Toddler Days

We are LOVING these sweet toddler days! Mikhail surprises us every day with new words, funny faces, creative dance moves and silly new games hes made up all on his own. It's been a very cold winter and we've had to be super creative with our indoor activities. In addition to many library visits, we've been doing lots of painting and drawing, finger games and other activities that are new to Mikhail.

This is his favorite spot to hide when he plays Hide and Seek with Daddy

Mikhail has been absolutely obsessed with the moon for the last month (maybe longer!) so Daddy made a special "inside moon" for when we can't see the real one :) We have gotten SO many moon books from the library and he has found every moon in all the books we own. Who knew the moon was so fascinating!

Painting of any kind is a top activity around here, but finger painting just might be Mikhail's number one favorite these days.

Oh, blanket forts are also high on the activity list for Mikhail! He paces around excitedly while the fort is being constructed and when it's finished he trots right in toting a few beloved items (large alligators, basketballs, "Baby" the Red Panda, and plops down with a snack :)

Mikhail and I like to practice our "rest position" and bowing together :) He particularly enjoys the applause :)

BUBBLES! Filling the sink with bubbles has made for many a pleasant morning here! Mikhail learned that if he fills his hands with bubbles and then claps them together, wonderful things happen! Haha!

We had a very warm snowy day a few weeks back so I thought it would be safe to do a little adventuring in the back yard. Someone was absolutely thrilled!

More painting! This time with one of mama's t-shirts to minimize the mess (ha! I wish...)

We made salt dough clay so we'd have keepsakes of Mikhail's hand and foot prints. Mikhail loved playing with the excess flour! Definitely an activity we'll do again :)

On one quiet home day I was thinking of fun things to do and realized Mikhail hadn't really played with non-helium balloons! We tied a bunch to a long string and I let him whack them with a stick he'd brought in from outside. Yep, that was a hit. Ha!

  Successfully baked prints :)

 I wasn't sure if Mikhail would enjoy a bathtub full of blankets and stuffed animals but I thought it was worth a try. He stayed in there quite a long time listening to music and snacking and throwing the animals around :) He did keep asking for water so it's a good thing he can't reach the knobs yet!

September!

Ha! I've done it again. Completely neglected the ole' blog. Well now, since it's been almost 6 months *gasp* since the last installment, I thought I'd just do a photo update on "Young Sir" :)

We moved in May!

                                                      First little family vacation in June!

He loves his "Dado" and he loves his football!

First real haircut! (Mama cried. Baby did great!)

                         Our new house is less than a block from a delicious ice cream shop. Hooray!

                          Our big boy turned 1 in July and we had a small celebration with family :)

                                                   Lots of fun exploration in the kitchen!

                                                   Sweet potato peels are fun to play with.

                       There is a playground in walking distance from home and this guy loves to swing!

                                            He takes after his Daddy and loves watermelon!

Paper curls from mama's project make for very fun blowing games.

                                     Being silly at a family picnic on a very hot day with Papa :)

                                The lawn mower holds such intrigue for this kid! Must. Help. Dad.

                                                             The boy and his kitchen :)

He much preferred building with the markers to actually drawing with them.

First pair of real shoes and a brand new hat! Autumn, here I come!

                                              More paper curls above the heat vents. Such fun!

    Cousins! What better way to spend a family shopping trip than to have a ball with balloons!

                 We really like paper curls around here... Someone just discovered scotch tape... oh boy!

First Art Day!

Way back in early March, we decided to be adventurous and experiment with finger paint. Mikhail was 7 months old and he was thrilled! I couldn't believe how carefully he tried to paint! First he swirled one finger gently around in the blob of blue paint and looked up at me with a face that said "Mom, Mom! this is INCREDIBLE!" One finger quickly turned into both hands and thankfully I got one or two distinguishable prints out of the batch. Hooray for Art Day!

Helping Mama Clean

 It started out as it often does. Mikhail playing in the center of the living room rug with a favorite toy, while I wiped down the surrounding hardwood (with baby wipes. Gosh, they are good for EVERYTHING!) and dusted shelves and furniture. He's normally semi-aware of what I'm doing. Glancing up every few minutes to survey my activities (and to be sure I haven't strayed too far from his presence...) and smiling sweetly when he sees me looking back at him. Then it happened. He spotted the nearby roll of paper towel. I saw the light bulb go off in his mind when he set eyes on it and realized it was worthy of exploration. I was curious to see what would happen, so I rolled it over to him. It of course came unraveled as it went, and this was a HUGE hit. In a matter of a few short minutes he had it completely unrolled and was gnawing on the bunches of paper he'd gathered into his chubby fists. Miraculously, none of the paper was swallowed and I collected it all before it got too soggy to use. The empty roll was another huge hit! I didn't expect him to talk into the tube, but after seeing me do it a few times he tried! That produced a big grin and now we have a new favorite toy :)

We'll Sing a Song Togeeeeetherrr!

We have been listening to lots of music lately, and there is no shortage of Raffi in the mix. Mikhail seems to be developing his little sense of humor and laughs when I sing familiar songs in funny voices :) This is a wonderful distraction tactic while I feed him solids... The more distracted he is, the better he eats! Haha!

A few weeks ago when we went with Daddy for his haircut, the barber Santo decided it was time for Baby to be introduced to the barber's chair. He had Roman hold Mikhail and just walked around combing (he had a lot of knots!) and talking to him so he'd be used to it when the day of the first haircut arrives. Mikhail was thrilled and just smiled and smiled. We'll see how the real thing goes someday!

Speaking of hair... Uncle Colin's hair is so entertaining for a baby. We are working on having gentle hands... we've got a long way to go... Good thing he has lots of tough uncles who don't mind grabby babies!

These little cousins are just beginning to notice each other. They were not enthusiastic about this picture but they sat together like this for quite a while! Neither seemed to mind the other leaning on him! Too cute.

The bear suit has made many appearances this winter :) I love these boys!

 Mikhail loves pounding on this little drum! Uncle Brandon got the ukulele and they jammed :)

We visit Great-Grandma each week and last week she gave us a special treat. She cuddled with baby and sang some sweet songs. Mikhail just loved it :)

Snowmageddon, the Sequel...

Here we sit in early March. Yesterday we took numerous walks and Mikhail enjoyed the singing birds, the sunshine and the blue sky. Today however, there is snow. Snow, snow, snow blustering fiercely outside our windows. The wind looks just awful too and I know the temperatures are dropping as we speak. My little sister is in the kitchen eating waffles from our rarely used waffle maker. She's rejoicing to be home from school for a snow day and was dropped off here to spend the day with us. Cozy snow day with the fam! Mom walked from here from school before the storm got bad because they were closing early too. Hopefully we don't end up completely snowed in...

We've been having lots of fun the past few weeks, baby and I. He is just a character, and I think the fact that he's begun sleeping for much longer stretches at night has added to his hilarious behavior. Oh, and I am functioning MUCH more efficiently now too... Ha!

We've really gotten into a groove eating solid food now. Little guy eats three small meals each day and loves spreading food around his highchair tray with one finger...

 Balls are a huge hit with Mikhail. He seems to get a kick out of the fact that they roll away and roll back. Balls rolling in general are just spectacular to him I think :)

Mama's snap bracelet watch is also a favorite chewing toy. Surrounded by actual toys, leave it to a baby to fall in love with the one non-toy :)

Ah yes, the boy who once thoroughly despised tummy time has now propelled himself onto his tummy, voluntarily! It doesn't happen too often, but when he finds something that is worth it, he lunges!

 Banging his toy pots together is a new and fun activity. He just grins when he hears the clashes and clanks! A percussionist in the making?? Oh dear...

Catching Up

We're almost better! Baby and I had a nasty cold for a while but we're on the mend and enjoying feeling better finally. Thankfully, Daddy was spared the inconvenience of this cold...
Today we ventured out to story time at the library and Mikhail found it most interesting to watch the other kids, especially the ones who are walking and crawling. He's probably one of the youngest babies at this particular story time and we go mostly so he can interact a little with other small people! We did experience bubbles for the first time while at story time though, that was a huge hit! Our mission for next week is to find our buried bubbles or go get some new ones for play time at home!

This little guy has been doing lots of exploring these days. As always, drinking from a big cup is something he never passes up. Here he was sharing Dad's water...

We also LOVE "sharing" Mama's phone cover. It's the perfect chew toy.

Dad's basketball is a little intimidating, but fun nonetheless.

We watched big cousin Zai crawl over and explore these cupboard handles when he was visiting, so of course we had to have a turn.

I dug out some baby/ childhood pictures of me and Roman to see how similar Mikhail looks to us when we were small. It's so fun to see the traits he's gotten from both of us. What a miracle!