LL at 29 months (UPDATED with more details)!

Our Little Love turned 29 months today! Unbelievable. Here's what he's been up to these days:

School: On Tuesday, Adam will start his new class at Mont.essori. More on that later (I'm quite nervous about the change)!!!

Sleep: Little Love has FINALLY been sleeping 10 hours straight without waking up in the middle-of-the-night since we've back from B'ham (yes, I realized I just jinxed this)! He's also taking shorter naps these days -- 2 hours instead of 3. Probably b/c he's sleeping better at night. He loves his big boy bed... but we still have to stay with him ("hold my feet!") until he falls asleep (usually relatively quickly).

Food: For the most part, LL is eating pretty well (for him). He had chicken mixed with rice & peas at Grandma's house today and loved it. He still usually eats the toddler basics: mac & cheese, chicken nuggets, spaghetti, etc. Recently, he enjoyed a slice of pizza and, shocker, he loves french fries now, too. Fruit still is his favorite food group, though... especially grapes! He also has a major sweet tooth these days... loves cake, cookies, etc. Big shocker since he's our kid, right?!? He had a cupcake from a birthday party (in his class) yesterday and I took a little bite. He was NOT amused...told Daddy that "Mama took a bite of my cake!"... I couldn't help laughing through my guilt!

Favorite Activities: Exploring & figuring out how things work, Playing Ball (any ball -- soccer, football, you name it - he loves it!), Water Table (or, more correctly, playing with the hose and getting Daddy all wet), Books (he now understands -- really understands -- stories... so he loves reading! Yay!), Singing/songs (new favorites are the Micke.y Mouse and Ses.ame Street cds), going to Grandma's house, playgrounds (always), exploring Home De.pot with Daddy (a new favorite), and playing with other kids (he has especially liked playing with Jack, Mary & Lewie who live near Grandma's house recently).

Pretend Play: Adam is really into pretend play these days. He varies his roles between caretaker (changing doggy's diaper), housekeeper (he insists on sweeping the floor every single day), chef (making Mama "mac & cheese" and bringing Mama her "soda") and, his favorite, playing doctor.
How precious is this?!? Adam always puts on his "gloves" (socks) whenever he's examining with his "stethoscope". It really is the most adorable thing.

Tattletale?: As Grandma found out today, nothing gets by LL. He spent the day at Grandma's house today while I was at work and had a great time, as always. Well, every night when I tuck him in, we discuss the day. He told me he had been at Grandma's House and then he said... "I fell down. In the kitchen." When I asked him what happened, he elaborated... "I fell from Grandma's hand. I hit my head. I cried hard. My head hurt". I'm thinking WHAT?!? Grandma never mentioned this! I call Steven up and Adam repeated the story. I call Grandma and... guess what... Little Love did fall in the kitchen today! She was holding him and he said "put down" and before she could... he slipped out of her hands onto the floor! He fell on his feet/tush but then lost his balance and flipped over hitting his head. =( I was very upset hearing about this but Mom said he only cried for a minute and seemed to be fine, just a little shaken up from the experience. We both found it remarkable, however, that he could recount the story perfectly. We can't get anything pass this guy!

Adjectives to describe LL (in random order) : happy, curious, strongwilled, stubborn, delightful, beautiful, precious, smart, precocious, funny, sweet, talkative, lovable, affectionate, fun & curious (has to be mentioned 2x -- he's into everything). Speaking of curious, Adam takes apart everything. I mean everything. He'll play with something for a few minutes and then tries to take it apart (I imagine to see how it works). For example... he got a little "blow toy/party favor" (no idea what they're called) and had a ball blowing on it. Then after a few minutes, he tried to take it apart. Also, if he hears the word "battery", he MUST take the battery out of the remote control and put it back in. Same with flashlights, watering cans... anything that has parts. My mom calls him very mechanical -- he always has been, too. It's interesting because I am so NOT mechanical and I don't think Steven is, either.

Even though Little Love has his moments (does he ever!), he really is such a delight and a blessing. He says the funniest things (such as "No Mama, don't kiss me" when I was overloading him with kisses!) and is extremely lovable (calling us "MeeMee, DeeDee, and GramMee" when he's in an affectionate mood). We just ADORE our Little Love! xoxox

Daddy and his Mini-Me, watching Sesam.e Street... Adam's current favorite show. He especially loves "Elm.o's World" with Mr. Noodle! He also loves Bert! I bought him the Sesam.e Street CD and song DVD... he LOVES them! New favorite song is "Rubber Duck.ie"!!! I LOVED Sesam.e Street as a kid so it's so fun watching him discover the characters now. =)

Birmingham visit (in pictures)! & new blog info

*** Before I forget... my new blog (all about ME!) is up and running. If you are interested in reading it, please let me know, and I'll send you the link ***

Now back to LL stuff...

As promised, here are some photos from our trip to B'ham...
"Swimming" in Bobbe & Zaide's pool

more swimming! (sorta)

Adam loved the McW.ain science center which is more like a really cool children's museum!

Adam learned how to jump last week. So, of course, he loved this "jumping floor" -- lots of cool lights and music to jump to!

Visiting the "fishies" at the science center.

Besides the underwater exhibit, this was Adam's favorite part of the museum. He spent a good 30 minutes "fixing up" this car. =)

Giraffe-watching at the B'ham Zoo

Carousel ride at the B'ham Zoo

Little Love sleeping on his portable "big boy bed". I bought a toddler air mattress/bed and it worked out well, for the most part. LL woke up a few times during the night but went back to sleep pretty quickly each time.

The best part of the visit: spending lots of time with Bobbe & Zaide. =)

Bye, Bye Summer. You'll be VERY missed!

Unbelievable that summer is about over. The last 2 months flew by in a flash. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was packing up my office and getting ready to celebrate July 4th with the family. And now... I'm unpacking my office, as of tomorrow. Since I worked so much this summer, it really does seem like it flew by. Believe me, I *know* how fortunate I am to get summers off... a huge benefit of working for the schools! Still.... would love another week or two off.

Last Monday was the quintessential summer day. I hosted a playgroup park & pool party and we all had a great time. It must have been in the mid-90s and not a cloud was out. It was so great to hang with the girls and Adam had a BLAST hanging out with his old buddies Tomas, Benjamin, Nathan, Addie & Asha. Unfortunately, my camera's battery died shortly after entering the pool, but here are a few pics from the park:

Climbing with Tomas
In serious discussion with Nathan
Collecting mulch with Tomas (they got along SO WELL). Yeah... I don't think I did the best job of tying Adam's hat here... he looks like a little Amish boy! =)

So, yep, work "officially" begins for me tomorrow. Adam will start his new class at "Annie's House" (Montessori) after Labor Day. We have begun telling Adam about the new class and he was all excited. We told him he'd have a new teacher and he said "yes... and Miss Annie". I don't think he understands that Miss Annie will no longer be his teacher. =( Not sure who the new teacher will be yet. I'm quite nervous about the transition... more on that in a later post as well as B'ham pictures. For now, I'm going to enjoy my last day of summer...

Bye, Bye summer... Little Love & I will both miss you SO MUCH!

Fun in Birmingham... WITH VIDEO!!!

We just got back from a fun-filled 5 days in B'ham, visiting Steven's parents. Adam loved his time with Bobbe and Zaide! He spent countless hours playing ball (kicking and throwing multiple balls in the bushes), feeding Zebe (the "nice kitty cat"), playing piano, riding "my bicycle", and swimming in Bobbe and Zaide's pool:



Look at that! It's a little video (about 2.5 minutes) of Adam swimming with Daddy and Zaide in the pool! Zaide surprised me with a fl.ip video recorder -- the best present EVER!!! Now you can see Adam in action! Oh, btw, Adam is not wearing a tutu in the video... it's a swim float that was a little too small for him. Also, please try to ignore my (loud) voice -- I swear I don't sound like that IRL! You have to listen carefully for Adam's (sweet little) voice. I love it when he says "I can do it!" and "Stop it. No, Zaide!" when being splashed. =)

More news & pictures of our B'ham trip in the next post. Right now I'm just so excited to be able to post VIDEO on my blog! Yahoo!

Mazel Tov, Uncle Joey & Aunt Hillary!!!

Dear Uncle Joey & Aunt Hillary,

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!!! YAHOO!!!

Mama & Daddy are SOOO excited about the big news!!! Can't wait to see you -- hopefully soon -- to CELEBRATE!!!

Love,

ADAM
xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxo

Meeting Aunt Hillary for the first time at 2 months old (June 2007)

Hanging out with Uncle Joey, Aunt Hillary & Grandma in Palm Springs (Dec. 2008)

Future Fireman?

Last week we attended "National Night Out" in our neighborhood. It's a really nice "activity" that neighborhoods "put on" annually, to help show criminals that our neighborhoods are strong. Or something like that. =) Anyway, we took Adam to it and he had a ball. He loved climbing into the ambulances and firetrucks, as evidenced below. I apologize for the blurriness; click on the pics if you'd like to see bigger and clearer images. Also, Adam's lovely green-hazel eyes continue to appear red in photos. =(

"Driving" the firetruck!
Exploring an ambulance. I think it goes without saying that I sincerely hope this will be Adam's first & only time in an ambulance!!!
My Little Fireman xoxo

The Top 28 (of my 28-month-old) -- with lots of photos!

Here are Adam's current favorites, in no particular order... (Side note: All photos were taken in July):

1. Doggies -- Yes, Adam is still enamored with his doggies. He was too many in his collection to count. Favorites are brown baby doggy, original doggy, and big doggy (cute names, huh?). He also likes "real" dogs, duckies, and kitties, too.

2. Soccer -- Adam LOVES kicking the ball around. It's his new favorite activity, hands down. Every day he runs around and kicks the ball with Daddy... sometimes Mama and Grandma, too. He's actually quite good. I think I'm going to enroll him in a soccer class in the late fall/winter when it will be too cold for him to run around outside with the ball. He also likes to play football and throws the ball well... Uncle Steven is trying to teach him how to CATCH the ball now.
"Hut Hut Hut"

3. The water table -- Adam loves playing with the water table outside the house. Actually, more specifically, Adam loves playing with the HOSE. It drives Steven crazy but he does it for Adam. Such a good daddy. =)

4. Pretend play -- Adam loves to give his doggies a bath, play doctor with them, put them to sleep, and feed them. My favorite is when he puts Doggy to sleep and goes "shh" with his finger on his nose!

5. Books -- Adam's current favorites are Barn.ey Goes to the Dent.ist, Goodnight Gori.lla, Hungry Bu.nny, and Goodnight Mo.on. These favorites haven't changed much. One new favorite is The Bear Snores On. His attention span has gotten much better, though, when reading books. He loves to point out everything in the pages. I'm starting to introduce a few "new" books each week to him. Reading with Daddy

6. TV -- Adam's new favorite shows are Noddy, a British cartoon and Pajanimals, a nighttime puppet show on PBS.Sprout. He still enjoys Barney, Sesame Street, and Kipper (as well as Baby Boost at Grandma's House) but they are no longer his favorites. He still likes his "Lett.er Factory" DVD which I highly recommend. He learned all the letters and the sounds after 1 week of watching this DVD back in June. So cool!
Watching Pajanimals on Mama & Dada's bed

7. Puzzles -- especially the Melissa & Do.ug ones.

8. Cars, trains, and trucks -- A relatively new interest... which I was waiting for him to have! He especially loves the remote car that Zaide bought him.

9. Bubbles -- he likes to blow them *himself* now. Of course, he loves the Bubble Race Car from Zaide, too -- see #8. =)

10. Dancing -- Adam loves it when I go "Dance! Dance! Dance!" -- he'll start breaking down -- bouncing his little booty up & down, clapping his handse, etc. It's the greatest. "Dance! Dance! Dance! -- getting some energy out before bed"

11. Shabbat -- Adam loves the Shabbat traditions -- wearing his kippah, lighting the candles, saying the blessings, drinking "wine" (juice), and eating challah. We all look forward to Shabbat at Grandma's house every Friday night. Shabbat at Grandma's House

12. Adam's Big Boy Bed -- Little Love has settled into his BBB (finally)!!! However, I still have to "hold his feet" every night and can't leave until he's asleep... I hope to stop this eventually. He usually sleeps through the night but a few times a week he'll call for MAMA or DADA in the middle of the night. Once he sees me, though, he instantly goes back to sleep. Anyway, his routine before bed is as follows: drink chocolate milk while watching "Pajanimals" (which is only 6 minutes long - perfect!), bath, brush teeth, read books, hear Daddy tell stories about Patches and then I will sing him his songs (Baby Mine, Love of my Life, and usually a new song -- this week it's Rainbow Connection). Then we have the following conversation: "Mama loves Adam So -- Much", "Adam is Mama's -- Love", and "Adam is -- the best boy in the whole world!". He also has gotten quite possessive of the BBB. He is known to say "MY Big Boy Bed" or "Adam's Big Boy Bed" if you happen to pretend to sleep on it. =)

13. Baths -- Adam loves playing in the bathtub. He likes to play with his ABC letters and draw/paint with his bath paint crayons/paints. He usually takes 30 minute baths! He does, however, HATE having his hair washed... even though he likes it when I give him a mohawk. =) Becoming a prune from so much bath time!!!

14. Drawing -- Adam loves drawing with a pen. He draws family members and his teachers at school. He can draw a pretty good circle and a straight line these days.

15. Fountains -- Adam loves water fountains -- big and small. Definitely a water baby (see #13).

16. FRUIT -- Little Love literally can't get enough of it. He LOVES grapes, all berries & melons, pineapples, apples, etc. LOVES LOVES LOVES fruit.

17. Ice-cream -- His new favorite dessert is chocolate ice-cream. Yes, he will ask for chocolate. =) His other favorite dessert is a muffin -- which he STILL calls a "muffin man"! Eating chocolate ice-cream with Daddy on a hot summer night... Ahh, life is good =)

18. Music -- Of course, Adam still loves his music. He can actually detect a song after hearing just a couple of notes. It's incredible. He knows all his CDs and asks for them by name. His new favorite song is from his Barney Night-time CD. I don't know what the song is called but his favorite line is "Will you swim with the fishies...". He gets SO EXCITED when that songs comes on, especially that line. He will start giggling in anticipation of the "fishies" the moment I put the CD in.

19. "I do it MYSELF. Adam do it!" -- Seriously, Steven and I hear this phrase probably 50 times a day. The cool thing is that Adam really CAN do most things himself these days. Even if it's obvious that he won't be able to, it's usually best to let him try to do something himself... he'll (eventually) ask for help if he can't do it (and he'll actually say -- "I can't do it!").

20. Exploring -- Of course, LL still loves to explore. Anything and everything. To say that Adam is curious is the understatement of the year!
"Let me Out so I can explore... Sleep is overrated, Mama!"

21. Legos and blocks -- Adam still likes to build with his legos and blocks, especially towers and bridges.

22. Gymb.oree -- Adam is still enrolled in the Gymb.oree Arts & Crafts class with Miss Jessica. This is probably my favorite Mommy & Me activity with him. It's a really structured class and Miss Jessica is phenomenal. Adam especially loves to create something and then take it apart. =) He also is known to yell "Look at Adam's!" when it's time to share art. We also try to make it to Open Gym once a week. Creating ??? during Gymb.oree Arts class

23. Money -- Yes, money. Adam loves playing with coins! He knows the names of the coins (but gets them confused) and will say "I have 2 Monies"!

24. "Annie's House" -- AKA Montessori. Adam went through a period of crying every morning b/f leaving for Annie's House last month which was awful. However, his teachers (including Annie, of course!) always mention how happy he is there. His favorite part of the day, it seems, is when I pick him up (mine, too)! He gets the biggest & most adorable grin on his little face and says "Mama, Mama, Mama... come in!" Then we meet each other at the door where he gives me a huge hug. Then he asks Miss Annie for his "paper" (progress report of the day) and grabs his doggy backpack from the hook... saying "go home, go home". Once we're outside of his class, however, he loves to just "hang out"... telling me what numbers are on the door, playing at the water fountain, playing with the sprinkler outside, etc. Overall, we've been very pleased with his experience there this year. I'm a little nervous when he'll be moved to the 2's class in September! Miss Annie has wanted him to move classes for months now (she feels he's definitely ready -- we think he is, too) but all of his friends are still in his current class so we have decided to wait. As Rushan's mom has said... let them stay tots as long as possible!!! Adam sitting with Ryan at "Annie's House"... the exact moment he saw me =). Sorry for the blur... it was taken through the window!

25. Pane.ra, especially with Daddy -- Every Saturday, Daddy takes Adam to Pane.ra for a bagel and ice water (coffee for Daddy). It's their routine and Adam loves it. I also take Adam there a few times a month for a grilled cheese sandwich and a fruit cup.

26. Playgrounds -- of course, playgrounds are still on the list! Adam has gotten quite good at climbing these days.
At the playground with Grandma and Uncle Steven

27. Cleaning -- Adam loves to vacuum (with his play vacuum) every day. He also likes to clean up messes, sweep the deck with Grandma, etc. Steven and I aren't sure where this love of cleaning has come from -- we think he inherited this from Bobbe. =)

28. People -- Adam is very social and likes to be around other kids. He always reminds me that he "has to share" and "take turns".... which he *usually* is good about... unless his Doggy is involved... then he'll exclaim, quite loudly, "MY Doggy!" -- see #1! Eating Lunch with his favorite triplets: Abby, Ellie, & Sam

Overall, Adam is a very happy little guy (kanehurra!!!) and is such a joy to be around. We are so in love with our not-so-Little Love!!!