Big Boy at the Park!

We discovered Cleveland Park while at the zoo on Saturday, but it was swimming with little kids, so John Dickson and I went back on Tuesday. The park has different playgrounds for different ages, and they have a lot of equipment that looks like it is from the future. But as evidenced by the pictures of John Dickson swinging, it was much colder and windier than we had dressed for, so our trip didn't last long.

This was a wobbly tire thing that John Dickson loved! He just sat on it and bobbled around. He even dismounted all by himself.


More bright balls - always a fave

These things made music when he shook them, which he thought was great!

And finally we found bucket swings!

But of course he only smiled when the camera was off...

Some things never change...

Even weirder for me than John Dickson celebrating his 1st birthday this month was me celebrating my second birthday with John Dickson. Talk about crazy! But even weirder yet was my 2nd birthday card from John Dickson (and Ellie and Bear... and Miles). Or wait, was that my first? It's hard to tell.

(This year's on the left, last year's on the right)

At the Zoo for Birthday Part II

John Dickson was EXHAUSTED after his Gymboree class yesterday. After about a 2 hour nap, we went in to find him looking like this... (note the hair).

It took him a little bit to wake up, but then we headed to the zoo for our very first trip as members!! Whoo hoo!! The last time we went to the Greenville Zoo, John Dickson was 5 months old and showed no interest in the animals. 7 months later, he is remarkably still uninterested. However, he did like the Gila Monster and the Giraffes (thank goodness, right?). He also crossed something off of his to do list - learn to escape from the stroller. We were at the alligator exhibit when he first peaced out. Then again while the stroller was in motion. It's all very sneaky... he waits until the perfect opportunity, and then he just slips out down under his tray.

I didn't have the picture on this computer of the last time we went to the zoo and John Dickson sat on the bear head with a huge grin on his face... but if you care to search back far enough on the blog, or if you can recall the picture, check out the difference 7 months makes!!

Checking out the pig

We LOVE Gymboree!!!!!

John Dickson had his very first (and only...) Gymboree class this morning, and he was beside himself all morning. I wasn't really sure what all you could do in a class with 10-16 month olds, but it turns out you can do a lot! We bounced around in a circle, and he played on a lot of baby gym things. I was really surprised at how well he did! He seemed to know exactly what he was supposed to do. He climbed stairs and went across a bridge, went down a slide, climbed a huge wedge and rolled off using a big barrell. He played a little basketball (which he had already mastered, thanks to his sports center) and had parachute time. All the kids sat on the parachute while the teacher blew bubbles EVERYWHERE. Then we walked around, turning the parachute that had the little ones on it, and then they got to go underneath and play. We finished by doing a dance with the puppet "Gymbo" and then sang a bye bye song. John Dickson waved bye bye on his own, but we aren't entirely sure that was not a coincidence. Either way, John Dickson was grinning ear to ear the entire time and had the time of his life! Unfortunately it's a little out of our price range to actually join, but maybe someday... Here are a few pictures - I couldn't get many because Adam was not there and I spent most of my time making sure John Dickson didn't dive off of gigantic blocks and slides, but there are a few.

I said he had fun - I didn't say he was a good sharer!


This was before the class - he loved the line of balls!

He climbed up those stairs, then crawled up the ramp, where he was about to sit on the little rug to go down the slide at turbo speed! That face looks a little unsure, but I promise it was actually a really happy one! This was his favorite.

Finally to the balls...

Going through a tunnel

I kid you not...

This was ALL him. Can't you tell? He's proud as can be!

Happy Easter Part II

Later Easter day, we took John Dickson to the park (3 actually...in search of swings) to play in the sun. Leslie came to visit (my old college roomie whose DVDs use to attack me from atop the tv) and joined in the fun. John Dickson thought Leslie was hiiilarious, so long as she didn't try to touch him. Weird little dude... Anyway, we thought the swings would be a huge hit for John Dickson, but he was pretty apathetic about them. He did, however, LOVE sitting in rocks and mulch and playing with it. Hey, whatever works.

Happy Easter!

Little man had a pretty good first Easter! He got a couple of Easter bunnies, and the Easter bunny himself (herself?) brought John Dickson some bubbles and snacks. Here is John Dickson with all of his new bunnies...


He got all of those sweet and soft toys, but what does he snuggle up to? His food, of course! What can we say... he is his father's son.

Reading his card from Granna and Papa - he really liked it!

Facing Forward!!

As of Wednesday, John Dickson has been facing forward in his car seat, and he LOVES it! Instead of falling asleep right away, now he sits back there and chats up a storm. I think this was an exciting change for everyone! Of course now its hard to focus on the road instead of on that sweet face, but Im working on it!

Little helper

John Dickson has not been taking it easy on his time off from school! He has been helping Daddy with the flooring and Grammy with her yard... so busy!

I was so proud of John Dickson today! We have been trying so hard to get John Dickson to eat healthy and to like a wide variety of food. We went to Moe's today for lunch, and John Dickson shared my lunch... he ate rice, cheese, guacamole, salsa, chicken, black beans, olives, bell peppers, mushrooms... and if I wouldn't shovel it in fast enough, he would lean forward with his mouth wide open like a starving little bird. Since he turned one, he has grown up so much! He has started eating anything and everything in sight... as his teacher at daycare would say, he'll eat anything that wouldn't eat him first! He has also been playing with his toys in a whole new way. He's very deliberate in what he does with them, and you can literally see him thinking while he plays. He also has decided that crawling is for babies, and he's a big kid now. Crawling is almost officially a thing of the past. If he doesn't want to walk, he will sit, cry and hold his arms out... so pitiful. We spent the past few days in Columbia with his Grammy, his Aunt Lauren and his Uncle Jarey, and he had a blast! I'll post the pictures from his adventures in Columbia soon.

On a very exciting note, the daycare right by our house has an opening now for John Dickson! All we know is that it is much closer, much cheaper, and our neighbors use it and love it... so I'm going to take a tour on Monday and am hoping that we will love it too! Keeping our fingers crossed...

That's about it for now. Easter sunrise service comes early! P.S. John Dickson may be a year old, but this is actually his first Easter. He's pretty excited!

Kung Fu John Dickson

I want my milk NOW!!!!