18 Months Old

Well, not quite, but tomorrow morning I will be! And today is Grandpa Coble's birthday. I got to talk to him this morning and told him what a cow says, blew kisses, and said bye bye :) Mommy and I were supposed to go to the zoo this morning, but poor Gabo came down with a stomach virus. We hope he's feeling better REALLY soon!!!!! So mommy and I went shopping instead. I got some new spring/summer clothes and shoes :) All my clothes that fit have long sleeves and my pj's are almost all too small to zip anymore. Mom's doing laundry while I sleep so I can maybe wear some of the new clothes tomorrow.

I had my 18 month checkup on Thursday and all looks great, EXCEPT that I have a DOUBLE ear infection! I haven't been sleeping well the past week or so - waking up 5-6 times a night and sometimes staying up for several hours at a time, but that was the only sign that something wasn't quite right. I have also been putting my hands in my mouth, which everyone thought was due to teeth, but now we know better. Mom felt horrible when the doctor told her that :( I have a feeling we'll be calling the doctor a lot more in the future for something as simple as a change in sleeping pattern! I finished day 3 of my antibiotics and have been sleeping a little better, though I have been REALLY fussy at bath and bedtime.

Anyway, I'm 22 lbs, 14oz, and 32.25" tall. 75% for height, 25-50% for weight - right on track :) The doctor wants me to stay dairy free at least until I'm two, then we *may* start to slowly re-introduce foods with casein in them (probably start with butter and yogurt, but will take a while to try straight cow's milk again). I suspect that I still get some dairy at daycare in foods like waffles, pancakes, and other foods that are baked with either milk or butter, but it's so hard to completely cut those out. Mom makes me dairy free pancakes and dairy and egg free french toast and freezes a bunch for home, but that doesn't exactly work at school!!! The doctor said we could try to introduce eggs once I get through my ear infection, so we'll see about that. I have to have my ears checked again in a month since I never really showed signs of infection in the first place.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and we've been able to go outside a lot. Mom took me to the Adventure Playground the other night while daddy went for a run at the soccerplex. It was so much fun and I had a FIT when mom put me back in the stroller. I've perfected the art of tantrum throwing :) Arabelle and I are going back to the playground tomorrow and mom tells me we're going to have a picnic lunch there - I can't wait!!! Maybe Belle will show me a few things since she's a little bigger than me :)

Here are some pictures from Zachary's birthday party a few weeks ago. Zachary's mommy is my favorite teacher at school :)



I'm a budding musician! I think mom and dad need to get me a cowbell or tambourine to take to the soccer games - what do you think?



Mommy caught me! I was listening to music on her iPod while sitting on the potty :)



My first attempt at corn on the cob. I did pretty well except the few times that I tried to eat the end of the cob. Yummy corn.



I don't want ANY help eating anymore. I even feed myself my oatmeal in the mornings.



I got one shoe on, but couldn't figure out how to get the other one on!



My new table! Mom bought me a stool to go with it, but it tips over pretty easily, so she put it away. We just have to wait for the normal chairs to come back in stock. But I can still use the table while I stand.



My new easel is awesome :)



We've eaten dinner outside the past few nights. Hooray sunshine!



Enjoy the spring weather everyone!!!

Moooooo!

I am very enthusiastic when you ask me what a cow says... Dad's trying to teach me how to BAAAAAA as enthusiastically, but we're not quite there yet. I also know what a duck says and what a pig says, but I have trouble oinking :) Here's a quick video in case you don't believe me.



I've had a fun couple of weeks! Last week I got to go to Zachary's birthday party at Romp and Roll. It's a big gym where the kids can run around and climb on things and have a great time. My favorite activity was the rock wall - I'm going to have to take daddy back there some time to watch me. My friends from school were there and so were all of my favorite teachers! I absolutely loved the balloon that he gave me with a goody bag full of play doh, a duck, a finger puppet, and some snacks!!!!!!! I had never played with play doh before, but I think I liked it...



Here are the photos of my latest art projects. Mom got me a set of watercolor pens - they're markers that are filled with water and you dip them in the color pots so you can draw on paper. Mom and dad were both surprised that I had enough dexterity to get the tip of the pen in the paint pot.



When I get really excited about something, I clench my fists and smile and make a really funny face. It's pretty cute :)



I figured out how to feed kitty, even though mom and dad don't like me to because I give kitty LOTS of scoops instead of the one she's supposed to have.



I got a new bookcase in my room so I can put my toys and books away :) I had to take a break from organizing to take a sip of water.



I'm getting much better about brushing my teeth. After my bath, mom and dad put my jammies on and then I brush my teeth while mom dries my hair.



Now that the weather has finally gotten a little warmer, we've been able to go outside a lot more. Dad's in the thick of training for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler and thankfully has been able to do most of his longer runs outside. He did 8 miles today - that's so far, but he's doing great!!! Mom doesn't run nearly as far, but she took me out for a quick run the other day and I fell asleep on the way home. It was tough to navigate the stroller around the piles of snow, so she had to walk more than she wanted. This morning, mom took me out for a few miles around the lake where she and dad used to live. The snow piles are melted, but there was a downed tree and a collapsed sidewalk which made it a little more difficult.



My hair is long enough now that I often wake up with horrible bed head!



I got my first fat lip the other day :( I was running on the playground at school and fell and hit my lip on a car. They had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding and I was happily eating by the time mom came to pick me up. All in all, it didn't bother me too much.



This weekend was a blast! Yesterday, Jay and Molly came to play with me for a while. Mom and Molly took me to a children's consignment sale and mom got me an outfit, 2 pairs of shoes, and 2 books for $11 :) I got to hang out on mom's back in the Ergo and had a great time. After my nap, we went to Arabelle's 3rd birthday party! She was so nice and shared all of her toys with me. I met Jamie and Jayla and we all played together pretty well. I was pretty happy all evening except when Max (Ken and Marie's dog) stole my potato chip. That made me cry, but mom gave me another one and all was better. This morning, I figured out how to put my shoes on by myself! I only got one on, but I managed to get it on the right foot and got it fastened. Today, mom took me to IKEA and met Molly there. We had fun and got a few new filing cabinets, a table and stool for me, and an easel. I haven't seen the easel yet, but mom tells me that I'll like it. The stool is somewhat of a disaster as I've already fallen off of it a few times. Mom's going to have to go back and get the chair with a back (they were out of stock) sometime. I think I'll adjust to daylight savings time just fine - I only napped for a short while today on the way to IKEA, so I was ready for bed at the normal time, despite the time change. Hopefully there won't be any further adjustments.

Hope everyone is doing well! Hugs and kisses...

The end of my first Olympics...

I think I got to watch more TV in the past few weeks than I have in my entire life! The olympics were on and mom was trying to keep up with it all, especially the downhill events. It was fun to watch and mom and dad told me that they want to take me skiing next year - I can't wait!

I had a really good weekend, but I think I wore mom out. I've been waking up earlier and earlier. The past week or so, I've been waking up around 4, but I usually fall back asleep for another hour or two, but have been up before 6am every day. I've been getting up so early during the week that mom's not even in the shower by the time I get up! Today I didn't want to nap AT ALL. I talked to myself in my crib for a little while, then I think I might have fallen asleep for 15-20 minutes, but then I was up the rest of the day. Mom and I went to Target this afternoon and I had an absolute meltdown...I didn't want to sit in the cart, didn't want to be held, and wouldn't stay with mom if she put me down. Lesson learned - no public outings on days when I haven't napped!

It's been a while since I posted a video, so here you go... I was busy playing with my blocks and mom wanted me to say hi, bye bye, and I love you... OK, so I don't actually say I love you - I blow kisses :)



I learned how to say the "sh" sound this weekend. Mom was getting me dressed yesterday morning and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her. So I repeated and said "shopping!" I'm learning young :) We only went to Whole Foods, but it was fun retail therapy none the less.

Here are some photos from the past few days.

Showing mom the shoes in my favorite book.



My yellow rain boots match my bright and sunny yellow pj's quite well!



I'm learning to multitask! I got ALL of my toys out, dumped them on the floor, was eating a play piece of pineapple, and put the drawer on top of my head...how many of you can do the same?



I really do love shoes :) I stole mommy's Ugg's when she wasn't looking. I think they look nice with my outfit - what do you think?



I did a few art projects this weekend and will post photos later - they're on the other camera. Hope everyone is doing well!

Bicycle!

Yup - my newest word is BICYCLE! I must have learned it at school, because I surprised mommy over the weekend when I opened one of my books, said bicycle and pointed to one on the page. It just seemed like a random word for me to know. I've had SO much fun this past week. I'm really starting to enjoy reading books and will get a book and take it to mom and dad, turn around and back up to them so they pick me up and read to me. We've read the same few books OVER and OVER and OVER again, but mom and dad say they don't mind. Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See is my favorite at the moment. My word books are a close second, though. I can pick out apples, bananas, shoes, socks, boots, bicycles, hats, etc.

I'm still pretty obsessed with shoes, boots and hats. Mom just bought me a new pair of rain boots - Aunt Laurie, you will LOVE them! They're rain boots and are bright yellow and have a monkey on the top of the foot. I have quite a few hats and like to rotate through them for school.

See - I even love wearing daddy's shoes! I was able to walk around in them for quite some time!



I tried to put my shoes on daddy, but they didn't fit :(



My Strawberry hat still fits me from last year! I wanted to wear it in my pj's one night!



Here's my penguin hat.



Mom says I'll hate this picture one day, but it's too cute to pass up for now :)



We're supposed to get more snow / rain tonight - yuck! I was beginning to get some spring fever with the almost 50 degree weather today!

Finally Back at School

Although many of our local schools are still either closed or delayed, I was finally able to go back this week :) I think we were all ready for that! It's been so nice to spend time with my friends and I definitely had some energy that I needed to get out.

Our street is finally mostly cleared and we can get to our mailbox once again. Dad said they brought in some bobcats yesterday to clear out more than the one lane that there was. It makes it a little easier to get out of our driveway now.

There's not much else new here. I'm still repeating everything that I hear. I know a lot of my body parts now - head, knee, foot, hand, and I tried to say "elbow" the other night. And mom's favorite...when I fart, I now say "toot!" Makes mom and dad laugh every time! I play a game with dad every night in order to delay bedtime...I put his hat on my head and walk back and forth between mom and dad and put the hat on my head, dad's head, mom's head, and back on mine. This would go on for an hour if they let me :) So they finally gave in and gave me one of dad's hats to put in bed with me. So now I have my little blankie and dad's hat. Who would have guessed???

I had a nice, low key Valentine's Day and was able to watch some of my first Olympics over the weekend. Watching the downhill events is giving mom the itch to get back on the slopes! She says next year maybe they'll teach me!!! So many fun things to look forward to.

Here are a few photos from the past week.

Trying to give my milk to kitty...



I didn't want to eat my dinner - just wanted to play with my Valentine's from my classmates!



This is what happens when I get quiet...I get in trouble! Mom was loading the dishwasher and left me in the family room - I found a roll of paper towels and grabbed them through the gate and unraveled the WHOLE roll :) It was a lot of fun!



Asking daddy to read "Monday the Bullfrog" to me



I want to wear my shoes to bed! Mom told me that she used to throw fits to wear hers to bed, so I guess we know where I get it from.



Take care everyone!!!

Snowverkill 2010!

Well, we're still hanging in there! I had another day at home with mom and dad today and had a GREAT day!!! I didn't have any tantrums and spent a lot of time laughing and singing. I even took a good nap and went to bed quietly :) It has finally stopped snowing, but I'm guessing we have at least 40 inches by now. I kept asking mom and dad to put my snowsuit on today - I must have put it on 4 times. Then I stood at the window and said "no no no" (i.e. snow snow snow).

Wearin' my boots around the house...



Mom taught me to say "cheese" when she takes a picture!



The snow is now almost up to the bottom of the table on the deck. This was earlier this afternoon.







This is the view out the front door. This was after daddy had shoveled again this afternoon! We'll take better photos tomorrow during the daylight. You can't fully appreciate the size of the drifts on the side of the road / driveway in these photos!



Mom's office and daycare are closed again tomorrow, so mom is hoping that I sleep in a little tomorrow :) We'll talk soon. Stay warm everyone!

Another day at home :)

I was able to go to school for a little while today, but mom picked me up early when it started snowing again. The parking lot at school wasn't very clear and it was hard to find a parking spot. School is closed again tomorrow, so mom and I get another day to hang out! The federal government is closed again, therefore so is mom's office. Anyway, mom got caught up with some of the photos, so here are some from the past week or two. I've still been talking up a storm, though you can't understand what I'm saying. It sounds like I'm telling a story, but who knows what I'm actually saying... I even woke up several times last night and told mom and dad stories rather than going back to sleep.

Not the greatest photo, but check out where my feet are...I learned to STAND on top of my zebra. And yes, mom snapped a photo before she got me down...



Kitty LOVES the fireplace.



My two favorite teams (well, two of my favorite teams)...DC United and the Steelers! Last Friday was wear your favorite team day at school, so I wore my Polamalu jersey. But I played with my DC United soccer ball before I went to school that morning!



I have a bunch of play food to go along with my new kitchen. When I was supposed to be eating a sandwich, I found a bag of my play food and covered my plate... There was a soy nut butter sandwich hidden under there!



OK, so this was actually a remote, but it looks like a phone, right?



Crazy static electricity!



I now love to wear my mittens, but they make it hard to hold my blankie!



Once again, stay warm and safe everyone! We'll get more snow photos tomorrow :)