Playdate with Nonnie

Kyle had a great "playdate" today with Nonnie. After playing at the house for a little while, we went to the playground (where we had a surprise visit from Grammy on her way home from the gym). As you can see, Kyle LOVED going down the slide. And lucky for me he finally figured out how to climb the steps to the top, so that I don't have to lift him up each time...I credit Aunt Ca's rigorous stair climbing "boot camp" for this accomplishment.


And it was only a matter of time before his eyes caught sight of the swings. Despite his very serious facial expressions, he absolutely LOVES swinging. But it's not usually a pretty scene when the swinging has to come to an end (flailing temper tantrum). Fortunately, Nonnie wanted to push him so I was able to veg out on a picnic table in the shade. And amazingly, he didn't flip out when it was time to go...I think he was on extra good behavior for Nonnie, or "Nun" as he calls her. Thanks for a great visit Nonnie!

Fun in Tewksbury

Kyle and I had a fun visit up in Tewksbury yesterday with Nonnie, Auntie Jayne, Uncle Mike and Great Grampy. After a very cautious start to the visit (where it took Kyle about 5 minutes to muster up enough courage to "climb" the 1/2 inch threshold from Great Grampy's driveway to porch), we had a wonderful meal at Great Grampy's country club. The weather was PERFECT, so we ate outside, which made Kyle a very happy little boy because he could watch people golfing, and more importantly watch all the golf carts drive by. He even got to go for a quick ride on a golf cart with Auntie Jayne (along with the guy who was parking them)...that was quite a thrill! And he loved watching the fish in the pond with Nonnie and Auntie Jayne.

The only low point of the meal came when Kyle became very frustrated that he couldn't get the wheels on his toy truck to spin so he angrily launched it across the table, knocking over a glass of water, which landed on Great Grampy's lap and then shattered on the patio. Whoops!

After dinner, Kyle enjoyed a walk in his stroller with Nonnie and Auntie Jayne. He also liked checking out Great Grampy's new car (which of course had everything that Kyle looks for in a car...license plate, taillights, wheels, etc). Kyle really enjoyed his visit with the Ruggiero side of the family! Oh, and this was Kyle's first long car ride since I had his car seat turned to the forward-facing position last week...he did pretty well on the ride up (was very mesmerized by his video), but not so well on the way home (although it was past his bedtime which may have had something to do with his fussiness). I'm hoping that being forward-facing will make him a much happier passenger going forward (pardon the pun).

Visit with Nonnie

Kyle had a great visit with Nonnie today! He was especially excited to show her his new issue of Car & Driver magazine, demanding that she identify every car/truck that he pointed to (and getting very frustrated if she dared to speak to anyone else during this "interrogation"!). He seemed quite satisfied with her knowledge of cars and their various parts. And as much as he enjoyed the visit, he also enjoyed watching her car drive away (as he doesn't get to see many cars "in action", living at the end of a dead-end street these days)...let's hope Nonnie's AC worked well on the drive home!

School Boy

Kyle had lots of fun today surprising Nonnie with a visit at her school! He was very "official" with his visitors badge and enjoyed all of the commotion that the end of the school day brought. It was probably the most people/activity he's ever seen at one time, but he wasn't at all overwhelmed by it. At one point, he ran out of Nonnie's classroom and joined the sea of kids heading down the hall, trudging along like he belonged...very cute.

And he LOVED going outside and watching all the school buses drive by...he probably saw about 15 total, up close and personal, and was in school bus heaven. Nonnie's arms are going to be very sore tomorrow though, because she impressively held all 30 lbs of him for about 15 minutes straight when the buses were driving by...my arms get tired after about a minute of holding him!

And of course he enjoyed his favorite parking lot activity of pointing out wheels, license plates, taillights, etc on random parked cars. But I think his favorite part of the day was just hanging out with Nonnie (and seeing/meeting all of her nice teacher friends). He should sleep well tonight!

Big Boy Bath!!

So after 17 months of baths on the kitchen counter in his infant tub, Kyle has finally graduated to the big boy bath!! I realize that we should have made this transition about 6 months ago, but we had such a quick/easy/happy routine down that we weren't very motivated to mess with it. But he has DEFINITELY outgrown the "counter tub", so it was time. He's now had two baths in the big tub and seems to enjoy splashing around in the extra space.

Perhaps another driver in making this change is the fact that he gained a whopping 1.5 lbs this past month!! He weighed 26 lbs 15 oz on his 16 month birthday, and 28 lbs 8 oz when we weighed him Monday at 17 months. This seems like a pretty big jump for this age, but I'm not surprised because he literally feels heavier to me each and every day...picking him up is like lifting a ton of bricks! And he's also become quite the little beggar. We can no longer eat in front of him without him begging for some. Like tonight, he ate a good portion of my black bean and tofu burrito. I'm happy he's a good eater, but I do miss the days of being able to snack on the couch in peace.

Officially Walking!

Yes, Kyle is officially walking now! He walks all around the house, and has surprisingly good balance for a new walker...very few falls so far! And he can also stand up by himself, without holding onto anything. It's just so cute having this happy/proud little person wandering around all day :)

Lots of Steps!

Kyle is definitely starting to catch on to this whole walking thing! He provided our entertainment last night, walking back and forth between his toy box and the ottoman, over and over again (while playing "fetch" with a coaster). Such a cute and exciting milestone, and he seems so proud of himself! And this morning, he's been doing some unprovoked walking, without us encouraging him...fun!!

A Few Steps!

Kyle was taking a bunch of steps by himself tonight, as you'll see in the video!

Getting Close!

As you can see in the video, Kyle is (finally!) close to walking! He will now walk around the house with us holding just our finger. And he seems to like it! And for the last few weeks, he'll take a step or two when cruising from one piece of furniture to another. But I couldn't really say when he took his milestone "first step"...it just blended in with his cruising. The big "first step" milestone in my mind will be when he takes a step or two out into the open, with no foreseeable "landing zone". My thought all along has been that he'll be walking by Valentines Day, and it now looks like that's a pretty safe bet.

And yes, he is wearing a sweater vest in the video! There were a couple random days where he took VERY long naps while wearing that sweater vest. While I'm sure this was just coincidence, I will periodically put him in it when I'm hoping for a good nap. My wishful thinking failed me today...he just took his usual 2 one hour naps.

And I'm sure that you're all on the edge of your seats waiting for a diaper update! Well, Pampers Overnights were the answer...he hasn't woken up wet since we switched! And I've discovered that pulling up a Baby Einstein video on YouTube is a GREAT distraction for him when changing his diaper...he's MUCH happier which makes it MUCH easier!

And today was a big day (I'm being sarcastic)...Kyle actually drank a whopping 6oz of milk from his sippy cup over the course of his 12 waking hours (with me shoving the cup in his face at every opportunity). I literally think this is the most he's ever drank in a day (he does take 8 oz of milk at night mixed with his cereal). He clearly likes milk but must be part cactus because he is just NEVER thirsty!

Diaper Update

As you know, I was looking forward to my break from diaper duty today. But of course Kyle woke up dry and without a poop this morning for Jared. Of course!! The dry may (hopefully) have been because of the overnight diapers that we bought. But no poop? I'm not exaggerating that he has literally woken up EVERY single weekday morning for the last couple weeks wet and with a poop. And Jared's luck continued through the day...no poops, which is just soooo rare! He typically has one each time he wakes up, meaning I do 3 nightmarish poopy diapers before Jared gets home from work (morning wake-up and two naps). Anyway, enough about poop. But it just supports my favorite expression..."it must be fun to be Jared" :)

And I forgot to report that Kyle had a great 15 month check-up last Monday. He weighs 26 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile) and was 90 something percentile for height (I don't remember the actual measurement). So he's doing great, although he has a slight runny nose (might be from his shots). Hopefully it doesn't turn into a full-fledged cold!