Scratch

Scratch that last post. I figured it out. Apparently, all I had to do was agree to the terms and conditions and then: voila--I can upload photos to my heart's content. I must be on a roll today. When talking with my friend and neighbor earlier this afternoon, I asked her why she thought my mums were dying. She asked me if I'd watered them recently. To this I responded, "Er, I haven't watered them at all." Who knew mums needed water? I thought they were "winter hardy"--as in, they didn't need anything but the winter to survive. I guess it's safe to say I'm no green thumb. Not my proudest moment. But at least all's well that ends well: my mums will survive (thanks to the gallons of water I gave them and, of course, the winter) and I can once again blog. Happy day. Stay tuned for posts with pictures.

Just Can't Get Enough

I know there are many of you out there, people who, quite frankly, just can't get enough of my blog. I know you are sitting there thinking, "Where is that Jessy? I have seriously missed her blog." I can't blame you--I'm funny, witty, clever and, let's be honest, drop-dead sexy, so why wouldn't you want to read my blog? (And don't let the lack of numerous comments fool you. I know there are plenty of you, reading, waiting in anticipation for my every blog post, but are clearly just too bashful to write anything. I understand; I've been there). And as of now, I have about a ba-zillion things about which to post: our picture perfect bike trip, le Tour de Vermont, our recent fall festivities, and, of course, darling pictures of our precious little boy. Yet here's the rub: I can't get the dang blogger to upload my photos. I can't even click on the "upload photo" device. It is just a pale shade of orange, taunting me, showing me that it is there yet never allowing me to even click on it. It is driving me in-sane! Is anyone else out there having this problem? Does anyone out there want to help me solve this problem because I know you, my faithful readers, need to be entertained. I know you, my fabulous friends, are barely surviving without my blog posts. I know you, my bosom buddies, long to see my child's smiling face. So, everyone out there (yes, all two of you who read this), answer my call: please help. If I can't fix this, then the world will be short one awe-inspiring, breath-taking blog.

Farm Fest 2009

Our town's annual Farm Fest, filled with some of our favorite things: apple picking, animal feeding, hay riding, tractor pulling, apple cider drinking and donut eating. Does it get any better than this? I heart fall (for oh-so-many reasons: the crisp weather, the sweaters, the changing leaves, but mostly--the return of decent television).

I swear he likes me--you'd just never know it by looking at his face.

I think we took at least ten thousand photos of him feeding the animals. Feel lucky I only posted this one.

18 at 18

Eighteen at eighteen

Weighs 27 lbs (50%), is 33 1/3 in. tall (75%) and has a 48 cm. head circumference (50%). Obsessed with boats. Loves all animals, especially dogs, cats and bears (tries to hug them...except for bears). Loves books. Loves nursery. Is a brute (loves wrestling with, jumping on and climbing all over dada). Throws everything. Drags shoe baskets around the entire house, stuffing his treasures inside. Has 25 plus words in his vocabulary but still signs for milk and please (favorite words: "tat" (for cat); "show" (for a movie); "take oo" (for thank you) and "aaaaarhh" (for bear). Plays constantly in the car (vroom) and truck. Has a classic throw (moves his whole upper body side to side before throwing it). Wants a show every two seconds (esp. the boat show, the bear show and the truck show). Can't get enough of his best pal Luna. Simply cannot function without his nigh-nigh. Is a lover of the great outdoors and constantly begs to go "side". Can throw a tantrum like nobody's business. Gives hugs with pats. Allows you to kiss him but never returns the favor (when asked for a kiss, just leans his head toward you so that you can plant one on him). Loves the boat park. Is a great bike rider (in our bike trailer--he just leans back, relaxes and puts his feet up). Loves babies and whenever we ask him if we should have a baby, he nods his head yes. Is quite possibly the cutest thing ever and we simply cannot get enough of him.

Here he is coloring. Notice how much of the ink is on him.
Posing with his mama on his first day of nursery.

This is how he MUST watch his shows: with blankey, dog and bear right by his side (the lack of shirt is the way he MUST eat his breakfast since he insists on raspberry jam on his toast and refuses to keep a bib on. Thus, I take off his shirt so that his clothes remain stain-free).

Thank You, AAA Man

Dear Mr. AAA Man,
In accordance with my utmost and sincere gratitude, I would like to say a few words to express how deeply I appreciated your assistance last Tuesday morning. First and foremost, thank you for responding quickly to my call and arriving only a short 15-minutes later to Walmart, where your assistance was required. Secondly, and almost as importantly as the first, thank you for not being scary, smoking, beer-bellied, mechanic type but a decent, normal type with children who knew how to work a car seat. Thank you for not laughing at me when my "car" problem was that my steering wheel was locked and I really couldn't get it unlocked (lame problem, I know). Thank you even more for validating said problem by also being unable to start the car. Thank you for then not mocking me when determining that the real problem was that since I had tried too hard to get the key to turn in the ignition, I had then bent the key so badly that there was no way to start the car with that particular key. Thank you for then telling me that the problem could easily be remedied by using an alternate key. Thank you for waiting patiently for me to try to call my husband and beg him to come rescue me with his key, only to discover that my husband was, in fact, in meetings all day long. Thank you for, after offering to drop me off at my house, then offering to tow the entire car home to save my precious groceries. Thank you for spending over a half an hour trying to get my car onto your flatbed truck, my car being a bit of a stickler since the wheels were locked perpendicular to the car, making it impossible to steer straight (and making it impossible for other Walmart customers to leave their parking spaces due to one huge truck blocking their way. Dirty stares from fellow angry Walmart customers always makes my day). Thank you as well for strapping the car seat into the front seat of your huge truck, since I have little knowledge of this process (Josh always does this. I'm helpless, I know). Thank you for making my son's day by allowing him to ride in your monster truck. Thank you as well for smiling at my son's incessant screams of "truck" and the pointing out of every single truck we passed as well as pointing out the actual truck we were riding in. Thank you for not judging me that my son had on no shoes as he had long ago discarded them in the car back at Walmart while waiting for you to arrive. Thank you again for not judging me that I had NO spare key at home to start the car thus easing the transition of the car from flatbed truck to driveway. Thank you, then, for spending yet another half an hour depositing my car in our street. Thank you for not being present when you saw that, in fact, all this work could have been avoided had I had a spare key (my car quickly started with Josh's key later that day). Mostly, though, thank you for making my half hour trip to Walmart stretch out to more than two hours. I really can't think of a better way I would have liked to spend my morning. As the service you rendered was truly invaluable, you may rest assured that I am now a AAA customer for life.
Yours Truly,
A Valued (I'm sure) AAA Customer

In New York City

Last weekend we packed up all our gear in two backpacks, loaded the rug rat into the car and headed on down south for a quick trip to the Big Apple to visit with Jane and Josh's folks, who were in town. And let me tell you, did we have a good time. And here's why:

1. We had our very own personal (and quite talented, I might add) tour guide, shopper and event planner in one Jane Madsen.

2. We have the best parents/in-laws who spoiled us ROTTEN!

3. Will got all the attention he needed since he was the only grandchild present. Cause let's be honest, everyone needs a little one-on-one time with one's grandparents. They were pretty darn cute with Will. I wish I would have snapped a photo with Gus carrying Will all around town on his shoulders.

4. We got prime seats to a Mets game. Good times.

5. We ate our hearts out at the Shake Shack. A must, if you're in the city. And, if you're in the city, calories just fall off you due to all the walking/sweating you do.

6. Our hotel was mere steps away from 5th Avenue. And I got to go shopping. With Jane there to tell me what's cute and what's not (b/c clearly, I need the help). Without Will. For two whole hours. It was divine.

7. We all went and saw 9 to 5 while Will napped and played in Central Park with Jane's friend. The play was cute and fun (and a little racy--the perfect trio:)

Thanks for the city adventure Jane, Granny and Gus! Hope to do it again soon.

Granny, Jane and Will on the subway.

Will at the Shake Shack playing with the fountain, the birds, the dogs and the leaves.

The Mad Family at the Mets' game.

Jane and Will at the game (with Granny trying to sneak into the picture).

And a picture including Granny.

Will with his grandparents.

Will and Granny at FAO Schwartz on thee piano. Oh, I wish I could figure out how to get the video of Granny dancing on the piano with Will. You'll just have to imagine it--it was pure entertainment!

A side note. While on the train traveling to NYC, Will was OBSESSED with all the boats he saw out the window. All he wanted to do was stand by the window and point out all the "buhts" as he calls them. And now, he is obsessed with boats in general. He discovered that one of his books, The Big Red Barn, has a tiny little boat on one page of the story and he wants to read that book over and over, asking for the "buht" book. The other night after we read the book before bed, I tried to pry the book out of his hands as I put him in his crib, but he would not let go and he kept crying hysterically, "Buht, buht, buht, buht!!!". So, he went to bed with the boat book. When Josh and I went to check on him before we went to bed, I figured he would have long ago discarded the book and fallen asleep. But no, he was fast asleep clutching the boat book in his hands. I thought it fitting, then, to include a picture of Josh reading the boat book to Will.

And I am stoked I got the below picture on film. He loves this book (not just b/c of the boat) but also because of all the animals. And the cover page has a picture of a sheep on it and every time we turn to that page, he just makes the loudest "BAAAAAAAAAA" you ever did hear, with all his heart and soul in it. So in this picture he is mid-"BAAAAAAAAAAA" and it just makes me smile. Look at how into it he is. Oh, I just adore this little tike.

Willy

*Below story mimicked from Olivier Dunrea's Gossie book.

This is Willy. Willy is a toddler. A small, red-headed toddler who likes to wear bright red boots. Every day.

He wears them when he walks.
He wears them when he talks.
He wears them when he rides.

He wears them when he slides.What Willy really loves to do, though, is wear them when he swings. Every day. He swings high. He swings low. He swings long. He swings short. But what Willy never does is swing on days when it is 100% humidity, when the mere thought of going outside makes his mother break out in a sweat, even though sweet Willy stands by the door, boots in hand, begging for his mother to take him outside to swing. No, those days Willy and his mom stand indoors, in front of the central air vents, letting that unnaturally cool air blast spurts of arctic air on their overheated bodies.

This is Willy. Willy is a toddler. A small, red-headed toddler who likes to wear bright red boots. Almost every day.