Fall Festival...better late than never...Pres at 16 months...and here ya go Chrissy!

***I can't find the camera with the move, so pics will have to come later...whenever I can find where Pres hid the camera!***

We had a wonderful time at the Winter Park Fall Festival. Pres loved seeing all of the kids in costumes and the different activities. He went on his first hay ride and had the most fun watching the trains go by from the train station nearby.

My baby boy is growing so quickly. He is changing daily and the last little bit of baby is slowly leaving. He's finally figured out that he has been blowing kisses backwards, and while it is cute to see him do it the right way, my heart broke a little knowing that I would never again see the backwards kiss blown to me simultaneously while he is saying "BU-YIIIIEEEEEEEE". It is just another reminder that he is growing much faster than I would like. He's come into his own and temper tantrums are par for the course. His favorite time to throw a big hissy fit is as we are coming in from playing outside. He simply goes limp and lays on his belly saying "oooohhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhh". I suppose in Pres language this really means, "I DO NOT WANT TO GO INSIDE!" It means most days I must step over him to get into the house and then proceed to slide him away from the door so that I can shut it up tight because he can now reach all of the door handles!

His words are amazing and I can't believe how well he enunciates them. He speaks clearly and likes for you to look at him when you have a conversation together. If you do not look his way, he will take his chubby little hands and put them on your cheeks and turn your head until you are looking at him. He is copying EVERY word he hears now! "No" is not very big in his vocabulary but I tend to tell him "enough" rather than "No" so I'm sure soon I will be hearing "enough" yelled at me when he is unhappy with something.

Last but not least Pres is now in a big boy bed! He loves it and the transition was so easy that it had to just be the right time.

Favorite Books:
Any truck/train book
Books that he can lift flaps
Hickory Dickory Dock (still and Lord help me I want to throw it away)

Favorite activities:
Anything outside
Playing with Thomas the Tank Engine

Favorite Food:
Pizza
Waffles with Chocolate chips
Macaroni and Cheese
Hot Dogs

Favorite Memory from Mom:
When he wakes up in the morning he comes into my room and says "Hi ma-maaaaa" with the sweetest smile on his face. I wish I could bottle up the sound of his voice and the look on his face. It could end all wars!

Favorite Memory from dad:
The night that he pooped in the tub. It was gross and funny at the same time-PETE

Just for fun...

Not too sure if you can tell in this picture, but my little guy has no tush! It is so skinny that his pants always droop in the back! He looks like a wannabe rapper in this outfit. I'll let you all in on a little secret. Whenever you see Pres in camouflage...guess who dressed him????? I'll give you a hint...it begins with P and ends with E!















This is a great face! This is the look I get after I have had to "redirect" him from being naughty. Don't you just love the injustice in his eyes! How dare I stop him from climbing on the chair!






















Like father, like son! One of Pete's favorite snacks is to have a big apple. Pres loves them too! He won't even let me slice them anymore. He takes the whole apple and chows down while spitting out the peel all over the floor. Fun for him, not so much fun for me, but it keeps him occupied and really seems to help out on the bad teething day...especially if I keep them in the fridge!

My new toddler

Pres is now officially not a baby anymore. He's a walking, talking, feeding himself, and stubborn as all get out toddler. He is starting to be in the stage where he wants to do everything by himself. Feeding him has become a challenge because he insists on doing it himself and usually ends up looking as if he bathed in his food! Consider the following picture and imagine cleaning up this mess three times a day.
















He's walking now and as seems to be his personality, walking simply isn't fast enough so he must run! This has brought on a lot of bumps and bruises, skinned hands and knees. Here is a pic of one of the few times he's not running. He was strutting his stuff for his own audience at mine and Pete's anniversary party. He is really proud of himself and claps at himself when he walks!














The talking cracks me up and it is never ending. He will sit in his room and play by himself just chatting away. I love to watch him do this. He will just grab a book, sit in his Elmo chair, and read to himself; or if he's not in the reading mood, he will sit at his table and do puzzles!














In all, this time is the best time yet. I can't believe how much fun we have everyday and how sweet he is (most of the time!). I am so looking forward to what the next year has to bring. I am having a wonderful time discovering his little personality.

His new words:

leg
hat
yuck
truck (I am so over this word!)
nana
sock
that (he points at what he wants and says "THAT")
milk
dock (from his favorite book)

His favorite foods:

ravioli
spaghetti and meatballs
mac n cheese
apples
animal crackers
cheese


His favorite books:

Colors Book
Hickory Dickory Dock
The Very Hungry Caterpillar

His favorite activities:

ANYTHING that takes him outside!

The Ghetto Pool!

This weekend we had a water pipe burst behind us. It poured water and almost flooded our neighbors home. Pete helped to keep the water out while we waited for the water company to get there and I decided that it was a shame to have that much clean water go to waste. I stripped Pres down and let him have fun! He had a blast in his "ghetto" pool!

A Quick update for Jackie in Denver!!! :)

Just some quickie bullet points until I have more time:

-I've been traveling this summer so I've been super busy.

-I just got back from Woodstock, New Brunswick in Canada and had a wonderful time with Chrissy and her in-laws. That part of Canada looks a lot like upstate NY with the exception of lots of Tim Horton's. (for those of you who don't know, this is the end all and be all for coffee and donuts in that part of the country-or so I was told over and over again!)

-Pete and Pres had a great time being boys while I was gone and somehow male bonding now consists of buying a new flat screen TV and Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs to watch in Blue Ray?!

-Pres is walking!!!!!!!!!

-No good offers on the house, so keep up in your prayers for that.

-We've made some new friends, and I am enjoying lots of play dates with Holli and Colton.

-There are a lot of opportunities coming our way, so there is sure to be crazy change this winter.

-I am waiting for pictures from my Canada trip and will talk more about that when they come. As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words," and the pics can be my words.

In a quick closing: "Christina Lynn, thank you so much for your never-failing honesty, love, sisterhood, and friendship." "It is truly an honor to call you 'friend'".