It's a Girl!

Just wanted to share the good news!
Our little girl looks healthy and we're excited.

Big Things and Little Things

We have BIG NEWS!

We are so excited to share the good news that we are expecting baby #2 in early June!
I know we've already told so many people, but it doesn't feel official without a blog post. I have an ultrasound this Friday and if we're lucky we'll have a Boy/Girl announcement soon!

While it is hard to trump such a big thing as having a baby, Paul does a lot of little things that are also blog worthy; so here they are.

The Little Things

• Paul's vocabulary is growing every day. While his only official/consistent words are still "Ah Oh" and "Tick Tock" he repeats most words I say to him and can point words I say like ears, nose, water, car, etc.
• Paul has started to imitate me, and not just the little things that must look like fun to a toddler (e.g., taking out pots and pans, pushing buttons on the phone, and moving laundry from one basket to another). The other day he went into my bathroom, took out the blow dryer, plugged it into the electrical outlet, rubbed the dryer on his head, and then put it back in the bathroom drawer.
  
• Paul finally figured out how to climb on things like the kitchen chairs and then onto the kitchen table. I don't think he will be a climber, but he sure has fun conquering everyday obstacles.
• Paul is getting better and better at stacking blocks and legos. It keeps him entertained and gives me a nice little break. We recently set up a tent in the play room and often I find him in there just playing away with his various blocks and stacking toys.

Here are some pictures of what Paul has been up to lately.

Paul is obsessed with steering wheels:


Stacking blocks in his tent:


Merry Christmas!
Paul wasn't so sure about meeting Santa at Dad's work party. Maybe next year...


Paul with his big Santa gift:


Lots of love from his cousins and grandparents:


More fun Christmas toys:


Paul got to rekindle an old friendship when some friends got stranded here at the airport.
He was a bit nervous at first...


But things warmed up after he remembered the value of a good handshake:


Paul walking in Mom's shoes:


I know I shouldn't be surprised by it, but I still am amazed at how much snow has piled up after what has felt like so little snow fall. After all it is only January. At least it is beautiful.

Here is our house:

And here is the street we live on:


Finally, Paul's dancing just cracks me up. He has been "dancing" ever since he learned to sit and wiggle his hips. Every few weeks he adds a new step to his routine. The evolution has gone something like, stomp stomp, turnaround, squat, clap, lunge. Unfortunately he is even more interested in electronics than dancing so I've had a hard time capturing all of his moves on tape, but here is what I have so far.

Paul's snow adventure

8:15am
It is 15 degrees outside, but the garbage cans need to go out for weekly pick-up so I bundle up just to walk 20feet down the driveway and put the cans out. Back inside Paul looks out the window and gets very jealous. Upon returning Paul asks (in his non-verbal way) to go outside.

Why not I think!

8:25am
We are finally ready to go outside.

8:27am
The first thing Paul notices ... no not snow, the garbage truck which I will admit is pretty fascinating for a 1 year old.



8:30am
The second thing Paul notices is how annoying gloves are.



8:34am
After the gloves, he continued to roam around getting into everything but the snow. Eventually I give up on self-discovery and introduce the two. I don't think he knows what to make of the cold wet stuff. Maybe that is why he's been ignoring it.



8:35am
Upon realizing that his hands are cold (remember it is 15 degrees)Paul begins to cry and we make our way back inside.

All in all we spent about as much time getting ready to go out as we did outside, but it was an adventure nonetheless. Maybe next time I will have better luck getting Paul to keep his gloves on.


For kicks, here is a full visual of Paul in his snow suit. Oh how he loves just being outside.

October and November

We've been sitting back and enjoying these last couple of months. Most of the time you can find Paul and me either at the park or playing with/putting up the pots and pans. It is a charmed life, the highlight of which was Grandma and Grandpa's visit. Here are some pictures:

At the Park with Grandma:




Conquering the Neighborhood Park:


On top of the world:


Happy Halloween!


I can't believe how quickly Paul is growing up! He is definitely a toddler now and not a baby. We even got rid of his pacifier to prove it (well, during awake time that is). He has also made a big jump in comprehension. I feel like he finally understands the gist of what I say to him. I didn't realize how fun it would be to watch him figure things out. I'm loving it.

Paul also has a new haircut to show how grown up he is becoming. After a few days of unconquerable bedhead I caved in and buzzed off Paul's hair. I'm not sure why I thought he would act better than he did the first time, it was another miserable experience, but at least he looks a little nicer. Here is the new cut:






I'm not sure if it is the new haircut, all the cousin hand-me-downs he wears, or just my imagination, but I can't help but think this boy looks so much like his cousins on his dad's side. There is no doubt that this boy is his father's son.


Finally, I can't go another post without mentioning Paul's cast. He got it off about a month ago (yay!) and by now it is like it never happened. But when he first got it off he still walked around as if it were on. Even in his sleep he would keep his foot flexed. I thought it was the funniest thing so here is a quick clip of Paul walking the day after he got the cast off:

Pictures - and lots of them

It has snowed ALL DAY today and it is only October! I guess it is about time I got some of our summer pictures posted.

We had a great summer with family. It was especially nice for Paul to spend time with his grandparents, great grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. We are so grateful for all the wonderful support we have from family and the time we can spend with them.

Here are just some of the pictures of Paul with family from the summer...













Thanks to my family for watching Paul, and Chris's Dad for taking us sailing, Chris and I were able to enjoy a day with friends in San Diego this summer.


And if summer wasn't enough, Paul and I got to visit family again last month while Chris was traveling for work. Thanks to my parents who watched Paul over the weekend, I got to meet up with Chris in New York! Paul had a great time with family and hardly noticed I was gone. Thanks Mom and Dad!










(poor Paul, with a cast he can't ride a trike or swim)



Now that summer is over we've been settling into our new place. We've gone to the state fair, an apple orchard, and pretty much spent a lot of time outside. Here are more pictures...

(note the "Deep Fried Candy Bar" stand in the background
we got a kick out of that)





Unfortunately, this is the new reality:


Let's hope the weather warms up at least one more time before the real winter begins.

Day 1 of the Cast

I'm so proud of my quick little learner.
Paul is feeling much better today and it shows.
So far he has learned

1. how to crawl with his right leg sticking out to the side (the wood floor is his favorite because his leg just slides beside him)
2. that if he reaches his hand out towards an object I will immediately give him the object (Paul unfortunately thinks it is a game akin to dropping items and watching me pick them up over and over again)
3. how to stand up and even walk with a cast!
   

He still trips a lot when he tries walking, but at least he can stand up to things and get around. Way to go Paul.

I was lucky enough to catch his first try at walking on the video camera. Here he is:

Breaking News - Paul Broke His Leg

Well, actually I broke Paul's leg, but that sounds malicious and intentional and this was nothing of the sort.

Yesterday while carrying Paul down the stairs, I slipped and fell, dropping Paul in the process. When Paul finally calmed down, I discovered that while he was okay with sitting and crawling, he would start to cry whenever he would try to stand or walk and refused to put weight on his right leg.

Thankfully I really like the pediatric office he goes to. They got him in yesterday evening, took x-rays, and quickly confirmed that something was wrong with his leg. Today we had an appointment with a pediatric orthopedist who put his leg in a cast. In two weeks the doctor will take off the cast, do more x-rays and go from there, but I have a feeling that he will be in a cast for at least 5 weeks. I just hope that after two his cast won't have to go all the way up to his hip.

The worst part of this is that Paul has a respiratory cold and just feels miserable on top of having a broken bone. I'm hoping that when he starts getting over his cold he'll warm up to his new appendage.

That's the story, here is the picture.


I'm sorry Paul, I love you.