Free at last!

Well, this is a big day in the Johnson household.

We finally did it.

(Actually, Joel is the one who did it, but who's counting?)

We did that thing I've been dreading and putting off for ages.

We got Everett off the bottle!

It is a little funny that this is even an issue, considering the fact that Everett refused the bottle until after he was six months old, but it is. He has been sleeping with a bottle full of water for some time now, and while I was comfortable knowing he wasn't allowed to have it when he was awake, I always had this nagging feeling that he should be done with it by now.

Joel has threatened to take it away from him numerous times, but I always discouraged him from it because I knew that I would be the one to deal with all the backlash, and I just wasn't ready. "Get Ashley sleeping through the night again," I said, "And then I'll have the energy to think about it."

But, Sunday night we returned late from visiting my family, and Everett had naturally fallen asleep in the car. Joel decided then and there to cut him off from the bottle cold turkey--Everett had woken up, but was still pretty tired. I had many reasons to disagree with him (not the least of which was my mental schedule of slowly decreasing its usage during naptime, and transferring his dependency to a different comfort item), but I told Joel it was his battle and let it be. I was sure it wouldn't work and that we'd be back to square one, and that if anything, it would be even harder the next time we tried.

And just because I needed humbling, I'm sure, it worked. Joel told Everett he was too big to have a bottle and that from now on he would sleep without it, and that was it! Done! Everett accepted it as fact and moved on.

I am amazed. We did this with no fuss, no confusion, and no drawn-out process. I never would have predicted this. I thought it might get to the point where he is three and we have to tell him the "bottle fairy" is coming to claim his bottle and he would find a present in its place in the morning.

The best part is, I have my scapegoat. Once in a while Everett asks for the bottle again, but all I have to do is remind him that he is not to have it anymore. After that, he will nod solemnly and comment, "Pop." (Papa), because he remembers that Joel was the one who took it away.

What an event! I'm so thrilled, I'm surprised I don't have firecrackers and whistles exploding out of my fingernails.

Happiness is. . .

Watching a favorite movie with a friend.
(and holding a contest to see who can stand closest to the screen.)

Playing with play-dough,

Engineering a train escapade,



Helping to make cookies,


and having the freedom to be a little silly along the way,

Eating warm chocolate chip cookies, straight from the oven.

(but, happiness is NOT knowing you can't have one)

It is jumping onto a humongous pile of pillows and stuffed animals. . .

. . .maybe stopping for a snuggle here,

and a laugh there.

It is climbing around in unorthodox ways.

And,

It is being able to watch it all later, as many times as you want.

Picnic Time

We've had such good weather this weekend (60 degrees, anyone?) that we decided on Saturday we had to take a picnic to enjoy it. We stopped at McDonald's on the way--we're all about eating healthily nowadays--and had a wonderful time.


Everett got to play with his soccer ball and his Papa at the same time. . .

What a treat!

. . .and he's still young enough to be completely and utterly amazed with anything his father does.

We got to watch the birds

And we got to drink soda pop, a real event in our family.




And Ashley and I got to relax together. She had a bad cold but we thought the fresh air might do her some good. I think it was rejuvenating for all of us. As you can see, she took turns looking at the camera and at the boys, fascinated by all of it.



Do you think we look alike?

The Best Sound

Right now I am listening to the sound of two little boys squealing with laughter,
jabbering wildly, and running excitedly.

Jumping into a humongous pile of pillows and stuffed animals will do that to you.

I don't even mind if they wake up the baby.

It is enchanting.

Are you jealous?

Everett, Part II

I remembered some more things about Everett, and I thought I'd share them. Someday I'm going to make some of this blog into a book because these posts are so great for documenting little things the kids grow out of.

If you tell Everett something he'll get excited about, such as, "Guess what! I have a treat for you!" or "After you put your clothes in the laundry basket, we can make some muffins!" or lately, "Do you want to go out in the snow?" He will respond with widened, excited eyes and a mouth forming a tiny O, while he exhales a quiet little "oooooooohhhhhhhhhh" sound. It gets me every time.

Everett has recently started saying "wahoo!" all the time. You can guess where he got that one. I am here to tell you that he sounds a whole lot cuter saying it than I do. It sounds more like a quick "ooh-hooo", and he says it for the littlest things. It is very fun.

Also, if something comes apart or breaks, or even if something falls down, Everett breaks out into a mournful and urgent "No, no, no, no, no!" bringing it to me in his little hands as solemnly as a priest. Fortunately he still believes I can fix everything.

Recently I started a water fight with Joel. Well, technically Everett did it. Joel was asleep on the couch and it was time for him to be getting up, so I gave Everett a tiny bit of water in a cup to go dump on him. In order to ensure that he actually got Joel wet, I directed him to put the water on his nose. Well, he did, and it went right up Joel's nose, which gave him quite the wake-up call! Later Joel got me wet, much to Everett's amazement. I don't think it crossed Everett's mind that he could throw water on his momma. Then I got Joel wet. Then Joel got me wet. (We're talking small amounts of water here, people). Everett suffers from something called "having parents who both always have to have the last laugh." It's a terrible affliction.

Last night I gave Everett a little more water to put on Joel. He was ecstatic! He would start to get really excited and make a little noise, then I would hear him quiet himself and say "shhhh". He crept into the living room only to discover that at that very moment, Joel had left to go change his clothes in the bedroom. So the practical joke was ruined, and Joel ended up throwing the water on me. Everett was shocked and pointed out to me several times that Papa got me wet. He was equal parts disapproving and fascinated (and yes, he's right where I want him on this, thank you).

So. . .after all this, Everett asked for a drink this morning with a peculiar smile on his face. I gave it to him and when my attention was turned to Ashley, he took it in the bathroom and dumped it all on Joel, who was in the bath! It's just too bad Joel was already wet, or maybe Everett would have won the battle. Fortunately he always (except this once, go figure) drinks from a cup with a lid unless he is sitting with us at the dinner table. I can see all sorts of ways this scenario could get bigger and messier. I think we'll have to instigate a no-water-fights-unless-Mom-starts-it rule. Hah, as though that will work. This boy has too much Joel in him to heed a silly rule like that.

Apron Strings

A little while ago, I received a package from my Grandmother. It was wonderful! It had two baby blankets in it (with matching burp cloths), three books that Everett immediately fell in love with, and these aprons, which my Aunt made and my Grandma picked out for the kids:

(yes, Ashley has very crazy hair, complete with a cowlick)

You can't see them too well in this picture, but they are very, very cute. Everett's has a bird on it, and Ashley's has a little cupcake with beading for the sprinkles. These are perfect because Everett loves to help me out in the kitchen, and I know Ashley will eventually get a lot of use out of hers, too. I don't know if my Aunt sells these or not, but she should! She is very talented. Maybe if my cousins read this they can let me know.

Rub a dub dub

Pork loin was on sale this week at the grocery store (it still is at Bloom, until Jan 3rd), so I picked a big one up and hacked it into a few pieces. We are eating one today with this rub on it:

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 4 1/2 teaspoons onion salt
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (cayenne)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

I haven't tried it yet, as it is still cooking, but it smells delicious. I didn't have dry mustard so I used the regular kind you put on sandwiches. I don't know if that will drastically change it or not, but we'll see. There is plenty of rub left over and it is supposed to be good on chicken as well, so I think we'll definitely use it again.

Update: Because of the sugars in the rub, the drippings turned into a really nice glaze. I thought it was very good, even though I had no cumin or thyme, and I added enough mustard that it made it slightly pastey instead of being a dry rub.