bullets

Brian frequently tells me just to give him the "bullets" instead of the long, drawn out story with lots of details. Blog readers usually get all those details, but today, I'm going for bullets and will try to think of what has been going on around here.

• Connor found a hidden stash of chocolate chips in the pantry and helped himself. He came to me with chocolate around his mouth and a mouth full of chocolately goodness saying, "mum, yum". (they were zipped into the Pyrex Portables container in the bottom of the pantry)

• Connor's new words for the week.
—bath (bast)
—bear (bear minus the "r")
—apple (ah-puh)
—home (hahm)
—baby (beh-bee)
—Nana (for my mom...she was so thrilled!!)

His other favorites: mom, duck, geese, teeth, da da, car, ball, up, and there are others I'm forgetting. ****clock, hot, eye, ear, hi, and bye....and yuck (sounds like duck with a funny face...usually while I'm changing his diaper)****
It is still a very limited selection, but we are getting about 1 word a day now!!

He still signs "please" and "more" very frequently, but does not say either. And for the word water, he says "ga ga". This is the only thing he says that doesn't sound anything like the real word...well, that and the rest of the Connorese that we don't understand. :)

• Connor brought in his umbrella stroller to push in the house. I put a teddy bear in it and after about 3 minutes, he took the bear out and replaced it with his Lightning McQueen truck. I guess that is his "baby".

• Lightning McQueen suffered some water damage when Connor threw it in the bathtub two nights ago. He has dried out and the batteries have been replaced, but now he is possessed and we get random "ka-chow"s when no one is near the thing.

• Connor's parting words to me before bed last night, "Ka-chow". (then he blew me a kiss)

• Keeping Connor out of the street is our new struggle. I bought red and yellow duct tape yesterday and as soon as the driveway dries up from all the rain I'm going to make a warning line and a punishment line for him....otherwise I'll be chasing after him all summer. I hope it works!

• We put most of C's upstairs toys in our big, leather ottoman, coffee table. He is now great at opening it up, selecting a toy and then closing it.

• I think he loves shoes as much as his Mommy. I bought him some sandals at Once Upon a Child yesterday for $1.50 and he wore them around last night and then wanted to wear them again this morning. He was making quite the fashion statement with grey socks and sandals...

• When we aren't watching closely, he climbs up to "work" on Brian's computer or he climbs on the kitchen table to play with the fresh flowers or transfer the rocks in the bottom of the vases from the little vases to the big one. He knows he is not supposed to do this...

• He really likes the 1937 version of Snow White.

Ok, he is awake...update over. :)

Torture

I know I need to add new pictures. I just thought I'd write really quickly while Brian is giving Connor his bath.

Today we inadvertently traumatized Connor by taking him through the car wash. I thought he would think it was fun....I was wrong. From the second the guy sprayed down the car until the final bursts of air to dry the car off, he was pretty much petrified and screaming.

On a better note, his face is priceless when he absolutely lights up when he hears an airplane, he stops, points up and looks until he can find it. Tonight, there landing pattern to the Gerald Ford Airport was directly over our house and it is very clear out, so he got excited each time a new plane would come!! So stinkin' cute.

Ok, bathtime is over...time for books and bed.

Tschüss.

It takes special people....

...to purchase a pedal/paddle boat in the middle of winter...while it is snowing....and our lake is frozen solid!

We are the excited new owners of a 2010 Pelican pedal boat! On Friday, my new across-the-street neighbor, Pam took me to Costco in her big truck so we could get our new toys. I am so thankful Brian came home a little early and stayed home to wait for Connor to wake up from his nap. This outing could have been much more difficult with a munchkin in tow. Anyway, we got SO MANY crazy comments as we wheeled the purchases out of the store (with help). I think my favorite was that one lady basically ran up to me and said she liked my positive thinking...maybe the snow would be gone by the time I got home?! Countless other people said that if winter never ends, it could make a pretty cool sled. :)

However, we got almost as many comments on the other purchase made at the same time. Forgive the crazy cheesy name, but get ready for the "Relaxation Station"!!This thing is HUGE. I have no idea where we are going to store it when it is inflated during the summer. As the picture states...it is 10' x 10'. It has a ladder, cupholders and a "mesh floor for cooling feet"! I am so excited about this stinkin' float! Of course Connor will have a lifejacket on, but I think it will be so fun for him to be able to play out in the middle of the water on the "mesh floor" and he won't be able to get too far away!!!

Was it really necessary to buy this now?? Couldn't it wait until the snow was at least gone? Well, I've learned that at Costco, you gotta buy it when you see it (or very shortly after) or you risk missing out entirely. We only saw 4 of the boats when we were there on Wednesday, so I didn't want to drag our feet....there are LOTS of lakes around here (even more than Minnesota....they just marketed it well). And after looking on Craigslist for a pedal/paddle boat last year for a used one, I knew this was a great deal. And the price I just found while looking for an internet image confirms we got a GREAT deal on both the toys we purchased!)

So, we are officially ready....bring on the warmer weather! (as I look out at a blanket of white)

We have really enjoyed our mild winter, and have had a bunch of fun playing in the snow....a big snow tunnel and a snowman yesterday...pictures to come. But today is the first day of March. I can't wait for the snow to melt, and to see little buds and blossoms start to appear. I planted a bunch of tulip bulbs last year for the first time, and I am so anxious to see if they actually come up! I don't know why they wouldn't but the fact that you can just put something in the ground and it will grow still amazes me at age 29. Since we didn't have landscaping at this point last year, we will see our flowering trees (3 Purple Prince Crabapples, 1 northern Magnolia) bloom and blossom for the first time this spring. I have also never been more excited for all the nurseries and greenhouses (we have a TON up here) open up and sell plants and flowers. I know I want to get some "Rhodies" this year...not sure how many. We still have some space along the sides of the house and a really big bed that is just calling for a tree and some shrubs in a weird cutout.

Oh, and don't get me started on wanting to go to a farmer's market or to pick fruit again! I'm not going to miss out on picking blueberries this year....that will be in July. :)

Connor videos from Brian's phone...

These videos are both from yesterday. I think he is feeling a lot better, but his nighttime habits have taken a step back....he's entered into the uncontrollable cry the last 2 nights...
This morning when he got up, I asked him to turn on the light in his room and he had to move the stool...he found it, carried it over to below the switch and very carefully positioned it completely up against the wall and proceeded to turn the light off and on for a good 30 seconds....so proud!

Connor video...test

Can anybody watch these that is not on Facebook??? (I went ahead and let "only friends" view them on FB)

A day in the life....video.

This is not exactly an exciting video...just about 2.5 minutes of a normal evening. Connor (pre-haircut) just goes from one thing to the next. It starts with him and a full bag of pears. I'm still not sure how he got them off the counter???

16 month pictures

So, I know he is 17 months old now, but it took me forever to get the pictures scanned. Nonetheless, here is the little man....so big now!

Just for the record....I despise the gray background curtain and Connor was quite the beast getting his picture taken on this particular day in late December. He was running everywhere and would NOT sit still. Most of the pictures the lady took were action shots. If only she would have been willing to go behind the curtain to take the pictures, she would have gotten some really cute ones...he was having a ball back there.

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Oh, and I don't think I ever posted these either. Here he is at 11 months. If you compare the 2 sets of pictures, you'll notice he still doesn't have any "friends" for those bottom two teeth. I think it is crazy that he has 4 molars before anymore up front on the bottom!

These were taken about 2 weeks before his first haircut. :)

misc. late January

I stepped out of the room for a minute, and when I came back Connor took over my work. :)

I only had to correct of few of the alterations he made to my design!
Maybe he'll be a MacMan when he grows up? :)

new favorite toy...the exercise ball

squealing with delight!

reading Dizzy Dragon with Daddy. I just found the rest of the "Charlie Monkey" books at TJMaxx and Marshalls. There are 4 total and Connor was so excited. Charlie Monkey is by far his favorite book.

future pianist??

hard at work in the sand at the Children's Museum