Happy Easter!

On Friday, April 22nd I got to have dinner with Great Grandma & Grandpa Schaefer, Mom and Grandma & Grandpa Sergeant.  We got to celebrate a pre-Easter and I got to open another Easter basket a bit earlier filled with, of course, trucks/cars & tractors - my favorite!  On Saturday, April 23rd Mom & Dad and I colored Easter eggs for the first time.  I was a little confused at first as I kept trying to drink the pretty water and wanted to suck on the eggs however slowly got the hang of it.  Dad says I just have to be a little more gentle dropping the eggs in the glass as a few cracked a little.  Here's some of our extraordinary eggs:

Mom helping me with my first egg although I got more of my hand than egg...

 Learning to dunk with Dad...

 Mom showed me how to do a half & half egg with these fun dipper holders.

 Just wanted to see if it tasted good; not so much.

 I picked pink and I think Dad was a little disappointed however notice I'm doing John Deere yellow & green eggs too.

 After we were done coloring I learned how to set them on the drying rack.

 Here's all our beautiful eggs and our fun bunny holder.

We even got to color on the eggs a bit with white crayon and Mom & Dad helped me spell my name and initials.  Turned out pretty good for my very first eggs.

On Easter Sunday, April 24th I woke to find that the Easter Bunny paid us a visit!  As you can tell when I came into the living room I was pretty excited and surprised:

 This is all for me?

 My personalized Easter basket included fun items like my favorite Gerber yogurt melts, Easter marshmallows, sidewalk chalk and of course a truck & accessories.

 Dad must have been good because he even got a basket filled with candy; lucky guy I can't have candy quite yet...

 Here's me driving my new truck which I kept saying "truck" over & over.

 The construction set matched my other Fisher Price Wheelies so it was fun to play with my other cars with it after awhile.

It was so cool to find out how the ramps work and I could have played all morning however we had church and then lunch at Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard's.  It was fun to spend Easter in worship and with family, especially playing with my cousin Hannah!  We had lots of good food, faith & fun times.  Hope everyone had as blessed Easter as we did.  The following days were low key however on Wednesday, April 27th I'm happy to report I had a pre-FFA day (*Dad's proud) as we got to play and dig in the dirt at daycare!  We also got to plant some seeds and are going to watch them grow this spring.  Can't wait to see what they turn into...

I Love Trucks & Tractors!

On Wednesday, April 20th I said "tractor" my first word after Mama, Dada & Hi!  Mom & Dad thought I may have said it sooner however on the 20th it was the first time I pointed to one in a book with Dad during bedtime story time and said it.  Mom said she thought Dad looked teary-eyed!  Soon after I said "truck" and my two favorite words were born.  Dad couldn't be prouder.  On the 20th I did my first arts and crafts with glue at daycare making a bunny rabbit with glued on cotton balls.  I wasn't too sure about the texture of the cotton balls but loved playing with the glue.  Here's a picture of my masterpiece and the egg I recently painted:

On the 21st at 3:15 p.m. I had my next doctor appointment for my ears and everything checked out.  All my hearing tests and pictures they took of my ears came back in the normal ranges so the doctors decided to keep me on the preventative meds for another month, hoping we'd get to warmer weather and be in the clear until fall.  This way we avoid surgery and also have the hope I could still grow out of it.  Keep your fingers crossed to no surgery and no more ear infections all summer.  If I have another infection this summer they still may proceed with tubes however my meds seem to be working so we'll continue to try that instead.  Thank you for all the prayers and love you've sent my way...it's been working!

17 Months!

On Saturday, April 9th my Grandma & Grandpa Vogel came to see me!  We got to play all day together, inside & out, and had a great time.  They brought me an early Easter basket with an automatic bubble maker & colored bubbles which is a ton of fun!  I even know how to turn it on and its really fun to turn on inside even if Mom & Dad don't think so.  Here's some pictures of us playing inside and outside & making bubbles:

 It's a bubble maker!

 Showing Grandpa how I LOVE to point to anything truck or tractor related.

 Walking outside in our backyard and it was pretty windy so a little unsure...

 Dad's setting up my swing set with a sandbox, pirate wheel, new tarp (*has torn since this picture was taken), etc. this spring however testing it out with Dad (*up top with me), Grandpa & Kato.  I think Kato was jealous he couldn't go down the slide too.

 Testing out the bubble maker however a little too windy though.  It will be so fun for the summer!

After playtime we went out to eat and I got sweet potato fries!  I've been getting good at sharing my food with others and Grandpa thought I was kidding around when I took a half chewed fry from my mouth & offered it to him.  He jokingly opened his mouth however I got the last laugh as I snuck it into his!  Wish you could have seen the look on Grandpa's face! 

At 17 months I now...

• Have two more teeth, number 15 & 16, as of April 10th, so that is four new teeth in the past month!  I have all my baby teeth except my second molars; what a big boy!
• Love to climb on everything including climbing under things to "hide".  Here's me in our kitchen in a secret spot.  I also like to climb under our dining room table, my highchair and hide behind the shower curtain to play peek-a-boo!
• Am very curious and love to explore everything.  I even like to try to walk up & down stairs standing up, if Mom or Dad lets me, however do great going on my belly too.
• Love to stack including the cans in our pantry while Mom's cooking and can even get them as tall as me.
• Have learned to point to objects in books when Mom & Dad read to me like "moon", "star", "teddy bear", "tractor", "truck", etc.  Still working on animals however I prefer things with wheels.
• Am learning actions to songs like "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat" & "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and even trying to play small instruments at daycare during music time.  I also am working on putting objects in the matching hole in my shape matching bucket and even know how to work my car ramp and more complex toys.

In addition to turning 17 months on Wed., April 13th this past week I also visited my Great Grandma Betty a couple of times in the hospital as she was healing from surgery.  I must say I loved playing peek-a-boo with the room curtain and running up and down the halls at the hospital.  So much to look at and new things to explore.  I learned to interact more with kids at daycare too including having my own game of peek-a-boo with my friend Tiny Tots friend Skylar on Monday the 11th.

On the 13th I had a temperature of 102 and when we went back to the doctor sure enough my ear infection slightly returned on my right side, so I went back on antibiotics in addition to my preventative meds. The hope is I'll be fully healed by the time we see the specialist again on the 21st. By the afternoon of the 14th I felt like myself again however stayed home with Mom to be safe. On the 15th we met Mom's good friends Emily & her son Max and Kelly & her son Miller for lunch and a play date in the Twin Cities.  I had so much fun however I did have a hard time taking a nap as I was having too much fun to miss anything.  I did sleep hard on the drive home though.  The rest of the weekend we pretty much hung out at home.  We did get to eat at the "drive in" after church on Sunday the 17th in which I found out I don't mind fries.  I wasn't allowed to try the rootbeer maybe next time. What a fun week and can't wait for Easter this next week!

I Met Barney!

This past week I learned that it can be fun to climb on top of things at daycare like the rockers, the bookshelves, table tops, you name it - fair game!  I'm also learning to not climb on top of things however it's pretty fun especially if it helps you open a door or lets you look out a window.  On Thursday, March 31st I got my 14th tooth in!  On Saturday, April 2, Mom & I did some shopping in Albert Lea and I got to ride my first indoor ride - Barney!  I didn't mind sitting with him until Mom put some quarters in and he started to move.  I really didn't like that at all.  Mom forgot her camera so here's a picture from her phone.  A little blurry because we were moving; I don't think I'll mind if I don't see Barney again anytime soon.

The night of the 2nd I got a special treat because my cousin Hannah was in town at our Grandma & Grandpa Prestegards so we got to play together.  I love seeing my cousin Hannah!  On April 3rd after church we picked up Great Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard and took them out to breakfast at Country Kitchen.  I got to have my favorite breakfast food sausage links & pancakes!  Afterwards we went to their place to play and have strawberries and ice cream.  It was delicious!

The beginning of this week was a little tough as Mom was gone for work from Monday, April 4th through Wednesday, April 6th.  I tried really hard to stay awake to see here when she got home & I made it!  It was so fun to run and give her a big hug; of course she was a little teary-eyed.  Moms, I tell ya!  I did have a great time hanging with Dad and one night I even got to eat dinner with Dad and Grandma & Grandpa Prestegard.  Dad said we had "dude time" with us & Kato.  Boys only allowed!

On Thursday, April 7th Mom & I signed me up for swim lessons in July since the doctor said it was ok to try and afterwards we went to a park in Blue Earth to play.  They were fixing a near by road so I was more interested in going to visit the "trucks" then I was the play equipment.  Mom & I tried it again today, the 8th, with a different park however that one had a near by corn field with a tractor so again I was a little more concerned with that then the swings.  Mom said she'll scout another park yet!  I love being outside so I can't wait.