Tate at 36 weeks old.
It's winter here in Utah. It wasn't really winter two days ago, but then yesterday it was suddenly very cold and snowed most of the day. I can't make up my mind about winter. I guess it's the classic "You always want what you can't have." Last winter I seriously missed the snow. It doesn't feel like the holidays when it's 80 degrees outside. I love the atmostphere and feel of wintertime. The sparkly snow on the ground, hot chocolate, sledding, coats and scarves and gloves, my breath coming out in puffs, the misty, foggy air, and of course the fact that it means Christmas time is around the corner or just happened. There's nothing better than Christmas. But I do not love being cold. Hmmm. It's a puzzlement. I suppose that I would prefer a real winter to no winter at all. But maybe I would rather it hold off until the holidays, meaning Thanksgiving time. Yes, I think that would be my ideal. Does anyone know a place where winter hits right around Thanksgiving and lasts just until around the end of February or maybe March? Because I am of the opinion that the end of March should signal Springtime and am entirely opposed to even the occasional snowfall in May or June. That's just not right. Oh, and if it's going to be cold, which I think winter should, then it should snow. Maybe not every day, but every third day or so. I just don't enjoy cold weather with no pretty snow. It seems like a waste. Yes, that sounds about right. Wow, there are so many rules to my ideal winter...Hmmm. Well, I guess if I'm going to plan it out in my fantasy world in my head then it can be exactly as I like!
It's winter here in Utah. It wasn't really winter two days ago, but then yesterday it was suddenly very cold and snowed most of the day. I can't make up my mind about winter. I guess it's the classic "You always want what you can't have." Last winter I seriously missed the snow. It doesn't feel like the holidays when it's 80 degrees outside. I love the atmostphere and feel of wintertime. The sparkly snow on the ground, hot chocolate, sledding, coats and scarves and gloves, my breath coming out in puffs, the misty, foggy air, and of course the fact that it means Christmas time is around the corner or just happened. There's nothing better than Christmas. But I do not love being cold. Hmmm. It's a puzzlement. I suppose that I would prefer a real winter to no winter at all. But maybe I would rather it hold off until the holidays, meaning Thanksgiving time. Yes, I think that would be my ideal. Does anyone know a place where winter hits right around Thanksgiving and lasts just until around the end of February or maybe March? Because I am of the opinion that the end of March should signal Springtime and am entirely opposed to even the occasional snowfall in May or June. That's just not right. Oh, and if it's going to be cold, which I think winter should, then it should snow. Maybe not every day, but every third day or so. I just don't enjoy cold weather with no pretty snow. It seems like a waste. Yes, that sounds about right. Wow, there are so many rules to my ideal winter...Hmmm. Well, I guess if I'm going to plan it out in my fantasy world in my head then it can be exactly as I like!Little Tate seemed entirely indifferent to his first ever snowfall. Of course we just got out of the car and he was throwing a mighty fit. He's been a bit of an ornery face the last couple of days. Oh well,at least we got the picture.
My little boy has always had a thing for faces. He loves to grab them and pull on them and pet them. When someone is holding him he always has one hand on their face. Maybe he's just reassuring himself that they are still there while he checks out his surroundings. I don't really know. When he is upset or tired the grabbing and petting of the face gets more frantic. It can, on occasion, be a bit dangerous, especially if we've neglected his fingernails for a week or so. He's been known to cut tiny scratches and pull on lips until it feels like they might just come off if he's really upset. 
I love it. I think it's so sweet the way one hand just automatically goes up to the face of whoever is holding him and just rests on their cheek or searches for their mouth or nose. When he gets sleepy and someone is holding him he keeps moving his hand around their face and you know he's actually asleep when his hand stops moving...which can be several minutes after he has closed his eyes and stopped wiggling. 
Tate loves crackly things lately. He can keep himself entertained for quite a while with his wipes bag or a wrapper of some sort. 
We abused Tate a bit this weekend. It appears that he has a very sensitive gag reflex. He's used to his thin baby food but anything with a little more texture makes him gag and he pulls the greatest facial expressions of complete disgust. It's just plain fun.
It's also fun to figure out what Tate will find hilarious each day. Kenzie was making funny noises when we went swimming on Monday and it was sweet to see Tate absolutely crack up. He sure loves his Auntie Kenzie. It's a little unfair. When he's had a hard afternoon and we can't think of anything to cheer him up, Kenzie can walk in the room and he's all smiles.
Tatie is 8 months old this week. He's getting better at scooting around. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth and then collapses onto his tummy and does his little army crawl scoot. Silly kid. This last weekend he really started cheesing it for the camera. Usually he catches sight of it and freezes, mesmerized by the red light on the little black thing. I love his silly cheeser face. 
Glenn reading a book and Tate rolling around on the bench and playing with the contents of the diaper bag. Tate also really enjoyed my Excedrin bottle. I got a nice migraine on the last day and was happy that I just stopped nursing so I could partake of the really good stuff! Maybe I'll just keep it in the diaper bag because Tate was so entertained by the rattle noises.
We decided to leave before the awards ceremony because Glenn had a flight out early on Sunday but made them promise to call when it was over. One of our monologues took first place which is so great. He really deserved it. We took fourth place overall and I'm just so pleased with how things turned out. I was really impressed with the students and their attitude about the competition. They had a good time, saw some good theatre, and learned a lot. The fact that we placed well was a nice bonus. I'm glad that they weren't too focused on the competition aspect because I think it made for a much more positive experience overall. 
This week is my last week with the Shakespeare team. We've had a lot of rehearsals and last night was our Evening of Shakespeare where parents, friends and other students came to watch them perform their pieces. It went really well. I think all of them had their best performances yet. It really helped to have an audience to react to their work. Glenn, Tate, and I are heading down to Cedar City for the weekend to attend the Shakespeare Competition. We still have a few kinks to work out but I think they've come a long ways and I'm really proud of them!
Tate is so much fun right now. Every time he hits a new phase I'm a little sad about the one we leave behind, but each new thing he learns is so exciting. He's so happy right now. It's just fun to be around him and listen to his chatter and see what he's going to find hilarious today. Last week it was my mom saying "Baaa" and he'd just bust up laughing. This morning Glenn was folding laundry and he would flip the shirts before he folded them and Tate just started giggling. The more Glenn did it the harder Tate would laugh. We just got a really short clip but I think it's so sweet.