Another playdate!

So I guess Stephen just needed another small person to chase around to make him want to walk more! We had another playdate today with Stephen's buddy, Alexander, and Stephen took off chasing after him (walking) a few times with no prompting. Alexander was walking behind a push-toy, and Stephen just decided to "get him!" I had to stop him each time, though, because I was afraid that they would get hurt if they fell - Stephen is about 6 inches taller, and 10 lbs heavier than Alexander, and I didn't want him to get hurt!

Stephen enjoyed looking out their back door, watching the two dogs run around. It was a nice day, but really windy, so we weren't able to spend too much time outside today.

Tomorrow (Valentine's Day), we are planning on going to lunch at Steak N' Shake. All three of us like eating there, and we don't go too often, because it's a 30 minute drive. Other than that, we don't have much planned for the weekend. We ARE going to work on some babyproofing projects in Stephen's room, though, because I discovered that he is less than an inch from outgrowing his crib, so if Stephen is going to be in a toddler bed in a couple of months, we need to minimize the amount of mischief he can get into in his room!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

And a Number TWO from Number One!

Just what I'm sure everyone wanted to read about, right? Poop! Tonight Stephen pooped in his potty for the first time. I'm not convinced that it was more than an accident, because he didn't give any of his normal indications that he was going to do it, but all of a sudden, there it was! Stephen was very proud of himself, and enjoyed watching it go down the toilet. I know that it doesn't mean it will be easy when the time comes to potty train in earnest, but at least we know he isn't afraid of his potty chair!

And for those of you wondering, we are going to wait a few months before we really start to "train." I'm waiting until it gets warmer so we can do some nekkid days to make it easier to get to the potty without accident. He is already learning how to pull his pants down, so that's another step in the right direction as well!

Oh, and I forgot to mention...

Stephen can now recognize 3 letters on sight, and say what they are. The letters that he says are "R," "L," and "O." He won't always do it if asked, but often will do it without prompting while playing with his alphabet magnets. Correctly.



Not like this:

Holding down the fort while Daddy is away.

Erik left for Houston on Thursday for a conference, so Stephen and I had to keep ourselves entertained on our own for a few days. Not a big deal - we've done it before, but I totally have respect for all of the single parents in the world! I definitely have a new appreciation for "Me" time!

Anyways, Erik left Thursday afternoon, but that morning, Stephen decided it was time to start working on his singing skills. So far, however, he is somewhat lacking in the "skill" department. He makes up for it in exuberance, though! One of Stephen's favorite songs is "Mary had a Little Lamb." He also likes the Sesame Street version: "MURRAY had a Little Lamb," but the original is definitely his favorite. After a few minutes of hearing, "Mayweeee... Lam.... Lam! LAM!!! Maaaaaayweeeeee..." I realized that he was singing his song along with the version on his toy piano. Of course, there was no tune to it, and those were the only words he sang, but he sure was excited to do it! We later took Erik to the airport, Stephen took his nap, and then he sang more and more.

On Friday, our friends Amy and Alexander came over to play. Amy is the piano professor at Erik's school, and Alexander is her 1 year old. We had a great time! Stephen tried multiple times to engage Alexander in different activities with him: cars, ball, piano, but Alexander, being one, doesn't quite understand the idea of playing WITH someone. Frankly, I was kind of surprised that Stephen did, as it has been my understanding that at his age, kids still like to play by themselves together (side by side play), but I guess I shouldn't be that shocked. Stephen has always been good about playing WITH me and Erik, especially activities that require taking turns. The other little boy in this picture is obviously Alexander. Stephen was a little rough, but was definitely intrigued with the other small person who was playing with his toys. He never tried to take anything from him, but he really wanted to love on him, and didn't understand that Alexander is much smaller than he is. We will be working on that, though, since Stephen will have a new cousin soon, and we can't have him being rough with his cousin, whenever we get to see him!

Today, we headed over to the bookstore. We had planned on going for storytime this morning, but Stephen opted to sleep in instead (THANK YOU, son!). Since I had already told him we would go look at books, though, I had to make good. Stephen picked out a new book for himself, and I got a new cookbook. Nothing too exciting on tap for today, but we pick up Erik tonight, so that makes us all happy!

Number 1 from Number 1

Well, after months of having Stephen sit on his potty before bath (mostly in an effort to keep him from peeing in the tub), he FINALLY went in the potty! YAY! We are pretty sure he knew that he had to pee, because he normally gets up after about 30 seconds of sitting there, and tonight he just sat and sat and sat, and then - ta DA! We don't know when it will happen again, and we aren't actively potty training yet, but at least now we know that HE knows what the potty chair is for... YAY!

Naptime post

Stephen has always had difficulties when it comes to sleeping. My mom swears I was the same way, so I guess what goes around, comes around! Anyways, as of late, he has been falling asleep more quickly, and staying asleep all night long for the most part. He used to sleep through the night - he started that when he was around 4 or 5 months old, and it continues blissfully until this past summer. I don't know what the cause was, but we had about 6 months of just awful sleep around here, all three of us! But, since he has been sleeping better at night, the naps have been harder. So, we decided to stop fighting him on the naps, and if he decides not to take one, then that's just it.

Today, he was tired. Really tired. He fell asleep relatively quickly, and when I heard the snoring, I went to his room to make sure he was covered with a blanket. This is how I found him:

Yep, 100% totally asleep. Cute, huh? I just tipped him over onto his side, covered him up, and he just woke up from his hour-long nap. Silly boy!

Super Bowl, baby!

No photos, because we were just having too much fun, but Stephen really enjoyed what he watched of the super bowl! But what he loved the most, though, was the Audi commercial shown during the first time out. You know, the one where a guy was riding a motorcycle and crashed, flying head over feet quite a ways into the air? Yeah. He loved that one.

Ok, he also enjoyed the picnic dinner that we let him have so he could WATCH the game. I brought his picnic table into the family room, and we set him up there with his PBJ, orange slices, yogurt, and milk. He had better table manners at his little table than at the dining room table - he was quite the little gentleman! Hmmmmm... maybe there's something to think about there?

And he had an awesome day with his walking. Lots of stopping and starting mid-trip, and going for pretty long distances as well. It must have worn him out pretty well, because he fell asleep fairly quickly tonight, unlike the previous few weeks when it would take him upwards of 90 minutes to finally give it up at night. Woo Hoo!