Mr. Perceptive

If you spend any time with Wyatt, don't be fooled into thinking that he isn't paying attention. This kid doesn't miss a beat! He pays attention to everything and asks a million questions--and remembers the answers as well. For example, Matt and Wyatt were in the car going somewhere and there was a very large man (to put it nicely) and Matt said, "Oh boy, that guy can't run."
Days later when the kids and I were running errands, Wyatt saw another large guy and said, "Mommy, that guy can't run." I had no idea where this was coming from but I supposed he was right. And then when I talked to Matt later, it all made sense. But any comment made or question asked seems forever imprinted in his memory--even things from 2 years ago!!
A few examples:

1. He can ride in a car with someone not from Columbus and pretty much get them around the city. One day on our way home from the health club, he asked if we could go 'his' way home. I wasn't sure what that meant, but thought I'd humor him and follow his directions. He shocked me when I thought we may have been getting lost as we'd never driven on many of these roads but his sense of direction is so good that he got us home without a wrong turn. And when my parents or in-laws have come to watch the kids, I just tell them to ask Wyatt how to get somewhere and sure enough, he'll tell them exactly where to go!

2. As he was leaving with Matt to go to the driving range a few days ago, he said, "Daddy, who is going to carry your clubs?" thinking that everyone gets a caddy like the pros on TV.

3. While playing outside with Matt on a hot day, he turned to me and said, "Mom, could you get a towel to wipe my sweat off with and then I'll throw it back to you ?" to which I replied, "No, Wyatt. You can go get yourself a towel. And someday if you become a professional tennis player, then someone can give you a towel and you can toss it back to them. But until then, you can get it yourself".

4. Upon turning tennis on the other day, Wyatt said, "Mommy, they are playing on grass because it's Wimbledon".

It sounds, based on these comments, that we watch a lot of TV. And I do let the kids watch some, but mostly the only thing that is on if the TV is on is sports--primarily because Matt and I want to see all the great tournaments and championships going on this time of year. In fact yesterday, we had Wimbledon on again and Wyatt (in his pajamas) stood in front of the TV and 'volleyed' (sp?) with the player on the opposite side of the court. And when the player would hit to their opponents backhand, Wyatt would hit a backhand and vice versa with his forehand. At one point, he turned around and said, "Daddy, why do they keep hitting it to my backhand? It's hard to return a backhand" and Matt answered, "Wyatt, that's why they hit to your backhand, because they hope you won't be able to return it". Who needs video games when you can do this? (And thankfully Wyatt isn't too interested in video games because he knows Mommy and Daddy won't allow them in our house anyways, so we can just stick with our 'Wimbledon' game).

He continues to amaze me and I am so thankful to be his mother. And it keeps me on my toes about what we say, watch, and do--because I know he'll pick up on everything!

Update on Sadie

It seems like things have been so busy around here lately that I haven't done a very good job at keeping up on the daily stuff--but since I started this blog as a sort of journal for myself to be able to look back on someday, I figured I should update a few things.
Currently, this is Sadie's favorite book. She practically has it memorized and wants to read it all the time. She reads it to her dolls and has Wyatt read it to her whenever he offers to read her a book. (Clarification: He isn't reading yet, but has many books memorized that he 'reads' her and this is one of them.)


Now on to potty training-a bit of a sore subject for me. I started potty training Sadie about 3 weeks ago and as is the case with everything else in my life, if I do something I do it 100%. So we went straight from diapers to big girl underwear--no pull-ups (except at night) and we stayed at home for the first three days to really get this down. She was having some accidents, which is to be expected from a 2-yr old, but was also telling me when she had to go. However, she had yet to tell me when she had to go #2. By the end of the first week, we had #1 down and she even told me when we went swimming, which I was really surprised by. But after two full weeks of this, we had yet to experience going #2 on the potty. She would just go wherever she was, which included going outside when she had no underwear on (just a dress), going in her underwear, etc. And I thought that if I just stuck with it, she'd start to tell me. But nope--she just kept going and I spent two full weeks cleaning it up! I tried everything but came to the conclusion that she must not be quite ready, so we are back in diapers (which I'm still trying to tell myself is not a failure on my part) and we'll try again in about a month. She doesn't seem to mind the diapers, so I guess this means she may not be ready as most kids I know hate going back to diapers after wearing underwear. We'll see where we are in about a month but I'd really like to get this 'done' before we move into our new house!!

Sadie's hair--another pain! This poor little girl still has the thinnest, stringy hair that is so hard to manage. I can't put it in pigtails much because it makes the ends break off and I can't seem to keep it under control......for example,

...this is what she looks like when she wakes up in the morning. And I have to say that this looks fairly mild because I made her wait in her bed while I grabbed the camera and it settled down a bit in just those few moments! Poor girl---someday she'll have hair, I hope!


And my final thoughts on my precious little girl for the moment--she can entertain a room! Her facial expressions and little comments can make an entire room erupt in laughter (and she knows it)! Here is a picture of her listening to her Papa hide his phone and then find it behind her ear. They did this about 3 or 4 times and her response everytime was as if she'd never heard it before. It made us all laugh even more than she did.
Another recent comment that caused an uproar amongst everyone listening,
"Turn on the lights, people"

And on final thought--This girl is content living in her own little world. I took this picture while we were at the beach at Matt's grandparents in MI and she sat like this, playing in the sand and talking to herself, for what seemed like forever. As Matt says, it's as if whatever she is doing is the most fun thing and you are only missing out if you aren't doing it with her! I hope she always feels this way and uses her ability to influence others positively!