Walt's Vacation---Part 1

My apologies to the Walt's World faithful.  When the "A Team" is away soaking up sun in Tulum, Mexico, things go to pot when it comes to posting!  Walt has also been on vacation...in Murray, Ky from last Sat. until today and is currently roughing it with Nana and Putty in Nashville!  Let's just say I appreciate the time it takes to create all of those wonderful posts...while keeping up with a two (almost three) year old! 

         Things I have learned this week because Walt told me!

#1  Following a visit to DeeDaddy's office so he could meet and greet his adoring public, Walt said, "Gram, did you know DeeDaddy was a doctor?"  Yes, Walt, I've known that for a while now!

#2  When asked where Mommy and Daddy were, Walt replied, "New Mexico".  (Gram) No, Walt, not New Mexico.  (Walt) "Old Mexico?" 

#3   Walt noticed some backyard utility buildings shaped like little barns as we drove through Jackson, TN last Sat.  (Walt) "I might need a barn...in case I get a cow!"   (*I thought Mommy and Daddy should have a heads up on this one.)

#4 On Gram's THIRD trip into the bedroom to tell Walt to stop talking because he needed to go to sleep... (Walt) " But Gram, I have a mouth!"

#5  Two year olds can operate DVD players while their grandparents are on the phone!  As I was changing movies the phone rang.  A few minutes later I returned to find Walt watching Happy Feet, which he placed into the DVD player and pressed "Play".  (* Why can't grandparents figure out other people's equipment???)

                                    Other Highlights

Since the first two days were rainy and cold, the plans to go to the park and to play golf and tee-ball in the backyard were scrubbed...What to do???

(Walt) "Gram, are they ALL Santa Claus?'  (Gram) "Yes, Walt, it's Gram's Santa tree!"

*Walt felt that groupings were the most effective presentation...

Walt discovers Aunt Harriet's wooden shoes from Holland...he decided to stick with his tennis shoes!

The sun finally came out and we headed  to the Land Between the Lakes (LBL) to look for buffalo.  No luck spotting any buffalo but we found LOTS of elk and Santa's reindeer resting up for the big day.  The ones with the big antlers were hiding in the trees but we found several.  Rudolph was not among the group...unless he camouflaged his nose.

Walt helped to cheer the Murray State Racers on to victory over Arkansas State Monday night but some of the fans were cheering a little too loudly so Walt wisely protected his ears!

Well, there you have it...  Gram and DeeDaddy loved having Walt visit.  He will be very happy when Mommy and Daddy get back from "Old Mexico" but he will have lots of stories to tell them about his adventures in Murray and Nashville.  I hope he doesn't tell EVERYTHING...the parents may not approve!

W is for a Walk in the Woods with Walt

Our Little Punkin' Head

It seems that we neglected to post on what should be an obvious subject for every baby blog . . . Halloween!  Well, no matter.  Walt remedied that situation today by making his first (and certainly not last) demand of the day:  that he be allowed to wear his pumpkin ("punkin") costume to school.  I started to issue the automatic refusal, but instead, I stopped to think about it.   Why shouldn't a two-year old be allowed to wear an orange sweatsuit with a jack-o-lantern face and green stem on the hood to school on November 12th if he likes?  It's not like he had an important presentation to make or a business dinner to get to pronto after naptime.  Why not?  So, after a healthy breakfast of a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich, he joyfully donned the pumpkin costume once again. 

Sure, we got a few strange looks from the other mommies and daddies during drop-off, but we paid them no mind.  Walt was happy and I had a peaceful start to the day.

So now that Walt has created this natural segue back to Halloween, I'm going to  use the opportunity to shamelessly post two-week old pictures.

This was Walt's first-ever real trick-or-treating experience.  We walked next door to the Kovariks' house, where Walt stopped mid-way up the sidewalk and just stared at Paula holding the bowl of candy like, "What are we doing here?"  We told him to say "trick or treat", which he did, but then just continued standing there.  Finally we urged him closer to the porch and told him to hold out his bag, into which Paula deposited several pieces of candy.  He turned and grinned at us, and then turned back around for another shot at the loot . . . "Trick or treat!"   She was more than happy to oblige his second request.

As he and Josh were walking back from visiting the houses down the street (I was at home giving out candy), I heard this exclamation before I could even see the little candy fiend:  "Let's eat it!"

Walt proved to be just as enthusiastic about giving out candy as receiving it.  He stood on the front porch with fistfuls of Nerds and peanut butter cups yelling at the various kids walking up and down the street, "Hey, you!  You want candy?"

November Birthday Bash

My brother David (aka Uncle Chi-Chi) used to have the month of November all to himself when it came to family birthday celebrations.  Then I had to go and marry another Scorpio and Collier decided to make his grand entrance three years ago in time for turkey a few weeks later.  So now, it's becoming a tradition to gather in Murray during the early part of the month for a joint birthday celebration.  It was a lovely weekend and we have the pictures to prove it.  Here are but a few . . .

Collier and Walt turning their brains to mush (tv not pictured).

Fun with decaying organic matter.

Kids love Pagliai's!  (And so do their mommies, much to everyone else's chagrin.)

Wrastlin' in the pak n' play.

With their respective lovies -- Slicky (Walt) and Silky (Collier).

"You gotta be kidding me, ref!"  (Gram and Mommy are clearly very into the game.)

Did I mention we had some birthdays to celebrate?

Happy Birthday, Birthday Boys!!

V for Video

We're in Murray if you're scoring at home.  Tonight we went for sushi (insert joke about sushi in small Western Kentucky college town here) with Gram.  After noting the striking similarity to drumsticks, Walt immediately demanded a set of chopsticks of his own.    Once he figured out that his percussion talents were not going to be fully realized at the dinner table, he set out to tackle the plate of noodles in front of him with said chopsticks.  Then, he helped himself to some of the sushi.  How very cosmopolitan.

Special thanks to Gram for picking up the sushi tab and to Verizon Wireless for Daddy's new phone and an amazingly seamless transition from phone to blog.  It should also be noted that the sushi is actually really good . . . for catfish.