Pretend

Felix has started to play pretend, and it's quite cute! There's a step about a third of the way down to the basement where he can reach through the balusters and touch the basement ceiling. He's started pretending to take a handful of the ceiling and eat it. I asked him what it tasted like the first time he did this (on Monday, I think). "Banana bread," he said. He has since also said pizza, and asks to "eat banana bread ceiling" when we're carrying him up- and downstairs.

Also, I'm slightly less concerned about becoming a mother for the second time. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to watch a friend's 4.5 month old as well as Felix all by myself for a few hours. Considering that you get to know what your own baby's cues and not knowing this baby's, I think I did pretty well. I had one little stretch where both were crying, and I calmly handled that situation. Felix was also very good. He liked to be a helper (though he did attempt to hand her the rattle via the back of her head) and hug the baby. Give him another year and he'll be a great big brother when the time comes. :o)

Felix: 2 yrs

Self-Destruction

Felix is hell-bent on self-destruction lately. He fell off the seat of a picnic table onto his back on Saturday. Sunday, he fell off a chair in the kitchen while holding a veggie peeler and cut the back of his left hand. Yesterday, we noticed a quarter-sized bump on his forehead. Thankfully, nothing's ended up being serious, but he's in a bit of a black-and-blue phase. He's figuring out what his body can and shouldn't do, and hopefully he'll grow out of it before we end up at Urgent Care. I hope so, anyway. In the meantime, we're going to have lots of band-aids, ice packs, hugs and kisses on hand. :o)
 
Edited to add that he fell halfway down the stairs this evening. We'll see what bruises pop up in the morning. Good grief. 

We went to the spray park this evening. Unfortunately, it cooled off and left Felix a shivering little man in less than 5 minutes.

Felix: 2 yrs

Two years ago tomorrow...

...our little man was born! I can't believe it's been two years now. Felix continue to amaze us and try our patience, as any little toddler should.

Felix has developed some serious selective hearing (or just wants to figure out how far he can push things when you say no), become very sensitive (bursting into pouting lips and tears when you don't allow something), and become a bit of a naughty boy. We're hoping turning 2 allows him to do a bit more at daycare and have a bit more going on in his day there. In any case, it's just a phase...

We had Felix's birthday party on July 9th with aunts, grandparents and great-grandparents present. Felix had a great time with all the attention. He didn't do so well with the presents, though. He was torn between seeing what was in the unwrapped presents and wanting badly to play with what he just opened. He got lots of sports gear, cars/Cars stuff, and clothing, among some other terrific toys. We got through it and ate cake. It was all good.











Because Nick's going to be gone tomorrow night, we did Felix's birthday picture tonight. Enjoy!

Felix: 2 yrs

Happy Father's Day!

It my be a day late, but Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, even the little dads-to-be!

Felix: 23 mos

Counting up and down

We had an interesting week. After getting missed by pretty much every thunderstorm in the vicinity this spring, I had a gnawing feeling that we were in for a bad one. Sure enough, we gazed out on a green-tinged sky at a very dark, low cloud to the west as the tornado sirens went off on Wednesday night. Of course, we had just put Felix to bed 10 minutes earlier, so we grabbed him, our phones and shoes, and went down to the basement. We got off easy, with only a little bit of hail and no damage to our property. But it definitely sent me into panic mode, since the tornado went just a few miles south of us.

We were invited to a dinner party Friday by friends of ours, and it was nice to meet other people. Lindsay's going to be a stay-at-home-mom with their 3-month-old daughter. I asked her to tell me about the crappy parts about being a SAHM, and I said I'd do the same about working (shouldn't be too hard... :o\ ), so neither one of us gets too jealous.

Felix has been learning his numbers at day care, and surprised me on Saturday by stringing them together to count to 10! Well done, little man. We had a busy weekend, going to the Farmer's Market at the Capitol (we've decided we're always going to stop at the Amish pie stand for a breakfast turnover or two), shopping, and enjoying a visit with my parents. We went out to brunch on Sunday for Cassie's birthday (today), and a bike ride after Felix's nap because it was nice.

And lastly, counting down. It's now less than a month until Felix's 2nd birthday! Deep down, I'm not surprised that he's nearly 2, because of everything he does now (talking, running, throwing, his independence). I'm just surprised that it seems to have happened so fast! I'm probably going to be saying that every year from now on...

Felix: 23 mos

Catching Up

We've had a lot going on the past two weekends! On May 20th, Nick and I both took the day off. We bought a new car, had a nice lunch out, took Felix to the zoo, and wished my dad a happy birthday! Cassie bought my old car, so we didn't have to worry about that. Felix has been very interested in the new car, and likes to pretend he drives it.

 

For being a holiday weekend, we didn't have a lot going on. Saturday, we took a nice bike ride in the afternoon. Sunday was very rainy, but we got in a short hike at a prairie park near us. Felix enjoyed that, running along the trails and suddenly stopping to look at ant hills. Today, we went to Brat Fest, the first time for all of us. Felix at nearly a full brat himself, and as you can see below, really enjoyed the ice cream (for the curious, it's special Brat Fest Cookie Dough, with a mustard yellow and ketchup red swirl). We got home in time for his nap, and spent the rest of the afternoon in the nice, cool basement. 

Felix is getting very curious in the world around him, which is really making things fun. He has a lot of interest and seems to like learning and refining his knowledge already. We're so proud of him!

Felix: 22 mos

Naughty...

Yes, Felix has become a Naughty Boy. Or, as his daycare puts it, aggressive. He's taking out his frustrations by biting and hitting, pinching and pulling. I bought him two books this past weekend: Teeth Are Not For Biting and Hands Are Not For Hitting. We've read them several times (all but twice because he just wants to read them). The other two times were because he hit or bit. I'm hoping he finds a new, non-violent outlet for his anger, and soon.

On a brighter note, his vocabulary and understanding of things around him is continuing to astonish us. He says the names of all his classmates and most of the people in our neighborhood. He uses possessives correctly most of the time (Mama's car or Ari's mama). One of the most interesting phrases he's used so far was "water tower broken, new one". A few weeks earlier, I had pointed out the broken water tower near our house and told them we'd be getting a new one soon. It's amazing that he retained that and randomly decided to use the phrase. His memory is definitely getting better. And last night, he was cracking himself up by trying to repeat the EIEIO part of Old MacDonald. It came out EEEIO instead.

Felix likes to run around a lot and he's rather amusing to watch. Yesterday, he ran all the way down to the park, his little legs moving this way and that, like he'd be a perfect candidate to work at the Ministry of Silly Walks. We've got our own little Crazylegs. :o)

Felix: 22 mos