The Many Faces

It is so nice to have help around the house. Well, it would be if this Little Dude wasn't deathly afraid of vacuum cleaners. Obviously he is quite friendly with Mr. Vacuum when it is turned off. But once that puppy roars to life, completely different story. Vacuuming with it turned off is just as good as with it on, right?

Little Dude has been walking a lot more this week. He lets go and walks for longer distances. He could be running if he wanted to, but he prefers to have your finger to hold on to. Yes, I said that right. Your finger. Not your hand. Only one finger.

He has quite the personality that is blossoming more and more every day. I snapped all of these pictures within a few minutes. I like to call it the Many Faces of Little Dude.

Happy Cheesy

Angry/Get The Camera Out of my Face Pensive/Hungry

At least he doesn't have a problem expressing himself!

Hello

Hi there. Little Dude here. Mommy said she was too exhausted from chasing me around all day, so I decided to send out an update. I've had such a fun summer but I am ready for some cooler weather. Mommy says it is too hot to go swing which is really not cool. She said I should be able to swing tomorrow though because a cold front is coming in. Woo hoo!

Lately, I've been hearing this strange word from my mommy. I think it is "no". Not quite sure what it means. It usually makes me laugh to hear it. It is especially funny if I have my hands in the doggie & kitty's water dish splashing around and mommy comes running for me. She looks pretty funny doing that & saying "no no no". I don't think I'm supposed to laugh though. Oops!

I often help my mommy out with whatever chore she is working on. I even helped with my birthday thank you cards!
During the day, I stay really busy by crawling and walking with my toys all throughout the house. My mommy says I never take a break, but I do! I sit on the floor and try to shred the magazines as a way to relax and take a break. Mommy doesn't seem to realize this is my way of relaxing. The most fun I've had lately was when I discovered I can get back on the fireplace again from outside my play pen. What a blast!

Well, the doggie and the kitty have had a long enough break for now. I must return to chasing them through the house!

First Hotel Trip & More!

It seems like it has been forever since I last wrote a blog, but it is only because the last week has been insanely busy for us! We took our first overnight family trip to stay in a hotel. The daddy was best man in a wedding, so we loaded up the car & headed out for the weekend!

Since we were going to be busy with wedding tasks, Nana & Poppers drove down and Grammy came with us & stayed with her parents. Nana & Poppers watched him on Friday during the rehearsal and Grammy watched him while we all went to the wedding on Saturday.

As soon as we got to the hotel, Little Dude had so much fun exploring every inch of the room. I mean, every single inch... including his luggage!
Right before the daddy & I headed out for dinner, there was a knock at the door. Little Dude was being treated to the real luxury hotel experience! Not only did he get a stuffed pony at check-in, he also got a room service tray!

We had so much fun at the wedding. It was a great opportunity for me to take pictures to build up my portfolio. Here are a couple of my favorites of the beautiful bride & groom!

Since we've been back in town, I've had a photo shoot, a focus group and numerous piles of laundry to get caught up on. It is really a juggling act to get all of my stuff done & keep BOTH eyes on the Little Dude. He is so curious. Even our poor cat can't get a moment of privacy...

And what a joyful moment it was when Little Dude showed me this little trick. I have a strange feeling that things are going to get even more interesting around here.

Thank goodness he is so cute! He has been on a loving streak as of late. He gives hugs & kisses (to his mommy, at least) all the time! It melts my heart every time he leans in with a big, slobbery, open mouth kiss. He keeps me on my toes all the time which is fun, but it is the quiet moments like that which remind me how sweet & precious he truly is.

Vocabulary

Little Dude has a vocabulary that is expanding every day. Yesterday, he amazed me with some of the things he has already learned. We read books every day, multiple times a day, over and over again until he doesn't want to read anymore. We read the books, talk about the books, name things in the books & pretty much anything else you could think of. He loves books. He has a book called "First Words". It is filled with pictures of every day items so all you have to do is point at the item and name it.

We opened the book and I asked "Where's the sheep?" He pointed RIGHT at it! I thought it might be a fluke, so we tried another one. "Where's the cat?" He went to the cat and pointed at it! He did this for the dog, lion, baby and bird. He even did it again for his daddy last night! Sometimes I think that the daddy doesn't believe Little Dude can do some of the things he does for me, so it made me extremely happy that he showed off for his daddy!

Little Dude is definitely no longer a baby. He is a growing, learning, amazing little toddler!

A Brief Glance into the Future

Looking for a little adventure? Just stop by our house! Here you can see Little Dude performing tricks in the front window for all of our neighbors to enjoy. Who knew that standing up on a narrow windowsill could be so much fun?

This week, Little Dude has provided me with a small glance at what my future will be like with him. We're talking about the time of life that most parents dread.....

Driving.

And while he has been driving his car around the house, I've found myself saying things that I will most likely be saying again in 15 years. He was pushing the car around, but decided that he needed a little pick me up. So he began pushing it with one hand & sucked his thumb with the other hand. "We use both hands to steer our car. Please keep both hands on the car!"

How about the poor animals at our house? "The kitty doesn't want to see what the bottom of your car looks like. Please don't hit the doggie either."

It's always fun to look around at your surroundings, but "Please watch where you're going! Uh oh!! You hit the wall/table/chair/piano!"

I have a bad feeling of what we have coming at us in 15 years. Hopefully some of these lessons will begin to sink in between now and then.

We also made a shocking discovery that could very well change the science world. We discovered what REALLY happened to the dinosaurs so many years ago....

Someone was just a little hungry & needed a small snack.

*No dinosaurs (or kitties or doggies) were harmed in the making of this blog.