Here you go

So I was wrong about "no" being the most hated word Link has learned. It is "tv", especially when "tv" means only one video that he wants on continually just for background noise. I don't delik it though. It plays classical music and has taught link how to pat his tummy and head and march in place. Link loves to have music on and dance. Along those lines we also introduced Link to a computer game he loves. http://www.zefrank.com/snm/index.html

Other words he has picked up recently include adding words to his signs such as "more" and "up". He says "Op" for open and "Doh" for down. He also has his first sentence. He loves to say "Here you go." It sounds a lot like "Thank you" which is his favorite thing to say. He also has learned to sign "sorry", possibly from all the time on the time out chair recently. Others used more correctly are baby, mama, dada.

We are working hard at scheduling meals and eating good food. He did terrible at lunch and then excellent at dinner. I think he was really hungry since he refused lunch. (Same food even.)

New skills that he has learned that we have to keep an eye on is opening dresser drawers and flushing the toilet. He also like to wipe things up with a rag. He loves sledding and we use a pull along sled to go down town now instead of the stroller. We have to take the alleys because they are not shoveled.

What keeps up going- Link is almost all smiles and laughter.
What brings us down- The past two nights he has been up screaming from 3-6 am.

I have been busy with some new things. I have begun work as a midwife assistant and will attend my first birth in January for an Amish couple nearby. I got a small job as a paid blogger for a company that will launch end of January. And I have been organizing and cleaning our entire attic. A new roof goes on this year and I'm assuming a clean attic would be helpful in that situation.

New Years Goals

Body Goals

1. Be able to buy a pair of pants at Target that fit.
2. Be able to wrap a towel all the way around me after a shower.
3. Be able to meet the requirements for surrogate motherhood.
4. Win the $300 from our family challenge.


House Goals (Focus Outside)

1. Get a new roof
2. Put up shutters
3. Fix front porch floor
4. Clean the siding


Spiritual Goals

1. Complete The Artist Way
2. Spend time with God consistently (meditate, pray, art, etc)
3. Visit a Quaker Gathering in Decorah
4. Visit Laura's church in Lansing


Financial Goals

1. Pay off Firstmark Loan
2. Get my credit card to $5,000 or less
3. Start a Roth IRA
4. Create another income source of my own


Work Goals
1. Complete a website for artpunks
2. Complete 4 issues of publication
3. Start a bookkeeping program for taxes


Experiences Goals

1. Visit four or five more states
2. Plant a garden
3. Learn to can
4. Welcome my third decade with something big

Vegetable Trials

The one food group Link avoids is vegetables.
So here is what we have tried:
1. Preparing different ways (steam, saute, boiled)- fail
2. Hiding behind meat on a fork and feeding him ourselves- moderate
3. Chopping very very small- moderate
4. Dipping in sauces- fail
5. Vegetable juice- fail
6. Wrapping chopped veggies in a tortilla shell with hummus- moderate
7. Dried veggie chips- moderate
8. Putting half a corn on the cob on a pick and letting him eat it like a Popsicle- success
9. Putting in soup- moderate
10. Bribing with dessert- fail
11. Cooking in lots of butter- fail

I wasn't surprised by the corn, it is more the green vegetables he has a problem with. Any other suggestions?

Moms

Christmas with my mom's family this past weekend was pleasant. My favorite gift for Link was a wood pounding bench. Gifts have been pouring in through the mail this week. Which has been fun. Bryce got a much desired coffee pot from his parents (thanks a bunch) and Link looks adorable in a new hat from Phil and Teresa and family. Take off the hat and you will also see a newly shorn head. Link's curly locks are chopped. My friend Bobbi is a hairstylist and helped me through the process. On the way to the house I had to drive through an unplowed gravel road with no trees or road markers to guide me. It was seriously like driving on a piece of white paper and hoping you were on a path. Link played with her sons Jarret and Maddox. Jarret is a couple years older than Link. When Bobbi asked him if he remembered Link's name he said yes, it was "Bacon." They played with the kitchen and read books together. Maddox is a year younger and is exploring his world, trying to be as mobile as possible. We had a cookie swap this year with mom's group this year. I think we will try again next year to with a bit more awareness. I think we were all doing something original and made peppermint cookies. Sadie informed us she was with child #2. (Stella is Link's best bud.) Paula is only days away from having her new one. I am sending energy and light her way as she is attempting a VBAC with a new doctor, my doc, Dr. Schwartz. I recommended him and she really likes him. Here is a beautiful birth experience.

Losing it

I'm starting to loose that frugal edge. Maybe it is the Christmas season where there are just too many deals to pay attention to or maybe the triple coupon deal was so good nothing can compare anymore. Or maybe my brain just taking a break.

I have been super busy this month. Musical Auditions (I'm directing Footloose again), currently working with 5 design clients, taking photos, Schera's gift shop, shoveling snow, etc. The nice thing in the paychecks. After finding out how much I would make with the Musical I decided I would put the entire thing toward one of my student loans that is almost finished. However, I have been so motivated I've been putting all my earnings into it and it will actually be all paid off before play practice even begins. So Musical money can go toward my credit card.

My credit card makes me sad. Two months before Link was born I had paid off my entire bill (which had wedding expenses as well as a couple trips to Europe). Then I quit the newspaper and didn't adjust to having a couple thousand less a month right away. In fact, I didn't adjust for about 7 months. So 7 months with a couple thousand on credit added up reaaaaaly fast. Fortunately I am still in the single digits.

Noise and No

Link is loving noise. He hits three noise making toys all at the same time whenever he is watching a tv show with music. He also loves to turn the music off and on and watch us freeze motion.
He laughs all the time. Which is so funny.
He is really into saying "No" right now. A little unsettling, but we are glad he is able to tell us what he wants and doesn't. His biggest "No" is to diaper changes and bed time. No news there. He use to cry and now he just says no. Oh and throws a fit. Were working on that.
Still working on naps and veggies. Our two biggest challenges.
Currently 10 pm and Link is spinning in circles and laughing. He is also putting his head down to sleep but saying no to offers. He is starting to say no to the tempting "nurse" too. This is sad for me, but happy for my nipples.
Now he just grabbed a favorite book and is saying to Bryce "Uh Oh Day Day" which is exactly the book he is picking up "Uh Oh David." He is one smart cookie.

Update

We won second which was the prize I was hoping for. $100 Savings Bond. First place was a family pass to the water park in Monona which I never go to, so it was nice to get the money.

Click for a tour of our day

Gingerbread church (front), originally uploaded by Shannon Marye.

Words, Lights, Snowy Nights

Link has a huge vocabulary now. I can't even begin to write all the words he knows. I'll try to name a few now: shoe, sock, hat, up, play (+ sign), eat (+ sign), drink (+ sign), yogurt, apple, banana, orange, yellow, red, green, toast, hot (+ sign), done (+ sign), please, thank you (+ sign), again (+ sign), nose, eye, teeth, ear, etc. He also know the animal sounds for elephant, monkey, dog, alligator, cat, horse, cow, pig, lion, bird. He amazes us daily with all the words he is learning.

Today was the first big snow. Not sure how much, but I (plus Bryce) took a job shoveling the church sidewalks and it took us 7 hours total. Two last night after about 3-4 inches, 3 this morning with another 2-3 inches, and then in the mid afternoon we got a call to go and clear the 1 inch that accumulated after we were done in the morning. The guy who has put himself in charge of church maintenance is a pain in the ass, but so far he has been good for us because he doesn't want to be doing the work himself. If he calls us all hours of the day though, I don't know how long we will last.

My mom and I brought Link up to Monona tonight for an evening holiday parade. It was nothing like the ones I use to go to in Minneapolis, but it was nice. There were floats with the Grinch, Snoopy, and lots of lights. Our mom's group got together. We also went to visit the gingerbread house display. I made another one this year. A church. I think I will probably get second. There were some really good ones. This barn was absolutely amazing. If they don't get first I will be surprised.