Where's Daddy?

Okay, so Peter's a charmer.  He woos everyone from fellow shoppers to passing cars.  You can see him even trying to charm the baby in the mirror above.  Since he has learned to wave, he waves at everyone and everything.  It's more of a wax on, wax off kind of wave down at his waist, but a wave nonetheless.  He even waves good morning to his Mickey Mouse balloon...

We just spent a few days in Lafayette with Nanny and we got to see lots of family who had not seen Peter in a couple of months, since he was "little."  Everyone commented on how big/well-fed he is, and he proved it over and over again by eating Nanny's rice and gravy dinners every night.  This mama was well-fed, too!  

Perhaps the biggest news is Peter's first haircut.  In a few snips, he went from a shaggy baby to a coiffed little boy.  He was so busy and curious throughout the haircut - no matter how we tried to distract him, he just had to know what was going on around his head.  We were all exhausted by the end... What remained of his darker hair was cut, so he's all blond now!  

We had lunch at Pop and Gran's house - Peter loved the crawfish etouffee!  

Looks here like he and Pop were caught in a very serious conversation.  

Couldn't quite figure out why Pop wouldn't play Peek-a-boo... 

or he was frightened by the snores.

Peek-a-boo with Nanny

At the sandbox, prepping for the beach!  

Like father, like son

Aren't grandmothers the best?!

Eating on the road... again...

Highway Hypnosis

Peter loves to be part of the crowd, and we noticed that the more we laughed at him the more he laughed with us!

Peter and I had a picnic to celebrate my return home.  We played with bubbles and ate sandwiches, then played "catch" before Peter decided to do some exploring on his own...

We took Peter to the Zoo today so that the animals could see him.  It was a very hot day, and the animals seemed more interested in him than he was in them.  His favorite parts were the elephants on the savannah and the carousel.

Practice for opening presents on the big birthday

Is it possible for a child to grow two inches in two weeks? I returned from a wonderfully exhausting tour of western Europe to find a toddler where I left my baby boy. (Europe pictures forthcoming, rest assured.)  I woke up early the morning after I arrived home, as I could not wait to hold Peter and see his new tricks.  I was shocked to walk into his room and see his head towering over the crib railing.  Yikes!  He has since introduced me to "all-terrain Peter," a most impressive ability to climb over anything between him and the remote control.  He suddenly began climbing steps yesterday, without the slightest bit of trepidation.  Carpet, brick, concrete... no matter.  He even climbed up onto the fireplace hearth this morning, and this afternoon he climbed the steps up from the basement (under my constant supervision, of course).  He still primarily crawls to go anywhere, but he's also cruising around the room using furniture as his guide.  Here again, the remote control acts as the proverbial dangling carrot.  Hayes finally caught some crawling on film - then we had issues trying to upload to this website. Sorry!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day. We were fortunate to visit a friend's home and play in their pool all day. Peter thoroughly enjoyed his very first hot dog, and wowed the ladies with his swimming prowess. He also hung out with some dogs, one of which wasn't a big fan after he yanked out half of her eyebrow. I think it scared him more than the dog, but we'll hope that we haven't been banned from visiting those friends again. :)

Perhaps his favorite part of the day was when he came across an empty beer can. 30 minutes of playtime in one 12 ounce piece of tin. Even after he abandoned it, he'd go back for more every few minutes. Who needs Toys 'R Us?! 

Peter has improved his attitude toward self-feeding.  He will eagerly feed himself graham crackers, Nilla wafers, and puffs.  He's even fed himself jelly sandwich bits.  Oddly enough, he refuses to pick up anything else.  An emerging sweet tooth, perhaps?  The smash cake for his birthday should be interesting.  

These days are busy - something new happening all the time.  We'll keep you posted - thanks for visiting!