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...

Wonderful Summer Busy-ness...

So, we have been super-busy with our usual vacation home (to Cincinnati and Indiana) over the Fourth of July, visits from in-laws, and preparing for our next vacation to St. Pete Beach.  We leave tomorrow morning and will be there for a full week.  We are excited.  It's like an official family vacation.  Well, if you ignore that facts that I have a school psych "summer institute"conference from Weds to Saturday, or that James has to work from the condo (if he can steal wifi) or from an internet cafe up the street.

But that's still ok with us.  My Mom, Bob, Kendra, and Chae will be there with us and we are right on the beach.  With a pool.  Sounds pretty perfect to me.  It could only be better if Katie and Brett were there, too. 

I am cutting this one short but I promise to post plenty of pics after we return.  I will leave you with a few newer shots of Leo...

Leo and his buddy Dawson...

Checking his email on my mom's computer...

Looking determined at the disc golf course at Mesker Park...

Looking worn out and sweaty after a long morning of disg golf at Mesker...

Hanging out with Daddy and cousin Rhaelen...

Best Friends...

Ok, so I realize it's been a while since my last post.  Things have been going well around here, I finished another school year on June 17th, and Leo and I had some visitors last week...

My friend from grad school, Melissa, and her darling daughter, Addison, came to vist and stayed with us for five days.  Addison is about 6 months older than Leo.  Let me just say how awesome it was to watch our kids play together.  We were both so surprised at how much our kids actually looked out for one another, and how much they actually played with eachother instead of just beside eachother.  They had SO MUCH FUN. 

Here are a bunch of pictures from their visit...

Oh we all had the best time!  It fills my heart with happiness to know that our kids love each other as much as they do.  I can't wait to watch them throughout the years...

Daddy Time and Potty Time...

James arrived home safe and sound on Friday afternoon.  Leo was so happy to see him! (And so was I!)  He ran to him in the airport and then after they hugged for several minutes, Leo would not let James stand up.  James was kneeling down hugging him and Leo wouldn't budge, he just wanted to stand close to him.  It was cute.  We finally made our way to the baggage claim and Leo was so happy his daddy was home!!!



Yesterday was a nice day around the house.  We went out to breakfast and dinner because we didn't make it grocery shopping as planned until this morning.  We went to Santino's for date night and then ran around Pensacola for a bit.  It's getting easier to take Leo out to eat these days.  He is typically very well-behaved.  He loves to eat,though, so I think that helps.

He also loves drinking water from a straw! "Munner, Munner" (Water, Water)

So this morning we finally made it to wal-mart for a huge shopping trip.  Leo now has his very own potty and he loves it!  He tells us everytime he's poo poo'd, but he also tells us sometimes before it happens (although he has yet to poo in the potty).

He seems to really like his potty and has spent a lot of time on it today.  He's definitely interested, so maybe we can work on it this summer which is something that I hadn't planned on tackling yet, but if he's into it maybe we'll try.



Some light reading material to help him "relax" (which is important according to the books).

And...we did have success tonight after his bath!!!  He went pee pee in the potty! James an I were so excited and he looked at us like we were nuts.  He didn't even want the white chocolate chip I gave him for going in the potty; instead he was begging us to let him brush his teeth.  ??  I am not going to complain...

Oh, and since we're on the subject of not complaining, how awesome is it that Leo loves all foods?! Tonight we had grilled fish with corn and salads and he loved all of it!  I am so thankful and lucky that he is a good eater!

His favorite parts of his salad are the tomotoes and cucumbers!

I believe that is all I have to report.  It's been a great weekend and I only have one more week of work left so that makes things even better!