Morning Artwork

Daylight savings time has taken it's toll on the Allen household...Leo is having a VERY hard time adjusting to the time change. He has been up between 4:45 an 5:30 everyday and been in bed before 7 every night. In the evenings, we try to hold him off until we just can't take it any longer! I have been trying to come up with things to do in the morning to keep him busy until our activities start usually around 9:30. Which means we have a good 4 hours to spend before we leave the house. The other day I decided to get the art materials out and we painted, colored and did play dough all before 7 am! If you are ever up early and looking for something to do, come on over! I am hoping his little body will adjust soon, I am feeling very sleep deprived!

16 months old...

Leo turned 16 months old on the 4th. Time is FLYING by like everyone said it would...Here are a few things we love about our 16 month old:

-He replies "yeah" to every questions you ask him and screams "YEAH" when he is really excited

-He can say about 10 words now including: mama, mom (which he calls Kevin), up, ball, bye, yeah, hot, hello, burrr, and a few others

-He LOVES to be outside and pounds on the door to go out starting at 7 am

-He squeals with excitement and laughter when he is being chased

-He loves to be silly and will do all kinds of crazy things to get your attention

-His favorite toys are things with lids that he can take on and off

-He is very particular while he is "working" and likes things to be neat

-He likes to cuddle and will snuggle into your shoulder and tuck his arms in to be nice and cozy

-He loves water-in the bath, in the pool, in the sink

-He is very good at drinking from a straw

-He likes to clap his hands and stomp his feet to music

-His favorite songs are: itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle, ram sam sam and he can do the actions!

-He is good at using his signs and most frequently uses: help, more and all done

-He loves to eat mac and cheese and hotdogs. His favorite fruit is grapes.

-He likes to meet new people and will walk up to strangers and say "hi" and wave

-He is such a sweet kid and we couldn't love him more!

the gate

Just in case you are wondering, I don't usually put Leo in a holding pen...this morning, however, I had to. His new favorite thing to do is go into the pantry and "organize" the baby food jars. Well today, he dropped one of the glass jars on the tile and it shattered everywhere. Glass flew across the room and there way nowhere safe in the kitchen for Leo to be so I gated him in the family room which he loved :) He had to wait there while I washed and vacuumed the floor (several times). Then I put on his sox and shoes and let him come in. This all happened before 7:00 am. Made for an eventful day!

Would you like to talk about what you see in the background of the picture...

-The crockpot on the floor. Our kitchen is not big enough to hold appliances that are not used on a daily basis so I store the crockpot in the basement. I used it the night before so it is sitting on the ground waiting to go back downstairs.

-The three empty milk jugs sitting on the end table. Leo's favorite thing to do is carry around the milk jugs and take the lids on and off. Weird, I know.

-The play kitchen. My neighbor Alli and I did a toy swap for a week and she gave us her kitchen. Leo LOVES it and it is on our Christmas list.

-The lion. Leo is a mad man when he pushes his lion around. He runs as fast as he can and slams it into anything in front of him.

Tricks and Treats

What a fun weekend! We had a great time enjoying all of the Halloween festivities! On Saturday night the Chaska Community Center hosted a Halloween Party with games, cookies, crafts and a dance party. Leo wore his costume and had so much fun watching all of the "big kids" in their costumes. Then we went to Applebees for dinner and Leo even wore his costume there. He ordered a kids milk and sat in the booth next to me while drinking from a straw (his new talent). He seemed like such a big boy!

On Halloween, we went out for breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Allen and Kevin's aunt and cousin who were in town. Then we went trick or treating at Grammy and Gramps house then we were off to a Halloween Party at the neighbors. Leo wore his costume for most of the day and didn't seem to mind it! He had so much fun at the party, eating snacks, decorating cookies and a treat bag and playing with the toys. After that we left to go trick or treating with the neighbors. Leo would run up to the houses, tap on the door and wait for the person to answer. After a few houses he got the hang of things and gladly accepted the candy :) He loved watching everyone and running from house to house. We let him eat one piece of candy- his first sucker! He was blue from head to toe (it was blue raspberry) and we were both as sticky as can be! We had fun spending time with our neighbors and loved watching Leo enjoy Halloween!

Cousin Ellie

Cousin Ellie came over for a play date last weekend. She was so good and didn't make a peep the entire time she was here! She loved to sit up and play with the toys. Leo was very interested in her bottle so I pulled the bin of old bottles down and let him play with all of the pieces. It was just about impossible to get a picture where they were both looking so I did the best I could!

Babies Babies Babies!

We know so many people having babies this fall and winter! In September we welcomed Ian and Finley. In October Genevieve and James were born. Now are waiting for Baby Lebens in November and Baby van Bergen in December. Welcome to the world little ones!

James Robert Meyer

Today we learned how to...

Drink from a straw!!!

Check out that belly full of water!

We also learned how to shrug our shoulders when asked a question...(notice that the pants are gone...the adventures with the straw got a little messy!)

Where is the ball?

I don't know!