snip-its

moments from our day

siblings

Moments like this make me so happy. Watching him interact with her is really special.

Seeing him share one of his favorite things right now (match box cars have taken over the house) swells my heart.

and look how interested she is in him- so sweet.

the first week

Okay, if ever week is going to go by as this first week with the new little miss in the house I am going to need to figure out how to slow down time.  This new little girl is doing wonderful. She is really mellow, squeaks when she is hungry and only really cries if I can't get the milk out fast enough or if I have to changer her clothes. I was a little worried at first that we were going to have nursing problems. She kept spitting me out and not really eating on one side but after our first doctor's visit yesterday my fears were put to rest. She has already gained about 3 oz and grown half an inch! wow. slow down sister.

We are all adjusting a bit here and there. O is doing really well and just loves on her. Checking on her and bringing her little treasures like the flower at the top of her basket in the picture above. We have only had one real melt down and that was because I wouldn't(couldn't) pick him up to go downstairs yesterday morning. He literally climbed up my leg and onto my hip as I walked away from his teary eyed face. It broke my heart, but I really am not ready to pick up all 2ft 10inches and 26lbs of him quite yet. My body needs time to heal. We made up and read "Go Dog, Go" and drank some milk while snuggling on the couch.

I am slowly coming out of the haze, though I get overwhelmed here and there with it all I do feel like this time around is easier some how. Not sure if it is that I feel more confident as a mama or what, but it is nice to not feel like I am in such a 'baby tunnel' like last time.

It's a....

I'm on a baby-high, be back soon!!!

photo by jojo

September, September

I happened to glance out the bathroom window this morning as I was brushing my teeth and noticed the next door neighbor's tree (pictured above, a photo from last year) was starting to turn that fiery red color that I so love. As I was getting dressed I heard the 'shhhh-shhhhhhhh' of a hot air balloon. Looking out the bedroom window I spotted a blue and yellow orb bobbing it's way northwest from our neighborhood. I got a little teary eyed. If you were reading this blog when O was born you will know that I watched the balloons rise for two mornings while in the hospital in labor with him. The balloon races start next week, will this second baby also wait for the same view or will he/she get to see the amazing sky full of color with its own eyes?

I am ready for September, I love all the changes- not just in the season but in the rhythm of the world. Kids and college students head back to the classroom, days become shorter, mornings and evenings cooler. We are deep into birthday season, so there is cake almost.every.weekend from here until Christmas. I love watching the change in the trees and plants (actually this blog's title is from an Alburt Camus quote, Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. And it is true, the world is just as colorful in the coming months as it was in the ones we just finishing).

I am trying to quite my mind, send my energy downward-outward and enjoy these last few moments with just my two boys. Our Septembers won't be the same once Deuce enters the world. So much celebration to be had, so much love, so much newness.
It is wonderful.

A Blessing (not in disguise)

Blessings don't always have to come in disguise. Sometimes they are right there, plain and clear and fully within reach, grasp and hugging distance.

This weekend was proof of that. I have some amazing women in my life and on Sunday they gathered to help me celebrate becoming a mama of two.

I laughed, I got teary eyed, I ate amazing food, I had my belly painted with henna and my feet soaked and washed with loving hands. What a special day.

(I wasn't the only one getting a little henna)

There was a lot of talking about being a mom, about our men-folk (and the daddy-day care that was going down at my house as we hung out at my best friend's place). We laughed at potty humor and potty training, and watched as Deuce did a dance in my belly just to show off that he/she knew they were all gathered because of the new life it is about to bring to us.

Thank you ladies, each and everyone one of you. Not only for yesterday, but helping to weave the web that supports, honors, and shares this wide world of mine. You all have no idea how special you are in my life. To have you in one room was pretty fantastic.  

As you can tell, I wasn't shooting these photos- So thanks to the gals for taking over my camera and capturing the process as Kim did her magic on my belly.

37 weeks

37 weeks down (actually 38 tomorrow, but who's counting?). 3 or 4 (or maybe less?) to go.

I am still feeling pretty darn good. Though it would be nice to be able to not grunt and groan as I try to pick something up off the floor or wipe up a spill that I (or someone else, *ahem*) has made. My morning sickness (just the nausea part) has come back and I have to take my morning food in at little intervals-actually it seems all food right after I eat makes me queasy. My right hip is still giving me a little bit of an issue (this started during labor with O and I am really hoping it doesn't give me issues this time around) and I am tired again, like really, really tired. But for the most part I am enjoying this time of *growth* and all the wiggles, stretches and blows to the internal organs I am getting from this strong baby inside.

Here is the run down from today's doctor appointment yesterday...

I have gained just about 25-30 lbs

My blood pressure is good, 'perfect' says the nurse
Baby's heart beat sounded right on track and healthy
And I am measuring, or the baby bump is measuring, just right for where I am at.

I am dilated 1 cm, the same as last week. Baby is still pretty high, but is head down.
Who knows, things could get started today or wait until 2 weeks from now.
Back next Friday to check progress.

This weekend I am having my belly hennaed (henna-ed?) and I can hardly wait.

Kim is an amazing artist and having her decorate and bless my tummy is so special. This photo was taken while Kim did her work on my friend J's belly a few months back. 

We are getting so anxious to meet this new little person. Daddy-O is ready for me not to be snoring so loudly every night next to him in bed. (this is the hardest part on him when I am pregnant, I SNORE super-duper crazy like...sorry dude). MrO keeps saying he wants to meet his new sister (I keep wondering how much this is JoJo's influence since she is rooting for a girl, tee hee). So 50% chance he is right on that one.

We have a few things on the check list left to do- mostly get our insurance stuff and phone numbers in the 'to go bag' and also get O's records from his current pediatrician to the one we are switching over to. Oh, and figure out who is going to watch the dog while we are at the hospital...

(Jojo snapped this as I was dropping O off the other day at her house before work)

I let daycare know that there are a few more people on O's pickup list that he can go home with should the baby decide to come and our usual pick up schedule is thrown. (We are lucky enough to have lots of family around and I just want to be ready should one person or another be off doing something when we head in). We are also going to move him to one day a week at school for the 6 weeks Daddy-O is home on paternity leave with me. I think it will be really wonderful to have us all home for those first few weeks. Plus, it will help save a bit of money in daycare too!
I think we have names picked out, but just last night I was skimming thru the name book again and found a few that I liked. I have one or two girl names that I wish Daddy-O would budge on, but I don't see it going down (booo). It seems like the middle name is hanging us up on a few of our choices, do we go with a family name or a combo of two names we just really like? Jeeze, it is such a huge task to give someone a name they will carry with them for the rest of their life. (and you know they will probably end up with some wack-a-doodle nickname and not get called what you choice anyway).
Maybe next week, for the full moon Deuce will decide to show up to the party???

Food

So my brain is on food right now. (yeah your pregnant, when aren't you hungry? you might be asking)
But what I am after is food that I can prep now, toss in the freezer and have easily at hand for when Deuce-baby arrives. For those lunch times and dinner times when have no energy to prep and cook, but are starving and need to eat.
I have a few good recipes (enchiladas, lasagna, calzones...) that freeze well but I am wondering if you guys out there have suggestions of favorite freezer-friendly dishes? I would love the recipes!

So, tell me friends, what do you like to make and freeze for later?

Knitting Update

Hey! Guess what? I got some knitting done in the last month or so. I have been fun getting my needles and yarn back out again and doing some little projects here and there.
We have had a few new babies born in the first couple weeks of May and it is my duty to make sure they have a hand knit thing or two. For my new niece, a pink Milo.



And for the baby that came from this pretty belly, the Baby Squash Hat- adorable right- that baby girl has the prettyiest kissy lips ever.


Both were easy and fun knits. The sweater will fit baby B. this fall I am sure and keep her toasty warn since it is wool. And the hat for baby H. should be just the right weight for those cooler nights (and days) we are still having around here (what the heck it is almost 80 on Saturday and snowing the next).

Details for both of these projects can be found on my Ravelry, here and here. Next time I do the Milo I will use bigger needles if I use the same bulky yarn or switch up my yarn. I would like to make one in gray for MrO to wear for the summer evenings when we are up in the mountains- I really like that this vest can be worn by either boy or girl. That hat was silly easy and fun to knit. I think I could jump the gauge of needles and yarn and make it a bigger size (or do some math and increase the stitches)- might even be really fun for an adult!

I would really like to make myself something and jump out of my comfort zone of knitting things that are either really small or for the littles in my life. Go big, ya know. The Tea Leaves cardigan is so pretty and I like the February Lady Sweater too. Both have the buttons at the top with an open lower half that will be perfect for my growing belly and for nursing later on this fall when things get chilly but I need easy access to the "girls".

What do you have on your needles these days?

sigh*

O meets Lo and Scooter for the first time, 09-0708

I am a little teary eyed today. Not sure if it is because I had a hard time sleeping last night or if it is because I met my new niece for the first time (if you are family and wanting to know more, you will have to wait for Lo to share the news, it is not my place to do so...) I saw baby B. thru the glass windows in the nursery last night. She was only hours old- Freshly bathed, sprawled out with her arms above her head like she was taking in the best sunny day, every. Ironically she was born on one of the most rainy days we have had in a long time here in the high desert.
She is BEAUTIFUL and it makes me scared and excited to have a new little bundle of my own in only a few short months. I can't believe I am going to be in that place again. All that newness, all that potential, all that getting to know one another- it's sort of overwhelming and crazy, ya know?
We brought O into the hospital with us, he smiled when he saw his new cousin chilling out in her 'sun bath'. He looked at me and said, "Rock?" I asked him if he thought that baby needed to be rocked and he nodded his head yes. I think he will be a good older brother...
The photo in this post is of the new parents- not holding their new baby, but holding O when he was only a day old- look at that little, tiny thing that he was! That blanket he was swaddled in barely covers him from shoulder to foot now.
Have a beautiful weekend friends. I promise to not stay teary-eyed all weekend.... That is until I get to hold that new little bundle and smell her sweet baby smell. But those will be totally tears of joy should they fall.
xo

20-20

Here I am, finishing up on the 20th week of my second pregnancy, twenty more weeks (plus or minus) to go. I don't feel that much bigger than when I posted a picture just two weeks ago- but I do feel like my belly looks more like a 'pregnant belly' than a "hmm, did she have a big lunch or drink too many beers this winter" belly.



I can hardly believe that we are half way through this baby building process again. Maybe it is because we didn't share our news as soon as last time. Or maybe it is because it is the second time around and I feel more comfortable, confident and 'in the know' about what is going on in the process. Or maybe it is the fact that I have a 1.5yr old to chase around, a crazy work environment to deal with and all those other things that make up life to really focus in exclusively on the pregnancy as I did last time. Not sure.



Don’t get me wrong, I am by all means totally excited about our growing family, tear up when I hear the heart beat at the doctor's office and can hardly wait for next Monday to roll around since that is when we get to have a peek at this little one again via ultra sound. (I will scan those and the first ones in after we get them) It's just that this pregnancy has been much mellower than with O. I like that mellow stuff, a lot.



I started to really feel the baby moving about 2 weeks ago. Little flutters and flips that made me smile. But over this past week the movements have gotten really strong and can be felt from the outside now. I got totally punched on Wednesday when I pressed on my belly, it startled me and I think I laughed out loud at the force and strength Deuce-baby has already. This baby is also all about stretching out and I feel the kicking and moving a lot more internally than I remember with O. As in let's play soccer with Mom's internal organs sort of thing. There is also a lot of length wise stretch that happnes- pushing down on my cervix and up into my stomach. lovely! I don't remember that with O and it is funny and a weird feeling for sure.

I am definitely a lot more sensitive this time around. I often find myself feeling the need to fight back tears when something overwhelms me or when certain commercials come on the TV (SPCA and Sarah Mclaughlin, you kill me every time). I am certainly way touchier when something goes wrong, or when I precive something to have gone wrong- I lost it last night when I attempted a new recipe and the chicken curry salad came out totally in-edible (making my own mayonnaise when I realized we were out wasn’t a great idea). I cried a few weeks ago for a good half an hour (at least) when someone cut me off in a parking lot and flipped me the bird (um, guy could have killed me in his giant suburban cutting thru the parking spaces and not looking where he was going- but what’eva).

I am so glad to be feeling more energy these days. I still feel a little icky at times but haven't hurled lately- woot! It totally helps that O has been sleeping thru the night more often and Daddy-O has been helping to put him back down when he does wake up in the wee-hours. I have had some wonderful girl time too and that always makes me re-energized and happy. We are getting back into our morning swimming routine and I have hit up my prenatal yoga class on Saturdays when we are around.

This weekend we hope to get things moved completely out of the ‘craft room’ and transform it into Mr O.’s big-boy room. We have paint to pick out and a new bed to buy. I am excited about how we are going to decorate (some inspiration from here) and I am going to use these prints (I have three of them in his room now) as further inspiration. I love these wall decals too! However, I am sure it will be a mixture of stuff since we have super artistic friends who have painted him a couple small canvases that I want to keep in his room. And while we were in Death Valleywe found a mobile that we loved with white cranes. The baby’s room will remain the same, save for a few touches for when he/she arrives to make it more personalized.

Happy Friday everyone! and happy spring too, as you can see things are starting to get colorful around here.

A year and a shuffle

A year ago today he looked like this:

Silly and crazy and fun.

Today, he looks like this:

Still silly, crazy and fun. This past month has been full of little things that I love to see and hear. He has been practicing whispering and yelling, changing the volume of his voice is something he has learned will totally get a reaction from. "DADDY!" can be heard when he hears the garage door go up in the afternoon. He is figuring that if he starts a song with a, "lmnop" or 'row-row'we will sing along. (Have you heard the version of row,row, row your boat that includes "if you see a crocodile, don't forget to SCREAM!" we hadn't either until my mom brought home an Aussie nursery rhyme book- I am sure the day care wonders why O screams when ever they sing this song to him!

He started to call it "applesauce" nose when he gets a snotty/runny nose. It is one of the best descriptions for the ailment that I can think of- it is like having applesauce running out of your nose when you have a cold.

He loves, loves, loves to go outside and play in the back yard- first plucking pieces of the garlic/onion greens and 'smelling' them. (he saw me doing this when I was trying to figure out what plant was what and thinks it is what you are supposed to do). Then up the side yard to the sitting area up top and declaring, "UP-high" to the entire neighborhood. I turned my back for a minute the other weekend and found him dangling, action hero style, from the edge. If you think my heart wasn't racing then you would be crazy. when I got up there to help him he just kept repeating, "ball, ball, ball" he had thrown his ball and was on his way to go get it and then realized that even, 'feet firt' wasn't going to help him from the 4 foot ledge.

We are getting ready to move his room to the other "kid room" (we have a 'jack and jill' set up) I am looking to do a robot theme in there for him since I have a couple of these prints from the fabulous LeSophie and I also found these super fun wall decals over on Etsy. I am loving this room's color scheme from "Land of Nod", though I won't be purchasing anything from them right now, our budget is a little tight.

This move means that my craft room will be shifting it's home as well. We settled on putting it into the master bedroom after tossing around the idea of putting it in the office area or maybe the guest room. Our bedroom is HUGE and so part of it will be sectioned off for my craft/sewing table and shelving. I have been trying to come up with some fun ways to store my yarn and fabric stash, but right now it looks like it will be plastic bins/drawers. I am crossing my fingers I can find something fun and affordable at one of the local thrift shops-Any ideas or inspiration out there from you guys??

bumpity-bump

In other non-vacation news, we are growing this baby and I haven't really chatted too much about it yet out here.

I am about 18 weeks along right now (this photo is 17wks). I took a test on December 22nd and saw a very faint + sign. I shook it off to wishful thinking. On the 23rd we were at the grocery store and I grabbed a box of tests that actually read out "pregnant" or "not pregnant", enough of this guessing if the + was there or not! I took a second test on Christmas Eve and it came back, "pregnant"!!! I was so excited but decided to hold the little secret in for the day. I could wait 24hrs to tell hubby and so I wrapped up the test stick in festive paper and stuck it in his stocking. What better surprise then to find out you are gonna be a Daddy again?
Let's just say that Daddy-O did not cooperate in my plans for Christmas morning. He slept in and then was lolly gagging around, taking a leisurely shower and making coffee before he wanted to get to the present opening. It was making me crazy, plus that little word only stays visible on the test stick for 24hrs, the clock was ticking. I finally just brought up the wrapped present and gave it to him - It took a minute or two to process (Daddy-O doesn't do mornings) and then he just kept saying, "really”? We waited and tried a long time to get pregnant with MrO and so for this to happen on only our first real try was sort of unbelievable!!
We were glowing with our secret for the next month or two. Oh sure, there were signs and I think family and close friends were keen to what was going down- I had the stomach flu several times between Christmas and MLK Day, but each time another family member or friend that I had been around would catch the same ick and would soon be hugging the bowl just as I had the week before. So I was able to pawn it off as a nasty flu bug that wouldn't shake.

In January I came down with another bought of the stomach flu and a major head cold turned sinus infection that knocked me on my butt for more than a week. I lost nearly 10lbs, was weak and super duper tired. It was really hard and I started to question why I wanted to be pregnant while chasing around an 18month old! Of course I knew exactly why and now that I am well into the second trimester, I am feeling much better and have a ton of energy back in my day. I still love me a good nap on the weekends if I can manage (I snuck in a 3 hours snore fest last Saturday) and can sometimes still feel a little funky early in the mornings, but for the most part I am doing really good.

The bump is growing and "Deuce-baby" is wiggling around in there and hic-um-upping away on a regular basis these days. I got to hear the heart beat at my doctor visit Monday and it brought me to tears (again). It is such an honor to be growing a new life. We will have our anatomy scan on the 19th of April; I can hardly wait to get a little peak at this baby. Like the last time around, we aren’t going to find out the sex of the baby, we will wait until the grand entrance, which will be sometime in late August early September.

For those of you following along, you might be thinking, "hey, isn't MrO's birthday in early Sept."? Your thinking would be right. The baby's due date is only two days before O's 2nd birthday. I am not quite sure what this means for his celebration but we will figure something out to make sure his second year is honored properly.

I switched doctor/practices for this go around and am pretty happy with the change so far. My new doctor has listened to me when I talked to her about my longer than 'typical' cycles and when the baby measured a little smaller than the 9wks at the first ultra sound. She asked me if a week off would make sense with my “records” and it did. You see, we use a charting method for birth control/baby makin’ and in my charting history I have found that I don't ovulate until a week later in my cycle than what is dubbed as 'average'. Most women ovulate around the 14 day of their cycle; I am more like a 21 day mark kind of girl, this is ‘regular’ for me.

(This could be TMI, but it is also an amazing way to go. I feel so empowered to have this knowledge and was a little sad that no one had ever taught this method to me prior to finding the above linked book. If you have always wanted to get off the pill, learn more about your body's own rhythm or if you are ready to start trying for a little cashew of your own this book may open your eyes to a whole new world- it’s is pretty amazing.)

At any rate, the doctor bumped my initial due date an entire week forward (something I really feel should have happened with O, but didn't). This office also has a much more open idea about the 41 wk rule and is home to one of the only doctors in town willing to perform a V-BAC and another doctor who is loved by the local doula and midwife crowd for the freedom he allows his patients during the birthing process.

I am determined to get more belly shots in, chat a little bit more about this pregnancy and thoughts on being a mom of two. I hope you don't mind! I will definitely be posting the ultra sound pictures from our upcoming appointment... stay tuned!

one point five and a little more.

Yesterday marked the day that MrO officially turned one and a half. He is such a little boy these days. It's all about planes, trains and automobiles. All about books and music and rockin out in the car seat on the way to school. All about being independent but still loving a good snuggle, his blankie and binky (that blasted binky). All about talking, even if we can't always understand him, sometimes combining up to three words in sentence. All about wrestling with Dad, his dog and pushing his wagon, that is usually carrying a ton of stuff, all over the house.



He has gone from a waddling, bowlegged walker to a confident forward, backward, spinning, turn on a dime toddler. The baby signs that he used to communicate 6 months ago have mostly been replaced with actual words, including "I ee-oo" (I see you) and "no THANK you'. On of my personal favorites in his vocabulary, because it is such a jumble of consonants and vowels is, ambulance, (amulinalins) and "edow" (yellow). He repeats or try to repeat almost everything we say- time to sensor ourselves a bit I suppose, though we aren't a bunch of sailors around here or anything, but still. Another favorite is to make the sounds of all the animals, especially of my mom's neighbor's pet goose, Goose-O. Squawking and screeching the way he does. One of our favorite books also has to do with animals and their sounds, Moo, Ba, LaLaLa.


showing me his 'joos'

Favorite foods still include bananas but the most requested food these days has to be 'toast, toast, toast' and 'cracker, peas'. Another item that gets him really excited is blueberries, kid could easily finish of an entire container of the little gems if I let him. He has also delved into the finer things in life such as dog and cat kibble. At least he is adventurous in his eating right? I also introduce him to the world of 'dip, dip, dipping' and most everything is better when dipped in catchup, syrup or ranch dressing wouldn't you agree. Meal times became pretty interesting about a month or two ago when O decided to start standing up in his high chair (my new motto being, sit down or get down) and then we were on the 2 week stretch of tossing food across the room, at mama or onto the dog. Um, that was fun.


show me his toes

Having this little boy around sure is fun. I love to just sit back and watch him while he plays, especially if we are somewhere new and there are things to explore and people to check out. He loves to be outside and exploring and when we are getting ready to go to the park or just out to the backyard there is a giant yell of, 'YEAHHHHHHH!'. it is the cutest darn thing ever.


showing me where a 'at' goes

He spend two days a week with JoJo (my mom) and the other three days of the work week at school. I really love the balance this gives him and the joys of having family be such an important part of his everyday. We are so lucky to have so much family around (not just my mom but Daddy-O's family and my God-parents too). All of them so willing to help us out when Daddy-O and I need a date night together or a night off, funny how he always sleeps thru the night when he stays at the grandparent's house, hrph.


showing me his hands and 'ingers'

Our little virgo has his 'things' that we just don't mess with. He is deep into his nightly ritual of bath, bottle, binky, rocking and then bed. He also doesn't like when I leave a door or drawer open and likes to shut them for me. He helps me move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, picks up random bits of trash and puts them into garbage can and at school he is totally adorable when he pushes his wee little chair back under the table when he gets done eating.



We have had a few adventures over the past six months. O's first plane ride to Portland, OR, which he totally rocked, a fun pre-Christmas weekend up in Greagle with the family that included sledding and causing chaos with the other three cousins. We celebrated multiple birthdays, since the fall/winter calendar is stacked high with celebration and there was a party almost every weekend for a stretch. My birthday as well as Daddy-O's birthday are included in there and the kid definitely has down, "happy cake" and saying 'appy irthay!"


showing me his 'button'

I am sure I am leaving some thing out, it is hard to wrap up what has happened over the past few months. O is turning into a very special young man that I am so glad to have in my life. I also think he will make an excellent yet bossy older brother for the new addition we are expecting in late August early September...

Pebble

Look what I finished!




woohoo. One holiday gift down. (Did I really just type that, sigh)

Pattern is Pebble. It was a quick and easy knit and I would definitely make it again for any autumn winter babies on the way. I would also like to try and size it up for the older babies that I know. I went with the blue and white buttons- partly because that was what was in my stash and partly because this is for a little boy and I wasn't sure if the black and white was 'manly' enough.

more details and information over on Ravelry.

look who's walking!

Pretty exciting for this 13 1/2 month old!

He's getting braver and braver. What was just, "look ma, no hands" transistioned on the day after he turned 13 months into, one step or two with a quick plop to the floor. Then last Sunday, he took four steps and each day he takes more and more. On Tues I counted something like 20 steps across the room. Crawling is still way more efficient but if he wants to show off, two feet is where it's at. Right now he looks like baby-Frankenstein or a zombie as he moves from foot to foot. Daddy-O says he looks like a robot. Yep, just trying to figure out the mechanics of it all.

One Dozen

Sunday marked the big day. Baby-O turned the big numero uno.
We celebrated on Saturday with a grand, backyard bash.
A few pictures from the day.







Thank you everyone who came over to help us mark this amazing "first". We had serious fun watching our back yard and house fill up with laughter, screaming kids and the smell of awesome food.


I had a little disaster in the kitchen at one point while making the yellow cake but the chocolate came out fantastic. Thank goodness for the lemon cake from a box back-up(that were a hit all the same). Other than that the day went of with hardly a hitch!



This month there are big things in the works-
Balancing and doing "no hands" (standing w/o the aid of anyone or thing). One little baby step forward and then a plop down to crawling again. Walking is close though I can just see it in his eyes, he is so proud of himself lately.
The top two teeth are making there way down, one has broken thru the other just barely peeping out- "The better to bite you with my dear"!
We are still working on night weaning/sleeping thru the night. It will happen and as long as it isn't every couple of hours I can function and am really okay with the special night time quite that we still get to share (although Daddy-O is ready for this to all end we are working on a compromise and I am sure we aren't far from a string of good nights).
There are little sounds that are starting to form into words- "aah-da" (all done), "Ya" with big a nod of the head (yes), "wooh-wooh" (dog and the geese or ducks). O loves to watch out the front window and stood for almost 20minutes as Daddy-O mowed the lawn this week- with a "hi-daa!" (hi dad) every time Daddy-O made the pass by the window. It is amazing how much he understands when we talk to him. And he knows how to ham it up, that is for sure.
We took a big camping trip up to northern California and he did great. There was some dirt eating but camping seems to be something he really likes. We even crossed over into the Oregon border and visited Ashland for the afternoon. We spent a lot of time up at the cabin with Daddy-O's family.
He loves cars, music, his blankie and his dog. And a favorite for when we all get home at night is to wrestling on the couches and bouncing on the bed.


It has been an amazing year.

Happy, Happy, Happy...

birthday!



MrO loves you, and so do we.