Haircut Pictures

Not the best, but you see what Little Man looks like after a fresh cut (this was breakfast the next morning).

The Matching Game

For those of you that have followed the blog from the beginning (the very beginning!), you might recall we had on the wall above the crib Gilbert's name spelled out in animal letter flashcards. Well, we've kept those cards and Little Man loves playing with them.

His game is to spread out the cards on the floor and then match the card with the thumbnail version on the back of the box. He is really starting to excel at this game. At first, we were using the cards to teach him the alphabet (A, B, C, O seem to his letters of choice), but instead he enjoys the animal pictures and is doing really well at pronouncing the names. Coming from the Land of Nod, some of the animal selections are a bit out of the ordinary (y = Yellowhammer, it is a bird; U= Underwing) yet he's making the pronunciations. Very fun.

Ritual

I have no pictures to show for it, but on Saturday Gilbert and Daddy participated in what is becoming a nice ritual; the Little Man haircut.

We walked to the local barber shop, just the two of us, for Gilbert's cut. The shop is owned and run by two sisters who learned the trade from their father who also cut hair his entire life. Lexi cuts my hair and does the kids as well.

On the walk to the shop I practiced with Gilbert to say "Lexi" when he was asked who cuts his hair. All primed, the minute he got into the shop, he went mime on me! However, this is his third time and warmed up much quicker. He walked over to Lexi and offered a kiss and a hug. And this time he sat in the chair all by himself! All I had to do was stand by and distract him a few times. He was such a big boy! Toward the end he was getting antsy and announced "All done!" Lexi kicked it into high gear!

And to top it all off, he went potty before and after without prompting. After getting his cut, he strutted around the shop all excited and feeling proud offering up some high-fives. What a ham! I'll be sure to take photos next time!

County Fair

Kristen and Gilbert went back to MI for a few days last week including a trip to a county fair. Along with Gram and her 'man' Dan (good guy!), they had a blast. Gilbert loved seeing the animals, but once his eye caught all the John Deere equipment apparently all he wanted to do was climb and sit on the heavy machinery. The tractor Kristen and Gilbert are sitting on goes for the bargain price of $186,300. Gas not included!

Behind The Wheel

I was packing the car one night for a trip home for Kristen. Gilbert tagged along as we packed and took a shine to the driver's seat. He must pay acute attention to us when we drive.

Once he got situated, his firs move was for the gear box followed by pulling on the lights handle and then the turn signal!

Exploring and Discovery!

Who doesn't enjoy doing this!

Some Kids Like To Eat Snowflakes...

Gilbert prefers...BUBBLES! Goofy guy!

Man Snacks

Gilbert and I enjoyed watching the Bears win on Sunday. Of course, with football comes food. Gilbert's eating raisins and I have yogurt with granola. Where's the pizza, chips, and salsa? I might have to revoke my own man badge!

Back In The Saddle

This week I got back in the saddle, literally. It has been a year and a half since the accident and I'm at the point where I want to start riding again. Still not sure if my back will take the pounding on the open road, I went to a spinning class.

Tentative at first - not knowing how my legs, lungs, or back would hold up - I became comfortable quickly. It truly is like riding a bike! A few days removed, though, and my back and muscles are tender.

I'm going to keep experimenting, though, because I miss biking!

Hanging Out

Gilbert's strength is increasing. He likes to hang out. What was only probably five seconds or so felt like minutes as I hung back waiting to catch him. I let him fall one time and he thought that was a hoot and wanted to do it again just to drop. Future stuntman?

Gilbert wanted me to get on the rings. Okay!

Sunday At The Park

On Sunday (another beautiful day!), Kristen scouted a new park for us to check out. Taking cue from our friends at O for 2 and Busy Boys, we headed north to Winnemac Park. Expansive, we spent the first part of our visit walking around just looking for the play area. Once we arrived, Gilbert went straight for the equipment, but was actually bored with it. A large play area, it lacked some of the equipment he likes best. That and airplanes were flying over every few minutes so he preferred to look up and watch the airplanes fly by.

Leaving the play area, we continued to walk around and explore. There is a nice football stadium in the park so we decided to walk up into the stands so he Little Man could climb around.

Dinner Out

On Saturday we met up with friends who recently had a baby girl. We met up at Coalfire Pizza. Great place! I recommend it. It was such a beautiful evening we decided to walk home. Along the way we saw trains, helicopters, crossed over the highway and for the first time, Little Man got up and close with a cherry picker. The rest of the way home all he would say was "chry pkr". We also took some great photos in our neighborhood. Kristen loves black and white photos and these look great!

Drum

Gilbert decided to perfect the art of being a rocker drummer who has a dramatic ending to his solo.

Labor Day

Indeed. I spent Monday completing a lot of projects around the house.


The master bedroom is now complete. Ceiling fan. Check. New headboard. Well, sort of. Kristen originally wanted to design a headboard, but instead opted for hanging a really cool, vintage door over our bed. Thought I had a picture, but realized I do not. Will have to post later.

After hanging the door, I moved into the guest bath and replaced the mirrors. The bathroom is now complete. Check it out! The art is from Gilbert. Need to save it as I'm sure it will be valuable someday. The only thing we haven't changed is the light fixture. I'd have to do some serious patch and install a junction box and well, I'm just not ready to do that. Overall, the bathroom is awesome.











A few other items were rearranged in the condo and we finally brought in some plant life. Despite being naturally lit, direct light does not come in so it is difficult to grow anything. However, we found a nice floor plant to eat up an empty corner it looks great.


The last project for the day was finally decommissioning the old computer. It crapped out a few weeks ago and although the new desktop has been up and running I needed to wipe the hard drive before recycling the computer. This is not an easy task. After doing research online I found a free program that does military level wiping of the hard drive. This ran for about 36 hours. After only 26% complete, I had had enough. The drive was basically clean, but to be sure I brought in my demo specialist. We took a drill and hammer to the hard drive just to make sure!

Family Get Together

We spent part of the holiday weekend in MI visiting with family. The weather was great so we were outside most of the time. Gilbert learned how to use the spray hose and enjoyed watering the flora with Grandpa.

His cousin, aunt, and uncle were in town as well, so Little Man enjoyed some cruising time with Jasper. Afterwards, they settle in for some eats and treats!

Getting big, it is becoming more difficult to throw him in the air and much more of a challenge to catch him on the way down. Now, we are in to twirling. Little Man will lean back in my arms and holding just his one arm, I'll spin him around. The best part is then standing him up and enjoying watching him attempt to walk. Every seen a drunk toddler?

And more photos...

In addition to his fuel efficient Smart Car, Gilbert does enjoy his gas guzzling crotch rocket!

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