We walked around Loring Park today during Pride Fest. It was very colorful, so we thought you’d enjoy it, but the heat made it less fun that it should have been. You went through an entire container of bunny crackers, so we didn’t linger.
Preparing for the journey
You DID have fun playing in one of the sandlot play yards and you even chased a stranger for his balloon.
After you were a little tired out, we took you to Common Roots cafe and shared a fruit plate with you. You simply love pineapple and could probably eat a whole one if we let you. And you enjoyed the Melissa & Doug puzzle they had there. (We just bought you a similar one on Saturday)
Pineapples are awesome.No, the chicken does not say “Moo”!
We had a fun weekend, despite daddy getting a little sick. You visited the Science Museum of Minnesota and were probably the most delighted at the huge, snarling polar bear next to the lockers where we put your diaper bag. We spent most of our time near the dinosaur bones and your favorite thing was not the exhibits but the puzzles you found.
While the museum is pretty extensive, most of the exhibits were for older kids or adults, so you became bored fairly quickly. Bunny crackers helped get you over the energy lull and then we went outside where you played with a (leaky) bucket of water.
Is that Perry’s mother? Raaawr!I see my future and it’s upside down.So, should we run?Yum. Bunnies are delicious.Puzzling over dinosaursHey, where’s the water going?
The previous weekend we went to the Minnesota Arboretum, where we walked through a forest, let you play with plants and even discovered a HUGE snapping turtle (which daddy almost stepped on, thinking it was a rock). We also drove the three mile trail where you shouted one of your new words (“EPIC”, which sounds more like “eppa”) everytime we saw a new group of trees or shrubs. It had to be epic, since you’re big enough to face FORWARD in the car. Later, we stopped at an Applebee’s where you had a great time with crayons and could say another of your favorite words (“Apple”, which doesn’t sound as much like Epic as you’d think), because there were apples everywhere.
Facing forwards is EPIC!What’s that???The mega-turtle!Knock, Knock.Let me fix this for you…
Congratulations! Today is your 18 month birthday. And as daddy is writing this post, you’re sitting behind him watching intently as you color. You’ve gotten quite good at coloring. So much so, that you have a meltdown almost every time we have to put the crayons up. If you could sleep with your crayons, I think you would.
One of many crayon drawings
Today we want to tell you about some “milestones” that you rushed into. To date, you:
Know how to climb up on the couch by yourself, to mommy and daddy’s consternation.
Left daddy a “floater” while he was giving you a bath (more like a sinker).
Can identify the X-box logo, to mommy’s chagrin.
Can use a fork, though the food doesn’t always end up making it to your mouth.
You can identify a LOT of objects, but can’t say them all.
Have started using the word “Baaba!” for sheep when you see them on our flashcards.
Are a expert at saying “apple”. You use that word for LOTS of things.
A world class clown, entertaining us constantly with your antics.
You also tried ice cream for the first time this week. No surprise, but you loved it.
Yessss. I LIKES IT!
And we went to Art-a-Whirl again this year, but you were a little more cranky than last year. It was hot, so that was part of the problem. And it’s tough when you have the ability to reach, touch, tear, poke every painting you see, but aren’t allowed to.
Several times this month mommy has had things to do and daddy took you out for fun. We went to the MOA Aquarium, the Walker Library, Dunn Brothers coffee (where you had apple juice) and today we took mommy to Wild Rumpus Kids’ Bookstore where you got two new books.
Fish... fish... SHARRRRK!Yes, computers at the library are as fun as the ones at home.MY JUICE, pal!Chickens? Ferrets? Books? What is this place!?
Since Easter, we’ve all been very busy. And a lot has happened, so here goes our April update:
Every kid has his first haircut, and to be honest, daddy was worried about your reaction to it. But as you can see in the picture below, your first haircut was a smashing success:
Soon, I'll do this MYSELF!
Soon after that, we were getting ready to visit with your Mimi and Doc. They drove very far (two days of driving!) to visit you, but Mimi got very sick. We ended up spending the time with them in the hospital in Shakopee. While we were very worried about her, it was great to see both your grandparents (Daddy’s parents). We ate lunch with Mimi in the cafeteria and played ball with Doc in the room.
Mimi shares snacks? How awesome is that?Showing Doc how it's done!
Later that month, we watched our favorite team, the Chicago Blackhawks, get knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, your enthusiasm for hockey wasn’t quelled. Here’s a movie showing you watching a different game with zeal:
Sunday is usually daddy’s day to get up and get you breakfast. This morning we were surprised by baskets made by the Easter Bunny. Your basket had two eggs with $1 each in them, a Winnie the Pooh song book, another book about bunnies and your favorite part, a stuffed roly-poly caterpillar named Gumdrop.
It was a quiet day and since it was so nice, we took your mommy out to eat at the Loring Pasta Bar. It’s a wonderful space with a huge open dance floor. And it just so happened that they were playing Tango music. We sat on the upper tier to eat and after we were done, you and mommy did a little dancing on the main floor.
Well, it was a really big weekend for us all this weekend. Your older (half) brother, Brandon, got married in Madison, Wisconsin. So we drove for over five hours to get there. It was your longest trip in the car so far. You did a great job of napping and chatting along the way.
On the trip we stopped to eat at a mall in Eau Claire where you played in a sea of little children in a play area. We were amazed that you didn’t get trampled because the kids ranged in ages from 10 months to 6 years. Still, you didn’t seem to mind the occasional thump.
When we got there, you weren’t really thrilled with the hallway to the hotel. In fact, everytime we walked out there, you got very nervous and fretful. Perhaps it was bad carpet? Or in reality, it might have been the thrum of the ice machine, because it was slightly intimidating. We found a great little diner called Monte’s Blue Plate where we shared some really good veggie burgers with you.
The wedding was short and you were well behaved. The night before we all had Indian food with the family of your new sister-in-law (Maureen) and you got along very well with her father, Ken. He brought up a tub full of toys for you to play with before the wedding and you were quite content.
After the wedding, we walked up State Steet and you seemed to take in everything around you. It was Spring Break so the normal hubbub of the city was calm. Even the capitol was quiet, since it was a Sunday. The next morning we had breakfast with Brandon and Maureen at a charming place called Lazy Jane’s.
On the way home we stopped at several places and you marveled at the scenery. From the big pink flamingo & life-sized Trojan horse at the Wisconsin Dells to the very battered fiberglass cows at a roadside cheese shop, you had something to say about them all (which sounded suspiciously like “What’s dat?”, your go-to phrase).
Once we were home, we relaxed with a vacation day for daddy. He spent it going with you and mommy to get your first haircut. You handled it like a champ. Then we got your picture with the Easter Bunny at the Ridgedale Mall. It was a wild, long weekend that lasted until Tuesday.
Today was Saint Patty’s Day, but instead of doing something silly that involved too much green, we took you to a new park in South Minneapolis. You were thrilled to toddle along in the sand, across to watch some guys playing basketball & you met a new beagle friend. Later, we drove around a little looking at houses (after all, you’ll need somewhere to grow up!) and found a cute little cafe. There you delighted (and maybe slightly irritated some of) the older couples around us by loudly asking “wot dat!?” about everything. You had your first sweet potato tots, which you really liked. You also added a word to your vocabulary; “bo”, which you said every time you wanted some bread. Before your bath we took a walk around the neighborhood and you went to sleep calmly and happily after.
Today we took you to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It was probably more fun for daddy, since he loves this sort of thing. But you had a GREAT time playing in the kids’ room (so much so, that you loudly protested when we took you out to see art). Eventually though, you began to notice, question and enjoy the art.
Later we took mommy to one of her favorite restaurants, the Hard Times Cafe. You fussed a bit at first, since you were slightly tired (we got there just around nap time), but you practically made snack time dinner time by eating mommy’s seitan, two of your “squeezie fruit” snacks and the bananas in the fruit cup we ordered you.
Here you are taking it to the next level. Mommy hurt her arm this week, so daddy had to work from home. Lucky for both of us, because you really started walking a LOT. Additionally, you also are able to find nearly anything your asked for. In this case, “Where is the train?” in FRENCH! (You’re able to do it in English too)
Making mommy & daddy proud with each step and word.
It's Campbell Time! 