Shepherd says so many funny things now, and I know if I don't write them down here I will forget them. After all, half the time I don't remember what I did 5 minutes ago! 😜 (I've had this list going for over a month so I could add to it when I thought of something!)
Shep can't say the 'sh' sound right now, which is unfortunate since that is the beginning of his name. Instead, he substitutes it with a 'w' sound. And 'w' must be easy for him, because he uses it for any other letter sound he can't or doesn't feel like saying at the moment. If he wants to watch a "little tiny show", he will say, "Can Weperd watch a little winy woe?" (Yes, he currently speaks in 3rd person. We're working on getting him to use pronouns like "I" and "me" so he doesn't sound like Elmo!) When we ask him to do something and he is happy to help, he will say “Were!” (sure)
He pronounces "chicken", "micken", so it has become custom around the house for the rest of us to say it too! Hi, mickens! How many eggs did the mickens give us today?
He is a pot stirrer just like his daddy. He will randomly hug me or just look at me and say, "Mommy, you're best." I will snuggle him and tell him he is the best, and then he grins and says, "No, Daddy's best!"
When Shepherd does something that makes us laugh, he will either laugh along OR pretend to be mad and say "It’s not wunny!" (funny)
Shep calls his collared shirts "work shirts" ("work wurts"). I guess he thinks that all collared shirts are flannels, and since Andrew wears a lot of flannel shirts when he's outside splitting wood, taking care of the chickens, or doing other chores, they must be work shirts!
At the dinner table he will say "mmm" as he's eating, and then he'll say, "Daddy, thanks for cookin'!" and "Daddy is best cook." On the rare occasion when I cook instead of Andrew, Shep still thanks Daddy by default. :)
He calls his winter hat his Santa hat and loves putting it on to go outside when it's cold. (I guess because his hat has a pom-pom like Santa's?)
When there is something Shepherd doesn't feel like doing, he will call it "weird." If he's not ready to take a nap, he will say "Wepherd no nap, naps are weird." Or if I suggest a shirt or pants for him to wear that he doesn't want to wear, he will call them weird.
"Almost" and "not yet" are two of his favorite responses to any request. Shepherd, are you finished eating so I can wash your hands? Almost. Shepherd, are you ready to get out of the bathtub and get dried off? Not yet.
When we tell Shep to go into his bedroom so we can change his diaper, or to the bathroom to get ready for his bath, he will plant his feet and say "Can't, Weperd is stuck." And then he adds a few "uh uh" grunts to show us that he can't lift his feet off the ground. Or recently he told me he couldn’t pick his napkin up off the floor and throw it away because he was out of gas. I have a hard time not laughing at these tricks because they are original! Andrew frequently has to become a crane that lifts Shepherd up and deposits him where we need him to go. As long as we play a construction-themed game like this, he is willing to cooperate!
“Mama, be careful!” He tells me this when I go down the front porch steps, and he even holds his hand out to help me. When we ride in the buggy together he will put his hand across my lap when we go downhill or turn a corner.
“That is NOT good,” he will say when he’s playing toys and something falls down or doesn’t go the way he planned.
He does a mischievous “ha ha” in a sing-song voice when he is about to do something he knows he shouldn’t. It is adorable and frustrating at the same time!
If it is unusually quiet and we ask Shep what he is doing, he will say “Stop asking me!” if he doesn’t want to answer because he knows it might get him in trouble.
Anytime Shep wants a small amount of something, he says he wants a "couple": a couple juice, a couple butter on his bread, a couple bubbles in his bath water.
"Why?" and "Where did it come from?" are two of his new favorite questions. He especially wants to know where everything comes from: Where I come from? Where bananas come from? Where paper come from? etc, etc, etc.....
He is learning how to express his emotions, and when he gets frustrated or mad he will say, "Me not happy!" and usually run to his room and close the door. When he has calmed down, he will come walking out and announce, "Weperd feel better now."
When I tell Shepherd I love him, he will say, "Love you Mama," or "Alright" if he's too busy playing and doesn't want to talk. 😂
Shep's first self-portrait! After I drew the circle, I was impressed that he could put two eyes, one nose, a mouth, and two ears in just about the right places.
Andrew texted me this picture one morning while I was at work. He had forgotten to fasten the childproof lock on the refrigerator before hopping in the shower, and Shepherd apparently got hungry for some cheese! He took a few bites out of the cheese block and then set it on the counter. He is very self-sufficient!
One of his favorite things to do is play in the firewood debris on the back porch.
We had a wonderful Christmas season, and it was fun to see Shepherd get so excited about it this year. I was proud of Andrew--right after Thanksgiving he started watching Christmas movies with Shep and listening to Christmas music. That is saying a lot for a guy who really only likes to listen to Christmas music on December 24th and 25th. 😂 He was willing to watch "If you give a mouse a Christmas cookie" more times than we can count because Shepherd loved it. And we all enjoyed listening to a variety of Christmas stations on Pandora so we wouldn't get tired of the same songs over and over. I think it also helped that we were all back in school this year; last year Ryder and Harper were still doing remote learning, so they missed out on toy drives, class parties, and Christmas programs that help make the season feel a little more special. I did just enough baking to make a few of our favorites, but I only took a picture of the candy cane cookies because the big kids helped me with them. I made several coffee cakes, some Russian teacakes, and peanut butter blossoms too. Between the cookies and two birthday cakes (for Andrew and Ryder), Andrew and I were ready to get all of the sweets out of the house at the end of the month. (The kiddos, not so much!)
Ryder made the extra long Shepherd's hook on this pan.
a picture of our tree right before we let the kiddos open presents from Grandma and Grandpa
looking good in his new rain jacket!
Harper went right to work on her picture puzzle game.
Harper's new rain jacket
Christmas morning!
~the aftermath~ It didn't take long for them to open everything and begin playing.
Thanks Mom and Dad! 😍
Shepherd had a "construction Christmas", complete with a vest, safety gear, a chainsaw, and some new heavy equipment trucks.
Andrew ordered a big bucket of Lincoln Logs for the kiddos to share, and Ryder has had the best time building (and rebuilding after Shepherd decides to demolish anything in his path).
Andrew surprised me with some new wooden rockers for the front porch. I love them!
Pops and Grann came a few days after Christmas and spent almost a week with us. We pretty much just lounged around and played with new toys and games, and Pops even got to assist Andrew in processing our last batch of meat chickens. 😮 Pops took lots of pictures, but I'm only posting the finished products once they made it to the refrigerator. We had a great time just being together and are so glad they could come!
21 chickens, averaging about 4.5 pounds each!
Andrew and I were able to slip up to our land for a few hours one day while the kiddos played with Pops and Grann. It gave us a chance to brainstorm house ideas and take some measurements. The two of us are never able to have an uninterrupted conversation, so it was really nice to have some silence to think and talk things through. It's funny, because after taking these pictures and being up on the land that day, we have totally changed our mind about the style of house we want. I really want us to work with the way the land curves and slopes so that the house looks like it belongs there--not like it's a random structure that popped out of the ground. I felt overwhelmed and apologized to Andrew because I felt like we were starting over again with the whole process. He reminded me that we hadn't physically begun the house yet, so now is the time to change our mind and get it right. Whew! We spent several more evenings looking at house styles and layouts and sketching out possible floor plans until we came up with something that will work for our family of 5. And we haven't felt stressed about it since, so that must be a good sign.
Ryder turned 11 and was excited to have Pops and Grann with him on his actual birthday this year. After breakfast on his birthday morning, we let him open presents from all of us. For dinner he requested barbecue and hush puppies from one of our favorite restaurants here, so we made a couple side dishes to go with it. Andrew made his yummy baked bean recipe, and Grann and I made deviled eggs since we have no shortage of eggs around here!
creating his first masterpiece with the new art supplies from Grandma and Grandpa
Later that night (with a wet head from his shower), he enjoyed a piece of Coca Cola cake. :)
These two were pretending to sleep and snore, and I love the little scrunched up eyes!
I asked Pops while he was here to pleeeeease take a family picture for us. I wanted a recent one for our New Year's card. Considering what he had to work with, I think they turned out great! 😉
sweet
silly!
The night before Pops and Grann had to leave, the temperatures finally turned cold (after being in the 60's the entire week after Christmas). We woke up to a dusting of snow--maybe 1-2 inches-- and it must have been windy because the covered front porch was covered too! Grann was able to get a taste of winter and take a few snow pictures before they left. Thankfully nothing stuck to the roads, so they had no issues driving.
Shepherd immediately grabbed his bulldozer and a dump truck to "clear" the porch for us.
Andrew planed and sanded down a medallion from one of the hickory trees on our land. I ordered a simple turntable to go under it, and now we have a rustic lazy Susan as a centerpiece.
