Play hard, sleep hard

He is 100% asleep in this picture

Monday Picture

Things to Remember: Mr Cool Dude

This is Mike in his "Mr. Cool Dude" shades (for the record all shades are "Mr. Cool Dude" shades, not just the ones in this picture).  Not sure why we started calling them that. He wears them upside down 90% of the time.  It cracks me up how they squish his little nose, but he doesn't care.  He thinks he is the coolest guy in town whenever he is wearing them, and to be fair...he probably is.

How to Keep your Toddler Busy While Cooking Dinner

Step 1: Fill your sink with soapy water

Step 2: Give you toddler free reign

Step 3: Cook dinner without interruption

Monday Picture

Castlewood State Park

Last weekend the weather was surprisingly mild so I convinced Brad that a family hike was in order.  We packed everyone into the car and made the short drive to Castlewood State Park.  We were a little skeptical about using Mike's backpack carrier because we were a little worried he would throw a fit and demand to walk.  Amazingly he LOVED it.  We did about a 3 mile loop ending up near the Meramec River.  We found a nice sandy beach and let Mike throw rocks while Sam wore herself out swimming.

Bob and Puck

Meet Bob and Puck.  Now if you recognize the people in the picture above, you may be a little confused by their new names, but I assure you Bob and Puck is who you are looking at (well Puck and Bob if we are going from left to right).  I suppose a bit of elaboration is in order...

So as I have mentioned before Mike's vocabulary is EXPLODING.  He will repeat nearly anything we say back to us and has 70-80 words that he regularly uses.  Sometimes we play a "repeat after me" sort of game.  Where I will say "apple" and he will mimic "AP-ple", then I will say "cherry" and he will mimic "CH-er-EE", and so on and so forth.  Word after word.  A week or so ago I asked him if he could say "Grandma" to which he replied "BOB."  I laughed and said, "no, Mike, say Grandma", to which he replied "BOB."  OK so he missed one.  Let's try another.  We went on with another dozen or so words until I threw "Grandpa" into the mix.  He happily called out "PU-CK" over and over and over again.  So now anytime you ask him to say grandma he replies with "Bob," and for Grandpa he always replies "Puck." 

Monday Picture

Why quiet is not always a good thing.

A few nights ago while I was cooking dinner I suggested Mike go into his playroom and play with his trains.  Amazingly he happily ran into the play room (generally he insists that I come with him and play too).  From the kitchen I heard him shuffling around a little bit and getting toys out.  I continued to cook until I realized the house was eerily quiet.  All of the advice from other moms about knowing trouble is just around the corner when you have a quiet toddler was running through my head as I quietly peeked around the corner into the play room.  I found Mike laying on the floor underneath his coloring table coloring the underside of the table.  He had managed to get one good line on the wall, but otherwise was sticking to the table.  I snapped a few pictures then quietly turned around and went back to cooking dinner.  Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.

Things to Remember: Toddlers

Mike is at such a fun age right now.  You can literally watch him learn new things and piece things together.  He vocabulary is exploding and he knows and uses close to 70 words.  He has recently started yelling at Sammy.  He will point his little finger and her and yell "NO" or "GO." She is nothing but sweet to him and even listens and obeys when he tells her to "sit" or "lay down."

I bought these little wind-up bath toys at Target and Mike was terrified of them (awesome parenting moment ahead) - whenever Brad was ready for Mike to be done with his bath he would drop one in and Mike would immediately tell us he was "all done" and try to climb out of the tub.  Last night everything changed, Mike decided the toys were not only not scary but also very fun.  So when Brad dropped one in, instead of being "all done" Mike picked it up and tried to suck on it's foot.

In the last month Mike has decided that TV is one of the best things ever.  He asks to "wat-CH" all the time.  We allow him roughly 30 minutes of TV time each day and when we finally give in each evening he happily runs to the couch, climbs up, grabs his blankey, and snuggles in.  He prefers when we watch with him and will get upset if we try to do anything else.  Brad's favorite is Thomas and Friends and has been caught watching it without Mike.

He loves to dance and will do this funny head shake from side to side and if he is particularly moved by the music will shake his little butt.

He LOVES trains and anything that has to do with trains.  If he hears a train he quietly chants "choo choo, choo choo" if he hears a loud truck or a motorcycle he quietly chants "choo choo, choo choo."   If he hears an airplane he stares at the sky looking all around and shoulding "aaaa-pwane, aaaaa-pwane."

He is a little fish and loves the water.  Swimming in it, drinking it, splashing in it, washing his hands in it, you name it.  He likes it.  Anytime he sees water anywhere (and I do mean anywhere) he has to point it out.  A puddle in the parking lot: "wa-yer," a sprinkler on someones lawn: "wa-yer," rain drops on the windshield: "wa-yer," a fountain: "wa-yer,"

Mike loves to imitate us.  If we jump, he jumps, if we walk backwards, he walks backwards, if we drink the milk out of our cereal bowls, he drinks the milk out of his cereal bowl.  I love watching him master these little tasks.

Monday Picture

Throwing Rocks

Sometimes we learn the biggest lessons from the simple things.

Earlier this week we braved the heat to get everyone out of the house.  We made the short drive to Fabick lake knowing that it would likely be deserted and that Sammy could swim to her heart's desire.  Mike found a little bank of rocks and started to take aim.  Within seconds Brad was by his side "coaching" him on proper techniques of throwing rocks.  They covered overhand throws, side armed throws, underhand throws and finally how to skip a rock.  Mike listened intently and tried his hardest to mimic Brad at each step in the lesson.  Both Brad and I were hit with a few wayward rocks and cheered each time Mike mastered a throw (well as much as a toddler can master anything besides saying "no").  At the end of the lesson Mike had improved his rock throwing skills, Brad had bonded even more with his son, and I had the pleasure of watching my "boys" cultivating a relationship that I hope will continue to grow and grow and grow.  

 

Our Chicago Trip in cell phone pictures

This past weekend we decided to take a trip to Chicago.  No real reason.  Mainly to get away, see the sights and stop by Ikea on the way home.  The trip did not disappoint.  Brad ended up not having any cases on Friday afternoon, so I took a half day of vacation and we hit the road around 2:30 to promptly be stopped on the freeway because of construction (doh).  We planned to spend the night in Bloomington, IL and it worked out perfectly.  We arrived around 5:30, had a quick dinner at a Chinese restaurant (not so great) and then let Mike burn off some energy at the Children's Discovery Museum.  If you ever find yourself in Bloomington, IL with kids I highly recommend it.  He LOVED it.  

This is the moment he saw the water area

Making a huge mess splashing

Playing at the train table.  We seriously had to tear him away from this one.

Multiple Mikes in the mirrored hexagon tunnel

Mike taking daddy for a spin

Little handprint

Do you know what the most fun game ever is?  Pushing little pins back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...get the idea?

Painting

Snuggling with daddy on Saturday morning

 Saturday morning we headed to Chicago and went straight to the Shedd Aquarium.  Well, straight as in I had to do a couple of U turns and ended up back on the freeway then had to turn around and try again (the signage was seriously lacking).  The aquarium was really cool but WAY too crowded.  The normal line to get in was over and hour wait.  We used the accessible entrance because we had a stroller and still waited in line for about 20 minutes.  Once inside it wasn't much better it was difficult to actually see much because of the sheer volume of people.  I think we were all a little disappointed.  After the aquarium we headed to the hotel to check in and hung out while Mike napped.  When he woke up we took a stroll over to grant park and eventually made our way up to Millenium park.  It was a really nice walk.  After letting Mike play in a fountain/splash park we headed back towards our hotel stopping by Lou Malnati's to grab a pizza for dinner. 

Sunrise over Lake Michigan on Sunday morning

 On Sunday morning we woke up early (the sun was RIDICULOUSLY bright shining in my eyes) and headed out to Lou Mitchell's for breakfast.  It is something of an institution and did not disappoint.  Mike loved everything from the free orange slices, to the pleather booths.  After breakfast we wandered around a bit more before heading back to the hotel and heading out. 

Brad enjoying his coffee at Lou Mitchell's

Once in the car we made it about 30 miles before making a stop at Ikea.  I fell in love with that store.  It was fantastic!  I couldnt' believe all the great things we found.  After filling the car up there with stuff and a sleeping toddler we set out for home only stopping for Schlotsky's (for us) and Taco John's (for Chris...who was watching Sammy).

Does this kid look like he has been in the car for five hours?  Amazing what 30  minutes straight of "The Wheels on the Bus" can do

Even though it was just a quick weekend away, it was still so nice to be home!

Oh Snap!

Warlick #4 coming February 2012!

Monday Picture