Halloween Pictures

A very short post.  I'll try to get stories of Halloween up tomorrow.  But now, Kristen and I are going to wind down from a busy weekend and watch a movie.

Big Boy Bed

Saturday, during Davis' attempted nap, we decided that it was time to get Davis a big boy bed and make the transition out of the crib.  The breaking point came when Davis threw all his books out of the crib and each thump made mom think he had fallen out of the crib.  After the nap was abandoned, we headed to Ikea to check out their toddler beds.

Davis loooooved Ikea.  It was like going to a giant indoor playground with lots of other kids, unimaginable amounts of furniture to climb on and TOYS.   Kristen and I traded chasing Davis around the store and checking out the beds.  We settled on a twin bed that converts to a loft bed.  The rest of the evening was a stressful blur.  We left Ikea at 4:15, were home at 5:00, ordered food to pickup, started putting the bed together, picked up the food (they lost the order, adding 30 minutes), had a frantic dinner and finished putting the bed together.  At one point, we put Davis in his crib and he was able to get a foot up to the crib rail, so we were none too soon making the transition.

By the time we were ready to put Davis to bed, it was already 30 minutes past his bedtime and he was very wired from all the excitement and changes.  After 45 minutes running around his room and trying to put him to sleep like we did camping, I ended up letting him fall asleep in my arms while standing up, then over the course of about 20 minutes, I sat down the the bed, lay down with him on me, then slowly slid him off into the bed.  He ended up sleeping great.  Mom had to go in about 2am but he went right back to sleep with a quick hug in the bed.

Today, we've already found that it is much easier to transfer him from car to bed than car to crib.  I carried him in asleep then just cuddled with him until he was solidly sleeping in the bed.

Davis was a lot of help putting the bed together:

Cool new toys!

He took everything out of the box for us

The final results:

Davis' "first" haircut

Davis has had slower growing hair than most kids his age.  We often joke that he's experiencing reverse-balding.  First, the hair grew around the sides and back leaving a bald top, a look I remember my maternal grandfather sporting for as far back as my memory goes.  Next, the top started to grow in, but with a widow's peak.  Just starting recently it looks like the widow's peak area will fill in.  However, since the sides and back have been growing the fastest, it had become quite long.  A few months ago, I took scissors to it myself but recently it had become more than I felt comfortable cutting on my own.  John has been resistant to a haircut, so yesterday, when it was just Davis and I, we hopped into a barber's shop.  Although he was fascinated with the barber's shop in general, he wasn't thrilled to be sitting in the chair all by himself, so mom had to sit with him in the chair (therefore no pictures during the haircut).

Just before

Just after

More Pictures!

Here are few more random pictures from October:

Its hard to see, but he has one of Lilly's favorite toys.  Oh, and a box on his head.

Rocking and playing with pens and paper

I don't remember why he had the hammer, or was putting it in his mouth.

Block time

Cool new tricks

I've had this post sitting around for a while, but haven't had the time for energy to finish it.  But, I've got to make my end of the month push to get our blog post quota up.

Davis really seems to be growing up fast.  A few new things he can do and say are below.

Some of the things he can now say that we recognize:

• Dinner - pronounced "ninner"
• Monkey
• Up please (sometimes, usually this is tugging or putting his arms in the air)
• Yes please
• Thank you (not new)
• All right (not new)
• Grandma, Grandpa and Grammie (but not pronounced like that, he has distinct names for all of them and recognizes them all on Skype)
• Sarah, Avi, Lucy (his daycare providers)
• Domino (not Lilly, I'm not sure he knows we have two cats)
• This
• Read this

Some cool things he does:

• Gives hugs and kisses.
• Walks down stairs holding our hands.
• Walks home from daycare, starting from the top of the stairs at daycare.
• Can walk up a step without holding onto anything (just the first one).
• Runs really fast.
• Puts toys away (sometimes).
• Puts sand in his dump truck.
• Builds elaborate structures with his blocks.
• Stands on a footstool to wash his hands and brush his teeth.
• Throws balls really well.  He nailed me in the head tonight from about 4 feet away with a tennis ball.

Some things he likes to do:

• Get each child's lunch box and coat when their parent arrives at daycare.  
• Play fort with mom.
• Be tossed in the air.
• Be tickled.
• Chase around the living room.
• Naked chase in his bedroom after a bath (this doesn't always end well).
• Watch work crews and trucks.  The other day, he got to sit in a big truck on the way to daycare.
• Watch and pet dogs.  Last weekend we went to minuteman national park and he loved the young lab that was running everywhere.
• Pick up domino.
• Pick up leaves.

Some developmental milestones:

• For 18 months, he is in the 95th percentile for height and weight
• Will soon be in size 5 diapers
• Wears a lot of three toddler clothes (see a theme)
• Has at least 12 teeth (its hard to see!)
• Has started to try and get out of his crib.  We might be going to Ikea this weekend for a "big boy bed".

Since he is now migrating into 2 and 3 toddler clothes, we put a bunch of his smaller and summer clothes away.   While doing this, we found his costume from last year and amazingly he a) wanted to wear it and b) it still fit.  Here are the results:

Rough week

The last week was a rough one around the Naegle household.  Kristen came down with what turned out to be strep Friday or Saturday last week.  It left her on the couch or in bed for almost the whole weekend.  Davis and I went to the zoo to try and escape, but we ended up sick as well and now the whole family is on antibiotics.  On the upside, we did find that we really like our new doctor's office.

Here are a few pictures of our attempt to escape at the zoo:

95 Blocks

Davis was out of daycare sick today so we split the day with the little guy.  I went into work early and Kristen went in to do some lab work tonight.  During the day, Kristen and Davis went to the zoo, and while I wasn't looking, she snuck in his first haircut to trim down the toddler mullet that had been forming.  Hopefully, she will be able to write a separate post about that experience.  

While Kristen was at work, Davis and I had a fantastic evening.   We took a little cat nap in the rocking chair, then with a re-charged little one we had dinner and played hard for a couple of hours.

We:

• Had french toast for dinner.
• Went for a walk around the neighborhood.
• Ran the Scooba.  Davis sat in my lap for 20 minutes while we watched it work.  I love robots. :)
• Built a structure using all 95 of the mega blocks.  Davis put 85 of them together and I added 10 or so for stability.  He was just amazing with the blocks.  It seemed like he made a huge leap forward in his building abilities.  When all 95 blocks where used, he said "more".  I agree, we need more blocks mom.
• Played chase and hide and seek.
• Had a miniature tickle fest.
• Rolled and threw tennis balls to each other.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.  I had to use the little camera which doesn't take as good of pictures with the harsh direct flash (sorry):

Building in progress.  Davis has identified a structural weakness that Dad will address.

Work in progress

Adding the last block

Final product, from the top

Guilty of something.  He just came out from under the table

How many books?

Davis has recently started taking a book into his bed at night.  Our nighttime routine is usually bath, brush teeth, optional naked chase, a cup of milk in one of our laps and one or two stories before lights out and bedtime.  Davis usually sleeps with his dog and a few other animals.  However, in the last couple of days, he has insisted on taking books to bed with him.  Last night it was Goodnight Moon and tonight it was his Kindermusic book This is my Dance.  We've still be turning off the lights on him, but both last night and tonight, he was trying to read the books in the dark.  Tomorrow, we'll be adjusting his bedtime to leave the light on so he can read in his crib.  It is really great to see him wanting to read books.

Today's Pictures

Apple Picking

This weekend, we headed up to Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA to pick apples, get pumpkins and enjoy a gorgeous fall day.  The weather was 60s and sunny which is just fantastic weather to be outside in the fall.  Davis had a great time riding in the red wagon, eating apples and licking pumpkins.  He even picked an apple off a tree and put it in the bag.   We learned a couple things: Apples are fantastic entertainment at this age; he spent over an hour working on a single apple.  Also, licking pumpkins seems to be his "thing".  He did it at the farm and again when the pumpkins were on the back porch.

Scouting out the apples

All smiles

Riding in the wagon - he loved this

Dad and Davis looking for the perfect apple tree

Putting the apple he picked in the bag

Eating his apple on the wagon

Still eating his apple while picking out pumpkins

Licking the pumpkins.

Apples and pumpkins

More pictures for Mom

Kristen is back from her conference tomorrow night so here are a few more pictures to tide her over until then.  Davis and I had a good day.  He woke up in a great mood (and at 7:15!), had a good day at daycare, then played, read, talked on the "phone" and wrestled with me tonight.

Hi Mom!

Pretending to talk on the phone.  He just jabbers away

Putting Davis to work.