Pillow

I found the pillow labeled.  No explanation available.  Excellent attempt to sound out a word, especially all on his own.  I really think he is on the cusp of reading.

Celebrating

There was a brownies, piled high with frosting and sprinkles, for breakfast....

Followed by present opening...

Lucky boy with so many generous people who love you...

You celebrated with your class with cupcakes...

Amzing what a little piped icing can do for a cupcake

Hans was thrilled to join, and Freddie was sweet with him

And dinner at your favorite spot...Johnny Rockets.

We all enjoyed sharing the day with you, Boo.  And I promise, next year there will be a party with your friends, as requested. 

Four

 

 

The last day being three

Just a Q&A session for posterity's sake, although Freddie isn't very natural here. A little long, and yes, that is Hans you hear barking as he was at my feet trying to get my attention.

20 Months (and 1 day)

Belly Man!

20 Months?!?!  How can that be?  It sounds so...old and grown up.

Cheeeeeeeeese!!!!!

Appearance:

• We're seeing 26.5 on our scale.
• You have quite the belly.  It is rotund! 
• Blonde hair is filling in.
• Dark eyes with long lashes
• You are still quite pigeon toed.  I keep thinking they'll straighten out but maybe not.  

Language:

• You are stringing lots of words together.  We're hearing three and four words strung together now.
• Come on, Mama.
• Want Dada
• Play, Freddie
• Walk hallway, Mama
• Happy Plate!!  When your plate is clear after meals
• Press light train (pressing the button to make the train light up)
• You say "Thanks" and I love it.  I do miss the little noise you used to make for "thank you" though.
• You say "excuse me" when you are interrupting my conversation
• No way, Mama!
• Waffle, Mama, please...making requests for breakfast.
• Watch, Mama...as you do a crazy trick like jumping off the bed.

Hold me!

Motor:

• Run, Mama, Run, you tell me.  You love it, although you tend to be a bit clumsy with your pigeon toes.
• You're doing well with stairs.
• You have begun to work on pedaling.  We've been doing the trike in the hall.
• You jump, but your grunt is bigger than your actual jump.
• You have a strong overhand throw and you are kicking the ball back and forth with me.
• You are efficient with utensils and are do well with holing a pencil.  Freddie has high expectations of your artwork when y'all play "school."

Look at that hienie in undies!

Likes:

• Pretending you are a puppy dog is BIG right now.  You crawl around the house and pant, bark, and pretend you are asking for treats.
• You let us know when you hear a Bob Marley song on the stereo...Bob Marley, Mama!
• You love the Llama Llama books.  You love reading in general and say "another one" when we finish one. 

Dislikes:

• Ok, we've been doing this several times a day for months and months and months but you still scream when you get your face wiped!
• Still not too fond of sharing, but you do it.  You usually give in to Freddie when he pouts. 

 

Diet:

• Variety is back to expanding
• You really love cucumbers and share my salad every day

Little sticker on your forehead courtesy of your brother

Sleep:

• Sleeping 7-6.30.  You tiptoe into our bedroom in the morning and once our eyes meet you say "Play.  Come on."
• Napping 1-3pm.
• You are requesting more stories and more potty breaks prior to sleep.  Mastering the stall technique.  I suppose you you've picked up a few tricks from Freddie. 

Personality:

• Oh so giggly lately.  I LOVE it.  Nothing better than the sound of your laugh.
• Shy with others, holding my hand and standing close to me when strangers talk to you.  You have no problem mingling with the other kids though.
• Stubborn.  Stubborn.  Stubborn.
• Tough.  You can keep up with Freddie and nothing stops you from getting to where you're going. 

Potty training:

• Only in diapers and night.
• No diaper for nap, and never have had an accident.
• You're wearing undies around the house and have been doing well, generally asking for help getting them off and making it to the potty in time.
• Out and about you are getting better, making it to the potty about 75% of the time.  You will go when I take you as well as let me know when you need to potty.
• We are working on transitioning to the big potty.  I'd rather not have to clean the little potties anymore.
• Pooping is still a little tricky.  You will talk about having to poop for a good 30 minutes before you actually produce anything.  You'll visit the potty, sit for a minute, get up, return and repeat five minutes later.  This goes on for about 30 minutes until you finally have success.  You're getting it though. 

Freddie the Puppeteer

Pre-show announcement from Al the Giraffe:  The show is about to start.  Please turn off all phones and electronic devices. 

Preschool Valentines

Freddie made his own valentines.  It was a labor of love (for both of us).  Although I found LOTS of really cute DIY valentines online and I really wanted to make them, even at the risk of being "that mom," I decided Freddie would get a lot more out of the experience if he actually made his valentines.  And he did.  There was lots of practice writing, he learned how to spell "to" and "from" (and has since written these words on his own), he learned what a colon was, there was practice gluing and peeling the backs off stickers, and we got to chat about all the kids in his class as he created just the right valentine for each of them.  He was so excited to carry his sack filled with valentines down to school, and he worked really hard matching the names on the hearts to the names on the cubbies.  He was very proud delivering each one.  Well worth the effort. 

Valentine's Get Away with my Loves

Romance at it's finest...The Great Wolf Lodge.

Sucking on their lollipops, a sure sign of a great day

 Sarcasm aside, I really cannot think of a better way to have spent the last few days.

 The food was bad.  The beds sucked.  It was expensive.  And the boys loved every single minute.

Floating on the lazy river

It was snowing outside, but inside the water park we were comfy in our wet suits and flip flops.  The entire place is kept at a toasty 84 degrees.  Perfect February temperature.

Hans was much braver than I thought he'd be.  He'd say "again" each time he got to the bottom.

There were lots of water slides perfect for all ages.  Freddie was able to go on all the slides except 2 where the height requirement was 48 inches.  He tried out the big slides and was most afraid of the long climb up to the platform to get on the slide.  I'm not sure he'll ever get over his fear of heights.

Can you see Freddie on the green slide?

He was so pleased to have beat me to the bottom

He stuck to the "medium sized" slides but also enjoyed going down some of the smaller slides with Hans.

Both boys also loved the wave pool.  A wolf would howl every few minutes and the waves would start up.  Hans had to point out the howl every single time and howl along.

There was water dumping and spraying everywhere.  I liked that several of the pools were "zero depth" entry and a couple were only 2.5 feet deep at the most, so both boys were able to walk around and play.

 

 The boys rested for meals but could have just kept going and going and going.

 

Charlie and I were very, very busy following them around.  I loved seeing the smiles on their faces, although I was a little envious of the parents of older children sitting around chatting and drinking beers.  That will be us before we know it, right?

We'll definitely head back to The Great Wolf Lodge.  We may not be able to wait until next winter.

My loves

Valentine Photo Shoot.  Too bad the boys were not in the frame, but it was fun.

Flourless Peanutbutter Cookies

Creating yummy treats in the kitchen is the perfect way to spend a blustery cold afternoon.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a hand or stand mixer, mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla on low speed until well combined.
3. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough 1 1/2-inches apart onto the baking sheet. If you don't have a cookie scoop, drop the dough with a spoon.
4. Flatten the dough balls the tines of a fork, making a cross pattern on the cookies.
5. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until they are golden around the edges. Allow the cookies to rest on the counter for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.