Shepard's Ocean ~by Shepard

Last week was so much fun. Mommy and Daddy put everything we owned in the car and we drove a long way. Somewhere, we picked up Grandma. There were lots of people at lunch when we stopped to pick up Grandma. I had trouble concentrating on eating because I was so excited to see my cousins and my Grandma. I'm not sure how they expect me to sit still when there are things to explore and I wasn't hungry anyway. And I didn't want to get back in the car because I was afraid something might fall on me. Mommy assured me I was safe. But that beach towel was making faces at me.

Gigi showed me the card game.

(Mommy says if you click on the pictures you can see them better.)

We got to a new house (with STAIRS!!!) and Gigi and Pops were there too! There were lots of fun things at the house to play with. Something called vertical blinds, a tree inside, stairs! and a special hiding place behind Pops' bed. Sometimes I like to go there and make a shoo-wee.
 

Daddy rubbed "ocean lotion" all over me and on my face and my ears and I wore my special water clothes and Dora diaper and went to the ocean. I love the white waves except when they hit me in the face and the water tasted bad. Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Gigi all took turns helping me jump the waves. I didn't like going in the part where my feet couldn't touch.

Gig's lap was a good place to rest.

We ate food on the beach. I was unsure about my yogurt.

 Being at the ocean makes you sleepy. A few times I took my nap out there so I could get more energy to run around more. It takes a lot of energy when you wake up before 6 am. I couldn't understand why no one felt like playing with me so early. There was so much to do!

Apparently, I fell asleep and someone took a picture. I blame Mommy.

We went to a place called Savannah. I walked forever holding Grandma and Gigi's hands. But then I was really tired of walking and just wanted to run free. I pretty much feel that way all the time, but it seems to upset the tall people. They don't like for me to run free. They say things about moving cars and falling in the river. We didn't stay very long in Savannah. That's good because I needed another nap. I did get to see a trolley and have ice cream. I like Savannah. Ding ding!! That's what the trolley says.

Minnie Mouse lives in Savannah.

 I got a lot of practice going up and down the stairs and even learned how to go down stairs on my bottom. I also tried the swimming pool, but I might like the ocean better. The best part about the pool was throwing in Mommy's "boats" and watching them float. (Mommy's note: "boats" were my black flip flops. I wear a size 8.5. I wouldn't classify that size as a boat and chose not to take his comment personally.)

Mommy is very pale. She says it's ok because she won't look like a baked potato when she's 50.

Gigi and Pops made sure their patch of sand didn't go anywhere.

Daddy. My favorite.

Grandma showed me how to play with my cool sand toys.

We ate at the Boathouse and there was a giant forklift that moved entire boats. It was fun to watch. The french fries were also good.

We walked down the pier near the Boathouse and saw big birds and a giant alligator in the water.

We went on walks at our new house and saw bunny rabbits, alligators and lots of birds. The bunny rabbit almost let me pet him.  I also saw a turtle.


 

Daddy is looking for alligators.

BUNNY!

Alligator.

It was the best week ever.

19 months

Here's some video from a week or so ago. Shepard's "birthday" is on the 30th, and since February didn't have one of those, we'll call him 20 months today.  :)
Zoo and around the house. So much personality these days. Everything is a question. This week he is saying "beep beep beep" (like cheep cheep cheep) for birds. He even saw the twitter logo on my ipad this morning and said it! And if it rolls right now, it says "Choo choo." He moves up to the next class at school on Monday. Toddler 2. Sheesh. How does it all happen so fast? Feels like next week we might be taking prom pictures.

Valentine's Day

I woke up early. I like to cuddle with blankie and paci sometimes.

Mom, I'm trying to watch the Backyardigans here.

I really like climbing up on the chair and playing with the shutters.

I'm being good. I promise!

Add caption

It's Valentine's Day, so I get to wear red socks.

This week in the life of Shepard-19 months

Happy 19 months, sweet boy! You are such a joy. You ask what EVERYTHING is, and especially like to point to animals and objects in books and hear the words over and over. You can identify lots of animals now when Mommy and Daddy ask you something like, "Where's the cow?" Occasionally, you will roar like a lion and smile at us with a glimmer in your eye, as though you know how cute you're being.

Man, my feet are growing so fast!

Hopefully, I'll grow into these feet soon.

Let's go play outside!

On Saturday at the park, you played on the bridge part of the playground for the first time. Which was all very exciting until you decided to run into the other section and slide down the really-steep slide on your stomach. It was so steep we hadn't let you down it at all before! You laughed and then ran around and did it again...this time with me and on your bum. I have to wear my running shoes to keep up with you. (yes, the same running shoes pictured on HIS feet up there)

Who me? Just sittin' at the table. That's all.

You still love to climb on things. I came around the corner this morning after you had been quiet in the kitchen for a few minutes to find you sitting on the stool at the table and smiling at me...again, as if you knew how cute you are. You seemed so proud of yourself. I was really proud that you weren't standing on the stool. (see pics)

Cheese!

You take particular joy in closing doors these days, especially is someone is on the other side. Then we play a game where we open the door and you giggle and close it again. I think you'll be opening the doors pretty soon.

You have outgrown most of your 18 month clothes and are fitting into mostly 2T stuff now. Good thing we had lots of hand-me-downs ready!  At mealtimes, you are getting much better about not yelling, but asking and gesturing so we know what you want. You are pretty particular. You still love pizza, pasta, chicken, and your veggies, and have recently decided that grapes and strawberries are pretty awesome too.

I love scrambled eggs!

Last week, you interacted with the TV by saying "CHOO CHOO!" whenever the TV asked you to. And when you heard the word "sky," you jumped up and pointed straight up as if to say, "I know where that is!!!"
You change every day. I really think you grow measurably every day in height. Your eyes sparkle with everything you're thinking, and I know you can't wait to tell us all about it. We can't wait to hear.

Friends Old and New

Way back in the day, I walked into my new college dorm room at my Winthrop University (where I knew ONE person) and met Marcie Neal. Before the week was out, we were singing together and laughing. A lot! As any good relationship, we um..."sharpened" each other too. We are two strong-minded (read stubborn?) ladies with a lot of good sense. But in the middle of it all was love. And singing. One night, we sang in mock-opera for several hours...just a regular conversation...all sung. Good times.
Fast-forward about ## years later (sheesh--can I really say 18??), and she is a Mama too...and now a Yon to my Jones. With three sweet little ones to my one. They were able to drop by for a visit the day before Thanksgiving. Shepard was pretty excited to have three new playmates all at once! The coolest thing was one of her daughters found a book on Shepard's shelf that was an audio version of "Aladdin." The kids all played with it while they were here. The next day, I read the inscription in the front..."From Marcie Neal, Christmas 1993." We were freshmen. The batteries in that thing still work! And Shepard has been enjoying it since the Yon kids pulled it out for us.

We tried to get pictures, but our wiggly ones were WIGGLY. Shepard hasn't mastered cheesing for the camera quite yet. There are other things he could be doing, I guess. Here are the results...what a sweet little pile o' kids!!!

L-R: Wiggly Shepard (17 mos.), Edy (7), Joshua (11 mos.), Abi (almost 3)

Fall for the Beach, part 2

Here's the long-awaited video. :)

Stayin' Alive

I know, I promised a beach video, but this was just too much to wait on!
Shepard and I were listening to a little disco music in the kitchen before bedtime this evening. He has really been learning some sweet moves lately. I credit his dad's and my awesome dance skillz. And maybe Miss Brandy and Miss Whitney at school. I know they do "music and movement" every day. Forget the alphabet and colors...this is PRICELESS LEARNING!
Enjoy.

I scream. You scream!

Our church small groups had a get-together for the southside groups. There was an ice cream truck and big horses and miniature horses! And lots of my favorite people. Here's a sampling of the day's events...(remember, you can always click on a photo to see it full-sized)

Lots o' kiddos here...

Oooh. Ice cream. and Gigi!

Gigi and Pops are spoiling me.

No really, this is the life!

Miniature horses too!

Robots and horses

The gang's all here.

Museum!

Rock Hill has a cool new museum for the little folk. We checked it out...and bought the membership. Shepard ran around for two full hours exploring. It's based on the illustrations of Vernon Grant, most well-known as the guy who created "Snap, Crackle and Pop" elves for Rice Krispies. Apparently, he was from Rock Hill.

Here you go!! (finally)

Climbing and Baptizing

Our sweet niece, Madeleine, was baptized this weekend, so we all headed to Columbia for the big event. What a big girl she is now; and we're blessed to have her not only in our family, but in the family of God. She taught Shepard how to climb steps--!! I arrived to find him about four up--and stood behind him the rest of the way. He climbed about 15 steps completely on his own. I didn't know he could do that. I'm pretty sure he didn't know either as we haven't really encountered steps yet. So...when we visit Nana and Pops later this month, we'll definitely be taking that baby gate!
In other news of climbing, just this morning he was in the bathroom with me while I tried to do something with my not-quite-short and not-quite-long hair to beat the summer heat. He was banging the plastic hair-rinsing pitcher against the side of the empty tub. No problem. I looked away for about 10 seconds to secure a bobby pin and saw his little tush in the air followed by feet. He sat up inside the tub looking quite pleased with himself. So...he can get into an empty bathtub too. We usually keep that closed off in any case, but I think I've got a climber on my hands.

Snuggles with Uncle Justin



Madeleine called out from the kitchen, "Aunt Shelley, I think you need to come in here and take a picture of this!"
She knows a good photo op when she sees one!

 Aunt Jessica (who clearly rules--see onesie for clarification) took some great pics of Shepard with his Uncle Justin and cousin Madeleine. Shepard had a blast walking all around their house and trying to make friends with Max the dog (Max was not really interested in having a new friend, by the by). Other than an unfortunate incident with a marker, it was super-fun to be with the whole family and celebrate.

MORE BIG GIANT WEEKEND!

The first birthday party. I decided to go with an "Under the Sea" type of theme. I held back...a lot. But I do love a good theme. And there's only ONE first birthday. Next year, we'll do something more low-key. But we all had good fun. Thanks to the grandparents, my AWESOME husband and Uncle Matt for helping me pull this off and doing clean-up duty.
We had a kiddie pool, water table and fun sprinkler. Shepard loved it all...especially the big porpoise balloon. Thanks also to our small group and family who were able to make it out for the festivities.
Until I can piece together a few video clips, here's a fun collage of pictures from the day....
(click on the picture to view x-big)

Back-pedaling: Nursery

I want to make this blog/website comprehensive...kind of like an online baby book. So, I might be posting some "back-pedaling" entries. Here's a collage of Shepard's nursery. It's such a relaxing room that it usually puts Mommy and Daddy to sleep when we're in there at night. But I also like that it has bursts of color and should serve him well for the next few years with some tweaks.

That's quite a mobile

Sometimes I just like to sit and stare at him. So I'm letting you join me. Shepard has really taken to his mobile of late, so I cranked it up before bath time. This is really all I have until he starts sitting up or telling knock-knock jokes...so bear with me.

SAY CHEESE!

We try to keep the camera handy so we can capture moments like this: (click on pic to see enlarged)