Squeaky Squeak Squeaker Squeaken

Jenna can rarely be seen these days without her bunny hat and mittens.

There is a new sound around the Winn household: squeaking. Recently Alixa and Kenz took the kiddos to the children’s museum and saw a little girl there wearing some shoes that squeaked when she walked. This reminded Lix that she had purchased a pair of these shoes some 6 months ago. At the time they were far too large for little Jenna, and actually scared her when they squeaked and made her cry, but Jenna has grown up a lot since then so she pulled them out to give it another try. This video is basically the first time that Jenna tried them on.

You might think that she would get tired of the novelty of the squeaks, but you would be wrong. Every time Jarom and Lix let her wear them, Jenna makes every step as deliberately as possible so as to get the maximum volume out of her shoes. She also has no concern for the feelings of those around her. So when baby Bo had a craving for PF Changs the other day Jarom had to make sure and carry her to their table so that everyone else’s dinner wouldn’t be interrupted by the sounds of little squeaker.

This was Jenna's first car cart experience at the grocery store. She loved it and it prevented the other shoppers from wanting to throw her shoes away.

We did have a few days of beautiful weather last weekend, with temperatures climbing up into the 60’s and 70’s. So Jarom got to go play a few holes of golf and Jenna got to spend more time running around outside. Perhaps in part because of her new shoes, Jenna has taken to jumping everywhere she goes, instead of walking. She also enjoys narrating it as she goes. So in case the repetitive thumping coming from the other room doesn’t give it away, you will also hear Jenna saying “jumping, jumping, more jumping!”

Sadly, the warm weather has left us, and when the chilly temps came back so did Jenna’s sniffles. She’s had a little bit of a fever and it has made it tough for her to sleep well at night. The family took a trip to Sam’s club to get some groceries, and as they were walking around Jarom noticed that even her squeaking had become sad. The poor kid just didn’t have the energy to put any emphasis on her steps. But I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self in no time. But for the moment, we are trying to be extra nice to her, increasing her daily allotment of The Lion King from half a movie a day to the whole thing. She sure loves her Siba.

Lix had an experience with Jenna that she wanted to share, so I’ll let her wrap this post up-

Jenna is a very picky eater. She likes maybe five real person foods, and still eats baby food for at least one meal a day. I think she just cant handle new textures. I blame this on the fact that she has never put anything in her mouth. Even when she was a baby, nothing went into her mouth. I thought it was great then, but I have realized this is how babies eat new foods. She also has a VERY sensitive gag reflex, and just putting something foreign in her mouth makes her puke. Not just gag, but puke. It is a disgusting mess.

Well, the other day, I was talking to my dad and he said that we needed to be better about getting her to eat better foods. He said to bribe her with something good to eat. Now, I have read that this is bad, but I decided that he is right. She is 20 months old and at this rate will be eating baby food in preschool. So last week, we started. We told her she couldnt get up from her high chair until she had at least one bite of what we were eating for dinner. She was doing so well! You may have read about the meat loaf. That was very exciting. She also had some chicken and stuffing on Sunday and was doing very well. It was still only a bite, but she was trying it and not puking. So, we tried again last night. I found the smallest blueberry I could find and cut it into quarters. We are talking the smallest bits of blueberry you have ever seen in your life. We told her she couldnt get up until she had one bite. Well, she sat there for about 20 minutes and didnt even touch it. We tried singing, we tried bribing with oreos and peanut butter eggs and every other good thing we could think of. But nothing. Then she started to cry, but this was not a battle I was going to lose. So she sat sobbing in her high chair for another 25 minutes while I did the dishes. I kept telling her she could get up as soon as she ate just one small bit of blueberry. I even tried putting her in front of the tv to watch Micky Mouse Clubhouse to maybe distract her. But she just watched and cried and ate no blueberries. Finally, I decided to sneak one in while her mouth was open. Big mistake. I guess maybe because she was still crying and so upset she immediately spit it out and still puked! Just the thought of having it in her mouth made her throw up. So then I gave up on the blueberry. By this time it was her bed time but she hadnt had any dinner yet. So I tried to give her her noodles, but she wasnt having any of that either. So finally, I broke down and gave her some baby food. I may be a mean momma, but I'm not heartless. I wasnt going to make her go to bed hungry. She immediately opened her mouth and ate all of her baby food saying "yummy" after every bite. She was so worn out from 45 minutes of sobbing about the stupid blueberry, she went down extra easy for bed. The next day she woke up with a fever and was sick, so now I am thinking maybe that was the problem. Maybe one day she will eat real food, but I'm not holding my breath.

Jenna's sad puffy face after the blueberry incident

Mr. Fox

Most people do not like aging. Well, that’s not entirely true. Most people wish that they were older until they reach a certain age, usually somewhere in the low to mid 20’s, and then spend the rest of their mortal existence looking back longingly on the days when they were fit, strong, full of energy and life, and with a world of hope and promise laid out in front of them. Well, Alixa just keeps distancing herself from that point in time. On Groundhog Day she began her 27th year. For her birthday dinner Courtney Bleyl offered to babysit both Jenna and Kenna so that all four parents could have a nice meal at the Outback, one of Alixa’s favorite places. That night her mom arrived. She had decided to visit to celebrate Lixi’s birthday and attend the baby shower that the nice people in the ward were throwing for her. The weekend was filled with lots of eating out and getting presents, and little Bo now has more clothes than he’ll be able to wear for the first few months of his life.

Jenna made this arrangement of her animals. You can tell that Alixa took the photo because the camera strap is in the frame. Ansel Adams she is not.

Jenna also seems to be aging at an unbelievable pace. She has started walking up and down the stairs “big girl” style, which means not on her hands and knees. And she gets very upset if you try to carry her up or down, going so far as to insist that you take her back so that she can do it herself. She has also progressed significantly in her talking, and now strings sets of words together. She is getting better at speaking clearly, and is quite patient when her parents don’t understand what she is saying and she has to try and explain it to them. She very much enjoys practicing, and will repeat things that people say, especially in songs. Lix takes her and Kenna to a singing group every Tuesday and they are both learning the words to lots of songs.

As you watch this video, keep in mind that we are still working on her counting ability and request that you be patient with us.

There was also a small milestone in Jenna’s eating today. Lix made some meatloaf for dinner and Jenna was told that she could not leave her highchair until she had a bite of it. It took about 20 minutes, but finally she wanted to get down so bad that she decided to try it. She seemed to like it, but not enough to take another bite. Alixa could not have been happier.

We also had our first experience of “trying to teach your kid a word and it comes out as profanity” today. Jenna has a puzzle with a number of barn animals on it, and outside of the hen house there is a fox. X is a hard sound to make, because you have to combine the K and the S sounds into one. So I guess Jenna just decided that once she makes the K sound she is done, saying fok instead of foks. I am sad to say that as soon as Jarom realized what was happening he began laughing hysterically, which only encouraged Jenna to repeat the word over and over. For the moment, fox seems to be one of her favorite words and we have irrefutable evidence that Jarom is a bad person.

Utah Vacation, Part Trois

There is a creepy new show on TLC called “My Strange Addiction” that chronicles the bizarro lifestyle choices of people who eat couch cushions or comet, sleep with their hair dryer, or go tanning as often as thrice daily. Alixa has her own obsession, although hers is not especially unique, as it is shared by many people, notably including her brother-in-law Nate. She constantly craves Café Rio pork salads. So much so that even though we were in Utah for two full weeks at the end of December, she forced her family to pack up and head out again only three weeks later so that she could get her fix. Her addiction has also caused her to react in a hostile manner towards those people who are “crazy” enough not to feel the same way she does. She often speaks of wanting to punch people in the face for not fully appreciating the goodness of the Café. She may be clinically insane, but she makes great lunches for Jarom to take to work every day, so he accepts the bad with the good.

Lixi trying to take a nap

While they were out in Zion collecting stamps towards their next free burrito, they decided to attend the 80th birthday party for one Paul B Winn on the top floor of the Joseph Smith building at Temple Square. There was quite a collection of relatives and friends, many of whom Jarom had not seen in years and Alixa had not seen in ever. It was a touching tribute to a great guy who has lived a pretty remarkable life and seems to have a few decades left in him. All of the Winn children made the trip, so the rest of the weekend was spent doing a variety of fun things with the family. On Saturday there was a bridal shower for Kristi, attended by a whole lot of women. Jarom and Jenna did the smart thing and took a nap that lasted nearly the entire time. Then they drove down to Lehi to see Zak and Sam and their little munchkin, Eva. After a meal at Café Rio it was off through the Provo Canyon up to Heber where they had a horse-drawn sleigh ride planned. When told that she was going to meet some horses, Jenna was nearly out or her mind with excitement. However, once she saw that they were a pair of 2,000-pound draft horses and were nothing like the stuffed animals she loves so much, she decided that she didn’t really want to be close to them. Her mean mother forced her to get within a few feet, which terrified her and brought out some serious tears. The ride was far more relaxing, despite the chilly weather. Jenna enjoyed looking up through the clear mountain air and pointing out the many stars that she saw.



Throughout these past few trips the Winns have noticed an aggressive independent streak that Jenna is developing. It is fun to watch her learn to do things by herself, but sometimes it gets a little tiresome because she becomes irate if you help her in any way, shape or form. In fact, if she is in her independent mood and you help her, she will undo whatever help you provided so that she can start from scratch all on her own. So if you put her up on a couch that she was climbing by herself, she will jump back down to the ground and began the ascent again. She will also scream at you, usually just “no, no, no!” at the top of her lungs. So Jarom and Lix have learned to just let her take her time and do her thing, or to distract her if they need something done right away, like buckling up her car seat or putting on her shoes when it is time to leave. But it is definitely cool to watch her personality grow and to see her be able to do so many things that she couldn’t before. She is always proud of herself when she accomplishes her task, and she has learned to say “ta-da!” when she finishes.

A fine example of her newfound independence

On Monday they headed back down to Provo to take some pictures of Eva and Jenna at the request of their mutual grandmother PJ. Lixi’s aunt Christy was kind enough to offer up her services as a photographer. Her original idea was to go up the canyon a little ways and get some shots of the kiddos with the snow and the river as a backdrop. Sounds beautiful, right? Except that the two subjects were dressed in summer dresses, one isn’t old enough to sit up by herself and the other is afraid of playing in the snow. So after about five numbing minutes we headed back down the canyon to take some pictures in and around Christy’s house. I don’t have the photos yet, but I’ve heard that there should be some pretty cute ones. After the pictures Jenna left with PJ, and Jarom and Alixa headed to Rodizio’s, where they were meeting a large contingency of the Winn family for a wonderful evening of Brazilian grilled meat. Due to some traffic congestion most of the party was delayed, leaving Jarom and Lix by themselves at the table for about 20 minutes. Classier people would have waited until everyone got there before they hit up the salad bar and started having chunks of cow delivered to the table, but little Bo gotsta eat, and Jarom didn’t want Lix to feel bad for eating solo. So the table was already warmed up when everyone finally got there. But nobody cared and everyone enjoyed themselves.

They both fit, so their parents could carry them onto the plane

Tuesday began with a trip to Mimi’s for a farewell breakfast, and then it was off through the snowstorm to the airport for the first flight of their three leg journey to Denver, Minneapolis, and then on to Richmond. Fortunately there were lots of empty seats so everyone could stretch out a little, which is always a nice treat. So now everyone is back in Virginia, where there are no Café Rios to be found. Hopefully her withdrawal will not be too severe, because who knows when we’ll be able to visit the Rockies again.

Basketball Diaries

Fourteen months ago Jarom was graduating from the University of Tennessee and amid a particularly fruitless job search when on a trip to Delaware for Thanksgiving his wife spoke to his brother and found out about a job opportunity in Richmond. Nate agreed to assist in the hiring process, speaking with his boss and essentially helping him to get through the preliminary stages, with only one condition: if Jarom got the job, he had to live within the same ward boundaries so that they could play basketball together.

Well Jarom got that job, and he has been playing basketball with Nate roughly every week since his arrival. Usually this means pickup ball, but during the winter months it also means playing for the church team. Last year Nate and Jarom were central characters in a feisty game against the nearby Innsbrook ward. Multiple technical fouls were called and according to some witnesses it nearly came to blows. Unfortunately, many of the people on the Innsbrook team were among the group that played pickup basketball each Wednesday. Soon after that game they decided to switch the night that they played to Tuesday, and asked the Winns to not make the switch with them. Some feelings were hurt, but both Nate and Jarom have managed to carry on with their lives.

Flash forward to January 28, 2011, when Jarom and Nate get to play the Innsbrook ward once again. For the purposes of this story I will tell you that while there are many people on the Innsbrook team that are whiny and annoying and do not like the Winn brethren, there is one in particular who seems to lead the way. I don’t know his name, so we will simply call him #12. Now it seems that #12 had not forgotten the events of last year, because as soon as Jarom entered the game and touched the ball he began to complain in his best little brother voice about how Jarom was constantly carrying the ball. When he was not in the game he would whine from the bench, and when he was in the game he would whine on the court. He whined to the refs, but to his great consternation they seemed unwilling to call the obvious violation. He whined to Jarom, who thanked him for his concern and referred him back to the refs. And yet not once was the violation called.

Actual photo of #12

This does not mean that his complaining did not yield any results. Because when Jarom knows that there is something that really annoys someone, he is an expert at snidely bringing it up over and over, until the person’s head explodes or they grow up and get over it. It gives him great joy to get inside another player's head. Nate also took notice of the griping and decided to react in his own way.

It is important to understand a little about Nate and basketball. No one would call Nate a great basketball player, but Jarom very much enjoys playing with him because he does a few things very well, he knows what those things are, and he doesn’t try to do anything outside of his skill set. He plays good interior defense, he gets rebounds, both offensive and defensive, and he sets picks. And setting picks is his favorite thing to do when opposing teams bother him, because it is the best way for him to capitalize on the mass advantage he enjoys over other people. So as soon as #12 began running his mouth, both Jarom and Nate knew what needed to happen. Jarom brought the ball down the court, guarded tightly by #12. Nate came just outside of the 3-point arc and set his feet. Jarom started to go right, then changed directions and drove hard towards the left. #12 was working feverishly to stay with Jarom and never even looked up. He practically bounced off of Nate and crumpled to the ground as Jarom calmly sank the now wide open 15-footer, and it was impossible for either Winn brother to keep from smiling as they ran back on defense and watched #12 slowly pick himself up and immediately seek out a ref to let him know that he had just been hit by an illegal moving screen. It made me a little sad that Bruce could not have been there to see his boys in action. In my mind’s eye I envision him jumping out of his chair on the sideline, sticking his tongue out and squinting while flicking his wrists frantically. He would have been so proud.

The whining continued throughout the game, which was an edge-of-the-seat, overtime victory for the Winn’s team, followed by a less than cordial hand shake between Jarom and #12 and a passive aggressive apology for all of the carrying violations he had committed. Ah, the joys of being mentally superior to an opponent. Both Nate and Jarom spent the next day or so on cloud nine, because there is no feeling that is better than beating a whiny, complainy little girl who really deserves it. I can’t wait till next year.

Back to the lab again

Having returned from the Far West, Jarom and Alixa began the new year by laying out some resolutions and getting to work on them. During a mean-spirited game that was played in Grandma and Grandpa’s basement after a family home evening Alixa was asked to make a resolution for her husband. She chose “Go to the gym three times a week.” It hurt Jarom a little bit, but only because his physique has plummeted from mediocre to embarrassing over the past few years. The truth is painful. So he has been working out more, and Lix has been great about encouraging him. Unfortunately she is still baking cookies and sweet breads and making muddy buddies about every third day, so it seems to be a zero-sum game. I suppose there are worse things than being married to a great chef who loves to make yummy treats.

Another of the resolutions is to get the house ready for the arrival of Blake Owen (I reserve the right to make any adjustments to this name as needed.) This mainly consists of doing some organizing, especially in my room, which has hitherto been a storage repository but will soon become an actual room with an inhabitant that actually needs space to operate. So there has been some putting of stuff in boxes and sending it up to the attic, and the semi-regular analysis of old clothes to decide what things can be sent to the goodwill. The decision was also made to organize the upstairs linen closet and to provide the family room with some cubbies for the kidlet’s toys. Alixa received the inspiration from Wes Carter and bought the equipment at Target. I will admit that it has done wonders as far as keeping the floor free of toys and Jarom doesn’t trip nearly as often when walking through the house. It’s only mid January, so I’d be cautiously optimistic about the continuation of these goals, but so far, so good.



The new year has also brought with it a new church schedule, which has been great. The ward is now meeting at 9 am, which means that the Winns are less likely to show up early, but more likely to not be grumpy because church is interrupting their naps. Another big change is that Jarom and Alixa now have less of an excuse for not paying attention in Sunday school because Jenna hit the 18-month mark and now gets to attend nursery. It was little surprise that on the first day they went to drop her off she bolted away from Lix and excitedly began playing with the kitchen set, forgetting that she even had a mother. They have puzzles and books and a slide and other kids in there to play with, so Jenna is pretty much in her own personal nirvana. And the nice women that are there to take care of her love that she will sit on their lap for an entire book reading and that she pretty much never cries or complains. Jarom and Alixa are very nervous that the universe somehow messed up and gave this kid all of the good qualities of an entire family and now each subsequent child will be an unmanageable devil.



Basketball season has also started for the church leagues, and Alixa and Nate have been called as the young women’s and young men’s basketball coaches, respectively. This means that Jarom has unofficially been called as the assistant coach to the young women’s and young men’s basketball teams. He has practice on Thursdays from 6-7 (boys) and 8-9 (girls), games on Friday evenings (old men) and two on Saturdays (boys and girls). Throw in the once a week pickup game that he regularly plays in and that is a lot of basketball. But he very much enjoys it, and it is a lot of fun for him to help Lix and Nate coach. So far the teams have an aggregate record of 4-1. Jenna also enjoys hoops, and has become a very vocal cheerleader. Alixa taught her how to yell “Go Daddy” and “Go Natie” while watching their latest game, and she knows that she should never clap for the opposing team.



The only negative to speak of recently is a little bit of sickness that seems to have invaded the Winn home. Jarom has been battling a sore throat that isn’t too bad except for the occasional hacking up of phlegm that makes anyone within earshot want to puke, and Alixa and Jenna have suffered from it as well. The problem with Jenna is that she has a very sensitive gag reflex and sometimes she coughs so hard that she barfs. Jarom taught her how to take deep breaths in order to calm herself down, and she has gotten pretty good at controlling it herself. We aren’t sure if it is still the cough or if she has caught something else, but last night was a terrible mess. Jarom was heading to bed around 12:30 when he heard a cough and some gagging from Jenna’s room. He quickly went in and found her sitting up and crying, having thrown up on her favorite stuffed animal, Pendy Pete. He picked her up to take her to the tub, and on the way she threw up in the hall and again in the bathroom. They washed her up and cleaned up the mess and finally got her back to bed around 1:45. At about 2:30 she threw up again, and it was back to the tub. Jarom stayed home from work to take care of her today, as Lix needed to baby-sit Kenna and it probably isn’t a good idea for them to hang out all day together. She seems to be doing better, which is great. Hopefully it was just a quick bug and it is all out of her system now.



On a lighter note, everyone is very excited about Grandpa Winn’s 80th birthday party this weekend, where there will be lots and lots of cousins and family. Cross your fingers that everyone will be back to full strength by then so that they can have a great time.