Cribs and Dogs

Yeah, well mama wasn't thrilled about dad putting Emmie in the crib with Mikey, but then I had to admit, it was pretty cute. And Mikey LOVED it.

Just for Mimi and Bampa

This video is just for Mimi and Bampa(Grandma and Grandpa Moss). I mean, others can enjoy it, but Mimi and Bampa will really get the most out of it. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZKA8jALukU

Jungle gyms and swimming

Our clubhouse has an amazing jungle gym and pool, including a kiddie pool jungle gym (you can see in the back ground.) Some days Mikey loves it, some days a little less. This day he mostly loved it.

After we were mostly done swimming, Mikey found it immensely entertaining to just run around to pool.

Mikey just LOVES climbing and is learning to love slides more and more.


And for those of you wondering, his latest daily activity is picking up items such as calculators and remotes (though really any item will do), putting it up to his ear and saying, "heh-whoa."

E-I-E-I-O

It has been so much fun as Mikey continues to talk and copy everything we say and do. But it was the best this day when suddenly Mikey started trying to sing "Old McDonald." His first attempts, as you'll hear aren't as clear, but still pretty stinking cute. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDRNFLD2RKk

In the second video, after a few days of practice, you'll notice that his skills have greatly improved and he almosts gets that last "O" in there. :) What a cutie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZlQtIzyXu0

I wish we could video tape every second of him and put it up here because he does and says such cute things every day! He says all kinds of words (though, admittedly, many sound exactly the same :) Grapes are geeps (sometimes with the g or the p, sometimes without), more is meh....I love it. And just today he started hugging. Melt my heart, will yeh?

The Florida Aquarium

So we thought Mikey would LOVE the aquarium. He does, after all, love sitting and watching our our fish tank at home and loves animals. So we were a little surprised when he was a little less than enthusiastic at first about the Aquarium. But hey, we all have our days. :) He got better after awhile, as you can see. Yes, I know, he looks terrified. But, well, we're sitting in a giant shell. At least he's not screaming....by himself, he didn't do quite as well.
Not loving the shell.
And not loving the giant rubber turtle all the other kids loved playing on.
Getting closer with the stuffed animals...
Not loving the giant eel....
Or the fish... Are fish really THAT boring?

But there it is!!! We knew he'd smile eventually. They had this great water play ground outside and that's when the fun started. (I don't know what he and mama thought was so great, but it obviously was!)

He was a little nervous about the water at first and needed a little coaxing from dad.

But once we stripped our shirt off....!

Who is that sexy devil!

Soooooo tired after a long day with the fishies. He couldn't even finish the sip of juice he started.

Hats

Mikey still just loves hats. He walks around trying to put hats on us. And once he's decided you need to be wearing a certain hat, you better comply or else! So we spend much of our time walking around with Mikey's hats perched on our heads....As you can see Lance modeling so well.

Cushion Forts!

Being blazingly hot and humid outside, we often find ourselves playing inside for the better part of the day. On this particular day we (and by "we" I mean "mama") decided to build a fort out of the couch cushions.

Mikey loves to climb under and on things, so it was pretty fun for awhile...


But then he decided it was more fun to play the role fort destroyer than builder. Unfortunately for Willie (the dog), she was in the wrong place at the wrong time during one of Mikey's destroying rampages and ended up trapped underneath the piles of rubble (cushions). To add insult to injury, he then tried to climb on top of the cushions, futher crushing the poor little dog. Don't worry though, I saved her just in time and she survived.

Let's try again

So I heard that these images weren't showing up in the last post so I'm trying again. Hopefully they work this time.

Cutest kid ever!

Well we finally took Mikey's one-year pictures...at about his 14-month mark. Oops. I'm amazed that we got pictures this good considering the circumstances. I mean, he is so often laughing and playful, especially when he has both mom and dad around so I had high hopes for his pictures this day. Well, it just so happed that for the first time in I don't know how long, on the day of pictures, despite the perfect environment I tried to create for a good nap, he only got to sleep for 45 minutes (instead of his usualy 2 1/2 hours!) So we had a VERY grumpy kid by 5:00. The result was only getting a good mood long enough for single pictures with dad. He was too grumpy to get mom and him alone. But no worries, I'm usually the one who goes with him on picture day so I'll jump in next time. I mean, can I really complain with the smile we got here from this kid? Look how cute he is!

Are you kidding me? Look at that kid's smile! (Just ignore the boring grown-ups in the picture)
Mikey loves his hat--just trying to be like dad



And I had to add another video. So Lance was bathing Mikey and started pouring the water from high above his head. Well Mikey just thought this was the funniest thing he'd ever seen! Of course by the time we grabbed the camera, it was losing its hilarity and he was resorting to fake laughing. Though, in a child, fake laughing is almost as entertaining as a real laugh.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7784068134915780904

The highest form of flattery...

I know that you all have been on the edge of your seats for OVER a month waiting to get another glimpse of the cutest 1-year-old around. We've just been too busy enjoying our little bug and all of his adorable antics to keep the blog up to date, but we will try a little harder.

He is just as cute as they come. It's so fun to watch him getting to know and understand what we say and what is going on. I think I would officially say apple is his first word, other than what we've been thinking is "mama" and "da." Of course it's really "apuh." And he says it for other fruit too sometimes, but I think he really does know what an apple is. He also says "hi" all the time and it's so flipping cute. And we're pretty sure he is trying to say "thank you." Whenever we hand him something he wants he says, "dea deh." I never realized how much I say thank you to him when he gives me anything so I think he has picked it up.

We are learning fast how much he picks up from us. Like with Lance's hats, for example. He loves Lance's hats and is always either putting it on himself or trying to put it on Lance. Last week actually Lance was in bed sleeping for a minute and Mikey had found his hat and was playing with it. The next thing I know, he comes running out of the bedroom with a grin on his face. I look in there and Lance is lying there asleep with his hat resting on the side of his head where Mikey had tried to put it on his head. Mikey also has his own hat which he puts on his own head backwards. It's so cute when he does it!

Then there was this cleaning incident this week. I had been spot cleaning the carpet on my hands and knees with a rag and Mikey was standing around watching me. A bit later I was in the kitchen at the sink and I felt a little guy under my feet. I looked down to find Mikey with a rag, squatting down rubbing the rug at my feet. He then proceeded to wander around the kitchen wiping things. So cute! Here he is in two different videos.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7543128434414575242

and

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3188818050254175616

And speaking of imitation, here was a proud moment for Lance when his son picked up his mama's purse and carried it around the house as he sees his mama do. :) Luckily, for Lance, this fun activity only lasted a few days and he has since discovered Lance's little scriptures to carry around--we won't complain about him carrying around scriptures!

Of course then there was the day when I turned around to see him with an old mascara of mine, open in his hands and all over. He's quite excited about opening pens and anything he can find so this was no exception. If you look at this picture closely, you'll notice the black not just by his eyebrow, but on his hand AND in his mouth. I couldn't properly capture the black in his mouth. It was pretty funny. His teeth were a little black and it was all over his gums. Never a dull moment in this house.
We recently noticed that he had started to grab our forks (from the floor after the dogs had cleaned them) and pretend to stab the plate and put it to his mouth. So we decided to start giving him his food in bowels and with spoons and forks, no matter how messy we knew it would be....and it is. :) On this particular day I started to feed him yogurt, but he kept trying to grab the spoon and feed himself. So, for the first time, I put it in a bowl and let him be. Again, this doesn't quite capture how awesome he looked after his meal of yogurt, but you get the idea--complete yogurt coverage. I only wish you could tell how much his long eyelashes were completely stuck to his face.
And I had to throw in one more video. If you will remember a recent video of Mikey clapping for himself while playing with a particular toy. Well we put the video up on our TV and let Mikey watch it....well, you have to see how he reacts. But I'll give you a hint, he's still quite proud :)http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-729145933109043071

Funny Mikey

Mikey is getting more and more fun every day. We absolutely love having him in our home. He is quite entertaining now as he starts trying to talk. He will now say "uh-oh" whenever we do and whenever he drops something. He attempts a few other words, but that's really the best one besides "mama" and "daddy." He also has started to clap at everything. We always clap when he does stuff well or figures out a toy or whatever. So now after he plays with a toy he stops and claps. He also claps when he hears clapping on the TV. It's so cute. This video is perhaps my favorite video of him ever. Here he is being so proud of himself for playing with his toys....well, really it's because he sees mama and daddy are so proud. Enjoy....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4374610714268080453

And our other new favorite thing is his dancing. He has started to dance. Whenever he hears music he starts bouncing up and down. Then he stops and starts twisting his body back and forth. What a cutie.

And he's so smart. He knows the sign for "more" so that is quite helpful sometimes in ascertaining what it is that he wants. We are working on more signs since now I realize how helpful it can be.

He of course has his moments. He is getting quite a firm head when it comes to something he wants. He yells and screams. But the doctor said it's normal :) He also gets very, very sad when dad leaves in the morning and runs to the door crying when he realizes I've distracted him only long enough for dad to get out. On the flip side, he starts bouncing and clapping when he hears the garage at the end of the day and runs to great him with the dogs.

Here are a few other funny things....

We thought he had been sitting calmly in his little chair, but when we came in, there he was with one leg out, laughing. I guess he didn't want to wait for us to get him out so he took matters into his own hands.
Looks like daddy and baby both got the memo (we really didn't plan it!)
This is Mikey's new big boy chair. He loves it! He will sit so calmly in it just swinging his legs. Though it's a little tall for him to get out of by himself so I have to watch him closely or he tips over in his attempts to get out.

Mikey and cousin Amanda just hanging out at aunt Heather and uncle Herb's! (Her dress kept getting in her way of playing so her mom had to tuck it up while she played.)
Kate helped Mikey and Amanda jump on the tramp--they all loved it

So Lance went to get Mikey out of bed in the morning and this is what we found...Mikey with his shirt half off! Maybe he got hot? Mikey's such a big help when I do laundry. He either pulls it all out of the basket and spreads it around the floor or he insists on getting in the basket with the clothes. :)

Daddy's Pinewood Derby

The Elder's quorum held a pinewood derby a few weeks ago. Daddy took the opportunity to work on his car when we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa Bastian. Some of you saw the early stages, so I thought you might want to see the finished product. It was pretty fast, but didn't take first. Sure is pretty, though, if I do say so myself on behalf of my Daddy.

It's a Dodge Viper, in case you couldn't tell.

Disney World!

Our friends, Suzanne and Peter and 18-month old Hallie came down from New York for a little visit (and non-stop fun!!) On our last day we went to Disney World!

The whole family at Disney World

Riding the Carrousel with dad

Getting ready to watch a 4-D show!

Dads and babies getting ready for a day of fun!

Mamas and babies in Mickey's house

Mikey and mama checking out the local real estate in Toon Town

Well Mikey took quite a liking to Tigger. Here he is in the store with Tigger....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1547158749814310140