Team Schneider

During a couple of our visits to Europe we noticed young children on interesting wooden bikes without pedals.  After doing a little research we found out that these bikes are called “balance bikes”.  Balance bikes allow children to start walking with the bike; proceed to an occasional balance and then to an all-out run and glide.  What a perfect match for a 2 year-old with extra energy….

Andy was up and riding in no time….

It looked so fun we all took a turn…

…even the Monkey rode it the next morning…

We took a walk outside this afternoon.   We sat in the sun for awhile and Andrew played in the snow and watched the melting snow drip off of the roof.  That’s when he informed me that, in fact “Our house is raining”.

After that he was asking me where Dad was.  I explained that he was in Canada for work.  Then, Andrew proceeded to shout “DAD, DAD, COME HOOOOME DAD”.

He was quiet for a few seconds, sighed, and then said “I want grapes”.  Grapes were served and all was well again.

Today we took a trip to Fargo to visit the Nelson’s and Baby Amelia.  We’re glad we were able to meet her and look forward to seeing them again next weekend!

The words from Andrew on the way home from daycare. I was explaining that today was my birthday and that later we could each have a piece of cake that Dad made. He was explaining to me that he wanted to eat it himself. It sounded something like this, “NO WAY. Not Mommy Daddy eat it. I eat it. All my self. Not Daddy either. You wait your turn.” I should have been more disapproving of his negative tone, but all I could think was “when did you learn the word either?”.

We got home, saw the cake, explained that it was for everyone to share and this happened:

We picked him up off the floor and promised him mac & cheese from Panera.  We had a great dinner.  Andrew had fun turning around in his high chair, pointing his finger at a man in a nearby booth with a laptop, and shouting “Man checkin’ e-mail?”.  After a quick stop at Target, we made it home with just enough time to have cake before Andrew’s bedtime.

I was about to spend the rest of my 30th birthday watching this:

but thankfully my sister called and rescued me from having to learn the Potty Song!  All in all, it was a great day!

Last night Andrew watched his first winter Olympics.  He loved it so much he started training right away.

Today we spent some much needed time cleaning and doing laundry.  I got the crazy idea in my head that it was time that Andrew be potty trained.  He was all set up with the potty chair, books from the library (Diapers Aren’t Forever), and marshmallows should he actually go in the seat.  He seemed to like it for about 20 minutes.  Then the novelty wore off, we put some pants on him, and seconds later he pooped in his pants…so it all completely backfired and we were stuck with more laundry.

We gave up on the potty training and decided to move on to sleeping in a real bed.  He’s been sleeping in a mattress on the floor for about 3 months.  Before his nap we put the frame and box underneath.  He didn’t seem to mind, but he was very concerned when we took out the monitor!

Freestyle Walking in Fort Walton Beach

I was watching the Grammy’s when I looked over and saw this.

Does this mean he doesn’t want to talk tonight?

We’ve almost made it through our busy month!  Pete is en route to MSP and we’re looking forward to him being home.  Andrew has been busy playing cars.  He spent about 30 minutes lining all of his vehicles up next to the TV.

In an attempt to make a Saturday lunch exciting, we decided to celebrate Andrew’s birthday again with candles.  He loved it.  That is until I noticed the pool of melted candle wax in the center of his veggie nugget.  “It melting.  Mommy.  I eat it?”

Getting ready for Florida!