Security Blanket

Some kids have a blanket or stuffed animal. Our little boy has an ambulance. He doesn't take it everywhere, and I don't let him eat or sleep with it, but he's quite attached and keeps it with him a lot of the time. And we often have to say 'bye bye' at mealtime and naptime. I think it qualifies.

Sandy Point

We went to Sandy Point on Saturday.  Hot Cup hasn't had much opportunity to fly his kites this summer so we mainly went so he could do that.  He's gotten really good and it's fun to watch him fly and see the tricks he does with them. He looks good <3

We hadn't been there long when our poor guy skinned his knee.  He wanted to keep running around and didn't appreciate that I wanted to wash and bandage it.  He had fun though and even played in the sand a little.  He got upset when I took his shoes and socks off and didn't settle down until I agreed to put them back on.  He associates shoes with going outside so Hot Cup suggested that maybe he thought it meant we'd leave.  Could be.

Holden Beach 2012!

About a month ago we got back from our 2012 week at the beach. We love it there! The week goes by so fast and it's always sad to have to leave.



Our toddler had fun and did great although I believe it wore him out a bit. Monday we played in the sand and enjoyed being where the ocean waves would come up and get us wet. I have exactly zero pictures from that day. I actually don't have many pictures of him playing the whole week because I wanted to play with him instead. (But don't worry, you'll soon see I have plenty of pictures to share anyway, haha.  Half of them are courtesy of my sister Clar, thanks babe!) Another thing he enjoyed was sitting in his beach chair under the canopy with a bucket of water and his sand/water toys. And one day Hot Cup inflated his little pool and filled it with ocean water and he had fun in there, especially when his dad and aunts would be silly with him. Thursday we didn't go outside much at all cause I thought he needed a little break. And he seemed to appreciate it.

Friday morning we went out onto the pier. (Look close!  Our home is two to the left of the 2 story red one. And to the right of the 1 story pink one. We get a different house every year and we're not usually this close to the pier.)


Playing outside.


With a shark.


Our little family.


Resting on mommy :)


Being cute for my sister.


With his uncles.


And of course Grandma!


Hot Cup kiting.


Hot Cup & I on the kayak.


Newlyweds of 8 months.


Newlyweds of less than a month.


Two cute ladies making a delicious dinner.


Yay for family time at the beach!


PS. On the way home we stopped at taco bell and Clar took this picture of our baby tackling a crunchwrap.

Petting Farm

Saturday we went to the local Petting Farm. Our little guy loves animals and we hoped he'd enjoy it.


He chased the chickens a bit but they weren't all that welcoming. The goats were much more accepting and he enjoyed petting them.



There were more animals, including a donkey that he loved.


And sheep which he didn't seem to even notice.


At that point he mostly just wanted to run around!


He would have played with these toys forever.


But there was more to do! There's a storybook park to explore.
He loved sliding down Mother Goose.
And showing us bear's nose and eyes.


He was pretty excited about this train.


But what's that? The "hay"ride? Come on daddy! We don't want to lose them!


And lastly, we took on the maze.


It was a lot of fun! I've been thinking about it for a while but I'm glad we didn't go sooner because I think he enjoyed it much more than he would have before he was comfortable running around outside.

Sleepy

I may have underestimated how early lunch needs to to be when he only has one nap.

This Week

Earlier this week ... we were at a different park than usual and the playground was on a hill. At the bottom of the hill next to a pavilion was a very boldly colored catering van. After running around the playground equipment for a while, my little guy caught sight of the catering van and ran towards it and onto the lawn. He hadn't really agreed to walk on grass before. He kept running and would have liked to run all the way down the hill. I tried to get him to hold my hand so he could go down the hill, but he's never really wanted to hold my hand and walk so I wasn't surprised he refused. Eventually we had to go to the other side of the playground so he couldn't see the van. I mentioned before that at 17 months he wasn't comfortable on some outdoor surfaces yet. I don't think that's the case anymore.

More than coloring with crayons, my little guy likes to play with crayons. He likes me to set out the pack of crayons so he can play with them and their case. Earlier this week ... as I was putting them away there were a few missing. They were easily found. They were scattered around the room and they were all dark purple. Is this his favorite color? He has a bunch of little balls that are all different colors and seems to like the darker colored ones, but I don't think I've suspected a specific favorite before.

Yesterday ... we were out front and he was running around as usual. (He loves to run around outside!) There was a grasshopper on the sidewalk so I pointed it out to him and he went to grab it. He had fun chasing it around for a little while and I'm sure that at least once he felt it before it jumped away. Super cute :)

17 Months

Coloring with crayons! (8/29)

He loves to play and for us to play with him.

I've been trying to do more activities with him, like the whipped cream I posted about before. Any ideas are most welcome.

Cornering the cat at Grandma & Grandpa's (8/11)

He loves books and he's frequently bringing me books to read to him.

He loves to point!

He loves to run around and is most comfortable with this in the house. He'll run around on the deck and sidewalk too but there are a lot of outdoor surfaces that he's still getting used to.

I love to see him exploring outside. And inside.

Stacking! (8/10)

His favorite video is still Baby Einstein's My First Signs and he always gets very excited when I turn it on. He sees it maybe once a week but he'll do a little sign language now. If I ask him if he's 'all done' and if he is he'll do that sign. He signs 'milk' although I think it only usually means he wants milk.  It also means "I want that."  And I'm pretty sure he's signed 'mommy' a couple times :)

He talks all the time and I wonder what he's saying. His favorite thing to say in a loud strong voice sounds exactly like "DIE!!"

Watching TV in his new chair (he never stays in it very long now that he knows how to get out) (8/13)

He's only nursing once a day (in the morning) and I think he'd be okay if we stopped so we probably will soon.

His canine teeth are coming in.

He's growing up!