Tuesday, April 30, 2013

April 30, 2013

Just some pictures of the random stuff Peter loves!

 SWINGS!  Can't get enough of 'em!  He would swing for hours if that were an option . . . he has started to enjoy the slide, too, but the swings are definitely his first love!
 Mommy & Daddy's bed, Sesame Street, Grapes, Goldfish and movies . . . the perfect Sunday afternoon!
This is Peter's tent . . . does it look a little strange to you?  He likes to roll it around his room while inside . . . what a goofball . . . this morning he stopped at his book nook and read for a bit!

Monday, April 29, 2013

April 29, 2013

Peter and I had a perfectly lovely morning earlier this week . . .
We tried out storytime at Barnes & Noble (and discovered that, unlike library storytime, this one is geared toward 5 year old girls who sit quietly while an old lady reads a boring book - Peter did, however, retain what he learned and was able to tell Daddy that the book at storytime was about a birdie egg that actually had an alligator in it!)  He was rewarded for his reasonably quiet demeanor with a book about the planets (that has - gasp - STICKERS!)
Following the reading of the boring book, we ventured to the carousel where Peter chose to ride the froggy . . . more important though, were the 4 rides on the escalator that we took prior to lunch at Panera. 
Peter is becoming such a fun buddy to explore with.  He is also really learning to re-tell what we did to someone who wasn't there.  However, he has also discovered how to whisper (never when we want him to) and usually shares the events of his day in kind . . .
 







Saturday, April 27, 2013

April 27, 2013

And opening for Alvin &  the Chipmunks . . . . Los Banditos!  Did I mention that Peter loves "Chipmunks:  Chipwrecked"
 
 



April 26, 2013

Bisa came over to play this week . . . I think they are really starting to enjoy each others company . . . Peter regularly asks for Bisa and looks forward to playing . . . as much as they have fun together, their little personalities are polar opposites . . . I think this first picture illustrates that fact quite well!
 





Thursday, April 25, 2013

April 25, 2013

Earlier this week we baked chocolate chip cookies . . . Peter loves cookies and chocolate and making messes . . . so, it was kind of the perfect activity!  Peter is a great helper when baking.  He is good at stirring, pouring and turning the mixer on/off . . . BUT . . . he is especially good at tasting the almost finished product!  It doesn't hurt that Daddy is a an eager partner in sneaking bites!





Wednesday, April 24, 2013

April 24, 2013

We finally had a sunny day so were able to return to Meijer Gardens for more butterfly chasing . . . as it turns out, the butterflies hide when it is dark and rainy (which it has been for a couple of weeks now) . . . today, however, it was bright and sunny and the butterflies were soaring and diving all around the tropical garden.  Peter really enjoys watching them and sometimes even tries to catch them.  He was particularly intrigued with the caterpillar "knowledge boards" this time around . . . I am pretty sure it is because they flipped over and he thought that was fun :)
 


 I just love these next three pictures  . . . my sweet, gentle little boy!


 

Monday, April 22, 2013

April 22, 2012

 What's the easiest way to clean your kid up after playing with paint and glitter glue?
Give 'em a whisk and a sink full of soapy water!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

April 17, 2013

Peter has been enjoying an old Baby Einstein dvd called "Baby Galileo" lately.  Here is his approach to getting us to play it for him (there is no way we can say "no" to such cuteness so he watches it waaaay too often!)
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Peter?"
"Bed?"
"Yes, you can get up on Mommy &; Daddy's bed" (hoist him up onto our impossibly high bed)
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Peter?"
"Movie . . . Tweekle, Tweekle?" (this means can I watch a movie, specifically, Twinkle Twinkle?")
At this point, he continues to sing snippets of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star . . .it sounds something like this . . .
"Tweekle, Tweekle, Star . . . wonder . . .what are . . . above . . .world . . . high . . . diamond . . . sky . . . tweekle"
ADORABLE!
The movie discusses various sky-related themes (in an extremely basic manner). . . sun, clouds, stars, planets, galaxies, space . . . he recognizes them all and announces which segment is about to begin once the word comes up on the screen.  Pretty cute, right?  But wait, it gets cuter!  He loves the planet section and says all the names of the planets when they come on (yes, even uranus).  We thought he has just learned by rote which ones come next . . . However, today we ventured to the Air Zoo (thanks for the tip, Aunt Whitney).  It is a super cool place that he truly enjoyed.  They have a large space display which he really liked.  We were shocked when he approached the planet display and could name almost all the planets (not necessarilly in order).  His favorite is Jupiter (outside of Neptune it was the prettiest, so I don't blame him!)
He had a fun time riding on the hot air balloon rides and viewing a 4d movie called "Fly Me To The Moon" . . .










The joystick in the cockpit I was playing in (see above) jumped out and bit me :(

Sunday, April 14, 2013

April 14, 2013

I have been an absentee blogger for about a month now . . . so, I would like to call these next three entries:  "Blogs for posterity, future wife and grandmas"  Because, outside of moms, grandmas and the future wife, no one really cares about this stuff . . .but, I do, because, quite honestly, I have an awesome kiddo!
Peter is such a smart little cookie. 
He has such a large (and sometimes quirky) vocabulary.  Wherever we go, he needs to identify everything (and does, in a rather triumphant voice!).  Some of the fun phrases he uses regularly are:  Yikes!  Mommy Awesome!  Mommy Help You! Mommy(which actually means he needs help)  Mommy Ready, Set, Go!  Mommy Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!  Tweenkle, Tweenkle Star!  Mommmy  Clock! (anytime he sees a watch or clock so you can imagine how often we hear that one) . . . did I mention Mommy?
For the most part, Peter pronounces words correctly . . . however, there are a few exceptions:  "minos" means piano, "tar" means guitar, "nana" means eat, "ninas" means bananas, "jojo" means he would like to watch a particular dvd and up until yesterday, "ite" meant elephant. . .
Peter can identify most fruits and vegetables, weirdly, he can identify persimmons, parsnips, figs and lettuce in addition to the usual suspects!
He knows and can identify most animals and the sounds they make (we have been to 2 different zoos - I think his favorite zoo animal is either a lion or a giraffe)
Peter knows all the names of and can identify all his family members . . . he does struggle a bit with Paisley, calling her pulazy . . . adorable, nonetheless
Peter can identify, correctly say and make the sounds for all the letters in the alphabet except for "c" and "l"
He knows how to count to 14 (and then says "teen" five more times before saying 20).  He can identify numbers from 0-9
Colors are still a bit of a mystery to Peter.  He knows all the names of the colors and 7 times out of 10 identifies them correctly, but we're still working on that.  He has a definite affinity for yellow.
Peter can recognize all the basic shapes, including diamond, heart and oval.  He likes to point them out when we are out and about.  He especially likes to point out circles and triangles (or trigles, as he calls them)
Some of the things Peter likes doing most are:  reading books (he would let us read to him all day if we were willing . . . .he enjoys perusing them alone, too . . . and, he is quite good and reciting many of the lines in his favorite books), taking showers (unfortunately, much like his dad, he enjoys a long, hot shower), playing and listening to music (he LOVES guitars and drums - and pretends to play everything like a guitar - he especially likes it when Grandma plays the piano or dances with him), swinging (we can't wait until it gets warm enough to go to the park everyday), watching Sesame Street (favorite characters are Ernie and Elmo - but, he know all the characters by name, even the obscure ones like Telly and Rosita), playing with his chuggers (Grandma & Grandpa have lots of trains that go by and he calls them choo trains), online video chat with grandparents (he asks for "pacetime" aka facetime with grandma and grandpa and "kype" aka skype with Grammy & GrampS) and last, but certainly not least, watching "Rio" (I can practically recite all the lines from this movie!)
Peter has always been a great sleeper, but he has really started to enjoy naptime and bedtime, asking to go night-night or saying he is sleepy. He has a special Christmas blanket that he got from GG that he always has to snuggle with.  And, of course, he has Travis, his little bunny.  We always have those special things with us, in addition to Ernie (who sneezes) and Rocky (his raccoon blanket). 
Peter is a good eater, even though he has a slight frame.  Some of his favorite foods are:  grapes, oranges, berries (of all kinds), cheese, cereal bars (aka cookies), spaghetti, turkey, hot dogs, chocolate and bagels.
Peter still gets daily breathing treatments to help keep his airways open, but I am happy to report that he has remained relatively healthy since his hospitalization in October.  He has had a couple of colds, but now that we know how to properly manage his respiratory health during a cold he is able to tolerate them much more easily.
And, in a final nod to the fact that no one, besides grandmas is still reading this:  we got a potty chair (the Elmo one that makes the flushing sound) two days ago and he has successfully used it three times already . . . I have no illusions that this will continue, but we just want him to start getting comfortable with the concept.

Update for February - March

I got to visit my good pal Sami way over in Bay City . . . she has her very own roller coaster!  It was super fun

We went to see the butterflies at Dow Gardens  . . . most of the butterflies were hiding because it was a dreary day, but we still had fun!

Meijer Garden has a huge butterfly garden and I have visited it several times already . . . I think bufies (as I like to call them) are fascinating . . .seeing them fly around relaxes me so much that one day I decided to lay down on the ground in the garden and ask for my blanket so I could take a nap!

We visited Grandma & Grandpa's for Easter again this year.  The Easter Bunny was very generous and brought me books, bubbles and LOTS of chocolate (which I LOVE, by the way)

Bunnies are delicious, in case you didn't know!

If you go check out our easter pictures from last year you'll see how big I have grown . . .

We visited Grammy & GrampS for a week and did lots of fun things.  I got to have a sleepover at their house, but most fun of all was going to "Touch a Truck" with Gramps . . . there were so many cool vehicles (and even a helicopter) to explore!

We snuck in line to check out the fire truck!  Shhh . . . don't tell Grammy!
 
I like the Grand Rapids Childrens' Museum . . .

 . . . especially the drums . . .

 . . . and the mirrors . . .can you guess which face is actually mine?

I LOVE BISA!

I LOVE RHETT!

Update for January . . .

 
That's right . . . I'm riding a chicken . . . what of it?!?!?!

Uncle Drew had a little too much fun with the paint pens!  I LOVE the paint pens and have a set at home and at Grandma Flesher's house now . . . they are not only great to color with, but apparently taste delicious, too . . .

We visited the Atlanta Aquarium while we were in Atlanta . . . I had an awesome time!  My two favorite parts were the dolphin show and the jellyfish

Aforementioned jellyfish :)

Sledding is fun, but cold . . . lots of layers required!

As mommy mentioned, guitars are just about my favorite thing in the whole wide world . . . Auntie B is an awesome guitar player and even got one of her out to let me play!

This is my buddy Tatym . . . I think she's super cute, but she can be a little bossy :)