This one's for you, Bap-Bop

Will and Reina and my dad (Grandpa Hansen) reading a book.

Photos with witty captions

...is all I have the time and mental energy for this week.

With the current economic situation, families are being forced to cut back on "extras" and frivilous expenditures. Here at the Pauley household, we are insisting that Will cut down on his beauty treatments and he's found a novel (and cheap) use for his leftover oatmeal in the morning. His skin is now as smooth as a baby's you-know-what.

I don't think that camo is my color, Dad.

I'm going to punch you right in the mouth.

Which hand is going to hit you? (she's a violent baby?!) No snarky comments here - this is a picture of Will at the Martinez Farm in Fort Collins. We took a field trip there with his Montessori class on Wednesday. The kid loves animals. I can never get a shot of his face when he's this busy. Busy feeding goats!

Maybe I should abandon my dreams of Will playing football and focus on the rodeo sports. He climbed up this fence before I could get there (might have helped if Iput the camera down) and was talking to the horse and patting his face. Will wants his grandparents to buy him a pony.
Finally, more proof that you can take the kid out of Wyoming, but you can't take Wyoming out of the kid. Any guesses as to which child is mine? Zoom in to get a better view of his farmer's tan.

One more note, I'll be remembering my Grandpa Hansen this weekend. Although he's been gone for a long time, I can't help but think that he sure would have gotten a kick out of this tough little boy and the pretty little girl. Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone.

Milestones

What a week! Reina turned 3 months on Sunday and she continues to be adorable, mellow (unless she's hungry), and super snuggly. She smiles a lot now and even giggled a little bit this week. She's adjusting pretty well to the new schedule, daycare in the morning and then errands and stuff with mom in the afternoon. Most importantly, her mom is adjusting pretty well too.

Most of this week's news involves Will. He had his 2-year check-up on Wednesday (a little bit late) and he's still 95% in weight (34 pounds) and 90% in height (37 inches or 3 feet 1 inches for you literal people). I'm getting ready to send out letters to the football powerhouses to let them know that we'll consider all scholarship offers but Wyoming will be his first choice. (Sorry Bruce.)
Approximately 45 minutes after getting home from his check-up, Will hit another milestone, literally - his first wound that required professional attention. He fell out of the toybox (why was he getting in the toybox?) and bit through his lip/cheek as he hit the floor. That was fun. Nothing moves you to the front of the line at HealthReach like a bleeding toddler.

Well, Reina's squealing so my blogtime has come to a quick end. Here's hoping you have a milestone-free weekend.

Cuter than a box of kittens

Back to Reality

We're back to the real world this week as my maternity leave is officially finished. Luckily, I'm only working part-time right now so Reina and Will go to daycare/preschool in the morning and then we hang out in the afternoon. It hasn't been too bad so far and I've enjoyed seeing my office friends again and having a reason to shower in the morning.

Why am I posting such an unflattering picture of myself? To illustrate how much Reina and her brother are alike. 90% of the time, Reina really enjoys being carried around in the baby sling/front-wrap thing. I can clean and cook and get stuff done around the house with her strapped to my torso like we are tandem sky-divers. She'll coo and spit up and sometimes even fall asleep. But she eventually reaches her limit, as illustrated above. The problem is that you only get about a 5 second warning before she blows. Will has the same hair-trigger temper. I'd love to blame it on Glenn's genetics but anyone who has watched a sporting event with any member of the Hansen/Dunlap side knows who to blame . . .

Not much else going on - Will wildly alternates between being very delightful, entertaining and affectionate to being obstinate, surly and angst-ridden. I feel like we are getting a preview of the teenage years. Fun stuff. This weekend we are going to attempt potty training. He's been really interested in using the toilet for #2 and he's been doing that daily for several weeks. (Man, isn't he going to love reading this blog as a 17-year old?!) Now we just have to get him thinking about the other thing. It might be a little early so if we aren't successful this weekend, we'll just back off and try again later in the summer. In the meantime, I'm stocking up on a big bag of M&M's, lots of cleaning products and a truckload of patience. Wish us luck!