my new house...

hello! okay, i really am sorry for not blogging more often. now that i'm running around, playing outside, and traveling, i just don't have time to sit down at the computer as much as i used to! but, there's much to update on, so here i go! first, we had a great trip to the beach in florida to visit SELT (uncle scott, aunt elaina, lauren, and taylor)! the ocean was so pretty - here's the view from the condo...

the ocean water was too cold for me, but i had lots of fun swimming in the pool. we played games ate a lot of yummy food, and just enjoyed hanging out. i was really good in the car on the drive there (about 13 hours) and was pretty good on the trip home (what seemed like about 13 days). by then, i was just ready to be back in our own house, but i tried to be as good as possible. it was definitely worth the drive! here are some more pictures of me hanging out...

when we got home, i really missed SELT and the ocean so much that i wanted to go back...

now that we're back at home, i'm up to my usual self, but i do have some fun things to report on. i'm saying several more words now and i forget which words i've already told you that i can say, so here's a report on my full vocabulary (or as much as i can remember at this minute): hat, hot, hi, book, ball, bread (a.k.a. "bed"), uh oh, grape (a.k.a. "bep"), mama and dada of course, and everything else is "buh."

i love climbing, reading books, playing the harmonica and recorder and kazoo, eating snacks, pulling on mommy's leg when i want her to pick me up, kissing pictures of people in magazines, dancing, dragging articles of clothing around the house, stacking blocks, playing with mixing spoons, playing outside, and running. i wave at little kids but usually not adults (i get kind of shy around big people). when mommy gives me a snack like a piece of cereal or bread, i pick it up in my fingers and then have to touch it on something (highchair tray, shopping cart, church pew) before putting it in my mouth. i'm not sure why i do this, but i do. mommy and daddy each have things they're very particular about, and this is one of my things. in general, life is going really well and i feel like i'm growing up quite nicely. :)

i really love living with mom and dad, but i've been thinking about my future and planning ahead, and i had just been feeling like it was maybe time to venture out on my own. paying rent to my parents just didn't seem like a wise use of my money - after all, why rent when you can own? and although the economy is hurting some, interest rates are very low and it's a great time to buy. so... i did! i bought a new house - here it is:

although some people are having a hard time getting a good mortgage because of bad credit, my credit is spotless! and i wanted to take advantage of the tax break for first-time homeowners, so i reviewed all the paperwork and signed on the dotted line...

i really love my new home, and it's located on a very nice property too. i even have a guy to mow my lawn for me!

the only downside is not having mom around to prepare all my meals, so i have to fend for myself...

mom and dad's house is pretty close, so i think i'll still visit them at mealtimes. but i do like sleeping in my new home. the ground is much softer than i expected!

so, that's what i'm up to lately... i'm hoping to see beamee and grampee and aunt aimee, uncle greg, and gabrielle in just a few weeks (plus SELT again!), so i'm really looking forward to that! :) and i'm sure i'll see mimsie and grandpa again soon too. in the meantime, i'll keep you posted on how things are going around the house. and i'll leave you with a few more cute pictures...

now if i could only find my pants...

big smiles for beamee...

hello! this one will be super fast - we're leaving for the beach in the morning and i still have to finish packing!! that's right - my new jacket will come in handy after all because we're heading to florida to see SELT for a few days. i'm bummed that we won't get to see beamee and grampee and AGGJ too, but hopefully we'll see them soon. :) in any case, here are some more pics of me lately... i'm sorry i don't have time to write more! life is just getting so busy these days... but luckily the other day i had time to sneak in a snack on mom's shoe...

and i like to play with my coffee mug and pretend that i'm drinking a "hot" like daddy (coffee) and mommy (chai tea). "hot" has been my new favorite word lately, and i'm learning that the oven and fireplace are hot, and i call a lot of other things "hot" that really aren't, just to practice my new word...

here's what i look like from mommy's point of view when she's tickling me really hard on the floor!

random cute picture...

me, right before a sneeze...

trying to get at the camera lens...

eyes...

okay, well, i guess that's almost all... what else... i really like cucumbers. and i still love reading so much - it's one of my favorite inside activities (and climbing boxes and low chairs and suitcases). and i love swinging outside so much. anytime mom even mentions "outside" or "shoes on" then i kinda get real impatient like until we go outside. :) i'm down to one nap now, which is a good thing on the days when it's a long one! i have a daily mid-morning breakdown, but usually mom can push me through it with distractions... but i like to be in the same room with mommy and i don't really like it too much when she's on the computer or on the phone... i am still good at playing on my own, but i just like to be kinda near her lately. but i think this is just a phase and i'll enjoy it for a while and then grow out of it soon. i can't be a mama's boy - that's for babies!!

okay, really have to get packing now! but i'd like to give a shout-out to my beamee and dedicate this last smile to her. hopefully i'll see you soon, beamee, and give you a big smile and kiss in person! :)

and now, we're off to the beach! i'm really, really going to try really hard to be a good boy in the car. i'll give a full report when we get back, on the car ride there, the car ride home, and all the fun in between! thanks for checking in again! bye!! :)

for my daddy...

love you daddy! see you later today!!! :)

mimsie and grandpa's...

hello! we're back from a great weekend at mimsie and grandpa's with lots of pictures to share! i had so much fun visiting with them - and maggie, the dog! we played outside a lot (while daddy grilled - yum!), and i explored the backyard, the front yard, and even the neighbor's yard! i really love to be outside. luckily mommy took loads of pictures of me because she was afraid that maybe there weren't quite enough. haha - kidding! mostly she just can't help herself and finds me to be irresistably photogenic. i'm not sure about all that, but as usual, i humor her because she's my mom and i love her a lot. plus - look how big i'm getting! i'm just a little man... :)


lately i really love swinging, and so mimsie said she would swing with me as much as i wanted! i was really excited about that...



here we are swinging, and mimsie is having a laugh at my little wave. you probably can't see it in the little picture, but she thought it was cute because i do the waving motion to myself instead of to the person i'm waving at. oops. :)


here we are playing washers (i'm pretty good!)...

whoa, grandpa!! :)

cute faces... and if you haven't noticed lately, i make this face a LOT! everything is still so new to me that i'm in a state of complete surprise quite a bit of the time...

and other times, i just say, "eh, that's no big deal"...

more fun...

here's me and maggie... i played with her a lot and tried to not tug on her ears too much...

here i am doing one of my classic shouts. they are happy shouts, though, so it's okay...

me and mommy doing fish-kisses! i love these - they are lots of fun. mommy and cousin lauren do fish-kisses and so she's teaching me how to do them too...

this is me back at our park. i'm randomly throwing this one in at the end because mommy thinks the picture is cute (shocker)... disclaimer: i was really sleepy at the time!

okay, i need to be getting to bed, but you can check out more pictures of us from this weekend online at our picasa web site (address above, under "about me"). also, the pictures look a lot better on there than they do on the blog, just fyi. mommy just got a new camera, so if you thought there were lots of pictures of me on here before - just wait!!! :)

i'll try to blog again later this week with an update on some of my new words (spoiler alert: "hot" and "look") and other things going on. thanks for checking in!! :)