Things to Remember

At 16 months old Leo is...
-Certain that any box, bucket or large container is something he can fit in to
-Saying bye-bye and waving, and saying hi and waving
-Giving the BEST hugs!
-A little shy when someone new comes around but warms up after about 10 minutes
-Using words and signs to communicate: Mommy, Daddie, milk, more, please (peas, so cute), bobby (cat? strange his name is willy, bock-bock (chicken)
-Running
-Laughing, this wonderful, hysterical, contagious laugh
-Pulling himself up on the couch to sit, run (in place), or play fort
-Happiest sitting in your lap while you read a book, he may even turn the pages for you
-Of the belief that books are edible, even though Mommy says they are not
-A climber, turn your back and he'll scale something - the fireplace hearth, a dinning room chair, the dinning room table, the coffee table, the list goes on
-Certain to switch from a foul mood to happiness when taken outside
-Believes that you must say "Bock-bock" when you step out the back door... you must
-A great sleeper (12 hours uninterrupted is the norm)
-Getting a mouthful of teeth. In addition to his top 4 and bottom 4 he now has his upper-right molar, lower right molar, and both lower eye-teeth pushing through. We can see the tops - Yowza!
-Very fond of his furry and feathered friends. He loves to pet Honda, Pixie and Willy. A special of delight escapes him when we get Willy's feather cat toy out, this requires parental supervision because he nearly clobbers the poor cat while whipping it around for him to capture with his paws. He also loves to visit the chickens and "talk" to them
-Tired of sitting in his high-chair and definitely prefers the booster at the same table as Mom and Dad -A food fickle little man.  The only sure pleasers are noodles, rice, broccoli, yogurt, fish crackers, and blueberries
-Happy
-So, so, so much fun

I'm sure I am missing many, many things. But the list will go on!

Thanksgiving

Normally we would head to Twin Falls for Thanksgiving, but not this year.  My parents were having their kitchen floors replaced and Lucy (their Boxer) has been recovering from being sick and needs a low stress environment. So, Kevin, Leo and I had our first Thanksgiving with just us. After breakfast we went for a great walk, everyone had fun and Leo got to practice his barking. One of the dogs that lives near the park was being quite vocal and Leo decided to bark back. Very cute. We also did a little leash training.

Pixie wasn't convinced this was a good idea at first, but she soon realized that she was in control and then was much more confident.

Kevin was very excited to cook a Cornish hen, I was having tilapia. We had the usual stuffing, mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, broccoli - instead of green beans which Leo is not fond of.

Turns out Leo is not a fan of most traditional Thanksgiving food. I had him for a few minutes when I rolled up some mashed potatoes into balls and showed him how-to dip them in ketchup, that lasted for three "balls." Then he wailed and pitched one, smashed a second, and it was over. Lots of squished-up frowning face and "No!"  No to sweet potatoes. No to hen. No to fish. NO! to stuffing. Only yes was broccoli and yogurt. And a hallelujah from Mommy and Daddy when dinner was done. Whew, until next year.

And of course what would Thanksgiving be without a pumpkin pie? So for my food allergic husband (lactose and gluten) I made a vegan and gluten free pie. These types of baking adventures do not turn out well for me so I was more than skeptical, but this pie was delicious. Seriously. I mean I don't know that it would win a side-by-side taste test, but if you didn't know you'd say "this is one tasty pie!"

Birthdays, BIRTHDAYS!

I love my birthday, figure I'll enjoy them as long as I can. Hope I always have a good attitude about aging, so far so good! This year we toyed with the idea of going to Seattle to visit my brother but then ended up inviting him to come visit us. It was a great weekend. I had a facial that Friday, then went for a pedicure, came back to the house to have lunch with Drew and Leo and hang out, and then finished the day of pampering with a hair cut for both Leo and me. Saturday night Drew watched Leo so that Kevin and I could have a date - yes actual date that involved staying out past 10! WOW. It was a great 37th birthday. During his visit Drew taught Leo to combine his signs and words so that he could make multi-word requests like, more please, milk please, and please please! Which is what you see below... Please,

P-L-E-A-S-E!

Leo is also fond of giving kisses. And he does a good pucker too!

 Drew also saw Leo find his shadow. Quite exciting and scary. Since this first sighting Leo has caught his shadow a couple of times. Always a mixture of fear and excitement at first, then he wants to wave and point. He thought it was great fun when Mommy made a shadow dog that barked and growled. I have to expand my talents though I've only got the dog and butterfly in my bag of tricks. I love spending time with Drew, it is great fun watching him with Leo.

Until next time Uncle Drew. It was a wonderful, fabulous, most excellent birthday!

Summer Highlights

While the work was being done on the kitchen Leo and I spent a week in Twin Falls. It was great spending time with my parents, longest I've been home since I was in college! They enjoyed all the time with Leo, oh and me too...

My Mom and I took Leo to the pool while we were there. He loved it, even put his face in the water. He was enthralled with the other kids in the pool.







Here's a little video too!

Renovations

In August we had some work done to our kitchen and bath. It was a big project, and as all projects tend to do it went longer than expected. But we love all the changes. Here are before pictures of the kitchen.





And these are the after! The kitchen looks and feels bigger, and it is much lighter. We love it.





And we had our bath tub replaced and the tile put in... it is fantastic!

Leo Walks!

Monday, August 1 Leo walked across the kitchen floor! Pictures to follow

Donna & Ryan!!

We had a great visit with Kevin's siblings, Donna and Ryan. It was so much fun spending time together and watching them play with Leo. Thursday night we loaded up and headed to Donnelly to enjoy a little bit of fresh mountain air.

Friday morning Kevin did his best to patiently wait for Donna and Ryan to wake up... Well, not really. He kept going in to their room and trying to wake them, just like a little kid on Christmas Eve - he just wanted to spend time with them. It was very sweet... at least from my awake perspective! Once the household was awake and fed we headed out on a morning walk.



Pixie took a swim it was such a beautiful morning!
We planned a picnic lunch at the lake. So when Leo woke from his morning nap we packed up headed for the water.
It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. Leo got in the water with Kevin, no fear at all he just held on to Dad and enjoyed himself.

After his "swim" it was time for dry clothes and playing in the sand.

We headed home for Leo's afternoon nap. Which also ended up to be a Kevin and Ryan nap time too.

Friday night Donna made us an amazing, delicious, dinner. All fresh ingredients and simply delicious. This picture is blurry but it's the only one I took... oh it was so yummy!

After dinner headed into McCall and walked around the lake. It was such beautiful weather, we ended up a the McCall Brew Pub for a drink and then headed back to the cabin.

Spider Crawl

The only spider I will ever love... this is the pre-cursor to walking!

Haircut!

Leo had his first hair cut. He did great! The experience lasted less than 15 minutes and no tears. Courtney did a great job, and he looks like such a big boy.