20 months

wrote on the 13th but somehow never posted it:(

I am not sure what has me posting Cap's last 3 month updates, but there just seems to be stuff I want to remember about these days. I think the biggest part of his growing this month has been his speech and language. I started "officially" homeschooling Cap a month ago. For now we have just started with reading, but that whole subject is for a post of its own. His vocabulary grew abundantly over just the first weekend of starting our reading. A lot of his words that he was already saying, he was really only saying them partially. Examples: Papa was Pa, Grammi was Mi, Nonna was Na, and so on.

He also started using two words at a time such as "goat cheese or pine needle". Now he is using two words all the time and sometimes more though very broken of course. Example: Pizza. Please. Papa's. House. It is pretty cute. Here are some other things to note about the month.

- loves to read books, but doesn't like to look at books by himself
- started to be very interested in puzzles. we only have two, but he like them a lot.
- will lay his head back in water on his own which is huge. since we started putting him in water at 2 months he has resisted  and fought on having to lay back to get his head wet.
- funny/ frustrating eater. one day loves spaghetti, then next day won't touch it.
- loves to rock climb, which isn't necessarily what you might think rock climbing might be:) but on occasion it is
- still loves balls and now is learning what all the names are to the different balls. his favorite right now seems to be basketball.
- starting to have more dry naps, but hasn't been good about telling us he needs to go potty, we just have been taking him
- goes pee less times a day than i do i think. he will hold it for 2-3 hours. we have entered a new stage of not wanting to stop what we are doing to go pee.
- doesn't want to go in public restrooms anymore:( we pee outside a lot!
- knows his colors, purple, blue, green, black, brown, yellow, orange, pink, and white
- getting the idea of numbers and counting, but just the "idea" of it
- still wants to help with whatever it is we are doing. cooking, sewing, shaving, putting deodorant on, etc.
- says "get you" when he wants you to chase him which is because we say i'm going to get you:)
- says "help me" when he want to help you
- same size but we don't have to roll all his pants up anymore
- still sleeps 7-7 with sometimes sleeping in a little longer and takes a 1.5 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon.
- we had a couple of weeks where he wasn't taking a nap about every other day. i was kind of starting to freak out, but we are over that phase thank goodness! that was rough!
- really into mandarins right now. will eat 2-3 in a row
- said thank you with words!!!! he always signs it, but he finally said it!

I think that about sums it up. There is always so much more, but you can't document everything!

Nonna and Cap blowing the leaves

He was seriously reading on the toilet:)

First bike ride

Really into his hammering

Riding toy wooden giraffe:)

Heart My Family

Lets be honest, when dad is home for a whole day with no work, after a great hard work week, well,  it is just going to be a good day! Lots of fun to be had. Not to mention, a day of adult conversation. I love days like this.

We woke up and had breakfast. Then we all cleaned house. We were done by 9:30 I think, so then we went out to get some groceries and run around town. Came home Cap napped. I sewed. Bryce woodworked. The boy woke up. Then the baking began. Cap was really wanting to help bake this morning. He was walking around with the wisp saying chocolate chips:) So I asked if he wanted to help me bake some Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. All he heard was chocolate so he said yes!

Cap like to taste every ingredient we put in the bowl. Flour. Salt. Baking Soda. Sugar. Yep. Everything. Then he says MmmmMmmm. Very cute. About 5% of the ingredients always make it back out of the bowl somehow.

But he loves to be involved in everything we do and wants to help the best way he knows how. Now is it helpful most of the time. Not at all. Quite counter productive most of the time. But this is what it is all about. Using everyday life to make teachable moments and being intentional teachers to our son. Does Cap 'really' clean the dishes with us, ha, no, but you better believe that he is going to find someone to bring his chair over to the sink so he can help us do whatever the heck he thinks we are doing with the sink full of water and bubbles.

Cooking and baking is just another great way to teach kids how to count, add, crack eggs, measure dry and wet ingredients, all the kinds of spices there are, etc. There are a lot of things Cap cannot do yet, but I think we underestimate what a 1 year old can do and also what he would love to be doing along side his parents contributing with the community. Instead of fighting his need for independence, which everyone has, we are helping him learn the skills towards independence which makes him feel like a champ, gives him confidence in himself, and makes him feel needed and part of what we are doing.

Anyways, all that to say, we had fun and got dirty!!! Oh then to wrap up our day, Bryce picked up pizza (you have no idea how many times I have had pizza this week! and it was my suggestion!!!), we ate some pumpkin bread (Cap wasn't a fan, may be he had too much of the dough), jumped off the couch 54 times and did 21 front rolls off of it, and got ready for bed. Good day.

Enjoy,

The Captain

If I had the time and the energy I could write about 10 different post pretty easily. Instead, I am going to cheat and just post a few pics of the boy. He will be 20 months in a week!!!! I can hardly believe it in some ways. It just seems so close to 2 years old! Wow! He has grown verbally tons in the last month. I have lots of things I want to post about soon, but like I said, this will have to do today. I really think he looks like me and my brother Bryce in these pics. Mostly the bottom one for some reason. What a cutie.

Enjoy

Yellow Fall

I still remember my first fall. 2005 in Yosemite National Park. It was amazing. I would walk to work early just so I could take my time and take all the colors in. There were leaves everywhere! I couldn't figure out if my hometown had "fall" and the colors that can come with it, and may be I just was blind to it all those years?? But that particular Fall changed that season for me forever.

Then I moved eventually to North Carolina. Wow!!! Nothing compares to the eastern trees during this time of year. Every color imaginable is painted over the forest. The colors change daily. You don't have time to even blink because you WILL miss something incredible. 

Now here we are in Colorado. It is definitely different. There is a fall. But you have to be looking. Your eyes have to be open. It won't be something that just hits you in the face, but it is there. Sometimes early in the morning when the sun is coming up, and you get those first rays on the trees, it can make them look almost on fire. It is just something else. You also can get a great alpine glow on the mountain range. The entire thing can look hot pink soaking in the sunshine. 

My reason for moving to Yosemite was to work with Pastor Steve Hughes and his ministry in the park. One of the best moves of my life. The way I grew, what I learned, who I met, it has just molded me into the person I am now. God fixed many hurt places inside of me while living there, running and hiking in the Sierras, climbing up the perfect granite walls. I could say SO much about my time there. BUT, Steve actually lives in Denver now with his wife Karen, so for the first time in several years we have been able to spend some real time together. 

Steve took me hiking up about 45 minutes from our house about a month ago. It was just great. It was a beautiful day, with great weather, but just being able to spend some quality time with Steve made my insides happy. I am so blessed to have so many great friends and mentors in my life. They have come and gone as God has had me all over the states and world, but I do carry so much in my heart so many lessons from each of them. 

So here are some pics of the day. Bryce couldn't come because he was on a rock climbing trip with a local school here. And notice the boy isn't with me either!!! Thanks to Grammi and Papa!

Enjoy!

A Month

Some days feel longer than others, then sometimes you realize you are 10 days into October and you don't really remember entering the month to begin with. It has been a LONG but GOOD 4 weeks. 

We made it through various obstacles and sicknesses. Cap had his first real throw up, which I almost feel should be a whole post on its own! He is talking like crazy! Putting 2 words together at a time. But we pretty much spent the last 4 weeks getting over one sickness...then another...then another....yuck! Cap's mood has been so fowl, lots of crying, but that tends to happen when you don't feel good. I was starting to think this was his new attitude, but Thank the Lord my boy came back Monday!!!!

He is back to laughing, playing, occasionally taking 15 steps away from me:) and acting like his smiley self again. I am so thankful he is better! So sense I don't take pictures anymore with our good camera, here are some pics from a cheap phone camera! These are all from the last month or so'ish.

On the way home from zoo passed out before even leaving parking lot

straw in hand of course

picking apples from our two trees out back

a day where i needed some smiles

this always makes you feel better!

trail running at Garden of Gods

turned my back on this guy and he was eating flour and cocoa with a fork!

getting ready to go to MOPS one morning

shaves with his dad now

one of those kind of lunches...and me needing to learn he just 

won't eat if he's sick...he lost 3 pounds!

fun new park i thought would lift his spirits...

not so much

this is what happens when your nap is too short

we were sitting on a rock watching the big trucks work

close to our house, he was just holding my hand

he found this bag clip one day and starting scraping the windows

it was making an awful sound, but then i realized he was trying to 

be like his dad and wash the windows!!! he was so proud once 

i recognized what he was doing.

climbing rocks on our first good healthy day in a month!

learning about scat that morning

being silly before bed with dad

my two guys whom i adore

Little Cabinet and Sign

Here is another home project I did in August. I forgot to post about this one when I finished it! This is a little sewing cabinet that was given to me. I just LOVED it the moment I saw it! 

The top part opens up and has a place to store all your thread and bobbins, 

depending on how big your stash is:) Not sure why I didn't take a pic of the inside.

Then two small drawers. Sanded it down, wiped it clean, applied undercoat some sort of green yellowish flavor, applied top coat some sort of family of turquoise, then a stain and finish in 1. 

I like how it turned out especially with the red knobs. I would have like the top color to be more teal, but that's what I had on hand. Still looks great! 

I also made a sign using some extra pallet boards we had.

This is 5 of the many things we hold important in our marriage and family.

We really like how it turned out. 

Hope you enjoy and next time I will throw some pictures in of Capitan!