February Roundup

Paul is now just one month shy of his second birthday!  This year has flown by.  This past month Paul has become so verbal.  His jabbering (while still often just that!) often becomes understandable -- he will start telling me all the things he did at the park last week or listing all the animals at the zoo or giving Phoebe a recap of our morning activity when we get home.  For example, "Swing! Wee! Daxon! Slide! Park! Rocks! Spider! Scary! Please! More!" roughly translates to this:  One day we went to the big park.  Paul played on the swing and said "wee!" One of our friends, Daxon, was also there one day last week, and they played near the slide.  Paul played in the rock area but then he saw a tiny spider on one of the structures.  He first thought it was a bug, but when I told him it was a spider he got scared!  He kept playing though, and there was an older girl who asked him for rocks, please.  Then more, and more rocks.  You get the idea!  I also especially enjoyed him telling Phoebe about church one day.  He even knelt and touched his forehead.

His favorite foods are pudding, popcorn ("pa-kern"), hummus and pretzels, yogurt and chocolate.  He will now eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast and seems to no longer want to spill everything, so we are finally introducing a regular cup.  Some days he won't stop eating and other days he'll hardly eat anything, but he is slowly growing!  He still wears 12 month pants, but I can tell some are getting tighter.  He loves to give kisses and hugs and can be very friendly, although his default is to be very shy.

Apparently there was something interesting going on out there.

Still sucks his thumb, although Michael and I were talking about how we really haven't seen him doing it much lately.

One night he would not fall asleep, so we let him lay in our bed and watch Nemo.  Michael was snacking on hummus and pretzels, and Paul had to have some too.  Now he requests it all the time!  And for a week after this, at bedtime he would run and get in our bed and make his demands.

Cold weather means cute cat cuddles!

Modeling a swim diaper hat.

Snow day!

Paul fell asleep on the way back from the dentist, around 10 a.m.  He officially has all of his teeth!

Cleaning up after making a batch of cookies.

This little monkey used his table to climb up onto the counter we keep our fruit on.  He peeled two bananas and even ate one of them.

He woke up from his nap and then sat with Phoebe, jabbering away about what I can only imagine were dream recaps.

Playing at the zoo with his buddy Daxon.

Sweet Phoebe

The batter is the best part!

One afternoon during some stormy weather we had a tornado warning.  We went into our closet, bringing blankets, pillows, Nemo and snacks.  Paul loved it so much he didn't come out right away and kept going back in later.

Shared naps are the best naps!

Coloring has been a huge hit lately!  I asked him to draw Mama and Daddy and soon after, he drew several other pieces which he titled.  I love to see him using his imagination!

One day he got really quiet while playing in the living room.  I walked in and he was sitting like this watching Totoro.

I love this sweet face!

The last Sunday night of February Paul woke up throwing up.  It was pretty awful, but it only happened that once.  For the rest of the week, though he was pretty tired and didn't seem to want to go anywhere, although he played well at home, and took earlier than normal naps.  I was fine with it myself, having felt pretty sick too one day.  Well, I was taking advantage of some peace while Paul played in the living room to read in my room.  I looked up to see Phoebe staring me down.  I felt like she was judging me for wanting some alone time!
  

One morning this week, Paul crawled into our bed around 9:30 a.m., requesting Nemo, hummus and pretzels, which he got.  :)  It was a cozy morning!

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One afternoon while we were playing at our friend Krystal's, Paul climbed up to sit next to Will.  Brock decided to join, too, and I thought they looked so cute all lined up, drinking juice (except Will) and watching TV together.

I love this creepy Cookie Monster.  Paul told me the black thing is a spider.

One day while I was getting ready, Paul took the opportunity to draw on his biggest canvas yet -- the dining room wall.  Thank goodness for Magic Erasers!  I started off using it, but could tell it was taking a little paint off, so I switched to a wet, soapy dishtowel.  That did not work at all!  I went back to the Magic Eraser and got it all off.  I already loved those but now I am so appreciative!