14 months

Yesterday was the 20th and I thought it was the 19th.  Bo clocked another month and I didn't even realize it, which is becoming a trend.  Last month I was in KY/NY/TN/OK that day and it slipped by without recognition either.  But I am watching Bo grow and change before my eyes.  He is a real rootin' tootin' toddler these days!

He loves:

Swinging. 

  

His Moosey.

The beach.

 

He loves loves LOVES throwing rocks into the water.  

to EAT. 

This kid is serious about food- particularly fruit and cheese.  He loves his smoothies too.  I've been making him one almost every day with berries, banana, yogurt, spinach, and this beet/carrot juice I found at Trader Joe's.  Sound gross, right?  But the juice isn't bad (although I wouldn't drink it straight) and usually I have a smoothie right along with him.  I'm happy when he gets all those veggies in his tummy.

throwing balls.

The football is a new discovery but this kid LOVES to throw a ball.  He runs around the house saying "Ba, Ba, Ba!" and chucking a ball around.  He'll cry for it in the bathtub, he'll sit at the window and yell for a soccer ball outside.  

Reading books:

This is new and I like it! In the last week, Bo has really caught on to books and will go find them himself and bring them to us for reading. He'll also sit (briefly!) and look at them himself.  He's particularly excited when he spots a dog (and he'll make his 'bark' noise, which sounds like 'woo, woo') or a ball (ba! ba!). Not to be confused with BaBa, which is his bottle/sippy cup.

With his increased mobility comes more of him communicating what he wants.  He often goes to his bed and pulls his blankey and pacifier out of the slits of the crib, and will carry those two around the house. I'm not much of a fan of this... I try to keep blankey and paci restricted to the car and crib.  

Also he KNOWS stuff.  It's actually quite weird to have him respond to commands.  He will pick up his blankey, give moose a kiss goodnight, point to things in pictures, is learning where his eyes, ears, nose are . . . it's so funny.  He's like a little guy now and not a baby.  (waaaaahhh!!)

He's also more prone to frustration (read: screaming) when he doesn't get what he wants. 

Sigh.

Sometimes I sneak in and take a picture while he's sleeping.  Usually it's for Matt when he's on call (WHICH HE WILL BE NEVER AGAIN!!)

My little baby boo in his big boy buzz lightyear pajamas. xoxo

Four states, one weekend

We took one of our last weekends here to get in one more New England vacation. I love that we can be in New York at noon, take a ferry to Connecticut, drive on through Rhode Island, and eat dinner in Massachusetts. At our friends' beach cottage, no less. We enjoyed spending the weekend with our friends Meghan and Adam. They even let Moose stay too, so our whole family enjoyed a getaway! New England summers are cooler than I'm used to- which is fun and makes me want to vacation up here someday. Especially after watching Matt try surfing for the first time and catch a couple waves! So fun. We walked around Plymouth and saw the Mayflower replica and Plymouth rock and marveled at our country's humble beginnings.

Another sweet memory to take with us!

live in the moment

For us right now that means we need to act like we live in Long Island and enjoy it!  It's been kind of a crummy week - Matt was back to work after 2 weeks off and in the hospital working long hours.  I forgot what it felt like to be alone with Bo for 12 hours a day.  And my home is in uproar already as we get ready for a garage sale on Saturday and packing, packing, packing.  My dining room is all boxes.  So.  I don't like that. 

The good thing (if I choose to see it that way) is that I can only pack a few hours a day, while Bo is napping.  He is too busy right now for any of that while he's awake.  We've been getting out and enjoying some of the great things about our area.  Some of these pictures are old, from before our trip, and some are recent . . . but they are all sweet moments that will remind us of our time here.  And actually they are all pictures of Bo.  So. There's that. 

Bo at the beach on a 60 degree day, thus the long sleeves!  He had a great time with all those rocks. 

Soon our floors/patio/house will not be so rustic . . . 

Matt's birthday several weeks ago. xo. 

Recently I was at the pond texting Matt pictures of Bo ... 

and these turtles! I was completely enamored with the turtles.  They are so funny.

And then Matt showed up!  It was a nice surprise.  

Bo, Moose and I have spent a lot of time at the pond . . . there is nice grass there and Bo walks so cutely on it. 

And more beach time, on a warmer day when Bo actually got in the water.  Well, he sat by the water's edge and threw rocks into the surf.  He loved it!

mr. bo's wild ride

Well, it wasn't just Mr. Bobo's wild ride . . . it was more like our whole FAMILY's wild ride.  Two weeks hitting the road and suitcase-living at its finest.  Even Moosey was displaced (thanks to our friends for adopting him for the whole 14 days!).

It starts . . . and we will wear that airplane backpack at every opportunity.

We split up at our first layover and Matt flew to my parents to pick up a car they have generously given us, and Bo and I flew to Nashville, where he promptly started sweating and his cheeks turned really pink.  We're not in 65 degree weather anymore, Toto.  He also stepped out of the clingy phase in order to party with his sweet cousins.  

boys, boys, boys.  

I love this picture so much - Pop and his grandsons.  

And there is ANOTHER boy added to that bunch now - my nephew Grant was born yesterday!  

I see fun times ahead, Grant!

After we met up with Matt at his parents' house in KY, we did a little spliteroo and left Bo with Gigi and Pop, where we thought he might be spoiled have more fun than accompanying his parents to meetings in Nashville.  It was harder than I thought to leave him behind!  We are NEVER separated . . . maybe it would be good for both of us to get a little more of that in.  

We checked out our new place in Franklin, TN . . . that's a story in itself . . . I found it online before we left and asked my sister in law to check it out for us.  She ended up having to race across town to put a deposit in for us before the other renter could - and she won!  9 months pregnant, too.  

We're very thankful and super psyched about all of the 'normal' things that are luxuries to us . . . like a garage, fenced yard, central air, and a *dishwasher*.  And everyone in the neighborhood waved when we drove in.  I felt like I was in a parade.  

Bo and I left Matt to his meetings and headed off on some more planes . . .

To Oklahoma.

Showing some Thunder pride with his new Rumble shirt from Uncle Ryan.

And the reason for the season - Elyse's graduation!

It was a really sweet ceremony and I loved watching my little sister give an eloquent speech!  Also the added bonus of seeing my grandma! 

Elyse has waited 10 years (eek!) to reenact the photo we took at my high school graduation:

Bo and Coco in the pool.

Back on the plane . . . 

This time with a Sonic popcorn chicken clutched in his paw.  Would not let that thing go.  Got pretty gross.

Back to Nashville then on to KY for some family fun . . . 

He reminds me of the dancing hippos in this pic:

Lots of time spent with Pop.

Matt and his bro throwing each other in the pool . . . boys are so funny.  

Uncle Adam time:

And then Matt and I left Bo again with Matt's parents (Gigi said she didn't mind!) and went away for a couple nights.  I kept it a secret for five months but spilled the beans immediately after we got into the car for the 3 hour drive to the Smokies - we were meeting Matt's best friend and his wife to celebrate their 30th birthdays.  But first we had to see MY friend and her new baby - so darling:

Love you, Hank! So glad we will live in the same state soon!

The beautiful Smokies . . . 

The sign said that since we were at the highest point in the Smokies, we could actually say we were "on top of old Smoky."  So I did.  

After all of the craziness and separation of the past couple weeks, it was great to get away for a day and not worry about work!  

On our last day in Tennessee we were able to meet up with all of Matt's KY/TN aunts and uncles, most who hadn't seen Bo yet.  And since we hadn't seen him in 3 days, we were shocked by how well he was walking . . . seems he's finally got the hang of it!!

We finally took a flight all together . . . there was no question that Matt would be restraining our sweet child on the flight! 

And here we are.  Back where we belong - together.  

Phew.

No rest for the weary - time to start packing!!!