Photo Friday

And I now return you to your regularly scheduled post of Lewis-cuteness on a Friday!

We had a couple of “warm” days this week when Lewis and I were able to get outside while it was all the way up to 15 or 20 degrees and no wind, instead of the -25 with windchill that we’ve been having! We played out in the snow on Tuesday and walked the the library Wednesday, and were both very happy for the chance to get out of the house. Yesterday and today have returned us to the land of mega winds and sub-zero temperatures however, so we are stuck back inside. Here are a few photos of how we are keeping busy this week!

A bubble bath, and a look of intense concentration as he watched the water pour out the holes of the cup.

Lewis has recently started actually building things when given different types of blocks and building materials, rather than just waiting for us to make a tower he can knock down. I was washing dishes as he played and when I came over to see what he was up to he proudly told me he had made “Uncle Kenny on his ski mountain.” (These are magnetic Tegu blocks. We love them!)

Bubble blowing! This was a favorite outdoor activity in the summer and we are now loving it as a way to keep busy inside as well. Lewis is getting better and better at actually blowing the bubbles!

In-air shot as he leaps onto a pile of pillows. Wheee!

Another action shot.

A glimpse at our messy living room as well as the ridiculous number of pillows we own, seen here fashioned into a very long caterpillar.

 

Photo Friday

Hello! I hope everyone has enjoyed a lovely Christmas and New Year! We flew to Michigan and spent two weeks with Chris’ family. It’s always nice to reconnect with them since we only see them once or twice a year. Lewis was a bit shy at first, but warmed up quickly. He especially loved getting in on whatever Uncle Ben was doing, whether that meant trying to play his tablet games for him or sneaking over to steal some of his snacks! The weather was chilly but there was no snow while we were there and we went out to play for at least a little while almost every day. We also kept busy visiting with some of the extended family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, went to the Toledo Zoo to see the lights, and made a trip to the Hands On Museum in Ann Arbor because Lewis had loved it so much when we went this past summer. Our plane flights both ways were pretty uneventful, and Lewis was an excellent traveler.

We have been home for almost a week now and Lewis transitioned seamlessly back into our every day life. He’s had a haircut and a dentist appointment since we’ve been home, and he did awesome with both and got many comments on how patient/polite/cute/etc. he is. He really seems to be growing up more and more each day!

This next week we have another adventure planned. Chris has work, so he will be staying here, and Lewis and I are going to travel to Vermont for a week spent with my family. This will be our first time really spending time away from Daddy and it will feel a bit strange at first but I know Lewis and I will have fun and Chris may even enjoy having a quiet relaxing house all to himself for a little while!

Most of today’s pictures are from our trip to Michigan, with just a couple thrown in from some shaving cream fun today.

Opening presents Christmas morning, in his new moose jammies.

Testing out Uncle Ben’s new shoes.

Joining Uncle Ben to see what game he was playing.

Lewis loved getting to play with some other kids on Christmas.

Family photo. 🙂

We had fun exploring the woodsy area behind Grandma + Grandpa’s house, and Lewis was impressed with how tall the trees were.

Watery fun at the Hands On Museum.

Lewis spotted a can of shaving cream in the bathroom this morning and requested to play with it.

Messy fun! (With a bonus of fairly easy clean-up.)

Photo Friday

Hello and Happy Friday! You may have noticed I missed posting last week. No real excuse, but I seem to be slacking in the photo-taking department. This week has been annoyingly rainy so we’ve been trying to keep ourselves busy with inside activities. We’ve also managed to get a little more cleaning done than usual, which I guess is a bonus. Today the rain has eased up a bit so we went outside for some puddle-jumping. I’ve been working on an adorable Halloween costume for Lewis, and I’m sure next week will be full of fun pictures of pumpkin carving and dress-up cuteness.

We tested out our face paints this week. Lewis requested a jack-o-lantern on one hand and a ghostie on the other.

Peek-a-boo!

Messy art with glitter glue, glue, and glitter.

Splash!

Making paths in the mud with a stick.

A bit blurry, but so cute snuggle up with his doggy!

Photo Friday

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday! Things have been pretty much business as usual around here with art projects, baking, playing outside, and strewing toys all around the apartment. Our most exciting news this week is that Lewis has decided to start wearing underwear! We bought a pack for him about a month ago because we were having many many struggles at diaper change times, but he was uninterested in trying out underwear. This week he finally got brave and gave it a try, and he has realized that he much prefers it, mostly because he doesn’t have to lay down and be confined to the changing table to put it on, he can just step in and run off to play! He is doing really great overall. We’ve had a few accidents of course, but we are very proud of the progress he is making!

Eww, this melon feels slimy inside!

Cooling off with some water play.

My big boy in his new underwear!

“These tongs are the perfect tool to eat my lunch with!”

Balloon-face baby.

Mmmm, homemade popsicle snack! Lewis’ favorite.

Camping At Verona Beach

This past weekend we were lucky enough to be invited camping at Verona Beach State Park. This was the third time that Chris and I have joined our friends for a weekend at this lovely little camp ground, but it was Lewis’ first time doing any camping and staying in a tent. He loved it and did absolutely great with tent sleeping!

Lewis had a wonderful time exploring the campgrounds, playing on the two playgrounds, gathering acorns, riding a bike trailer, making new friends, and eating camp food. Although the campground is on a lake and the park has a nice sandy swimming beach, we didn’t get to go swimming while we were there. The weather was a bit chilly and windy for most of our stay, and the beach was also closed due to blue-green algae blooms. We had a lot of fun and kept busy with other things though!

Lewis’ first time in a real sand box. Too bad we can’t build him one at our apartment!

“We have to walk all the way to the end Mama!”

Making friends with a seagull.

See-saw.

His favorite thing on the playground: The creepy duck, which he named “Quackington.”

The lovely view from our campsite.

Lewis and Cameron ready to ride the bike trailer over to the other playground. Later on they hooked the trailer to Cameron’s bike and he pulled Lewis around for a bit.

“I’m riding on a dinosaur! This is so awesome!”

Campfire and sunset. Lewis was completely entranced by sitting and watching the fire and the sparks drifting up.

Michigan Trip – Part 3

Still playing catch-up here! 🙂 These photos will wrap up my post about our first week there, which means I will still need to share all about our second week! And since I seem to be dragging my feet on getting these posts up, I am also starting to develop a bit of a back log of other more recent events to post about as well. However, I’m sure you’ll all enjoy seeing Lewis photos and hearing about our adventures whenever I happen to get them posted – even if I’m still sharing summer photos in October! 😉

Most of the photos in this post are from July 4. We had a BBQ and got to hang out with more of Chris’ extended family and some friends of the family. Lewis was napping when everyone arrived and was a bit overwhelmed when he woke up to find a bunch of extra people there. He warmed up a bit to everyone, although he mostly stayed close to Mommy and Daddy and I didn’t really get any photos of him with other people. The exception was little Peyton, who he had a lot of fun playing with. It’s fun to have someone your own size to run around with!

Lewis and Chris were invited to join in on some fishing fun, and were given a little fishing pole to borrow. There was no line on it, but Lewis’ world is all about imagination anyway and he probably had more fun with this than he would have doing “real” fishing!

My little baby bird, mouth wide open waiting for Daddy to deliver the next bite of chocolate cake.

Wagon rides!

His first ever s’more. He also had his first ever marshmallows the same day, and decided he prefers them ‘raw’ over messy sticky roasted ones. Mostly though he would just like to steal the chocolate bars for the s’mores.

These two little ones had a lot of fun chasing each other around and around and around!

My little story teller.

Another day, playing with the giant beach ball Grandma bought him.

Lewis thought it was hilarious when Daddy was throwing the ball up onto the top of the tree!

Photo Friday

Hello wonderful people! You may have noticed I didn’t post last Friday. We were busy spending a long weekend at my family’s cabin on lake Champlain! It was a lovely little mini-vacation, though it never feels long enough. As usual Lewis loved the lake, the rocks, the outdoors, and all the relatives. I’ll be doing a separate post about our trip (sometime, when I manage to get around to it…) but I’ve included a couple of sneak peek photos.

You’ll also notice from a couple of these that Lewis has developed an aversion to clothes. He fights getting his wet diapers taken off, and fights even harder when it is time for a clean one and clothes. He is spending a lot of his time naked recently. This isn’t a big deal when we’re just spending time at home, but it becomes a battle every time we need to go outside (to play or to go somewhere). Since we live in an apartment complex with a lot of neighbors and a lot of people passing by every day I’m not comfortable letting him go outside naked, although we made a bargain that he could go out in just a diaper a few days ago. Hopefully this clothes-rejection phase passes before the weather starts getting cold!

Dish washing in the nude.

A lovely rainbow over the lake. We didn’t see any actual rain while there, just beautiful perfect weather.

Lewis and Auntie Ellen exploring the rocks on shore.

Naked chalk art time.

“There are puddles and I can wear my rain boots? I guess I’ll let you put some clothes on me just this once.”

We collected black walnuts from a nearby tree, and decided to attempt cracking them open to see what was inside. They were messy!

New birthday shirt and new slippers!

Michigan Trip – Part 2

As promised I am trying to get back on track with regular updates and especially with posting the rest of the photos from our trip to Michigan! I’ll just pick up this post where I left off with the first. 

It was very wet and rainy while we were in Michigan, and they had been having lots of rain for several weeks before. The ground was completely waterlogged so each time it would rain there would be water just pooling everywhere in the grass, on the driveway, etc. because it couldn’t soak into the already-soaked ground.

Splashing in a puddle of water on the deck near the fire pit.

We had plenty of sunny days as well, but everything was damp. Each time it looked like the sun was finally drying out the lawn we’d get another rain storm and everything would be soggy and mushy again. It didn’t stop us from spending lots of time outside though!

As I mentioned in my first post, we also went on lots of day trips to different places. One of Lewis’ favorites was the Hands On Museum in Ann Arbor. They have one big room designed specifically for younger kids, and that is where we spent most of our time. We met up with one of Chris’ high school friends and his daughter, but she is a few years older than Lewis and they basically went their own separate ways within the museum.

The “Preschool Gallery” had a lot of fun things to explore, including places to climb, baskets full of toys, puzzles, a big water table, and Lewis favorite: a big interactive ball machine with lots of paths for the balls to follow and tons of balls for kids to carry around, put onto the path in different places, see them get sucked up a vacuum tube, etc.

Lewis and I discovered a bucket of big plastic bugs which were right up his alley. He loves bugs!

Carefully placing a ball at the top of a ramp.

Sending a ball down a spiral path. He could have played here all day!

Back at the house there were lots of fun things to explore outside on our non-rainy days. Lewis loved Grandpa’s tractor and lawn mower!

He practiced climbing up on a ladder with a little help. (A skill that he is now getting more and more confident with on our recent trips to the playground.)

Grandpa showed him where to find some yummy ripe black raspberries.

He did a little digging in the garden with grandma’s tools, although most days it was too muddy for this!

And we all had fun blowing bubbles together with a big bubble set that grandma picked up.

There are more photos than I even realized we had taken, so you can look forward to at least two or more posts about our trip! Coming up next: our 4th of July BBQ with Chris’ family, and more fun playing outside.

 

 

Photo Friday

Hello and happy Friday! Once again I apologize for my complete lack of updating. (I still have most of our Michigan photos waiting to be shared with you!) Most of my creative energy and free time recently has been going into the ICAD challenge, and a bit of art journaling which that has inspired. The challenge is finished as of yesterday, and I managed to complete all 61 index cards – one for each day in June and July. It was a wonderful and inspiring experience and I plan to work hard at keeping up a daily creative habit. However, I won’t be sticking strictly to art/index cards/journaling for my daily creativity now. I have some crochet projects waiting in the wings, and not to mention this blog sitting here sadly neglected! Writing blog posts can count as a form of creativity, right?

Lewis has also been a busy guy recently. His days are filled up with playing outside, eating crayons and chalk, refusing to wear diapers, playing outside, nursing, reading books, and coming up with a million amazing imaginative play scenarios! We walked to the playground to play twice this week and it is amazing how much confidence he has gained from the start of the summer. He now climbs up ladders, zooms down slides, and sits on the swings all by himself!

Lots of photos today. He is just so cute and so much fun, I have to share it all with you! 🙂

Checking out some mud puddles earlier this week.

“I don’t need to get my pajamas on, I’m all ready to sleep here naked in Mama and Dada’s bed!”

Driving his car along on the way down to the office to pay our rent.

He asked to wear Mama’s hair clips, and was very pleased with the result.

Busy working in his office, complete with a desk, chair, and computer.

Climbed up onto Daddy’s chair and declared it time for an ice cream party, complete with wooden box as imaginary ice cream. He gave me apple flavor. Yum!

Had to go get some party hats for us both. His was a bit big and mine a bit small, but at least he picked ones with colors to match our outfits!

His favorite thing to do with chalk is sit and pick at it with his fingernails. All the chalk art around here is done by me and Daddy.

He said he wanted to climb a tree, so I found a little maple and perched him in the branches.

Photo Friday

Hello! Photo Friday is back in action this week! I’ve been really slacking on the blogging recently, and have quite a bit of catching up to do. There will still be a few posts sharing all our Michigan fun, so I have left those photos out of this post. Even though a lot of time has passed since the last Photo Friday, it seems many of these pictures were taken all on one day – I must have been in super photographer mood that day! 🙂 We’ve been having some really great weather and are enjoying lots of time spent outside.

Bubble boy.

He carefully hunted through my collection of buttons and beads (which is currently dumped out in his sensory bin at his request) to find buttons that were “portabella mushrooms” to cook on the grill. Yum!

Chalk and water art.

Conducting careful experiments with spraying a spot on the sidewalk, then seeing how the chalk would draw on the wet area.

“Mixing matching” with his lovely animal magnets that Grandma + Grandpa B. got him last Christmas.

Cuddled up in a chair after a fun time swimming.

At the playground, his first time climbing up one of the little ladders all on his own!