Tuesday, August 31, 2010

hopscotch and a haircut

Happy Boy
I drew a hopscotch board on the driveway the other day and Bryce loves it.

This is his "running fast" pose.

Bryce's hair had gotten very long and out of control so Kelly gave it a trim today. I think it looks so good. When I got to her house today and saw him, I thought he looked just like Jason. I think that was the first time I really saw the resemblance between the two.

You can also catch up on Bryce's daily happenings over on Kelly's blog.

Monday, August 30, 2010

we made it

Bryce and I made it through my first day back to work. Bryce was a bit fussy when I left him this morning, but he was just as fussy when I picked him up because he didn't want to leave. I know he has been missing Chase!

Sitting on the bench and opening the mail while he waited for Dada to get home.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

18 months

I cannot believe that our little man is a year and a half old!
We had a fun filled morning today. We started the day off at the park. Bryce enjoyed climbing, sliding, and swinging. We ran a couple of errands after the park and then we headed to Barnes and Noble to play with the trains and read some books.

We finished off the morning with a visit to the doctor for Bryce's 18 month checkup. He was a fantastic patient this time. He screamed the entire time we were in the office at 15 months. Today he was calm, compliant, and he impressed with his skills. The doctor was impressed with Bryce's vocabulary and he was blown away when he could spell his name! Bryce weighed in at 22.5 pounds. He only gained .3 pounds in 3 months and he is in the 10th percentile for weight. He grew an inch an a half so he is 31.5 inches and that puts him in the 25th percentile for height.

Bryce has moved from repeating words and using 2 word phrases to almost talking in complete sentences. He says things like "open the door" and "watch me mama". He can tell you what he wants and what he doesn't want. He has definitely learned the word "no". I'm not particularly fond of the word because he doesn't always use it as an answer to a yes or no question, but we are working on it. The other day he asked for a banana so I got him one. When I gave it to him, he said "no, mama, other one". There were some very ripe bananas on the counter that he "thought" he wanted.

He has had square and circle down for a while, but now he recognizes triangle and I get the biggest chuckle every time he says it because it comes out triangagle. He has a great memory. He can answer questions about his day and past events. Sometimes he requires a good amount of "think time", but he usually gets it every time. Sometimes at night when he is laying in bed, we hear him talking out the events of his day. It's so cute! He has recently started putting his shoes on by himself (mostly his crocs which are easy for him to slip on). We're working on right and left and he gets them on the correct feet most of the time.

Bryce has had a bit of a fever since Monday evening. I took this picture of Bryce and Macy relaxing in Jason's recliner Tuesday morning. They were just too cute. He seems to be better today.


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Nutzy

I don't know if I have posted about the new Richmond baseball team, The Flying Squirrels, but Bryce absolutely loves their mascot, Nutzy. Well, he likes to wear his Nutzy shirt and talk about him, but he doesn't actually like to get very close to him. We went to what will probably be our last game for the season tonight. Bryce has been needing a new baseball hat so we decided to get him one with Nutzy since he is about to out grow his Nutzy shirt and will need something to remember him by during the off season.

Jason put a baseball tattoo on Bryce's arm while we were at the game.
We had a great night!


Monday, August 23, 2010

DIY

I am so not a do-it-yourself(er). I would much rather buy something the way I want it or pay someone to do it than to do the work myself. However, I decided to tackle a little project today. My mom found this old rocking chair of mine so I decided to paint it so Bryce could use it on the front porch. I know many of you are laughing right now at what a small task this really was, but for me it was a big deal, ha! I sanded the chair down a few weeks ago (I guess that was the hard part), but didn't have the time to paint it. I pulled out the spray paint today and in a few short minutes and a really tired index finger later.........
VOILA!
I think he likes it. Now we just need matching chairs for us!
Bryce loves the lawnmower (when it's in the garage). He always wants to sit on it and drive it. Tonight he was watching Jason cut the grass so Jason took him for a spin. It took him a few minutes to calm down, but Jason made him suffer through and he actually really enjoyed it.



Sunday, August 22, 2010

W is for watering can

Helping Nana water the flowers.
We have an ABC book with a picture of a watering can for W. Bryce knows this one really well. He found the watering can at Nana's today so they watered the flowers outside. Such a big helper.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

north carolina

We took a little road trip this weekend to see my dad and step mom (Bryce's Nina and Pop). We left on Friday morning and got down there in time for lunch. We enjoyed relaxing, catching up, and watching a little TV while Bryce took his afternoon nap. My stepsisters and their families came for dinner and it was great to see everyone.

This morning we went to a local mall and played on the playground. Bryce had a ball. Here is Jason teaching Bryce to go the "wrong" way down the slide. Some teacher is going to be telling him not to do that on the playground at school one day and saying how I should have know better than to teach him that, ha!

He was honestly moving at a snails pace!

We had a great visit and we got home in time to do a few things around the house this afternoon. What a great weekend and we still have Sunday!



Thursday, August 19, 2010

a walk in the park

We had another fun day trying to make the best of what is left of summer vacation. Today we went to Maymont to see the animals and to get my exercise for the day!

Bryce looking through the fence at the horses.

I tried to get his picture in front of the waterfall, but he wasn't interested in looking at me.

Seeing the pigs, rabbits, chickens, sheep, goats, donkey, horses, bears, hawks, owls, eagle, fox, and deer wore this little boy out.

He was willing to wake up for our picnic lunch, though!

Boy I'm going to miss these summer days and this sweet boy!


Tuesday, August 17, 2010

just another summer day

I have accepted the fact that I go back to work in two weeks. I'm not happy about it, but I am trying to pack as much excitement into our days before summer slips away. Today we went to the Children's Museum. This was our second trip this summer and it was just as fun as the first time. We got there when they opened this time and it was much calmer. We went and had lunch with Jason afterwards. Great day!
We built a "tunnel" for Bryce to go under.

Looking out the ship window.

Bryce actually climbed up the stairs and into the tunnel all by himself. He didn't need any coaxing or help from me this time.

He even went down the slide on his own!

When we were finished playing, I took him into the art studio for a little project. They seemed to only have paper and markers the last time we were there. This time we found glue and pieces of fabric. Bryce enjoyed painting the glue onto the paper and patting the fabric down. Notice he is using his left hand.

Showing off his masterpiece outside of the museum. He really wanted to pull the fabric off.

Just had to add this picture. I asked him to smile and hold up his picture. He he!



Monday, August 16, 2010

cleaning off the memory cards

Strolling around the driveway in the boat.
My parents came across this old table of mine while they were moving. I brought it home and put it in the kitchen for Bryce. He enjoys eating snacks and lunch at it.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

nut nuts

Coming from a family with a bakery history, it was a given that Bryce would LOVE donuts. PaPa brings donut holes to Bryce and Chase quite often and they call them nut nuts. Even on vacation we seem to find the nearest bakery and get donuts almost everyday.
Bryce got a sprinkle donut the size of his head. He was afraid to use his hands at first.

Then he dug right in!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

we're home

We had a wonderful time at the beach. We had just the right amount of sun, sand and waves. We would have liked to have had a little more sleep, but Bryce was not the best sleeper on vacation. He was up by 5:30 almost every morning. The best part about our vacation destination is that is only 2 hours away so we were able to have a full Saturday at home today. Jason even bought a truck when we got home!
The ice cream truck rode by our condo a few times everyday. Bryce and Chase loved listening to the music and talking about it. One night MeMaw was lucky enough to be out with the boys at the right time and they were able to get Tweety Bird popsicles. It looks more like an alien to me, but it was still delicious!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

aquarium

Yesterday was a really hot day so we decided to go to the aquarium instead of playing on the beach in the morning. We had a great time and Bryce enjoyed seeing all the animals. I have more pictures on my camera, but for now, I'll just post the pictures they took at the aquarium.
We are quite a rough looking group, ha!

Surfing