Catching Up: July 4, 2012

Here are some quick picks from July 4, 2012 (yes, i'm almost a year behind here, people....don't judge me!)  Mimi and Pops were in town, and we went to Meg Decker's for a pool party!  I love swimming!

Catching Up: Easter 2012 and Richard's Baptism

Here are some pics from Easter 2012 and Richard's Baptism in Greensboro, NC.  Richard was baptized on May 12, 2012 at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Greensboro, where his father grew up going to school.  He wore a gown that Mimi made for her grandchildren - Bo wore it when he was baptized, and future kiddos will wear it too!  The day was even more special because he was baptized with Lucas Ruggieri, his godparent's Kerry and Joe Ruggieri's son! My godparents, Jean and Mike Cornwell, were kind enough to host some friends at their home after the baptism.  And, on top of this, we celebrated Mother's Day together the Sunday following, and I was lucky enough to spend Mother's Day with my mom for the fourth year in a row!

Has it been over a year?

Wow, I haven't checked out my own blog in over a year.  And look how much has happened!  I have a lot of catching up to do, and I'm making a commitment to updating more regularly.  I'm realizing that I'm not very good at keeping baby books or logging memories, so I think this blog might be the perfect place for that.  When years have passed, hopefully we will be able to look back on some of these updates and remember what we did!

At this point, Richard is now almost 21 months old.  He is in school full time at Primrose Midtown and LOVES it there (as we do too)!  He's had a great time making new friends, learning more than I thought possible, establishing his adoration for books, discovering new words and sounds, and in general just developing into a sweet young boy.  At school, they've taught him sign language, they run around outside, they held an election in November, they've learned how to count (kid can count to twenty on his own!), they sing ABC's, it's really astounding.  He comes home every day with new tricks, and I'm realizing what a blessing it is to have Primrose as our "co-parents" in raising our young man. Just yesterday, as he was playing in the tub and squeezing his little fish, he said "noise" as the fish was making a little bubble sound.  I'm sure it's not that monumental, but it's always a thrill to hear what he has to say next. 

Right now Richard.....

- can count to 20 (which he mostly does going up stairs)
- can mostly say his ABCs (his favorite is LMNOP, and he loves to clap and say "YAY" when we are all done)
- mimics everything we say, for better or worse
- is putting together strings of words ready to make sentences
- last week, Mimi taught him this cute little sing-song "where ahhhh you" that he'll say when he's looking for something.
- LOVES animals, particularly elephants "aaa-plee", alligators "a-di", penguins "pee-pee", lions "yi-on", peacocks (he can say this one), pigs, etc.
- despite his love for animals, he does NOT love the zoo.  Strange, i know....maybe just too many people?
-books, books, books.  He would be happy sitting and reading.  Last night, as I was making his dinner, he disappeared into the other room and I didn't hear anything from him.....well, when I peeked in, he was sitting sweetly on the floor with a giant book in his lap thumbing through the pages and "reading" it aloud to himself.
- speaking of books, he's memorizing his favorite.  Currently, that is "Chu's Day", by Neil Gaman, that his Da-Daddy gave to him.  We read it almost every night, and he loves to make the "ah, ah, ah" sneeze sounds.
- loves to be naked "neee-iddd".  He likes to ask to "eat neee-id", which comes in handy since he currently has terrible sloppy table manners!
- doesn't like vegetables at all.  Even when I try to "sneak" a vegetable into a huge bite of food, suddenly i'll see the little green bean eeking it's way out of his mouth.  Hopeless!

More updates and pictures to come!