"I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." John 15:11

Monday, January 30, 2012

18 Months

My little baby is already a year and a half!  Boy does time fly when you are having fun!

The giraffe is back for the half year shot -
much harder to get a good shot now that Philip is on the move!

Philip is talking a lot.  I call it turkey talk because he makes a lot of gobbling sounds!  We hear "uh-oh" around here a lot.  I'm working on trying sign language again and we've got "more" down.  Now trying to work on a sign for "all done" other than throwing food.



He got his second hair cut this month.  It was very traumatic even though he got to sit with me the whole time.  We made it out alive, but with his hair still kind of long.  The hair dresser was scared to touch him!  At least the back of his hair is straight now - it was a bit crooked after his first haircut, but considering what the hairdresser was working with, we just went with it.

Philip also got the last of his teeth, other than his two year molars.  Oh happy day!  The sooner we could get through the teething phase, the better as far as I'm concerned.

My little daredevil now wants to walk down the stairs front ways (as opposed to sliding down on his belly). This is no fun! It was especially hair-greying at Christmas when we were visiting houses that had no baby gates. Back at our house, he has been good about letting me carry him down the stairs and we just practice walking down our front stoop - only one step, so not too worrisome if he slips. 

He decided to take a walk in my shoes...



And he liked it!

He's learned a few other fun (for him) tricks this month.  Philip can now open a locked dishwasher.  He is tall enough to pull out the glasses from the top shelf of the dishwasher.  Talk about an accident waiting to happen!  When the dishwasher is running, he likes to push the buttons on it which has paused many washing cycles.  He is also tall enough to reach up and push the water and ice dispensers on our refrigerator door.  After having a toddler, I have brand new ideas of what I would look for when shopping for appliances!  One funny thing he is doing now is opening the dishwasher, pulling out an old sippy cup, and going to the refrigerator to fill it up with water.  No more wondering if he is thirsty!  He also stops whatever he is doing and runs over to help me fill up my cup anytime he hears the ice or water dispenser going.

Mischief of the Month



He went straight into the bath after this.

Philip is helping with a new chore - he is feeding Herbie.  He loves to get the cat's food dish for us to fill up each day.  Luckily he is not trying to bring us the water dish (yet).  He is so proud of himself.  After he puts the dish back in its place, he stands nearby pointing at it and telling me stuff in turkey talk.  Too funny!

Fill 'er up, please!

Sometimes he forgets to hold the dish level...

and this happens.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Christmas Round Up

Yes, yes, I know it is almost a month past Christmas, but I still wanted to share our activities.

We celebrated St. Nicholas Day with Philip for the first time this year.  St. Nicholas brought him a car and two clementines.


He thought it was super cool to find oranges in his shoes!

One day I took Philip to a local garden center where I knew they would have great decorations.  I was hoping to get a good shot for our Christmas card.  He was so distracted by everything that I couldn't get him to look at the camera.  After about ten minutes, both my battery died and my memory card was full.  I had left my camera bag at home, so I didn't have any back ups!  We had fun anyway.  Philip liked playing with some of the decorations, looking at the train display, and chasing birds.



We used this as our Christmas card picture instead:

A couple other cute pics of our little reindeer:


I have been collecting figurines for our nativity set for years.  I put them all in a basket and each day let Philip pick one out to put in the manger. 

Hmmm, which to choose?  This water trough tastes good!

We went to the Gaylord one night for their Christmas celebration.  They put on a music/light show with their fountains each evening.  Afterwards we went out to dinner.



This tree is made of glass

Philip loved seeing the reflection of the lights on the floor


Before Christmas, Philip and I took a trip up to Connecticut to see my cousins and aunt.  One of my cousins has been living in Europe for most of the last six years.  The last time we saw her was when Andy and I took a trip to Italy in 2007.  The timing worked out that Philip and I could go up for a two day visit the week before Christmas - unfortunately, we had to leave Andy behind so he could work.

My cousin and aunt

We had brunch with all of our cousins one day. 
I got to meet their newest daughter for the first time. 

For Christmas we went to Andy's parents house.  We stopped to visit family in North Carolina on the way up and back.  My parents spent Christmas in Texas with my sister, but they stopped through Atlanta and we got to spend a day with them on their way home.

Opening stockings with our brother and sister-in-law

Andy's parents

We were having so much fun that, believe it or not, we didn't get any good pictures of Philip opening presents.  He had a great Christmas though and enjoyed opening presents and playing with his cousins.  He is having fun playing with all his new toys.

My Mom made this great quilt with favorite pictures from Philip's first year. We love it!

Friday, January 13, 2012

17 Months

Philip is 17 months old now! 

He started dancing!  He likes ride-on toys.  He started running and hiding from us - especially if he sees signs that a diaper change is coming.  Philip loves for us to chase him around the house calling out, "I'm gonna get you!"


New words, "Mmmm" and "Uh-oh!"

Mmmm

He has learned to slide off the couch and our bed using his feet first.  He loves romping around on our bed!  Philip is also starting to climb up the stairs using his feet part of the time (as opposed to climbing on his knees). 


He kisses our cat and also a statue of the Holy Family.  Unfortunately, he observed Andy pet the cat using his foot one night.  His interpretation of petting the cat with your foot usually turns into almost stepping on the cat before one of us runs over to stop him.


He is mooching our food which has greatly expanded his culinary horizons.  He has learned to enjoy a lot of new foods, but still loves his old favorites - bread, yogurt, fruit, and squeezie packs.  At meals, he likes to put things on top of each other and then try to eat them (like putting a vegetable on top of a piece of bread).  He also likes to use his spoon to feed himself.  Usually both of these actions involve the majority of the food falling on his tray before making it to his mouth, but he is still somewhat successful! 

Begging for food

One of the biggest advancements over the past month or two is that he is getting much more independent at playgroups.  He used to cling to me for most of our visits, but now he is a lot quicker to run off and play on his own, or try to keep up with the big kids.  Luckily, he still checks in with me frequently, so I get lots of hugs when we are out!   He absolutely loves to watch big kids play - especially if they are running or playing with a ball.  Sometimes he tries to join in, but he is still a bit timid!  I love to hear him laugh as he watches the other kids play.

Playing ball with the big kids at the beach

Toy of the Month:  Who knew that a box of wipes could be so much fun!


Chasing the cat

The cat also liked the box when it wasn't otherwise occupied!


Mischief of the Month:  While trying to check in for a flight, I decided it would be okay to let Philip grab the cereal box off the kitchen table.  A couple minutes later, I heard "Whoosh" and I just knew what I would find when I turned around.

Luckily he helped clean up by dropping handfuls of cereal into his toy box!

A few favorites from the month:



Thursday, January 5, 2012

{this moment} Hard at Work


{this moment} – A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Visit Soulemama to share your "moment."

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Leaf Pile

This week Andy and I finally got around to clearing the leaves off of our deck and out of the back yard.  We brought Philip out to "help."  He had a great time playing in the big pile of leaves!