mastering the HUNT

We spent Easter morning and afternoon in Wimberley where the grass is green and the river is high. Really beautiful - a good place to celebrate life. After a post-nap truck driving session we headed out to hunt eggs...

He loved it and caught on super-fast to the whole concept. His eggs were filled with animal crackers and goldfish which supplied some extra motivation. He was a great spotter and would take off running across the yard when he had one in his sights. I told Graham we should make him eat all his meals out of eggs, hidden around the house. He agreed, said "Make him work for his food."

headed to PRESCHOOL

In August, Blue will be starting preschool at Four Seasons Community School (my mom's school). I am excited to see how he will adjust to all the changes that brings - eating lunch on his own, playing without an adult by his side, learning to use the toilet, etc. The group of kids he will be learning with each day are all within a couple months of each other in age so it should be a lot of fun for him.

We spend a bit of time at the school already so he is quite comfortable there. The older girls give him a lot of attention and scream out "Baby Blue" when we walk in the door. They have known him since he was a baby and I guess to them he always will be. It will be fun to see how they all adjust to having him as a regular part of their day.

happy EIGHTEEN months

He is a year and a half old! So grown up...

At eighteen months Blue...
- loves trucks, and all head gear associated with them
- has 14 teeth with two more on the way
- will say "help, please" when he needs special assistance
- drinks lots of water
- finally eats fish sticks, chicken fingers, and sausage bites (in addition to the old fruit and cracker standbys)
- can use a fork and spoon quite well
- wears 18-24 month sized clothes
- loves waving hello and goodbye
- only uses a pacifier at naps and night

the AUSTIN zoo

We went to the Austin zoo this weekend with some passes my mom had given us a while back. If you are comparing the experience to some big city zoo you would probably be disappointed but we really had a good time. The animals all seemed to be really happy in their habitats and were quite active and engaging.

A good portion of the zoo is dedicated to a petting and feeding area for goats, sheeps, and pigs. But they also had lions, tigers, and bears! And monkeys and some really cool old tortoises. There was a mini-meltdown when it was time to leave the truck (and the train) but luckily there was plenty around to distract.

blue and FREDDY

Freddy is the guy we hired to do various tasks around the yard and he has been a huge help - shoveling mulch, hauling away gravel, putting good plants in the ground and pulling the weeds out. And Blue and Freddy have become good friends.

Freddy is really sweet about including Blue is whatever task he is doing and the jobs are usually right up Blue's alley. Things like throwing rocks around and messing around with dirt are always good fun.

what we DID

Look at that belly! Wait, that's my belly... Sorry, not the best pic but you get the idea.

We met the Davises at the Wildflower Center last weekend to drop off Blue for his weekend in Wimberley. It was fun to walk around and see so many of the plants we had used. Blue had a great time doing his own thing with Papa. He really enjoys both of his grandfathers. They DO both have trucks!

a SWEET helper

The landscape project is almost done. But for the last couple weeks Blue and I have literally gone to some sort of garden or home improvement store everyday. One place will be sold out, or have the wrong size in stock and so we have to try a different store the next day. He is a really sweet and easy errand companion though. Usually he runs around by my side, holding my hand on occasion. But this particular visit he really liked riding around on the cart.

See the little horse he is carrying? He rarely does anything without some little toy in his right hand. Most of the time it is a car or a truck, but his animals are a close favorite. If he is outside, then it is probably a little hand trowel. Which we call a shovel and he calls a "vel".

Pictures of the yard to come soon!