Leo's been here 13 months

On Leo's one year post I reported that he's trying to do lots of things. Here's an update on his progress:

Talking: He's getting better at words like "hat" (which used to be 'ha' but now sometimes has a 't' on the end) and "back pack" which used to be 'ta ta' and now sometimes is 'pat pat.' He's added duck, car and of course, mama to his list. Frank says that Leo likes to point at things and state the obvious. About 30 times a day he points at his hats and says, "hat!"

Walking: Not real close on this but he does get around with one knee up and one knee down; we call it the "proposal" move. His left leg is all red today from doing this on concrete.

Sippy cup manners: We've taken to tying his cup to his high chair. Forget teaching him the right thing to do; I was tired of picking it up! And speaking of sippy cups, he's also an SC klepto. I always catch him stealing other kids' sippies at playgroups.

Getting his teeth: The top two have come through so he's got four total (and he uses them...not to bite food but to bite mommy).

Getting his hair: Do they make Rogaine for babies?

Standing up, clapping, saying "bye-bye": He has, like, a masters degree in this stuff.

Hat Chat

Hats and back packs rank second and third, respectively, after balls in the list of Leo's favorite things:

Life's a beach

You play hard...
...and then you crash.

Book Worm

While I packed up Leo's clothes and what-nots for our Memorial Day getaway trip, he busied himself by taking all of his books out of his cabinet and piling them up on the floor.

I first thought this was a sign of a literary genius but changed my mind when he started eating them.

"Now's the time on Sprockets when we dance"

That's what Frank said when he first saw Leo in these too-tight pajamas:



As you can see, they're very snug in the rear too:

If we keep him in these too long, he might consider figure skating as a career choice.

Not Always Sunny

A lot of people make the comment, "Leo looks like such a happy baby in your pictures. Does he ever cry?"

The answer is YES! Here are the things that set him off:

• When mommy or daddy leave the room
• When he wants to be carried but we put him down
• When his push toy runs into a chair, wall or person
• When he's carrying a dish towel while crawling and it gets caught under his leg
• When its naptime and he doesn't want to sleep
• When the food doesn't come fast enough
• And as demonstrated here in this video, when he can't get his hat on his head:

Rockin' Out

Leo and his friend John attended their first rock concert this week. Now they can tell their friends they've seen Bon Jovi. Actually, it was a Bon Jovi cover band--Slippery When Wet. But I'm pretty sure they didn't know the difference.

Jamming to my favorite song before the show:

Leo waved bye bye during Slippery When Wet's rendition of "Never Say Goodbye"

You know you're getting older when you're holding a sippy cup instead of a beer.
Simciks love Slippery When Wet!


"Yeah, Bon Jovi!"

Mama's Day

Leo has said "mama" and "dada" for awhile but never really to us. But right after his birthday he started pointing to Frank and saying "dada." He even did this for a crowd.

Crowd: "Leo, where is dada?"
Leo turns around and points to Frank.
The crowd goes wild.
Crowd: "Leo, where is mama?"
Crickets.

So he did this dada thing for about a week but no mama.

But since he's a guy who does major things on holidays, he had a big surprise in mind for me.

On Mother's Day while I was sitting at the computer and he was playing at my feet, he pulled up on my chair, pointed at me and said very clearly and deliberately, "MAMA." I cried. I ran to the baby book and jotted it down. And he's been saying it ever since. He just points at me and says "mama" over and over again. I love it!

I haven't captured it on video but here are a few pics from our mother's day picnic:

Pointing at his mama:




Future basketball player?


With some chick he picked up in the park:

Standing and eating! So coordinated!



I love his face here! It's like "What are you lookin' at?"

What a difference...

...a year makes!

Party like it's 2009

As Leo says (or was it Robbie Keen?) "The road goes on forever and the party never ends."