Mover & Shaker

Teacher/Student

Christmas Air Bounce!!!

This Christmas was particularly cold and nasty - as far as the weather goes.
I guess, you could say we all got a little stir crazy.
However, you can always look to Uncle Tom to cheer up a toddler!
They played Air Bounce - like children do in Air Castles... but instead on the air mattress Dan and I were using to sleep on!

These guys KNOW how to have fun!

Christmas time pictures

Phin & Mama

time with uncle

Fly Boy

I knew Cousin Given had one of these awesome rocking planes, but I didn't expect for Phin to end up with one this Christmas! Grandma pulled it out of a corner - just for Phin and I thin we were all just as excited as he was when he saw it.

He has started his flight training. Dan has showed him how the propeller works. I just wonder, what am I in for???

Christmas cookies anyone?

I have fond memories of my childhood Christmas "helping" with cookie and candy making.
It happened at Grandma's house and after we made tons of goodies, we would put them on plates and deliver them to friends and family. One of my favorite deliveries was Miss Flo's house.

Ethan will have memories of cooking with Grandma too! True, we don't make thirty different kinds of dessert anymore (probably the best for everyone) - and we don't drive around town passing out our delights. BUT, Phin got to work on making some sugar cookies with Grandma. I believe this was his first time to MAKE the cookies. Check back about a week to see his first experience with EATING the cookies.... :)

Phin's "special place"

Probably, all children are like this. I seem to remember enjoying tiny little places I could crawl into. Places that were just my size. Mostly in the kitchen - in the lower cabinets. Once, MaryAnn and I slept in a closet and in the morning, Mom couldn't find us. It was, I suspect, quite dramatic for her.
At Grandma Susie's house, Phin found his special place - right by the bread machine.
I think he looks adorable there!

Christmas at Home

We are traveling to Grandma Susie's tomorrow morning. SO, we decided we would let Phin open his gifts before Christmas...

This is his Christmas Booty! I think he did pretty well for himself.








Can you believe all of the trash we were able to make! It's gonna be more than 1 bag of trash at our curb this week.

Phins favorite

is still BOOK-A-BOOK-A-BOOK.
He likes to look at them himself. He likes to have them read to him. All day, every day - book-a-book-a-book!~

chip off the old block

Danger!

"the camera loves him" - or - he loves the camera...

Cookies for the gym.

Holiday party at the gym and I'll bring some cookies and lemon bars, right?
I think it was the barometric pressure or something because every thing I tried to make flopped.
The butterscotch chip cookies were flat and runny so I put them in a tupperware - so I could throw them all away at once. But see, there was this curious boy who pulled said tupperware down and started pulling cookies off of the floor - and then cramming them into his mouth like he was a starving child. All I could think is "Yes, THIS is my child."
He stole one and then when the "double fisting" started, I took one cookie away and let him keep the other. While he snacked away, Mommy was quick to get rid of the evidence and the mess - so he may forget about these cookies.

In reality, the rest of the day was filled with drama and sugar filled hissy-fits. I am going to have to think really hard about how I'm going to deal with Christmas cookies at Grandma's house!

HAIR

It's winter time again and that means Phin has a dry scalp.
On this particular day, his head lotion just did a JOB on his hair.

Why does the baby cry?

As I was looking though the pictures, I didn't know why I would photograph THIS.
Was it his teeth?




Then, I realized why!
He was upset that I took his cups out of his "cup holder."
I guess he had felt quite happy with his creative problem solving - but mama wants to keep the plants alive...

On the floor!

Obviously, we are still working on our balance...

Tractor

Breakfast with Dad

The Parents As Teachers Educator said we should let Phin start feeding himself.
I agree with her - but it can be so messy at times!
However, MESSY doesn't detour Daddy!
Daddy and Phin at Breakfast with some strawberry oatmeal:

cirque du soleil - watch out!

new word: hat

His other new words include: go, bubble, cold, now, cards, cow, ear, cheese, hat, rock, hot, cat, ya, okay and butt (read off of the Bordeau's Butt Paste tube).
At the end of his fifteenth month, is word count is now 35+.

climbing

more letters...

ball throwing with Dad...

letters

HIs favorite toy was a box

Phin's new CHAIR

HAT

Phin has words that are his favorite. The first is "hat." We both wear them when it's cold. The next is "frog" - his favorite animal. Another is "cold" - which is any drink (even coffee).

This is how he loves his words:

Book Reading