Boyd - 22.5 months

6 more weeks until Boyd's 2nd birthday! Not quite sure what to plan for this celebration - quiet event at home or invite people over? We'll probably do something at home and schedule an outing to the zoo or museum as a fun family treat.

• Boyd has been saying "mail" quite a bit. What's funny is that it is probably the clearest and most succinct word he has uttered to date. He really pronounces the "l," where usually he drops the last consonant from his words. D reports Boyd has also been saying "bail" and "whale."
• We have finally achieved two-word phrases, used fairly consistently. His favorites are "uh oh, mama," "more, dada (or mama)," and any combo of those with "no" and "please." We heard "uh oh, banana" for a while, which was good for a laugh.
• He has pretty much perfected his "feed the puppy" routine - from getting the lid off, filling the hard hat, presenting it to Drift, putting everything away and then closing the pantry door. He's a great all-around helper - always wanting to assist us with everyday tasks.
• A kitty obsession has emerged. He's leading us upstairs to look for the cat or asking for Little Dude. A lot of gentle petting, nose touching and ear poking ensues after we find him.
• D, Boyd and I met up with friends to check out the "Zoo Lights" at our local zoo on the Friday after Christmas. It was pretty chilly (below 10 degrees) and windy, so I wasn't sure how long Boyd would last. Many of the animals were tucked inside their dens and houses, but we were able to see the wolves, moose, caribou, eagles, mountain goats and snow leopards. The leopards were Boyd's favorites! Big smiles when we came up to their enclosure. He kept saying "kitty!" and pointing. Once we left the zoo and got him to the car, Boyd starting screaming - we thought he was cold, but when I asked him what was wrong he cried, "kitty, kitty!"
• Boyd is signed up for 2 toddler classes in the new year. We're continuing the Monday gymnastics sessions (which I'll take him to) and then my mom will bring him to music class on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Gymnastics runs through mid-May while Music Together is an 8-week program.
• For the New Year's, the boys arrived home in the afternoon after a 2-day deer hunting and fishing trip in Prince William Sound. No shots fired, but it's nice for them to head out of town for some guy time. My mom had her own plans, but Risha and Gabe had dinner with us after which we celebrated Gabe's birthday. After Boyd went down to sleep, we all headed into our hot tub - which amazingly CAN hold up to 4 people. I think we were in there for 2 hours and finally ran into the house with 15 minutes to spare before midnight!

Fishing puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa Patrick. He caught on pretty quickly - you have to use the magnetic pole to pick up the puzzle pieces. His favorites are the turtle, crab and whale.

This wolf at the zoo was totally focused on Boyd - it licked it's lips and was staring hard! When we walked, it was totally tracking us and couldn't take it's eyes off of Boyd.

Snow leopard enclosure - so happy!

He's pretty skilled with the toddler spoon and fork now.

Boyd and I on a neighborhood walk last weekend while D and Gabe went hunting/fishing in PWS.

The sweetest little face - pretty lucky that he's all mine.

We took the opportunity to visit Kaleidoscape, a local indoor play place. I purchased a promo card so our visits are approximately $6.50 as opposed to $10.

Outside of Kaleidoscape - good thing he isn't aware that the helicopter moves, I didn't have any quarters.

Happy birthday Uncle Gabe!

Joint New Year's/Birthday celebration. Risha made Gabe's favorite - pineapple upside cake.

Kitty peeping in on Boyd in the bath.