18 months and Then Some...

 First of all, I must apologize for the fact that my 18 month update is way overdue.  In fact, I'm almost 19 months.  But as you will see in this very long post, we have been very very busy this summer.  Mom and I don't get much time to sit down at the computer and share our adventures with you.  So sit back, relax, and be ready to read all about my summer as a 1.5 year old.

I continue to love big stuffed characters which appears to be one thing Megan and I definitely have in common.  On this night we went to Mall of America for family date night.  Mom and Megan went mini golfing and Dad and I went to Nickelodeon Universe and visited some friends named Dora and Diego.

 We celebrated the 4th of July in our usual tradition of 3rd of July parade followed by a day at the cabin.  I enjoyed parts of the parade.  I liked collecting candy.

 I liked when big stuffed characters came by.

 I liked putting candy into the loot bag



I liked dancing along to the marching bands..

 I liked chasing down big stuffed characters who forgot to stop by to say hi!

I liked sitting with my Grandpa for brief moments in time.

 

 I did not like that I wasn't allowed to just run out into the street whenever I wanted.  This is me throwing a fit in the middle of the road.  I didn't get hurt..I put myself there on purpose.

 I liked having a little drink in Megan's chair.  I did not like that I don't have my own little chair.

 I did not like being told "No"

 I liked eating French fries during the parade

I did not like when Mom wouldn't let me chase down Ronald McDonald in his hamburger float.

 

 Another street tantrum........

Mom and Dad had enough of my tantrums and I was strapped in the stroller and taken back to Grandma's house.  Megan got to stay with the rest of the crew until the end. 

 

The next day we went to the cabin.  I had a good time upside down.

 

 I played for a long time in the kayak.  It was what I like to call "dry boating".  Uncle Steve would lift up the kayak and bounce it up and down.  After the millionth time of me asking for more, Steve was really wishing he never started this game.  His back felt the same way.

 One fun thing about cabin life are all the fun bars.  I took a special liking to "Special K" bars. I didn't just want one bar, I thought I should just take the whole container.

4th of July meal of champions

 

All smiles on the 4th of July!

 

One day Megan and me along with our friends Isaac and Clara headed to the Children's Museum.  They have a really cool Thomas the Train exhibit right now.  I spent 90% of my time in this exact spot.

 

The big train table was pretty neat too!

 

There are some days that my parents call me a bottomless pit.  I just want to eat and eat and eat.  I especially like going into the pantry and helping myself to snacks.  On this particular day I was able to sneak past Mommy, get my favorite graham cracker flavored Goldfish crackers, and hide under the table without her noticing.  She did however notice a lot of crinkling going on in the family room and found me under the table eating my crackers.

 

This is me swimming at the pool by Grandma's house.  This is a little out of order as this was on 4th of July weekend. 

 

 Our next adventure was a trip to Indianapolis to visit with some of Daddy's friends from college.  I was doing a little cleaning.

 My favorite toy in Indiana was this Bucky ship from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  It was pretty amazing.

 I made friends with Daddy's friend Fred. 

 I love pickles!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 One day we went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  It was incredible!  I loved this water play area.

This is Dad and me on the Great Wall of China slide. 

 This was one of my favorite spots in the house we stayed at.  It was a little cave for kids.  Pretty neat!

 Just doing some art with my buddy Trevor.

Before going to the airport we burned off some energy at the park.

 

 I unfortunately burned off too much energy and fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport.  So that meant I didn't sleep on the plane and Mommy had to entertain me the whole time.  Thankfully it's a pretty short flight. 

Just doing some bubbles with my sister.

 

Hanging out in the pool with my Dad.

 

I really wanted my swimming shirt off.  Got to be like the big boys!

 

I spent a lot of time with these bell type things at the China exhibit at the children's museum.

 

We were back for a few days back to normal routine.  Megan and I brushing our teeth in harmony. 

 Then on Sunday we headed back to the airport. This time to go to Texas to visit family.  Our flight was at 11:30 so we had a sort of brunch at the airport.  We learned that when you try to get healthy snacks at the airport its very expensive!

 On board ready to go!  I did not sleep on this flight because it was before my usual nap time.  So again, Mommy was in charge of entertaining me. Mommy was exhausted by the end..and so was I so I decided to take a nap on the ride from the airport to Nana and Papa's house.

 I had a really good time with all of my cousins.  This is Chloe and me.  We were pretty good buddies on this trip.  I had the best time ripping her glasses off of her face.  She thought it was funny.

Chloe and I spent a lot of time in this double stroller. It was too hot to go for walks outside so we did a lot of them in the air conditioning.

 

 

 One day we went to Johnson Space Center.  I had fun pushing all kinds of buttons.  Glad we didn't blast off into space!

In case you were wondering what I'd look like as an astronaut.

 

 After we left the space center, I fell asleep on the way to Galveston.  We turned around at Galveston and headed back toward Johnson Space Center as I was still sleeping.  I woke up when we got to our exit back at Galveston again. It was good timing. My parents were just discussing whether we should turn around and do another lap on the interstate when I woke up.  We all went to dinner that night and then got ice cream.  Mommy and I shared an oreo shake.  Yuuum Yum!

 The next day we went to the water park at Moody Gardens.

 Shooting this water gun from the fake jet ski was a favorite activity.

 Much to my delight, after we dried off and had lunch I found this big tropical bird.

 Mommy had to eventually tear me away from him so other kids would have a chance to meet him too.

 That night we went to the Rainforest Café for dinner.  Another big stuffed guy!

 Me and my sporty frog hat

 It was back to the water park the next day.  The water slides were my absolute favorite.

Just Nana and me taking a little break.

 

 Cousin Anna was the junior babysitter on the trip.

 This would be the floor after I eat lunch.  We always tip well........

 At Moody Gardens they had a rainforest to walk through.  The Butterfly Room was my favorite!

 Cousin Anna reading to me at night before bed.

 One night we all watched Frozen.  I wanted to be part of the cool crowd and sit on a pillow too. Unfortunately I had to share a pillow and was facing the wrong direction.

 Then someone was kind to point out Josh was sitting in a comfy chair and there was room for me!
Us guys have to stick together.  We're the only boys with a lot of girls around us!

On our last night Great Aunt Donna and Great Uncle Brad came over.  Much to my delight it was Donna's birthday so we had cake!  I thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

All smiles from Texas!

 

With this many girls around, you have to get fancy to fit in

 

Hanging out in our hotel in Galveston

 

This is where Daddy hung out while Megan and I went to sleep in Galveston. 

 

Mommy got attacked by fire ants during our family photo shoot.  This is her foot a couple days after the attack.  Now over 3 weeks later her bite marks are still there.  Those are some mean ants!

 

Me with some "volcano" all over my face.  I loved dessert at the Rainforest Café!

 

 Beach bum on Galveston beach.

 

 We have no more plane trips in our near future and we are all glad for that! Whew! 

 

 Megan and I went to visit Grandma, Grandpa and Steve for a weekend so that Mommy and Daddy could get our house ready to sell.  For some reason we need to be out of the house to get that done.

We had fun entertaining our grandparents and when we got home our house looked like a totally different place!

 

Just hanging out with my sister!

 Playing a fun game where I keep hiding and no one can find me!

 

 Fun at the park

 Megan likes pulling me in the wagon.

Slides are my favorite!  I like to play at the park while Megan has her tennis lessons.

Daddy traveled for work this week.  Mommy didn't have a chance to cook on Monday so we went to Culvers for dinner. I had my first corn dog.  I didn't like it when Mommy sliced up pieces of corn dog so once it cooled enough she let me just eat it off the stick. Yum! So much better on a stick.

 

Mommy says I passed the state fair test and I'm ready to tackle all foods on a stick at the fair in a few weeks!

 

 Because we just haven't had enough of traveling, we went up north this past weekend for a cabin stay with friends.  This time the crew was 6 boys, 2 girls.  The trip was much louder but less drama/crying than the cousin trip with 6 girls and 2 boys. 

 I liked being the oldest of the "babies". 

 I have no concept of personal space. I plopped down 1 mm away from Brinley's head.  I especially liked that the babies always had blankets on the floor, and you know what a sucker I am for a blankie.

 And now we are at home! 

For a few days at least..............

 

What is new with me?

• I had my 18 month visit today. I was 28 pounds 1 ounce (90th percentile), 34 inches long (90th percentile) and my head was 90th percentile too!  I'm well proportioned! I got 1 shot and was a very good patient.  I showed off some of my vocab to my doctor and only cried for a few seconds after my shot.  Otherwise I let him do all of my checkup without a peep. 
• I can say quite a few things and am becoming a little copy cat.  In the morning when Mommy gets me up she says "Good morning!" and I reply "Morning!"  I can say a few 2 word phrases like "Lets go" and "Whoa Joe!" (lyrics from one of my favorite songs), "Hi Mommy/Daddy" "All done"  .  Other new words: Aaaaaaaaamen! (very enthusiastically!), ELMO!, juice, bobos (blueberries), puppy (still pup pup sometimes).  Sometimes I say a version of "Meggie" for Megan and sometimes I say something that sounds a lot like Andrew. 
• I'm starting to get really into routine.  In the morning after I get up, I first have to turn on my light, then before leaving the room I need to deposit my pacifier back in my crib.  And I usually need to take a few slides down my little slide before leaving the room.
• I love to dance.  I am always turning on the CD player and busting a move.  This weekend I kept doing my signature dance on top of the baby blankets even though there was no music playing.  Achy Breaky Heart is still my favorite song.
• I've really been enjoying Music Together classes this summer.  I have listened to the CD so much in the car that I know the music pretty well.  I am especially good at the songs that are more rhythms like "Ba ba baa " and the "me me me" song.  Those are easiest for me to sing. I got positively giddy last week when the teacher took out the big parachute.  I went underneath it and was just jumping up and down and giggling.  I was not happy when the teacher put the parachute away.  That's my one complaint about music class is that they always take away the fun things too quickly. 
• Megan has been busy with all kinds of summer activities and I am enjoying having Mom all to myself when she is gone.  Mom also enjoys is as I am on my best behavior when my sister isn't around.  As soon as she comes home, then I get naughty.  I really like to bug my sister whenever possible and get in her space, knock over whatever she is working for, pull her hair, etc. 
• I love to mimic and do pretend play. I pretend to clean all the time.  I also like to take out the oven mitt and try to open up the oven.  I take my little cup and put it in my play fridge and pretend to take water out and then drink it. 
• I'm a busy busy boy but always flashing a smile and a "hi!" to strangers.  At the airport Mom called me Delta's official greeter as I thoroughly enjoyed saying hi to all the passengers as they waited at the gate. I also liked checking out their luggage as pushing luggage is really one of my favorite things to do. I can be very charming and cute and people usually gush over my big brown eyes. 

My sister and I squabble quite a bit, but the one person in the world who can make me laugh so hard is Megan.  This was one day after Mom pulled into the garage. Megan took off her seat belt and stood up and then fell back.  I thought it was hilarious, so she kept doing it.