Fun Times

Today Anderson and I went to Pump It Up Jr. which is one of those places with all the inflatable climbing and play structures. They had a special 2 hour window where it was only open to toddlers, so we went with a friend. Anderson was a champ! Once he got over the loud music and crowded conditions, he went right to work climbing, sliding, bouncing, falling, and having a blast. He loved the giant slide the best even though he got plowed over by a few bigger kids a couple of times because he was too slow in getting out of the way. There were only two incidents of tears due to being trampled by bigger kids, so I figured that was actually pretty good given the circumstances. After the fun, we went to McDonald's for Happy Meals and of course, that was fun too. Anderson particularly liked the purple unicorn that he got for his toy in the Happy Meal. Daddy will probably be promptly throwing that away, but he enjoyed it for a little while! Here are a few pics from our fun day.

One more story to end this fun. Yesterday I had a friend that I used to teach with over in the afternoon. She has a 4 month old little girl. Anderson took right to her and even went right over to her and gave her a kiss (at least his version of a kiss). He was very proudly showing all of his toys to her while they were over. The cutest part, though, came when they left. After saying goodbye, Anderson and I went up to his playroom. There are two of my old Cabbage Patch dolls there for him to play with, but he hasn't ever really paid much attention to them. Well, after having the baby visit us he went right over and picked up those baby dolls and hugged them, rocked them, and gave them kisses. It was so precious!

Oh, I have to add that during his bath tonight Anderson attempted for the first time to say 'turtle'. Only in his language it came out as "tur tur". I'm loving all the new words we hear everyday!

Fun in San Antonio

Last week Anderson and I traveled to San Antonio to spend the week with Grammy and Gramps Neumann. Despite being a bit nervous about flying with Anderson alone, he did fantastic on the flight there. In fact, one fellow passenger announced to Sharon as we were walking to baggage that Anderson had been the best baby he’d ever seen on a flight, and he traveled often! Yeah for my little buddy (and the snack cup of Trix cereal I had packed)! I do have to mention a big “Booo” about the Southwest Agent who insisted that I remove items from my suitcase because it was overweight, but refused to help me despite having a squirming toddler attached to my hip, two bags on my shoulders, a car seat, and a huge suitcase. Needless to say, by the time I actually had the weight redistributed properly, my things were spewed across the floor of the SWA ticket counter walkway and Anderson was screaming. So, thanks a lot to that agent for just standing there watching it all happen.

Alright…on to better things. On Wednesday Grammy, Anderson, Aunt Reagan and I went to the San Antonio Zoo. It was hot and humid, but we all had a great time. The butterfly greenhouse was really cool and Anderson seemed very interested in the butterflies as they flew all around him. I did catch one on my finger, but Anderson seemed a little concerned and wanted it to get off of my finger. He saw the black bears, the zebra, some fish, plenty of birds, and many other animals. His favorite part of the trip had to be the Kids Petting Zoo area. He made fast friends with the goats! I think he probably thought they were dogs. He was very gentle with petting them and even bent down to give them small hugs and a kiss. Brushes were available to use on their hair and Anderson found that to be quite fun. He even wanted to use the brush on his own hair after helping out the goats! After the zoo trip, we all went and had lunch with Great Gran at her house. Anderson enjoyed playing with the tricycle that Great Gran had for him and her kitchen cabinets made for a fun game of “Open/Shut”. Later that day, Anderson took a little swim in Grammy and Gramps’ backyard!

While in San Antonio, Grammy and I took Anderson to a class at Gymboree. He did fantastic at it, fully impressing the instructor with his signing skills (“Thank you” unprompted and in the right context!) and play skills. There was also lots of time spent playing at the house with the many, many wooden ducks. Anderson thought it was fun to rearrange and take them off the shelf.

Anderson and Gramps

Anderson loved playing in the yard with Riley!

Reading books with Grammy.

Anderson being an awesome office assistant to Gramps

We also celebrated Reese’s promotion while in San Antonio. He was recently promoted to Manager at Bain, so he deserved a nice dinner and some congratulations from all. Anderson proudly handed his Daddy the balloons we had bought for him when he walked into the house. It was very cute!

So, we’re back home now and are back to our busy schedule of play dates, Gymboree, swimming, etc. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the pictures from our trip to San Antonio!

Swimming in Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach

What a great week we've had! We traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC to spend some time with a few friends from our HBS days. There were 12 adults and 3 kiddos along for the fun. We had a great house only a block or so from the beach that also had a private pool. We spent our days going from the beach to the pool and back again! Anderson did as well as to be expected on the flight there. That first trip to the beach, though, he wasn't so sure of the whole deal. He did not like the sand on his hands and that it was all over him. The second time we took him to the beach, he did much better and played for a long time in the sand and water. By the last day, he was having loads of fun! Anderson really enjoyed the big pool and baby pool at our house. He kept going back and forth between the two to throw pool toys in and take them out. Anderson had a great time with his two new friends, Ethan and Nicholas. The boys played together very nicely!

While in MB, we took Anderson to the aquarium. He loved pointing at the fish! While at the boardwalk area near the aquarium, he found some ducks walking around and proceeded to chase them all about. One evening, all of the adults went out for dinner and left the boys with a local nanny. After dinner we played some mini golf at one of the many local parks. We had a great time catching up with our friends!

Here are a few pics from the trip.

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!

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!)

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.