Little observations

Shepard's hands smell of graham crackers, whether he's eaten them or not. Now I smell graham crackers and think of him. He's literally sweet.

He likes to hum along and make sounds. He's definitely got the "bzzzzzzzzz" of the bee. This morning he was trying to match the tone of the coffee grinder. I made a chord with him by singing the third. It kind of made my day.

He really likes it when I do the frog's "ribbit" and do my froggie tongue. He tries to mimic me.

He can put more stinky poop in a diaper than I ever imagined. Contrary to what I thought before he came, it doesn't make me hurl. That would be not-so-sweet, but only ok.

He will kind of sit still for a book now. He really likes the books with the "peek-a-boo" windows to open.

He sleeps 11-12 hours a night without hardly making a peep. I think this is because he hardly stops moving all day long except for a shortish nap.

He already has a mischevious grin and sidelong glance. It already makes me nervous.

He is laughing at my best "Mama means it" strict-face. This makes me nervous too.

And did I mention his little deep-throated maniacal laugh? (you can hear that here) Sometimes he will use it in context of doing something slightly naughty. I am going to surely be a woman of prayer.

Hooray for PLAY!

Shepard (in yellow) hanging with some buddies.

Shepard's walking skills are getting better and better. It's definitely his go-to mode of transportation these days. Sometimes, he just likes to pick things up and then walk around with them...up and down the hall...over to the gate at the kitchen...

So on Saturday when the weather barely threatened to get above 82 degrees and it was slightly overcast (hoooray! in July!!), I knew I was taking the tyke to the park. I threw on some clothes and put on Shepard's cool new shoes and off we went. We did the baby swing and slide. There was another June baby there checking out the tot lot as well. Shepard was able to walk around the play area in the mulch and enjoy the slides (with some help) and the steering wheel and play areas. It was so much fun to see him just PLAY outside and discover all the fun gizmos in the playground. He even climbed up the slide a few times nearly on his own. Daddy and Mommy had lots of fun helping him navigate everything...including a big hippo he could crawl into!


Shepard (left) really liked the steering wheel thing!
Here he is with Cooper, the birthday boy. (also TWO)

Saturday evening our friends hosted a birthday party for their two-year-old, Cooper, at Chick-fil-A. I wasn't sure if Shepard would be able to enjoy the restaurant's play area and/or hang with the older kids, but there was definitely some stuff there for him! Not only was it his first "buddy's" birthday party, it was also his first time in the play area. I know he plays with some of the same kids in church nursery and he has school buddies, but it was fun to be able to observe him in this environment for sure. Cooper's mom, Michelle, got some pics at the party. You can't see his face, but he was delighted. I decided to just enjoy the moments and not be consumed with documenting every second on "film." (and for the record, children of the 20th century, how bizarre is it to think about film as just a thing of the past now??) We had loads of fun with fellow small group members and friends and lots of boys...and sweet Sophie, the lone girl.

Small group friends Paul, Michelle, and Birthday Boy Cooper. Happy Birthday, Cooper!




Shepard (left) and Hudson (two) check out the fishy steering wheel. Shepard obviously liked that!

 

Sweet Sophie can hang with the boys!



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.

Dedication

First Birthday Party!

Thanks, Nana, for some extra pictures! And thanks to my film-maker friend Michelle for videoing the cake-eating. Here's the first birthday montage.

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)

BIG GIANT WEEKEND!

Shepard turned ONE on Thursday, was in a Fourth of July parade on Friday (the 1st), had a birthday party on Saturday, and was dedicated at church on Sunday. Needless to say, we're taking it easy today and hanging out in the A/C here at home. But of course, that was a LOT of pictures and videos that I'll need to get rolling on.
The parade at his school on Friday was very exciting. There was a big fire truck to lead us around the block, a police car, a band, and lots and lots of people with decorated strollers and wagons...and of course cute kids. Shepard's class all got fancy tie-dyed shirts. He really was having some fun...and then he decided to stand up and dive out of the moving wagon. Jerod caught his shoulder and kept him from the full face-plant. Whew! Just a few scrapes and he was happy again by the time we got back to the school.

Of course, I can't resist a short video...

 

Happy Birthday, America!