Monday, June 22, 2009

Ode to Daddy

Happy Father's Day to Reese, my wonderful husband and Anderson's awesome daddy! We had a nice weekend together. Sunday was a nice family day that included church, a lunch out, and some driving range time for Reese. Here are some pictures of Anderson yesterday in his "My Dad is Rad" t-shirt and then some pics of him lounging around the house with no shirt on. (These seemed to fit into the "Dad" theme of the post, even though Reese rarely lounges without a shirt on. :)
(We're a little concerned that Anderson immediately points the remote at the TV every time he picks it up. He's definitely observant.)

Here's Reese holding Anderson when he was only a week or so old. Even then he was the best dad Anderson could've ever hoped for.
And, of course, I couldn't end this post without saying how much we love all of the other dads that are SO important in our lives. So, Happy Father's Day to Dad Neumann, Dad Qualls, Billy, and Dustin! We love you all!




Thursday, June 11, 2009

A few Anderson stories....

Anderson is becoming quite the methodical thinker lately. Today we were in his room, which is decorated with all sorts of doggy stuff including about 10 random stuffed dogs in various places throughout. He first asked to get “Puppy” out of his crib (the one he sleeps with) and placed it in the middle of the floor. Then he went around the room gathering the other dogs and placing them in the floor with Puppy. Next he had to point and grunt for me to get the last 3 dogs off the top of his bookshelf. Once they were all in the floor together, he was done with them for the meantime. A little while later, he came back to them and started taking them back to the places he had picked them up from around the room. He even put the 3 that came from the top of the bookshelf at the bottom of the bookshelf.

Also today, I was in the kitchen when I heard a cry of frustration/irritation coming from the formal living room. A moment later Anderson came into the kitchen and again grunted/whined at me. I went to follow him and told him to show me what was wrong or what he wanted. He took me over to the other side of the room where his kid-sized leather chair was turned over on its side. He just wanted me to come and fix it. After I sat it upright, he went on playing and was done with me!

Anderson is getting very good at following directions. Yesterday we had just gotten home from the pool. I turned on Sesame Street so I could go change. Before I left the room, Anderson did the sign for “milk” so I told him to follow me to the kitchen so we could get his milk from the fridge. He came and after I handed it to him, I told him to go and sit in his chair in the living room that I would bring him a snack to eat while he watched Sesame. I fully expected to see him still at my feet when I turned around with his Goldfish crackers. Instead, he had gone back into the living room with his milk and was sitting in his chair looking at me like I needed to speed things up! I really didn’t expect him to actually understand and go sit in his chair when I said that. I guess I need to change my expectations for my little 14 month old big boy!

Here's a picture from bathtime last night. After dinner and before bed is usually when Anderson's silly mood hits. It's always so hard to put such a happy boy to bed! (he does konk right out, though, as soon as his head hits the bed!)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Summer Fun

Anderson's favorite place right now is outside! He loves going out in the backyard and front yard. As soon as anyone says "outside" he is pointing or heading toward a door. We've been playing in the back with the water a few times. Anderson had loads of fun with the water hose. He just kept inspecting it and playing with it trying to figure out how that water kept coming and coming.

Today we took Anderson to the local pool/water park near our house. They have an awesome kids area. Even though it was crowded and water is splashing everywhere, Anderson had so much fun. He got right in and wasn't afraid at all. He was walking everywhere through the water and if he fell down and got his face in the water, he just got right back up. He loved the fountains shooting water up and enjoyed the slide the most. Here are a few pictures from our fun at the pool today.

Lately, Anderson has really gotten into identifying body parts like his belly, ears, nose, feet, and hands. He is fascinated by his shoes. He tries to put them on, take them off, carries them around, etc. Anderson is also everyones best friend that we pass on the street. He will wave at people unprompted and has gotten quite a few smiles in return for being so darn cute.

We've been attending some fun BBQs with friends lately. Here are a couple of pictures of Anderson playing with his friend Nathan after dinner one evening.