Big D

They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and based on our experience thus far, they are mostly right. But the thing that seems to be the biggest these days is baby Bo, a name that might not be appropriate for much longer. I guess somewhere between the middle of August, when the move preparation really got started, and now that kid has really gotten huge. And with all that has been going on around this house I guess it has sort of flown under the radar. But he is doing all sorts of big things, like rolling over and talking and standing on Jarom’s hands. He has also gotten pretty good at eating solid foods and doesn’t ever seem to be full. He has realized that he lives in a house with two very loud females and has developed a velociraptor shriek that allows him to make himself part of the discussion, and he uses it with frightening regularity. And he continues to be a very cute, very smiley, very easygoing baby, which is good because he has been relegated once again to the back burner by his older sister.



That’s because Jenna and Lix have undertaken potty training this week. Lix read a book about how to potty train your kid in 3 days and chose Monday-Wednesday of this week to give it a shot. I must say, the results have been surprisingly good. There have been a few accidents and Lix has been pushed to her breaking point, but Jenna has generally figured out how to successfully use the potty and is very excited about the stickers that she gets when she goes and the reward that comes when she fills up her sticker chart. On Wednesday evening after a long day stuck in the house and a couple of very frustrating accidents, Lix left Jarom with the kids so she could go get a haircut. Things went smoothly for about 30 minutes and then the wheels came off. Jenna was jumping on the couch, despite Jarom’s repeated requests that she not. One of her jumps was a little more than she could handle and *boom* she was on the ground with a bloody nose. She was obviously very upset and began sobbing, so Jarom picked her up and tried to make her feel better. Some of you may be able to predict what happened next. Jenna continued to cry harder and harder, until she puked all over herself and Jarom. Luckily, Jarom was able to contain the vomit to his clothes and person, but now had to try and carry Jenna up the stairs to the bathtub without shifting her body to allow barf to fall onto the floor. Somehow he managed to do it and got Jenna washed off and sitting in the tub. He then went back downstairs to check on Blake, who was now 10 minutes overdue for a bottle. He was crying a little now, because he was hungry and doesn’t really like being left alone. So Jarom quickly made him a bottle and toted him up to the bathroom, where he sat on the ledge of the tub and made Bo hold his own bottle while he bathed Jenna. It was getting late, so after he finished the bottle Jarom put him to bed and then was able to finish taking care of Jenna and getting her ready for bed, again. They were reading some stories when Lix got back. She makes it look so easy, this taking care of two little kids and not letting them die, but it is much harder than it looks.



Potty training is really the last step that is keeping Jenna from truly becoming a big girl. It has been interesting to watch her relationship with her parents lately. More and more she is becoming like a friend of theirs. During the move in she was quite helpful. Jarom gave her a large pile of little things that she could take into the house one at a time and she carried everything in her pile inside and up the stairs. When she goes to the store with Lix to help with the shopping they chat like girlfriends. She is also becoming very imaginative. She regularly puts her animals and baby dolls to sleep and feeds them elaborate meals. She has also started playing with things as if they were another. Rocks in the back yard become buggies that need to be fed leaves and have conversations with the other buggies that she has collected. Hangers become babies that need to be put to bed at naptime. It is pretty cool to watch her little mind go and see the things that it comes up with.

One thing that is definitely NOT bigger in Texas is the distance between our house and the other Winn Residence. That has been cut in half. Which is nice at 6:20 in the morning when Jarom leaves to go pick up Nate and head to work. They have decided to work a 7-4 shift in an effort to avoid heavy traffic and get home a little earlier to see the childrens. It is certainly the right decision, but Jarom is not thrilled about having to get up almost 90 minutes earlier than he used to. He did spend his birthday money on a spiffy new pair of sunglasses to protect his eyes from the big Texas sun on his drives home.

The rest of the week has been filled with all sorts of little errands and tasks. Lix and the kids came down to Jarom’s office for lunch one day and got to meet some of Jarom’s coworkers. Jarom made a trip to the dumpster to get rid of the last of the boxes that needed to be unpacked. The family went down to the local 24-hour Fitness and unfroze Jarom’s account so that he can once again work out at weird times. Lix can’t drop Bo off at the day care until he is six months old, so she still has to wait another week. We got the carpets cleaned, after seriously considering replacing them and then realizing that it was a little too expensive for us to do right now. So instead we got a new area rug for the family room, and it looks amazing. Jenna has continued to do great with the potty training, and has received a rocking horse and a new playhouse as rewards for her good behavior. Both were finds that Lix made on craigslist, which will make Brooke so proud.

The Winns also attended their new ward. It was pretty standard Mormon stuff, except that this is a ward that is dominated by young families. So there are 3 nurseries and about 120 kids in the primary. It makes for a loud sacrament meeting, but will sure be nice when Jenna has so many friends her age at church.

Here are some funny things that Jenna has said lately.

Alixa: Let’s put on your sunshine shirt, and then we will put your sweatshirt over that.
Jenna: Oh, that will be amazing!

Alixa: Jennabear, I love you
Jenna: No, I’m just eatin right now

Alixa put Jenna down for a nap today, and she didn’t sleep. She was singing very loudly and doing bum drops which were making huge thudding noises. So Lix went to investigate and noticed Jenna had thrown all of her animals out of bed. Lix asked her why she did that, and she said Pete had said "NO!" to her so she put him in time out by throwing him out of the crib.

Jenna: Mommy, I’m sweet like a popcorn ball