19 months!!

 

John celebrated his half birthday surrounded by family at Edisto last month. So fun. I need to post about all that...

In the meantime, he's already 19 months old! 

Last Wed (8/21), he officially changed tocalling  me Mommy instead of Mama. Dan is now Daddy. Very cute. 

He has four grinders, and eight front teeth (four top, four bottom), and his hair is getting slightly thicker. Slightly. 

He's mastered traveling up and down stairs unassisted (though we don't trust him enough not to employ the gates, etc.) One habit I find endearing (though sometimes annoying) is that when traveling downstairs, he'll usually stop a few stairs from the bottom, sit down, say "Bottom" (ba-ba), and wait for me to sit  with him. If I don't, he pats the stair next to him and says "ba-ba" again. Just taking a little break to enjoy the view. Haha. 

He likes to snuggle with "Night-night" when he's getting ready for bed, and loves books before and after sleeping. (As well as other times!)

He likes to do whatever his big brother is doing (oh, he says "brother"-- so sweet!) which includes scaling playground equipment and coming down big slides. 

He jumps. 

He still eats like a champ.

He's very interested in the potty. (I'm considering potty training, but think he may be too young?) My favorite is when he stands at the potty like he sees James do, pulls up his shirt and aims his belly for the potty. So adorable. 

He has tons of words and signs. I love it when he's wearing his tiger outfit (like today), points at his chest and says, "Rar!!"

First Hair Cut!

True, my baby was so follicularly challenged at his 12-month check-up that the doctor asked if we had shave his head. However, lately he's developed those long baby wisps and even had the makings of a mullet!!

This morning Dan was giving himself a haircut, and decided to tidy up John's head as well. It's a subtle difference. 

James and I watched from the "waiting area" (like at the barber shop) that James created with a few small chairs. And James happily ate the lollipop at the end (gotta run our barber shop like Frank's!)

Preschool Celebration

While there are still three days left in the school year(!), James's class held their end of year celebration yesterday. It was very cute-- some poem recitation and singing. James sweetly gave flowers to his teachers, and John got to pretend to be the five-year-old he often seems to believe himself to be. 

(Note-- there was no "graduating," and Dan and I are just fine with that. He's staying in the same school for the next four years. He hasn't "graduated.")

After school James and one of his classmates went out for ice cream. Very fun and quite cute!

Happy Fathers' Day!

We started the day with a pancake breakfast and them headed to church where James had his last Cherub Choir performance of the year, and John worked on his comic timing and entertained the congregation (he cheered for the choirs, bobbed to the music, yelled, exclaimed, clapped,...)

Dan spent a little quality time with the log splitter, then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's for the annual Fathers' Day barbecued ribs cook-off (we decided there was no winner this year. Alas. That's what we get for trying a new recipe.).

'Tis the Season!

For boo-boos. The elbows and knees (and foreheads, and hands,...) are getting all kinds of scraped up over here. We've been going through band aids at a fast rate, and I'm getting skilled at treating bloodstains. 

Here James shows off his thrice wounded knee. (I'm in love with the pairing of Star Wars jammies and Tinkerbell bandaid.)

Five and a Half!

As of today, James is officially closer to six than five. Crazy. 

We had a celebratory dessert-- half a cake for a half birthday. 

What's a five and a half year old like? Well, this one looooves to read (and to be read to; he and Daddy are working through the Chronicles of Narnia now). He also likes building with Legos, Magna-tiles, and zoobs (often he'll combine materials and structures). He's big into imagination; his current favorite alter-egos are bats and robots. He likes riding his bike (no more training wheels!) and scooter outside as well as playing with our neighbor, Henry. He's still a picky eater, but he grew over two inches in the last six months, so the doctor is no longer concerned about his height. 

He's hilarious and clever (that's one of his favorite words lately, by the way), and he makes us so proud. 

Happy Flag Day Parfaits!

James wanted to follow the "July Parfait" recipe in his latest "High Five" magazine, so yesterday at the store we procured the ingredients and made plans to make them for Flag Day today. We called Daddy and invited him home for lunch, then James got to work following the instructions: