Playdate!

I got to hang out with my buddy Oliver over the weekend!  

First we went to his neighborhood pool to swim for a little bit.  After a while I decided that the water was pretty fun to splash in.

Then we went to play with Oliver's toys.  He gets stuck in baby jail like I do, too!

Watch out for us!  

I remember this just like yesterday when we were able to hang out together in the same bouncy seat!  A little more than 6 months ago!  

Naptime!

When you're tired, you're tired and sometimes you just can't fight it anymore!  I'm so busy these days that sometimes I've just got to stop and rest my eyes for a bit...even if I am in the middle of something!

Jumping wears me out!

Mid-morning naps are always fun!

Here's the before picture when I was having fun in my dump truck...

And here's the after when I thought it would be a great place for a snooze!

Not the first time I've used the dump truck for a nap!  This was just over 6 months ago!

Keeping Me Contained!

I'm unstoppable!  If I'm awake, I like to be moving.  There is just so much new stuff to see and touch and put in my mouth!  Mom and Dad have had to get creative with keeping me contained.  They mentioned something about me taking over the house...

Here's my living room pen.  Dad reconfigured into a circular shape so it doesn't look so much like a place for Paul!  It's purpose is as much to contain me as it is to contain all of my toys!

Mom decided to get creative one morning while getting ready and I got to hang out in the bathtub!

Mid Week Laugh!

Everyone can always use a good mid-week laugh!  

Graduation!

Mom and Dad got the news last week that I'll be transitioning to a new class at school in August.  I'll be moving to the "Explorer's" class.  It's for those of us on the move but not walking yet.  Some of my friends already moved to that class so I'll be glad to see them again.  Here's some recent school pictures - 

Our teachers call us the 3 Amigos - Connor, me and Mason.  Connor is going to the new class with me and hopefully Mason will be pretty soon.  We were just chilling while watching the rain...

One of my teachers helped me ride a bike - it was so much fun!

This is one of the reasons that I've got to move to the class with the big kids.  I can't help it if there are so many fun things to climb in, on, over, through...  There used to be books on that bottom shelf, but my teacher didn't think my attempts to read them were too good for the books!

Here I am in my red chair again, just reading about Tweety.  

Can't Stop Me Now!

Don't even try to contain me now!  Mom and Dad thought I was a wiggle worm before but they had no idea!  If I'm awake I want to be moving - especially towards Paul if he's in the room with me!

Here's a video of me with a fun toy Grandma Hermansen had at her house for me.  This is a way better way to get around rather than army crawling!  By the end of the trip I knew how to work it pretty good!

Here I am last week on the move.  I love the bathroom tiles!  (By the way, I was fine when I tipped over at the end of the video after Mom gave me a hug!)

Airplanes are Fun!

Mom and Dad said that I was a good little traveler so I think that means they will take me with them again sometime!  Our trip to Iowa consisted of a 2 1/2 hour plane ride and then a 3 hour car ride.  I was good on both airplane trips and both car rides I slept almost the entire way!

Here we are before the airplane took off.  I was so excited!  And I got to wear my PJs!

After I had my dinner, it was bedtime so I slept from before we took off until after we landed!  The man sitting next to Dad said I got an A+!

Here we are on the flight home.  I was too squirmy for the carrier so that didn't last long.  On this flight I wasn't too sleepy so I just took a quick half hour nap and then wrestled with Dad the rest of the flight.  But I was still good - no crying!

For being such a good traveler I got a toy Delta airplane!

Iowa Fun!

Hanging out with my family in Iowa was lots of fun, but I did lots of other things while I was there too!

Mom packed a bucket of toys for me so I had fun spreading those all over the floor each day!

Meeting so many new people was hard work!  Had to take a quick snooze to recharge

Here's our 4th of July family pic

Got to sit on a Harley!

Did my usual climbing all over Dad...

I missed out on these.  Slept right through the entire fireworks show!

Had to get clean somehow - nothing wrong with using a kitchen sink as a bathtub!

Grandma had this fun toy for me while I was there!  By the end of the trip I had that thing figured out and was chasing Phoebe around the house!

Mom tried to be funny by putting me in a basket.  I showed her when I tried to climb out of it and tipped it over!

Here I am at Lake Okaboji (you can see it in the picture behind me).  It was hot - I started the day in overalls but had to lose those!

Staying busy with my bucket of toys!

Grandma fixed up a high chair for me - it fit right up to the table.  Maybe next time I visit I'll be more interested in eating while I'm sitting in it...

This was a super cool toy - it vibrated with spinning lights!  I love to hold my hands to it and then put it to my mouth of course.

We visited the airport for a pancake breakfast so I sat in the grass to watch the airplanes.

I got in some good naps - hard not too when you get to snuggle with Grandma and Aunt Christy.

Went to the playground and got to swing...

This is the same playground that Dad used to play at.  Here we are with one of the things that was at the park when he was little.

Grandpa and I had some deep conversations.  He had my full attention!

I wanted to go on the lake with all the big kids, but Mom wouldn't let me.  I had to settle for the grass.  Maybe next year...

Mom wanted me to show off my new 4th of July outfit

I had a little bit of a rash so I got to play on the blanket naked for a while.  I did my best "Art of Seduction" pose for everyone - with the toys strategically placed of course!

Lots of New Faces!

During my big trip to Iowa I met lots of new family members and saw others again.  Everyone seemed so excited to meet me so I had lots of smiles for them!  I can't wait to go back!

I wore my special 4th of July outfit.  It made it through most of the day...

This is my Aunt Noreen.  She drove several hours to come and meet me.  She also brought me my very first snowsuit.  I think that means that I'll be going back to Iowa to test it out! 

I already knew Aunt Christy but I had fun seeing her again - can't you tell?  She's fun to take naps on too!

I was trying to be super charming when I met Cousin Lauren - she was so pretty and funny!  I got to meet Lauren's mom too - that's Cousin Sarah holding me.

Here's another one of me and Cousin Lauren.  I tried not to be too wiggly while she was holding me...

This is Lauren's brother - my Cousin Dylan.  He's a cool guy and I had fun watching him and his brothers play basketball - can't wait until I get to play with them!

My Cousin Joel is the coolest of them all!  I mean he has a big Harley that I got to sit on!  I heard Mom say that's all I would be doing on a motorcycle - I guess that means no rides with Joel or Mark when I'm bigger?

Here I am with Uncle Mark.  Even though he rode his Harley down, he still managed to bring me a present - a snugly, stuffed ram!

I got to spend lots of time with my cousins - Abby, Hunter, and Holden.  They got to see all my new tricks!

Here's me and Abby - she was lots of fun to play with and read me stories!

Here I am with Hunter.  All he had to do was walk by and he could make me laugh - I think he's got a little bit of his dad in him!

Uncle Jim was the funniest of everyone!  He would act so goofy and I laughed so hard!

This was my second time seeing Aunt Vicki - I had just as much fun this time.  I didn't get to snuggle with Uncle Ted though because he was sick.  I guess another reason to go back to Iowa!

And of course, lots of quality time with Grandma.  She got me some new books and tried to read them to me.  Right now trying to eat the books is more fun for me.

 Grandpa and I got to spend lots of time together too.  Here we are in our hats - it was sunny and hot outside!