Snowball Fight!

Well it wasn't actually a snowball fight. Daddy threw the snowballs, LR just received. Oh, and LR ate any snowballs he found. We got close to 2 inches of snow today (which is nothing compared to the many feet our family in Denver got this week) and made the most of it by taking LR out onto the deck in his snowsuit. It was a great test run of the suit and it worked really well. Going to have to get some boots, but I'm waiting until there is promise of more serious snowfalls. We took a bunch of pictures of LR wandering around the deck, eating the snow, getting pelted by Daddy, and then eating more snow. Even after coming in the house I let him keep one mitten on so that he could continue to eat snowballs. He ended up with a red upper lip and a very runny nose, but he didn't seem to mind. He also used the same sign for snow as rain and since I can't remember the real sign, I'm going to let it stand.

We started the day with a belated Xmas with our friends and their son King in their brand new house. We watched LR to see what he could get into, but luckily he didn't find the stairs or the low-hanging blinds until it was almost time to go home. The rest of the day was pretty quiet since Daddy is recovering from a cold. LR tried to divide his time evenly among his new toys. Each one was stood on in turn and since they all held up under the stress I'm assuming that's one of the official tests that toddler toys must go through.

Hair Cut

This is what happens when Costco's low prices on Norelco products collide with the mommy instinct to keep kids neat and tidy.


Short hair! Well at least it's all the same length now...

Take that, Santa!

LR had his 15 month appointment yesterday. He got 3 shots, so wasn't thrilled, but he recovered quickly. He weighs 26 lbs. 3 oz. and he was 31.5 inches long. That puts him in 75^th percentile for weight and 60^th for length.

As we left the pediatrician's office we noticed a women who had her arms full with one toddler and had two slightly older children, a boy and a girl, in tow. She was busy getting the youngest into the car while the older boy was hanging around the back of the minivan. Think of the back of the minivan like a clock and the winshield wiper as the minute hand. The wiper normally rests at 3 o'clock. As we watched, he reached up and grabbed the wiper and pulled it to 6 o'clock. Like spitting in Santa's eye...

We laughed and turned to look at our angel sitting happily in the car seat. "Lucky," we thought, "to have such a good kid." Of course, that's just the thinking that produced Uncle Corbin and me, the spirited second children after easy-going first children.

Merry Xmas!

We had a lovely, small Christmas with Daddy's Dad, Grandad Y. We were expecting our friends and their son, but they all came down with a stomach bug, so we told them, "Merry Christmas, and please don't come over." They completely understood. We're going to celebrate with them next weekend.

LR loved all his nice toys and Daddy and I discovered that we bought a lot more cars for him than we thought we had. His stocking was stuffed with Matchbox and Tonka cars. In the pile of gifts were 2 dump trucks and a train set from Brio. He's in car heaven. Fortunately, Grandad bought him a piano on a mat that rolls up for storage. So far he likes dancing to the demo music and crawling across the mat. Every once in a while he'll poke at the keys. That may be a toy we put away for a few months, but we'll see. We also had to baby proof the giant wooden cart full of wood blocks Grandad gave him. LR can get it really moving since it's on casters and he dinged one of the kitchen cabinets before we got our hands on it. It's going to be a great toy though.

One of the things I picked up at Costco for him was a Baby Einstein plush chair and he loves that. The back of the chair is the body of a large caterpillar. He does somersaults over it, sits on it, rests with his head on the "balls," as he calls them, which are really the body sections of the caterpillar. He loves that he finally has a chair of his own. When I ask him where his chair is, he smiles and goes right to the caterpillar.

LR is now a big fan of the piggy back ride. He's just getting to be big enough and holds on to us (sometimes) while riding on our back. When he got tired of being in the stroller today, I put him on my back and carried him until my arms got tired. Then Daddy put him on his shoulders. He sings with every step like he used to when we bounced him to sleep, "ah... ah... ah... ah!"

The Lake, Take 2

Last night we let LR open Gigi's gift. He really got into ripping the paper off. He loved climbing on the box too, so as soon as he unwrapped it, Daddy shored up the box and gave it back to him for climbing. LR loved the animals and played with them a bunch today. In fact, he signed "fish" for the first time today. We've signed it to him so many times over the past year that I assumed he had decided that he didn't need to sign it back to us.

Today I decided to take the same path on our run. I thought I could just jog by the lake, but as I crested the hill, the lake came into view and LR squealed with excitement. Ok, glutton for punishment maybe, but I thought it would be cruel to skip it. So, we stopped at the shore and I let LR get out and play along to shoreline again. I still had to keep him from stepping into the water, but he did a slightly better job today. I gave him an LR-sized branch to play with hoping that he could stick it into the water and play without actually having to stand in the water the way he likes to when throwing mud and rocks. What helped more was that he was interested in digging with the shovel. He's never played with one before, but seemed to know exactly what to do with it. Scoop mud and throw, right?

A very messy 15 minutes later, I dragged him away from the water. More tears, but I took him through a small section of woods and into an open grassy field. (Learning from previous mistakes, I knew a few laps around the grass would solve the muddy shoes issue.) There was a small slope which he played on for a long time. He was practicing running up and down it. I would say "up, up, up, up, up!" and he would walk up the slope. Then I'd call "down, down, down," and he'd coming running back down. It's the first time I've seen him close to running. Like a nervous skier, when he'd start going too fast, he'd veer off to the side and point his toes uphill to stop the momentum. Sometimes he fell, but he definitely enjoyed it. I got this last picture of him as he wobbled down toward me. The blur in his hand is the magic yellow shovel from the other day.

Side note: It's a lake, not a pond as I wrote in the last post. It's the Lower Mystic Lake. Oh, and I love, love, love the last picture in this post.

Not a Bath

Today I went for a run with LR in the stroller. I wanted to see just how "all terrain" it was. So I ran down to the pond and found some shoreline where LR and I could play. As soon as I took him out of the stroller I realized my mistake. He ran to the water's edge and then tried to walk out onto the pond. He claimed it was a bath and that he could go ahead and get in. I took off his mittens and let him touch the water to see how cold it was. We said and signed cold for a few times. Then he picked up some mud with a rock. I picked up a good sized rock and threw it into the water a few feet away and said "spuh-loosh!" That made him giggle, so he tried it and I made the same sound. His giggles got louder and I'm sure he could have done that all day, but he kept trying to walk into the pond and I kept having to dissuade him. Eventually, I got tired of the game and picked him up to take him back to the stroller. Poor kid started crying and if it hadn't been for the little, yellow, plastic shovel we found on the shore, he probably would have been inconsolable. When I got to the stroller I realized that I didn't want his muddy shoes inside the fleece footmuff. I thought at first I could wipe them off, but I ended up just taking them off and putting them under the stroller. Then I didn't want to put his mittens on over his muddy hands and in retrospect I should have because his hands were very chilly when we got back. About halfway back I checked on him to see if he'd forgiven me, but the stony glare was enough to tell me that he was still furious that I hadn't let him stay there forever. I am, however, thankful to the little kid who left the shovel and I promise that next time we go to the pond, I'll leave a little plastic bucket or shovel for the next child to find.

Y-I-M-O-Y-I-N-E-S

We spell "Yimoyines" together every time we come in the door because we have a wooden sign with the letters of our name painted in bright colors hanging on the inner door to our apartment. It doesn't matter if my arm is about to fall off from the weight of our Little Rugger, he won't let me get upstairs without spelling our name. Daddy ran through it with him tonight when we came in from dinner with our friends. Sometimes it's a really nice, welcoming way to enter the house.

A New Way to Shop

Last Friday LR and I went to a playgroup in the afternoon with 4 other moms and their kids. It was a ton of fun and the host had a slew of toys that we'd never seen or played with before. For me, it was like test driving a bunch of toys before buying. I watched him pull carts, play with doors, try to take apart the kitchen, etc. I left with a much better idea of what to get him for Xmas. At one point the hostess' son climbed into my arms while I was sitting on the floor and stayed there hugging me for twenty minutes. At first I thought he must have mistaken me for his mother, but it turns out he's just a cuddler. I thought, "how nice it would be to have a cuddler." LR's not really a cuddler. Climber, sort of. Monkey, definitely, but not a cuddler.

Speaking of being a climber, today I came in from Costco, set him down on the safe side of the gate along with a 12 roll package of paper towels. While taking off my coat, LR climbed onto the paper towel package and smiled at me over the top of the gate. The gate was only up to his waist, if that. *sigh* Still hoping he hasn't really put 2 and 2 together on the whole "how to create a stepstool" thing.

He's latest fun noise to make sounds like gasping for breath followed by wheezing. Since my mother and brother had/have asthma, I obviously find it hoo-larious. My blood pressure went through the roof no less than 3 times today. I'm curious if he's doing it now just to see my eyes bug out of my head. Oh, and he took a digger while trying to climb into the many boxes around our house and now has a big bruise in the center of his forehead. That's okay though, it compliments the yellowish one above his eyebrow.

Grandparents Weekend

We had a great visit this weekend from Grandad K and Grandma Nese. They flew in Friday night and spent Saturday and most of Sunday horsing around with LR. He was more than happy to show them his new tricks and they brought him the infamous TMX Elmo for Xmas. He was wary, but obviously liked Elmo's laughing. He tries to press the foot or the belly to instigate a wiggly routine, but he often steps back when the dance begins. Grandad said it might be a toy to put away for a few months and we might do that.

Sunday LR got into the football day groove with Daddy's Patriots shirt. Look at that game face! Unfortunately, the Pats didn't fare so well against the Dolphins, but it didn't keep LR from being enthusiastic. While taping the game, we drove the grandparents out to their plane. I wish I had had the camera. From the time we drove onto the tarmac to unload the luggage, LR was signing and making the sound for plane. I don't know that I'd ever seen him use the sign so clearly. We all took turns chasing him away from the propeller of both the grandparents' plane and the plane parked next to them. He enjoyed running under the wings and forcing us to duck walk after him. He can move now too, so duck walking quickly was more of a task than it's been before.

Blankey

Picture above is of LR at Daddy's office holiday party. He ran into a cube and started answering phones - a natural businessman. "If you could get me those TPS reports, that would be great."

All of my siblings and I had security blankets. My older brother and I had a single security blanket which we loving called "blankey." I believe my brother still has his, but I lost mine in sixth grade during a sleep over. I still have the faded matching pillow on my nightstand. My mother thought she was staying a step ahead with my younger brother by making two identical red bordered blankets for him, one for trips and the other for bed. Her new system broke down when he ended up wanting both all the time. My step-mother tried a different strategy and bought sixteen similar but not identical small blankets so that my little sister would never be without. She was right, my sister wasn't attached to a single blanket, but certainly wanted more than one "wuggie" at a time. She often wanted 4 or so in the crib and more than one in the car.

When LR came along I didn't know whether or not he'd want a pacifier (he didn't), a snugly toy (no one in particular), or a blanket. He actually took to his blanket because of my fears, not his. I started putting the blanket crocheted by Gigi in the crib for warmth before he was coordinated enough to free himself should he get tangled. I chose the crocheted blanket because it had holes in it for him to breath through. I guess it worked because twice I went to him in the middle of the night with the thing wound tightly around his head. It scared me, but not enough to take it out of the crib. (Just enough to buy a video monitor!)

The blanket spends most of the day in the crib, but on occasion he brings it out with him after a nap. Especially if he's feeling like he didn't get closure on that nap. So he drags it around the house and lays on the floor with it. To put him to bed, I often start with just the bottle. Halfway through he'll push it away. I ask him if he wants his blanket and he smiles. I put him into his crib, he grabs the blanket, stands back up, and I pick him up again. We go back to the glider and he takes the rest of the bottle, all the time working his arms like a taffy pull, manipulating the blanket over and under, then inside out and over the head. He loves sticking his fingers through the holes, stretching the blanket, and despite my fears that it wouldn't hold up under the abuse, it's yet to unravel a single thread.

As a backup, I've added another blanket, crocheted in similar colors by my mother's Australian cousin. He's accepted it as an alternate when his main one is in the wash, although when presented with both he always chooses Gigi's first. He hasn't insisted on both yet. On top of that, Gigi is making a smaller version of his current blanket for travel. I think we've got our bases covered, but like my younger siblings, I have no doubt that he'll outsmart us at some point.

Disney (cont.)

To pick up where we left off, on Sat night we went out to dinner with Grandparents H, Grandad Y, and Uncle Corbin. LR showed his distaste for the restaurant by refusing the food and scrambling to get out of his highchair. We tried to distract him, but he was having none of it. Daddy and I took turns taking him outside to run around while everyone finished their meals. I know Grandparents H were surprised since he'd been awesome at meals up to that point... with the exception of barfing right after his first bowl of mac n' cheese at Disney.

Sunday we all got up nice and early and headed over to the car rental. Daddy, LR, and I drove across Florida to Tampa to see Gigi and her family. LR recognized Gigi right away and gave her a great big smile and a hug. It was too short a visit, but we had a great time on the playground near her house and running around with all the toys Gigi borrowed from Daddy's cousins. LR stayed completely entertained and couldn't get enough of her dogs. He stood next to Gigi's two terriers yelling "doggie!" for approximately the first 10 minutes we were there. Gigi put the dogs out on the deck for their safety for the rest of the visit. At one point, LR got ahold of Boomer's tail and Boomer turned and snapped at him. We were a little more careful after that. Boomer hasn't been feeling well, so it was probably better that we not let LR abuse him while we were there.

On Monday we visited Gigi's family, but unfortunately all the fresh food we gave LR at Gigi's house caused a nasty case of diaper rash and he cried most of the time we were visiting. Luckily, LR got to meet his great grandparents before he got upset. Once we discovered the problem, we slathered LR with ointment, but he was still unhappy for the next half hour or so. We took him home and popped him in the bath and he was back to his old self. It was a rough day though. Later that night we headed back to Orlando and dropped off the car. LR was pretty cranky that night and none of us slept well since we had to be up at 5am to catch our flight home. The shuttle that took us to the airport was packed with sleepy kids, teens, and parents, all with hoodies pulled up over their heads while they tried to sleep during the pre-dawn drive. LR was alert and happy to yell out "cah, cah!" for each and every car we passed and "ba, ba!" for the buses on the drive. I'm sure of seat neighbors were none too pleased, but it was tough to contain his enthusiasm for vehicles. He slept the whole flight home and we spent the rest of the day recovering.

To clarify an earlier post about LR's kicking skills, I'm serious, he likes to dribble the ball when we go to the park. Grandma H said she thought I meant he ran into the ball and inadvertently sent the ball forward from his feet, knees, or belly. She was surprised during our Disney adventure to see him purposely kick a ball across the room. He also says "kick" when he kicks a ball. It's his only verb. I took him out in 30 degree temperature yesterday to kick the ball around the fields opposite our house and he had a great time. He didn't try to get his hat or mittens off either and it was our first try with the hat. I realized two things though: 1. mittens will need to be washed after each outing and 2. always carry tissues! I should have learned #2 from my mom.

Pictures from our adventures will be posted soon. I probably didn't convey what an awesome time we had in my attempt to just get down the events from the trip. LR was overwhelmed some of the time with all the new stuff, but otherwise it was a great vacation.

Side note: Yesterday I came home to LR licking the gate at the top of the stairs. Then he licked everything he could find the rest of the day. I guess it's better than the biting he's been doing for the past few weeks.

Disney, Cars, and Ice Cream

So on the Tues before Thanksgiving, Daddy, LR and I boarded a plane for Orlando. Unlike our flight to Denver 2 months ago, we packed plenty of new books and toys to keep LR occupied. He slept for the last bit of the flight, but probably enjoyed the matchbox cars Daddy had picked out for him most of all. They managed to lose the red car inside the seat in front of them. I guess there was a hole in the seat pocket. Oh well.

LR warmed up to Grandma and Grandad H right away especially when they pulled out a toy train and plane for him when we got to the room! So many hours of fun! Who needs Disney? (He also very much enjoyed turning on and off the TV while we were trying to watch something. The TV always went back to the Disney tour channel, so it drove us a little nutty) We settled in a spent out first night in the Saratoga Springs resort. Wed we all went to the Animal Kingdom and LR picked up a couple of new signs for animals on the safari ride. He saw and signed "elephant" which he accompanied with an adorable elephant sound. I admit that I don't make a particularly convincing elephant sound, but when I heard him make the same sound, I knew what he meant. It's true what they say... I know exactly what LR is saying and signing, but to someone else, I'm sure it sounds like he just says "ca" and "ba" all day. He signed "zebra" and "tiger" when he saw them and even brushed his head for "lion." I was pretty surprised by the number of words/signs he connected to animals that day. We wandered into the kiddie ride area called "Dinoland," but LR really didn't like the looks of the Dumbo-like triceratops ride. He held on tight and tried to get us to go as far away as possible from the mysterious flying, blue monsters. I guess it would be pretty scary to a toddler.

On Thur, we hit the Magic Kingdom and first ran to Pirates of the Caribbean. We got on the ride quickly. LR was a little overwhelmed during the scary, dark first bit, but as soon as we got to the boats and the town, he was fine. Next we went over to fantasy land where we planned on spending most of the day. LR enjoyed the teacups and then we rode Peter Pan. We finished up with Buzz Lightyear which LR definitely liked since he got to press buttons on the car console. The grandparents sent us into a quick movie on our own while they wandered around with LR which was very nice of them. He napped for a short period in the park, but the strollers no longer recline the way they used to, so he napped a little awkwardly. Not sure why Disney chose to go with these poorly designed strollers, but I'm sure there's a reason.

Mid afternoon on Thur, we decided to take a break and have some ice cream. LR made his most impressive leap when he adapted his sign for "ice" to make a new sign for "ice cream." For "ice" he would point to his mouth and tap his teeth which is not actually the sign for ice, but I know what he means, so I don't have any interest in correcting him. The sign for "ice cream" is a pretty simple mimic of licking an ice cream cone. LR heard the similarity in the word and started licking his pointer finger which he usually used to tap his teeth with. At the same time he makes the "eh, eh" sound as if licking something. It's very cute and very clear what he's talking about. Since learning the sign he's asked for ice cream every day since. I'm such a pushover that he often gets it...

Friday, the grandparents gave us our early Xmas gift and sent us into Epcot on our own for a Segway tour of the Lands. It was awesome. We trained for a half hour and then we entered the Lands before they opened to the public. Segways are really amazing and easy to use. We loved every minute of it. LR apparently had a nice day with the grandparents and had no complaints when we got home. We we arrived, we all decided to test out the resort pool and thanks to a very friendly toddler entry point into the pool, LR loved it. The water was bathtub warm and he took to it quickly. Unfortunately, the air temperature was pretty cold and the wind made it downright chilly when we got out of the tepid water. Still, it was a great introduction for LR.

Sat we hit the pool again in the morning and then Daddy met up with Grandad Y and Uncle Corbin for a round of Disney gold. The grandparents, LR and I hit Downtown Disney and LR and I got to take a ride on the small carousel and the kiddie train ride. LR wasn't sure about the carousel, but loved the train. "Train" is still one of his favorite words and signs.

Still more to talk about with the trip, but I'm done for tonight!

I owe, I owe

I know, I owe you all a giant blog post which covers the past 2 weeks. I'm working on it. In the meantime, here's a picture of LR and me on the teacups at Disney World during our Thanksgiving vacation to Florida. This is a picture of the beginning of the ride. By the end he was smiling, I promise, but that picture wasn't as good of me. :)