He's my kid!

So we were making grilled cheese for lunch and Bobby had a little bit of cheese and then he pointed to the counter, saying "eat, eat"  then he reached for the other piece of bread and put 2 pats of butter in his mouth.  And didn't spit them out.  Hungry, or starting his love of butter early?

So you want a blog

I haven't been blogging much because my life is boring. And I think I could use a twitter account and pass on little snippets of Bobbys funniness throughout the day, but then I'd have to be glued to my phone or something and not with my kid.  We did have a good weekend though.  It was super warm, high 70s here, so we went out to lunch then drove to Wrightsville Beach, but Bobby didn't manage to stay awake to enjoy the sand - another day perhaps.  It was pretty crowded, even in February, so I can only see how bad it would be in summer.  Its location is so prime that it would be all college kids anyway.  So we went to Toys R Us and got a sweet new t ball stand.  Bobby became obsessed with baseball after finding Grammys wiffleball bat before we left. You can't really pitch to him, and he got fustrated at a swinging ball, but he does love to pitch to you, then field the ball.  He will shag the ball so fast, even if I miss the ball, he'll run behind me to get it.  The set up we got actually has a swinging ball off a stick, but once he saw the ball on the tee, he didn't use it anymore.  The bat is a slightly better size too, but still probably too heavy for a 1 year old. So, with no beach time, we headed to Harris Teeter.  The Food Lion is really close and this is like 6 miles past that, so it's a treat.  And it's a nice new one.  Didn't get much, it was more the principal of it, just big fat blueberries, yum - even at $5 a pint. ouch.  But the Food Lion does have mini Chobani yogurt cups, which the Teeter doesn't.  (now you see why I don't blog; no one's paying to advertise on here!)

Bobby is quite the chatter bug, noisy without really saying much,  Rick is worried, but I'm waiting until he's 2.   He really doesn't put even simple 2 word sentences together (I want, Bobby eat)  I think it's because he's so good at communicating with his grunts and signs....

When he gets hurt, even a fake hurt, he wants a kiss and rub on his ow-ee.  But I also see him kissing his own finger where he has a cut.  It's pretty cute.

Tuesday

Sweet new shovel

My one reservation about this house was that it's on a busier road.  It really isn't a main road, or even that busy, but it's sort of on the way to a lot more houses, so people go too fast. But, it finally stopped raining enough to go outside and play, so of course we did and what I figured out is that if we go out back, we can run across the fairway, cut through someones yard (or walk to the opening) and get to another quieter street.  We also found a sand bunker 4 or 5 houses down, which is practically a huge sandbox. Woohoo.  So we took our new awesome shovel out ($3 or 4 at Target) and had a nice afternoon. Also very nice from Target, the California Chicken Salad.  TONS of dried cherry, goat cheese, walnuts on top of salad with a good poppyseed dressing.  You wouldn't think I'd like eating at a snack bar, but it's perfect to kill time after a shopping trip and make sure Bobby gets fed before he inevitably falls asleep in the car on the way home.  It's about a bit of a hike to Target so we combine all our shopping together and won't go very often at all.

Now when Bobby sees Cookie Monster, he puts his hand to his mouth and waves it about and goes arghh.

We made a flower out of playdough today and he sniffed it.

exhausted

phew! unloading, unpacking and chasing a toddler.  and it's barely 6pm.   we're settling in now to watch some football and wind down.  tomorrow will be interesting w/o daddy, i doubt I'll get much unpacking done. got the important things out, plates and such, my slippers! and my great long underwear.  i hope it gets really cold and snowy again b/c now i have my boots and parkas and warm clothes, but of course it probably won't. we moved about a month too late for all that.  The excitement of getting my stuff back was quickly tempered by the realization that all the clothes are two sizes too small, but I also have tons of great workout clothes and new adidas in there, so one will motivate for the other.  POD is leaving tomorrow morning and our washer/dryer better come soon (as soon as i buy them)  And I am rescinding my invitations and reissuing them as a cleaning party invitation. So much dust in wrapped items, how does that happen?

Made it

We moved down to Hampstead today (15 miles north of Wilmington) Since the computer is our only source of entertainment, I won't blog too long.  The house is great, way more than we need and were we to stay longer, it would be tempting to really decorate and furnish it (entry way, mud hallway off garage etc) I hope everyone can come visit us. The closets are huge and there's a sink in the laundry room.  Aah, little joys.  Bobby had a great time running the empty rooms.  Unfortunately, the handles are all latches (not knobs) which he can reach and loves to, so the doors will have to be locked.  We got a mattress and a few things out of the POD and besides my jackets, I'm really excited to have my alarm clock back.  It's the best.

First thing we unpacked (a giant puzzle too)

Too tall to hang from, much to his dismay

Misses his Grammy :(

Moving

I hope this move isn't too traumatic for Bobby, he has slept just under 12 hours for the last two nights.  (usually it's 11-11.5)  We'll see, he's a trooper, but when we moved to Michigan, I thought he was teething the way he was waking up, then no teeth ever showed up.  (when they did, he doesn't bat an eye).  We will drive down tomorrow, then come back to Greensboro to get the big stuff in a few weeks.

I am excited to move, but not excited to leave Loch Ridge ct or Grammy.  We just have such a good thing going.  But I am so pumped to get my jackets and shoes out of storage! And who knows what else will be waiting for me that I have forgotten about, hopefully no bugs or animals though!

We had two nice days (over 60) here and we spend all afternoon outside, he loves to "pick up" leaves and break sticks.  We'll have to have a fire tonight just to use all the kindling up.

And, Auntie Elizabeth, thank you for Goodnight Gorilla, Bobby and Grammy read it all the time, sometimes twice a night!

And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLYN!

Hard Work

This kid, like all toddlers I'm sure, is hard work.  This has been a long week for some reason.  Trying to keep busy inside I guess.  I look forward to and create errands.  Storytime was moved up a day b/c Tuesday was so boring, but it did get above 45 for a bit so we went for a walk and to the playground.  Wednesday, we went to a bouncey house while it rained, which he loves. Today, I tried to go to Walmart at 10am and he fell asleep about 2 minutes away from the house.  It was a rough night last night, waking at 2, 3, and finally up for the day at 4am.  Inexplicably too.  So that's why he's in bed now already.

We did get outside and run around today.  He's been asking for snow, but I can't produce.  There was a cement truck in the neighborhood which we had to stare at forever.  He's really regimented now and makes sure I put a hat on him when we have to go out.  He also love his gloves, not mittens though. His new obsession is scissors, I'm mean seriously, he's not even 2.  He is a sponge I guess. Still likes to cook and clean.  Also obsessed with Elbo.  If you sit near the computer or tv, he tries to make you turn it on.  And today, when we tried to have some quiet time, he wasn't even interested in the rest of Sesame street, just wanted Elbo.  But he does love his 6 inch, 5 dollar grover doll.  He is really into Elmo and I guess it's from our books and coloring books, and he's just put it all together, that now he talks and is on tv. woohoo.

He will, however, drop everything and have you read to him.  but he is picky about books and knows which ones he wants to hear.  He has been doing this strange thing, where it seems like he wants to pick up things in the books.  He is also quite the chatterbox and still running everywhere.  And he can jump like a frog, it's the cutest.

His real obsession though, is Grammy.  He runs around the house looking for her, throwing his palms up in the air when she isn't home.  When he hears a cough or sneeze or the door open, he bolts to her.  He will push me away and tell me no if I try to get near him.  He will only jump to her.  He cuddles with her like I never get.  I wonder if it stemmed from me leaving last week and them having a good 24 hours alone together where he didn't miss me then either.

We are moving so soon, and hope to really shore up a lease tomorrow finally.  Then we'll get our stuff down in the next two weeks, so plan your weekends at the beach with us!  Then I will really have a rude awakening, having Grammy here as a backup and Rick home has made me spoiled; it will be even harder with no breather until after bedtime.  I'd like to think I didn't rely on Grammy to do that much, but when I wanted to read the paper or make a meal or just put away clothes, it was so great to have her be able to play with him. I know I was so lucky these last 18 months!

First Haircut

Don't have good before/after pics, but Bobby got his first haircut in Greenville from Aunt Mary Beth.  He was perfect.  Minimal squirming and no crying.  and he looks so much better than his long baby hair shag.

2010 Holidays

We had a super great Christmas.  I loved having everyone here and all the chaos it brought.  Bobby liked all his presents and all the events, baking, playing and decorations that came with the holidays.  We went to Memphis for six days and had a nice, relaxing time there.  We went to the zoo and the childrens museum, and some playgrounds.  We weren't really used to so much downtime and watched a lot of tv, but Bobby really took to his Grandpa (after a few days of warm up) and it was a good visit.  He slept on a matress on the floor in his own room and bedtime wasn't a nightmare.  It is hard to have a toddler in your lap, even for that short of a flight. Next week, Grandma Roseann comes and then shortly after that we move down to Camp LeJeune, so it will be a busy busy month.

19 months

Bobby can jump! Two feet off at the same time.  Very thrilling stuff.

He can also answer in the affirmative.  It is a vigorous nod, with "da" for yes.

It was bound to happen

I was getting food out of the freezer for dinner, I said, chicken, and Bobby said, bok bok.

Crafting

So this is what I was working on, which everyone saw, but I wanted to document.

I was glad to have some real oohs and aahs, as it took me a long time and it was very tedious, cutting all those ornaments and gluing all that ric rack. And famous last words, "Well if you're going to make one, you may as well make two or three" That's 75 ornaments! (including the star) The burlap was the hardest to work with actually. The sewing machine couldn't handle it, and we had to do something to stop the fraying so it all got glued hems. thanks Grammy, that was her boring job. I didn't finish the string, but I figure everyone can make a bow of the best length that works for them. (I have more string available!) And of course, AFTER we finished, we finally found red and green velcro (preferred for the ornament 'hooks') at Lowe's of all places. I guess I still owe Emily one, so maybe that one will be perfect. It was fun and not that bad all in all. We did most of it after bedtime, but Rick also got Bobby out of my hair so I could do some cutting.

18 Months

Busted

24 pounds, 4 ounces (25% percentile)
33 3/4 inches (75%)
Developing well.. says about 15-20 words, plus more signs and animals sounds

Santa skyped me today

I was hoping to embed this as a video, but no such luck.

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/8TZc2SJeFIbaQqddBq93SA

Worst mother ever, Part I

Add caption

Look closely and you will see his new chipped teeth. Tripped over the mini rocking chair onto the plastic tub of toys, while I think he was trying to pull out the fire engine from the corner. I was sitting right next to him. Thought he had just cut his lip. He cried for a long time, which I get because all of us has been head butted in the lip and think how much that hurts.

I hope his tooth gets bigger and you can't notice that it's now triangle shaped, because they don't fall out for a while.  Sorry kiddo.

Just a few glue gun burns later

It started with a simple trip to Michaels to get a frame.  Then we got some pom poms, some felt and some glue and voila (which I originally typed wah-la). We made a few wreath photo ornaments, did a lot of finger painting, a lot more scribbling,  a hand print ornament, a cardboard angel and a thread spool elephant (from the church group at Santas sitting) and a lot of cookies and baked goods.  It has been a good holiday season so far. I think I'll wait until after bedtime to wrap presents though.

This is what I've been working on...

The whole gang  (Go Bruins)

And Elmo had to sneak in there too

Bobby enjoys them, especially if you hide behind a chair or something.  He probably doesn't like them as much as he should for my effort...They were fairly easy to do, but now it's really easy for me to pick on their flaws.  The gingerbread man still needs a nose, and the snowman might get a hat, but they might be done too.  Next up, cookie monster!  Put in your requests kids!

Help

Somebody come and eat all these cookies! I only really like pizzelles. but of course,  I eat all of them anyway.  Does York need fudge? You can guess the content of my January 1st post...

We had that kid

After 45 minutes of waiting, Bobby screamed his head off when he got near Santa. Up to that point, it was ho ho ho, fire, tree - all good. They had cat adoptions which kept him interested and cookies and craft/ornament making afterward. Good day, except for not actually sitting on Santas lap. We'll try again next weekend somewhere else, but I don't expect different results. oh well. (and how good is that Santa)

It's that time of year!

It was a little too quiet

It was one of those times, he started with the cookie sheet cabinet, so I was on the other side of the room (crafting) and then knew he up was to no good when it was so quiet! At least he wasn't eating it, or the sprinkles.

He is so funny, He says Ho Ho Ho, to the Santas. The house looks really nice and he hasn't broken too many ornaments - no nice ones.Every morning he goes and turns on the tree lights. We are really excited for everyone to be together finally.

I am daily stunned by how smart (I think) he is. The things he knows baffles me, He must pay attention really well, and I don't know that I knew a 1.5 year old would know all those things. His language is coming along too. Nothing too big, but he copies a lot more of what we say and is trying a few more sounds. He says Happy (appi really) and we heard belly the other day. Those are good two syllable words to start with. And it took 18 months, but he finally says NO. He has shaken head before, mostly when he doesn't want to eat something, but now it's accompanied with a really sweet light no.

And, best of all, he gives hugs and kisses better, even to animals on book pages.