Well, THAT'S new.

I had to pick up A from school today, but first had to run several errands. I got him around 4:40. As we pulled off the highway, I told him that there was "stupid 5pm traffic," but that hopefully we'd be home soon... I mention this because I was cognizant that he was awake at that point.

Less than a mile later, when we pulled into our driveway, he was asleep. He was so soundly asleep that he didn't stir when I turned off the car or opened the door to his side. He did wake when I took him out of the seat, but went back to sleep on my shoulder.

I had forgotten that I had taken off his sheet this morning and not replaced it. I also wasn't aware that all his clean sheets were still in the dryer, so the poor kid is asleep on his mattress with no sheet. I was correct, however, when I told him that he was so tired he probably wouldn't care because the monitor is silent.

German/English eyes are smilin

Mom Mom must be happy today!

15 month appointment

A had a doctor's appointment today. We got to see my favorite doctor of those we've met so far.
Everything is on track, although he did mention that A's not walking is a possible developmental delay... it's not a concern, though, because he IS trying.... we'll see what happens in three months, though.

He weighs 23.54 lbs, which is the 30% (up from the 5th at 12 months), and 30.71 inches, also the 30%. His head circ is the 40th percentile, so he's really proportional.

We also asked the doctor to take a look at the "barking" cough A has been waking in the middle of the night with. He believes that A has Croup, which is worse at night--exactly what we have been experiencing here. He also noted that A has some fluid in his ears... yep, only 2 months in daycare, and it looks like A might be on his way to his first ear infection. As a result, A didn't get his shots... the doctor suggested we get them in a month when he is due for his second flu shot anyway. He indicated that it is better to get three shots at once than to have him get his shots today with these other problems.

Either way, he seems to be in great spirits... except when he's on the changing table (for us only.) M noted at daycare that A doesn't scream or flip or anything that he does for us. How nice.

Remember the tool bench?

A had a tool bench that he was sitting in a few posts below. I bought it on consignment, and a woman who helped me carry it to my car said her kids used it until they were three.

Not around here.

We have officially retired the toy (although, perhaps it will return) because A now likes to STAND in the tray part. He sits when we tell him to, but he goes right back to standing asap.

Oy.

Way Back When-s-day!

A year ago this week, A turned THREE months old! He happens to be wearing a Halloween tshirt today, so I'll try to get a nice shot of him in it.

I seem to remember NOT having snow and sleet in the days before A's first Halloween, but that doesn't seem to be the case this year. There was snow around lunchtime yesterday, and it looked like it was either snowing or sleeting today around lunch as well. WEIRD, man.

I hope to get some great shots of A in his costume. He's wearing it to daycare, though, for a Halloween "parade," so I don't know how much he'll actually tolerate it on Friday. :)

Words

A has developed some new words. He very clearly said, "Teddy" this morning.

I can't think of any others right now, but I know he's said something new this week!

The Wiggles

We have tried, as much as possible, to not allow A to watch tv. We do have the tv on for us while he's in the room, but he doesn't generally pay attention (unless an animated commercial comes on). Even if we are watching a Disney movie, he generally isn't interested.

While he was sick, however, we discovered that he was pretty easily soothed by sitting on one of our laps, cuddling, and watching the Disney channel or some of the other children's programming... certain ones only, though.

Like his good buddy Ryan, it seems that A is a devotee of the Wiggles. If it's on, he's watching. And grooving to the music. He loves to point out the Doggie, and it's pretty clear that the bright colors catch his eye.

Update

A few things have happened in the past week...

First, both of A's top teeth have popped through, making his grand total FOUR teeth. Woohoo!

Next, A has learned the parts of the face. It all started when he started pointing to my mouth during cuddle time. He loves to "honk" our noses, and I always say "nose" when he does it, but the other day, I asked him to point to Mama's nose, and he started honking it. I then asked where was Mama's eye, and he pointed to it, then where's Mama's mouth, and he got that too. It goes back and forth--sometimes he'll point to his own face when I say point to Mama's and sometimes he'll point to my eye when I say where's A's eye, but he at least knows what's what!

Next, A took a step yesterday! He took one step with Daddy, but he also took one step from my knee on the couch to Daddy's knee on the other couch. Progress (and trouble) is coming!

Ball Pit Fun!

For his birthday, A got this neat ball pit and climbing thing from his Godmother. He loves it, and often seeks it out, but here I caught him actually using the stairs. This was Aug 26.

Friend's Birthday

A's Girlfriend's birthday party was on August 17. Her Mommy and Daddy threw her a fun party, and were so very smart to have lots of toys for Girlfriend's friends! This wasn't too long after A's first haircut, which explains the extra short bangs.

Water skiing

We stayed at Grammi and Grampy's in August and Grampy took us all water skiing. This was August 9 or so.

County Fair

Oh boy does my "little" camera have quite the backlog of pictures. This was our trip to the Middlesex County Fair on August 8! Woops.

Way Back WHENsDAY!!

I remembered!! WOOHOO!

This series was taken on October 25. The outfit was a gift from one of M's coworkers, and I just loved it--it was so cute and so perfect for the fall season.

It's so funny--A was clearly starting to look like himself, but yet he looks so very different. I can't believe how thin his hair was, but also remember that it was even worse when we started using the living room as our family room (around NJEA when Grammi and Grampy came to visit).

It's funny, looking back at these pictures. Although I feel like we haven't done much to the house, since we are definitely taking it slowly but surely, you can see the old wall color, and the color our couches are underneath the now present slipcovers.

Goose Egg

You can't really see it very clearly in his pictures, but A has a big bruise over his left eye. He fell at school and has a nasty bruise. It didn't seem to hurt him too much, at least not afternoon, so hopefully it just LOOKS worse than it feels!

Picture People; take 2

Daddy came this time, and Daddy makes all the difference. We got some great pictures this time around, especially once we sat him on the basket. It took a little bit of warming up, but we had a great photographer, who was willing to work with us and let A warm up. Hooray for Bridgewater!!

Thanks, Best Bud's Mom for the bucket! It was a big hit this time around!

Ps--Is anyone else impressed that all the clothes worn in these cost less than $15 COMBINED?

Picture People

We're really lucky that there are so many PPs close to us. We've had so many times where A wears this face, or a similar one, there, and we're able to go back and try again.

The women were trying to persuade us to buy the second one, saying she was going to enter it to get it on their wall at Picture People, and that SHE would buy it if it were her kid. YEAH RIGHT.

But doesn't his costume look AWESOME?

Retiring the new toy

So that toy I was so proud of getting for $3? You see here The Boy's new favorite way to use it. I love his expression in this picture.

He isn't wearing pants for a very good reason. He fights and screams like a banshee on the changing table. His daddy didn't feel like fighting anymore after changing the diaper.

Fall BBQ

Yesterday, we went to an outdoor BBQ held by one of M's new coworkers. She lives in the middle of a state forest, and they have a BBQ clearing that overlooks a pond. She had some fantastic decorations, and A was a great model. There were lots of dogs there, and A got LOTS of kisses.