Grandma Julie's house

After the lake we had a quick, but fun stop in Hermiston to see Grandma Julie!

I snuck this photo through the window because I didn't want to ruin the spell. Grandma got Miles to eat fresh peas from the pod. Shhhh, don't tell him it's a vegetable!

Always a good time splashing around in the backyard pool.

Playing around at the park.

A little rest by the river.

Grandma and her boys...love this picture!

Wallowa Lake (part 2)

I'm so behind with posts that I just couldn't really write much on the last post. But, I think the pictures are able to say a lot for me. Our family vacation was a lot of fun this year again. We all stayed in the same cabin, so it was easier to hang out and see people more. The location was beautiful and pastoral. A nice break from city life for sure! Miles managed the car ride okay, with a few touchy moments toward the end. All in all though, it's really too long to ask a toddler to sit in a car seat. He was also cutting three teeth at once, those horrible, pointy eye teeth. I think this contributed to an increased wariness and lots of mommy clinging. Who knows for sure. He may have also been overwhelmed by all the people and the new environment. He seemed to be warming up to everyone towards the end, but alas, we had to go. As a side note, Craig's sister, Karen is visiting SLC right now with three of her kids and Miles has been playing with them happily and with no problems. So, hard to say what contributed to his unease in Oregon, but it seems to have passed.

We spent a lot of time visiting and feeding the horses. No fear (on Miles' part-Dad was a little more nervous!).

First official graham cracker-delicious!

Digging around in the shallows of the lake-the lake itself is C-O-L-D!!

Running around on all the grass we had available to us-what a treat!

A fun little hike to a waterfall. I still have dreams that he'll want to walk on his own on hikes since he loves being outside so much, but it really hasn't happened yet.


Last night and see, totally warming up to everyone!


Trying to get a family picture, but notice the child making his getaway!

All the grandkids in one spot-don't blink!

Wallowa Lake (part 1)

Concentration

New sounds

Miles added these new sounds to his 'vocabulary' right before we left for vacation. I was able to catch him jabbering on the car ride. We think it's quite adorable, but we're also anxiously awaiting more words, so any new vocalizations catch our attention immediately!

I wasn't kidding

There was always a ball somewhere nearby, usually in Miles' hand!

20 months!

A few random shots from our recent vacation/friend's wedding. We had a great time-more posts to follow.

He can spot the smallest bit of trash (aka treasures) on the ground and makes a beeline for it every time. This was an abandoned straw he found. It's really quite shocking how much litter is strewn around.

The typical, excited ball face!

hilarious.

Here we are at 20 months already! Miles is still not very verbal, but he uses the sign language he knows to it's full capacity. The other day he was able to communicate that he had cat hair in his mouth (one of the hazards of living in this house). I'm trying to teach him some more signs, since I think that will help all of us. In the meantime, he uses the words he can say like a broken record. I'm sure he has sentences going on in his head like, "Mama, the ball is under the dresser, can you help me please." However, this is what I hear: "mama, mama, mama, mama" followed by some frustrated noises if I'm not fast enough!
In a funny twist, he has also started calling me "mommy." No idea where he picked it up, since we don't really say it. It's pretty cute, but also a good reminder to really start watching what I say.
Still in love with balls and cars. Seriously, I think he had a ball in his hand every minute of our vacation! He was a trooper on the car ride, but I think it was just too much to ask of a toddler.
We only have on tooth left to come in. He got three new teeth while on vacation. Yeah for ibuprofen!
We're trying to get back into our schedule now here at home. He's doing better with his sleeping, but still no real consistency through the night.
We have an outdoor boy on our hands. He loves to get outside EVERY chance he gets. This is great, but considering how much he hates getting sunscreen applied, well, it slows us down sometimes.
Overall, he's a happy, easy kid. We've entered into some stubborn challenges lately-like wanting to touch the fan....constantly! However, this is no surprise considering his age. Is it really possible that 2 is right around the corner??