16 Months Old!

A few days ago, John turned 16 months old! Since his birthday in May, time has really flown! People often ask me how old he is and I really have to think about it. I'm looking forward to when I can stop counting the months and just go by years - that will be easier on my brain!

I really enjoy my days with John and I love watching his personality bloom. He has a minor shoe obsession and will bring me my shoes periodically during the day and insist that I put them on. I always put on the shoe he gives me and sometimes I find myself walking around the house with just one shoe on. He is also learning about how he can control situations and people. For example, he will often motion for me to come with him and if I don't, he will come over and physically turn me and push me in the direction he wants me to go. It is pretty cute at this point...

I try to take him out often to do fun things. We go to the library and parks, and play with friends. I know he enjoys getting out of the house because yesterday he motioned for me to come with him and led me to my purse. I gave it to him thinking he wanted it, but then he gave it back to me and handed me my flip flops. Then he walked to our front door and tried to open it!  Fortunately, he hasn't successfully opened a door yet, but I'm glad he knows what I need to leave the house. Maybe he will start reminding me when I forget something!

Here are some of the latest goofy pictures of little Johnny:

Blackberry-face!

Wearing Clare Herring's glasses and riding her bike!

Feeding himself!

DMB - Road trip!

On the first weekend of September, John spent the weekend with my parents and we took a road trip to the Gorge Amphitheater to see the Dave Matthews Band with our friends - Ed & Corina, and John & Lauren. We took two cars, a girl car and a boy car. It was really fun to have some girl time!

I had never been to the Gorge, and it was very beautiful. We were a little disappointed by how windy and cold it was. The concert was lively and entertaining, and I have a greater appreciation for the variety of instruments they use. Too bad they didn't let us take cameras into the the amphitheater!!

After the concert was over, we piled in the cars and drove to Corina's mom's house in Wenachee, which was an hour away. We set up our tents and camped in her yard. When we woke up in the morning everything was quiet, so we weren't sure if the others were awake. As it turned out, everyone else had been awake for over an hour and they had already eaten breakfast! They figured we were soaking up our sleep since we don't normally get to sleep in!

It was a nice break from our day-to-day lives, but I sure was excited and happy to see John when we got home!

John Quotes ~ Vol.2

Here are some of the new words John has been saying:

• Belly button = "be-bu"
• Shoes = "shoo-sh"
• Hot = "aht-t" - whenever I do anything with the oven, stove top, or microwave he comes over and, at a safe distance, he will wave both his hands and repeat this word over and over. He definitely gets the concept.
• Broom = "sep" (I think he is saying "sweep")

He has become very vocal lately, and although I don't understand most of what he says, I know he is understanding a lot of what I say to him. When asked, he will point to these body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, head, hand, finger, toes, and bellybutton. When he points to his bellybutton, he insists on seeing mine too... silly guy! He also understands a lot of the little directions I say: "Give it to Mama", "Come here, John", "Let's go change your diaper"... and so on.  It sure is fun watching him learn new things every day!

Berry Picking

Last week we went blueberry and raspberry picking with some friends. John caught on quick and enjoyed eating the blueberries. He didn't quite get the concept of putting them in our bucket and saving them for later...

Lauren, Elena, Emily, James, Laura, and Charlie -- we had a blast!! 

We drove together - can't believe the three kiddos fit in the back!

The boys - chowing down on blueberries!

Lunch time

Onward to the raspberries!!

Come on boys!

"Forget the raspberries, lets play in the grass!"

Silly Guy!

John helped me do some organizing and had fun dressing up in this robe!

The Point Defiance Zoo

On August 26th, we went to the zoo with our church's homeschooling group. John got to see all kinds of animals! I'm not sure which one was his favorite... he actually really enjoyed jumping on one of the storm drains in the "Asian Forest" - that was probably his favorite part!

Actually, his favorite part was probably playing in the kids area and the end of the day:

Craft Time - Making a Clubhouse

John is getting more and more hands-on. I bought him some toddler crayons which are a little advanced for him, but he likes trying to use them anyway. We put the crayons to use on this box we got from Costco. We had a few crafting sessions, and (with a lot of help from me...) in a short time, we made this clubhouse for John. He really loves sitting in his box clubhouse!

Toddlers only - cause there's no way I would fit in it!!

He liked trying to put stickers on the box

Who knew you could have so much fun with a lettuce box!

Forest Park

We have had a pretty busy summer! - Which is why I am so behind on updating our blog! In August we went to Forest Park with our friends, the Herrings. It was such a blast!! They had everything there: a petting farm, huge playground, fields to run in, a little water park... and the best part was - it was all free! We are definitely going back next summer! Thanks, Herring clan, for all the fun!

John really liked the chickens!

Of course, John wanted to play with the brooms... and the poop shovels! =(

Even baby James got to play in the water!

John was so tired by the afternoon, that I rigged up this bed for him!

Cuteness!

Here is a much needed dose of John's cuteness:

Awe!

Huh?

Sometimes he insists on lugging my purse around - what a gentleman!

Huckleberry Picking 2010

We had a truly wonderful time on our third annual huckleberry picking trip.  It is our third year going as a married couple, but the St.Hilaire family has been going for over half a century! All my worries about camping with a toddler were for naught (see my own tips below). We drove down to the Mount Adams vicinity last Monday, picked berries all day Tuesday and headed home Wednesday morning. I was looking forward to this trip all summer and now I am sad that it has come and gone.

I think it was a great success! We picked four pies-worth of berries, which is really good, considering we were toting along our wee-one. Last year we picked only three pies-worth, but we went home with five because Mom and Dad St.Hilaire generously donated two. So this year wasn't too shabby in comparison!

The weather and bugs were also good this year. Our first year going was really rainy. We even had to dig a trench around our tent to keep water out. Then last year we were swarmed with yellow jackets... but this year was just perfect!

The best part of the trip was being with our family! It is always so wonderful spending quality time with our dear relatives!

To follow up with my concerns about camping with John, here are some of my own tips for camping with a toddler:

1.  Bring A LOT of clothes! - John got really dirty, so it was nice having a bunch of clothes as a back up. I also recommend socks and close-toed shoes. The first night he was wearing sandals and his feet got really dirty and we had to clean them with baby wipes before he went to bed. The next two days he wore shoes and socks and that made clean up a lot easier!

2. Bring baby wipes - I used these a lot to clean his hands and face, they definitely came in handy!

3. Bring an umbrella stroller - I had no clue that John would cling to this stroller and entertain himself by pushing it around. That is basically all he wanted to do. I'm not kidding either. Aside from entertaining him and keeping him out of trouble, we also used it as a highchair at meal time and strapped him in it when we were sitting around the campfire. This thing was a lifesaver! Now my only problem is when we pass by it in the garage, John cries if I don't let him play with it...

4. Try to stick with your routines but also be flexible - For bed time I tried to have a similar routine for John so that he had the cues that bedtime was coming. I also made his sleeping area really cozy and familiar with blankets, his pillow, and a stuffed animal. The first night was rough because he thought the tent with our air mattress in it was his own personal blow-up fun house! He was very hyper and it took a lot of effort to get him to settle. Finally he did, but later I made the mistake of tying to comfort him when he stirred during the night. He basically ended up sleeping with us the first night. The second night went a lot smoother. He was not as hyper and I was able to do our routine, which was read a book, pray, shadow puppets (not normally part of our routine!), and then I sang him to sleep. He actually wanted to go to the little area I set up for him. To my surprise and delight he slept the whole night in his spot and didn't join us on our mattress until about 6am! I had to be very flexible with nap time tough... he basically snoozed in my baby carrier and it wasn't a very long nap! =(

5. Let them get dirty and explore - I wanted John to have a lot of fun, so I tried to be more relaxed about what I let him get into - as long as he was safe. He picked up rocks and put them in his stroller, touched tree sap, crawled in the dirt, walked off the trails... all sorts of things that made me cringe a little inside. But I know he had so much fun and now that I had that experience of him getting really dirty, I think I am a little more relaxed about it at home in our own yard. Kids need to be kids after all!

My darling picked probably three whole pies-worth of berries on his own!

Getting ready to go pick berries!

 There was a neat cave near our picking area!

Looking out from inside the cave

Our sleeping arrangement

John's best friend

Relaxing at the campsite

My handsome men in flannel!

We visited Multnomah Falls on our way home

I love John's expression here!