20 Months Old!

There are so many funny/cute/interesting things that Tripp is doing now that I want to be sure to remember in 6 months, 3 years, or 10 years.  Below are some that I know will make me laugh later, and might make you laugh now!  Join me on a walk down recent memory lane...

• Every morning when he wakes up, there's very little crying.  Instead, he stands up in his crib and very politely says, "MaMa, DaDa, WaWa, Please" --- asking us to bring him "wawa" (anything in a cup - milk or water)
• They sing lots of songs at school, so it is no surprise if he busts out a bold rendition of any of the following songs/poems while playing or riding in the car:
• ABCs
• Rain Rain Go Away
• Old McDonald (with a puppy, cow, or boy on his farm.. or occasionally, a pig)
• Five little monkeys (jumping on the bed)
• Five little ducks
• It's Raining, it's Pouring
• ... and more!
• He's starting to put together phrases and sentences.  I was surprised the other day when he heard a sound from another part of the house and looked me, raised his eyebrows, and said, "What was that, mama?"  Whoa. 
• He loves "Monkey George" (i.e. Curious George) and "Elmo" --- constantly wants to watch one of them on TV when we're at home, and we usually have to tell him that they're night-night so he'll drop it and find something else to do.  We aren't necessarily anti-TV in our house, but when you get the Abby's Flying Fairy School theme song stuck in your head for an entire 24 hours, you know it's time to take a TV-break, for everyone's sake.
• He LOVES his daycare and all of his friends & teachers there.  He talks about them every day on the way to "school" -- Miss Ash-ey (our favorite teacher, Ashley, pictured below), Mimi (Mila), Ari, Day-Day (Davis), Av-ey (Avery), Mako (Miss Jamaico), Vonka (Miss Veronica), and others.  but those are his favorites.
• Lately, he's been wanting to check to make sure everyone's "OK".  He'll sit at the dinner or breakfast table and the following conversation ensues.
• Tripp:  Mama, ok?
• Mama:  I'm ok, Tripp.
• Tripp:  Dada, ok?
• Dada:  I'm ok.
• Tripp:  Tripp ok.  ok. <continues eating>
• We've taught him to (sort of) spell his name.  Usually, it's T-R-I-P.   Who needs that last P anyway?
• He loves trucks of any shape, size, or kind.  He points out fire trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks (though I'm pretty sure he thinks they're "toe" trucks, since he usually points to his feet) and pick-up trucks.  Also loves a "bool" bus and choo-choo train.
• The airplane fascination is growing by the day.  There's this little airport near by (Peachtree Dekalb) that has a playground next to the runway... nothing beats an outing to see the airplanes go "up up up up" and "down."
• ... i'm sure there are more.  I'll post them later, because this is as far as my brain is going today!

And some daycare photos:

Reading one of many "Llama Llama" books

Music with our favorite teacher (and frequent babysitter), Miss Ashley

Pushing our friend (not sure of this boy's name). 
Note the marker all over Tripp's shirt, pants, shoes.
Pretty typical for him to come home covered in marker,
which USUALLY comes out of his clothes.

Happy Hump Day!
Meg

Rollin' the Dough

No, No...  not rolling IN the dough, as in multi-millions in lottery winnings... just rolling the dough, as in  Play Dough. Tripp's teachers have told me that this is one of his favorite activities, so I am glad it was finally captured on camera.  The class plays with Play Dough several times a day, or so say the teachers, and while they play, they sing "Roll Roll Roll the dough, gently down the stream..." to the tune of... you guessed it, "Row Row Row Your Boat."  Kinda weird, but keeps them entertained. 

Rollin' the green dough

If asked a question whose answer is not immediately obvious to him,
Tripp makes this gesture while saying
"I not know"

... 'Tis pretty cute.

Hope you had a happy hump day!
Meg

Follow Friday & Flyswatter Art

Happy Fall and Happy Friday!

 

I haven't had a chance to do a Follow Friday in a while --- and I don't really have too much exciting to share about websites to peruse or blogs to follow... but, I would like to give a special shout out to a few favorite Pandora radio stations. 

 

For those of you who don't know, Pandora is a free online radio service that allows you to pick an artist, select a station featuring that artist, and enjoy music in that same genre, streamed directly to your laptop, smart phone, iPod touch, or other internet ready device. ... all for FREE!  (well, you have to listen to an advertisement every 5 or so songs, a small price to pay). 

 

It really is great.  I often listen to Pandora while fixing dinner for Tripp at night after work, and I actually tend to prefer Pandora to the news and all of the mud-slinging going on in this year's election season.  If I ever find myself with extra time at work and no meetings on my calendar, I log into Pandora on my phone and put in the headphones to get some tasks knocked off the list.  It really is a great way to zone out to some great tunes!

 

So, my favorite stations lately on Pandora have been:

• The Band, featuring songs by The Band --- duh --- but also music by the Allman Bros, Doobie Bros, Blue Oyster Cult, Marshall Tucker Band, and other similar-sounding classic rock musicians
• James Taylor (I find very few things as soothing as his voice) featuring other soothing artists such as Van Morrison, Cat Stevens, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Bob Dylan, and the like.
• ... and at Christmas time, you can find a Holiday music station and not have to buy all those songs on iTunes while trimming the tree and decking the halls.  'Tis perfect.

So... tune your radio dial to Pandora and watch the magic unfold... ha.

Sidenote: I also have only recently delved into the world of Spotify, but have little to report thus far.  My friend Libby (Sexton) Romano introduced me to it on a recent girls' trip, and so I'm still learning how it works & how I can use it.  The first thing I noticed is that I am not sure that it is free... but maybe i'm not doing it right.  Ha...  More to come on that...

And without further ado.... Flyswatter Art at school --- Whaaaa???

Have a fab weekend.  Don't fear the reaper.

Meg

Paging Doctor Roughen

Our Little Friday Artist

Happy Weekend!
Meg

Go Speed Racer!

From Ash to Hickory: Daycare Transition

The time has finally come... Tripp is moving up to the next daycare class (from Ash Classroom to Hickory) and he will be with kids his own age, rather than a room full of super cute, yet mostly immobile infants.  These last few weeks, I have just been waiting on that call telling me that Tripp had trampled some poor unsuspecting infant bystander while showing off his new walking skills.  That call never came, thank God, but I certainly am glad that he's moving on up.  Below are a few pics from his last few weeks in Ash.

Getting into trouble in the corner

Pushing best friend Sadie in the wagon 

Art project with Miriam and some pine straw (?)

Nature Walk with Miss JoAnne

HATING water play

Cuddling with Miss Miriam & Davis

"hiding" on his cot

Eating with Davis at the big table | Side note:  Don't they resemble two 80 yr old men?

Espanol Class

We will definitely miss our teachers in Ash --- JoAnne, Miriam, Clarisse, and Kyra (and various fill-ins from time to time) are forever in our hearts.  I would absolutely, without a doubt run into a burning building for each one of them!

Meg

Boxed In

One leg in...

... and an arm...

... Success!

Recently, while perusing the daycare photo albums, I came across this montage of Tripp showing off his flexibility and agility by climbing into the 'box' that is in their classroom.  Nothing if not adventurous!

Have a great week,
Meg

Resolution 3: Hunt Easter Eggs

Well, of all the resolutions so far, we blew this one out of the water with 3 different Easter egg hunts.  I would like to say that our skills sharpened over the course of the three hunts, but alas... they did not.  Instead, Tripp was more interested in chewing on the very first plastic egg he found rather than filling his basket with loot.  Oh well, there's always next year, I suppose!

Hunt #1:  Our Neighborhood

The first hunt was on the Sunday before easter & hosted by our sweet next-door-neighbors Kara, Bobby, Elizabeth, and Allen Morris.  It was held in the courtyard of our condo, and included all the neighborhood kids, of which I think there are 7 within a couple years age.  It was a fun way to spend one of the first warm, spring afternoons.  Unfortunately, that warm day also came with mosquitoes, so we were dodging those.  All in all, it was a fun event.  Here are a few photos of Tripp during his very first hunt!

Found one...

... and only one!
(red hair, confirmed)

Hunt #2:  Daycare

Next, Tripp participated in a hunt at his daycare on the Thursday afternoon before Easter.  They did a great job of separating the infants from the big kids, and had more eggs than I could count.  Looks like he had a great time with his buddies from his class & his teachers.

These healthy eggs were stuffed with Cheerios

Hunt #3:  Birmingham

Next, we enjoyed a hunt in Birmingham with what felt like a million other kids and a reported 8,000 "hidden" eggs, all filled with (melted) chocolate and a few prizes.  It was quite an experience and I think that both Tripp and cousin Ann Fulton were a bit overwhelmed.  Below are some snapshots from that mega-hunt.

Prepping for the action with Ann Fulton (19 months)

"Gimme the eggs!"

On your mark... get set...

GO!

Tripp & his loot

The Easter Bunny stopped by, and Tripp checked out his dental work

The Matt Roughens

Resolution #3 was a great success.  Can't wait until next year when the hunting skills will likely improve.  Hope the Easter Bunny was good to all of you and that you are enjoying the candy still!

Meg

Daycare Update: 10 months

I know, i know... I've been a blogger MIA this past week.  I'll try to catch up this weekend & fill all (2) of you in on our Easter and other fun, but in the meantime, here are some recent photos of Tripp at daycare during this, his TENTH month.  (Can you believe he's almost 1?  wow...) 

Making a Birdfeeder with Corn & Bird Seed.
Sounds & looks like an ambitious (read: messy) project for infants,
but I'm not the one who has to clean it up, so I'm all for it.  Broadens his horizons.

"Cheese"
Hangin' at the playground.

Making a handprint for some uber-crafty art project

Tripp loves to "read" these days. 
If we were to hypothetically put him in his crib in the morning with a book,
it would hypothetically buy us an extra 30 minutes of sleep while he entertained himself.
(Not that we have tried this...)

More playground love.

He's a joy!  ... and a nut!  His daycare teachers have already warned us that at school (like at home) this little dude is full-throttle all the time and as curious as they come.  So... prayers & good vibes will be much appreciated once he starts walking!  We are in for quite an adventure!

Have a great weekend & look for more (hopefully, interesting and insightful) posts after this weekend.

Meg

Cupcake!

One of Tripp's classmates at daycare turned 1 last week, and it appears Tripp very much enjoyed his first cupcake as part of the celebration!

Hope everyone's having a good week!
Meg

The "Stud" at Daycare

After spending some quality overnight time with both sets of grandparents while Matt and I were out of town celebrating our anniversary, Tripp returned to daycare this week to hang with all the ladies.  He isn't the only boy in his classroom, but from the looks of the photos below, he's the most popular with the chicks!

Tripp & all his ladies from daycare
(check out the look on his face!)

 

Showing Off his skills
(... or "raising the roof")

Working in the kitchen with his sleeves rolled up

Isn't he a stud?!  Hope you had a happy hump day!
Meg

Feet Painting

Another innovative daycare activity:

prepping...
the green paper is the 'canvas'

covering the feet with paint
(he looks pretty excited about this!)

  

The Masterpiece!

Enjoy your weekend!

Meg

Messy & Lovin' It

Tripp is starting to eat more and more 'table' foods at daycare.  Each day, they love to tell me what new yummy treat he ate (and loved) from that day.  Our little oinker devours most anything they put on his tray, except anything green.  Takes after his daddy in that respect.

Anyway, thought some of you may enjoy this recent photo from him eating some unidentified culinary masterpiece.

And... since he's such a mess, he often runs out of 'cubby clothes' into which he can change during the day.  So one day, he ended up looking like this:

Hope he doesn't get a nickname in daycare of "Pink Pants."
That could really damage his ego.

Meg

A Short Story

Sorry for the lack of posting this week.  Here's a short story to explain why.

While mom has been at a conference here...

Tripp has been hanging with dad and doing this...

the end.


Have a great weekend!
Meg

PS.  let's face it, all anyone cares about is the photos anyway, right?