TTFN, Colorado

We went out with a bang last weekend, Brett's last weekend as a Colorado resident.  He actually is coming back next weekend to visit, but he'll be a Chicagoan by then.

On our drive up into the mountains we first shot for Nederland but it was so nasty up there and Augie had fallen asleep so we decided to take the Peak to Peak Highway over to Estes Park to see if it was any better there.  Brett's best line that day was "this weather looks perfect for a hike."

Not pictured: terrifying wind

We persevered and got to Estes Park and it looked a little bit better so we decided to continue.  So glad we did!  It was a beautiful, rocky hike with a lovely secluded lake at the top (Gem Lake).

Now for the story of the hat.  When we got up there I set my hat down on a rock and, as I mentioned, it was windy.  Pretty soon it was gone.  I took this picture, and yes, it has my finger in it, as a bye-bye hat picture.  

And yes, for those of you keeping score, that is the hat my mom made me for Christmas.

Never one to admit defeat, BB made it his personal duty to rescue this hat.  

It looks close, but it was all swamp between B and the hat.

First attempt, after tethering the hiking sticks together

Stroke of genius, moved the log and used one pole to steady him

The saved hat.

Then we got home and threw the hat in the washer.  Then I threw in more laundry.  And washed it.  And dried it.

Silver lining - Augie has a hat for next winter!

Easter

15 Months

We can't believe that our baby is not much of a baby anymore!  He is walking, talking, and he has very strong opinions about what he should and should not be doing.  The other day he was going through my nightstand, I told him it wasn't for babies, redirected him, and then ten minutes later I realized I didn't know where he was...he was very quietly going through my nightstand!  His memory is a lot longer and his increased mobility means he can reach a lot more.

He says mama, dada, nanaa, ball, tractor, car, bike, dog, cat, socks, hi, and bye. He also says "bai" which means pacifier.  Usually when he's saying it it's with a desperate tone of voice which sounds really pathetic.

He LOVES to read books, but his favorite book changes daily.  Mostly he likes to point out things in books and have you say them or you ask him where things are and he points to them.  He likes to pretend like Brett is chasing him at all times, so whenever he sees Brett at a distance he giggles and runs away.  But then sometimes he giggles, runs toward him, then runs away.  He likes to walk to tennis practice which is basically in our back yard and we shag balls while saying "Ball ball ball!"  He loves to pet Nanaa and is figuring out what gentle means, but sometimes he just can't resist squeezing her tail.  For a long time, he wasn't really into eating but in the past couple of weeks I think we can add eating pretty much anything on to his list of favorite activities.

He just had his 15 month appointment.  He was 32 inches long and weighed 25 lb 7.5 oz.  His height was 75th percentile and his weight was 80th.  He was afraid of the doctor for the first time and cried really hard when he got his shots, but we only have 2 more to go at the next appointment and then he won't have any until he's 5.

We had a beautiful day at the farmers market a couple of weeks ago

Augie was pretty proud of himself for getting down by the creek

Playing on the playground at my school

I was trying to capture music time in the kitchen playing with utensils but he was on to me.

We had a sick day and went out for lunch -- he couldn't eat because he was so busy waving at the cars and trucks as they went by

He actually gave up his tennis balls for these pinecones

Shoving fries in his face at Mustard's Last Stand in Boulder

Checking himself out at the doctor's office

This expression says it all!

Another talent that Augie has developed is pointing out all the members of our families in our family pictures.  He was killing it and got everyone right except two in this picture right before we started filming.  Then filming, and he got distracted...

Belated Christmas Post

We spent some time over Christmas with our friends at their house and I just found these photos again and couldn't resist posting them.  I also couldn't resist the matching Christmas pajamas, sorry to all who were subject to them!  These need no caption.

Getting clean

In trying to get them to all look in the same direction, we did "how big is _____"  Varying degrees of compliance.

After the pictures there was an elf race up the stairs.

Just the Way You Are

Augie and I had fun this morning listening to some Bruno Mars and dancing in the kitchen.  Aside from one mention of a sexy smile, "Just the Way You Are" was without a doubt written for a child.  His smile and his laugh just light up our lives and we wouldn't change a thing.  Especially how much he loves being spun around while you sing really loudly to him.

He's almost 14 months old now.  I forgot to post his stats from his one year appointment -- he was 20 lbs 10 oz and 30.5 inches long.  He was in the 70-75th percentile for everything.  Everything was normal.

Since then, he has started talking a lot more to communicate.  His words so far are mama, dada, hi, bye, cat, dog, ball, Nanaa, and then recently he's added "hat" and "bath" to his repertoire.  With hats, he'll see a hat, say hat, then try to put it on his head.  He kind of has a word for sock too, but not clear enough to count it.  He tries to put socks and shoes on his feet.  He loves to play with Nanaa, our hair,  musical instruments, balls, and balloons.  Just this evening, he was working really hard on standing independently.  I think he had multiple 5 second stretches of standing.  It's amazing how quickly he's growing and changing.

Here are a few favorites from recently:

Eating from chopsticks when dada got back from Beijing

Climbing on the chair and putting his baseball in its place

First sled ride with dada on the non-snow day snow day

He gives the best cuddles in the morning

He found the recycling and the (Brett promises) rinsed out beer bottle

He got this amazing ball from his cousin Nora and LOVES it

Dada comes up with the best games.

Rock climbing

Walking with dada is always an adventure

12 month pictures

We blinked, and he's 12 months old.  His hair is many shades lighter than it was when he was born.  He has ideas about what he wants and doesn't want and is very vocal when his wishes aren't met.  He loves to crawl and can walk when holding hands or holding on to a walker, but he isn't a big fan of that.  He likes to play music, particularly maracas and the xylophone.  Balloons captivate him and one of his favorite things is to run errands -- you never notice how many balloons are in the grocery store until you go with Augie.  He still isn't the smiley-est baby, but he's generally in good spirits.  He says "mama" and "dada" when he wants us to pick him up.  He says "dat" for "bath" which is one of his favorite activities.  He's started to master the ring tower, and also enjoys putting things into bins or into drawers.  Or putting his toys just on the other side of the baby gate down a stair or two, then reaching for them but not being able to get them.  He loves Nanaa and is starting to show her that he can do gentle touches, but doesn't understand that she doesn't want to be gently touched on the face, claws, or have her tail tugged.  He loves to eat, but what he loves to eat changes each day.  Recently he's gone on clementine strike, which used to be one of his favorites.  Except when they had clementines for sample at the grocery store and he devoured it like it was the best thing he's ever tasted.  Every day has so many moments that we don't want to forget, but inevitably do.  We wish we could just take snapshots of each moment to remember forever, but if we were taking snapshots the whole time, we wouldn't really be there.  

His 12 month photo shoot was in the evening on the day before his birthday.  He had been sick and wasn't in the best mood.  He cried one of the longest sustained periods I've seen because I picked him up and moved him back about 5 feet so he'd crawl again for a better shot.  But despite the challenges, dada still got some good photos.  The blanket has become an incidental prop that we try to capture in the background before he moves out of the frame.  It has been so fun to see him grow through these photos, and I really credit Brett in giving a sustained effort each time.  

Right out the gate -- no blanket in this one!

You picked me up and put me back down!

A decent stair climber who only occasionally now goes to sit down on the step behind him and stumbles

He likes to close the gate!

His xylophone hammer is never far away!

So tall.

Toddlerhood, here I come!

On his birthday, they had a party for him at daycare.  Ms Rachel and Ms Liz made him the crown and it says his name on the back in embroidery.  He wore a cape and listened with all of the other children to the story (sometimes in song) of how the angel brought the baby down to his mommy and daddy and how his mommy and daddy gave him something very special -- his name.   All the kids sang happy birthday to him and then we had banana muffins.  It was so cute seeing all the kids so mesmerized by the story and who sang happy birthday to him with such excitement.  We feel so lucky to have found such a great place for him.

When we got home, daddy had a surprise -- a birthday balloon!

A birthday bottle.  One of his last.  Moving on to sippy cups!