18 Months

This past month has been pretty crazy so although this post is almost a month late I am going to pretend like it is on time so sit back and let me take you to almost 2 months ago when Leo was entering his 18 month of life...

A few things about this month, Leo's half birthday is right around the corner!  This month also marks a year in this apartment.  I remember how sentimental I got when leaving the old apartment that I brought my tiny baby to and now I am amazed at how much he has grown in this past year and how many things he has accomplished (and still accomplishes) every day. On move in day my sister Emily, while watching her own toddling 15 month old, remarked how she could just imagine Leo standing at the door waiting for Daddy or watching the outdoors.  Now we are there and she was right... Leo LOVES being able to look out the back door and will run to it if I happen to hear the car pull up and tell him that Dada is home. I know Evan loves being greeted with a big smile and hug.

Leo got his first haircut this month...courtesy of his Mama ;)  I was very sad to cut off his cute little curls he had going on at the nape of his neck but looking back at pictures he was looking a little scraggly in the hair department lol. Still adorable in my book though.  

 The haircut required two episodes of Blue's Clues and a HUGE bowl of blueberries (Leo's favorite).

  Here are some after shots, along with a photo shoot that reminded me of the photo shoot I did for his half-birthday last year. 

It is amazing how much he has changed but how much he has stayed the same.  I still see my baby : )

Leo continues building his vocabulary and just wants to communicate so badly.  There are days when he repeats a word or phrase over and over and I just don't understand then he gets so frustrated... but if I cuddle him up and look him in the eye and tell him "Leo, I know you want Mama to understand you but I am not sure what you are saying... let's try again."  My amazing little man will calm down and either repeat himself again or try a new technique like pointing or something.  I am astonished every time it happens because I know he understands what I am saying and that he trusts me to try my best.  It is a very gratifying feeling and while I know our open line of communication might not always work so well, I am just soaking it up for the time being. Among the most memorable words he learned this month... chipmunk (munk) "Aww, look at all the cute monks running around the campground!" 

We celebrated the Fourth of July with our friends Toby, Joe, Doris, Greg, and Melody.  It was lots of fun!  

We went camping twice this month!  The first time was a test night and boy it was a lot of fun (this was said dripping with sarcasm).  We went on a weeknight and headed to a campground only about a half an hour from the house which we also decided to do the day before (great planning!).  It doesn't help that it was light out until about 9:30 pm but Leo just wasn't having the whole sleeping on the ground thing.  Our normal routine went up in flames and ended up with Leo finally falling asleep exhausted at about 9:45.  Only to wake up again at about midnight and thrash violently while I tried to comfort him. When he finally fell back to sleep it was on my head.  I wished I had a picture so much that I decided to draw one... forgive the horrible artistic skill and enjoy the humor. 

Needless to say I got very little sleep that night (about 2-3 hours) and Evan had to go to work the next day leaving me to care for "child who also missed out on lots of sleep and was extremely cranky all day".  It was lots of fun folks... LOTS of fun.

My handsome men

The second camping trip went better since I knew what to expect and at least didn't set my hopes too high...  plus we had friends to share our misery with!  Doris, Greg and their daughter Melody came as well as our friend Toby and my sister Emily, nieces Sara and Rebecca and BIL Steve.  It was lots of fun having so many people to go camping with.  The kids loved playing around the campsite and it was fun watching a new generation enjoying the great outdoors.  Leo was again having problems going to sleep with the added fun of 90 degree weather (in eastern Oregon)  but I think he fell asleep around 9:30 on the 1st night, so... progress!  Our trip was going to be three nights this time so I figured if we continued on this train by the 3rd night he would be asleep by 8:45!  His normal bedtime is 7 pm but no worries, we just did what we could and managed to survive.  We got to do lots of fun things while in the Bend/Sun River region.  Including (but not limited) to tubing down the Deschutes River, hiking at Smith Rock State Parkand, and exploring the Lava River Caves.   Here are some pictures from our vacation.

Melody is such a cutie!

The gang (minus me) and Sara, Steve and Rebecca are hard to see.

Toby

Emily, Steve, Sara, and Rebecca

Doris, Greg, and Melody

Anna, Evan, and Leo

Shade was precious and scarce...

Leo is practicing his bouldering skills

Relaxing around the campsite

Hanging out with Evan

At the Deschutes River

Peek a boo!

My baby : )

        Our 18 month stats are 24lbs 10oz, 33.75 inches (90th %).

We hope you are all having a lovely summer!

Love, 

Us

17 months

Whoa... I thought it had been at least 2 months since I last wrote but I was wrong.  So much has been going on it is making my head spin.  Not to mention how quickly Leo is changing....

The last post I talked about how Leo was starting to say more and more words, and he is still adding to his vocabulary.  A few Leo words:

strawberry
blueberry
corn
pool
poop
potty
park
pet
pat
bubble bath
boat
bye-bye
bread
book
back

walk (pronounced "bach", yes it sounds like the sound a chicken makes)-  Leo sings this word as it is the chorus of a song on The Best of Elmo dvd he watches.  Destiny's Child sings it and if I sing a verse he will fill in the chorus which is walk walk but in Leo language is "bach bach".  I love it.

He knows that a sheep says baabaa and a cow says moo and a cat says meow (or neow)

Names he has now said (some only once but most of them he has used multiple times)...

Sara

Rebecca

Emily

Tiernan

Liam

Henry

Greg

Debbie

He really likes to shout names, like calling out for someone to come back so that is how I can get him to say names lol.

He is an exceptional communicator and with his mix of sign language and verbal words he gets himself understood.  One of his favorite sentences to sign is "One more time please."  He does this by using a finger held up, signing more, than please.  He signs please a lot now which makes refusing him even harder. 

This month started out with some really nice weather and Leo and I spent a decent amount of time at the garden.  Evan's parents came up to visit over Memorial Day weekend and the week following and we had fun going to stay on Cannon Beach with them, than hanging out around town.  Cannon Beach was beautiful. It was overcast and cloudy for part of the time but on Memorial Day we had gorgeous weather and we got to walk out to Haystack Rock and see the tidal pools. 

Leo LOVED the ocean and if it had been warmer I'm sure I would have been hanging out in the water all day.  The water was pretty cold and Leo ran in, got soaked and was still laughing and splashing...brrrrr!  I can only imagine how much fun he is going to have at the beach in Florida when we go in July.  During Nana and Pap's visit we were able to get some time out of the house... I was FINALLY able to take Sara on the "girl date" I had promised her for her birthday in November,  Evan and I went on a date (dinner and a movie), and I had a sub job.  We also got the soil in our garden ready for some more planting.  After they departed, we put in our tomato plants (4 of them) and put down beet seeds so our garden plot is completely used up at this point.  There are a few spaces that I think we might pull the existing plants and be able to plant something else.  Everything is growing HUGE!  I like going and seeing how much progress they are all making. 

For the past week and a half, I took over a maternity leave for a friend of mine and had a blast.  It is hard leaving Leo and thinking about what I am missing but I also find that I really enjoy being at work and talking to adults.  It definitely didn't hurt that I was leaving Leo with my sister Emily during that time.  I knew I didn't have to worry about him being neglected or unloved while he was there which is such a blessing.  It was during that week that he said Emily and has gotten much clearer while saying Sara and Rebecca (which used to sound like rababababa) I think he is saying Riri more now.  He loved going to their house and was excited when we would say where he was going for the day.  His time with them was cut a little short as Rebecca had gotten sick over the weekend so Evan took a sick day on Monday while I went to a professional development and then I had him on Tuesday.  He was really well behaved and I was able to finish up what I needed to do.  So the plan for the upcoming year is to start working as a substitute (same maternity leave) in a Kindergarten half and extended day class then finishing up the day with a sixth grade literacy block.  Talk about two ends of the spectrum!  I am excited about starting out the school year but am apprehensive about leaving Leo.  I know he will be fine but I'm not so sure about me : /    I have been incredibly spoiled getting to stay home with Leo this long and I know it.  As fast as this past year and a half has gone, I know it will only seem to go faster once I am not with Leo 24/7.  I am trying to make full use of our time together this summer to make memories that will sustain me until next summer.

So let's see... I am going to add on some random happenings around our household,

Leo is now down to one feeding per night and will hopefully be weaned completely at night within the next two weeks.  (fingers-crossed!)  He is getting in more molars, has at least 6 teeth on top but he still only has 2 (front) bottom teeth plus two bottom molars.  Our new favorite activity is the pool.  After going once Leo started signing water (meaning the pool) and pointing in its direction.  After going twice he threw a tantrum when we left and got home.  After the third time he had learned the word "pool" and I am pretty sure he could get there on his own if I let him.  He starts in on "pool, pool, pool" if I walk in that direction which is a problem on the cold, rainy days because it is the same direction as our mailbox and the office.  Well,  I am off to get some reading done... I can't believe my baby is 17 months today.  Pretty soon he'll be closer to 2 than to 1 : /   Last and final thing is that we have started learning how to go potty!  Leo showed an interest in the potty about 2-3 weeks ago and he was even telling me he was going to the bathroom either during or right before.  I figured there is no harm in spending the summer working on it so here we go!  Love to you all!