Long Time Gone

Well, who can believe it's been over two months since I last took some time to chronicle MP2's life.  I am finding we're too busy with our active social lives to spend much time in front of the computer - well that and the fact that when I even look at the closed laptop, MP2 senses I am about to pay attention to something other than him and he makes sure to bring focus right on back to him.

We have been having so much fun lately.  I am thanking our lucky stars for an incredibly mild winter where we've been able to enjoy tons of time outside.  We take lots of trips to the park, take many neighborhood walks, or just spend time in the afternoon hanging out in the front yard.  Over the past two months MP2's vocabulary - both what he says and what he understands seems to be exploding more with each and every day.  He is finally pairing more than one word together too.  I was beginning to wonder if that was ever going to happen!

We're staying busy with activities as well.  We have made some mom and kid friends on the CoMO circuit, and have our little routine down now...Mondays we go swimming, Wednesdays to Lend and Learn, and Fridays to Storytime at the library, followed by an outing with our buddies if it is nice outside.  We aren't leaving all the fun to the kiddos either - the moms have had a couple nights out on our own as well.  It's been really fun getting to know some new friends the past few months.

 

MP2 at the park.  Lucky for my sanity, most parks have some pretty extensive trails that MP2 prefers to the playground anyways, so we typically just take nice walks...you know find some rocks and a body of water in which to throw them.  Typical fun times.

We also spend quite a bit of time hanging around the Columbia Mall.  Who knew the wonders it would hold - many of the train variety...

The Barnes & Noble train table.  He could spend hours here.

 

 

The model train which runs around the top part of the wall at the Mr. Bulky candy store.  Thank god he doesn't understand what's for sale in that place.  I realize it's only a matter of time though before the allure is no longer the train, but the sweet and delicious treasures to be found inside the shop.

 

And, perhaps the very best of all...an ACTUAL train!!  (Well, for all intents and purposes anyway.)  This puppy is a racket.  At $3/per person per ride, we can only fund about one ride a week.  Though I will say that it's a nice long train ride for our $6.  So there is that.  Otherwise, our tactic is to only go see the train when it's not actually taking kids on rides.  I am sure someone wouldn't like this if they knew we were doing it, but we just let MP2 climb all aboard the different train cars and he has a great time...and I save $6.  Win, win if you ask me!

 

Oh, yeah.  There is that trip I took in January too.  My first time to leave the MPs alone - MPnest 2012 as it was to be known.  All MP2 got to commemorate his time apart from me was a Miami Beach t-shirt.  I think with a little distance now, we can call the weekend a success.  It was a rough one for the MPs - MP2 was going through a weird phase and not in a great mood.  I had a great time meeting up with one of my oldest and best friends at the beach, but learned that two nights away would offer plenty of recharge and three nights away was just a little too much.  Not to mention getting to or from CoMO is about as easy as going to Hawaii (just not nearly as exotic).  Regardless, I do look forward to another shot at this whole weekend away business.  I think we'll all get it right next time around. 

 

Dinner parties have taken on a whole new meaning.  An adorable new meaning, but they are most definitely not the same as they once were.  Our buddies in the neighborhood get together with us from time to time at our place or theirs and we get to enjoy some beers, dinner and kid wrangling.  It's a far cry from taking hours - or make that days - to put together the perfect multi-course meal.

 

Man's best friend may be a dog, but I don't think the MP2 is a dog's bestie.  He does not really show the love, though we're certain he feels it!

And rounding out our catching up is Nana and Papa joining us for MP2's second college gameday.  It's a little different atmosphere at the basketball arena.  

 Papa had to show his UT pride among all the MU fans

 We were hoping for a close-up of Truman, but easy access to come and go afforded us only the nosebleed section.  MP2 got a glimpse anyways, and had tons of fun running around the arena.

 Gameday bus!  He's sure grown since last time we went to Gameday, huh?

With Nana and Papa at the playground.

My funny valentine.... 

 Another activity we've been doing is attending a parent-child class at the Waldorf preschool here in CoMO.  It's been a neat experience to learn more about the Waldorf teaching method in general, and see this school in particular.  The very best part of all?  The chickens!!!  MP2 runs straight to the coop every Saturday saying "Cluck! Cluck! Cluck!".  He can stand here and watch them forever.  Poor kid's never met an animal that makes the sound we tell him they make.  Someday he's not going to believe us anymore.

 Our little buddy had his first round of antibiotics after a pretty high fever for a couple of days that went right along with an ear infection.  Hated to see him under the weather, but he was a trooper and powered right through it.

Can you believe how big MP2 is getting?  I surely cannot.  These last two pics are just to show what a big big boy he is becoming.  I think it's official, I don't have a baby anymore (okay, so most would say that I haven't had one for a long time, but I am just now owning up to this fact).  It is a good thing he's so cute, because he sure is a lot of trouble.

Oh, finally - so there is one big thing missing from this post that is supposed to cover the last two months or so...Our visit from Ama, Grandpa, Theresa and Isla!!!  What a fun time we all had together.  It's deserving of it's very own post, coming very soon (like, really soon...not in-two-months-soon!)

Gator Bait

Last weekend we headed to Ft. Myers, FL to visit MP's cousin Jessica, her fiance Aaron, and MP's Aunt M's.  Staying at Jessica's was better than any four star accommodations!  She was awesome - from all the little touches of well stocked guest quarters, including a great magazine selection (when's the last time I read a magazine...it was so great!), to the big stuff like a special trip to the grocery store to get all of MP2's favorite foods and having some toys on hand for him to play with.  Martha Stewart better watch her back.  

Anyways, MP and I wondered how the trip would go.  MP2 went to Morning Out as usual on Thursday morning, but we picked him up about an hour early to head to St. Louis and catch our flight.  Doesn't he look so cute sleeping in the car?  Yeah, this mean no sleep on the plane.  

So MP and I played Hot Potato with MP2 passing him back and forth for the duration of our two and a half hour flight.  I think I sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider about one million times.  He LOVED the airport - seeing all the airplanes, and he loved watching out the window at takeoff and landing.  He was such a trooper.  

The next morning while Jessica and Aaron finished out their work week, we were picked up by the Aunt M's and went to the beach by Margaret's place.  First we had time to take a walk around the pond in Jessica's backyard.  We'd been telling MP2 all about alligators, but luckily didn't see a single one in person on our trip!

Upon our initial arrival at the beach, MP2 was not so sure about the sand between his toes.  That apprehension lasted all but two minutes and from that point, he only had one speed - GO!  He loved the ocean, loved the sand, loved the boats.  I think he's a beach bum at heart!

 Thanks, Aunt M's for the pail and shovel!!  MP2 spent most of his time at the beach digging.  He had such a fun time.  MP and I could not believe the difference between our FL trip in August (which was SO much fun) and now.  Where has our baby gone, and where did this little boy come from?

At one point he took off running for the water (which was pretty cold) and waded around all on his own (well, I mean he decided when to get in and when to get out - we were definitely right there with him!  :))

We did not get nearly enough of the beach on Friday, so we headed back on Saturday (joined by Jessica and Aaron as well).  MP2 had just as much fun on the second day.  He loved playing with Aunt Mary!

 Posing for a photo, though?  Not so much.  Good work by Jessica though on reeling him in while maintaining a smile for the camera!  Glad to have one of the gang - Aunt Mary, Aunt Margaret, Jessica and the MP2 (Aaron, where were you?!)

 Fun with Daddy digging in the sand

 On Sunday, we stayed around Jessica and Aaron's house and enjoyed the neighborhood pool and park.

 MP2 made friends (okay, maybe a one-sided friendship) with Bella.  She was so sweet and patient with him.  Aspen was a little quicker in getting away when MP2 came around.

Thanks again to everyone for making our trip so so much fun.  We can't wait to come back (assuming our welcome is not yet worn out :))!

In Between Days

Winding down after Christmas was actually really fun.  We've spent the past few weeks enjoying our last "Winter Break" of MP's law school career.  The countdown to graduation is now officially on, with classes having started a couple of days ago.  It's pretty unbelievable how quickly this past semester flew by, and I suspect this one will be even faster.

MP2 calls both dogs Riley...even though he won't call her by name, we know he loves Tipper!  We're so glad he's comfortable around the dogs and they are cool to him as well.  He loves helping MP feed them and give them treats after their walk.  

 During the week between Christmas and New Year, MP2's Morning Out program was closed, so one day we met up with some buddies over at Going Bonkers!  We've been there a few times before, but always on weekdays when school was in session.  Let it be known, I now understand why it is called Going Bonkers! as I was going bonkers trying to keep my kid from getting squashed or jumped on or worse (in the "toddler's area" no less) by kids three times his size.  Furthermore, kudos to one of the other moms who joined me - she has two children...one not yet mobile and the other a bit too mobile.  I am learning from her that when kids outnumber parents, things can get tough...though she handled it like a champ.  MP2 loved "riding" in the race car with his buddy, Ethan.  They were fine as long as the car remained stationary.  Neither is up for the riding portion of this fun just yet!

 More good weather meant more trips to the park.  Though I have to say I am ready for MP2 to actually be able to play on some of the playground equipment!  Most of our time at the park is spent with my heart thudding in my chest as he narrowly escapes (or doesn't as you all may recall) injury at least 3 times every 5 minutes.

Family dinner night out at Broadway Brewery.  We're so glad MP2 is now able to again join us at a restaurant.  It was a rocky period from last spring until a month or two ago - we never knew what we were going to get at a restaurant, so we just stopped going.

 Finally, Lend and Learn opened back up right after New Years and we got to go before heading off to Florida to see Auntie M's and Cousins Jessica and Aaron (and catch some rays as well).

I didn't get any pictures on New Year's Eve.  MP and I rang in the new year (barely) just before drifting off to sleep.  Earlier in the evening, we had a family friendly delicious dinner with friends who graciously hosted.    Three kids under 4 didn't lend itself well to being able to have much in the way of adult conversation - in fact, I am not sure the four adults even sat down at the table at the same time...but this is the nature of our lives these days, and we had a great time regardless.

HO! HO! Horribly behind.

I gotcha, the excuses are getting old.  I am likely officially the last blogger to blog about Christmas, but hey, we were so busy having a great break I just couldn't get it all together any sooner!  

MP2 is getting to be more and more fun every single day.  I think I may say this every time I post, but we still have not reached the apex of cute and fun.  I am sure that all of you who had children long before me are chuckling and shaking your heads at my continued wonderment over my child when you all knew all along this is how it feels.

So, back to Christmas...Nana and Papa arrived a few days before the big one.  We took MP2 to Barnes & Noble where there is a train table set up that he could play on for hours at a time.  We had a hunch that Santa was going to have a train table out for MP2 on Christmas morning - by way of Connecticut - and wanted Nana and Papa to see how excited he would be about it.  He can spend upwards of an hour playing independently at this table.  It's fantastic.

Also, a far cry from last Christmas (though the snow last year was fun and beautiful), we were able to play outside every day!

 Knowing I had plenty of cooking coming up, we decided to go out for Mexican food the day before Christmas Eve...no bib, no problem. I think MP2 looks a bit like an outlaw bandit here.  An outlaw bandit who takes after his mom in his love of rice, beans and queso!

Riley almost caught Santa!  He left MP2 the great train set and kitchen (by way of Tennessee), and MP and I learned how fun it is to be a parent on Christmas Eve, just knowing how happy MP2 was going to be the next morning.

After a minor meltdown (perhaps video to come one of these days) at the foot of the stairs when MP tried to send him into the living room rather than the playroom - where he wanted to go - MP2 discovered, and ran full speed over to, the new train set.  He probably played with it for 3 hours total on Christmas!  It was a hit.

The kitchen was also a welcome addition to his toys!  He "cooks" stuff for us nearly every day, usually while I am making dinner.

 Playing with Papa.

 Reading what may be one of my all time favorite children's books - Good Dog, Carl.  MP2 really got into opening gifts.  He loved tearing the paper off of the packages, and helped each of us with our gifts as well.

 Out for a walk after nap

 Toddler meltdown since we were not walking where MP2 wanted us to go.  Poor guy.  Always being told what to do, can't tell us what he wants (with words, at least), and then we wonder why he has these little meltdowns.  Lucky for us, they seem to be few and far between at this point...or maybe not few, but definitely short.

 Nana and Papa headed back to Nashville the morning after Christmas, and we were sad to see them go.  It was the best Christmas yet, and I have a feeling they are only going to get better from here.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Christmas is coming!  Too bad I am catching up on blogging instead of doing all of the baking that I should be doing.  But, feels good to be back in the game!

We're gearing up for Santa around here, and MP2 is not loving his holiday footwear.  We've practiced wearing the snowman slippers so that he won't get mad on Christmas morning, but as you all can see...not his favorite. Hopefully his gift(s) from Santa will help redirect his attention.

 Last weekend we headed with some friends to St.Charles, more important to MP than any festivities was the fact that St Charles is the genesis of the Katy Trail.   And more important to MP2, was a town full of trains!  Here he's at the old train station (you can see it was another warm-ish day).

 ...and at the train "museum".  This was really just an old storefront full of electric trains.  Unfortunately, they were roped off from getting too close, but knowing MP2, I know why.  He loved watching all of them.

 MP2 and I got a shot on the way out of town in front (well, on the side since the line to the front was so so long) of a super cute Christmas tree.  MP2 was a trooper with little nap and even did well at a restaurant meal.  Love that kid.  He can totally roll with the punches.  So glad he got that from his daddy.

 Then this past week, we had his Mother's Morning Out Christmas Program.  While we found it to be a Grammy-worthy performance, I am not sure anyone else heard anything other than the Christmas songs through the PA system :)  No, really...the fact that three teachers got like 10 kids under two to stand, facing front and do anything (especially considering most of them cannot talk) is a Christmas Miracle.  We love our MMO teachers, and MP2 has the best time with his class.  Even though the whole program was great, and you could tell that each class worked really hard to prepare...I think under two's stole the show (until next year anyway).  The director's cut DVD will be available shortly.  If only I knew how to edit that, I could share his portion with the blogsphere (I know you are all thanking your lucky stars right now!)

 Look at that jingle bell shaker!!!  Love him.

Merry Christmas, y'all.