2.3.12

Nevermind the pile of laundry on the table (hey, at least it's clean), that's just how we roll over in the Barkley household.
Wyatt needed to take care of his "friends" today (approximately 400 stuffed animals that occupy his bed) - we had to feed them, dress them, change their diapers, put them to sleep, wake them up, take them for a walk, etc etc. How do you explain to a 3 year old that this isn't a ton of fun playing "mommy" when you have to do it for real? :D Maybe next time we can play, "Woman who goes to a fancy hotel and gets to sleep on clean sheets uninterupted for 8 or more hours." Just sayin'.

2.2.12

For as much as this little girl is adventerous, she really didn't like being tossed up in the air until just recently. And Cautious McCautiouson, Wyatt, LOVED it. As high up as Josh could throw him, he'd giggle and laugh and smile the whole time. Go figure!

2.1.12

Wyatt is adapting SO well to his glasses. He doesn't ask to take them off unless he is getting dressed (or when he wants to clean them) and he doesn't complain about them. So proud of that little stinker. The downside to them is when he is acting like a brat, and gets threatened with punishment (time out, TV off, toys away, etc.), he turns and looks at me with these big BIG eyes with those glasses and dang it - he's just so cute.
Today I had the joy of meeting with my boss about my return to work in May (not fun that I have to think about that already), and I had to ask for a raise. For me to actually be able to bring something home after daycare costs, I need to go back full time, and I need to make more! I haven't had a raise since 2010, so I think it is fair to ask. And considering the turnover rate has becoming a running joke in the community, I think the doctors would appreciate having a senior staff member back to whip things into shape. ;)

1.31.12

The photo quality on this is terrible because my flash didn't work, and I had to move fast! But look who figured out how to pull herself up! This was kind of funny, because I saw it coming (she's been trying for a while), but I guess Josh didn't realize how close she was to doing it.

He's hovering about 2 inches out of the shot, mumbling, "This is scaring the crap out of me! She shouldn't be doing this!" She's a busy girl, that's for sure!

1.30.12

Well, today was the big day, Wyatt got his new glasses! As you may be able to tell from the photo, they exaggerate the size of his eyes - this is because he is severely far-sighted (hyperopia). He's at a +8, and the scale goes to +9. This was a total shock to us because he never squints, never holds books close to his face, never complains. His favorite books are the I Spy books! Not something you think someone who couldn't focus on would enjoy. His optometrist told us that up until the age of 4 or 5, kids have a fantastic focusing system, so he can still make out most of these things, his eyes just have to work REALLY hard to see them. The glasses will help immensely with that, and will help his eye development. Our hope is that by age 8 or so, he may not need them anymore. And if he does still need them, that's okay too, but hopefully catching it this early will mean that over time his prescription will lessen as his eyes catch up in development.
He wore the glasses around the optometrist's office for a while, and seemed to be doing okay. We took them off for the ride home so they wouldn't fog up when we got inside. He wasn't very happy to have to put them on again, but ended up wearing them until naptime, and then after his nap until bath time/bedtime. As Josh pointed out though, he seems a little depressed (can a 3 year old be depressed?) about the whole thing. He got a big piece of a monster cookie for wearing them all afternoon, we told him many times how nice/handsome/cute/etc. he looks with them on, and his reply is always, "I look weird." Which leads me to a side rant - who taught my kid that? We have never said that people "look weird" - I know we've said "That's weird," when something odd happens. Is he smart enough to know that weird = strange and even though we're talking about events or objects, he links it to himself? That or I'm blaming it on daycare, just like the whole, "Mommy, you're fat!" incident.
Anyway, I hope that over the next few weeks he realizes how beneficial his glasses are - I looked through them myself, and couldn't see a thing, but he wasn't phased in the slightest when he put them on, so they are clearly doing a good job. Perhaps we can find some more books about kids getting glasses, so far Arthur's Eyes has been the only one we've read (and watched!), and, well...Arthur's an anteater.

1.29.12

I suppose the downside to having window ledges is that it serves as a catch-all for Wyatt's toys. Whatever he's playing with gets lined up there - trucks, Hot Wheels, tractors...okay, so apparently he only plays with vehicles. Thankfully he has no problem cleaning them up on his own, but I admit that I smile a bit when I drive up to the house and see them lined up there. :)

1.27.12

Despite the lack of smiles, they were actually playing nice together. Kind of. In the sense that more than 38 seconds passed without Paige crawling on Wyatt or Wyatt trying to shove Paige off the couch. That kind of playing nice together.