Visit from Grandpa and the Boys

In early October, my dad, James, and Brayden stopped in for a visit while on their east coast vacation. They only stayed one night but the kids loved it! The boys were so sweet to play with my wired children.

They loved jumping on the trampoline with uncle Brayden. Whenever they would come in from one of their jumping sessions, they would be drenched in sweat.

Leo really loved his grandpa. He has this thing for his grandpa's. Dont get me wrong, he loves his grandma's, but he has a very special connection with both of his grandpa's.

When it was time for them to leave we were all very sad. It's so fun to get visitors when we live so far away from family!

First Grade

19 Months

1- He hates chocolate or peanut butter.
2- He throws tantrums. If he doesn't get what he wants he belly flops onto the floor and sobs.
3- He will go up to anyone with food (even complete strangers) and beg for food.
4- The first time we went to the pool this year, he was terrified of the water. But the second time he loved it! Now he is obsessed with the water!
5- He loves being outside. If you open the back door or patio door he will come running!
6- Whenever he hears music, he runs to the back wall "his stage" and dances.
7- He loves getting a free back scratch. He will climb into your lap and lay his head on your shoulder and wait for you to start scratching.
8- One day I gave Leo a little bowl of fruit snacks. When he finished them he came running back with his bowl wanting more. I didnt want him to have any more fruit snacks so I gave him a handful of goldfish crackers. When he saw what was in the bowl he flung it across the room, belly flopped onto the floor, and sobbed.
9- He loves watching movies on the iphone. It is a wonderful distraction for him while we are at Lilly's swimming lessons, waiting at Lilly's dance, or even when we go out to dinner.
10- He loves to play chase with Lilly around the house. They just run in circles and scare each other.

Leo's New Words:

"Hot"
"Oh mo" for "Oh no"

18 Months

18 Things about Leo at 18 Months

1- He likes to walk on his tiptoes

2- He can say "cheese" and says it for any food that he eats. Whenever I give him something to eat he holds in the air and yells, "cheese!"

3- Whenever he gets his hands on a phone, he holds it to his ear and says, "hello". It really sounds more like, "holla!"

4- He will come up to me in the middle of playing with his toys and pout his lips. So I give him a kiss and he runs off smiling. 

5- Leo loved having Kate stay with us for a week! It was so fun to see them play side by side and follow each other around all day. It gave me a glimpse of what it would have been like with twins, and I liked it.   

6- On Leo's first day of nursery he ran right in and didnt look back. But 15 minutes later they found Gus and told him to come and get Leo because he was having troubles breathing. He had realized we were gone and started crying and just couldnt stop. That triggered his asthma and he just couldnt get a good breath. Gus took him out and calmed him down and then I took him back in after my class. I stayed with him the rest of the time, and he loved it. 

7- He was sick again this month. He went to nursery for the first time and 3 days later had a cold. He was a mess and couldnt breathe. We had to give him 8 puffs from his inhaler every day. 

8- He loves helping me do the laundry. He helps by throwing all the dirty laundry into the washer for me. 

9- He likes to gasp and then let his mouth hang open. It makes things more dramatic.

10- He finally decided that he hates baby food. He will still let me feed him yogurt and applesauce, but not much else.

11- If he is playing with something he knows hes not supposed to and you yell out, he will throw whatever he has and either run and hide behind whatever is close to him, or drop to the floor and hide his face.

12- He got 2 new teeth and was a little sad about it.

13- He started biting holes in his binkies and then 2 days later he decided he didnt want them anymore. It made me sad but it was so much easier than taking them away from him.

14- Whenever he falls he will just lay there and whine until you look at him, then he will get up and walk off like nothing happened.

15- He loves Otter pops and Gogurts. He thinks he's so big when he eats them.

16- When I am putting him down for a nap, and he finishes his bottle, he gets the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. He will just sit there and stare at me until I smile back.

17- He likes to put his bib on and take it off.

18- He is obsessed with being outside. He screams at the door until we go out and then screams when we have to go in. 

18 Month Stats

Height: 34 1/4 in. (95%)

Weight: 28 lbs 10 oz (93%)

Head Circ: 20" (99%)

17 Months

17 Things about Leo at 17 Months

1- He still loves baby food. He likes finger foods, but prefers to have me feed him pureed things.

2-  Whenever he hears the garbage truck, he runs to the front window and watches them so intently.

3- Whenever Lilly hugs him he looks at me and screams.

4- Whenever he hears Lilly's tap dance recital music he gets so excited and busts out his moves.

5- He loves to read books. Especially his ones about cars.

6- Whenever we go shopping, he likes to turn around in the cart, get on his knees and face forward.

7- He loves to fill and empty boxes and cups.

8- He likes to bring me garbage he finds on the floor. He shows it to me and spits.

9- He has an obsession with dogs. Whenever he sees one outside, he screams and tries to chase it down the road.

10- He loves to jump on the couch. He's not super coordinated so he occasionally falls off on his head.

11- His favorite movie is Tangled. We have it downloaded on all the iphones and he watches it daily.

12- He likes to pretend to wash his body when he is in the tub. He will go over to the soap and pretend to pump some in his hand and then pretend to rub it all over his body. Its adorable!

13- He claps at the end of songs.

14- He's pretty obedient. When I tell him "No" he will stop what he is doing.

15- He loves to play peek-a-boo in the patio curtains.

16- He loves to play chase.

17- Whenever he gets hurt, he only cries for a few seconds and then runs off like nothing happened.

16 Months

                                                  16 Things about Leo at 16 Months

1- Leo loves to spit. He spits to say hi, he spits when he doesnt like something, and he spits to get your attention. My favorite is when he wakes up and I open the door to his bedroom as soon as he sees me he spits and then smiles.

2- He loves to dance. In the mornings, after I run, I put Leo in the bathtub while I shower. We always listen to Pandora and have a dance party. He stands up in the tub and dances. I love it.

3- We found out he has allergies. As if the kid didnt have enough issues, he has to have allergies too. So he now has a club foot, acid reflux, asthma, and now allergies. Boo!

4- When Leo wakes up in the morning or from a nap he peers over the edge of his crib and yells until I pick up his puppy and his binky that he has thrown out. When I hand them to him, he plops his binky in his mouth and sticks his puppy in his neck, and then lays back down and waits for a back scratch.

5- After I change Leo's diaper, he heads straight for the bowl next to his bed that holds all of his binkies. He grabs as many as he can carry and then beelines out of his room before I can catch him.

6- He is way more cautious than Lilly was at this age. When we are outside he crawls over the cracks in the sidewalks because he thinks they are going to trip him. We bought him a firetruck ride on toy and he wont ride on it. Everytime we stick him on it he panics. He likes to climb on things but then cries when he sees how high he is and wants us to help him down.

7- He is now in 2T clothing and 18-24 month shoes.

8- He loves to climb into his toy basket and read books or throw toys out.

9- He is very patient with Lilly. She dresses him up and mauls him to death but he keeps going back for more!

10- He loves to put things in drawers. Everytime I open my kitchen cabinets and drawers I get a new surprise.

11-He loves being outside.

12- I sleeps through the night 5-6 days a week.

13- We switched him from Whole Milk to Almond Milk. Its healthier!

14- He wasnt too sure about the trampoline at first but now he loves it.

15- He loves to help me wake Lilly up in the morning for school. He slaps her face, pulls her hair, and sits on her. Lilly usually doesnt mind too much.

16- He is a complete nightmare at church. We usually end up back in the car with Leo strapped in his carseat. Nursery cant come soon enough!

16 Month Stats

Weight: 29 lbs 2 oz

Height: 33 inches

15 Months

15 Things about Leo at 15 Months

1- Every time Leo gets his hands on a phone or anything that resembles a phone, he puts it up to his ear and jabbers.

2- He is getting better at eating finger foods. He will now eat black beans, green beans, strawberries, bananas, bread, noodles, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, goldfish crackers,cheese,

3-He learned how to clap.

4- He loves it when Lilly chases him.

5- He learned how to climb in and out of his walker and jumper.

6- He still loves his bottle and drinks 3 or 4  8 ounce bottles daily.

7- He still refuses to hold his own bottle.

8-He still has a huge gap between his two front teeth.

9-His new favorite food is kiwi.

10-He gets jealous when Lilly sits on my lap or hugs me. He will cry and push her out of the way.

11- He loves to shut doors. Every room he goes into he has to shut the door behind him.

12- He loves to watch movies of himself. When he does he will have have a huge smile on his face and laugh a lot.

13- He learned how to get on the couch by himself and he does it like 50 times a day

14- He loves suckers and will get pretty angry if he sees one and you wont give it to him.

15-He understands me when I tell him it is time to go upstairs. He will run to the gate and wait for me.


Leo's Stats:

Weight: 27 lbs 12 oz (96%)

Height: 32 1/2 inches (90%)

Head Circumference: 20 inches (99%)