The Hardwick Family: January 2014

I've had a lot of time on my hands this week.

Our second snow storm of 2014 brought us almost 9 inches of snow.

That's HUGE for our area. The schools have been closed for 2 days so far.

I haven't been able to teach voice lessons and we had to cancel worship team rehearsal. :(

The great news is, I have time to blog.

I love these two handsome fellas!

Grayson fills our days with so much joy, well...most day.

He has so much personality now. He also has some stubbornness! Welcome to parenthood.

He's going a mile a minute this one. We have started some extensive baby proofing of the den, where we spend most of our time. David covered our brick hearth with foam and fabric. It's actually really pretty and brightens up the room. I'm so glad he did it because Grayson pulls himself up on it all the time. We also mounted the TV. It makes the room look bigger and our lives are much easier. I know some people don't believe in baby proofing and think you should just correct your child all the time. I still have plenty to say "No!" to. Trust me.

Speaking of the word "No!" Grayson knows what "No!" means and he doesn't like it. He will usually take his hand away from something if I tell him to, but 2 seconds later, he's back at it.

We're also ALREADY dealing with the sharing issue.

I had no clue that these things start so early.

I thought we had a few more years to prepare. Darn.

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So this month we had a few firsts.

This month was the first time I locked my child in the van. It was not a good day.

I was leaving the store and Grayson was hungry so I thought - I'll just put him in the carseat (without strapping him in) and I'll get in on the other side and feed him before we finish the rest of our errands.

I get to the other side of the van and realized,

I've locked the doors - with my un-strapped-in-child, my keys (obviously), and my phone.

I attack the first lady I see and beg to use her phone.

Did I call 911? Nope. That would be too easy. And to be honest, it didn't even come to my mind.

I was panicking.

By then, Grayson had stood up in his car seat, turned around, and was dancing....great.

I called David about a hundred times.

This lady has some spaceship-phone that I couldn't properly use and

I apparently kept hanging up when David would answer.

The whole thing is a little fuzzy.

Eventually I got in touch with David and he was on his way.

I kept banging on the window of the van to keep Grayson's attention.

I was crying like a baby and the sweet lady with the spaceship-phone stayed with me the entire time.

A man saw me banging on the van window, crying, and called 911.

Thank God someone has some sense in this story.

Immediately a fire truck appears.

I expected them to come running from the truck with the jaws of life to pull apart my van and rescue my dancing child. But no.

They walked calmly over as I'm jumping up and down, waving them over.

Eventually Grayson was rescued and I wasn't put in jail for neglecting my child. They assured me that this happens all the time.

They gave Grayson a coloring book. I think they thought he was older than he is.

Everyone does. My kid is big.

David showed up and calmed my nerves by taking us to get froyo at Skinny Dip.

So this was another first for Grayson and unlike the above story, it was a good first.

Grayson makes the funniest faces when he tries something new.

He always looks like he's eating a lemon even if he loves it.

Another first: Grayson's first and second snow!!! Two in one year! Wooohoo!

We've had such a good time, especially this week.

A parent of one my sweet voice students brought a sled over for Grayson. He loved it. The cold didn't bother him one bit. He could have stayed out there longer. I plan on taking him again this afternoon.