Verbosity

Sigh. My little baby is growing up. We are out of daycare this week and I am so loving spending all the time with him. The last day I picked him up from school, he saw me and ran to the picture on the wall and said, "Da?" with his hands held open and in question. He loves to run down the hall to go pick up Ethan from his room too.



We even have some teeth now...finally. Still only the two on bottom and the two half in on top (with a really cute gap) but his molars have broken through. How do I know this? So glad you asked. The teeth marks in my pointer finger for starters. Also, we had our 18 month pediatrician appt where he saw they were just beneath the gum lines. Of course the doc isn't sure what happened to his other front teeth but was very thrilled with all of his physical milestones. He can run and kick a ball, even tried to jump and plays a mean hide and seek. We were still 95% for weight and head size and our height was holding at 75%. Wearing 2T for the last few months. It amazes me how much he just looks like a toddler now.

Jason now has this totally expansive vocabulary...well not quite but we are getting there. We are saying some really cute things and our expressions are priceless but we are still limited to a few major groups. He shrugs his shoulders and lifts his hands palms up when he wants to know why or doesn't know something. He also waves bye and blows kisses, and raises his hands when you ask who loves Da Da or who is stinky. Always important.

Attitudes:
No
Stop (complete with hand gesture)
Mine (totally required given who his older brother is)
Up

Items of interest:
Car (his non food addiction)
Ball (noticed on every Pamper)
Duck
Bath (see above item)

Food imperatives:
Cracker (universal symbol for anything to eat)
More (in both sign and spoken languages due to the sheer importance of this one)

Pleasantries
Da Da (said DA DA really loudly)
Hello (pronounced Hull-o)
Bye Bye
Uh oh
Please (only when prompted and bribed by withholding item he wants)

And of course no post is complete without some pictures of him playing in the living room and with Daddy (who spun him around and made him dizzy). Love the jammies!

Holiday get together

We had some folks over from work today who have small children all in the age range from 1 - 4 years old. We had some munchies, played outside on the playground and visited the horses, did crafts, and had a small gift exchange. It was the kind of party where even the hosts could relax with some wine and some good company. To be honest, I didn't hear from my kids for most of the day. They had a wonderful time and loved playing with their friends and showing everyone around. The part that amazed me was that nobody cried, got hurt, fought over anything, made a mess etc. Talk about some diligent, amazing friends and parents. We all really enjoyed the day and will even do it again.

Here are some pics from the event:

Doing crafts...we made bracelets that jingle and decorated trees and ornaments (thanks to Shannon!!).



Stephanie and Adelaide with our tree in the background.



Getting the kids to all sit for present exchange....ha!



Getting closer!



Jason, always the patient one.




Ramin and Nicholas finishing up their craft:



Playing outside with our friends:



Getting some snacks with Nicole and Tracey (who looks beautiful pregnant!)



Daimar and Sophia with Trina:

The Santa Train

Near our home there is a great little railroad and museum that does a lot of great things for the local community and kids. It runs the first weekend of the month and we can hear the whistle from our house. The kids love it and Ethan calls it Choo Choo Willy thanks to Uncle Mikey.

One of those activities is a decorated train at Christmas where Santa comes through the cars and hands out candy canes and takes pics while we travel along an old track through the woods. Jeff has taken Ethan every year and this was the first year Jason and I could go too. Last year Jason was too little.

Now, most of the train is an open air train and it was 40 degrees today so it was cold but we had a blast...no pun intended. Of course, Jason refuses to wear hats or gloves but we bundled them up the best we could and set out looking like the Michelin men. What was extra nice was that Jason actually liked Santa this time. He cried and didn't want to go near the mall Santa last week but this one handed out food, so all was right in Claus land for him.

After the train, we took the boys out to lunch and then we were off to go shopping and prepare for our party tomorrow. All in all, a really great day with my boys.