1.5 Years Old!

I can't keep track of you! Time is just flying by and you are turning more into a rough and tumble little boy every minute of every day.  You are such a courageous and adventurous soul. You can entertain yourself for a while but are clearly social by nature - you love to be around people and share toys and talk. You light up whenever you see Mommy or Daddy, and Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Cam. You're a good eater, not great as you're easily distracted, but we'll take it. Sweet as can be, you just shine in a crowd, not shy in the least.  You've slept amazingly well since 6 weeks old (we thank our lucky STARS each night, with our eyes closed). You've weathered any illnesses with ease, your molars are giving you a hard time but you just chew on through those suckers. You are insanely curious and want to see everything this world has to offer. 

Thanks for opening up our eyes and showing us the fun in the little things - who knew that a pot and spatula could bring hours of laughter? You're a fun dude.

Here are your 1.5 year old highlights:

You give "loves", hugs and kisses.

Whenever we come home, you run to the front door with the biggest smile and hardest floor stomps EVER.

You want to wear everyones shoes. 

You love playing fetch with the doggies and petting them, when you can catch them.

Every round object you see is a basketball.

You can sing Twinkle Twinkle - this is adorable.

You can successfully point out your nose, eyes, ears, mouth, head, belly, feet, and hands on command. We think you are an absolute genius for being able to do this at this age.

You ask for the guitar off the wall and you play it and sing doo doo doo.

Your favorite words lately:

"Hi Dada"

Feet.

Hat.

Socks.

Shoes.

Balloon.

Banana

Birdie

Guitar

Hello

Hi

Beach Ball

Basketball

Ball. Really, any variation of ball.

And our two favorites, that have gotten us in all kinds of trouble:

Sit. Which sounds like a bad word when you say it.

Boots. This also sounds like a bad word. 

You should see us in the grocery store. "sit". "boots". back and forth. Jeez, bud.

"Boots":

"Sit":

Your acoustic set with dads guitar:

You sing Twinkle Twinkle (sort of)

And other recent (non-moving-picture) highlights:

My Little Mechanic

There is no doubt you are all boy. Constantly covered in dirt, carrying around the biggest toy you can find, totally into balls, trucks, trains, and now tools. You helped your daddy change my breaks recently and we were both amazed at how focused and into it you were. You held the wrench and banged it on the wheel, you gave daddy the sockets he needed for the job, you were just the best little assistant a guy could ask for (and just the cutest sight your mama ever did see). 

I hope your daddy can teach you everything he knows about all things boy - cause he's a pretty great man and you are one lucky fella to have him as your daddy.

First Camping Trip of the Season!

Boy, you just LOVE the outdoors. It's one thing I love most about you. "Outside" was one of your first words, and it truly is all you want to do - go play outside! Pickup (and sometimes throw) rocks, explore our beautifully landscaped lawn, watch the birds, listen to the trees and in our yard, watch the choo choos go by. Well, camping is your Disneyland right now.

We packed the car up (and boy was it full) and headed for the hills Thurs before Memorial Day Weekend. Our destination was Lake Billy Chinook in Eastern Oregon, but this year it was a different kind of trip. When your mommy and daddy were younger, we would cruise around this lake in a houseboat with all of our closest friends. These close friends all now have a few kiddos and these friends serve as an extended family to you - aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's a beautiful thing - we are blessed with some awesome friends who love you to pieces (and the feeling is mutual). So, this year, we filled our kegs with grape juice (well, mostly grape juice) and traded in our houseboat for luxurious camping spots and roughed it - and boy was it fun! 7 Adults (with some special visitors) and 10 kiddos filled our campground, and boy was it fun to sit and listen to the things you babes say. Just so we never forget, here is the (extended family) that joined us this sweet weekend:

Lori/Jason + Jackson/Maverick + Ethan/Carter (Lori's sisters kiddos)

Jesse/Breanna + Haley/Caleb (+ baby #3 due in 2 months!)

Raegan + Emma/Liam/Lucas (Your other buddy Weston had a baseball game so his daddy Mike had to stay back with him. Boo!)

And special guests for a day: Nick/Rebekah and Camryn/Emery

We mostly hung around camp, ate smores for breakfast, read books, napped, played fun games, and put wood in the fire (lots and LOTS of wood - your favorite). On Sunday we had a pontoon boat adventure and darn, that was just FUN. You aren't yet the biggest fan of life jackets, but once we got cruising you forgot it was even on - we were SAILING!  You and Caleb were the best lil captains ever. We even brought your pack n play, and I'll be darned if you didn't just nap on that rowdy pontoon boat for 2 hours! Such a champ.

You are the most flexible and easy going babe ever. It's true, you don't like it when your schedule gets thrown off, but you were able to lay down and nap just about anywhere. You play so nicely with other kids, you love sharing but you're social enough to want to follow any of your cousins around camp. All of it was fun and I can confidently say that we will be camping a lot this summer. You just had too much fun not to. and So did we. :-)

Walking down to the lake at 6am - when NO ONE ELSE WAS AWAKE. :-)

Emma caught a trout!

Your buds (you're in there somewhere): Maverick, Emma (inside), Liam, Lucas, Maverick, Carter

Captain Sizemore

Showing Caleb how to steer

the famous cove - back here 10 years later with the same crew - but with babies. Even cooler

You were conked out on the pontoon boat. Bartender!

Beautiful Lake Billy Chinook

Sizemore tent mansion has two bedrooms - here was yours. Lucky ducks.

Mother's Day

There is so much rich history in your mama's family for Mother's Day.
It's a day of celebration, appreciation and reflection. Most nostalgic for me was spending that one day a year showing my mama how much I loved and appreciated her. We would make her a special breakfast and lay in bed and watch movies with her. After her nap (soon you'll know that napping and your Grandma are synonymous with one another), we would go play together outside and just love on each other. Each year was special and different, and seeing the joy and love in her eyes as we fawned over her was the best part. I remember being little and feeling so blessed and honored that I could make my mommy that happy.
Though you're not old enough yet to fully understand, you make me this happy every single day. What I came to realize this year is that I don't need one dedicated day, not yet anyway. This day was just like any other... and that is what made it great. We played, you laughed, you loved on me, you learned new words. You napped, I napped (the BEST!). We went to Grandma's for a family BBQ and you were just a HAM - you love your family so much and I adore watching you love on your Grandma, it added a new dimension to our always-fantastic-Mothers Day.

So, little bud. I can't wait for you to get older and for your Grandma to show you all of the fun stuff we get to do on Mother's day because I know you will love this special day. And I look forward to sharing this day with you for many years to come, because without you none of this would be possible.

Thanks for making me a mama, buddy. And for making my dreams come true. ;-)