Zombie Croquet

Zombie croquet is neither morbid or a past time for remixed Jane Austen characters. It happens to be a fun way to make croquet intense for really great players and really terrible players alike. We had fun sharing our version of the game recently with Mannie and TJat. We also were privileged with Grandma Sarah visit, and had a lovely time at Provo Beach, Los Hermanos, and just sitting and visiting with family while she was here. We learned that Creedo is terrified of carousels, can make zombie noises on command, and can hiss when asked what noise a snake makes. Thanks for making the effort to say hello to all of our recent visitors! We love seeing everyone as they stop through the area.

In Creedence news, he is a whopping 14 months, which means he gets to go nursery in our ward. Day one didn't go over too well, and he woke up the next day with a cold he's had for two weeks now, so I don't think I'll be rushing into that one again soon. He is parroting noises like crazy. The other day he said " Light-bulb!" like Gru from Despicable Me. He understands more and more words each day, and loves to play the "Where is the....(fridge, light, plant, window, etc)?" game. We have fun with it too- Steve taught him to point to the London Calling poster hanging in the studio room when asked "Where is The Clash?" He loves to play with the other kids outside, and is still fascinated with dogs and birds and OK GO music videos.  His climbing is awesome, so the chairs stay on top of the table unless we're sitting in them. He's grown up in a hundred little ways. His crib is taken down and put away, which might of been sentimental if he had used it much. He eats in a booster at the table now, so the high chair is out of service. We are in full toddler mode now!

Just Ducky

Ducks were practically made for little kids to find, chase, and throw bread at. We spent this weekend tracking down lots of ducks. The first step in a successful duck hunt (the plump them up , not the shoot 'em down kind) is to fill your own tummy.

Shoveling in the pre-hike meal

Playing that amazingly tedious pick-up-drop-it-pick-up game. Usually when he drops something, he throws out his out his hands, palms up, as if to say, "What? Where'd it go?"

Starting our walk: These two look so much alike; I see the resemblance grow stronger as Steve continues to grow more handsome

 At Provo River Walkway- first duck sighting!

 Steve makes this exact face when he sees ducks too!

 Throwing in sticks

 His adorable fishing/woodsy attire was not planned but looks great in these pics, I think. The "Daddy is My Homeboy" onesie, our go-to outing outfit is way too small now.

 Focus= Tongue out & to the side (something I remember my Grandpa Forsyth always doing too)

We did see lots of ducks on our little hike that turned into a way too long walk. Provo River Walkway is great, but lasts forever. Best part, besides the four snakes Steve spotted en route (joking! Indiana Jones likes snakes more than I do), was when an adorably chubby little boy rode his bike past us with his family (think Disney's The Kid), huffing and puffing holding up the rear, and then took a look at my currently pink hair and exclaimed, "Your hair isth thso niiiisthe!!" It made my day. Note about having pink hair: huge hit with the under 12 crowd.

The second adventure was when we went to the Ducky Derby on BYU campus. They've just built this nice canal and re-landscaped the south side of campus (you know, the part riddled with the creepy Do Not Walk Here After Dark signs), and to celebrate, BYU hosted a rubber ducky race down the canal. Hundreds showed up! And not just families with little guys, there was a line down the block of groups of singles who wanted in on the action. Or maybe it was for the $1 J-Dawgs they were also selling.... because thats the real reason we showed up. But the ridiculously long line did not bode well for our little one. He soon decided that he would forge his own path forward...

 Re-organizing the landscaping crew's materials

 Blazing his own trail! See that line? That's the end, about a block away from the front registration tables. 

 So buff. (Speaking of buff, Steve just told me that Netflix just delivered a 4.8 stars "Best Guess for Steve" rating (the number of stars they think Steve would rate something based on his ratings of other movies), which is the highest they've ever predicted, for *pause for effect*... Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

How did Netflix know about Steve's embarrassing Buffy-crazed teen years?)

Since the Ducky Derby turned out to be a bust, we headed up the hill onto campus for Astro-something something Day, where the Science Center and SWKT quad were hosting build your own rocket launches, planetarium shows, light shows, physics demonstrations, etc. We actually didn't do any of that- we spent our whole time enjoying the bounce house. 

 He hasn't figured out how to jump yet- he just bends and squats and pops up and thinks thats a jump. We applaud it anyways.

You can tell how much he likes something by how big he opens his mouth...

 ...or by how far he sticks out his tongue!

 Cooling off in the canal on the way home...

 I'm so excited to spend more days outside like this, esp. once the waterparks open for the season. 

 Crashed in the stroller on the way home! He hasn't done this in ages!

 Maybe some drool there

Finish off the afternoon with a nap in his new big kid bed. This is his classic naptime pose (only for naps though, not at night for some reason). Who doesn't love how sweet sleeping children look? 

Happy Mothers Day 2011

Sometimes the making-ofs are better than the finished products:

On the Hunt

Easter egg hunt #1. Awesome.

Granted he was just as interested in playing with the rocks and mulch as he was in the Easter eggs, but he still had a fun time. We crashed our neighbor's Primary Easter Party (she's the prez, gave us a VIP pass and waived the underage issue). He enjoyed running around with everyone, eating the Play-Do, and trying to bathe in the drinking fountain. The best part was when he has already found two eggs, one in each hand, and then came across a third. He put egg #1 down to pick up the 3rd, but then had to put egg #2 down to pick up #1 again, and this went on for awhile before he gave me one and then ran away.

This past month or so has been an explosion of climbing exploration. He can climb onto the kitchen table, so we took away the extra chairs and the remaining ones are often in the middle of the kitchen, safely away from everything. He's close to figuring out how to push them back to the table though. His comprehension of no and yes and stop stop stop! are still getting there. He often waits, halfway up the chair or table or sofa or bed or stairs or chapel aisle, and waits till one of us comes and catches him. Then he squeals and goes in turbo-speed mode to get as far as he can before we pick him up. We used to get through Sacrament meeting by sitting in the overflow on the folding chairs, cordoning off a quarantine zone by rearranging the chairs so he was trapped in. That worked until he figured out how to climb under, over and then through chairs.

He's got a thing where gets really excited (or bored, depending) and hits whoever is holding him really hard, which is a no-no and he knows that, so he also shakes his head "no" the whole time. He's doing waaaaaay better sleeping during the night. Naps are getting there. He takes one most days, unless he has a rough night or wakes up really early one day, then he might take two.

Maybe.

three eggs! uh-oh!

Big kids are so cool

kids!

focus face

Do your cheeks hang low...?

Ess cop ay

He's got this little knee-arm twist- wiggle thing he does when he runs happily