18 months!

Leo is 18 months old. It is amazing to think that he is a full fledged toddler. At his 18 month appointment we found out that he is in the 95th % for height and 50th % for weight. He had been going through a major growth spurt which would explain why all if his pants are suddenly too short! He is becoming more independent and is having an easier time sepearating at school. He LOVES to interact with other people and says "hi"and "bye" to every person we see. He knows how to get people's attention and likes to show off his "tricks". He is becoming very interested in books and is always bringing me books to read. He loves his cars and trucks and it is so fun to watch him zoom them around. He likes to clean up and sings the clean up song every time he sees me putting things away. He loves to watch football with Dada and points to the TV yelling BALL and calls for Dada to sit by him on the couch. He is obsessed with music and always wants to listen to music, dance and sing. He enjoys being around other kids and will go up to them and hug them and rest his head on them until they squirm away. He knows when is not supposed to do something or touch something and before I can say anything he says "no no no" to himself. He is sleeping longer in the morning and most days he gets up around 7 am (soooo much better than 5:00 am!) He loves to go places and will bring me his coat and shoes so we can go on an adventure. He is sweet as pie and loves to snuggle and cuddle. He is talking more and more everyday and is always saying new words. He is growing up way too fast and is becoming such a big boy. We are having so much fun exploring the world through Leo's eyes and feel so blessed to have such a happy, loving and joyful boy.

Kevin and I took Leo to an indoor park on Sunday. It was crazy packed with tons of kids and parents who have cabin fever like us. The park has a huge indoor playground and an open gym with push toys and balls. Leo LOVED it! He ran, played and kept up with all the "big kids". We spent most of the time chasing after him making sure he didn't take someone out with the scooter. He loved climbing up the wall and sliding down the slide. I think he did it about 25 times before we were able to move on to something else. We will definitely have to go back (maybe on a weekday when there aren't a million people there!)

Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We were able to spend time with both families, friends and one another. Leo is at such a fun age and really enjoyed all of the festivities of Christmas (minus Santa). We spent Christmas Eve day at home and then we met my family at the afternoon church service. Leo sat amazingly well and was in awe of the singing, lights and people. He sat on Grammy's lap most of the time and only needed to walk in the hallway for a few minutes. After church, we went to my parents house and had appetizers and had a little Christmas program. When we were growing up, we always did a small Christmas program before we opened gifts. We all did different things depending on our "talents". The program usually consisted of playing the piano, reading a Christmas Story or poem, singing a song, doing a trick or playing a random instrument. This year Leo played the jungle bells, the piano and helped me read a story. After the program, Leo opened his presents and played with his new toys. After he went down for bed, the rest of us opened our presents, laughed and had a great time. We ended up staying the night over there and then had brunch with everyone on Christmas morning. Then Kevin, Leo and I went home and had our family Christmas and Leo got his big gift- a play kitchen! He LOVES kitchens. Whenever we go to someones house to play, he immediately goes to the kitchen and plays there forever. We ordered a kitchen for him online and Kevin spent 4.5 hours putting it together (long story) and when we gave it to him on Christmas, he LOVED it!!! It was so fun to watch his reaction and see him get excited about a gift. Later that day we went back to my parents house for Christmas dinner and games. The next day we got up and went to Kevin's parents house for brunch and we opened gifts together there. Leo and Ellie were the stars of the show and had so much fun opening their presents. It is fun to watch them interact and think about the fun they will have as they grow up together.

We feel so blessed to have such loving and supportive families. We love spending time with them and sharing the holiday's with them! It was a wonderful Christmas. Now we are gearing up for 2011! Happy New Year!!!

Fun Christmas Activities

We spent the week before Christmas doing fun holiday activities. One morning Leo and I made cookies. I put out the big mat and Leo helped me mix the dough. When the cookies came out of the oven, I put him in his highchair and gave him the sprinkles! He LOVED decorating the cookies and when he found out that the sprinkles tasted sweet, he started licking the cookies and the extra sprinkles on his tray. Surprisingly the cookies turned out great!

My neighbor Alli hosted a little Christmas party for the neighbor kids. We did an ornament exchange, sang some songs, ate some cookies and listened to books. It was a very fun way for the kids to spend time together! Thanks Alli!

Macy's 8th Floor

Kevin, Leo and I went to Macy's 8th Floor Display the week before Christmas. It was amazing! The theme this year was Santa's Workshop. The displays were darling and so well done. We walked through a few times and then we saw a puppet show. Leo loved the show and sat still for 3o minutes while he clapped and watched the puppets sing and dance. After that we went to visit Santa. Leo was TERRIFIED! He clung to me and screamed the whole time we were by Santa. When we left the room he kept saying "Bye Bye Ho Ho, Bye Bye Ho Ho!" Poor guy! When we were done traumatizing him, we went to the Sky Lounge for lunch on the 12th floor. The views of the city were amazing and the lunch was delicious. It was a fun filled day for our family!

All Aboard!!!

Leo and I rode the train around Southdale the other day. We waved at all the customers and when it came to a stop he signed more, more! If you haven't been to Southdale lately, you should check it out! Fun and simple holiday cheer!

SNOW!!!!

We had a blizzard today! The snow started last night and it is still coming down 24 hours later. There is so much snow on the ground that we couldn't open our front door or even leave the house today. It is also very windy which means the snow is blowing and it looks like a total white-out! The temps are dropping and the high tomorrow is ZERO! Yikes!

For those of you who don't know, we like to go places and do things as a family on the weekends. By about 10 am we are ready to leave the house and go on an adventure. Well today, our adventure was staying inside because of the snow. We finger painted, played hide and seek with our PJ's and later with a dishtowel, played in the basement, ate a lot of snacks, made corn bread, took long naps, and invited our neighbor friends Bennett and Clare over to play! The kids came over after dinner in their jammies and we had snacks, hot chocolate (with Baileys for the mamas) and apple cider. It was fun to have a pajama party with them in the middle of a blizzard! We love having friends live so close that they can come over even in a blizzard! We rescheduled or family Christmas Card pictures for tomorrow morning and a birthday party for the afternoon so hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow! If not, we will have another snowy inside adventure!