My alphabet blog...

A lot has happened in the last 10 days. I thought I'd tell you about it using part of the alphabet...

A is for animal crackers. I got a snack bowl that I can carry and get my animal crackers out of all by myself. I really like to say "moo", "neigh", "woof", and "raaaah" when I get the cow, horse, dog, or lion.
B is for birthday. My Daddy turned 30 last Sunday. He and Mommy went to a concert with Jake & Erin and Jared & Gabby in Illinois. I got to stay and play with Robert & Kim and Meghan...and even though I wasn't feeling great, I still had a really good time with them.C is for cookie. I ate such a good dinner Saturday that Mommy gave me a whole cookie. Yum yum yum!D is for diaper box. I love it when we get diapers because I play in the box. I love to climb inside and play peek a boo or just drag a toy in there and play in my own little area.E is for ear infection. My third one since early December. Last Thursday night I started feeling yucky. By the time the weekend rolled around I was sick sick sick. Monday we went to the doctor and found out I had a double ear infection. When Daddy got home on Monday he was sick, too. So, the two of us spent almost the whole week cuddled on the couch letting Mommy take care of us. We both started feeling better a couple of days ago, just in time for the weekend. I loved all the extra time with Dad. We played peekaboo quite a bit. He also built me a chair to sit in out of legos. If I had to be sick with someone, I'm glad it was Daddy!F is for fun! I have been having so much fun the last week and a half, despite being sick. I got a flashlight. I love to shine it around and point at the light. I also got a phone of my own. It's a real one, unlike my toy versions. Grandma & Grandpa brought it down to me (along with the aforementioned cookie). I got to see them for a little bit and we also got to have lunch with Emili. I still like to climb and get into places that crack my parents up. Here I am between the blinds and the window...I just wanted to see what was going on outside. I am also having fun with words. I turned 15 months last Saturday and have a vocab of about 40 words. Some of Mom's favorites are amen, snow, and of course Mommy. Daddy gets a kick out of hearing me say Abby, ball, amen, and hi baby. They both like my new one: IU. We got that one on video for all of you to see. I'm still working on the motions (as you can see).

Thanks for catching up with me. I'll see you next week!

Fun & Games

Peek-a-boo!
This week was a busy one. I got to meet some more friends from church, as they came over and had dinner and game night at our house. I especially liked meeting my new little lady, Lainie. She's the cutie in the pink toward the bottom left of the picture. Here I am picking out a game for the group to play. I also got to spend some time with Uncle Evan and Grandma & Grandpa. I love having them around! These days just about everything makes me laugh. I have to admit, most of the time I crack myself up. I am so funny! Here I am having a good chuckle with Grandma. Anything with a handle is fantastic in my book. This cool sword has one.
Sir Ryker, Mighty Couch Slayer And of course, there's always my favorite: playing with Daddy. Here we are playing peek-a-boo and vroom vroom with my truck book.

See you next week!

Mr. Adventure

The first several days of 2010 have been full of adventure for me. I've started running through the house, climbing on everything, and pushing the envelope whenever possible. I now ride my car by standing on the seat. I like to jump up and down on the couch. I can slide down the stairs on my belly with pretty good speed. I am starting to test boundaries and love to hear Mommy and Daddy say "no" just to turn, give them an adorable smile and then do the exact thing I am not supposed to do. One of those very things is climbing on the table. This guilty pleasure has its roots in Colorado. Grandma was so sweet to let me sit on the dining room table several times. I loved it because I was at all of the grown ups level and could get my paws on all the good stuff. When we made it back to the "real world" Mom and Dad were not going to let that table sitting business happen. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I now climb up onto the chair and then hoist my body onto the table. Once there, I teeter ever so scarily on the edge while I get myself into a nice seated position. Then, I play. Mom and Dad have both caught me in the act, none too happy I might add. Here I am giving my best ornery smile as I contemplate doing it again.The week was bittersweet, as we got to watch numerous college football bowl games. Sadly, this all marks the end of another college football season. Here are my last collegiate "touchdowns" with Daddy for the year. We won't spend more than a second missing it though...on to basketball! Daddy has already taught me how to say "IU!"If you ever wonder where some of my mischievous streak comes from, look no further than my Daddy. This weekend, I found a pen and decided to carry it around. Mommy was napping and Dad decided to show his artistic skills with the pen on my face. So glad that this stuff comes off so easily!The boys really pampered Mom this week. Daddy made dinner and I was on my best behavior for her birthday. Mom said that as long as she got to spend time with us it would be the happiest birthday yet...and I think we made that happen. The raspberry angel food cake from Taylor's couldn't have hurt any. Sticking with the "make Mom's day" theme that pretty much carried throughout the week, Daddy snapped this picture of me after church the other day for Mommy. She had a meeting but had already told us how this cute ensemble really warranted a picture. I must say I rocked that argyle. (Mommy says she is so blessed to have such an amazing husband and fantastic son. Mommy loves her boys!)

Christmas and the New Year

2010 is already here and I haven't even told you how my 2009 wrapped up. This year we spent Christmas in Colorado with Grandma Brenneman's family. We had an early celebration with Nana and Papaw and Uncle E and Aunt B. It was so good to see them and have Nana and Papaw stay the night with me. We opened presents in honor of Jesus' birthday, and I have to say that I made out like a bandit! I loved carrying around all of my new loot. Here is my new phone. Mom is glad that I have my own now. I also got a new dump truck that I push around the house. I fill it up with my new blocks! We left a few days later for a week in Colorado. Here I am at the airport making a few calls before we board the plane. I, once again, was a good boy on my flights. We flew into Denver where we got to spend time with my Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Emma. Aunt Emma and I became very fast friends. Great Aunt Betty and Great Uncle Dave and cousins Jeremy, Nathan, and Nathan's lady Leisel were all staying with Uncle John and Aunt Em. I loved meeting all of my family! Aunt Betty gave me my very first hair cut, so that I didn't look so shaggy for Christmas day. We spent lots of time sitting and chatting, and I even managed to have some fun with (their dog) Niah's toys. Of course, I'm easy to please, and was content to carry Aunt Betty's water bottle around. After a couple of days in Denver, it was time to head to Estes Park to a giant cabin with all of our extended family. The cabin holds 40 people, but we filled it with 53! There were so many bigger kids running around. I was only intimidated for a few minutes before I started mixing and mingling. Before long I saw some faces that were familiar: Grandma, Aunt Genessa, Uncle Tyler, Cadence, Kyrie, Brayson, and Brannen were there. I also got to see Great Aunt Carol again. I met lots of Great Aunts and Uncles, cousins, and second cousins. I cozied up with Great Aunt Mary Ann, who let me use her phone to make some calls. Uncle John and I discussed football as we watched the early bowl games. They had lots of snow in Colorado, so we put to use this snow tube that Grandma brought. It was pretty cold, so I only went down twice, but boy was it fun!

We snapped some family pictures, took in the beautiful surroundings, and closed out our time in Estes Park with a reading of the Christmas story from Luke and had a family sing along of favorite Christmas carols. What a great way to celebrate Christ's birth!

After we returned, Mom and I got sick, again. I got another ear ache and she had a cough and cold so we spent the last days of 2009 cuddling on the couch and resting. (Though she wished I wasn't sick, Mommy absolutely loved the opportunity to spend a few days snuggled up with her boy.) Luckily we both felt well enough to ring in 2010 with our small group family. Emerson and I had fun hanging out in our comfy pjs. It was no surprise to Mommy and Daddy that I made it all the way til midnight. I watched the ball drop from Mimi's couch, nestled between Mom and Dad. I got a smooch from both of them to start 2010. It was the perfect ending to a pretty amazing year.