The Lightbulb Goes On!

Ristow has always been fascinated by bones, x-rays, bodies and the anatomy of pretty much all living things. Lately is has been dinosaur bones but any bones will do. ( by the way he is beside himself with excitement to see the ultrasound aka baby x-ray on friday)

Last night we had a rotisserie chicken for dinner and he saw Christopher eat a chicken leg and put the bones on his plate. He looked and asked if that was a real bone. Christopher gave it to him to look at and the wheels started turning. All of a sudden it made sense to him that the chicken we were eating used to be a live chicken with bones. The first time that the connection is made that we eat dead animals. He handled it surprisingly well and scientifically.
Pretty soon he was wanting all the bones to collect them and investigate them. Luckily the main carcass was still hiding on the kitchen counter so all he saw were the drumstick and wing bones.

After Poppy and Christopher cleaned them for him, Ristow grabbed his microscope and started going to work, he wanted to hide them around the house to go on a bone find. I didn't think that would work too well, especially if any got lost and some little boy happened to be over playing and found one. What would his mother think, random chicken bones hiding around the house!

I love that he is so amazed and intrigued with the world around us, but I don't think we will be eating anything else for dinner with bones in them for a little while.

Getting to Heaven

Today the topic of where heaven is located came up while Ristow and I were driving to a friends house. This is how the coversation went.

"mom, is heaven in space?"
"well buddy it is a little past space and you can't get there in a space shuttle." (a big topic in our house since the shuttle endeavor is set to launch today)
after a bit of a pause he says
"well, I am pretty sure you can get there in a Zamboni"
After thinking about how cool is would be to ride the zamboni machine at a hockey game, and how much Christopher loved riding one, I said.....
"quite possibly Ristow."

The First Annual McClintock Camp-In

The other night we had our first annual camp-in, when Ristow suggested camping I offered a fun night of camping in the living room, mostly to accommodate my own pregnacy comfort but he eagarly accepted the offer.

Here was the plan.....

Ristow set up his mini tent for himself (set up by 8am that morning), Christopher was going to sleep on the floor next to the tent and I would sleep on the couch.

After our campfire and roasting marshmallows Ristow kept pretend yawning asking if we were all ready for bed, he was so excited to start the camp-in. We all got settled in and Ristow decided he wanted to sleep on Christopher's mat with him, so Christopher lovingly put his mat inside Ristow's tent for them to share, with both sets of feet hanging out of the tent, it was quite a sight.

Christopher fell sleep by 9:30 and Ristow stayed up picking different places to sleep untill about 10:30 when he finally chose to curl up on the couch with me.

So, in the morning, Christopher was in Ristow's tent by himself, Ristow was asleep on the couch and I had been moved very willingly to my own bed.

All in all a successful camp-in.

18 Weeks

18 weeks! Very exciting. I am feeling a bit better, super tired but doing great. I love these silly food references, they make it a little more real to me to picture the little one growing inside me.

Dinnertime

I have really made an effort lately to just give Ristow what we are eating for dinner and no more special meals of chicken nuggets, quesadillas or mac and cheese. Tonight I feel like we actually achieved some success.....
Before dinner I had asked him which veggie he wanted to eat tonight, carrots, zucchini or tomatoes? He reported back that he wanted mac and cheese and tomatoes.
Well, I did give him tomatoes along with some talapia, baked potato and carrots and of course to make it all more appealing, crescent rolls.
After a little fuss when he first sat down, he saw the rolls and was fine. After tasting a bit of everything he comments...
"Well, it's not mac and cheese but its not bad!"
I'll take it! He ate great, with little problems, as long as he could be bribed with more rolls ;)
We will definitely be doing meals a bit differently with the next child, live and learn.

A Week of Adventure

This past week Ristow, my mom and I went on a road trip. We headed up to PA to see my brother and his super cute family. We were able to break the trip up and stay with Christopher's parents on the way there, which was wonderful.

Once there Ristow was overwhelmed at how cool it is to be at Uncle Jimmy's and Aunt Zan's....

He loved eating up at the Dining Hall each meal and watching all the campers.

He loved getting to ride a horse for the first time and wanted to go over to barn each day and thank the horse for the ride.

He loved going to Idlewild amusement park with Grammy and riding tons of rides.

He loved getting a sherrif's badge and wanting to learn all about guns and gun safety rules from Uncle Jimmy.

He loved picking fresh lettuce from the garden and eating it on the spot, forget eating it for dinner when you can eat it right then and there.

He loved being with his cousin Dylan, chatting away in the back seat together on the way up to the dining hall. (I love that she is talking so much, so sweet)

He loved spending time with family that we don't get to see often.

He did not love having to leave.

It was quite the visit and Ristow keeps talking about when we get to go back.

On the way home we stopped again at the McClintocks and ended up staying 2 days since I was too nauseous to travel after the 1st night. Ristow had a great time hanging at the pool and playing with his Grandma and Grandpa.

He woke up this morning asking "mom, what are we doing today?" Resting, I hope!

Father's Day

This past Father's Day was wonderful. Christopher had a race that morning that Ristow and I went out and cheered for. Ristow loved watching his Daddy race and even got race numbers put on his arm and leg just like Dad. The race crew was even wonderful enough that during a break in the finishers, they let Ristow and Christopher run through the finishing shoot and across the finshline together. Ristow thought he was a champion. Not only that, but Christopher got third place in his age group and took Ristow up with him to get his trophy. I swear Ris felt like he was the winner.

(Great job Christopher! We are so proud of you)

Not only did Ristow feel like he was a major player in Daddy's race, he also felt like he deserved presents for Father's Day. The day before and the morning of Ristow says....

"I take good care of my stuffed animals, don't I? I read to them and put them in time out when they don't listen so I am a father to them, right?" " So, I should get something from them for Father's Day!" Good logic Ristow and tricky nonetheless. If only animals went shopping....

Well, he went on and on and on and Christopher and I didn't know what to say to that so we kept ingnoring the conversation. I eventually caved and since I had a new book hiding in my closest anyway, told him that his stuffed monkey had helped my to pick that book out for him for Father's Day. He was so thrilled and kept thanking the monkey.

You got me this time Ristow but I will not be falling for this trick next year ;)