Funhouse!

Here is one of the knobs from our kitchen cabinets. Because it's shiny, you can see me reflected in the knob. My reflection is a little distorted, kind of like a funhouse mirror.

That's just to introduce the fact that the little booger thinks these cabinet knobs are AMAZING!! He moves around and makes faces at it just to see how his face distorts in the reflection. It took me a while to figure out why he was staring at the drawer and laughing the first time he did it.

This is what he does while I cook dinner some nights. It's great.

Always the helper, that boy.

There is much documentation on how much little guy loves to help.  (Just search "helping" in the search box in the upper right hand corner.)  Sometimes it's great and sometimes not so great.

Regretably, I can be a little slack about keeping up with the lawn which makes it tougher once I decide to do it.  It never gets too bad, but since we got our reel mower I should really mow more often.  I say that every time I mow.  Tonight the kiddo came outside and wanted to help push the mower.  So what could I do but let him?  Look at that satisfied face.

After he pushed the mower a little while he began straddling (as best he can with his 1.5' legs; poor kid has no chance) my path to watch the grass shoot out.  When I would stop he'd walk up the the mower and say, "Hey, get outta the way, Stinker!' then hustle out of the way.  He's becoming a great little talker and is so funny sometimes.  I love that kid.

Win Some, Lose Some

The little booger has used the potty three times in the past two days! We are SO PROUD!!! He also walked around Lowes this evening with a pot on his head. We're not as proud about that... but we have a photo!

The Great Outdoors

We went hiking yesterday with some friends. The little stinker is SO independent! I guess as long as he has his goldfish, he's good.

Glowsticks!

Because the little booger isn't usually awake when it's dark out, we let him play with his glow-bracelets before dinner.

He loved it!

Now That's Good Luck

My parents don't get to see the little dude that much because we live really far away. Their visits are always uncannily well-timed, though. They got to see the little booger take his first steps last year, and this past weekend they (with my brother, sister-in-law, aunt, and uncle) got to witness our first "Can you please make that order to-go because this kid is driving everyone in the restaurant crazy with his bad behavior" moment.

Here's the little dude enjoying his spaghetti in the privacy of our hotel room:

Terrible twos, here we come!

Forget the boy, I'm getting a new Jeep!!!

Ha, I just had to blurt it out.  A new black Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is being scheduled for build especially for me!  Alright, back to the kid.

We had a wonderful time visiting family in New Hampshire this past weekend for a wedding.  Here is the little guy (not looking too happy) on Trot-Trot, the famous horse in front of Polly's Pancake Parlor.

Here's the little guy and me waiting for our breakfast at the Littleton Diner just like all the presidential candidates do.

And here we are in front of the New Hampshire State Capitol.

The little guy had a lot of fun.  We received this video from Gramps.  He did this forever and had a blast!

Busy Weekend!

We took a long weekend off of work and flew to New Hampshire to go to my cousin's wedding (it was lovely). The little dude had a great time on the airplane (he was pretty good!).

He also had a blast watching the rain with his Gramps.

We'll have some more pictures up soon.

No Privacy

There's no privacy in our house... for anyone.

At least nobody seems to mind...

Dogs

No new pictures of the little stinker for today. Instead, here's an update on the dogs. Now that we have the little dude in the backseat and we don't want him to be trampled, I sit in the back with Beau and Sadie gets the front seat. Here she is enjoying all her extra space:

And here's Beau spazzing out after we dropped Sadie off at the kennel:

Ugh, these dogs. Here's one more photo of them from before we set up both crates during our last move:

Running Fast!

"Ready, set, go! Running fast!" is the latest thing the little dude loves to say. He backs up against a wall for the countdown and then sprints across the house. Here he is trying to get Beau involved.

It's never going to happen. Poor Beauregard.

Stacking!

I bought some cool blocks for the little dude on my last business trip. The guy at the toy store said the little stinker was about old enough to start stacking things. Well, what do you know?

He's stacking stuff like it's his job!

Speed Racer!

The little guy loves his scooter.* He actually can push it and glide now. He always says "Whee" whenever he's rolling along.

We were at a park the other weekend and Eric was pushing the little guy on the swing a lot harder than I ever push him. The poor little booger was white-knuckled from hanging onto the bucket swing for dear life and he was still choking out "Whee.Whee.Whee."

His scooter "Whee" is a lot more joyful than his panic-stricken swing version.
*We're getting a free replacement scooter through the recall program.

Good Idea!

Hallmark is onto something with its recordable books (little dude's Nana and Pops got/made him one). The best thing about it is that when the little guy wants to hear the same book read the same way 500 times in a row, he can do it all by himself (if it's this book that he wants).

Elmo Still Has Ducks

Remember how much the little dude used to love Elmo? Well, the only thing that has changed is how clearly he can ask for the videos (and that sometimes he sings the songs by himself-- adorable!).

He figured out how to replay the video tonight (hitting the space bar, apparently), so that was exciting for him. He learns something new every day...

Potty Time!

Sort of... The little dude is really interested in the potty, so we bought him one yesterday and he totally peed in it tonight! We're ridiculously proud of him. Here's a photo of him looking like an 80-year-old and giving a thumbs-up.

Girls!

And Jeeps! The little stinker was looking at the cover of his dad's Quadratec catalog when he pointed to the bikini-clad model and said "What's that?" Eric answered "Those are girls!" The little dude kept turning back to the cover and saying "Girls! Jeep!"

Isn't he a little young for this?

He's so big!

Here's a photo of just how big the little guy is getting.

When did that happen?

Hey There Blue Eyes!

I gave the little booger my old pair of glasses so he'd keep his grubby little hands off of my new ones. He loves them! Look at that cheese ball.

Nice Shoes, Dude!

Recently, the little fashionisto has been exploring my shoe collection. I never thought to pair these shoes with plaid shorts, but I think it works!

What a risk-taker! I shall call him mini-Andre Leon Talley.

Too Big? Say What?

The little dude sat in a Bumbo on occasion when he was six months old... and he was never a huge fan. Until now, that is. Here he is sitting in his cousin's Bumbo this weekend:

He's way too big for it. He actually can't really get out of it-- the chair stays on him if he stands up. But, if he flings himself to the side and rolls over he can pop it off his tush.

Totally classic. It's dangerous and hilarious.

Bad Idea!

Here is a good reason not to unpack while home alone with an awake toddler:

He helped pick up all those diapers, though, which was sweet of him.

Tomato, Tomahto

The little stinker was very careful with a tomato he carried all the way across his grandparents' yard this weekend ("Don't drop it! Both hands!"). Once he got to the porch, though, he totally spiked it!

It was hilarious. (Poor tomato.)

Outback Steakhouse!

We went to Outback for dinner tonight. Yum! The little booger had a great time. He ate some bread, croutons, goldfish, two chicken fingers, several pieces of broccoli, and the entire cup of honey-mustard sauce. He's had a little head cold this week... he's still hacking up a lung on occasion but it appears that his appetite is back.

If they ever need a spokes-toddler we've got the man kid for the job!

Disgusting!

Here is a list of disgusting things for your reading pleasure:

1. The little booger's blanket is starting to smell... hopefully we can wash and dry it tomorrow before he notices that it's missing.

2. The little stinker has started sucking the bathwater from around the drain after the tub empties. It's really gross and I refuse to photograph it.

3. In related news, he will drink out of the dog dish if he isn't holding a cup of water as soon as he gets thirsty. He'll stick his arm in the bowl and then suck the water off his hand. Our beagle's underbite means the dog water is even more slobbery than normal dog water. Bleagh.

4. He almost went potty in the potty tonight. What that means is that he peed on the floor next to the potty. He was pretty proud of himself for this dubious achievement.

So, as a total non-sequitor, here's a cute picture of our disgusting and sleepy little dude and his smelly blanket:

I love that kid.

More to Learn!

The little booger was too busy playing with our neighbor's toys to eat dinner, so he had a big bedtime snack. After he said he was done, he asked for more goldfish. I asked how many goldfish he wanted-- which is when we found out one hilarious thing he still can't do.

In his defense, hands are complicated and he's still new at this! Is it awful that we laugh at him?

Action Shot!

Here's the little stinker trying to hurt himself last weekend:

He survived without even a bruise!