And it's no longer fun to put them on paper. Human flesh is the only acceptable surface for which he is willing to use a sticker. (Maybe if daddy wasn't demonstrating the fun with this kind of sticker-covered flesh display....)
His own socks, of course, aren't all that fun, he's only interested in daddy's socks.
Here he took a box of pretzels into our room and got on the bed. Before we knew it he had dumped the entire contents into our unmade bed which provided many folds and layers for little pieces of salt to remain in for the rest of eternity.
Now here, I'm not sure what happened because he's actually quite skilled at using a spoon and feeding himself. He usually ends up with food directly around the mouth and a bit down the front. So my best guess here is that this was intentional playing with food because it was everywhere!
And here is his first piece of wall art--directly on the wall. Luckily I discovered those little magic cleaning erasers. The crayon was gone in a flash!
He first chose sweat pants. At that point I tired to offer him a shirt. He wanted none of that! He then picked up his overalls. After getting them half way on I tried again with the shirt...and, well, the results of our exchange are clear.
He did venture out onto the back porch for awhile with this stylish outfit on so our neighbors got a free lesson on fashion, but luckily we were able to convince him to change before really leaving the house.
When Mikey wants attention and is trying to be silly he starts to eat his feet. He laughs uncontrollably at himself. He used this tactic throughout most of Kristen's stay.
Look! A zebra pulling a sleigh!
Well we actually tried to go swimming on Christmas day. It was a gorgeous day and since there is often no one working at the clubhouse we thought it would still be open for those with keys. After getting Mikey all excited about it, we got there and it was closed. But luckily the weather held up for the rest of the week so we went the next day and he loved it.
There were these little girls swimming when we got there and they wouldn't leave Mikey alone! (See the kids starting to swarm in the first picture?) Honestly, we thought they were a little annoying after awhile, but they were throwing him his ball and he loves little girls (I know, should I start worrying now?) so he loved it.
It was actually a little chilly because there was a slight wind, but Mikey seemed to love it as much as ever!
In fact, after drying off, he wanted to go back in! So he and daddy did for a bit while mama warmed up in the sun on the patio chairs. :)
Mikey doesn't always have the sweet bedhead hair going on that he did Christmas morning. It was the best I'd ever seen it. He does, on the other hand, sleep with more and more stuffed animals every night and in the morning hands you each one to hold before you can pick him up. It can end up being quite an armful.
The stocking
Mikey was very good at opening presents and almost always had his cute little tongue sticking out while doing it.
I just had to display again, the awesomeness of his hair.
The problem came after a few presents were opened when he started running off to play with them. It ended up taking awhile to open them all. In fact, we finally just left 3 or 4 for later. The next day he found them and promptly wanted to open them.
Calling Grandma and Grandpa Bastian to thank them for his cool phone
He loves books so those were great presents
The tongue again
After awhile he started becoming more and more interested in the camera so finally I let him take some pictures. Not too bad for 20 months!
Before. 
After.
But they just didn't all fit. Maybe next year.
Yes, that is the corner of our house just outside the back door. One of the few drawbacks to having warm, snow-free winters is that yard work must still be done. So after mowing and edging our yard the other day, Lance happened upon this little fella. Actually, he wasn't all that little. Lance says he's not poisonous or anything, but he made us a little nervous. We suspect that he might be living in our bushes on the side of our house that were disturbed with the yard work. Hopefully he decides to take up residence in someone elses bushes.
Mikey and the Beach
Bampa in heaven walking around with his two favorite grandkids ;) (no offense to the rest)
Mikey and daddy loving the sun
Mikey and daddy checking out those waves
Bampa and Mikey pondering the amazing rocks Mikey had found
Bampa and Mikey just chillin' in the shade together and taking in the beach
Lance, Kate and Mikey pondering the water
Mikey loving the sand
The birds flying all around...
The result.
Fun at the beach!
Mikey loves to hold hands with people, but especially loves holding hands with little people like himself so he loved it when Kate would hold his hand.
Mikey and Kate going for a drive outside the grocery store (that's Bampa in the back putting money in the machine--Grandpas are the best :) Though Mikey looks terrified, he was actually loving this.
At the top of the Safari. How cute is that picture!
