A Fun Day with Gramma and Papaw

My mom and dad (Gramma and Papaw) came down for a visit yesterday, and Kevin was able to take the day off--we had such a nice visit! We went out to Henry's Ark to see the animals in the morning. It was great to have other hands to let Lewis feed the animals, walk around, etc. more than I can do when I'm by myself with him. He really seemed to understand and enjoy feeding carrots to the animals--he'd hold a piece out for them, and after they ate it, he'd give them (or maybe himself) a little round of applause.

After seeing the animals, we headed to lunch, followed by a nap for Lew and a few yard projects for the rest of us (thanks, guys!). Once Lewis woke up, we went down to the sprayground for a little bit and then to dinner before they took off for home. A busy day, but very fun!

 Feeding a dear deer

 Gramma and Lew, ready to explore!

 Hi, little camel.

 My, what big teeth you have, Mr. Zebra.

As I mentioned, we tackled a few yard projects during naptime--Mom and I got the power sprayer to work after replacing a few worn out washers (we're finally sealing our driveway this weekend!), Dad and Kevin split a huge and heavy piece of tree trunk leftover from the power company taking our trees down (which was quite a chore, but they did it!), and then Dad (aka 'The Chainsaw Man') and Kevin removed a bush from our front garden bed (it was big, spiky, and I want to redo that bed, so this was a good place to start).

 Before

 Going,

Going,

Gone!

It literally took less than two minutes! While Dad made the cuts, Kevin pulled out the cut sections. Then we all snipped it into smaller pieces to fit into our lawn bags for pickup next week--now I have to come up with a plan for the bed! 

A quick splash!

Lew wasn't as interested in the sprayground this time around, so we just stayed about 20 minutes and then headed to dinner on the river. (I forgot the camera in the car, so Mom, I stole a few of your pics.) :)

Lew and Papaw

Lewis, Gramma, and Papaw

Thanks for a great day! Come back soon!

Early Summertime Fun

Though it still feels early to me, I guess summer is here! It is suddenly hot-hot-hot, and I am daydreaming about having a house with a pool. A kiddie pool will have to do for now. :) Kevin made an amazing all-grilled meal this weekend of burgers, corn, and asparagus with strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yum. Lewis got in on the berry fun, too:

 Blackberries are tasty!

 And you're never going to be able to wipe all of this mess off of me! :)

Friday we headed down to the sprayground on the waterfront with my friend Rachel and her son, Abram. Lew spent a lot of time in the water, but also a lot of time wandering over to a playground, a dog, a kid on a scooter, a girl with a ball, a boy with a ball, etc. He seemed to have a good time!

I definitely see us going back here a lot this summer since it is free and the spray area is a safe, squishy surface (vs. a concrete one that we went to on Saturday with Kevin).

 Surveying the many different ways to get soaked!

 Still looking fairly dry here...

 ...and now completely soaked!

At one point I was standing near that area, when all of a sudden a huge gush of water came off of one of those silver poles (there were fish up top with fountains spraying out of their mouths at random intervals). I screamed and ran out as fast as I could, whilst trying to keep my composure. :)

Saturday, as I mentioned above, we went out to a new park that just opened further out on our end of town to see what their sprayground was like. It was nice--had a lot of similar features to the one on the waterfront. I didn't like that it was all concrete (hello, scraped knees), and the kids didn't seem as willing to play with Lewis as the kids were at the waterfront (which I know might be totally different the next time at either place). Still, it was nice (and also free).

Getting sufficiently soaked!

Yesterday was hot, so we took a nice walk with the dogs in the morning and then played in Lew's kiddie pool in the afternoon.

 Apparently Lew was thirsty. :)
I can still taste the hose water from when I used to drink it as a kid--I didn't taste it with Lew yesterday, but I wonder if it still tastes the same.

 Splish Splash!
This I bought at a garage sale last weekend, and it is supposed to be a sandbox on the left and pool on the right. We decided quickly there's no way Lew would keep the sand out of the water and vice versa, so we're just going to keep both sides as water.

Stealing Kevin's chair 

You snooze, you lose, Papa!

And chillin' in his chair.

And Mom, these trunks you got him are still pretty big, even though they are 12-18 months.

15 Months Old

Today Lewis is 1 1/4 years old!

15 Months Old

His stats (from the doctor's office):

Height/Length: 33 3/4 inches (100th percentile)

Weight: 28 pounds, 3 ounces (98th percentile)

Head Size: 19 7/8 inches (100th percentile)

BMI: 17.40


His exam went well today. No major questions/concerns, so he just had an exam and got two shots in the arm (the 1st he barely noticed, the 2nd he let out a wail). Our doctor's office just switched over to computerized charting (with lots of charts and graphics on a computer screen as we went through the exam), and it was neat to see his growth over the past 15 months, following along the curve. The doctor said that he is in the 85th percentile for height/weight proportion, too, which she said was a good thing. She also mentioned the car seat situation with him--though they recommend waiting until age 2, she suggested we read through our owner's manual to make sure he's within the weight (or more likely height) restrictions for rear-facing vs. forward-facing. We go back at 18 months!

What he’s doing this month: 

• Saying quite a lot.
• Uh-Uh (for Uh-Oh), when he accidentally drops something, but more likely when he drops something on purpose (i.e. his sippy cup).
• Dah? (What's that?) [accompanied by a finger point] at objects when we're out and about (favorites are light poles, lights, fans, helium balloons, bins of play balls). I try to follow his finger and say what it is that he is pointing to--sometimes it's obvious, other times it's a guess. :)
•  DAH! or DahTEE! (Dog/Doggy), Mama, Dada, Dah or DAHdah (Ball), Na or Na-na-naa (No), Dah? Or Da Dah? (What? Or What is that?), HatTAH! (Hattie), and DAH-der (which could, I suppose, be Peter, but he doesn’t direct it at Peter—it’s usually a generic ‘What’s that?’). There are a lot of Dah-like noises, but they actually are surprisingly distinguishable (at least when in context). :)
• He has also started calling random women we see in the store, Mama, and men, Dada, which has made it awkward a few times. 
• Still climbing things like a wild man, and starting to get the hang of climbing back down safely and intentionally (on his belly, feet first)—he climbs up, then down, then up, then down. The couch, ottoman, chairs, etc.
• Still loves to read. He likes turning the pages, but isn't all that delicate in doing so (usually flips to the very end of the book), so we help slow him down.
• Dancing! He's started dropping-it-like-it's-hot like his cousin, Juniper, and then he just started this thing with his right arm the past week or so that looks like The Sprinkler (here's a random Internet guy demonstrating what I mean--can't get the image to center). He holds it straight out to the side and swings it back and forth.

•  Just this weekend, he conquered going down the (carpeted) stairs at his Grandma and Grandpa Thompson’s house. He has been working on going down our 2 back porch (concrete) steps safely, but we haven’t yet tackled the full (wooden, uncarpeted) staircase to the basement. He’s getting smoother with traveling up the stairs, too—he still uses his hands and feet to climb, but now he puts a foot up on each new step instead of a knee.
• He likes to take things out and put things into things, like his laundry in and out of his laundry basket, balls in and out of his ball holder in the basement, a ball inside Hattie’s food storage container (that we have to then get out b/c he can't reach it), etc. He likes taking off and putting lids back on things, too. And he's suddenly very into his shape sorters. He needs guidance on which hole the pieces go into, but it's something he likes to do most days now. Puzzles, too, but he's not that great at them either. :)
• Speaking of, when he DOES get a piece in the right place, we say 'Good Job!' and clap for him--he has started picking up on the clapping, so he'll put a piece in, and whether it's right or wrong, he'll have a little clapping party with himself. :) He does it when he slides safely off furniture, too--he'll stand up and give a couple of congratulatory claps. Pretty cute.
• Loves looking out the front windows at the cars and buses driving by.
• Loves his baby pool, although we have to watch him when he’s NOT wearing his swimsuit (when he’s in his everyday clothes) because he tries to climb in just about every time we walk by.
• Naps are kind of all over the board right now. While the new goal is 1 nap, there have been a few days where his 1^st nap is shorter than it’s supposed to be (closer to 45 minutes), so I’ve laid him down for a 2^nd one a few times. He usually takes about a 1 1/2 hour nap (maybe 2 if I'm lucky). There haven’t been any more of the glorious 3 hour ones the past few weeks, but that’s okay. His nighttime sleeping is still great--sleeping from about 7:45pm until just before 7:30am, most mornings. We haven't had to wake him up at the 8am mark this month, I don't think.
• He is eating better, I suppose. I have tried to make everything into finger food since he's so anti-spoon (with the exception of yogurt, which I try to sneak spoonfuls in here and there with poor-to-mild success). He has toast for breakfast and usually mac and cheese, grilled cheese, or turkey and cheese quesadilla for lunch and dinner (and/or some of what we are eating). As for fruits, he loves berries (blue, straw, and black) and pears, peaches, grapes, and banana. Veggies, notsomuch--just sweet potato, parsnips, and sometimes corn. He is not a big fan of green veggies, really, at all, though he does seem to like green bean 'fries' quite a bit. Do those count? :)
• I swear his feet grew overnight, Incredible Hulk-style! One day he was fitting into his shoes just fine, and the next day they didn’t stand a chance.
• He’s in mostly 18 month or 18-24 month clothes now, but he is very close to outgrowing some 18 month sleepers. 18 month shorts are still pretty roomy on him.
• Current Tooth Count: still 12, but he’s awoken from nap in tooth pain a few times this past week, so I’m thinking there will be some more very soon.

So that's Lewis at 15 months! His next monthly post will happen from the Outer Banks of North Carolina where we will be vacationing with the Smiths--we are so looking forward to our first beach trip with Lew! Followed a few weeks later by a trip to see Emily, Joe, and Juniper in Boise! Should be a fun couple of months coming up.

Henry's Ark, Pool Time, and Mother's Day

We had beautiful weather late last week, so Lew and I headed out to Henry's Ark to see the animals--it seems like everytime we go, there are different animals to get close to. This time was especially neat because one of the peacocks had his feathers all up on display--maybe it was mating season? Not sure, but it was neat to watch him (video below). 

 Sweet Deer

 Peacock

The video is a little long/boring if you're not that into peacocks. I was kind of waiting to see if (and how) he'd put the feathers down, but he kept them up during the time we were there.

 Freshly shaved llama

Kevin has suggested we do the same to Hattie since she sheds so much. :) I won't do that to her, but I bet she'd look really funny if we did.

 Roosters on a fence rail

They were very loudly cock-a-doodle-dooing.

 Very friendly zebra

There were two--one stayed away, but this one was very friendly and gladly ate our carrots. I've never seen one this up-close, so it was neat to study the markings and wonder how in the world their stripes came to be. Beautiful animal.

 Baby camel

The big, big camel we saw last time was nowhere to be seen, but this little one was very sweet.

Later that day, we spent some time out in the pool! Kevin bought a little skimmer net to try to keep grass, bugs, leaves, etc. under control (the water was getting pretty funky), and the net is now one of Lewis' favorite things to carry around while we're playing outside. Over the weekend, Kevin picked up a slightly bigger one, so we can have one for us to use (for real) and one for Lewis to 'use' (for play).

Surveying the hose reel (with his trusty net in hand)

 

 Bringing his chair into the pool...

 ...and then tossing it out. And over and over again. :)

 Swimming is so fun!

Mother's Day was great--lots of relaxing, book reading, and organizing. Thanks to Kevin for taking care of Lew most of the day! We'd had plans to go to a park for a picnic, but it rained most of the day. We did go out to dinner and then came home to play in the soaking-wet-from-all-that-aforementioned-rain yard until bedtime.

 Mother's Day 2012

 Starting to look pretty soggy (with his net in hand)

His Sweet Stinker Face

 Playing in the empty-ish pool

It had filled to the brim from all the rainwater, so we dumped it. After that, it had rained just enough to put about 1/2 inch in the bottom--enough to soak his pants and socks and shoes and shirt. :)

 Who needs water?

Hattie and Kevin :)

Boy Wonder (not really), Derby Party, and a Baby Shower

Last week I was taking video of Lewis reading (turning the pages, 'reading' jibberish aloud), and I just happened to catch him correctly pointing out his new favorite animal, the puffin. I know he isn't really a Boy Genius--still, I think it's cute and thought I'd share.

He always points to the puffin and then the owl (and he does the same with a ball and balloon in another picture book). I look forward to taking him to see real puffins sometime. I wonder if he'll think they are as cool in real life. I thought maybe he liked the picture because of the round head shape (like a ball). Kevin thought he liked it maybe because it's just kind of funny-looking.

Last weekend we headed to a Derby party on Saturday at Kevin's friend's brother's house--we entered in a few drawings for the Derby itself but didn't win (though we did get our money back on a horse that scratched!). We had a nice afternoon visiting with our friends who live in Michigan (the Littles). Their son is around 19 months old, and he and Lewis had fun walking around the yard and splashing in the dog's water bowl. :) The house is great, but it is surrounded by woods that have a fairly steep slope/drop-off, and the driveway itself is really steep. So, needless to say, the four of us spent most of the time trying to keep the boys from falling down the hills. And out of everyone's beer and Jell-o shots!

 

 Buddies, relaxing by the fire pit

Sunday, Lew and I headed up to a baby shower for my cousin's wife and had a really nice afternoon. It was great seeing aunts and cousins on my dad's side and, of course, celebrating Dave and Jessica's baby on the way. Lewis had lunch as soon as we got there, so I was able to eat and sort of play the shower games. Then he was ready to roam--he was happy walking their hallways for awhile, but eventually he started picking up the gifts as they were being opened and bolted for the cupcake table once (close call--he grabbed a decoration off but somehow didn't make a mess of the icing). I eventually decided to take him outside to roam a bit while they were finishing up gift opening. 

 Lewis loves baby showers!

 Wild and Free

I was having major yard envy--there is so much space to run around! It was so peaceful out there.

 

 We went up to the fence to visit the neighbor's horses, but they weren't interested in visiting with us. :)

 Old Farm Equipment to Explore

 The Perfect Shade Tree

I would so be out there on a blanket reading whenever I could.

And, finally, a ball.

He is obsessed with balls! This gazing ball in my aunt and uncle's garden, the big red concrete balls outside the entrance to Target (he hugs them), bouncy balls at every store we go in lately (it seems). He can't say ball yet (they are all called 'Der!'), but he'll pick them out of a line-up like a mad man. He doesn't miss pointing them out. Ever. :)

Trike Time, Story Time, the Pool, and our Basement is So Cool

It feels like summer has arrived this week--if this is what the first week of May is like, I dread July/August and long for a summer in Maine instead. Anyway...

Lewis, out with his trike the other night:

Kevin said he really likes to push it around nowadays.

And still loves to ride on it, too!

We made it to storytime again this week. It was in the actual children's area this time, and there were more kid-friendly places for Lewis to sit/play during the stories (i.e. not in a chair). I was still down on the ground with him half the time to keep him from pummeling a 3 month-ish baby still in a car seat. Below, you'll see he is carrying a blue swirly ball--it belongs to the little baby. Lew snatched it (the grandma said it was okay). 

 Listening to a story.

 I like the tables and chairs they have in the children's department. Probably too expensive for Lewis' purposes, but an idea to start with. :)

 Speaking of chairs, they are perfectly kid-sized. And perfect for climbing.

Since it has been really hot already this week (upper 80s), I filled up the kiddie pool--we went out two days to sit in it, splash around, and cool off. (Lewis sits in it, I sit outside of it in a chair and put my feet in.)

Belly shot!
This swim shirt is a 12-18 month size, but it is pretty snug on his belly and really rides up already--I need to get him a bigger one for the summer (especially for our beach trip). 
I don't want him scaring off the ladies with his beer belly (er, milk belly) hanging out. :)

His trunks from the previous day were still damp, and the next size up of swim trunks he has are way big, so I went with these back-ups to the back-ups. Poor buddy.

Speedo Alert! :)

I picked up a couple of simple sprinklers at the store the other day--he literally froze and didn't know what to do as he was getting sprayed. He wouldn't step through it, he wouldn't step out of it. I tried moving him in towards the middle and turned him so his booty got sprayed, but he just stayed wherever I put him and fretted a little.

Forget the water--I want to swing!

Today we hung out in our 10-degrees-cooler-than-the-rest-of-our-house basement for the afternoon, which was nice.

Took a water break on the couch and watched some HGTV (most likely)

And had fun with the ball popper (that needs new batteries!).

It is Derby Time right now, so we have a Derby Party to attend tomorrow, and then Lew and I are heading to a baby shower on Sunday. 

And seeing my mom and dad with Em, Joe, and Juniper this week makes me miss them a lot--I'm hoping to book a ticket to Boise soon, Schwi-Schwizzle. :)