Thank goodness for generous people!

I got a call from my sister-in-law last week asking if we wanted a swing set?  Is it free?  OF COURSE WE DO!!!!  Her friends wanted it gone so they could plant a garden.  Saturday we went to pick it up. 
Fred & my brother lifted it without taking it apart (except for the slide), loaded it on a trailer and within an hour we had a new swingset in our yard! 

We had stuff going on so we didn't get a chance to let Tad play on it until Sunday afternoon-  I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted to see what he thought?  He loves the basket swing and kept climbing on that. 

He also loved the slide (we haven't hooked it back on yet).  First thing he did was try to climb up it (Thanks Aunt Crystal for teaching him that!)  Then Fred showed him how to climb up the ladder.  By the 3rd time he can climb up by himself and get situated to go down the slide. 

And, just as I predicted, the tantrums when we make him come inside have already started.  :{  
But for FREE- so worth it!  I'm so glad she thought to ask if we wanted it, and SUPER glad the people only charged us the removal of it! 
Of course it only makes me want Spring to hurry faster!

I'll do it myself.

Tad was so excited to go for a bike ride.  He loved helping Dad get the bikes ready by spinning the wheels- I really thought he was going to get his hand caught.  When we got to the park he kept trying to climb on by himself. 

 He didn't want to smile for my picture of him and dad, until Daddy took him for a spin.  Then he'd smile!  (Fred got the cool bike seat off KSL for $10!!)

 We went for a quick ride (it was freezing!) Then we ate a fried chicken picnic (still freezing).  By the time we were done Tad was shivering. 

I felt bad that I'd forgotten to do anything for St. Patrick's day (I'd even forgotten to put Tad in a green shirt that morning- I fixed that when I realized it later). After Tad went to bed, Fred & I had floats with Vanilla ice cream, sprite, and a little green food coloring.  I don't usually like floats of any flavor, but I could handle those as our St. Patrick's day tradition. 

Whether it was the cold bike ride, or taking care of a sick little boy, of course, now I'm sick!  Grrrrr!!!!  Luckily, Fred's been home for the weekend because Tad has also decided that 3am is wake up time-   WIDE AWAKE!  I don't know what we're going to do with him.    

Bye, Bye Baby stuff!

Fred & I have been working hard to pack away all of Tad's baby stuff!  Yeah!    Then Tad finally got his new bed set up!  (Just the mattress for now.)

He did pretty good the first night.  We only had to lay him back down 3x (and he fell asleep after I realized I hadn't given him a blanket he normally sleeps with.)  The second night we ended up sitting in his room to keep him laying down.  And the 3rd night he would come to the door but wouldn't come out.  We had to tell him 3x to go lay back down and then he was out!  Overall, it's been pretty good.   I wish he would learn that when he's tired he can just go lay down.   He'll get it eventually.   :}  

Sundays are still rough.  He doesn't get a nap because church is later.  This is the first time I've ever seen him fall asleep in his seat.  We tried clapping and splashed a little water- not even a flinch.  Luckily he'd eaten most of his dinner so we just put him in bed.   (The high chair also got moved - and eventually packed away.)

Snow day!  He hates to walk in the snow.  But he loves to play in the melting snow that drips off of the house.  He was soaked by the time I brought him in.

 

I doubt playing in the water caused it, but Tad ended up pretty sick this week.  He had the flu and an ear infection.  I'm SO grateful that Fred was willing to sleep on the couch and be woken up every couple of hours with coughing.  Even on a Z-pack it seemed to take awhile to get him better.  I think sick kids are the worst part of having a kid! 

Well, I'm off for P.T.......After months of dealing with a sore left shoulder, Fred convinced me to go to an Orthopedic to have it looked at.  The result:  Bursitus.  Aggressive icing, anti-inflamatory & Physical Therapy 3x a week.   (For those of you who don't know what Bursitus is: it's inflamation in your Bursa - the jelly sac in your shoulder that helps lubricate the joint.  It's buried under the rotator cuff.  So, PT is supposed to help strengthen the cuff and get everything to fit together better and pinching.)

And those are all the reasons I have not kept up on our blog! 

Loads of fun!

 I put new batteries in Tad's dino and it's a lot more interactive.   Last week I saw him hiding under the table to roar at it.  He also shared his sippy cup.   He won't ever stand too close, but if he roars at it it'll roar back.   When it walks towards him he still runs away. 

 We went to the rodeo with Aunt Crystal.  We love that we can go to rodeos year-round!  Tad said "look" at least 50 times, pointing out the horses.  Usually we give him his blanket when he's tired and he'll suck his thumb.  Even though it was hours after his bedtime he kept watching the rodeo and didn't really want his blanket.  He stayed awake the whole drive home too.   He was MUCH better behaved than the little brats behind us!  And I have a new hatred for parents who talk babytalk to their kids! 

 I found these pants in Tad's collection of church clothes and they are adorably, nerdy!  He looks like a little pioneer boy.   If we had a big floppy hat, I'd have to find a parade to put him in!  :} 

This is his new "cheese" face.  It looks a lot like his "I love mommy face".  His "I love daddy face" is a smile with his eyebrows raised. 
His latest obsession is keys.  We found a set to our old car and let him play with them.  He can say "keys please" but most of the time he just signs "please" (it's the only word I've taught him to sign, because I was tired of hearing him grunt for things.)  He will literally spend hours playing with his keys, trying to turn every screw he can find.  Tonight I sat on the floor to do puzzles with him and all he would do is carry around his keys.