Toddler Chores

I'm puffed up in first-time-mother pride now that my Jed has finally accumulated the ability to help around the house with a few little chores. They are the miracle cure to crankiness. They also figure largely in my evil plan to one day make other people do all my housework (hence the need for several more, smaller versions of Jed.)

His best trick is emptying the dishwasher. As soon as he sees it wheeled back into place (yes, I use a dishwasher from the stone ages that I procured for free over the internet...) he runs over to help. His first job is taking all the silverware out and putting it in the silver bin where it is kept on the counter.


He's so careful and methodical, adorable! Definitely gets that from his Dad's side.


Then he lifts all the plates out and stacks them on the door. He can carry them over a few at a time to Mom, who places them in the cabinet.


He dutifully takes any other bits and pieces that Mom hasn't gotten to yet out and she shows him which drawer to put them in. I don't organize my drawers, anyway, so he can toss them in as well as anyone!

He also helps load, but this has a much larger learning curve and some days are better than others, and mornings are definitely better than evenings, which usually just end up with dishes heaped in an enthusiastic pile.
His other chore is helping with the laundry. He loves to sort the laundry then trot behind me downstairs to shove it in the washer while chanting "Wash, wash, wash!" He also can move laundry from washer to dryer, or unload the dryer for me.

He's such a helpful boy!

Cranky

Jed's got his 2 year molars coming in and we all hail the day when his teeth will all be in their proper locations and no longer making our lives miserable. In the meantime, we've had a few funny moments.
A week or so ago we had a particularly bad day. In his most cranky, classically-almost-2-year-old style, he insisted in wailing tones that EVERY SINGLE DIAPER BE PLACED UPON MY TUCKUS AT ONCE. Mother obligingly agreed and the result was really quite comic. I made a dash for the back room to get Michael's camera, shoved the nearest card in, and ran back in hopes to catch him before this all went south (which it clearly was going to do...)
Unfortunately, I was too slow. What was once all fun and giggles had turned to torture in a toddler flash. But I did catch this classic moment as my child tries to disrobe himself of a half dozen cloth diapers while standing and wailing, siren-like about the ABUSE HIS MOTHER INFLICTS UPON HIM.

TAKE IT OFF, NOW!!!!

Christmas Eve Puppet Show

Lacey continued yet another Dowdle tradition this year by organizing all the little Dowdlings to put on a Christmas Story Puppet Show. Jed was given the role of sheep, and he fulfilled his role admirably by running back and forth in front of the stage, waving his animal in the air and shouting "Ship!" "Ship!" "Ship!"

Animal Diapers

This morning I made Jed a little pull car for his stuffed animals. I took a small box and attached a 4 foot long string, then made a pull handle. The "'Ar!" immediately captured his fancy. He ran around the house, Cat, Frog, Snake, and Baby careening madly behind him and occasionally tumbling over and out, much to his hooting pleasure.
After a bit, an unpleasant scent wafted towards the kitchen. Ugh! Not again! "Jed, do you need a diaper change? Do you have poo-poos in your diaper?" He looked up at me seriously. "Pu pu." And then off running with the pull car behind him. I grabbed a batch of freshly stuffed and folded cloth diapers and called him into the living room. He sidled up, still unconvinced that this disruption to his play was really essential. I held up the bright blue diaper and shook it at him. I patted the changing mat. (Aside: I knew this would be a messy one! Lately he's a total prune addict. Earlier this week, when I was in the other room folding laundry, he climbed up on the barstool and ate half a big container of prunes that I'd left on the counter. The next day was a diaper changing nightmare. Augh! *shakes head* That kid!)
Jed threw the Pound-Purry at me. "Diaper!" All right, she gets a diaper! A huge grin cracked his apple-red cheeks when I threw the fluorescent-green-diaper clad Cat back at him. He tossed the glo-yellow frog at me and I politely threw it back with a purple diaper. Next came the Baby and she got a light green bottom covering. "Ok, now that they have their diapers on it's your turn!" He looked at the line of animals, then patted his bottom, trotted over and lay down for his own change. Ah, peer pressure, the Toddler Mother's Friend.

Still at work

Jed dismantling Granny and Gampy's home.

Granny Love

Jed and Granny on Christmas Day.

We love you, Granny! Happy Birthday!

Christmas Eve Bowling

Puttin on a show

Jed always pulls out all the stops to put on a show for the relatives. Here's one of several thousand funny moments over the vacation. While visiting the Gardners and Stanfill grandparents (from Montana) while we were all in UT, Jed poked around the house and found some manly accessories.

Oh, right! I forgot!

Oh, yeah, I forgot. Remember this?

Number One went so well that we decided to try the recipe again and see how Number Two turns out.

New Favorite Food

Granny Zo'An has created a monster.

The Traditional Dowdle Wrestling Match

We've been holding this impromptu family tradition for, well, as long as I can remember. Seems like Don's been the victim for as long as I can remember, too.... Don't worry, though, Eric and Michael got their fair share of beating by the thundering Dowdle Child Hordes.

A Bulleted Christmas Recap

After more than a month of absence, and many many desperate pleas for photos, at last we return to the blog.

December proved exceedingly busy for us. The first half of the month included but was not limited to:

- Vanessa performing at the community Creche exhibit hosted at our church
- Michael hosting
- Primary Choir performing
- Christmas dinner parties with beloved friends

The second half of the month included but was not limited to:

- Vanessa's 10 hour cross-country flight, complete with morning sickness, stomach flu, a barfing toddler, and the joy of reaching her mommy and daddy's waiting arms.
- Michael's 6 hour cross-country flight in which he was bored. (I'm not bitter.)
- Eating approximately 7,634 different kinds of delicious Dowdle treatas
- Participating in the traditional Dowdle Clan Wrestling Match, bowling, Meet the Gurl, and Christmas Bingo
- Jed restricting himself to a diet of purely whipping cream and cookies
- Being snowed in, pointing and laughing as Christmas traffic careens down ice-coated hills.

The last bit of the month and New Year included but was not limited to:

- Festivities with the entire Stanfill Clan which is growing at lightning speeds
- Continuing spoiling of the Jed by Aunties and Uncles galore
- Throwing a New Years Primary bash
- Withdrawl as it all came to the end and we faced another round of Regular Old Life.

And now, as per the racketing demands of beloved friends and family, THE PHOTOS.