For Christmas, E made his presents for Grandma & Grandpa Proctor and Granny & Pappa Lewis. We got these little picture frames from one of the kid activities at Home Depot (seriously, I love them! First Sat of every month!) and E hammered on them with his toy hammer while Mike hammered on them with the real hammer. E LOVED it! Then, one night while Mike was at school, E and I painted them and E applied stickers. I learned that painting with a 15 month old is not the best idea as paint started to go into his mouth, and all over him instead of the frames. He was mad when I took the paint brush away. He was having fun! I loved that E could give presents that he made and that he had fun making them.
We went up to Temple Square twice to see the lights. The first time we went the week of Thanksgiving with my family when my sister was in town from Elko. It was COLD! We visited the planitarium and then Mike & I walked over to the Temple while everybody else rode Trax. Seriously, we got there about the same time and we didn't need to deal with taking a stroller down for the ride. A few weeks later we went back up with Amanda, Cameron, and the boys. This trip was so much fun! First, it was a lot warmer. Relief! Second, we walked down to the 2 News studio and Lyndsi Storrs gave us a tour. She used to live near Amanda and they are good friends. It was fun to see inside the studio and all the inner workings. I was glad it was warmer so we could really enjoy the lights and not be hurrying because we were freezing.
Little man loved getting out of the stroller and running around with his cousins. I love when E is able to get together with his cousins. He loves running around after them and loves watching them. This might not always be a good thing since he is into trying everything out and if he sees a cousin do something he will be trying it himself before too long. He is growing too fast!
On many mornings, you can find E and I crouched in front of my bedroom window watching this. We have a few bird feeders on our back patio and when E discovered the birds were there he LOVES watching them. I made the mistake of opening the window one day to try to get a picture and ever since then, the window has to be open for E to really enjoy his birdwatching. But look how beautiful these birds are! I love that spring is on the way!!
We have had some snafus with babysitting this week. There was sickness at the babysitter's house that we didn't want to spread. On Monday, Mike missed school and I went to work. We thought contagious periods were over by Tuesday, so we planned our normal day, but another outbreak caused me to get to stay home with Little Man a little longer. Mike has morning classes this term and so I was home with E until he got home from school. We went on a walk and had fun playing outside. I love the look he is giving in this next picture. He is so intent on whatever he is looking at.
I love it when my little guy smiles. He has such sparkle in his eyes and so much personality! Plus, he is just stinken cute! He can also be such a stinker!
E has taken to carrying our phones around saying, "Do?" That is his Hello. It is also sometimes accompanied by babble and I yearn to know what he is talking about. I love the face I captured here as he is in the middle of having his important conversation with the phone!
Somebody has learned to spit. He learned this by watching Mom & Dad spit toothpaste out into the sink when they brushed their teeth. He now has to "spit" into the sink when he brushes his teeth. He has now taken to spitting at other times also. It is something we try to stop and remind E, "We only spit into the sink," but I have to admit, it is also cute.
I cannot even tell you how happy I am to still see my baby have some baby fat cheeks. He is growing so big and so fast that he no longer looks like a baby. He looks like a little boy. I relish these chubby cheeks and can't help but to kiss them! It doesn't help that E is going through a stage where he thinks it is funny not to give you kisses anymore. If you ask for a kiss, he shakes his head no and laughs. But no worries, if he sees a dog, any dog, they get a kiss blown in their direction.
To be so young and so fascinated with this wierd flat thing coming out of the ground. He even forgot about his ball for the moment. This is the ball that he insisted on walking around the block carrying.
"Hi Mom. Whatcha doin'? I am glad you brought me outside to play! Can you put that camera thing down and come play with me?"
E loves 3 things. Balls, cars, and dogs. It doesn't matter the size of the ball, he will play with it, throw it, and carry it around. Cars, he is getting his "vroom" down. Really, it sounds more like an "mmmm" but the cars can go really fast when he makes the sound. Dogs, where do you even start. They get an automatic kiss, the finger pointing, "Do?" lean over, blow the kiss in the direction of the dog, and a squeal of laughter. He also loves his little buggy, which is a "bigger car" for him. It is a car he can sit on and scoot around rather than push around. And it sings "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and "Do You Know the Muffin Man?"
Somebody is trying to get into the backyard to get their best friend, Jake. Jake got left home on our walk around the block and spent the time laying in the sun out in the backyard.
Here E is on his walk around our block. He is such a big boy, carrying that ball by himself. Heaven forbid Mom take it from him to help him out, then it is tantrum time. E is getting too good at throwing these tantrums.
At the top of our stairs we have some boxes that are waiting to go into the attic. E likes to play in these boxes, looking for treasures that will make cool toys. Last night, I heard him playing here and didn't think anything of it, until I decided to check on him to make sure he wasn't getting into mischief. Nope, he wasn't getting into mischief, he already was in mischief! Our storage flour bucket is also here. He got the lid off and there was flour everywhere! On Mike's bowling ball bag, in our box of picture frames, on our wreath from Christmas, and in our pine cones. I vacuumed about 7 cups of flour off the floor. That doesn't even cover what was on E!
E was covered! He had the little finger-sized flour patch going across his eye, flour caked onto his fingers, flour in his hair, on his clothes. He definately had fun!
"Am I in trouble?" E was trying to figure out why I was taking pictures of him. He sure made a mess for me to clean up. Listening to the vacuum, which he is scared of, was enough of a punishment for him.
After all that trouble he took to getting the flour just right, Mamma through E into the tub. But that is ok, E loves bath time! He had every single bath toy in the tub with him. He loves putting his letters on his tummy and seeing them stick! I wonder where he got that little trick from {grin}
I love my happy little boy!
And what could be better after a day of playing and mischief to see such peace? Seriously, he is the most precious blessing in our lives. Mike and I do love him a lot!
