Leo’s been here ONE YEAR!

One year ago today Leo showed up and our lives were filled with happiness, tears, anxiety and excitement. All of that is pretty much the same!

These days Leo is busy trying lots of things.

Currently he’s trying to:

--Stand up. We say “Show me how you stand up” and he wobbles his way up.

--Talk. He can almost say lion, hat, knock knock, bye bye, banana, ball and uh-oh which sound like ion, ha, dok dok, dye dye, ana, da and uh-uh respectively.

--Get some teeth and hair. He has lots of hair in the back but not much on top (preparing for a mullet I guess?), two teeth on the bottom and one sprouting on top

--Hold his own sippy cup and set it down on his tray. When he does this we say, “Yeah, Leo!” When he throws his sippy cup we say “No, no” and shake our heads. So now he throws his sippy cup and shakes his head.

And these are things he’s mastered:

--Throwing, bouncing and eating his favorite ball.

--Licking things: windows, toys, faces

--Clapping: Just say “yeah!” and you’ll get a round of applause from Leo

--Baby sign language: milk, more, eat, lunch, dinner, breakfast (okay, all the meals plus eat are the same sign) and all done. We’re working on please and thank-you.

--Splashing in the tub

--Saying bye-bye (or “dye-dye”) at appropriate times: when we get in the car or his stroller.

His favorite foods:

--Bananas
--Cheese
--Cheerios
--Avocados

His favorite trick with his food:
--Throwing it on the floor

His favorite trick with his milk:

--Letting it roll down his chin.

Things that make him laugh:

--When Granny Jo says “God Bless You”
--When Mommy says “I gotta go, see you later” walks away and comes right back saying, “I didn’t go anywhere! I’m right here!”
--Peek a boo. He’s still a sucker for it. But now he likes to do the peeking.


Our favorite thing about him:

Cutest, sweetest, smartest baby ever (in our unbiased opinion).

Happy Birthday, Leo James Simcik!

Future Frat Boy

We know from the last post that Leo is ready for the academic challenges of college. Now he's demonstrated that he's also ready for the extracurricular challenges:

First, there was the milk chugging contest:

Then today when I opened the fridge, he helped himself to a beer...

...and seemed a little too familiar with what to do with it:

Finding Bevo

Look at our little longhorn! What a genius. He is ready for college!

But we better wait until he can identify the lion before we go sending in an early application...

Practicing for Grandpa Ron's Visit

Now who's going to break it to him that his hoop dreams will never become a reality (unless of course someone creates a league involving a laundry basket and a rubber ball)?

He'll be comin' round the mountain...

We got one of those baby carriers. You know, for all the hiking we do. Really, we plan to use it for three upcoming beach trips.

But Leo says he's fine just hiking around the living room.

All Rise for an Easter Surprise

It was right around Christmas that Leo learned to crawl. And now on Easter he learned to stand by himself. Guess we'll need to wait for another religious holiday to see him walk.

Good Talk, Russ

Water Baby

On Leo's first trip to the YMCA pool he cried the whole time and clung to us.
On his second trip he cried and clung at first but eventually settled down.
On his third trip (today) he loved it from the first splash!

Snoring, Squatting and Signing

Leo did three exciting things yesterday!

Have you met Jeremy?

I vaguely remember a snot-nosed kid in my first grade class named Jeremy. Ever since then that name has conjured up images of mucus. Leo has had a constant drip since like February. I call snot-nosed Leo "Jeremy."

And you wanna know something really gross? If not, don’t keep reading. When he sneezes TONS of snot comes out. He had such a big sneeze today that when the snot came out both sides I said, “You look like a walrus!” I’m kind of envious of him how he can clear it out so easily.

Now Frank and I are in the habit of referring to Leo as Jeremy. We’ll say, “Who do you think you are, Jeremy?” or “Take a look at Jeremy over here” or “Ewww! He’s a total Jeremy!”

One day we will have to explain to Leo that Jeremy is not his name. It’s just his snotty alter ego.