So This is Winter...

...with a one-year old.  Not sure I'm loving the winter season as much as I usually do.  Not to say that I really know how much I love winter-- I haven't had a really had a wintery winter in a loooong time.  There was last winter here, in Saratoga, where we hardly had any snow (our sled and snowshoes sat lonely in the garage).  Then there was the winter in Dresden, which had freezing temps and snow for Christmas (about a month of it), but then everything melted and the rest of the winter was mild (it was just enough snow for a ski trip and some sledding).  Then before that we lived in Austin for two years (snow situation there-- pretty obvious).  SO.... long story short, I haven't had a real COLD or SNOWY winter in forever...  Maybe I don't even like winter anymore...

I was actually very excited about this winter.  Lots of snow, lots of snowshoeing, lots of sledding... maybe even some skiing or snowboarding...

BUT, I didn't realize a few key things about having a one-year-old in the winter time.

1.  You can't really bring your one-year-old out to play if it's below freezing.  Maybe you can get in a quick sprint from car to store, but that's about it.

2.  One-year-olds hate snowsuits.

3.  One-year-olds hate boots even more than snowsuits.

4.  It takes at least 15 minutes (usually more) to chase your one-year-old around the house to put on snowsuit, boots, hat, mittens, etc.

5.  One-year-olds will not walk in or on snow.

6.  One-year-olds will only last outdoors HALF the amount of time it took you to get them ready to go there.

7.  Even if you do manage to stay out longer than seven and a half minutes, chances are whatever activity you've chosen is not nearly as exciting as walking on pavement, touching the dirtiest snow in a 4 foot radius, or crying to go "home now".

8.  As soon as you've unbundled your one-year-old (which takes at least 5 minutes of chasing the one-year-old around the house while she waddles around with her snowsuit around her knees dripping dirty snow off the one boot she's swinging like a lasso) she will turn around, bang at the door and ask for "out, snow! PLEASE!"

That said, we have had some successful sledding trips, one great snowshoe adventure, and some fun playing in the yard...

BUT, next week is going to be below freezing... all week... not even an hour of above freezing temps.  I'm going to go crazy...

Looks like there will be a lot of playing inside.  We're getting to be playing inside pros.

And if we get too stir crazy, we can always visit the new baby...

The Start of the New Year

2012 ended on a bit of a stressful note.  We planned a trip to CT to see my extended family the weekend after Christmas.  We woke up Saturday morning, packed and ready to go, only to find that our heat was broken.  After some hemming and hawing, we decided to make the trip anyway, and get the heat fixed when we got back.  (Poor kitties, stayed at home for two days in the cold!)

It was nice to see my family in CT.  MiniM.E. had a great time.  She's not usually a very good eater, but since that was pretty much all we did, she managed to warm up to food and ate played with a lot.

cookies as a between-course snack

"Wait a minute, what's that you have there?"

"Eh, not my thing.  You eat it."

We arrived home to a 46 degree house (brr!!).  We only found one place open on Sunday, but they were charging ridiculous overtime, so we decided to have a "camp out" at home and call it an adventure until someone could show up Monday morning.

We made a fire, put on lots of layers and cuddled together.  Fortunately, unlike in a power outage, we had other warm things like space heaters, ovens, and electric blankets.

All bundled up, reading with a teddy bear, and watching TV.

Napping under the tree with the kitties

Just chilling (literally) on the floor.

Monday morning we couldn't get a hold of the repair man and we had to shiver near the fire until noon before someone finally showed up.  Thankfully the furnace wasn't broken, it just needed a part and by the afternoon the house was toasty warm again.

Just in time for some sledding!

MiniM.E. isn't too crazy about being out in the snow yet.  Probably the snowsuit... or boots... or hat... maybe the cold?  But she seemed to have a good time.

And now it's 2013.  I really can't believe a whole year has gone by.  Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy New Year.