Mr. Leo Updates...

There is no denying it anymore...Leo is a little boy and I am afraid that all signs of baby are gone.  I think I am still holding on to a few things (like rocking him each night and keeping him in his crib) maybe to make myself feel better, but he is a little boy now. 

I think it's because he is talking in sentences now and asking me "why?" all the time.  It's fun to be able to carry on real conversations with him, but I do miss the baby-ness.  Don't get me wrong, it is getting easier and I am obviously happy that he is developing well, there is just something about a baby that a mommy misses.  Maybe it can't really be described.  I just miss my baby (a little bit).

These were taken in October 2010 and at the time I remember thinking he seemed so grown up.  Time truly goes by too quickly.

Some of his favorite phrases include (but are not limited to): "Mommy, I did it", "Mommy, he's watchin'" (telling me that his elf on the shelf is watching him!), "I take a baff (bath)", "I take a shower", "Leo's shirt's blue (or red or black), "Mommy going to work", and "I give Stef a hug".  He can be quite demanding, but he is so funny and so happy. 

He loves seeing all the christmas trees and christmas lights and each morning he instructs me to turn on the lights on the mantle. 

I still rock him each night and read at least two books to him.  His favorites are "One Fish Two Fish", "Happy Birthday to You!", "Noodle", and "The Elf on the Shelf". 

He can count to ten (and probably higher) and he can identify orange, red, yellow, blue, green, pink, brown, and black correctly almost 100% of the time. 

The other morning he woke up with a dry diaper!!!  I was so excited and proud.  Of course, he's had full diapers the mornings since, but I think it's a good sign that he's heading in the right direction.  He still goes in the potty each night before (or after) his bath. 

He still loves Yo Gabba Gabba but has added the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to his short list of favorite shows to watch.

I think one of these days I will post the letters that I wrote to him on his first and second birthdays.  These letters are housed in his baby book, but I think I want to have them on here when I decide to make this blog in to a book.  I've gone back and forth with myself about posting them, but I think I will.  I know my mom will like to read them, too.

That's all for now. 

Thanksgiving Recap...

We've been busy here, as usual, but things have been good.  We packed up the whole family (including Spring and Minnie) and headed to Greenbrier, AR for a long weekend of Thanksgiving family togetherness.  It is always so fun to see Leah and James' aunts, uncles, grandmother, cousins, and other family friends.  They are a wonderful group of people.  We had so much fun just spending time with everyone.  I come from a rather small family in relation to James.  His mother has seven brothers and sisters!  I just really enjoy being around all of the family (and listening to stories and looking at old pictures).

The day after Thanksgiving we headed to Heber Springs to hike Sugarloaf mountain.  I had hiked it before, but did not go all the way to the top where it requires quite a bit of rock climbing to get all the way up.  This time I went all the way and it was exhilarating.  Here are a few pics from the trek...

Sugarloaf!

Leo and Isaiah stopping for a rest...

Leo waited at the bottom of the rocks with Grandma Leah...

Isaiah and some other random dude (who, I think, thought I was taking his picture)...

Hubs...

Leo, Van, Leah, and Isaiah...

Of course James had to launch a couple discs from the top!

And we made it back down!

Next, we headed over to see the Trumpeter swans.  They migrate to the same lake in Heber Springs every year.  (And they are apparently the largest native North American bird).  They were fun to watch and listen to.  They really do sound like trumpets! 

It is so pretty there!

The next day we headed to Little Rock to do a little ice skating!  It was a blast.  I was unsure what Leo would think of it, and at first he couldn't even walk in his skates, but he wanted to be out there with us the whole time.  By the end of our session he was walking around (off the ice) on his skates just fine!  We are planning to go ice skating at Swonder's while we're in Indiana for Christmas!

He loved being out on the ice.  He seemed to take the whole thing very seriously.  It was cute.

There are only two more weeks of work before Christmas break.  Our decorations are almost finished.  Our house is looking and feeling joyous.  Happy Holidays!







Happy Halloween...

Leo was a blue lego for Halloween this year.  It took me a while to come up with his costume idea.  Last year he was Charlie Brown and it was the cutest thing ever.  I contemplated him being Charlie Brown again this year...

I can't believe that was one year ago!!!

His costume was easy to make: a diaper box, 8 round craft boxes, paper, and blue spray paint.  Mom sent him a Colts hoodie to complete the look.  He loved it!!!!

We took him to a couple of my friends' houses last night since we will be leaving town tomorrow.  He also had a fun Halloween party at his sitter's on Friday so he had plenty of dress-up fun. 

Here are some pictures from last night.  His friend Loren was Cinderella...

Here are the two of them one year ago...

Happy Halloween!!!  We will be traveling to Orlando tomorrow.  I will be attending a school psych conference and Mom is meeting us down there!  It will be a great week!

What's New?...

This will be a quick update with a few things Leo has been doing lately:

1) He is talking so much more clearly these days, and he also seems to be picking up on so much more.  This morning when we were riding to his sitter's I said "Mommy loves you Leo. Do you love Mommy?" and he said "And Daddy.  Daddy at work".  I was pretty impressed with that.  He also has been saying "Nooooo, Mommy.....sit!" when I tell him it's time for bed.

2) He loves pumpkins and spiders (all the halloween decorations are out!).  He also loves skateboards and bikes.  We are thinking about skipping the tricycle and getting him a little bicycle for Christmas.  He would be so excited if Santa left him a BIKE!!

3) Our current method of discipline is timeout (unless he is doing something that could result in serious harm, then he gets a swat on the bottom).  We generally use it after he hits or throws something out of frustration.  It serves as both a punishment and also truly lets him have "timeout" away from the situation so he calms down, because he can get so frustrated with things sometimes.  Anyway, this evening he didn't want to go to bed and he hit his daddy on the leg (not hard).  He walked over to hit me and I said "No...don't" and then he said "imeout".  I asked him if he needed a timeout and he said "yeah" so I told him to get in the timeout chair.  He walked right up to it and sat in it for one minute until the timer went off.  We were both very impressed and also a little concerned that maybe timeout is not really a punishment to him.  ??  However, he still knew he wasn't supposed to hit, which I think is the point.

Ok, I will post a few pictures.  I realize I still haven't done his birthday post.  It will likely be a bunch of pictures now that it's been a month since his birthday.  That was a great day, though.

The air is cool and crisp here.  We've been enjoying the backyard.

He was happy with the new stroller purchase.  We needed a smaller one to travel with.

He continues to be the light of my life; he's an awesome little guy...

Two-Year Well-Check...And All is Well...

So while I realize that I still need to do Leo's Two-Year Birthday post, I am going to go ahead and give a quick update with Leo's Dr's appointment information: 

We saw Dr. Mahaffey today (and a medical student who is working with Dr. Mahaffey).  Both of them were very happy with Leo's development in all areas.  I didn't really have any concerns going in to this appointment and it went well.  Leo is doing well physically, cognitively, and emotionally.  He is very active, is very well coordinated, and his speech and language continue to get better and better each day. 

Leo weighs 29.7 lbs (70th %ile) and is 34.75 inches tall (50th %ile). I must say that I think his weight is actually more like 28.5 lbs, he had on a sweatshirt and his shoes when they weighed him today. Either way, I am thrilled that he has completely caught up! All the books say that most preemies catch up by the time they are two.

Dr. Mahaffey mentioned that we might want to have Leo's eyes checked with our eye doctor.  She was concerned that his left eye looked like it might turn in very slightly.  She asked if I had ever noticed, and we have actually noticed it since he was a baby.  It's not all the time, and it's very subtle, but there are times that his eye looks a little crossed, especially in pictures.  I had done a little reading on this issue and the books say that you can test if one of their eyes are crossed (or pointing outward) by shining a light in their eyes and seeing if the reflection in the eyes hits in the same spot on each.  So of course I had already done this with Leo (several months ago) and each and every time the light hits in the same spot on both eyes.  Needless to say, I am not super stressed about it, however we will have it looked at for sure.  Dr. Mahaffey said that it could just be the way his eyes are set, and that it is very subtle.

Here are some recent pics of my little man. He is a complete joy and each day is better than the last...

We've been roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over our little fire pit!

How cute is that little Nike track suit?

Someone found my sun hat and enjoyed wearing it around the house for a while.  He is actually stark naked in this picture and just got done using the potty.  :)

Birthday blog update to come soon...I promise!