1 1/2 years old

18 months is a milestone I have been bittersweet about. We have both lost his morning nap, and I now have the duty to start and maintain timeouts. This has been in my plan since the beginning and now it is here, it's time for a new phase for both of us. However, there has been a few perks with this half birthday. We can now attend "itty bitty time" at the library, which until now was during his naptime. And we also get to start the Art program at Gymboree. Now that we wont be in the playground room for classes, we will start using the open gym times once a week. So we just added 3 new activites to our week, which is great, and I already feel the sense of freedom now that we can join the world during the mornings. I am so happy and thankful that Hunter is such a sweet, energetic, smart and happy boy and that he is growing and learning so well. Both Chase and Hunter love and look forward to the time that they get to spend together. (Chase already has him skateboarding with him).




As for February, we took our first trip to the Zoo. Hunter's favorite thing was to watch the animals underwater.


We celebrated my mom's birthday, cousin's surprise birthday, superbowl, valentines day, and welcomed beautiful baby Addison into the world on February 24th. Addison belongs to our friends, Jeff and Cindy Denny (Jeff was Chase's best man at our wedding). We have also started going to Crossroads Church out here in Corona once a month and Hunter enjoys playing with all the other kids his age in the nursery.

17 months

It' been pretty slow around our house this month. Chase has been away for work every week, only coming home for the weekends. We are so grateful for how hard he works to support our family. Hunter is trying to speak more and more and LOVES Mickey Mouse! We had our first look inside the "sick" waiting room of our pediatrician's office. Hunter had a bad cough that the doctor diagnosed as bronchitis. After a few days of medicine he was good as new. He is still a great eater and sleeper but has really started to enjoy trouble lately. He enjoys throwing fits in public, hitting and throwing. Chase's mom used to warn me that Chase would always consider the crime worth the punishment and I am afraid Hunter may have his father's genes. :)

16 months & Christmas

Another great holiday this month and a great start to a fresh, new year. December has been busy with my dad's annual Christmas concert, 2 boat parades, Disneyland, my birthday party aboard the Irvine Railroad, Christmas Eve dinner and white elephant at Grandma MaryLou's, and of course a wonderful Christmas morning, afternoon and night with the rest of the families! Then a 2 night trip to Arrowhead where Hunter saw his first snowfall, followed by ringing in the new year, warm and cozy at home. Here's hoping for another great year, and hopefully buying our first home in 2011!








Hunter received so many great presents this year, he really enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper and all the attention he got. He has been trying to talk more and more lately and when the words wont come out, he finds another way to be very clear. Like if he is thirsty, he will take his cup in one hand, your hand in another and put them together. If you ask him a question he nods yes or no, although he may or may not understand the question, I'm still not sure sometimes. He has really been testing Chase and I lately on how firm our "no"s are, but I am proud to say we hold strong. No means no and with consistancy, we hope to curb the whining by not giving in. Pray for us. :)

15 months and Thanksgiving

Another wonderful family holiday this year! Hunter had his first thanksgiving meal at my parents' house with their brand new, beautifully remodeled kitchen. Then we went to Nana Vicki's to see more family and eat some pumpkin pie.

This month Hunter has learned so many more new words, he now tries to repeat almost everything you say and surprises me with how much he understands. His favorite toys are brooms, or anything with a long stick, and balls! Anything round he sees is a "ball." He has his first favorite cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, or "Mimmie" as he calls him. All of those Disneyland trips must be paying off because he doesn't watch very much TV. Only on special occasions and rarely mickey mouse. He also recognizes Santa Clause "Danta" as he calls him. And I am excited to see how he reacts to sitting on his lap this year. I remember saying "I can't wait until Christmas next year" and now its here! Time is flying by so fast. I have such great memories of the advent calendar my mom always pulled out in december. Everyday we would wake up and there would be a note in the day of the month it was, and in the note was a special activity we would do that day. So I have continued the tradition thinking Hunter wouldn't really understand enough, but every morning we head downstairs and he starts saying "danta" immediately and runs straight to the calendar to pull out his note. So far we have visited Great-Grandma, read a Christmas story, and today we are going to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Just little things we would probably do anyway, but it makes it so much more exciting when we make a big deal out of it.:)

14 months and Halloween

Chase has been gone every week this month to Sacramento finishing up a big job. Luckily he made it home in time for Halloween. Hunter was a monkey this year and enjoyed pulling candy out of his bucket and walking around in his costume. We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood for a little while then headed over to Crossroads Church with Monte and Nancy. They were holding a huge "trunk-or-treat" which I had never heard of before. Its where all the cars park and decorate their trunks in themes and pass out candy. So we just walked in a big line, car to car, seeing all the creative costumes and decorations. They had music playing and food stands, bounce houses, it was amazing.

Earlier this month we went to Tom's Farms out here in Corona for the pumpkin patch with "Nana" (Vicki), which is where we took this great picture of Hunter.

Hunter has also added a few more words to his list including nana, papa, uh-oh, and no. Nana has the following meanings: 1. grandma vicki 2. phone 3. banana (his absolute favorite food, you cannot let him see one or he wont give up until you let him eat the whole thing, he's obsessed! and forget about going down the produce aisle in the grocery store. he will yell NANANANANA when he sees them and point until you go over to them, its a crack up.)

13 months

It has been one hot summer this year and I am so happy that some fall weather has started to appear. September has been a fun month with Hunter's birthday, a few Disneyland trips, the LA county fair, Chase has been working in town 2 weeks in a row, birthday parties and weddings.



Hunter had his 1 year check up and he weighs a whopping 27 pounds, and is 33 1/4 inches tall! He has remained in the 97th+ percentile throughout this first year in both weight and height. He has been saying "mama" constantly for the past few months but has recently added "dada" to his vocabulary. The two most important words in the english language, to me at least. :) He does a few tricks on command, (most of the time) like clap, wave, kiss, hug, pat, stomp, dance, and he knows where his head and tummy are. He knows his "monkey" and "hippo" stuffed animals if you ask him to get them, his fire truck, books, ball, train, car, blocks, and bucket. He loves playing with all of his birthday gifts except he has a fear of riding in or on anything. I'm sure he will warm up to the idea though soon.

He is officially eating regular family meals, meaning no more baby food, but still with restrictions, and still on his schedule. I replaced his bottle with his sippy cup with absolutely no struggle within about 2 weeks. How did I get so lucky to have such an easy going kid?

We joined Gymboree now that he is a year old, which is a class once a week where he can play and learn with other kids his age. At first he would just push and pull hair and steal toys away but now he's gotten used to it and thinks he rules the climbing tower. Its amazing watching his personality form and seeing him grow into a little boy.

Dr. Suess 1st Birthday Party!