Picnic

The weather was so beautiful on Sunday we decided to stop by Publix and pick up a picnic to take to the park. (We also went to the zoo for the 1000th time this year). John Dickson got bored at checkout and passed the time by inventing a new way to ride in the cart:



Seriously, all him.



We tried to make him eat his lunch before he could have some Cheetos, but he finally just decided to quit asking and start eating, without looking at either of us, with this perfectly innocent expression on his face.



I swear, the kid gets away with whatever he wants sometimes... we are powerless against "the face."

Morning Sunshine!

Big Boy Bed Update

Number of times waking up last night: 1
Number of tears: 0
Number of minutes to fall back asleep: .25
Culprits: Ellie and Bear
Time of crime: Absolutely no idea

It's 6:30 in the morning and John Dickson is STILL ASLEEP! WAHOO!!!! He's absolutely not in his bed and is lying on the floor, but he's asleep. What an excellent way to start a Monday :-)

Big Boy Bed! Sort of...

The big boy bed - we only had a few hours to improvise, so its just his crib mattress on the floor - looks pretty pathetic, no?



Ready for bed with his puppy



Even more pathetic, no?



Last night was sleepless. John Dickson went to bed around 7, woke up at 8, again at 10, again at 1, again at 4, and again at 7. At his 1:00 awakening, I left his door open and our door open so that he could come into our room. Adam woke up at 4 with John Dickson in the kitchen pathetically calling "Mommy..." He was lost in the dark. So pitiful. So tonight we let him cry it out, for all of 3 minutes - we were so impressed! When we went back to check on his quiet self, he was back in his bed. We put a sheet on tonight and tucked him in like a bug in a rug, hoping it would keep him from rolling off again. He has 2 pillows by the side of his bed. We'll see! Here's hoping for a full night's sleep!

Backtracking - Part III

Last weekend John Dickson and Adam had bonding time at the zoo/playground/Zaxbys.

Thanks to Adam getting to know a few members of the zoo staff, John Dickson got to go inside the orangutan exhibit!



Just kidding.

On the playground



Look of determination

Backtracking Pt II

John Dickson with Papa and Aunt Barbara at Ella's baptism. John Dickson was all about some Papa that day!



With Granna and Papa - I love this picture! The expression is priceless.



With Granna and Aunt Erin who I like less now because look at how skinny with a 3 month old. Who does that anyway?



We didn't get a family picture, but here is me and Adam with Ella!



Kissing the baby - we have come a LOOONG way since December!

Backtracking with Pictures

While you will just have to take our word that these pictures were in fact from the circus, here they are -

Ready for the show to start



Clapping for the acrobats



What in the world is going on?



Laughing with Daddy



Mesmerized

Today has been...

interesting.

John Dickson woke up around 7:30 and had a big bowl of oatmeal that somehow wound up all over the front of his body and in his hair. Outfit change #1. A little while later, Adam and John Dickson are throwing the football, and Adam goes to kick the ball - somehow his standing foot was on the bottom of his pajamas, and both feet went up in the air, kicking John Dickson in the head on the way up and knocking the two of them flat. John Dickson was fine and it so it was very funny. For me anyway. Around 11:30 John Dickson went down for a nap. He was yelling "be doh be doh be doh" in an unusually loud and spastic way, so I went to check on him. He was laying across the side of his crib railing, long ways, feet crossed. He heard me open the door, turned to look at me, and fell off the side onto the floor. There was no nap. The crib is in the attic. Shortly thereafter, John Dickson came happy squealing and running down the hall with none other than a thumb tack. No clue where he got it. Thankfully no injuries. He then enjoyed a cup of milk in our bedroom until he yanked the top off and his full cup of milk went all over the carpet. Being kicked down by Daddy and falling out of the crib - no tears - spilled milk - crying. John Dickson later had a tantrum because he wanted grapes, but by the time I got them all cut up, he was so crazy in his tantrum that he couldn't remember why he was upset in the first place, and he actually made himself throw up from choking on his own tantrum. Not spit up. Throw up. After being spun "roun and roun" approximately 359840 times and then piling his toys, ball and boat into the swivel chair and making those go "roun and roun" 68923 times, the day is finally winding down.

Whew. We're exhausted.

Whoa

23 months today for John Dickson and 20 weeks for me! Halfway there!

That's all.

New Things

John Dickson has been changing so much lately! If we thought his talking was taking off before, we had no idea! He is starting to put together 3 or 4 words at a time, and is majorly taking advantage of it. He knows we are suckers for "Peez help" along with a "mommy" or "daddy". He also asks for sauce and a "boon" (spoon) and eats his sauce with his spoon. And its so dang cute, we let him. He says "Henry" in the cutest way imaginable, and as if the name wasn't already set in stone, there is absolutely no changing it now! He has also taken a huge liking to the phrase "Oh wow" (an Adam Kelley daily staple) and he uses it to tell you how impressed he is at Olympic skiing ("Oh wow" - "oh wow" - "all done" - clapping - and 100% unprovoked), or to tell you how amazing he thinks Costco is (walking in is like stepping into Disney World for this dude). He LOVES "air pay" (air planes) and even points them out when they are just white streaks in the sky. He figured that out on his own - child prodigy this one is! I've already decided that task #1 when we move to Columbia is to set up a picnic near the airport and watch planes come and go. Of course he still loves trains,cars and trucks, but he has also developed a love for water and turtles. We thought he was asking for the moose in our closet the other day because it sounded like he was saying horse, but when we pulled it out, he immediately identified it as a moose! And he knows what alligators say and does the big clap thing with it - we didn't teach him those things - so I guess college - er - daycare tuition is paying off. HE LOVES EVERYTHING THAT GOES "ROUN AND ROUN". Period. The microwave. The washing machine. The vacuum. Making turns in the car. He's gotten very good at asking for "hep!" The other day he closed himself into the laundry room while we were eating dinner and he hung out in there for a while before he finally uttered a little "hep" and we opened the door. I'm partial, but they pretty much dont come any cuter than that.

Last weekend we went to Ella's baptism. We hadn't seen Ella in 2 whole months and she has gotten sooooo big already! She's got the perfect amount of chub in her little cheeks and is the perfect size to hold. I didn't think I'd break her this time, but she was still so tiny. The baptism was great and John Dickson let us enjoy the entire thing (no help from his apple jacks, of course...) He then went up for his first children's sermon with his Papa. He looked pretty handsome in his tie and british boy hat, if I do say so myself. He then went out with his grandparents where he discovered the bird on the playground that I believe you kind of rock on, and it was a one track mind for the rest of the afternoon.

Also last weekend was the greatest show on earth! John Dickson went to his very first Ringling Bros circus - and it was a success! He lasted for the entire thing. He asked for more when these guys did some sort of acrobatics on these flimsy pole things, and he told us with his hands that he didn't understand much else. He didnt know what was going on, but he did love it! And just when he started to get really restless, the elephants came out and John Dickson was absolutely in heaven! He wasn't too impressed with the tigers, and neither were we. Don't get me wrong, 10 tigers in a cage sitting on stools and not eating people - impressive - but that was the extent of it. They didn't do what they were supposed to and their only tricks were sitting in the begging position. Bear knows more tricks. Bear.

Pictures to come... I had more to say, but I typed it all up and it got deleted and I have to get remotivated to type it again...