Hunter LOVES Mickey Mouse and Elmo. He always asks to watch them but, of course, doesn't get to as much as he would like to. Somewhere along the line he's learned that persistence pays off though, because if I say no to Mickey, he'll go through the entire line of characters hoping that I'll eventually cave. The conversation goes a little something like this -
H: "Mickey, please"
Me: "Not right now, sweetie"
H: "Minnie Mouse"
Me: "No, Hunter"
H: "Goofy"
Me: "Maybe later"
H: "Duck"
Me: (starting to ignore him)
H: "Elmo"
and it continues...."Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Oscar, Peeeeeeeease Mama."
He also picked up on one of the not-so-common Mickey Mouse characters while he got to watch whatever he wanted to in the car during our road trip. The older duck with the glasses named Professor Von Drake, or "Propessor Dake" as Hunter says. Sometimes he'll throw that one in there too because he knows it cracks me up every time. :)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
We spent Christmas morning here at home this year. Santa was very good to Hunter and Andrew. They woke up Christmas morning and opened their gifts and later on we hit to road to drive up to Indianapolis to see my family. This is the 3rd time we've driven. The first time was pre-baby and it took us 16 hours. Last year, Hunter was 8 months old and it took us 19 hours. This year it was about 17 1/2. Not too bad and Hunter really did great overall in the car. He had his moments, but heck, so did we! All I can say is thank goodness for the Volvo DVD system!
We arrived on the 26th and got to spend a couple of days hanging out with Aunt Mitty and Uncle Brian (and their doggie "Petch" -- translation: Fletch) before they jetted off to Florida for the new year. We spent some time with Grandma Hunter and other family members, and of course Hunter loved hanging out at Mimi and Papa's house (with their doggie "Fo-fee" -- Sophie).
Big milestone here - Hunter pee-peed in the big potty for the first time on 12/26! I'm not expecting this to become a regular thing, but he said he had to go and sure enough, he went! There was a bit of a mess involved, so I'll spare you the details. :) He has a Sesame Street potty seat that sits on top of the big potty here but all he does is sit there and point/name all of the characters. I think I'll need to get a plain one when we start full-blown potty training!
I was terrible at taking pictures once again, but here are few from the past couple of weeks.
Hunter's new playhouse:
Trying to get a good pic for our Christmas cards:
Opening his rocking chair from Mimi and Papa on Christmas Eve:
New Year's Eve dinner - here he is looking at pictures of himself on Mimi's phone:
Hunter, Daddy and Papa. It was actually quite balmy in Indy that night:
I have NO idea where he picked this up but think it is totally hilarious and still crack up when I watch it. I guess he's seen AJ doing push-ups before, but it is one of those things that the says/does out of the blue that make you realize how much he actually does pick up on! Such a little show-off. :)
We spent Christmas morning here at home this year. Santa was very good to Hunter and Andrew. They woke up Christmas morning and opened their gifts and later on we hit to road to drive up to Indianapolis to see my family. This is the 3rd time we've driven. The first time was pre-baby and it took us 16 hours. Last year, Hunter was 8 months old and it took us 19 hours. This year it was about 17 1/2. Not too bad and Hunter really did great overall in the car. He had his moments, but heck, so did we! All I can say is thank goodness for the Volvo DVD system!
We arrived on the 26th and got to spend a couple of days hanging out with Aunt Mitty and Uncle Brian (and their doggie "Petch" -- translation: Fletch) before they jetted off to Florida for the new year. We spent some time with Grandma Hunter and other family members, and of course Hunter loved hanging out at Mimi and Papa's house (with their doggie "Fo-fee" -- Sophie).
Big milestone here - Hunter pee-peed in the big potty for the first time on 12/26! I'm not expecting this to become a regular thing, but he said he had to go and sure enough, he went! There was a bit of a mess involved, so I'll spare you the details. :) He has a Sesame Street potty seat that sits on top of the big potty here but all he does is sit there and point/name all of the characters. I think I'll need to get a plain one when we start full-blown potty training!
I was terrible at taking pictures once again, but here are few from the past couple of weeks.
Hunter's new playhouse:
Trying to get a good pic for our Christmas cards:
Opening his rocking chair from Mimi and Papa on Christmas Eve:
New Year's Eve dinner - here he is looking at pictures of himself on Mimi's phone:
Hunter, Daddy and Papa. It was actually quite balmy in Indy that night:
I have NO idea where he picked this up but think it is totally hilarious and still crack up when I watch it. I guess he's seen AJ doing push-ups before, but it is one of those things that the says/does out of the blue that make you realize how much he actually does pick up on! Such a little show-off. :)Monday, December 13, 2010
20 months
At 20 months, Hunter is an absolute hoot. He is such a little parrot and will repeat ANYTHING. Example: Yesterday as I was driving my GPS says "Turn left", I hear a little voice in the backseat saying "left, left, left". He repeats pretty much anything at the end of a sentence. He's putting sentences together like "Mommy's car", "Hunter's jacket", "Two socks". When he hears someone laughing or just thinks something is funny, he'll crack up and then sigh with an "aww, man!" at the end. Hilarious! He has great manners and even impressed another grandmother while we were in the waiting room at a Dr.'s office the other day.
Also....he can COUNT!!! He doesn't start at one and go to two, three, four, five, but he does start at one and when you ask what comes after one he says two, ask what comes after two and he says three, ask what comes after three and he says four, ask what comes after four and he says three. :) We're getting there!
There is a gymnastics studio here in town that opens up their gym to toddlers on Mondays and Fridays. Our friend Allison introduced it to us and it is a great way to let him run off some energy in the mornings. He's still going to Gymboree and loves it, although isn't into the class portion of it as much as the free playtime.
We are making a little progress on eating with utensils. He is more and more interested in them and requests a "pork" at every meal. He can sometimes get the food on his fork and into his mouth, but mostly holds it in one hand and eats with the other hand. I still wouldn't trust him with a spoon and jar of yogurt all by himself yet though!
Ready for Christmas!
Also....he can COUNT!!! He doesn't start at one and go to two, three, four, five, but he does start at one and when you ask what comes after one he says two, ask what comes after two and he says three, ask what comes after three and he says four, ask what comes after four and he says three. :) We're getting there!
There is a gymnastics studio here in town that opens up their gym to toddlers on Mondays and Fridays. Our friend Allison introduced it to us and it is a great way to let him run off some energy in the mornings. He's still going to Gymboree and loves it, although isn't into the class portion of it as much as the free playtime.
We are making a little progress on eating with utensils. He is more and more interested in them and requests a "pork" at every meal. He can sometimes get the food on his fork and into his mouth, but mostly holds it in one hand and eats with the other hand. I still wouldn't trust him with a spoon and jar of yogurt all by himself yet though!Ready for Christmas!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thanksgiving
We spent Thanksgiving in Connecticut with AJ's family this year. It was my first time in Connecticut and we had great food and great company. Hunter did pretty well on the flights although he is becoming harder and harder to travel with in my lap. We had an open seat next to us on both of the flights on our way back and I'm beginning to think it is almost worth it to get him his own seat even though he can fly free until age two.
Hunter loves our shower. He loves to get in it because he knows he's not supposed to. Our hotel in Connecticut only had a shower - no bath tub - so Hunter got to take his first shower last week. Boy oh boy, he really thought he was getting away with something. He LOVED IT!
The week before Thanksgiving was pretty busy also. I'm a first year member of the Junior League this year and we had the Christmas Affair (same as the Holiday Mart for you Indiana folks) from Wednesday to Sunday. I only had to work two shifts but was down there pretty much every day for shopping, Santa pics, etc. Hunter wasn't such a huge fan of Santa this year. He cried when I sat him in his lap but they managed to distract him long enough to get a decent shot. I should have done a better job at talking him up beforehand!
One last pic of Hunter climbing in Maggie's cage and actually shutting the door this time...his face says it all.
Hunter loves our shower. He loves to get in it because he knows he's not supposed to. Our hotel in Connecticut only had a shower - no bath tub - so Hunter got to take his first shower last week. Boy oh boy, he really thought he was getting away with something. He LOVED IT!
The week before Thanksgiving was pretty busy also. I'm a first year member of the Junior League this year and we had the Christmas Affair (same as the Holiday Mart for you Indiana folks) from Wednesday to Sunday. I only had to work two shifts but was down there pretty much every day for shopping, Santa pics, etc. Hunter wasn't such a huge fan of Santa this year. He cried when I sat him in his lap but they managed to distract him long enough to get a decent shot. I should have done a better job at talking him up beforehand!
One last pic of Hunter climbing in Maggie's cage and actually shutting the door this time...his face says it all.
Monday, November 15, 2010
W&B Visit
Aunt "Mitty" and Uncle Brian came in town this past weekend to visit. Hunter has had a hard time figuring out how to say Whitney, but it is now a very clear "Mitty", sometimes preceded by "An" for Aunt. I just realized as I am typing this that I didn't get pictures of them with Hunter. Darn it! We had so much going on.
They had an AJ and Kristin-style travel day on Friday, getting in about 6 hours after they were scheduled to, so that day was pretty much a wash. We were planning on going to Chuy's (a must for out-of-town guests) but ended up picking it up and bringing it home because Hunter was asleep by the time they got in. Saturday, Miss Anna stayed with Hunter while we took the Indiana kids down to tailgate Texas style. Granted, the UT football team isn't great this year and the fans aren't as crazy, but we still had a great time. Milestone for me -- it was the longest stretch that he's stayed with a babysitter (other than my mom when we went on vacation). Anna is great though...I know he loved playing with her and we had a great time at the game.
On Sunday we relaxed and AJ cooked a great meal on his Big Green Egg and they left today. It was short trip but was a lot of fun. We loved having them here and can't wait until they come back!!
They had an AJ and Kristin-style travel day on Friday, getting in about 6 hours after they were scheduled to, so that day was pretty much a wash. We were planning on going to Chuy's (a must for out-of-town guests) but ended up picking it up and bringing it home because Hunter was asleep by the time they got in. Saturday, Miss Anna stayed with Hunter while we took the Indiana kids down to tailgate Texas style. Granted, the UT football team isn't great this year and the fans aren't as crazy, but we still had a great time. Milestone for me -- it was the longest stretch that he's stayed with a babysitter (other than my mom when we went on vacation). Anna is great though...I know he loved playing with her and we had a great time at the game.
On Sunday we relaxed and AJ cooked a great meal on his Big Green Egg and they left today. It was short trip but was a lot of fun. We loved having them here and can't wait until they come back!!
Friday, November 12, 2010
19 months
I'm in denial again about how old my baby is getting. Closer to two now.....unbelievable. Although, two is his favorite number answer to everything, so maybe that will work out for us. :) (Blue is his favorite color answer, but we're making progress on our colors) He is so much fun right now and I just love being with him.
We've had some unseasonably warm weather this week, so Hunter and I took advantage and went to the Austin Zoo on Tuesday. It's a small zoo - more of an animal sanctuary as the animals that live there are rescues. For example, two of the lions that lived there were old domestic pets that had been given to the zoo. Others were circus animals that lived in small cages. Even though it was small, it was the perfect size for him and allowed us to explore without being overwhelming. He even got to feed some goats and deer until some random brown substance from one of their noses appeared on his arm, so I broke out the antibacterial wipes and then we were done with that... :) All in all, it was fun and he got excited about seeing the monkeys and now knows what a lion says.
Here are some of the other animal sounds he knows:
Monkey
Doggie
Kitty Cat (LOVE when he says meow!)
Sheep
Pig
Cow
Duck
Horsey
He can identify many more animals than that by pointing to pictures in a book, but those are the ones that he knows what they "say".
He's really in to Gymboree now and is becoming quite the climber and more and more adventurous. He's not to the grabby point (yet) and doesn't care when someone takes something away from him. He still loves the balls and bubbles and really likes the rocking horse. At this point in toddlerhood, he's really a very well behaved child and well on the road to developing great manners (saying "thank-you" more and more unprompted, "please" all of the time and "bless you" very frequently). I really couldn't ask for more!
We've had some unseasonably warm weather this week, so Hunter and I took advantage and went to the Austin Zoo on Tuesday. It's a small zoo - more of an animal sanctuary as the animals that live there are rescues. For example, two of the lions that lived there were old domestic pets that had been given to the zoo. Others were circus animals that lived in small cages. Even though it was small, it was the perfect size for him and allowed us to explore without being overwhelming. He even got to feed some goats and deer until some random brown substance from one of their noses appeared on his arm, so I broke out the antibacterial wipes and then we were done with that... :) All in all, it was fun and he got excited about seeing the monkeys and now knows what a lion says.
Here are some of the other animal sounds he knows:
Monkey
Doggie
Kitty Cat (LOVE when he says meow!)
Sheep
Pig
Cow
Duck
Horsey
He can identify many more animals than that by pointing to pictures in a book, but those are the ones that he knows what they "say".
He's really in to Gymboree now and is becoming quite the climber and more and more adventurous. He's not to the grabby point (yet) and doesn't care when someone takes something away from him. He still loves the balls and bubbles and really likes the rocking horse. At this point in toddlerhood, he's really a very well behaved child and well on the road to developing great manners (saying "thank-you" more and more unprompted, "please" all of the time and "bless you" very frequently). I really couldn't ask for more!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Happy Halloween!
I'm not one that really gets in to Halloween but I was really excited about it this year. It was Hunter's first year trick or treating so we spent a lot of time trying to pump him up by talking about it with him, trying to get him to say "trick or treat" and dressing him up in the CUTEST. COSTUME. EVER. Seriously. :)
He loved going to everyone's house and wasn't timid at all....as a matter of fact, he cried after we left the first three houses because he wanted to go inside their house. We went to a few houses just down the street from us and then came home and recycled all of his candy for our trick or treaters. :)
He also attended his first UT football game on Saturday. We've taken him down to tailgate a couple of times and Hunter and I have just gone home while AJ went in to the game. We decided to see how he'd do going in to the actual game this time. He lasted until halftime, which considering the facts that 1) he napped for about 20 minutes on the way down there and that was his only nap all day, 2) it was an evening game (6:00) and so he was getting close to his bedtime anyway, and 3) he spent a couple of hours tailgating beforehand, he did GREAT. I was very proud of him! He loved watching football and clapping when everyone else clapped. :)
Such a big weekend for a little guy!
He loved going to everyone's house and wasn't timid at all....as a matter of fact, he cried after we left the first three houses because he wanted to go inside their house. We went to a few houses just down the street from us and then came home and recycled all of his candy for our trick or treaters. :)
He also attended his first UT football game on Saturday. We've taken him down to tailgate a couple of times and Hunter and I have just gone home while AJ went in to the game. We decided to see how he'd do going in to the actual game this time. He lasted until halftime, which considering the facts that 1) he napped for about 20 minutes on the way down there and that was his only nap all day, 2) it was an evening game (6:00) and so he was getting close to his bedtime anyway, and 3) he spent a couple of hours tailgating beforehand, he did GREAT. I was very proud of him! He loved watching football and clapping when everyone else clapped. :)
Such a big weekend for a little guy!
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