Florida Vacation

We have been in sunny Florida for the past few days! We spent time in Orlando while the hubs did some work then visited little man's great-grandparents. We had a great time and like all vacations it was way too short!!

Little man was an angel on the plane. He slept on our shoulders for over an hour and a half each way! We told him to lay his head down and take a nap ... and he did! We were as surprised as the people next to us! He also played on our iPad- the iPad was the MVP of the trip. We couldn't have done it without it! He is really into luggage right now. He wanted to roll the luggage around in the airport. He loves to push/pull things.

In Orlando we spent most of our time at the pool. I will share more of the pool pics tomorrow.

Then we drove to my grandparent's (little man's GREAT-grandparent's house. His favorite thing to do was ride in the golf cart. He constantly begged to go for rides.

He also loved my grandma's dog, Sophie (a bichon). Our last night he even kissed her head goodnight when he was giving out goodnights. I didn't get any pics of him and Sophie which is a shame because they were incredibly cute together.

We played with buckets of water on the patio (which naturally led to digging in the dirt) and brushed up on our golf game.

We mainly enjoyed visiting with Gram and Gramp. He taught Gramp some new tricks on the computer, explained his favorite cartoons to him and did not let Gram out of his sight our entire visit. He was a busy little boy!

We took two trips to the beach which was awesome (more pics from the beach in a day or two).

We had a great vacation but we are glad to be home and be in our own beds -- we need to recover from all that fun in the sun!

Time for a Trim

Little man's hair was starting to get pretty shaggy so after lunch we stopped to get a hair cut.

You might remember our last hair cut was a lot of fun. This time, that was not the case! He screamed as soon as I set him in the chair. He was choking he was crying so hard! So we had a speedy cut and he finally pulled it together when we gave him a sucker. Quite a bit of drama!!

Growing Boy!

Last week I took little man to the Dr for a check-up and shots. They took his measurements and asked a few developmental questions (which he was great).

He weighed in at 30 lbs and measured 35 inches tall! This put him in the 95th percentile for both height and weight for boys his age.

Here is a comparison from his last appointment, 3 months ago:

Jan 2013 (age 17 months) 33" 28 lbs, 11 oz
Apr 2013 (age 20 months) 35" 30 lbs

You can see he is really growing fast! He is a full two inches taller!

This time they weighed him using a regular scale (the standing type that adults could also be weighed on). He was too big for the digital infant scale. Unfortunately, this means his weight was recorded to the nearest pound and not the nearest ounce like before.

The Dr said he is the size of an average three year old boy! Any way you slice it, he is one big, healthy boy!

PS - the shots were not a big deal. He hardly cried, he is so tough! And the best part, we are done with shots until his flu shot this fall!

Washing Little Hands

After little man plays outside (digging in the dirt and rock collecting), we MUST wash our hands. This used to involve getting out a kitchen chair and stretching his little arms to reach the water. But it wasn't enough, there was still dirt under his fingernails. His hands needed to soak.

So, I put some "kitchen trinkets" in a mixing bowl and filled it a third of the way with warm soapy water. (Kitchen trinkets are little baby safe odds and ends: a cap to the old peanut butter jar, a plastic Easter egg, a silicone baking cup, etc) This worked perfectly! Little guy liked searching for the trinkets in the soap suds, swirling the water with his hands, and playing in general. The key is taking away the bowl before playing with the trinkets turns into pouring out the water. We have been lucky so far!

Loving It Lately!

Lately we have been loving the Melissa and Doug Stack and Sort Board. We really like all of the Melissa and Doug toys. They are good, old-fashioned, wooden toys.

Melissa & Doug Stack & Sort Board

This one we received as a Christmas gift and little man has always liked it but about a month ago he really figured out how to sort the colors and now it is his favorite puzzle. He will do the puzzle on repeat and I coach him, "Faster! Faster!"

Sometimes he likes to "be silly" and will put a piece in the wrong place. Then he waits for an exaggerated response. "That's not yellow," I exclaim and he giggles and claps his hands. He has so much personality lately!

Here is a video of him playing with the toy, enjoy!

"The Slips"

Little man LOVES his slippers. We call them "the slips." He wears them almost every morning and every night. (We lost them for about 2 weeks but they were found and are back in use!) He does everything in them, it is really quite a sight! They are red (his favorite color) and from the Disney movie Cars. We found them in the clearanced section of Walmart for (I think??) $3. He also likes to put them on and take them off. He can sometimes/almost do this by himself. I'm surprised the slips haven't crept onto more pics because he wears them so much!

Scooping Beans

Snacking on pita chips & hummus with dad

Even Perfect Children Throw Tantrums

Why was he upset? He did not want to wear a diaper or pants. TGIF!!