Crayons in Recycle Truck

A rare moment of playing by himself (and quietly)

First Wall Art

Playing in the Park (Purple)

Adam completed his first wall art this week. Adam also took the picture of his drawing. Mommy helped by holding the camera.

The first video is Adam drawing on the wall. The second video is him cleaning it off the wall. Good that we have Washable Crayola Crayons and Magic Eraser!

Acting Silly with Popcorn Bowl

Have We Mentioned Grapes?

Little Dad

Adam's favorite anything must be grapes. Grapes have been a blessing and a curse. When we need to coax him indoors out of the heat, ice-cold grapes will lure him in. When he's grumpy and refusing everything else, grapes save the day. The problem is when the grocery store runs out of grapes and we have to tip-toe around the "G" word for a week.

Thank you apricots! They made a wonderful substitute--except for the frightful moment when he stuffed 1 half into his mouth. Yikes!

Our baby boy is looking more and more like a little boy than a baby. He's growing and developing in many ways. He runs, twirls, kicks and squats with expertise. He can scribble, open cd cases (and remove cds), remove and place stickers, put away towels (with Mommy's help lifting him to the shelf), take off his shoes and sometimes fasten them closed (velcro). He can connect and pull apart Mega Bloks, open and close cell phones, brush his hair (into a messy do) and clean his face with a wipe (also haphazardly). He loves pirate rock and Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse. He still loves books and making animal sounds.

He likes pointing out rain clouds, trees and the mountains. At night he looks for the moon and tries to spot the first stars. He's not eager to talk, but he knows a lot of words and likes to look for and point out plants, windows, paintings, lights, and a/c vents when we go out. He says mama for most things, as well as, moon and sometimes dada. He has said sky, cat, grandma, water and Auntie Shell, red light (he notices traffic lights) but he often resists when we try to get him to talk. He is much more content to point things out and make us talk.

While we work on ways to encourage his talking, I would like to expose him to other activities that help his motor skills via art projects. I also want to start teaching him common names for the plants we have in the yard. That leaves us to work on social skills. Time to start play dating.

Adam with Painting

Finger/Foot Painting

A couple of weeks ago, I took him to the zoo for Safari Nights. We ate a corn dog and fries at the zoo cafeteria then explored the zoo. His favorite section was the duck and koi pond. He ran around the area growling and yelling and scaring the men who were there with their families. The women and children were indifferent to his antics, but a few of the men looked, well, a bit terrified of Adam. As for Mommy, I was afraid Adam was going to sprint right into the pond.

I had to ditch the stroller a few times and break out into a run to catch Adam, but overall we had a great time. Adam also got to feed carrots to one of the giraffes. I braced myself for a meltdown, not knowing if he would be afraid of the giraffe. Was I surprised! After showing him only once, he was feeding carrots to the giraffe like a pro. Guess what animal he squeals over now when he sees them in books.

Adam

A Toddler Summer

Finding his own way to cool off in the backyard

It has been really hot and humid this summer. Too hot to spend much time outside. Going out for walks or to the park has been rare which means we have a cranky toddler in the house.

Here is a quick list of events that turn a cranky mood into a full-on tantrum:

1. running out of grapes
2. diaper change
3. teeth-brushing
4. being offered a popsicle on the stick (and not breaking it into bite-sized pieces first)
5. being told 'no'
6. not being allowed to climb on the kitchen chairs
7. not being allowed to eat toilet paper
8. having to buckle into his car seat
9. not being allowed to stay at the bookstore FOREVER
10. not being allowed to have both phones when grandma calls