Saturday, January 24, 2009

Mr. Personality


OMG- This was one of those weeks that Preston was full of personality and kept me on my toes (and smiling.) He is just changing so much right now, that I feel like everyday we are experiencing something awesome and new. I have been trying to take as many pictures as possible because hey- I gotta keep up with my new years resolution of more blogging.
So here are some highlights of our week...

To the horror of some of our friends and family, we have chosen to allow some TV over the past few months. (I know- but I promise we won't raise a vidiot kid and we are watching everything together rather than just plopping him down in front of the tube to fend for himself.) Just a few shows- Blues Clues, Sesame Street and occasionally The Wiggles. At this point, he will watch for a few minutes, then take off to play with something else. He's definitely not yet at the stage where he can follow an entire episode of Brothers and Sisters with me, but I am working on it. ;)
Anyways, here he is dancing along with Snuffy from Sesame Street.




One of his favorite meals is spaghetti. Hmmm... no bib. Daddy must have put him in the chair that night. It was straight to the bath after this.







We aren't sure what this is about, but he's doing it quite a bit lately. Actually, it's often a precursor to a tantrum, but in the shirtless pic, we were explaining that he needed to get dressed and asked if he was cold. And this was his response.




This was another common pose this week, I guess. (See also- spaghetti pic above.) He's really starting to ham it up when he sees my camera.



This picture melts my heart because he has recently learned that a gator goes "Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!" Which we say while smacking our hands together like the jaws of a crocodile or alligator. So he was across the room and I was trying to snap a shot of him doing that, but only got the end. (Damn shutter lag on my camera!) But you can still see his little mouth was saying, "Ssthomp, ssthomp!" It's so cute in fact, I'll have to try to get it on video.



And here's some other general cuteness to get your week off to a good start!





Friday, January 16, 2009

17 months!


Is is just me, or is there NO WAY our sweet baby could possibly be 17 months old? Honestly, I look at this little boy before me and wonder where that tiny newborn has gone? As we approach the year and a half mark with Preston, we are constantly reminded why parents are perpetually tired- this kid doesn't stop. He can tear apart a room in 20 seconds and leave days of messes in his trail. He can go from one activity to another like a wind up toy and still have energy to keep going long after we've konked out from chasing him.

He's talking in 2 or 3 word sentences- even if it's mostly just for Kevin and me, and his now has a vocabulary of probably close to 70+ words. I'd say 25% is recognizable to others and over half of what he says is recognizable to us. He's much more verbal around just the two of us- probably because that's when he's most comfortable and confident with his vocabulary since we understand him the most.

He's almost 22 lbs and getting taller every day- although we haven't measured him in a while since it's hard enough to get him to hold still just to change his diapers. We've been meaning to get a cute growth chart so he can watch his progress, but suffice it to say he's still tall and thin. :)

In other news, the cabinet guys finished Friday afternoon. (Even though we were told last Monday- I'd just like to point out that Kevin and I called it! - We said all along that it would be Friday of this week and unfortunately we were right.) Oh well- they are done and I am very happy with them. I am so ready for people to be out of our house all day long. This has been going on since we moved here in September. Wait- scratch that- since we bought the house a year ago- although I much prefer NOT living in a home that is under construction. So- the last few things to be done in the kitchen are the microwave installation above the stove which our contractor's electrician is doing, the cabinet doors need to be adjusted, the hardware needs affixed and we need to paint. (We are doing the painting ourselves.) I promise to take some pics once we are done. Until then- enjoy these of Preston over the past few weeks...

Look at this face!



"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain."
Having a blast at the toy store:





Hanging out at home - snackin' on banana and rollin' in the living room.





Sunday, January 11, 2009

Recent Preston Pics!

In keeping with my new years resolution, I thought I'd update the blog with some pictures.


Preston loved having extra time with Kevin over the holidays since he had so much time off work. I have to take a moment to say what a amazing dad Kevin is. He absolutely lives for Preston and the time they spend together is a treat for both of them. When I was down and out with the flu one day in between Christmas and New Years, Kevin loaded Preston up and took him to the golf store. While they were there, Preston got to practice some putting skills and apparently, thought that he was pretty good because Kevin said he took off with the putter a few times.




Here he is after helping daddy change a light bulb- also while I was sick on the couch...


Playing with his new "learning mower" from Grandma and Grandpa:




Lovin' on Bunny. Actually, have I ever blogged about Bunny? He is truly a member of our family and to say that Preston loves him is a gross understatement. He is literally Preston's favorite thing in the world. We received Bunny as a baby gift when I was pregnant and from about 7 months on, he and Preston have been inseparable. Recently, Bunny's eye thread came loose and Preston is now walking around going, "Oh no. Uh-oh!" while he points out the injury to us. It's really sad, so I scoured the internet for another one. Problem is, the company's newest version of this toy has carrot embroidery on one side and Preston's does not. I was lucky enough, after an hour of serious internet searching to find the non-carrot version and put my order in. Hopefully it will be here in the next few days.


Having a blast at It's Playtime!




Being a stinker and throwing a little fit:



We've had a busy couple of weeks around here and the kitchen is STILL not done. The cabinet guys (shocker) have run into some problems, so I'm going on 8 days of having my stove and dishwasher sitting in our formal dining room. Everything is boxes- it's like we've just moved in. I'm being told Tuesday of this week, but Kevin and I are both better on Friday. Wanna make a guess? I'll take bets...

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Hello '09!

Preston wants to wish everyone a Happy New Year!


Christmas was so much fun for Preston this year! We spent Christmas Eve at Lake James with my mom's family and then headed back home for Christmas in Fort Wayne. Christmas morning was really special at home just the three of us watching Preston open his gifts. I had big plans to make us a nice breakfast, but we had just thrown out all our food that had gone bad when the power was out and to complicate things further, our kitchen was in terrible shape (as it is again - thanks to our slower than average cabinet guys) so it was hard to fix anything other than toast and coffee. As a side note- I just have to say that the next house we buy will come WITH a fabulous kitchen because this remodel might just be the end of me. Thankfully, we had tons of food awaiting us at Aunt Kim's house for the Erb Family Christmas that day, so we knew we weren't in danger of going hungry. :) We have yet to celebrate with my dad's family because of the ice storm and then the WORLD'S WORST stomach bug that hit our house two days after Christmas and just left, so we are looking forward to that. Here are a few pictures of the holiday:
Our street in the ice storm:



Christmas Eve:




Coming downstairs with Daddy on Christmas morning:



Getting ready to open the farm at home on Christmas morning:




Christmas with the Erbs:






One of my resolutions is to make more blog posts- even if it's just putting up a few pictures here and there in order to stay updated because Preston is changing so much these days. We are thankful that the new year is upon us as we felt like the ice storm and the flu threw things off for the end of '08. Not to worry, though... we are now healthy and raring to go - expecting great things for 2009! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to a healthy and happy new year!
Love,
The Erbs