Dear Bo, Your first awards ceremony...

You have loved ADGC, and you have improved so much since you started.  Your favorite part is when Miss Lynn (the teacher) sings a song at the beginning and end of class.  You just gape at her and smile.  You like getting on the trampoline, but actually jumping eludes you.  You like running across it and staring at the big basketball goal high above. 

 

You really enjoy climbing up the wall and climbing up the "wrong way" on the slide. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 You also like climbing into the chute and just sitting (it leads to a slide, but you haven't made it that far). 

 

 

 

But your very favorite thing...is playing with the basketball goal and balls (of course).

 

 

Thursday night was awards night, and each "student" received a skill award.  You were not shy, and when Miss Lynn called your name, you climbed on the podium to get your ribbon.

 

 

We're taking June and July off, but I know you'll enjoy it again when you start back in the fall!

Dear Bo, You're 18 months old...

Here's what you're up to:

• You are 27 pounds 8 ounces, but I'm not sure about your height.  Your 18 month appointment isn't until mid-June.
• You wear size 4 diapers, 18 months clothes, and a size 5-6 shoe.
• You dropped a nap 2 weeks ago and are officially down to one nap!  I love this schedule!  We're able to play more and get out of the house in the morning if we want to.  
• You had a month of transition.  Your nanny was here the first week of May.  The second week, the neighbor's daughter kept you.  And the third and fourth week, a friend stayed with us and kept you.  You did so well with them.  I was nervous because you have only really known me, Daddy, Mimi, and the nanny consistently, but you did not miss a beat.  You didn't cry when I left in the mornings and did just great.  You are such a friendly, adaptable little guy.  The second week, you were having trouble going down for the second nap so we tried feeding you lunch at 11:30 then putting you down.  You were definitely ready to go down, but you did great without a second nap!
• You are really into any ball.  You like to shoot it at your basket, kick it, and "throw" it.  You do this quick throw-it-over-your-shoulder-thing that cracks us up!
• You are obsessed with water bottles.  You take the lid on and off and act like you're taking a drink, making sure to slurp at the end.  It's hilarious.
• Other things you love:  books, books, books (yay!), Fisher Price little people farm set, nesting cups, dump truck, slide, swinging, cozy coupe, the pool, and your phone.  Everything is a phone these days!
• Shows you love:  Cat in the Hat, Super Why.
• You are a little fish!  You love the water!  You love to be in your pool, and you aren't afraid to get in and out as you please.  You splash about, and when you slide in and get water in your face, you gasp then giggle.
• You aren't the most verbal little thing, but you are saying more and more.  You've made a big leap in talking this month.  Things you say: Dada, Momma, Buh (Bo), Moo, Ow-ooo (wolf sound), the most hilarious pig grunting noise, Hi-dee, and you'll try to repeat things we ask you to repeat.  You're not much for unprompted speaking though.
• You can point to your eyes, nose, and mouth when asked.  If we say, "where's Bo?", you cover your eyes then move them down really fast and grin when we say, "there he is!".
• I love your schedule.  You wake at 7-7:30am (though it's been on the earlier end this month), you have a snack and juice about 10am, you eat lunch between 11:30-12pm, go down for a nap immediately after lunch, sleep for about 3 hours, have a snack when you wake, have dinner about 6pm, have a bath between 7:30-7:45pm, then go to bed.  You're like clockwork, and it's awesome.
• You have been on an eating spree this month!  You eat anything and everything we sit in front of you!  For breakfast, you're big on scrambled eggs, sausage, mini-pancakes with syrup, biscuits, and fruit.  For lunch and dinner, you're into chicken, fish sticks, edamame, anything we're eating, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, just anything we're having really!  You love fruit (except for blackberries)--cantalope, melon, blueberries, strawberries (sprinkled with sugar though), cuties (oh-you love these!), bananas, peaches, pears---you love fruit!  For snacks, you generally have graham crackers, ritz crackers, goldfish, fruit snacks, raisins, or any fruit.
• Your bedtime routine is a science now---3 books by the closet light with the humidifier and noisemaker on, 3 songs and rocking then down with your lovey and fish, covered with a blanket and a few pats on the bottom.  
• You are such a friendly little boy.  When you're around new people, you don't whine or cling to us.  You just smile and go with the flow.  That's been so nice with the nanny situation up in the air.  
• You are so quick to smile and giggle (and your smiles and giggles are contagious!). 

We love you!

{Then}

{Now}

Dear Bo, Weekend review (Idalou for Momma's women's retreat...)

I was terrible at pictures this weekend, but it was a fun weekend!

On Friday, in lieu of date night, we went to a friend's house (who has a son named Beau!) for dinner.  We grilled and ate outside while you and Beau stuck your hands in the dog's water, jumped each time the dog barked, and tried to get into anything you weren't supposed to.  A good time was had by all!

On Saturday, we all got up early and drove to Idalou so I could go to the women's retreat at church.  You played with your cousins until lunch time when Daddy picked you up for lunch and nap time.  That evening, Mimi and Pop treated us to a date night (and you, too!).

We got up Sunday morning and headed to our church, then had lunch, and you went down for a long nap.  When you got up, you played in the pool until supper.  You love the water!  (And we love watching you play in it!)

 

 

 

Dear The One, Is there a better way to celebrate a birthday than this?

 

 

 I didn't think so...

Dear The One, 34 reasons I love you...

1. You asked me to walk around the lake, and so it all began.
2. You called me back after our first date which consisted of renting a movie and eating Papa John's, and ended with me calling my mom and talking forever because I found out Diana died, and I'm a royal addict.  You must have thought I was a real winner.
3. You went to the West Campus Library and pretended to study while I pretended to study, passed notes, and had fits of laughter with me.  While not much actual studying got done during those hours, it at least made me feel good to think I'd been at the library...
4. You sent me a jillion emails (and I sent you a jillion and two) that first summer apart.  I love reading them.
5. You put up with me obsessing about exams and grades in undergrad.
6. You proposed under the Century Tree then bought me the print to remember it by.
7. You blew off classes many times your last semester to enjoy crawfish boils and Cajun festivals with me.
8. When the preacher who did our premarital counseling asked about the reasons you wanted to marry me, you listed one as "she smells good".
9. You never complained about all the traveling I did the first 3 years we were married and joined me as often as possible.
10. When I said I wanted to quit my job and go to law school, you said I should (and meant it).
11. You took the job in Jersey, which holds some of my best memories from our early years of marriage.
12. You've always been willing and able to move to new places.
13. You put up with countless nights and weekends full of me reading, studying, and stressing over law school.
14. When I got a clerkship out of town for the summer, you said I should go then visited me as often as you could.
15. When I went half crazy studying for and worrying over the bar exam, you believed in me.
16. When I worked too much my first couple of years at the firm, you didn't complain and instead found other ways to fill your time that made me laugh (like ping pong tournaments).
17. You know how fun it is for me to plan vacations then work the plan, and you go all in with me.
18. You love talking about budgets with me.
19. You're constantly thinking about your next meal.
20. You know about all my yesterdays, but haven't let them define all my tomorrows.
21. You always believe in us.
22. As my weight has gone up and down and back up again, you still say I'm beautiful but encourage me to be healthy.
23. You extend grace and loyalty to your family of origin.
24. You genuinely like my family, and they genuinely like you.
25. That your nieces and nephews love you to pieces.
26. That you love your nieces and nephews to pieces.
27. The way you read to Bo when he was still in utero.
28. The way you carried him around like a football his first few months.
29. How you call him "my little nugget" and "my little buddy".
30. The way you charted his every move those first couple of weeks.
31. That you were more than willing to learn to burp, change, bounce, sing, swaddle, and bathe him.
32. The way you make animal sounds when you read to Bo.
33. The look on Bo's face when he sees you.
34. The look on yours when you see him.

 Happy Birthday...

Dear Memory Bank, Canadian River Music Festival (Part 3 of 3..

We enjoyed breakfast on Sunday morning, drove around the ranch a bit, then snapped some photographs before we hit the road...

 

 

 

 

We aren't a spontaneous little family, but this is one time that it worked out perfectly!

Dear Memory Bank, Canadian River Music Festival (Part 2 of 3)...

The festival had an indoor venue and an outdoor venue.  We took our chairs, a blanket to spread on the ground, and enjoyed the day listening to different bands.  Bo was such a good boy.  He did his fair share of wandering, playing with his toys, playing in our laps,

 

 and when he got restless, enjoyed a little "Cat in the Hat" on our iPhones...

 

 

 

 

It was a gorgeous day to be outside, and we soaked up every minute.  Robert Earl started late so we missed him, but we still had a great time (despite the deer we hit on the way back to the lodge).

Dear Memory Bank, Canadian River Music Festival (Part 1 of 3..

I was in a bit of a funk after the events of Monday.  So we decided to head out of town to the Canadian River Music Festival.  My boss told me about a neat place to stay, and no one else was staying there that weekend so we had the whole house to ourselves.

 

We left Saturday morning and got to the house just before lunch.  It was a neat place.  I have to say it would have been a little awkward if other couples were staying there (unless you went with couples you knew, then it would be fun to share the house).  We ate lunch, put Pooka down for a nap, and explored the house.  It is the house that was at the beginning and end of Cast Away so there is plenty of movie memorabilia around.

 

 

 

When Pooka woke up, we got geared up to go to the music festival. We had a lot of fun ahead of us...