More Cheese!

No, I don't mean the food kind of cheese.  Palmer is weird like his father and doesn't care too much for cheese.

I mean "say cheeeeese!" when you are taking someone's photo.

"Cheeeese!!"

I finally got the camera I've been wanting for months and may have taken too many photos over the weekend.  So many photos that Palmer started telling me, "More cheese!" (aka "please take more pictures of me").  

Let's try again.

"Cheeeeese!"

The kicker was when Palmer pointed to his crib and said, "Bed.  More cheese."  That translates to, "Please put me in my bed and take photos of me!".

What a silly boy.

-Bethany

Eighteen Months

Although I've refrained from regular monthly updates since Palmer's one year mark, I do think it's important to stop and mark the half year occasion.

But first, I would like to ask why my son and my dog are giving me "the look" in this photo.

My goodness, Palmer.  I haven't made you sit here with your elephant in six months.  And Boston, what got in your water bowl?  Sheesh.

"Oh, mom.  We were just kidding."

Eighteen Month Stats:

Height: 34.25 inches (94th percentile)

Weight: 29 lbs, 4 oz (80th percentile)

Head: 46 3/4 cm (20th percentile)

Number of Teeth: 12

Likes:

-TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES:  Basically, if something has a wheel or an engine, Palmer loves it.  I never had a clue how many vehicles we passed on a daily commute until Palmer alerted me.  He happily exclaims, "Bus!" or "Truck!" or "Digger!" or "Golf cart!" (which is a pretty generic description that could actually describe a multitude of vehicles) when we are in the car.  Palmer also loves to play with his cars and trucks and is learning to focus on carefully moving a car down a toy ramp or road.

Palmer's eyes lit up when I pointed out the "golf cart" at the park the other day.  Man, you shoud've seen the little guy sprint across the park so he could go "drive".

-GOLF:  It helps that Palmer's parents also love golf, but Palmer really does have his own harbored love for the sport.  He still happily hits plastic golf balls around the house with his golf clubs and just graduated to a new putter.  Rick took Palmer out the other day for a legit 9 holes and said Palmer could've easily done another 5 or 6 holes because he was so happy to get in and out of the golf cart and hit balls or run around while Rick played the game.

-WATER DISPENSER:  Ugh.  This is a tough one.  Although I'm so proud of Palmer's problem solving skills that helped him to figure out how to fill cups of water from the dispenser, I easily tire of stopping him from over-filling and spilling the cups on a daily basis.  Palmer tells me he wants "wa wa", but what he really means is he wants to fill up a cup of water and not necessarily drink the water.

-READING: Well, let me clarify.  Palmer likes to read about trucks, trains, planes...you get the picture.  I found a lovely book the other day about everyday objects that do not have wheels.  Palmer had no interest in it.

Palmer, we love you so much and are so thrilled with your budding personality.  You are funny, independent, active, fearless, and adventurous.

But, don't grow up too quickly on me.

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

DC

Palmer and I braved the friendly skies to visit Aunt Samantha in DC over the weekend.

Since Palmer is all about everything vehicular, you can imagine how much he LOVED the airport.

This wasn't Palmer's first flight, but the first since Palmer has become much more aware of the world.  I was pretty nervous because of the duration and the fact that Palmer doesn't exactly like to sit still.

Thankfully, he spent half of the flight like this...

And the rest of the air time busy busy busy with my magic bag of tricks.

Once in DC, Aunt Samantha didn't spoil Palmer at all.  Nope.  Not. At. All.

Palmer on Samantha's posh Georgetown stoop:

We had such a good trip (despite the fact that I lost my wallet on a walk and fretted all weekend about how I was going to get thru TSA without any identification.)

Samantha was so sweet to plan fun activities like this street market complete with a petting zoo.

Even if Palmer preferred to run people over using his stroller instead...

It was delightful to spend a good chunk of the weekend catching up with my dear friend from NBC, Kelly.  Kelly said she is hoping Samantha's DC presence will help to steer us up north more often than every two years.  You are probably right, Kelly!

Going on an urban "hike" by the Potomac River:

We love you, Aunt Samantha, and can't wait to see you in another month or so.

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

First Haircut

The sweet 'fro has grown to a mullet and I (sadly!) deemed it time to make the trip to the salon for Palmer's first cut.

Note: Rick told me many many times that he was happy to cut Palmer's hair as Rick has been cutting his own hair for almost ten years (true story).  Rick does not understand that the first haircut is an emotional event for the parents mom and for the first occasion, I wanted my very own trusted stylist to do the deed.

The BEFORE sitting at the bar:

Checking out the long golden locks:

Palmer did great during the cut and sat as still as possible for a one and a half year old.  Having a sippy cup of milk at hand was also key.

 

And AFTER the cut...(Sorry for the bad quality of photo.  Hey, honey: I need a new camera please. Specifically, a Canon Rebel t2i, please.)

The big boy with his dad:

-Bethany

Toddler Class

Palmer transitioned from the infant room at school to the "older toddler" room.  Although we were very sad to say good bye to Palmer's dear teachers, Miss Erica and Miss Natalie, we are eager for all of Palmer's new challenges in the new classroom.

Miss Erica:                                            

 Miss Natalie:

Palmer has been the oldest in the infant room for a few months and therefore apparently bored with the "babies".  He is now the youngest of 12 in the new room and I can already tell he is blossoming in his new environment.

Palmer's vocabulary has exploded in the last week and he is starting to string together more sentences and babbling paragraphs.  We are in that difficult stage right now where he has new words that I can't understand.  He will repeat the same sound about 4 times and look at me expectantly.  I just nod my head and say, "Yes, Palmer.  That's interesting," although I haven't a clue what he is telling me.

Another sign of the new class is the lovely word, "Mine!".  I knew that the "mine" stage was quickly upon us when we went to the open house and a little girl quickly told Palmer the chair was, "mine!".  It's called survival of the strongest in the older toddler classroom. Over the weekend I caught Palmer carrying around his new training potty and arguing to no one in particular/telling himself, "Mine!  No, mine. Mine! No, MINE!".

We're excited about all the new things Palmer will learn in this classroom as the structure is more like preschool with centers and monthly learning themes.  The teachers have already told me that "circle time" is a favorite of Palmer's! I think it's going to be a great school year.

-Bethany

Wordless Wednesday

Palmer is not wordless this Wednesday.

-Bethany