kid loves his Daddy!