The Outdoor Life

The boys and I are so happy with spending most of our awake time outdoors.  I am so grateful for this beautiful earth and nice weather so we can enjoy God's creations, and for the perfect backyard!  We spend hours in the backyard and I am so spoiled when it comes to entertaining toys and things to do outdoors.  Many of the toys we have, like the sandbox and the bike trailer, were given to us by generous family members and neighbors.  Here's just a few things we do around the yard.

 Wagon rides down the hill.

 Daily snacks outside are a must.  Once in awhile Brian will get really into the sidewalk chalk.  His favorite thing is to draw lots of lines and then connect them.  The only picture I have of this is the one above.

 Timmy in particular loves snack time on the picnic table.  I think he likes being a big boy.

 Swings. What can I say more?

 Both kids love the playset.

 My favorite is the garden.  Brian loves to find and eat the red strawberries and I just love that something is actually growing!  That lettuce behind him still hasn't gone to seed and we've been making salads from it for months.  More on the garden in a later post.

 Oh the sandbox.  I never in a million years imagined I would love a little green plastic turtle filled with sand so much.  Thank you turtle for the hours of entertainment you have provided for my one-year-old.  The three-year-old likes it too, but you make Timmy so so happy.

 And thank you zip-line for how easy you are to pull up the hill and for the countless squeals and bursts of laughter you have provided.

 Timmy has finally grown to love the bike trailer and it has provided the most exercise for me yet. 

Bubbles - the best way to get Timmy to stand on his own for more that 1 second.

One Year Old Timothy

 Our little guy is one year old!  We have been busy busy busy.  Well, Mark in particular has been busy and Timmy's birthday was no exception. So, in order to fit in a little party time that included Daddy, we had cake first thing in the morning after Timmy's favorite breakfast of strawberries and cheerios.  We sang the birthday song and Brian happily helped Timmy blow out his candle.  Then we all enjoyed some delicious cake.

 Now really, isn't he one of the cutest things ever?

 Afterward, Mark went to work and we had a nice day playing at home.  Mark knew he had to work late into the evening so we went in the late afternoon to visit him.  On the way, we stopped at the dollar store where Brian picked out a few little toys for Timmy and we got some balloons.  As expected, the balloons were the hit of the day for Timothy.  So was seeing his favorite person in the world, Daddy.  We took Mark away from work for a bit to get some dinner at the delicious My Thai restaurant.  Following dinner we said goodbye to Daddy and went home to bed.  It was a very nice day.  I hope you had a good Birthday Timbo!

 A few days later it was Mark's brother Tony's birthday, so we celebrated with the Hsiao family and sang to Timmy and Tony.  Thanks Hsiaos for a lovely evening and fabulous food.

 Days later and he still will not let go of those balloons.

Timmy at One Year

~Weight: 20 lbs. 2 oz.

~Height: 30 in.

~Still crawling, but walks pushing a baby walker or holding on to something else.

~I think he says "Mama" but that's the only word.

~Has 7 teeth.  4 on top, 3 on bottom and one on the way.

~Loves his brother Brian and doesn't quite know what to do when he's not around.

~Loves to clap his hands.

~Dances to music mostly by waving his arms wildly in the air.

~ Scrunches his nose and breaths in and out really loudly when he wants someone to laugh at him.

~Is now on bottles of formula and refuses to drink more than a sip of cows milk.

~Has become a picky eater.  He drops any food (most food) off of his tray onto the floor if it is not exactly what he wants. What he wants usually includes some sort of berry or something totally unhealthy like Cheetos.  When I try to feed him from a spoon or fork he gives it a good whack with his hand as it comes towards his mouth and sends the food flying. 

~Loves to wrestle and role around with Brian and Daddy.

~Likes to play with balls and toy cars and actually uses both the way they were meant to be used.  He throws the balls and drives the cars around the floor.

~He has finally discovered how not to eat the sand in the sand box and playing in the sand has become a new love of his.

~Happy to go anywhere in the backpack and usually the stroller too.

~Goes to bed usually about 6:15 p.m. and wakes up at different times depending on the week and day.  For the past week he was waking up at about 7:15 a.m. until this morning when he decided he wanted to wake the whole house up at 5:55 a.m.

Even when he wakes me up ridiculously early, I can't help but love love love this kid and then love him again even more.  We love you Timmy and Happy First Birthday!