Mini-me?

So, it's undeniable that little Michael looks like his dad, specifically, and definitely a Lawler in general. But he certainly has some of my features as well -- I think his eyes and hair are closer to mine. And he also has some of my peculiarities. For one thing, the poor little guy apparently is just as allergic to mosquito bites as I am. He has gotten some nasty red welt-like bites on his calves and arms this week, I assume from stray mosquitos making it inside the house since we do use insect repellent outside :( (In keeping with his usual self, though, he seems generally unfazed by the giant lumps, whereas I would be itching like mad and taking Benadryl, rubbing itch cream, etc.)

Another thing Michael is apparently like me on is resistance to change. Cue Blackwell family laughter here. I had to share one incident this month that my family got to see in San Antonio but which was really illuminating to me. We had to switch sippy cups after Michael chewed on the lids for his old ones and cracked them. I checked two different stores and all kinds of cups to find one as normal as possible, and finally found a good one that I don't use the spillproof insert on, so it drinks more like a regular cup. It's better than the old ones he was using. But we tried to introduce this in San Antonio and he absolutely refused it over multiple meals. Would not drink from it, pushed it away at the table, and generally made it known he would go without water rather than accept this cup. My dad was really patient with him and finally it got to point at dinner one night where my dad gave him water from this cup by picking it up with a straw and transferring it to Michael, which he (grudgingly) accepted. Bit by bit this led to the cup being placed closer to him, to letting us put a straw in the cup so he'd sip out of it that way, to finally by the time we got back from San Antonio, he had no problem. It's now his cup, no question, no hint there was ever a problem.

Oh, goodness. We're putting off the change to sleeping the middle room, as I've said before, after three weeks last month of having tried to accustom Michael to sleeping in there. I'm not messing with a good sleep set-up for him with this new baby coming (note to baby: any day now would be great, thanks). But is it going to take another three weeks to make that change when he's two?? We shall see.

Cooling off

We had another impromptu pool party today when Chris and Stef brought Canon over to swim a little. Canon looked pretty great in his fisher hat and shades -- like a little viejito :) -- and Michael had fun with his dad and with Stef kicking and playing with the hose. Michael took a 3 hour nap today after this! (We had also spent a few hours at the park this morning, which was fun but very hot -- hence why the pool sounded like such a nice idea . . . )

FFF 2010

I'm very late on posting a few of our pictures from this year's family vacation, but let me put a few up now and link to the Picasa album for the rest :) At the beginning of July we headed to San Antonio for this year's FFF, making it a road trip since we had known ahead of time the Richardson Blackwells would have a two-month-old and the Richardson Lawlers would have an eight-month-pregnant mama who wouldn't be allowed to fly :) Mike and I really enjoyed getting to visit with everyone and hang out at the resort. We had a couple of excellent dinners, also, including one at a steakhouse out in the middle of hill country that Mike raved about as one of the best meals he's ever had in his life. Michael had a blast running up and down the hallways and playing with Lita, Pere, Canon, and his aunts and uncles. The property was nice because there were a lot of sidewalks and shady grassy areas to walk around on, so I took him out for a little exploring a few times.

We also did a (half-)day trip to Sea World. I liked the aquarium, penguins and killer whale show quite a bit, but compared to other amusement parks or zoos (and this place is kind of a hybrid) I felt like there was an overly high ratio of walking to actual exhibits -- not sure why they designed it with so many winding paths with so relatively few destinations. Then again, I was in full waddling mode and that was one of the hottest days we were there, so I may have had a skewed perspective and everyone else thought it was fine. Michael certainly liked checking out all the animals (and holding hands with people while walking -- something new for him that I find pretty cute). Mike picked up a frozen lemonade for me at one point, which was sweet of him because I needed it more than I realized at the time! :) Honestly, I don't know how Canon is making it through his first Texas summer of life because that poor baby has got to be just baking all the time. We did catch a break in San Antonio, though, in that it was overcast with enough of a break in the heat that I was grateful.








Here's the link to the rest of our set:

Constant motion at 20 months

Michael keeps finding new ways to make us laugh and marvel at how a one-year-old's brain works. This month, he's gotten even better with his physical abilities, as he likes to move chairs around from room to room, push the ottomans like football sleds, jump over obstacles, and take the step to the living room without backing up anymore. When he is excited to see someone who's just arrived at the house, he starts yelling and runs away with a big smile. He plays with a lot of concentration and intensity -- albeit with pretty constant motion. He is generally in a cheerful mood, but some days he's much more pensive and quiet -- interesting to see his personality developing like that.


He finally did get the last two front bottom teeth this month -- at the same time as his top incisors started poking through. Thus, he has been a teething machine for a few weeks now, chewing on everything (including doorframes, socks, and Snoopy's ears) in sight. This unfortunately includes the corner guards I put on the coffee table, which he had ignored for months but which he now yanks off multiple times a day to start chewing desperately. I am debating superglue. It would ruin the table for future non-kid-protected use, but hey, I've already gotten five good years out of this nice Target purchase and plan to keep it around longer (with kids), so why not? Can kids pull off superglued corner guards? (Somehow I'm guessing the answer is yes.)

Whenever he really wants something (like to watch Youtube videos of his cousin Canon or read a particular book), Michael will tell us the word (like his version of "Canon" or signing the word for book) and then say "Si? Si?" in ever more hopeful tones. I really love how he asks for the "brother" book that Amanda got him or the book of first prayers for little children he got for Christmas (this one he calls the "pears" book). He LOVES these books and pays very close attention to them, signing and saying bird, uvas, moon, Jesus (approximately), girl, boy, pillow (approximately), baby, help, flowers, and milk as those images show up on the page. Of course, he also runs around the room half the time while you're reading, just checking in whenever there's a pause. These have soft pages so he has to ask for them specifically but it's great. "Pears? Si? Si??"

He is so adorable carrying around his Snoopy by the ears and he continues to be an earnest little helper, when he decides he is going to listen to you. He pats my tummy when I ask where Mama's baby is -- but sometimes he also pulls up his own shirt and pats his stomach and says "baby" too. Hee. We keep telling him his little brother is excited to meet him and who knows, maybe with the way he is absorbing the "Big Brother" book he actually understands this a little. I am really trying to make the most of my time just with him right now before everything changes soon.

After this month, we'll have to change the post tag for Michael the Baby to just "Michael" or "Michael III" -- won't be able to stretch and call our little toddler the baby anymore.

Nineteen months

This month we have had fun watching Michael ramp up his energy level (while we try to keep up). He will run through rooms and down the sidewalk yelling the whole way, he likes to spin in circles until he falls down, and he loves jumping up onto the couches, ottomans, and day bed (the one we are trying to get him used to sleeping in, at least at naps). He also has been asserting himself more with preferences -- he likes to pick out which pair of shoes he will wear for the day, including one afternoon when we found him wearing his formal shoes that he insisted on after nap! He pretty much will never let you feed him -- has to do it all by himself.*

He hasn't really added any new words to his vocabulary, except maybe "flower," although he's really trying. He tries to repeat a lot of words we say, but they don't usually come out any differently than words he already has ("Snoopy" sounds pretty much like "baba" as far as we can tell - ?), so we just keep emphasizing the syllables and figure he'll work it out eventually. He has added some new signs, though -- now he can sign "airplane," "ball," "bird," "book," and "shoes." I thought it was great when we were at a store a few weeks ago and Michael followed an older girl around (maybe 8 or 9) for a few steps, then signed "girl" to me. I didn't know he got that distinction! He continues to be a very helpful little boy, too -- he'll get my tennis shoes for me instead of my sandals when we go for a walk.


I like seeing how Michael studies things intently to learn. We got a new DVD player and when I was trying to show Elizabeth how it works, Michael came over and crouched down right in front of her, studying the new machine and the buttons I pushed to figure it out himself. I couldn't help but laugh -- so much for keeping that a mystery for any length of time! Aunt Amanda got Michael a book on being a big brother and that is his new favorite book. He asks to read it several times a day and pays close attention to every page. Hopefully with that, and spending time around his cousin and some new friends, he is getting to understand a little more about babies.

*Of course, after I say this, at dinner tonight he pitched a fit about *not* feeding himself, and wanted us to do it. I guess contrariness is another trait typical of this age!

Day in the life

A few of the typical activities in Michael's daily life :)


Getting rice cereal and measuring cups out for breakfast to help Mama.


Taking a leisurely stroll (and occasional run) down the sidewalk to get sticks and leaves.


Pouring water and having fun in the bath before bed!

Checkup

Michael had his 18-month checkup this morning. He hadn't officially been measured or weighed since November, so it was interesting to confirm how much he's grown! He is now 34.25 inches tall, and 28 pounds. That is 90th percentile on height and 75th on weight -- a tall toddler! And he caught up proportionately on weight. The doctor said that puts him on pace to be Mike's height, around 6'1". Crazy that you can predict that so early on.

Everything else looks fine and normal, thankfully. The only potential oddity is that Michael has so far not gotten the outside two bottom front teeth while everything else has been more or less on schedule. If he gets his incisors on schedule but the other two haven't shown up by age 2, then it's possible he just may not have those baby teeth. I guess we'll see. I'm still wondering what happened with his tough teething weekend a few weeks back (major drooling, fussiness, and mouth pain - and some fever - for three or four days). As far I can tell, none of the obvious teeth candidates ever showed up after that.

Michael also got his last two shots until he turns four. He cried but said "All done" through his tears as soon as it was over. Little trooper :)

Sonny Corleone

How great is this outfit Mike found for Michael for Erin's wedding on Friday?? Loved it :) (More pictures to come later!)

18 months old

Michael turned 18 months old this week, and we are feeling blessed by how happy and healthy he continues to be. According to the books he seems to be doing what normal toddlers this age do, learning, exploring, and testing a little (although nowhere near what I suppose we should expect a little ways down the line). Physically he is running all over the place. He can climb onto lower couches and ottomans, and likes to use them as little obstacle courses (going up and over ottomans even if there's a clear path to walk around!). Tonight I also saw him crawl through the kitchen, and then crawl backwards in the other direction. Just having fun with different means of getting around, I suppose. He likes to pick up balls and throw them, but not to kick them, and to push around, but not ride, his little riding toys and manipulate them up and down the step to the living room. At the playground he basically likes to pick up rocks from one place, transport them, and drop them somewhere else ... that works, I suppose! I'm completely impressed by how well he does the little wood puzzles Grandma got for him (like in the video below) -- somehow I thought they'd be too advanced for him but he gets the concept very well. And he still loves music and dances all the time, especially to his kids' songs CDs and Charlie Brown Christmas music. Snoopy and Cookie Monster appear to be his favorite stuffed animals at the moment, with Winnie the Pooh, the pandas, and a kiwi bird right behind.

Michael is also continuing to be pretty verbal. Last weekend I asked him if he wanted to go to the store with me and he yelled, "Target!" (Very close, anyway.) Haha -- we don't go *there* too much, do we? Ahem. Actually in this instance we were going to the grocery store, but it still made me and Mike burst out laughing. Michael can also say repeat most of the letters of the alphabet after Mike. He watches Mike very closely when he says the letters. Not sure how much he really is understanding, but you never know. The other thing I find amusing is that he will intentionally drop things out of reach and say "uh oh" or "oh no!" We usually just tell him to figure out how to retrieve the objects himself. We keep working with him on saying Kadence and Canon. He's getting there, but he definitely knows who they are and that they are a girl and a baby and boy. Amanda says there is a "word explosion" between 18 and 24 months, so it will be interesting to see how much he picks up in the near future!

Michael also has crazy, crazy curly hair in the back, like his dad :) We'll be heading back to the barber tomorrow morning, I think!


Playing with new friend Sammie.

Three Videos

Another pasta encounter

More family visits

April has been a crazy month for hosting family! Ryan and Nicole drove down for Easter weekend to visit, but also to apartment search (for Nicole) and job search (Ryan). We got to have a wonderful Easter brunch at Chris and Stefani's house with Theresa and Amanda too. Then Mrs. Lawler and Brendan came for a week and we had a very nice visit! The night before they left, my mom arrived in town. She had so much fun visiting with her kids and taking care of Michael -- it was so great to have her here. Ryan came back that Friday for follow-up interviews which were, happily, successful (congratulations!). Mr. Lawler came Saturday a couple of days ahead of a work conference he was presenting at Monday and Tuesday. Finally, Stefani kindly watched Michael yesterday after my mom had to make it back to Florida for an obligation. After all of these visitors, last night felt extremely quiet at our house! But Michael has just loved seeing and playing with all these family members. He has been very happy and giving lots of hugs.

I was very grateful for my mom's help on rearranging our second bedroom to be a safer, better place for Michael to play -- and also eventually to sleep in. She shifted some shelves around, got canvas baskets, and arranged some of the books and stuffed animals (including Michael's new favorite, Cookie Monster, which Mrs. Lawler got him at story time :). At this point we are planning for the new baby to probably sleep in our room for the first four months again, but having been given the advice by more experienced parents than us, it seems like it will be important to start helping Michael transition to his new room a bit earlier than that. He can now climb up on couches and he's tackling the day bed as well. Hopefully in the next month or two he might be able to start at least taking naps in there. Of course, yesterday he started being able to open doors on his own, too, so we'll have to keep an eye on him...

Petting zoo

Elizabeth is visiting her mother for two weeks, so we are very fortunate to have the assistance of Michael's grandmothers (and Uncle Brendan :) while she is away! Mrs. Lawler and Brendan drove in late Monday and will be here until Tuesday, when my mom is coming in. Michael is loving the time with the Lawler side of the family (and this is after an Easter visit from Ryan and Nicole). On Wednesday they took a little trip to a nearby petting zoo at a working farm, getting there before all the elementary school kids arrived for their field trip. Since the Dallas zoo is 25 miles away and the Fort Worth zoo is 50 miles away, I was hoping this might be a fun little close by option that Michael would like. Unfortunately, Mrs. Lawler reports that he was a little intimidated by the goats and wary of the other animals, but it was still worth at least one visit! Maybe when he's older he'll like it more. In the meantime, Michael is definitely having fun with his grandma and uncle (goats notwithstanding :). They went to story time at Barnes & Noble this morning.

Happy and active

Mike got to spend a lot of time with Michael this week, since I had to work late on a deal pretty much every night (including until 1:30 (!) on Wednesday and Thursday). They had fun playing. Michael is all over the place. One new thing he's been doing constantly this week is pretend eating. He walks around with a cup and spoon (or measuring cup, or spatula), stirring and spearing in the empty cup or mixing in various trinkets, and then pretending to eat -- and feed us, too, of course. He completely made up his own word for ice cream, that sounds nothing like ice cream, and apparently that's what he's eating. Yum. Here are some pictures from this week. I LOVE the last one :)

I can do it myself

Somebody decided he doesn't want Mama to feed him at all anymore and he wants to "help" (he uses the sign very earnestly) by eating everything himself. Even if it's spaghetti.

He likes it!

At Christmas it was so neat to see how Michael showed he was excited by his presents after he unwrapped them -- like with the VeggieTales DVD ("Apple! Apple!") and his Finding Nemo clock ("Nemo! Nemo!") Well, Elizabeth taught him a new word and this morning we were just cracking up. Mike and I found a cute table/chairs set from Walmart that should be great going forward so Michael has chairs his size to sit in and a table to read books, color (although he can't do that yet ... still eats crayons), and play. It has a little umbrella too for taking it outside. We brought the box inside this morning and then Elizabeth and I started pulling out the unassembled plastic pieces. Michael was circling us and watching attentively and every time we pulled out a piece he said, "Wow! Wow! Wow!"

Gee, hopefully he likes it that much when it's all put together! :) I'll post a picture later.

Update: I think he will like the table. But typically, he seems to like the box better at this point :)

Sixteen months

If you ask Michael "Cuántos años tienes?" he can now answer "uno" -- so cool! Elizabeth just showed us that this week. Michael is a lot of fun right now although he has some interesting behaviors he's trying out, and we're only a step or two ahead of him on childproofing things around here. On the funny behaviors, one morning this week when Mike and I were getting ready in the morning and Michael was in the playpen for a few minutes, he kept asking to get out like usual ("Up, up") but when that didn't work, he crumpled up his face, put up a hand to his eyes and slumped down to the ground with a wail. It was quite the acting performance and we have NO idea where he got it from! We could not stop laughing.

As spring weather starts to come in, every time we open an outside door Michael is ready to head out. He has no fear, which is good and bad -- good for seeing what a self-assured little person he is, bad for safety! He will start down the sidewalk and be four houses away before he even looks back, if then. At the St. Patrick's Day parade today, the one time we put him down (when we were sure there weren't cars or floats driving in our area) he promptly ran down the row of floats, around a bus and out towards the parking lot curb. Oh, goodness! I'm glad he likes being outside and is doing so well running around and playing. He is having a lot of fun at the local playgrounds with Elizabeth and us. He loves seeing other children around and sometimes will go up to them (if they're closer to his size) and reach out to touch them (pat on the head, or just to make some connection?). If they run away he starts laughing and chasing, just because running is fun. The interaction is so interesting to observe. He is cautious but observant with bigger kids. He is just now learning how to climb (heaven help us) so at some point this summer I'm sure he'll tackle the playground equipment.


Today's pictures show the amount of talking, playing, and lounging Michael likes to do every morning before he's ready to get out and go eat breakfast. Funny guy.

Little man at 15 months