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!

Such a Big Boy...

Leo is doing so many cool things lately.  He has started repeating everything we say (including less-than-desirable words that mommy and daddy need to stop using) and he repeats our actions, pretty accurately, too.  His speech is clearer every day and he puts the ending sounds on words now.  When you ask him how old he is, he gets excited and says "TWO!!!" and hold up two fingers, either his index finger on each hand or two on the same hand, but if on the same hand they are always crossed. 

Last week Leo started saying "I Love You". It was the sweetest thing ever and was totally unexpected. He was in his high chair and I was walking toward him and told him I loved him, and he said it back to me! It sounded more like "I yuv yoooou" and then he wanted a kiss. And now each time he says it, or we ask him to say it, we get an automatic kiss right after. It's the most precious thing ever.

He loves to drink out of a regular glass, so we let him use a little juice glass for his milk with dinner.  He does really well with it and rarely spills.  He still sleeps well and sleeps with two books.  When I come in to get him in the mornings he is usually awake, but is lying in his bed looking at his books.  His favorite right now is "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". 

Leo is into colors now and everything is yellow.  Then it may be blue or green, but it's always yellow on the first try.

This past weekend he woke up around 8:30 am.  I got his milk and brought him back in to our bedroom and he cuddled a little bit with us but then got squirmy.  I had a thought to put in one of his Mr. Rogers DVDs and put a pillow down on the floor in front of the TV.  He sat right down on the pillow with his milk and his monkey and watched that DVD for about 15 minutes before he got up.  James and I were so impressed (and grateful that we could stay in bed a few minutes longer). 

(Please disregard the basket of laundry, at least it's clean!)

We are having a low-key birthday celebration for him this year.  Just family here at the house.  I am looking forward to it.  I plan to bake his cake this year and I am going to attempt a two-tier Yo Gabba Gabba cake.  We'll see how it goes.  We got him an activity table for his gift.  On one side it is a train track, on the other it is a lego table.  He will love it.

Here are a few more pictures of him from this weekend.  The Cozy Coupe got to come inside this past weekend due to the rain and Leo enjoyed carting some of his stuffed animals and books around the house.

Oh I just love this little pumpkin.

Where's My Baby?...

Ok, so it's been this way for a while (since Leo was about 19 months) but I haven't really talked much about it on here.  Leo is no longer a baby.  He is officially a little boy.  Not sure why I feel the need to blog about this.

Tonight we rocked for quite a while and he was so content to sit there with me and cuddle.  He'd point to things around the room and name them.  And he's saying things like "light's on" and "look at birds".  He pointed to my shirt while we were rocking and said (what sounded like), "this is mommy's shirt".  So sweet.  I swear I cannot get enough of him.  He's so much more content since he's had his tubes and he can obviously hear so much better.  He will sit with us on the couch and watch Yo Gabba Gabba.  That never happened before-the only time he'd sit still was when he was in his high chair with food in front of him.

He loves fruit snacks.  He still also loves bananas, grapes, cheese, carrots, and tomatoes.  We have yet to find a food he doesn't like.  He also loves his stuffed animals and blankets (night nights).  His Monkey pillow pet his still his favorite though (he calls it "Money"). 

He's so happy in the mornings and just looks so sweet when I come in to get him and he pops up from under his blanket.  He's a hugger and a kisser and loves to jump and skip around the house.

Ok, just a quick update tonight.  His two-year well-check is soon and I am eager to see how tall he is...

Here is a picture from the other night, he was helping me in the kitchen:

He lined them up himself and found the matching lids.

Summer's End...

It's been a wonderful summer.  Busy, like usual, but wonderful  We've had just the right amount of out-of-town guests, vacations, and stay-at-home time. 

Leo is such an interesting little person.  He seems so grown up all of a sudden.  Since his tubes have been in I can tell he can hear so much better and he repeats words so much more accurately.  His speech is clearing up and he just seems calmer. 

He will repeat just about everything we do or say and it's really funny.  He still says things like, "Abba (Gabba), where'd it go?  Bye Bye Abba."  He will do that with everything.  He's also started saying, "What happened?" "Here ya go," and "It's getting dark."  We have to look at two books each night while we rock, he holds one and I hold one.  He is actually enjoying listening to books now, too, and I think it's because he can hear so much better.  He has to give everyone hugs before going to bed and usually tries to leave his room for more hugs after we've started rocking.  When I go to put him in his crib after we rock, he always says, "rock, rock!".  Tonight while we were rocking (after my bath) he kept feeling my hair and saying, "hair's wet".  He also says cute things like, "I did it," "Awww man," and, "alright!" 

His favorite show to watch is Yo Gabba Gabba.  He absolutely loves it.  It's actually a cute show and I know he loves it because of all the songs and music.  He's started saying, "Foofa, Foofa" when he sees all the characters.  It's really cute.  Sometimes he calls her "Poopa" but after I say Foofa he gets it right.

I just wanted to make a post because I am heading back to work tomorrow.  I remember feeling so emotional at the end of the summer last year.  It was because I knew no summer would ever be that way again.  Leo was still a baby last summer and I knew that he would grow up so fast.  I feel emotional this summer, too, but not nearly as much as last.  Leo is so much fun and we have such a sweet, happy, beautiful relationship.  He loves his mommy and he fills my heart with so much happiness I can't even put it into words. 

His birthday is next month.  I can't believe he will be two.  He gets better and better with each day that passes and I hope he feels the same about me.  He goes back to Miss Stephanie's full time tomorrow and he will have fun seeing his friends and learning new things.  I will certainly miss my alone time with him, but I know it will be a great year.

Lots of Fun and Other Stuff...

So we've been our usual amount of busy this summer.  I will start from today and go backwards...

Leo got tubes in his ears this morning.  He was a champ! Here he is in his little tiger gown waiting for surgery...

 Dr. Chicola said that he had a lot of fluid in both ears that had been in there for a long time.  I am so happy we put the tubes in now.  Leo will feel so much better!  After surgery, his Dr. came to talk to us and said that after they brought Leo back, he was very calm and just sitting on the bed watching everyone do their thing.  Then when it came time to put the anesthesia mask on his face, he held it over his nose and mouth and within a few seconds he fell over to the side, asleep.  Dr. Chicola said he was surprised how calm Leo was.  They warned us that it would be typical for Leo to cry coming out of the anesthesia, but he didn't cry or fuss at all.  He was groggy for a few minutes and seemed a little loopy, but never fussed and sat with me while I rocked him for about 30 minutes.

He was ready for that milk!  He hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 7 pm yesterday evening.  I am so proud of my little man.  He seemed to feel just fine today; you would have never guessed he'd had surgery this morning.

Leo is talking all the time now and it's really fun.  That's another reason I am happy he has tubes, it should help clear up his speech.  He's started saying things like, "Helicopter...where'd it go?" and "Daddy...where'd he go?"  He is still very polite and uses "Thank You" quite often (and appropriately).  He also loves to say Bye Bye to things and people, "Bye Bye Daddy", "Bye Bye Mommy", "Bye Bye Spring", "Bye Bye Minnie", "Bye Bye Outside", "Bye Bye Helicopter".  And we also get a big happy greeting every morning" "HI MOMMY", "HI DADDY".  He requests to talk to "Amaw and Popo" (Grandma and Papaw) all the time and loves Skype.  The other night before bath time he said,  "I go peepee in the potty."  That's probably his longest sentence to date.  And he has, in fact, been going pee in the potty on a regular basis after his bath each night.  We are so proud and he is proud of himself. 

Our trip to St. Pete Beach was totally awesome and relaxing and fun and perfect.  I had so much fun and I think we all did.  Kendra and I had fun recreating the good ole jr high days...playing in the gulf and pool like we did when we came down to Panama City.

Only this time we were of legal drinking age which made it extra fun.  Chae and Leo had fun hanging out and James found a nice little internet cafe to work in, so his days weren't too unpleasant either.  Ken and I also had a blast taking drives with my mom and listening to stories of when she used to vacation down in Treasure Island with her family and friends.  (Don't worry Mom, I won't post any of your secrets!)  We also went to the Tampa Rays vs New York Yankees MLB game.  It was rather enjoyable and Leo lasted 7 innings which is more than I expected.  Here he is watching a home run...

Here are some other pictures from our trip.  I had to steal these from my mom because I only took two pictures from my camera phone (and zero pictures from my camera) while we were there.  Woops.  Guess I really was having too much fun. 

What a wonderful trip.  I think we are going to try to figure out a way to do a family vacation like this every summer (with Katie and Brett, too!) instead of making the Indiana/Cincy trip each summer.  I don't know if we'll be able to swing it, but I sure hope we can.  It was so much fun.

I am leaving you with my favorite picture from the trip.  It's one of Kendra's so I'm stealing it from her. She is a wonderful, wonderful photographer.  (Check out her blog: Krantzography).  She took so many beautiful pictures, but I am only going to post one...

Watching the sunset on our last evening in St. Pete.  It was simply perfect...