the Welmers: April 2010

Ever have one of those moments when you wish you had a video camera so you could capture a moment and watch it again and again? I had one of those moments recently. Here's the story:
One sunny, busy Tuesday, Johan and I were in the car driving home from picking up some groceries. I had placed the groceries in the backseat as usual. Since Johan has been exploring everything he can get his little hands on, I intentionally put the bread and crinkly chip bags on the other side of the car. Instead, I put the bag with frozen meat in it near his seat, thinking he couldn't possibly rip the package or chew on it. Worst case scenario (or so I thought), I would wash his hands when we got home if he touched the frozen ground beef.
So, there we are driving along, singing to the music, rushing home to make dinner and welcome Bernard. Out of nowhere I hear Johan crying, screaming at the top of his lungs. Compassionately, I say something like, "It's ok, Johan, we'll be home soon, and you can have a snack while Mommy makes dinner."
Naturally, he quiets down...for a few seconds. Then the banshee wail starts again.
"Johan, what is gong on back there?"
He keeps this up for a couple miles, and I can't figure out what's happening. Finally, we get to a red light and I turn around to see what could possibly be making him this upset.
As I watch, Johan looks at the frozen meat, reaches out a little finger and gently places it on the package. His face contorts and he screams at the top of his lungs as if to say, "It's cold! It hurts!"
Chocking back a laugh, I tell him to stop touching it and his finger won't hurt: "No touch, Johan, don't touch."
He pulls his finger away, looks at me, then seems to be irresistibly drawn back to that frozen package.
For the 10 minutes it took us to arrive at home, he kept up the touching and screaming. Me? I couldn't help it: I laughed, hysterically.
Once we arrived home and washed Johan's cold little fingers, his world became a lot happier. I have to say, mine did too.

The weather has been unusually (and wonderfully!) warm the past month here in Minnesota. So, I've neglected blogging and have been been out enjoying the days with Johan.
Johan has changed so much in the past month! His personality shines through more and more each day. He's very happy and inquisitive - which keeps me on my toes! Johan also (finally!) started crawling a few weeks ago. We thought he would skip it completely and just walk, but he proved us wrong. He now follows me around the house and is into everything!
Spring in the Welmers house also means more remodeling and changing the house and yard to better suit our needs. So, this year we are completely changing around the whole yard. We are making the back yard more child friendly and adding some landscaping to the front, using materials we are moving from the back. It's a lot of work but my mind is spinning with the possibilities this will create for us. And, it gives me another chance to be creative! :) I'll post pictures of the progress and hopefully the finished product in the weeks to come.
For now, here are some pics and a video of the last month with Johan, the mover: