Is it just me, or was making a snowman much easier 20 years ago?

I've been promising Anders for the past two days that I will take him outside and build a snowman. He has this intense love for snowman (thanks to good ol' Once There Was a Snowman). Every time we drive by a house with a real snowman or even one of those blow-up snowmen in their yard, he gets very excited. I knew he would think it was so cool to have a snowman of his own. Just drawing them on his easel and making them out of play dough isn't enough anymore. Yesterday, I waited and waited for the snow to quit and it was not looking good. I'd considered postponing it for one more day, but there's no chance of a 2 year-old allowing that to happen. I finally decided to brave the snow in my face and make our first attempt. I had forgotten that building a snowman required getting on your knees. I of course, do not have snow pants...I doubt they even make them in maternity size! Boy, was a sight for sore eyes! I was bending over every which way to try to figure out how I could manage without getting my knees wet. I'm sure glad we decided to build it in the backyard and not the front! We finally finished the snowman and Anders could not have been more proud. He told everyone he saw that we built a snowman (including everyone at the grocery store) and that Mommy rolled and rolled and rolled. Hmmm, it sure felt like it. Man, my muscles are still sore. I swear, it wasn't that hard 20 years ago!

Anders loves to pick up the snow and throw it at people because of his obsession of Elf. However, he does not like to fall or sit in the snow. When that happens, it reminds me a lot of the Christmas Story. He just yells, "uh oh, mommy, help me!" He stays in place until I run to his rescue.

This is the proud new snowman owner. He was giving the snowman a high-five and having a cute little conversation with it. I guess it was a good thing that I ran out of energy and only could make it 3 feet high. Now, it's Anders-sized.