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

Sunday, October 30, 2011

15 Months

Philip is 15 months old!  He is busy, busy, busy all the time. 


Favorite activities include climbing on things he shouldn't and throwing things he shouldn't!  He loves taking things out of our living room and slamming them on the tile in the kitchen.  He also tries to throw things at or bang things on the poor cat.  We are in a constant state of "redirecting" him. 


He is starting to say a few words.  He still says banana (I know, three syllables, he is very advanced).  It usually sounds like "a-na-na!" He imitates the funny way I say banana while I cut up his fruit.  He also very clearly said the word yes one day when I asked him if he wanted some more food.  Of course, I kept trying to get him to say it again, and he never did.  Now, if I ask him a question, sometimes I hear, "s" and I take that as him saying yes.  His other new word is yeah!  He only said it once while Andy was changing his diaper one day.  I heard him yell it out while I was downstairs.  We obviously conditioned him to associate the word yeah with clapping, because now when we say it, he will drop what he is doing, smile broadly, and clap his hands together.  It is a handy trick when he is holding onto something that I don't want him to have!

Butternut squash mac and cheese was a big hit at dinnertime

He loves being outside and screams if he has to go inside or get in the car without a little playtime outdoors.  He is able to walk right out the front door and will even walk back inside on his own now.  He is pretty good about waiting for me to help him down a couple steps on his way out. 

Throwing mulch out of our gate

He also loves slides.  One of our neighbors has a little toddler slide that has become a community toy. He climbs up the ladder on his own, but hasn't quite figured out how to sit himself forward to go down the slide yet.  If I weren't there to help him, I'm pretty sure he would go down face first.  I have also been reminded of how fun going down a slide is.  I take him to a little playground near our house, but since it is for older kids and the slide is really big, I have to go down it with him.  So fun!


He has full out stranger anxiety now.  He has always been shy, but these days he can be pretty anti-social. If someone talks to him, he will often turn his head away or hide between my legs until they leave.  Even the kids in the neighborhood make him anxious at times.  He loves to watch them playing outside while he eats his meals.  When we go outside, they come running, saying "Hello, little Philip!"  It is so cute to watch him interact with the kids.


We had his 15 month appointment this week and all is well.  The doctor was impressed by his development - he is a little ahead of where he should be on all his skills.  He grew an inch and gained 0.6 lbs since his 12 month appointment.  My baby boy has changed so much since then!

Fun from the month:

He grew tall enough to reach in the kitchen drawers. 
He helps me put away utensils from the dishwasher.

He started making a cheesy, scrunchy nose smile this month

Tough guy

He loved the doggies on the feet of his new pjs

I made Andy a pie this month and made a little
cinnamon sugar crust for Philip.  He approved!

Mischief of the Month:  Pouring an entire bag of bread crumbs
on the floor and then gobbling them up!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

{this moment} Family Visit


{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."

Monday, October 24, 2011

Pumpkin Time!


Well, Philip has come a long way since last year's pumpkin patch visit when we had to prop him up next to the pumpkins. This year we couldn't get him to sit still and look at the camera for a picture, so we got lots of action shots. 

He had a blast pushing over pumpkins that were nearly his size...

Driving a sports car...

Hiding when strangers talked to him...

Seeing a pot belly pig chomp down on a bowl full of food...

Watching a pumpkin tractor zip kids around in figure eights...

Picking out a pumpkin...

And carrying around a couple baskets he found in a deserted corner of the marketplace.

We had a fun afternoon watching our little man explore.  He is getting more independent and adventuresome all the time, but still checks in with us frequently. 

We managed to get one good family shot.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Backyard Makeover Stage 1

When we moved into our house, this is what our back "yard" looked like. 



It left much to be desired.  Under all the fallen leaves, we were left with dirt and gravel.  At some point a previous owner decided to make a rock garden.  They didn't put a liner down before pouring in the rocks, so over the years the rocks got buried in the first 1-2 inches of our yard. 

When my Dad came up to visit in June, one of his "assignments" was to help me come up with something to do with the yard.  We visited a nursery to get ideas about plants and he drew up some plans for us.  When he came back up for Philip's birthday, the plan was to get the yard squared away.  Unfortunately a heat/humidity wave came through which put yard work on hold.  Even at 8:00 in the morning it was stifling out there.  He did help get us to this point before it got too hot later in the week.


Before

After

I have been itching to get outside to work on the yard, but with a hot summer and a September where we only saw one sunny day, for the most part it was put on the back burner.  The last two weekends we finally had beautiful weather and I spent pretty much all of Philip's nap times outside.  I dug out the top two layers of dirt and gravel, then got to the fun part.  As of this weekend, here is our new backyard!





I am so happy with how it looks right now and there are still more plans for adding flowers and decorations next spring.  For now, I am happy to have a private place to go where my little guy can explore without having to worry about him getting muddy or eating/throwing rocks. 



It is so relaxing sitting out in the back now.  Thanks for your help Dad!

Friday, October 14, 2011

{this moment} Go Cardinals!



{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."

Friday, October 7, 2011

{this moment} King of the Laundry Basket


{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."

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Baby's First Haircut

Philip was starting to look like this:


So we decided it was time for his first haircut. 

We took him to a place that specializes in kid's haircuts because I figured it would be best to go somewhere that is used to squirming, screaming babies.  They had cute little car chairs and Philip got to drive the taxi cab chair.


He did surprisingly well at first.



But within a couple minutes, this cabbie was breaking down.




In then end, all was well.


My little baby...

Pre-haircut

...is starting to look like a little boy

Post-haircut

And don't worry, we can still have fun with his hair:


That's all for now!

Putting the lens cap back on my camera