sum sum summertime!

It turned out to be a pretty busy summer and recently has gotten even busier and kept Fred on the go, which is a good thing for him and his mommy as it turns out. It looks like fall will continue to be full of activities and we started this week having our buddy Noah with us on Mondays and Tuesdays for the school year seeing as how his mommy had to go back to school (ha ha!).

So let's see what photos I have been meaning to post to show how big he is and how much fun we have had...
Here's Fred showing his new style of being a Paleontologist, because you never know where you might find dinos, it is necessary to carry around a whisk broom and shovel larger than you are.


And then the next exciting thing to happen to us, was to go on vacation. Now, when I find something I like, I get a little nutso passionate about it. For example, as friends of mine you will probably already know things that I love - fall & Halloween (a particularly disturbing obsession too, as it seems I'm on prozac the whole season long, but I assure you that is my natural state), Harry Potter, West Wing, Trader Joe's. It's not that I just enjoy this things, I LOVE them, they are sadly a part of my identity. And so too is my favorite Michigan town: South Haven. It's utopia to me, because there are farms and beaches and a little local town that is walkable and has toys stores and ice cream shops and you can bike any where. So we rented the cutest little house and invited all sorts of friends and family to stop by and enjoy our little piece of paradise. Here are photo's of Fred looking stylish again in his beach attire, it seems he won the yellow jersey and we all called him Lance. He wasn't sure about the strong waves of lake michigan but he loved a hole that was dug to the water table and we were happy to oblige in making a natural playpen of sorts.




BLOKUS! It's going to sweep the nation.


Fred ordering for us to enjoy some fine dining (Maria's Lasagna - the most delicious thing ever! The secret is the shredded carrots in the sauce to make it sweet - yeah that's right I asked!

Blueberry picking with Aunt Mary:

Ok maybe they weren't quite that big... However the philosophy was definitely, "One for Fred, one for the bucket, whole fist full for Fred, none for the bucket".


When we went to pay we realized we should have pre weighed Fred so we could have had a more accurate idea of just how much he ate!

There was also the most awesome park 2 blocks from where the house was on the way to the beach. It was this crazy wooden maze thing with slides and cubbies, one part looked like a pirate ship, and these balance beams and platforms. There was one that was unstable at all four corners so you could "pop" your weight around to swing and make the things jump. If you have ever seen National Treasure 2 (which really who hasn't?, you know you love it) it was that... ok maybe a little more safe but still totally National Treasure!






All in all an awesome vacation!

wroar

Fred has been working on a lot of animal sounds, and lion is one of his specialities. So how exciting to get this in the mail today from Great uncle Jim and Aunt Toni, recently back from a trip to Uganda. Thanks guys, he played with it for over an hour and still won't let go!

Highlights

Here are some of our bright spots over the last six months in photos:


February - Fred's birthday party was on Valentine's Day, we did a Bug (Love bug) sorta theme with a Hungry Caterpillar cupcake dessert. Fred wasn't too sure what to make of flaming candles put in his face.


Winter play



First hair cut (don't they look like spring chickens?)









Cousin Owen's visit!





Family get together, Great Grandpa with all his Great grandchildren (well not as great as his original grandchildren but still pretty cute.


Easter, was so fun and it really sunk in just how big Fred is since the last Easter he had his first smile, now if we could only get smiles on demand... maybe next year.





As winter and spring wore on, I realize Fred's style was looking more and more like a retired P.E. teacher, complete with little pot belly and saggy butt (courtsey of diapers) so I loved these photos as he got out for a workout running around the yard.

And like after any strenuous workout you've gotta carbo load. "Yo' ma', whadya mean your outta spinach ravioli and meatballs?!"





1st trip to the Zoo with BFF Noah





Cousin Nolan's 1st birthday party at this amazing park district facility in Roselle complete with Merry-go-Round, play tubes, and Elmo made an appearance! Fred is a big fan of the lovable furry red monster!








Fred has got this fisherman hat that cracks me up! From a kid who during the winter would kick and scream whenever I got near him with a hat, he now can't go anywhere without this hat. If he doesn't have it he looks at me and makes his "uhh" sound while point to his head as if to say, "Mom, I need my hat!". The hat's brim seems to take different shapes dependent on his mood, it can go from Grumpy Old Men, to Indiana Jones, or even Michael Jackson. He's got our style (or should I say lack there of).






And finally Father's Day!
There's that "worst" style again.

Consider your self caught up. Exciting no?

Excited to be back...

The weather has been so beautiful and before we gear up for vacation we had to take a family outing to the zoo. I think Fred liked it, if you can't tell from the video.

Tricks!

So even though I still have no new pictures to post (check Abby's blog, I'll be using that as my defacto baby book). I swear one day I'll figure out this computer thingy and I'll share his birthday memories and a visit with his cousin and Easter, I did not want to forget about these awesome tricks that he does now. And for people like my friend Kelly, who was not as wowed as I hoped in showing off these tricks, use her analogy (for you non-kid folks) the sense of pride you get when your dog listens to you.

Standard:
- Walking, well pretty much running at this point, and I think we may have a ballerina in the midst as he loves to walk on point of his tip toes.
- Pulling out and pushing in his high chairs for mealtime. In fact it could be called his first chore, and he expects to get claps for it, and if you don't clap, well he'll clap for himself then!
- Waving bye-bye consistently and at the right time. And also at moving cars on the express way or any person who should pass by that catches his interest. And pointing at everything! That little finger is always out to explore and show.
-High Fives!
- Climbing stairs up and down, yet the down seems to be a bit of an inconvenience for him as he often stop, stands, turns around and attempts to walk off the stair in hopes you catch him and carry him down. He also has a very long "runway" to turning around to put his feet first. Some times he is crawling half way down the hallway backward to make the stairs.
- Kisses, big slobbery open mouth licks on your cheeks and mouth
-Dancing, he will kinda sway his little bootie back and forth usually when asked, and with his pointer finger up he whirls his hands around to music.
-Talking, he can do dada and mama if bribed with food but hasn't fully caught on to the true meaning yet. Abby swears she's heard him say dog. He can baby sign 'more' and vocalizes "mau" which he actually uses for everything in the sense of 'Give me whatever the hell I want and give it to me NOW!", in his sign only category we have 'please', 'thank you', 'eat/drink', 'help', 'bed', 'bath', 'sorry', and 'all done'. We are working on 'book' right now.
-Songs and play, he loves to follow with "Head, Shoulder, Knees, & Toes" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" and he can point to all those body parts and do the actions for the most part.
- Wearing a hat, for some reason this went from get it off my head at all cost to coming up to me in the yard to say put it back on my head.

Non-Standard (of course this is our weird child)
- fish face, if you make a 'bop bop bop' lip smacking movement he will do it back and the best part his that he invented this game which makes me laugh
- nose touch. You say it and he pops up to touch his nose to your nose.
-squat, you say it he does it which is so funny and was technically his first trick
-catching wind in the car seat. He loves when the windows are down and the wind is in his hair, he puts his hands up and shrieks with happiness to try and catch the breeze.
-wet willies - Stan had everything to do with this. He really wants to try to scratch your brain by entering that pointer finger in through your ear.
-Sumo stomp, if you imitate it he will do it back, but it started with his weird random goose stepping at times.
- Mr Adams vs. the Cow polk - A little explanation, at times Fred walks up on his tip toes with his hands held behind his back looking very proper and gentlemanly, when he started doing this we were watching the John Adams series and so we called him our own Mr. Adams. The cow polk is just the opposite of polite, thumbs in the waist band of the pants and sometimes a crotch grab. He's a boy.
-He's trying to jump which is hilarious because he doesn't get how you do it, but did it once on accident and has been trying ever since to recreate the first time he got air.
-Unloading groceries. If I bring bags in and he is not allowed to unload... look out your in for it. so we just have to assist in the glass jars and egg department. He loves diving into the bags.
-Kazoo and Recorder playing, it's fun to make music.
- Tauka tauka & "oh gaaa": His favorite verbal expressions. I ask him to say mama - no dice, you ask him to say tauka tauka and he will, it's also his default sound when playing and working things out. He also uses 'oh gaaa' when surprised with certain things and usually uses it in the appropriate place where someone would normally say "oh gosh".


He's a very clever little thing, and at time completely obstinate and willing to fight to the death to get whatever he wants. Very strong willed, independent, at times more aggressive than what I like (I have bite marks to prove it and he's not above hitting when he's frustrated or over excited in playing) but it is amazing to see the little wheels turning in his head as he takes it all in and works it out. He's very busy trying to take apart the world and figure out how it works. It's crazy how much he develops in such a short amount of time.

Promise pictures next time.

my how they grow up...

So there is much to report with Fred's first birthday that happened months ago, same with the visit of his cousin, and all his new skills, but I thought I would put into perspective just how much Fred has grown up since the last time I posted. When he was a baby I hardly ever left him, and now as this new an improve toddler there are times when I have had to trust friends and family to watch him. It stunning to see how mature he convinced his 'Aunt' Abby he is, as she demonstrated on her blog. Well just wait, when I watch Noah the next time I think we will all go get piercings.

catch up

so I was going to try to make a little Christmas movie to share the fun we had with the holidays.... and now its February. So here are a few pics... (I gotta post before any birthday activities occur)

Christmas eve with the Worst family ever, we had such a great time it was so nice and will be one of my favorite holiday memories for years I'm sure.

Silliness with Grandma's winter hat - now she knows why Aunt Molly won't go into stores with her when she wears it.

Holiday Magic at the Zoo, a new tradition that we are love to have with Aunt Mary and her other nephews and niece.

We almost loved Santa, then got freaked and there is just something great about pictures of him crying!


I need to download the rest of the photos and clear off the camera to capture upcoming birthday moments (that is if he'll stand still long enough... walking is a favorite past time)