Christmas Eve ice cream

The boys watching Peppa Pig

Snowman!

D and Daddy made a snowman today!

Fun at Chuck E Cheese

D had fun his first time at Chuck E Cheese on this ride with J. He also enjoyed the horse ride and climbing in the jungle gym!

Jumping in puddles

D jumping in puddles Peppa Pig style in the garage.

'Dishwashing'

D got his stool out earlier tonight and Grandpa and Grandma helped get it in place.
After he got done 'washing' dishes, he went on to 'washing' other things. :)

Goofball

Silly 'dishwashing' kid!

Goofy

Not the intended use for chalk?

Cheesing

It's not the best photo but here's D cheesing for the camera while eating an ice cream cone.

Toxic material???

D wanted to help vacuum and evidently he needed his goggles...

D and socks

For some reason D likes wearing socks on his hands, and he came to eat lunch with one today.

February & March update

It's been awhile since I've written an update, so here goes! Some of this will be a few months old, so I'll post things chronologically!

It looks like I've not done much since February (yikes!), so I'll try to start back then.

18 Months (February): We never got good 18 month stats for D as he was sick that time. He was almost 19 1/2 months before we got him in to get more precise measurements as he was sick with ear infections and an allergic reaction to some medicine. He was 33 lbs and 12 ounces and 35" tall - in the 95+% for weight and 95% for height.

18 Months

19 Months (March): We got D’s Christmas present (a slide) out for him to play with and he went down it a few times. However, he really was more interested in the sticks that he’d found than the slide...

19 Months

D enjoying his slide for the first time.

D having fun with his rain boots for the first time after a big rain storm.

Monsters Inc.

D watching Monsters Inc for the first time ...completely captivated.

4th of July

The parade and playing in the park wore D out.

Helping

D helping Daddy blow on hot pizza and helping Mama with the laundry.

Digging

Helping Grandpa dig post holes for the new fence.

Fun in the park (April 26, 2014)

Strawberries

First strawberries of the season from our patch - yum!

Cooling off on a warm day

D likes water so much he pulled the sprayer onto his own head!

Left handed this time

Eating cereal like a big boy

Daredevil!

21 months and still a troublemaker ...

He will use anything he can to wash dishes...  love you squirt!

Poor squirt

This was from March 26th... poor guy rolled off the couch and came into contact with Papa George's chair from when he was little. There were tears and no desire for a cool washcloth, but within minutes, D was smiling again. I definitely felt bad for him and was glad it didn't seem to bother him past the initial owie.

Gravel

We finally got some new gravel for our driveway delivered Friday afternoon, and we spent that night smoothing it out - thanks to the neighbor that let us borrow his Bobcat - the work went a lot faster. The Bobcat blew a fuse at one point so we used the wheelbarrow for a bit.

Dishwashing

Stinker

D also got hold of my phone last night (using aforementioned stool) and sent his first text message, which he actually sent to one if my gmail accounts:

Øxx€§¢£{£√€££√`|\
Q

Grandma Lori is picking D up for a long weekend .... I bet he'll keep Grandma & Grandpa on their toes!

Creative

D got his stool taken anyway last night because he wouldn't listen, so he got creative this morning. Yikes!

Kitty

No the cat didn't jump in D's crib. I put her in there and they'll talk face to face.

D is learning and growing more every day. The last few weeks he's finally realized that he was sometimes holding his cup upside down and now he doesn't do that anymore.

He's also saying 'ha' for hot. Tonight before supper I said we needed to pray, he bowed his head and clasped his hands together. When I said amen, he said it too (at least his version of it) - I was surprised! 

He also really enjoyed being outside in his new rain boots.

Allergic!

D had ear infections back in the middle of January, so had been on antibiotics. Well, someone at daycare in mid-February had RSV and D still had a little cough so I took him back in to the doctor to get checked out. 

It turned out that one ear was still infected and the other was starting to look bad too, so the doctor gave a different antibiotic this time that was supposed to have a little kick to it... well it did and got rid of the ear infections, but it turns out he is allergic to the medication!

Poor guy got hives on the last day he was taking the medication. We had thought the hives were food related, but evidently not. It took that long for the antibodies to build up against the super antibiotics.

He looked terrible, but they didn't seem to slow him down. He's finally off meds this week... maybe we'll finally get him in for his overdue 18 month checkup ... as if he's not already been to the doctor enough in the last month and a half! He realized where we were and got upset one of the times we went. :-(

I must say I'm really tired of winter. Our furnace is old, and needed a new blower a little while ago, so we're looking at replacement options. What we can afford versus what would keep the house the most comfortable. Too many options: 2 speed or variable speed furnace with a 1 or 2 speed heat pump ...

With our 4 level split house with some questionable cantilever insulation, it's not been an easy winter for our first year in the country. We're trying to make the best decision on heating/cooling upgrade possible so that our bedrooms aren't freezing in the winter and boiling in the summer.

Have I mentioned the holes in the framing allowing cold air into the crawl space and the rotted frame under the patio door with two big holes?? It's no wonder certain areas of the house are cold - caulk and spray foam will be our friends this spring and have helped some this winter!!!

Ahhh... the things you discover after buying a different house... we don't lack for projects! Just need to find the money and time to work on them all, and prioritize the list!

Chris' coaching season is in full swing so he's busy with that now. He was in Wisconsin this weekend!

I got us stuck in the driveway coming home tonight.  I was really glad my Dad was here with to help dig the car out and my mom to stay with D in the car. Today was the biggest drifts we've had so far and I didn't realize it until I got us stuck.

D has started saying more words lately too, although sometimes you have to listen really well to catch/understand  them. He says and signs "all done." Which would be really helpful if he actually understood what that meant!

He helps out with the laundry by pushing the wet clothes into the dryer for me. He also loves playing with shoes/boots and hats/gloves (preferably not his own), sitting in an empty box (tipping it over backwards with himself in it), 'washing' dishes with grandparents and 'talking' on his 'phone' (anything can be a phone).

He is also wanting to do more things by himself and will push your hand away if you try to help. Thankfully he's still mostly ok sitting in a highchair.

Suppose I should sign off as it's after 1 a.m. Here's a few pics.

New bathroom stool

D spotted his new bathroom stool right away and carried it around the upstairs until I convinced him we'd be back up later to use it.

Can't believe he's 1 ½ already! Time has certainly flown by. I don't have updated 18 month stats cause he has an ear infection that didn't want to go away, so he's on stronger antibiotics, so hopefully next week we'll be able to get his 18 month checkup done.

We're working with him to say yes and no. He really loves bananas and can eat a whole one in one sitting. Pizza, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese are also favorites.

He will drink from either a sippy cup or through a straw. We need to be working with him to use just a glass too. He doesn't do too bad using his silverware, although they take too long so he will just pick up food instead. :-)

He also enjoys watching 'The Price is Right' and 'Wheel of Fortune.' He's getting more interested in watching BabyFirst tv station.

He's started to play with Chris' old doll that we've named Michael. He will carry him around and try to share his own snack and drink.