Christmas Post

I just really want to post my Christmas pictures before too much timegoes by.  There won't be too much commentary on these.  Our Christmaswas really nice, but really, really busy.  Ezekiel has SO many new toysand new clothes it is just amazing.  We could open a toy store with theamounts of toys that he now has.  The cool thing is is that he playswith all of them!

Daddy and E. getting ready to go on Christmas Eve.  Don't they both look so handsome.


Random shots/video from Christmas Eve (I can't seem to get my videos to post.  Unsure of why...)










Christmas morning was spent at my mom's house.  Once again, Ezekiel had a blast.

Birthday Gifts from Away

For Ezekiel's birthday, Grandaddy Jack and Angie (or Gammy Gee-Gee as Ezekiel calls her) sent Ezekiel some surprise packages.  It was hilarious how they ended up coming.  The first day, we got a package and in it was a Go Diego Go bed set.  Ezekiel was incredibly excited.  So I went and got his mattress and we set up his bed on the floor so he could try out his new sheets and blankets.  He loved it.  He went and got all of his new toys, and set them up all over the bed to play with them.  I was a little weary of letting him sleep in the bed because the mattress had already gone through two kids and it was ripped up.  I promised him we would go buy him a new mattress.  So the next day, I look out my door and I see this huge thing.  I go drag it in, and low-and-behold it's a mattress!!!  So I bring it in, and Ezekiel is jumping, jumping, jumping everywhere in his excitement!  A new bed has come!!  So we set up the new mattress and once again, he is so excited (for Diego-go as he calls it).  I call Marty at work and tell him about the gift and say "we should really go buy him a bed, so the mattress can be set up correctly".  We agree to do that "next week".  So....the next day, I hear this pounding on the front door.  It's UPS again.  They've got another package.  IT'S A BED!!!  hahaha.  It was so awesome - a beautiful cherry sleighbed.  I brought it in, and immediately set it up.  Four hours later (in which Ezekiel probably learned some new cuss words.  The first time I put the bed together, I put the rails on backwards.  sigh...) I had it completely set up and Ezekiel was SO happy.  He was so proud.  When Marty got home, he ran into the bedroom and made Marty come in and he showed him everything and how it was set up.  That first night, he INSISTED that he would be sleeping in Diego-go.  So we put him in and he fell asleep.  And Marty and I cuddled...until about 1 in the morning when Ezekiel lost his Nuk and cried.  Marty and I were both like "we miss him, let's bring him back" .. so we did.  We are shmucks I tell you.  But, he still is in love with his Diego-go.  Here he is, getting ready and super excited (he wouldn't look at the camera)


And here are some more of him, just because he looks so cutie-pie in his new ducky p.j.s

Ezekiel’s Birthday (Finally Posting!)

December 5th was Ezekiel's SECOND birthday.  (I am so sorry that it took so long to actually write and post this blog.  I still have Christmas to catch up with too!)

We decided that since his birthday fell on a Friday, we were just going to have a quiet celebration with the three of us and enjoy his favorite food (Pizza) and watch his favorite t.v. show (Go Diego Go) and just stay up late and have fun.  That's what we did and it was some great fun.  The next day, Saturday, we had a birthday party for family that we held at my mom's house.  I'm pretty sure that Ezekiel had a TON of fun.  He is still such a little socialite.  Running and playing with all of the kids.  He got tons and tons of toys too.  He loved that.  It was funny though, as soon as he opened his first gift, he didn't want to give it up to open up other gifts.  Every time I would try to take it so he could open his other gifts he would say "NO.  MINE."  Finally, I just opened his presents for him and showed them to him.  (Then I had to open each one...break all of the seals, and let him play with those too).  I got some pictures - but I had to use my mother's camera and it was experiencing some odd problems. 

We showed up early at my mom's to set up the birthday decorations and have lunch (PIZZA AGAIN much to Ezekiel's excitement).  Here Ezekiel is relaxing and reading the Funnies.  He loves to read the Funny Papers.  He will sit for like an hour, just looking at them.  It is really like he is reading the newspaper.







Then he spent some time coloring some pictures (he also LOVES to color):


Getting bored waiting...


So he harasses Papa for a bit...




Then he tries to figure out what the gifts are that are already out...


Then he discovers the Kitty Door and he discovers his inner Kitty-Cat!


Finally people started showing up and the party got going.  One of his favorite gifts was the sled that my sister Beckie gave him.  He insisted that he sit in it and that the older kids dragged him around in it.

First (real) haircut

Ezekiel went for his first real haircut.  We made an appointment for right before his 2nd birthday party as he really needed his hair cleaned up.  He was looking more like Farah Fawcett then Farah Fawcett looks like Farah Fawcett.

It was so super hard to make the decision to bring him.  His hair was so pretty!  I have to admit though, I was getting tired of people calling him a little girl.

Here he is pre-haircut. 



And again, a little close-up on him and his Nuk.


Back shot:


And here's the process..he was promised chocolate by the beautician if he let her finish so he was a really awesome boy!




And the final outcome - we didn't go too short, just cleaned it up - people know he is a boy now (and his bangs aren't always quite that straight and flat..hehe)!

A Whole Week Worth of Thanks

Ezekiel *finally* got to meet Grandaddy Jack, Angie, and Chase.  It was awesome.

Monday night, Jack, Angie, and Chase came over to meet Ezekiel for the first time.  I think the only one NOT nervous about the meeting was Ezekiel.  We explained to him that we were having visitors and who they were and that we would really appreciate if he would be a good boy, but I think the only thing that he took away from the conversation was that someone was coming to see him special.  (He loves to be special and the center of attention).  When they got here, they had brought Ezekiel a Hippo mama and her baby Hippo stuffed animal.  The funny thing about the hippos was they were the Natures HD toys - which is Ezekiel's new most favorite things and there was no possible way they could have known that when they picked the gift out!  So the gift was a hit (as a matter of fact, he now sleeps with both of them every night.  The bed is getting more crowded between Marty, Ezekiel, Boo-Boo Kitty, Baby Jaguar, Mama & Baby Hippo, and me).

Anyway - Ezekiel took an immediate attachment to Chase.  I think he figured that they were buds.  He harassed Chase endlessly but Chase was awesome with Ezekiel.  Keeping him occupied and entertained.  When they left Marty kept saying "I can't believe Chase is only 16; he is such an adult".

Ezekiel showed no shyness with them (which is pretty unusual with him).  He kept running up to them and giving them quick hugs and then running off to go do something else.  He couldn't decide what he wanted to get his sweaty-little-hands on more:  Jack's cell phone, or Angie's camera.  He finally decided to just alternate between the two.  

When everyone was getting ready to leave, Ezekiel ran up to Jack, hugged his legs and said "love you!" and then ran away.  I love child-love because it is so unconditional and honest.

I didn't get any pics the first night, which was really unfortunate.  I really thought my cam was broken (apparently it just needed batteries).

Yesterday, we had Thanksgiving here!!  It was so cool to have that many people for dinner and to hang out together.  Marty and I cleaned out our livingroom and put the tables in there, so we all fit at one table.  It was really great having that much family all here with us.  We definitely missed the family that we couldn't be with this Thanksgiving but it was such a treat to do it this way.  

Ezekiel LOVED Shamus.  He was so amazed that there was a baby in the house.  Since Ezekiel is still a baby himself (albeit a large baby) he didn't quite understand that he had to be extra gentle at all times with his hands and his huge feet, but you could tell that he was trying to be conscience of it.  Sometimes, his excitement would just get the best of him.



Look, he brought his blankie and his cow!





Going in for the kiss:


Ezekiel also LOVED the chocolate pie.  He must have had 6 pieces by the time dinner was over.  He was my little chocolate man.

Eating it off the floor like a puppy:


What a fine pair of legs!!








Again, dinner was nice, the company was nice, everything was nice.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Random shots of Thanksgiving (/sigh, my cam isn't the Nikon S550 that I wanted - *hint, hint Marty* but it will do)
















I love this one:








We got to say goodbye to Jack and Chase today (we missed you Angie!).  It was incredibly sad.  When Jack was first saying goodbye, I think that Ezekiel kind of thought he was joking.  He sort of waved and said "bye bye" and walked off.  Then, I think it kicked in that this was a little more serious and long term.  He got all serious and whispered "uh-oh buh-bye?" I told him that they were leaving and that they were going home and it might be a long time before we got to see them again.  He hugged them again and he said to Jack "I love you".  We brought him over to the window so he could wave goodbye and he kept saying "uh-oh, uh-oh bye-bye" then his eyes all welled up and he started crying and waving.  It was so incredibly sad that he realized that he was saying goodbye for real and that he cared so much and that he was going to miss them.  

It was really tough to see everyone go but it was so nice to have them all here.  We will certainly miss them.

When we got home tonight, Ezekiel took me by the hand, brought me to the fridge and said "Piece."  I asked him if he wanted a piece of pie.  He proceeded to nod with not only his head, but his entire body.  So I cut him a piece of pie, left the pie uncovered on the table, and went to get him a spoon.  In that short time, he managed to grab a different spoon, climb on the table and take a perfect little spoonful for himself...right down to the crust:




Now that's love.

no pictures in this one

I still don't have a working camera, so I don't have any updated pictures to put up of Ezekiel. It is really unfortunate, but what can you do?

Ezekiel has been having some rough times - actually, you know, I think Ezekiel has been having loads of fun and just is enjoying giving US a rough time. He is King of Tantrums lately. Really bad, really loud, really long ones. I have at least figured out where they are stemming from though. They are really coming for two reasons. The first is because he is getting all four of his two-year-old molars at the same time. I know the poor baby is in pain; he just wants to make sure that everyone in the neighborhood knows he is in pain. The other reason is because I sincerely believe that he is frustrated that he isn't able to do everything we do. He really thinks that he is a little man. We have always treated him as an equal, and now he is letting us know that he doesn't like it when he isn't treated like an equal. That is proving to be really tough. For example, last weekend I noticed that he was really watching people, then he would pull his Nuk (pacifier) out of his mouth and take a look at it and get this look like "where is everyone else's Nuk?" Well, he must have decided that he didn't want to be the only one with a Nuk because he gave it up cold turkey. Last Sunday while I was putting him to bed I asked him "do you want your Nuk?" and he said yes, he stuck it in his mouth, waited for a couple of minutes and said "noooo. no Nuk-Nuk for mama, no Nuk-Nuk for mine" and he spit it out and refuses to take one now. So now he has to learn how to self-comfort in a different way. It is really, really rough. Last night he woke up at 3am screaming (SCREAMING) and wouldn't go back to bed or calm down until 7:30 this morning. Another thing that he has noticed is that we don't wear diapers. So he doesn't want to wear his diaper to bed. Doesn't want to is putting it nicely - he refuses to wear his diaper to bed. So he pee-pees the bed and it is very frustrating, but we just wait until he is nice and passed out and then we diaper him. He is incredibly strong willed, which I believe will serve him well as an adult, but it is certainly difficult to spar with him.

This year, we didn't bring him trick-or-treating. We actually couldn't find a costume in his size in any of the local stores! It was awesome though, on Halloween day, we got a package from Jack and Angie and inside there was a Halloween shirt and some kitty-cat socks that light up. He wore the shirt all day and was our baby-pumpkin. And the socks? They are really starting to stink ... he has to wear them every day. He likes best when we go for rides at night and he kicks the passenger seat and lights them up.

He's doing quite a bit of talking lately. His favorite word is probably "Helf" which is "Help". He says "helf, helf" all the time. He says "Pee-ZAH" for pizza; "cookie" he says perfectly (we bought him a cookie at Tim Horton's once, so now every time we drive past there he says "Cookie??"). He says "cow", "moon" (Daddy and Ezekiel sneak out sometimes to look at the sky and Ezekiel comes back in all excited and tells me "Moon!! Sky!!!). He says "sheep", "zebra" or "dee-bra" (Marty read him this book that says that the zebra says 'neigh-HAY-HAY' so now Ezekiel tells us that his dee-bra says nay-hay-hay-nay). He still calls Marty 'Marty' when trying to get his attention, or when he is frustrated with him. Pretty much he says any word that you will say. He loves to copy (thusly, I'm still paying for the day when I exclaimed "CRAP" as now that is one of his favorite words). He can tell you "eye" while poking you in the eye...same for hair, forehead, nose (although that is more of a honk of the nose while he says "nos") mouth, teeth, ear, cheek, belly, nipple (he has nipple-eczema so I'd always say "let me put this cream on your nipple..now he knows nipple), toes, feet, legs, and hands. He knows his colors of brown, green, yellow, blue, orange, and red. His favorite books are still by Sandra Boynton (I can recite a few by heart). He loves Dora, Diego, and the Backyardigans. He hates his jacket. He manages to stay a healthy weight without eating (34 pounds!).

And my favorite..when Marty gets home from work, no matter what he is doing he drops it and runs top speed into Marty's arms and gives him the biggest hug and kiss ever. It makes it all awesomely wonderful.